Original God Zhongli BG Xiao Qinglong traveled through time

The waves tirelessly pounded against the dark rocks of Lonely Cloud Pavilion, shattering into countless cold silver beads with each impact before sliding down, leaving fleeting wet streaks beneath the gradually dimming light. A salty, damp wind howled in from the distant sea, swirling the oppressive inky clouds and bringing with it a subtle, heavy pressure, as if some ancient giant were slowly awakening beneath the abyss.

A dark green figure stood alone atop the tallest reef, like a cold emerald rivet driven between the turbulent sea and sky. In the dim light, the fanged, green-faced Nuo mask seemed even more stern and murderous. Its gaze, like quenched cold stars, pierced the gradually boiling waves, fixed its gaze fixed on the distant spot where the sea and sky met—there, the color of the water grew darker and more distorted, and ominous undercurrents, like the veins of a giant beast, silently swelled beneath the surface. He held the Hepu Kite tightly in his hand, the slender, sharp tip of the spear humming softly, interweaving with the whimper of the sea breeze through the crevices of the rocks into an ageless, icy borderland melody.

Another figure appeared silently on another huge rock not far from his side.

She arrived so gently, as if she were part of the salty breeze and dusk. Her sleeves fluttered in a simple, elegant blue gown, the rock patterns embroidered with fine gold thread flowing through the gloom, a faint, yet steady glow like the foundations of a mountain. Lin Huan stood still, her posture as still as a lotus. She didn't glance aside at the murderous Yaksha beside her, but instead cast her gaze upon the treacherous sea surface, simmering with unknown storms. Her posture wasn't one of battle-ready tension, but rather a deeper alertness, one deeply attuned to the pulse of her surroundings, as if she were engaging in a protracted, silent confrontation with the invisible threat in the distance with her whole being.

"You don't have to come."

Xiao's voice was cold and sharp, piercing the growing whistle of the sea breeze. It carried the uniquely Yasha-like, blade-sharp aloofness and a resoluteness bordering on arrogance. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"If the situation truly gets out of control," he continued, his tone steady and without a ripple, yet each word weighed like a thousand pounds, shattering amid the roaring waves, "I alone can hold this line."

This is the unquestionable self-confidence tempered through countless demonic blood and wars, and it is also a destiny that has long been engraved in the bones and blood - to transform oneself into the last and most desperate barrier until it is shattered to pieces.

Lin Huan didn't respond immediately. The sea breeze blew a few stray strands of hair across her face. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze seeming to pierce the surging waves, resting on the even more distant shore of time. After a long moment, the corners of her lips curved ever so slightly, an almost imperceptible arc. Her smile lacked sharpness, but instead held a gentle luster, carefully polished by the passage of time, and a hint of weariness hidden within, discernible only to those who shared the same path.

She still didn't turn her head, and her voice was soft but unusually clear, like a clear spring in a deep valley, falling steadily into Xiao's ears, strangely not being swallowed by the sound of wind and waves:

"I know you can."

She paused, as if to give the affirmation its due weight.

"The fastest wind under the Emperor's command, the sharpest Nuo mask, the most silent and solid shield in Liyue for thousands of years... it has always been you."

Her words expressed complete recognition and a deeper understanding. Then, her tone shifted slightly, like a stream encountering a rock, naturally bypassing the heaviness and permeating with a more complex emotion:

"only……"

She seemed to ponder how to phrase it, ultimately choosing a straightforward, almost frank tone. Her voice carried a gentleness and stubbornness that had settled in after years of hardship.

"It's just my feet that walked over on their own. This heart can't stand any gap in the defense line...even an imaginary one."

Her tone softened, yet contained an unquestionable firmness, as if she were stating the most natural law of heaven and earth:

"I'm used to it. I can't change it. Even though... I don't have to stand at the forefront all the time now."

She spoke the last few words so softly that they almost melted into the sea breeze, carrying a sense of relief and a calm acceptance of her current state. She didn't exaggerate the tragedy or emphasize the past, simply transforming the word "protection" into an instinctive, unthinking feeling, a quiet persistence ingrained in her bones and blood.

Xiao fell silent.

The ferocious Nuo mask tilted its head slightly, an almost imperceptible angle, its cold gaze seeming to linger for a moment on her calm profile. He could sense the power field flowing around his colleague beside him. Unlike the overwhelming, outward-facing might that stirred thunder and lightning in their heyday, it now resembled a warm current buried deep within the earth, quiet and restrained, yet still majestic and unfathomable, faintly resonating with the solid rock beneath their feet and the distant Liyue land behind them. A foundation that had been broken and reshaped, a more resilient foundation.

The almost stagnant tension in the air seemed to have quietly undergone some indescribable change because of her words.

"……what ever."

In the end, he simply uttered two words, his voice still cold, but as if a layer of invisible ice had been shed. He once again cast his gaze towards the increasingly gloomy and violent sea level, and the fingers gripping the gun seemed to tighten slightly, anchoring the spear more firmly at his side.

This wasn't a rejection, but rather a Yaksha-like, clumsy yet solemn acceptance and recognition. It meant that this front line, which he had guarded alone for so long, now had another person he could trust without further ado.

Lin Huan said no more.

She stood quietly with him in the increasingly fierce sea breeze, her clothes rustling. In the distance, thick dark clouds completely swallowed up the last of the sky's light. Pale white electric snakes began to twist and flicker silently in the depths of the clouds, illuminating the rolling and roaring inky sea below, foreshadowing the accelerating approach of a devastating storm.

Her expression was serene and focused. In her eyes, which always held the warmth of worldly life, there now resided the same hawk-like vigilance and rock-hard determination as Xiao's, only it was more deeply restrained beneath the peace, transforming into a vast tranquility that encompassed wind and thunder.

There was no more talk between them, as if two silent reefs, millennia old, had formed an invisible defense, yet a more resilient and imposing one than the Lonely Cloud Pavilion itself. Beneath them lay a raging, turbulent abyss, poised to unleash a torrent of darkness and devour everything. Far behind them, the lights of Liyue Harbor's myriad homes gradually lit up, like stars scattered across the human world, warm yet fragile.

One is a Yaksha, burdened by karma, yet forever stationed at the border, seeing slaughter as his only hope; the other is an immortal, whose powers haven't yet fully recovered, yet a legacy of protection etched into the deepest recesses of their soul, stumbling forth from the river of time. Separated by vast distances in time and space, they fulfill the same ancient pact in vastly different ways. Now, on this chaotic coastline, shrouded in impending storms and peril, they reach a perfect understanding, requiring neither glances nor words.

Lin Huan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the deep, steady power within her body, like the pulse of the earth, flowing in sync with the rhythm of her breathing and the rock formations beneath her feet. She knew that perhaps she no longer needed to radiate endless brilliance like the blazing sun, nor did she need to sacrifice herself to turn the tide as she had in the past.

But just standing here.

Shoulder to shoulder with former comrades.

With a different attitude, she silently blended into the pulse of the forefront of the mountains and rivers that she loved deeply and protected for hundreds of years, sensing its every slight throbbing and breathing.

For her, that itself is the whole meaning.

Where the sea and the sky meet, the last ray of light is completely obliterated by the thick ink color and roaring waves.

On the reef, the two figures standing silently are like warm and firm sparks piercing the deep darkness, silently proclaiming some kind of eternal promise.