Osial and Beisht are both forced back to the ocean, along with the flood, by Morax's jade screen. Many cough and vomit out muddy water when they finally get to breathe again. 

 

“Mom! Mom! Can you hear me?”

 

“Are you okay? Oh, you're alive! Thank our great Archons! You are still alive!”

 

“Daddy? Daddy come on! Wake up! Liyue's Adepti are really here! … Daddy?”

 

Voices of all kinds rush and echo in Feng's mind. Though he's lying flat, he feels like he's on a roller coaster, the world revolving. 

 

“So…cold…” Feng whispers. 

 

“Feng? Feng!” he hears someone calling him. 

 

What is it? Is Mom trying to wake him up? What was he going to do again today? Is something up with the Uni? Did his phone's alarm not wake him up? 

 

He tries to look, but sees nothing more than a blur, like the windshield of a car that has plunged into the sea. 

 

He tries to listen, but hears that vaguely familiar voice amongst the omnidirectional echoing of sorrows and prayers.

 

He tries to smell, but finds his airway being blocked by a solid chunk that reeks of blood and salt, forcing him to take in air with his mouth. Although a hint of rain manages to slip past. 

 

He tries to feel, and it's cold. Unlike just that of a winter storm, it also resembles coming home, expecting a warm welcome, but being greeted only by an empty fireplace. 

 

What is going on?

 

How come it feels so light yet so heavy at the same time? Feng feels himself lying in someone's arms, yet he is also simultaneously floating around where he is lying.

 

“Osial, Beisht, why have you returned?” Morax inquires, his voice falls upon everyone around, even across the large field of stone huts. 

 

Osial grunts. Though his heads are lowered from the wounds and burns, his remaining eyes stare unmoving at the Archon in the air. 

 

Havria also looks back and up and sees Morax in his white robe. He is holding a spear sculpted from a block of golden jade.

 

The Geo Archon looks down. His eyes fall on the flames that are still burning Osial's lips. Three different colors, all blazing on the water beast. Not even Morax, who has lived for thousands of years, has seen fire burning water like it is oil. 

 

The fires finally disappear, leaving behind bits of charred remains floating under Osial's watery skin. Blue blood is still pouring out of the various puncture holes in his body. 

 

Why have they returned? This WAS their territory, to begin with. When Morax took his human believers to this place, he terraformed the land and pushed back the shoreline. Osial and Beisht therefore lost a large portion of their territory. What's more, humans have been hunting sea life for their own sustenance. 

 

Beisht has been charging up elemental power since letting go of Havria. Now seeing Morax in the air, she swallows her loss reluctantly. Her tale tightly wraps around that of her husband's, and a tug signifies to him that it's time to leave.

 

Osial refuses to remove his stare from Morax, but he can't even afford to let out a scream of anger in protest at his condition. 

 

He tugs back at Beisht's tail, and the two hastily swim away. Morax extends his arm, slams his palm down, and summons several Geo spears to fall into the sea. They pin the hydras down at the seafloor like specimens in a biological research lab, but Osial and Beisht both melt away and fuse with the water around. 

 

The Geo Archon looks forth, and Beisht has taken her husband towards the horizon. What Morax has struck were merely their clones. While Morax wishes to continue the fight, here is not the right place. He needs to seal away the rivaling Archons, instead of killing them. When Archons die, the energy within them will be rapidly released. Should Archons as powerful as Osial dies near Liyue's border, their death will undoubtedly impact the citizens there. 

 

At the same time, Morax is not about to pursue the couple who has escaped. Though he shows no mercy towards intruders to his nation, he usually won't actively assault those who are no longer threats. 

 

As such, Morax looks down upon the two other Archons, that he had detected upon his arrival, and approaches. 

 

Feng's consciousness currently resembles the content of a broken radio: mostly static, with periodic clear messages slipping by now and then. As Corcell calls him, he can no longer distinguish if it is real or a dream. 

 

Corcell's hair has returned from white to black. It's a sign that she has exhausted most of her power, yet she continues to hold in Feng's blood. She doesn't know much about humans at all, and despite the fact that she has control over the Hydro element, healing isn't within her expertise. All she knows is that if Feng loses too much blood, he's surely going to die. She hugs him firmly, yet not too hard so as to not hurt him, as she continues to call on him. 

 

“Feng? Feng! Stay with me! You have promised to take me back to my city! So don't die on me! Feng!”

 

Around the dual, many of Havria's believers have moved aside. Some of them were once believers of other fallen Archons, and they know that when an Archon dies, what they release can devastate the people around them. However, a few others remain near Feng. Those are mostly the people who were convinced that Feng is a human. 

 

“Mommy? What has happened to the big brother Adeptus?” that little girl asks. She was the first person to speak upon Feng's arrival at their site. Now that Feng is on top of the roof of a hut, she is too short to take a closer look, and the mother isn't allowing her daughter to witness something that bloody. 

 

The little girl gets no reply, so she turns to Morax, who has just descended, and asks: “Are you also from Liyue? Big brother is an Adeptus, you can help him for sure right?”

 

The mother once again pulls her little girl aside. She can not be sure that this new Archon will be gentle and friendly like Feng. After all, this time, the one who arrived really is an Archon, and not a human. 

 

Morax looks at the little girl. Ignoring the mother's frightened eyes, he gently nods. The Archon lands beside Feng and Corcell. He watches how Feng's insides are exposed through his open belly, how Feng's left arm is missing, and how the massive wounds on him all have a jagged border from Osial's teeth. 

 

There's no saving him now. Whether this man is a human, an Adeptus, or even an Archon, such a wound is a death sentence. Morax questions himself: If it was his abdomen that was ripped open like Feng's, would he survive? The Geo Archon doesn't wish to imagine further. 

 

“What is it?” Corcell coldly asks without even lifting her head at Morax. Perhaps she really is no match for him right now, but based on the status of their identities, Corcell and Morax are both Archons, and neither needs to be overly respectful towards the other. 

 

“You are?”

 

“Corcell.”

 

“The Cloud Archon?”

 

Morax looks up in the sky, thinking about the clouds that he has just blown away. 

 

“And he is?”

 

“A human.”

 

“...”

 

Morax doesn't mention how he has detected a hint of Adeptus energy from Feng. If anything, this man before him is at least a half Adeptus. However, even though Morax has long signed contracts of alliance with all the Adepti around Liyue, he has no idea who Feng is. 

 

“We are only passing by, and I have no interest in your harbor.” Corcell declares. 

 

Suddenly, a couple of cranes and a young-looking woman also arrive at the scene. Guizhong hops toward Morax but suddenly stops when she too sees Feng. 

 

“Adepti, does anyone recognize this man? Which Adeptus name does he fall under?” Morax turns and asks the cranes. The white crane is Cloud Retainer, while the other one, whose stature resembles her aside from the feather being black, is Mountain Shaper. The two look at Feng, both recoiling slightly at the sight of his exposed insides and shake their heads. 

 

“Corcell?” Guizhong suddenly calls out. 

 

Corcell recognizes the voice and quickly looks up. She knows that this friend of hers is known for her wisdom. 

 

“Haagentus! Can you save him?” 

 

“Ah? Um …” Guizhong is at a loss for words. Corcell sees her gaze and recognizes that her friend has the same issue as herself. 

 

While they both are technically goddesses, ever since the beginning of the Archon War, both have been focusing on combat, and neither has paid much attention to the art of healing. They went for the slaying, and have neglected the saving. 

 

Knowing that, Corcell's face finally falls to one of apathy. No sadness or joy can be detected from her expression. She looks down at Feng, and feels like someone has their palm gently over her heart; It doesn’t hurt, but she feels the weight. 

 

Perhaps, it was fate that brought them two to meet. Perhaps, it was also fate that would now bring them two apart. Perhaps, fate had only allowed them this short window of company. But perhaps, it's precisely because of fate, that Corcell is now more curious than ever. 

 

No longer does she feel like frost has covered her inside, as she did the moment when she saw Feng in Osial's jaws. No longer does she feel like every breath she takes she lets out two at a time: never getting enough air. When she realized that Haagentus was not able to do anything for Feng either, all there was left in Corcell was curiosity. 

 

She had thought that it was fate, that her city, which by its nature will float to where there’s no conflict, had flown to that radiating wave of erosion. She had thought that it was fate, that the Lunatic Cult attacked right when her city was at its weakest. She had thought that it was fate that the sky-piercing mountain had collapsed when she was at its dead center.

 

But then, suddenly, There was Feng. 

 

He lived through the disaster that lowered even her, an Archon’s head. However fragile he is, Feng seems to defy fate. Corcell stares at Feng's remaining hand, and she is more than ever curious about whether this man can defy fate again. 

 

Inside his hand is a bottle of potion. It’s red like the juice of a wild berry. The bottle is round with a thin neck, and a thin strip of golden ring is wrapped around the bottle’s waist. Feng holds it tightly, and he has just begun to open his eyes again. 

 

“Oh, right, I’ve… entered a new world.” 

 

He summons all of his strength and lifts the bottle, but stops halfway through midair. While it is true that the bottle is as heavy as an anvil to Feng right now, what really stops him is that red debuff icon he sees below his inventory: 

 

Potion Sickness: Cannot consume any more healing items

 

Feng doesn’t feel any sickness, to be honest. Yes all those trippy stuff were indeed his near-death experience, and he still can not feel the lower half of his body, but other than that, he doesn’t feel any sickness, just as he can’t feel the tiger-stripe-like wounds and burns below the waist. 

 

He can not guarantee that using the potion with the sickness in effect will work. If it doesn’t, and he wastes that last bottle, he is sure to die. Under his current condition, there’s no using the Journey Mode at all.

 

“Who knows, maybe I’ll just reincarnate back?” He laughs at his own thoughts. 

 

Corcell sees Feng’s potion, and hurries to bring it closer to his mouth. Feeling that, Feng immediately begins to resist. The bottle quivers and quakes in both his and her hands. Corcell is baffled, but Feng can’t even bring himself to shake his head. All he can do is to resist. 

 

No! He can’t drink this potion! Not yet! Not until the debuff wears off. Feng opens his eyes, but feels as if he had lifted an anchor. His vision is mixed with various images and memories of his past. He remembers everything from the dreams he had forgotten to the taste of his mother’s milk when he was a baby. 

Faces, voices, they appear and disappear before Feng. He plunges into a tunnel of everything he’s lived through.

 

Crib, toys, sippy cups. 

School, shops, pencil box. 

Bike, helmet, and skateboard. 

Homework, assignments, tests and more. 

Middle, high school, college, and on.

Until the day when he died upon. 

His life now hangs on a string. 

Seeing an angel with broken wings. 

 

Corcell doesn't let go. She can’t understand why Feng is refusing to drink that potion. Is it that potion isn’t something that can help him? Is it that the potion is not meant to be drunk? What is he trying to do? 

 

Crocell looks back and forth between Feng’s progressively pale face and his potion. She tries to recall everything she can about this man. The doors that connect two places, the shell that sends him far away, the flame that he can make erupt, the metal chunk that shoots out colors, and such. Now there’s a bottle of potion that he won’t drink. 

 

And just then, she recalls that when Feng was getting bitten, he seemed to have crushed a bottle in his hands. She looks at his hand, and wonders if that is what Feng is trying to do right now. 

 

Feng’s vision is getting darker and blurrier. Images he sees turn double, then triple, then quadruple, but vaguely, he sees that the little red box of the debuff icon has disappeared. Finally, he can use the potion now. 

 

Coldness rushes through his entire body, devouring him like a beast. Feng squeezes his health potion with all his might but only manages to shake it in his bloodless palm. 

 

“Oh come on! I can't even use the damn potion now? Why is this bottle … so … damn … tough … ?”

 

-------

 

His vision falls to darkness. Feng feels as if he has just woken up from a dream, yet what he sees is not his room. No tissue paper near his bed; no computer on a nearby desk. Instead, he sees a city full of pillars of ancient architecture that are constructed above clouds. Underneath his feet is a small platform. Just like the pillars around, this platform is made of a material that resembles marble.

 

“Da phaq?” Those words unknowingly escape from Feng's mouth as he looks around. After finally recalling what had happened, Feng reluctantly concludes: “Wait, am, am I dead? Huh!? What is this place?”

 

Waking up in a city surrounded by clouds, Feng can only imagine that this is heaven. 

 

“Hmm, so which religion got it right after all?” He wonders in an attempt to distract himself from freaking out about yet another death. Unlike the last time, where he woke up now is much less familiar. So much so, that getting all his limbs back doesn't really comfort him much. 

 

“Oh? So this is the outlander that the squid thing is hunting after?” Feng hears a woman speaking from behind. He looks back and sees a dark line stretching across the sky. 

 

The line opens into three interconnected diamond shapes. The red electric flows around their border, making it look as if it's a hole torn in space. Indeed in the next moment, Feng sees a figure stepping out of the black diamonds. 

 

He is speechless. Not out of shock, but because he was busy recalling every single religious representation of heaven and gods, and then, what does he see? A f*@king video game character. 

 

“I am-”

 

“Yeah, I know, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, or whatever, blah blah, what do you want? Why am I here?”

 

“... Fascinating, have we met before?” She says putting a curved index finger below her chin. 

 

Feng carefully observes the floating girl before him: glowing white hair, Amber pupils, clothing unlike any type of fashion he has seen elsewhere, from top to bottom, ending in white bandages that wrap shallowly around her feet. 

 

That girl from the beginning cutscene of Genshin. Naturally, Feng instantly recognized her. 

 

That is why, even though she seems to have taken a slight interest in Feng, he knows that in the next 30-ish seconds, he's going to be eaten by mega blocks. 

 

“No ability to control elemental powers, yet you still have managed to enter Celestia. Perhaps you'd be a better candidate than all the rest below.” She speaks as she extends her arm at Feng. 

 

He sees that her arms are covered in a black layer of … something. On the border where her skin meets that layer, a flowy-blocky effect is seen. From her palm extends a stream of dark red blocks that expand towards Feng. 

 

Yep, just like the game, she’s mega-blocking. And also just like the game, Feng has no idea why she’s doing that. Whatever did he ever do? As the blocks begin to devour Feng, he immediately deploys his Legendary Solar Flare Pickaxe. The sustainer’s assault is broken into tiny icons that enter Feng’s inventory. 

 

Though the unknown goddess is surprised, she is by no means thrown off by Feng’s feat. He stares right at her, um, eyes, and says: “That’s right, I’m the one who blocks!” 

 

(that sounded a lot cooler in Feng’s mind) 

 

All of a sudden, Feng feels pressure around his right hand, as if someone is gripping it firmly. He looks down and vaguely sees a familiar hand with slender fingers and tender skin. Noticing the space around Celestia is once again becoming unstable, the unknown goddess throws a black diamond-shaped object at Feng. It enters his skull and immediately dissolves like ink in a glass of water. Feng does not have the time to react before he loses consciousness. 

 

The unknown goddess, seeing the man in front of her disappearing on the spot, sighs to herself. “A being whose soul can travel through dimensions. Maybe not at will, but impressive nonetheless. Wouldn’t you agree?”

 

She doesn’t turn around, yet she knows that she has a visitor. A lady with skin of gold and wings of iridescent light quietly flies to the scene. Her pink robe and sky-blue armor quietly rub and click as she flies, while her tiara emits a royal glow that would pierce mortals who lay eyes on her. A shimmering blade is playfully held in her hand, and with a single flick of a finger, she makes the sword dance around her as if it were alive. 

 

“The almighty divine is placing bets on a mere man?” 

 

“Watch your mouth! Empress!” The unknown goddess warns. She swings her hand, and a crib materializes in front of her. Inside lays an infant. Even with her appearance being much younger, if Feng were still here, he’d instantly recognize that as every traveler's emergency food: Paimon. 

 

“It was a tough debate. Perhaps no one else would be more fitting to be her companion during the next stage of her life.” The goddess sighs while looking at baby Paimon. “But at the moment, that Thing, is a much more immediate threat to Celestia.”

 

“Alright then, let’s say that eventually, he can indeed finish off the big tentacled one. Then what? If he somehow grows to that strong, he’d be the new trouble, even for you and me.” The Empress of Light scoffs with her arms crossed. 

 

“That parting gift I left him,” The goddess explains, “he’d find it quite useful to him, especially considering Teyvat’s current situation. And by the day he grows to rely on that gift, it’d have transformed into the leash around his neck with the other end firmly in my hand!”

 

-------

 

Feng’s eyes spring open. Turns out that having watched Inception did not prepare himself for waking up this many times. He looks around, thank f&*k something he recognizes. He is lying on Corcell’s lap, her single wing shielding his eyes from the sun. He is on top of a stone hut that he built, and around him, hey look, characters from games he recognizes: That’s the Mountain Shaper, that’s the Cloud Retainer, that’s Guizhong, and that man in his white and golden-striped robe must be Morax. 

 

They all have their eyes wide open, all sights firmly landing on Feng. Havria and Guizhong especially, have their jaws dropped wide enough to fit in a whole egg. Even the Geo Archon, whose expression doesn’t change in the slightest during war, has his golden-pupil dragon eyes display a hint of being dumbfounded. 

 

“Why, why is everyone looking at me like I just said the most racist thing on Earth in public?” Feng nervously looks around as he thinks to himself. 

 

“Feng?” Corcell breaks the silence. “Are, are you okay?” 

 

“Huh? Yeah, I think I feel fine?”

 

“But, how?” 

 

“What do you mean how?” Feng sits up, scratching his head in confusion. He remembers how that unknown goddess shot something in him before he left. Only after he stands up that Feng suddenly remember what had happened. He remembers the battle he fought, the wounds he suffered, and the strange place that he has been to. 

 

Feng quickly surveys himself, looking for any hints of damage but finds nothing. The serrated bites vanished; the missing arm popped back out; his lower body regained its senses; his belly once again tightly closed. Even his clothes have been thoroughly renewed; wearing them, Feng feels as if he is lying on a comfy bed that has just changed into a new set of clean sheets. 

 

He looks up, the UI is still present, and in the top right corner, five hearts are seen filling the mostly empty HP slots, with a sixth heart slowing regenerating. Feng finally understands.

 

“Corcell, it was you who helped me use my potion wasn’t it?” He excitedly announces. 

 

Corcell snaps back. She tried out at the last moment what she remembered Feng doing, even though she had no guarantee that she was doing it correctly. Based on what she vaguely can confirm, she helped Feng to crush that bottle of potion in his hand. The instant she did that, Feng transformed from his wounded state to one that was pristine. The pool of blood that he had bled out all seeped through the floor like water dose in the middle of a desert, never to be seen again. 

 

“Thank you!”

 

“Feng, what was in that potion? What … are you?” Corcell can hardly contain her questions. And Feng gets the strange feeling that if he tells her that he is human again, he isn’t walking away today.