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The moon was beginning to rise above our heads as we trekked across Dihua Marsh. Sweat furrowed into my brow and exhaustion was beginning to set in. The task at hand was more important, though. My husband and I were tasked with finding a very special person, and he seemed more elusive than ever.
“Dear, I think it is time for you to take some rest,” Huai’an said, softly resting his palm onto my back, “we have been walking for hours now,”
“I am aware,” I took his hand in mine and brushed my thumb over his hand, “but work calls.”
Huai’an sighed and shook his head. He knew I was passionate about my job, even if he did not know the full extent of what it was, he never questioned it. I was always grateful to have such a supportive partner.
A few more hours went by, and the moon was now high over our heads. I sighed, exasperated, and decided maybe Huai’an was right. We should probably rest for the night. We set up camp, a small, quaint fire with a pot of adeptus temptation brewing – he knew it was my comfort dish. I rested my head on his chest and began to slowly drift off the sound of his breathing… until I heard growling in the distance.
My dearest husband was just as vigilant as I. We stood to our feet, my greatsword in hand, his fists bared and ready to rumble. Unfortunately for us, we were outnumbered by a hoard of hilichurls – at least seven of them, and one was a greataxe mitachurl. I swung my greatsword and hit the shield of a hilichurl while Huai’an worked his way dodging pyro slimes being thrown his way.
And then, we heard the call of the wind.
It was not what I was used to, the sound of Barbatos’s chosen ones were usually welcoming, this one… this one’s powers felt like pure anguish. The wind blew strongly in our direction, and I closed my eyes for mere moments, yet in these mere moments I heard the cries of hilichurls being annihilated in cold blood. The sounds was ruthless, uncaring. For a split second I opened my left eye through the dust scattering, and saw a silhouette of a young man wearing a mask. He held a spear, and just like him, the spear radiated a tired aura of someone that has seen too much bloodshed.
Could it be you who I am looking for?
When the dust settled, just as I reached out to say “Wait!”, he was gone.
“Huai’an, did you see that?” I said, my excitement peaking through my tone.
“Indeed I did, my dear,” he said, shaking the dust out of his hair, “Was that who you were asked to seek out?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling it is.”
I needed to find him, in some way or form, but he would not appear unless there were monsters prowling. Be it in the dead of night when there was not a soul in plain sight (except for Huai’an or I lurking in the shadows), or whether it was the construction workers of the new inn that I was tasked to oversee.
It was another moonlit night, this time cloudy, where I decided to play bait. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Huai’an’s tone was full of concern, “I don’t doubt your skills with a greatsword, but what if you are outnumbered again? Can we guarantee he will show up?” He held my shoulders and softly caressed them.
“Dear, I know it’s risky but-”
He sighed, “but work calls. I know. Please, be careful.” I nodded, and slung my greatsword sheath on my back.
The smell of the marsh’s atmosphere was one that was new to me, it smelled musky, inviting but rejecting at the same time, as if it knew I was an outsider. I scoffed at the aroma, and let the wind carry my rejection of Dihua Marsh’s judgment back to the sender.
Once again, I heard the rumbling growl of a mitachurl. The moonlight revealed it was two this time, one shielder and one greataxe. A thick drop of sweat rolled down into my brow. Perhaps my husband was right to be worried.
The wind called, and the anguish so dense it could be cut with a butter knife.
I refused to let him have all the glory this time – my greatsword was powered with exorcist sigils this time, and he took care of the shielder while I took care of the greataxe. This time, when the dust settled, we stared at each other across the battlefield. He was panting hard.
“Who… are you…” he growled between heavy breaths of air.
“The name’s Goldet,” I sheathed my greatsword and smiled at him, “Lady Ningguang sent me, I’m sure you’ve heard.”
He tsked at me. “You mortals should not interfere, lest you get hurt.”
“Hey now, I’m pretty sure I held my own this time,” I laughed.
“Tell the Tianquan I appreciate her offer,” he said, “But-”
And before he could finish his sentence, he buckled to his knees, agonizing groans from what the Lady later told me was eons of karmic debt taking a toll on him.
I took one step forward, and he buckled backwards.
“Don’t. I do not require the pity of mortals!” he spat, his mask now lopsided. Behind it was not a face I was expecting. He was young, so young. His mouth spat out the vehemence of several centuries of suffering, but his amber eyes… they were the eyes of a teenager, maybe?
I took one more step forward. He pushed himself back, anger and pain in his eyes. He cowered to his feet and before I knew it, he was gone again.
It was yet another moonlit night, yet the rain accompanied to alter the atmosphere entirely. Lady Ningguang had informed me more of the young boy that was the pique of her interest.
“He is the Vigilant Yaksha. His name according to our records is Xiao.” My Lady’s words rang in my ears every time I saw the moon rise. It had been several moonfalls since I had last heard any news of the young adeptus’s presence in Dihua Marsh.
“Where are you, oh Vigilant Yaksha?” I mumbled under my breath, just soft enough for myself to hear.
The Inn’s building progress was quickly pacening. The road in front had been paved, silk flower bushes freshly planted, ready to blossom.
Hehehe…
I quickly spun around, hearing what I thought was the giggle of a child.
There was nobody there, obviously. It was the dead of night, and the inn wasn’t even fully functional. Where would a child come from?
I turned back around, gazing over the view from the roof of the inn under construction. The view was a site to be seen alright. I sighed, and just as I was about to head downstairs to sleep, I heard it again. The giggle of a child.
I grasped my emergency sigil from my robe, unsure of what to expect, but prepared nonetheless. “Show yourself!”
And she did. It was a young girl’s spirit, and she appeared right in front of me just as fast as she disappeared moments later. I ran to the railing of the staircase and gazed below, and surely enough she was at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. She beckoned me with a smile and then ran off, out the front door to the inn.
It took me a few moments – or maybe a few… – to get to the bottom of the spiral staircase. I looked around frantically in my night robe, and just when I thought nobody was there, in a spot I was sure I had already checked, was a young girl, with braided hair and a petite little Liyue dress. Also, she was a ghost.
I was about to retrieve my sigil from my robe sleeve again, when she said “w-wait! I mean no harm! I’m here to help!”
“Help?” I said, tilting my head, “with what?”
She pointed over behind me. In the distance, I saw the Vigilant Yaksha propping himself with his spear as a walking stick, mask lopsided, what seemed like blood of the blackest shade covering his body.
“Brother Xiao…” the little girl said, still behind me. I turned momentarily, and she was gone. I looked back through the open doors of the inn, and the Vigilant Yaksha was now in a fetal position on the ground, twitching ever so slightly in the rain. I wasted not a moment, and ran to him. My emergency sigil cleared him of some of his karmic debt, just enough to keep him conscious.
“Who… are you…?” He mumbled, his eyes glazed over.
“Please do not worry, young master,” I said, scooping him up into my arms after the healing ritual had been completed. He was lighter than he looked, almost frail. “I am here to help.”
We kept him in the rooftop suite, and he lay there cowering and groaning in pain for several days. He refused visitors, and only the young ghost girl seemed to be able to go in and out of his room without any hesitation from the Vigilant Yaksha’s side. Anyone else was met with screams of his voice and other souls in unison, a terrifying combination.
He did not eat. He did not sleep. There was nothing but anguish and suffering coming from that room.
“Dear, you have not eaten for a while, can I ask the new chef to fix you some breakfast?” Huai’an said, caressing my shoulders. I placed one of my hands on his and shook my head. His muffled groans and cries were all I could think of.
“You cannot help him if you do not have energy,” my husband was right in a sense, but how could someone so young, be so full of pain? I did not understand it. I’m sure if Huai’an knew the whole tale he would be able to explain it to me better. But in what world did this poor, young boy need to suffer this much in pain? I couldn’t tell Huai’an, boss’s orders.
But the Yaksha… was just a young man. Just a boy…
After six days and seven nights, the ghost girl, Dusky Ming as she had introduced herself, said that “Brother Xiao” was finally getting some sleep. We could check up on him now, without worries of him waking up and feeling panicked.
I nudged open the door, and the cloth on the bed was stained with black streaks. Upon closer examination, it was not blood, but it was not a worldly substance either. Dusky Ming told me this was the culmination of karmic debt, seeping out of Xiao’s wounds, killing him from the inside out.
My heart panged with sadness when I heard this.
“Is he truly asleep?”
“Yep,” Dusky Ming said, swinging her legs from a seat within the suite, “he’s out cold.”
I did not hesitate, and got to work immediately. I changed the sheets and checked his temperature, he was feverish with a cold sweat. His wounds were festering. I prepared sigil after sigil, healing ritual after ritual, washed his face with cold water and placed an ice slime pack onto his forehead.
He mumbled in his sleep often.
“Morax…” he heaved and coughed in his fervent state of mind, the first word he spoke since he calmed down and went nearly dormant. He clutched the sheets tighter and curled up a little closer, despite the summer’s heat beginning to set in.
I crossed my arms and bit my lip in worry.
“Dear…” Huai’an said, peeking through the door. I shot him a worried glare, he was not supposed to enter this room without express permission of the Tianquan. Yet, my tired body could not protest, and I realized he sensed that.
“I brought you some food, you have not eaten in a day or more,” he said, worry woven with love into his voice. He kissed the top of my head, left the tray in my lap, and quietly exited the room.
I sighed. I lifted the dish cover, and it was a comfort food of mine, a Liyue dish called Almond Tofu. I scooped up a spoonful, yet before I could take the bite, the Vigilant Yaksha stirred.
I braced myself prepared to get another round of healing rituals started, but he simply stared absently in the direction of the dish, the Almond Tofu, his eyes still glazed over, and mumbled, “smells… like dreams…” and his eyes flickered a bit before he dozed off again.
I looked at Dusky Ming, and she shrugged in a “I have no idea” sort of way.
Do Yakshas eat human food? I thought to myself. Hesitantly, I brought the spoonful to his lips, and he sniffed it, his eyes still glazed, and slowly took the food. He had a winced expression on his face, but it eventually turned soft, his eyebrows relaxed and so did his shoulders. His eyes were yet still glazed over, but he absent mindedly ate the entire serving of Almond Tofu.
We tried giving him other foods, but mostly he would take a few bites, and mumble “Dreams…” before slowly turning the other way. It became a habit – exorcism sigils, healing ritual, almond tofu, repeat. We spaced it out over more time to make sure he would not get sick of eating it. The body, be it human or illuminated beast, requires nourishment, and this was the best we could give him at the time.
It was another morning, and we were in the kitchen of the newly completed Wangshu Inn. The chef we had was superb, and Huai’an had convinced me to eat a proper meal.
After breakfast, Dusky Ming let me know that the Vigilant Yaksha had somewhat awoken. I bolted upstairs faster than I thought humanly possible, simply to check upon the young master. Yet there he stood, at the top of the stairs, in the doorway's frame, wrapped in a fresh bed sheet I had changed not long ago. His expression was soft, yet tired. Almost like a child awoken from a nap.
"Good morning young master," I said softly, careful to not startle him. He winced a bit anyway, and wrapped the bedsheet closer around him. He mumbled something, and I could not hear it.
"Pardon, young master?" I asked, genuinely unable to hear him. "thankyouverymuch" he said in one fell swoop of a breath. I couldn't help but feel warm inside.
"Would you care to join us for breakfast…?" I suggested, unsure if he would agree, but taking my shot at it regardless.
"I would," he said, clearing his throat, slowly growing back to his former stature, "but I have two questions."
"Please go on, young master."
"One, what is your name?"
"Call me Verr Goldet for now." I smiled.
"Two…" he paused, almost slipping back into his sleepy composure, "can you please call me Xiao?"
A warmth spread that I had not felt in me in a long time.
"Alright, Xiao, are you ready for breakfast?"