Lantern Rite With You. | XiaoLumi

Chapter 2

When Lumine was in her deep slumber after the battle in the Adeptus' Abode, she couldn't help but recall a particular conversation she had with the Geo Archon, Mr. Zhongli.

She tossed and turned in her mattress, as if she was reliving a nightmare as the conversation played on in her head like a broken record:

"Mr. Zhongli, what story will you be telling us today?" Paimon asked as she clapped her hands in excitement. "I've been looking forward to this all week!"

Lumine nodded her head in agreement, while she decided to keep quiet while Zhongli ushered her tiny friend.

The three were sitting at one of the tables at Third-Round Knockout, the usual place that Zhongli frequents whenever he wishes to listen to the storyteller as he orders his usual cup of tea.

And as always, the city of Liyue was hustling and bustling. Neighbors exchanging their greetings, and kids running about their childish days.

The three sat together as they relished in the warm afternoon sun. It was the weekend, and usually on the weekends, Lumine and Paimon would meet the Geo Archon to hear him tell his tales of the good old days back in Liyue.

Zhongli chuckled at Paimon's excitement, but not long after till his eyes fell dark as he stared forlornly across the horizon of Liyue Harbor.

"The story I want to tell you both today, is something different from my usual stories," The man said, as he instinctively puts the cup of tea to his lips.

"In ancient times, Liyue was a land of misery, where the shadow of evil loomed large," Zhongli began, as he continued staring out onto the horizon of the prospering harbor, not meeting the traveller and Paimon's eyes.

"As slain gods festered, their vengeful wrath cursed the world, manifesting in infernal forms. When demons stirred, miasmas, monsters, and mutations infested the land. Then, Rex Lapis summoned the Yakshas to vanquish the demons."

"They swore an oath: 'Restore order through slaughter; Purge evil through battle, and to this, we dedicate our lives." The man recounted in a nostalgic yet gratified tone, when Lumine took notice of a small smile that appeared on his face.

"Eons of bloodshed later," He continued, and his voice fell flat once more.

"Karmic debt weighed upon them, phantom wrath seeping into their broken souls. They went mad with fear, turned on each other, ...or succumbed to the darkness," Zhongli said quietly, as he closed his eyes with eyebrows furrowed, as if he was forcing himself to not remember what happened a millennia ago.

Then, he finally turned to both Lumine and Paimon, and with his eyes glittered with a spark of hope, he added, "But of the five foremost Yakshas, death came to three, while the fourth vanished without a trace. In a millennia since, one Conqueror of Demons remains the sole surviving Yaksha in the mortal realm—"

"—And only on moonlit nights, in the glow from Guyun and in the sound of the Dihua flute, is his memory preserved." As Zhongli finished his last sentence, he continued to stare at Lumine and Paimon with a look of determination.

"Woah... That was... a really cool, yet sad story." Paimon said, as she placed her tiny hand on her chest, "But this means, that the sole surviving Yaksha is..." Her voice trailing off.

Lumine slowly nodded her head.

"Xiao... really had it hard on him all these years..." Lumine said. Her body was in a tensed slouch, with her hands in a tight grip. She didn't know how to react with this information.