Genshin Impact: The Road to Reversal

Mo Yan looked at Alechino, and suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Could it be... that her wish wasn't just to 'see you again'? She said that these twenty years of companionship had been both a blessing and a torment. So, deep down, what she truly longed for wasn't a reunion, but..."

This thought gave Mo Yan a shock.

"Alechino." Mo Yan suddenly spoke, his voice was not loud, but it made both of them look at him.

"What's wrong?" Alechino paused, but still asked calmly.

"Back then, at Xuefeng's grave, was all you hoped for was to see Phoenix again?"

Alechino's pupils suddenly contracted, as if these words pierced her deepest heart, but she quickly calmed herself down.

"Why do you ask?" Kailin asked.

"Because the Time Stone hasn't responded yet." Mo Yan suddenly became serious. "Diablo said that it needs a 'wish' to be fulfilled before it can restart. We thought your wish was to see Phoenix again, and that wish has obviously been fulfilled. But the Stone remains silent."

He paused, his voice slowing but becoming clearer. "So, I'm wondering, perhaps your true desire, deep down, isn't quite that simple. Has this twenty years of companionship been compensation, or just another form of torture? What do you truly want from this reunion across time and space?"

Kailin also suddenly realized and looked at Alechino nervously.

Alechino remained silent, her fingertips tightening unconsciously.

The bustling market outside the window seemed blocked out by an invisible barrier. She lowered her eyes, her long silver eyelashes concealing the surging waves in her pupils.

At this point, Mo Yan added, "In these twenty years, you've never revealed anything about Phoenix's future. Perhaps you believe this is to avoid interfering with history and to prevent her from bearing the shackles of foresight. But... is it really that simple?"

His voice was soft, but it was like a key, trying to pry open Alechino's closed heart.

"You stayed by her side, watching her teach you young ones, watching her plan for the future of the glacier, watching her... exist vividly before your eyes. But you knew better than anyone that one day, she would meet her destined end. And this realization was more cruel than never seeing each other again."

Alechino's breath hitched slightly. Mo Yan's words had struck home at the deepest point of her heart. For the past twenty years, happiness and pain had intertwined, hope and despair had coexisted. Every conversation with Phoenix, every glance at her stern yet deeply concerned eyes, was a reminder that all this would eventually pass.

"So please tell me what you really want in your heart..." Mo Yan said in a low and earnest voice.

Alechino remained silent for a long time before she gradually let out a sigh that was slightly lamented.

"Ha...it's been twenty years. Do you know what day it will be in a few days?"

There was an undisguised tremor in Alechino's voice, a sign that emotions that had been suppressed for far too long were about to burst forth.

Mo Yan and Kailin exchanged a glance, each seeing a solemn expression in the other's eyes. They carefully recalled the past twenty years and the "history" they knew.

"In two days, the Glacier Trial will officially begin. That's when Clevi and I will officially enter the secret realm that will change our destiny."

Alechino's voice was low and hoarse. She raised her eyes, and her cross-shaped pupils clearly reflected deep pain and struggle.

"That's also when the Sangyang Rebellion breaks out. On that day, the teacher will go to Hantian..."

Before she finished speaking, her eyes sank again, as if crushed by an invisible boulder. Those tragic scenes, sealed away by time, flooded her mind like a tide.

"That day... the teacher went to Frost Sky to resist the monsters and demons that emerged from the rift in space and time torn apart by the Sanyang people..." Alechino's voice was hoarse, each word seemed to be squeezed out of her throat. "And as you know, in order to repair the rift, she... never returned."

Kailin covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. Even though she already knew the outcome, hearing the person speak of it in such a painful tone was still heartbreaking.

Mo Yan's heart sank as he understood.

Peruvian's true wish has never been simply to "see you again."

These twenty years of companionship were the most luxurious buffer and farewell she could have, knowing the tragic ending. She greedily absorbed every minute and second she spent with her teacher, yet was constantly tormented by the shadow of the countdown.

What she wanted, perhaps, was a chance, a chance to face this inevitable separation calmly, a chance to speak out the words she hadn't said yet, a tiny possibility... that she could even slightly change that cruel outcome? Even if it was just to make the teacher a little more vigilant, a little more hope of survival?

Yet, Diablo's warnings were still fresh in her mind, and she was deeply aware of the stubbornness of history. This struggle, knowing it was impossible, yet still pursuing it, was the deepest torment in her heart.

"So..." Mo Yan's voice was extremely soft, with a gentleness that he couldn't bear to disturb, "Your wish is to wait until she dies completely..."

"Say goodbye to her..."

Alechino's voice was as soft as a mosquito's, yet it carried a sense of exhaustion and relief that had drained all her strength. She finally spoke out the true desire that had been buried deep in her heart and entangled her for twenty years.

It wasn't about reversing life and death, or changing history, but rather, before the inevitable end, she could say goodbye to her beloved teacher as a complete student who no longer needed her protection. She could tell her that her student had grown up, become a capable paladin, and lived up to her teachings and expectations.

This has nothing to do with changing cause and effect, but is to complete her own inner ritual, to put an end to this reunion across time and space, which may not be perfect, but at least complete.

Kailin couldn't hold back her tears. She wiped her face vigorously and said with a sob, "Then...then let's go! Before anything happens, we should find her and say everything we need to say!"

Mo Yan looked at Alechino and understood. Perhaps what the Time Stone needed was this determination to face the end.

"Then do it, Alechino." His voice was calm and firm. "This is not interfering with history, but fulfilling your own wish. I think this is also the real reason why the Time Stone brought us here and made us wait for twenty years."

Alechino raised her tear-filled eyes and looked at Mo Yan, then at Kailin. There was no dissuasion in their eyes, only complete trust and support.

She took a deep breath, as if to expel the heaviness that had accumulated for a century. When she spoke again, her voice, though still hoarse, was filled with a resolute calm.

"it is good."

(Anger makes people impulsive, sadness makes people hesitant, but this time... she will no longer escape.)