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qingyun’s peak was the perfect place to view all of liyue above the clouds and watch as the stars gathered into their constellations in the night sky. it was far enough away from the false light that shone from the harbor while still being close enough to jueyun karst that none would dare to disturb its serene atmosphere.
amidst the clouds and the stars that hung in the sky above, one figure sat at the peak with their legs dangling off the edge as they hummed a soft tune to themselves.
“xiao? what are you doing out here so late?” paimon enthusiastically flew out from behind the traveler’s frame, “on the hunt for demons?”
xiao didn’t turn to acknowledge them, continuing to stare up at the night sky, “not tonight.”
paimon sent the traveler a quizzical glance before asking, “why not? are there not any out tonight?”
the adepti shook his head, “no, it’s not that. it’s just-” he sighed to himself, “today’s different.”
“how come?” the traveler puzzled, hoping that xiao might decide to open up a little bit. it wasn’t like him to be, well, still . he was always a busy adepti, never having a moment to spend on himself.
he finally turned to meet their gaze rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, “it’s uh-it’s a long story.”
the traveler moved to sit next to xiao, swinging their legs to hang off the cliffside beside his, “we’ve got some time before we leave for sumeru in the morning.”
ever the curious one, paimon was quick to interject as well, her voice growing louder by the second, “yeah! paimon loves stories!”
with a shake of his head, he relented, “alright, alright.” he then leaned back, resting his weight on his palms to get comfortable before he began, “what do you know about the gods of liyue before the archon war?”
the traveler started to answer, but their companion beat them to it with her hand raised high in the air as if this were a school lesson, “ooo paimon knows! the gods of liyue worked together for each of their people. they worked in harmony to protect and to guide their people to have good, long lives.”
xiao nodded, returning his gaze to the stars above as he continued, “right. among the various gods of liyue was the goddess of song. unlike the other deities of her time, she did not have a people so to speak. instead, she used her talents and abilities to unite the peoples of liyue through music. bards all the way in mondstadt were inspired by her beautiful songs and enchanting lyrics, and individuals would come from as far as natalan just to hear her sing.” perhaps he was simply lost in the story himself, but under his breath, just loud enough for the traveler to hear he breathed the words, “she was truly spectacular.
despite her love for song and dance, performing in front of a crowd always seemed to be a daunting task for her, so for a few weeks of the year, she’d escape to the mountains of jueyun karst to simply get away from it all. she’d sing from the highest mountain top of qingyun and her voice would carry through the wind down to where the first adepti abode.
oftentimes while i was out training, i could hear her voice, singing from the top of mount qingyun . while at first i thought it to be a distraction and a nuisance, i eventually came to enjoy the new melodies and harmonies that would drift down to the valleys below.
one night particular night, i heard her singing from the mountain when i noticed her voice seemed to waver, as if she were crying, as if the only song she was able to sing was that of a longing songbird searching for its lost mate. it pained my heart to hear, but i was convinced that it was not a song meant for my own ears as i had never once found the courage to speak to her on my own. in fact, out of all the yakshas, only bosacious approached her a time or two while she visited the mount, but he had returned with a telling frown that ultimately signified his heartbroken rejection, but that’s a story for another time.” he brushed off a beetle that had climbed onto his shoulder pad and returned to his story, “it wasn’t until i heard her voice singing the same lonely tune the following night that i found myself wanting to reach out to her. i couldn’t explain why, but her songs seemed to have that feeling that i myself had known all too well, of loss and of despair. looking back, perhaps i had only meant to comfort her, but on the third night of her melancholic song, i sang the melody of her tune back to her, soft and low as i had neither the confidence nor the skill to match her beautiful tones that rang from the mountain’s peak.”
paimon shot into the air, holding her hands in a ‘t’ symbol to call for a timeout, “you mean to tell paimon that you can sing?!” she then folded her arms and stomped at the air, “how come paimon has never heard of this?!”
he chuckled gently at her exclamation, “hmm, it’s not something many people know. in fact, only the adepti themselves retain this knowledge, except for you two of course.”
paimon continued to pout as the traveler laughed, attempting to console the poor, floating child.
before returning to the story, he hid a brief smile at the two companions that he had made, wondering how much his goddess would have wished to meet them, “to this day i’m not sure how she heard me, but she did. she paused to listen, patiently waiting for me to finish before testing out a new melody, which i sang back to her as well. it must have frightened her, because she immediately stopped singing and did not return to the mountains for some time. in fact, i found myself missing her soothing voice that i had grown accustomed to over time. without it, the valley felt,” he paused, “empty. however, around the same time, there appeared to be someone who would come to the mountains and simply sit on the edge to watch the stars, never speaking and never paying any mind to the adepti as they would come and go. while i thought this stranger might be just another foolish human who had wandered too far into adepti territory, i posted myself just out of sight, watching from a distance to see if i could ascertain her intentions. she could have chosen to watch the stars from anywhere in all of teyvat, but she had chosen jueyun karst of all places, and i wanted to know why.
after about a week or so of watching her each night, i unintentionally revealed myself to her after i broke a tree branch while walking to my usual place in the brush behind her. strangely enough, she didn’t seemed startled in the slightest, simply looking back to where i was positioned with a rather amused smile as she playfully remarked, “finally decided to join me?” i was completely caught off guard by her statement, but i nodded nevertheless, moving to sit next to her despite the awkwardness of the situation. for a few moments we sat in total silence, simply observing the surroundings and the stars above before she turned to speak, “i know you’ve been watching me for some time now, but why haven’t you driven me off yet? why? is this not the sacred place of the adepti?”
truth be told, i didn’t have an answer. i had meant to do so, every night in fact, but whenever i would try to gather the courage to confront her, i found myself hanging back, still curious as to why she would visit the mountain every night, but unable to summon the courage required to speak to her. instead of answering her question, i finally asked a burning question of my own, “why do you come out here each night?”
her eyes lit up in a soft smile, “oh, i’m waiting for someone.”
i had simply scoffed, telling her that she wouldn’t find anyone all the way out there, that whoever it was she was searching for was a lost cause, but she shook her head and said, “it may sound quite silly, but i often come out here to craft new melodies and get away from the busy life of liyue. it’s a nice change in pace every now and then.” she sighed to herself before continuing, her face falling just a bit, “truthfully, i came out here to sing as i usually do one night when i heard someone reply. he sang my own song back to me, softly and gently as if he were unsure of his own voice yet it was full of understanding. now that i think about it, i suppose i should have tried to find him instead of running off, but i was so surprised i didn’t know how to react. i’ve yet to find him since that night, so i come out here each night in the hopes that i might hear his voice and find the boy who sang with me that night. foolish, right?” 
by the time she finished, i realized that i was in the presence of the goddess of song. i wasn’t sure what to do. i couldn’t reveal myself as the boy she was searching for, but looking back, perhaps she knew all along, because for the first time since she had supposedly disappeared, she had started to sing again. it was the same melody as before, but with new words that spoke of hope and of sweet longing that filled the air. when she was finished, she returned to looking at the stars. she waited patiently for a voice to relay the tune back to her, but after she received no reply, she bid me farewell and returned to her own home. she thanked me for the company and left without another word.
that night began a cycle of long nights spent together staring up at the stars as i listened to her sing while i would mend the day’s wounds or rest on the soft ground beside her. however, one night she didn’t show up. knowing her status as a goddess and as a renowned singer, i wasn’t concerned, but then two nights turned to three and into four until over a week had passed without so much as a letter from her. i hadn’t wanted to admit it at the time, but i was growing worried about the goddess of song. on the eighth night of her disappearance, i left jueyun karst to search for her, singing the song i had once sang to her before in the hopes she might find her way back to me, or i to her.
when i did find her, she was injured on the path to jueyun karst, just beyond cuijue slope. while the scene was unclear, i have always believed it was a fellow god in their jealously that struck her down and left her to die off the beaten path. i tried my best to heal her, but adeptal power can only repair so much. from the pained expression that she tried to keep hidden for my sake and the slowing breaths she was beginning to take, it was clear she was beyond saving. even so, i did the only thing i could to soothe her pain. i sang to her, holding both of her hands in one of mine as i sunk my polearm into her chest and watched as the light instantly faded from her eyes.”
“you killed her?!” paimon exclaimed, unable to keep her thoughts at bay, “why?!”
xiao scoffed, knowing she would overreact, “i wouldn’t expect either of you to understand, but she’d been suffering in agony for days on end. gods and goddesses do not die as quickly as humans or even adepti, and her suffering had become beyond unbearable. while it may sound cruel to mere mortals, i provided a swift and honorable death, just as any god or adeptus would have wished for.”
paimon furrowed her brows as she scratched her head at the yaksha’s story, “that still doesn’t explain why today’s different of all days though.”
“no?” he mused before shrugging lightly, “well, today marks the day of her passing and the start of the Archon War. i take this day each year to remember her and all of those i lost in the war.”
before their companion could interrupt, the traveler gave the grieving adeptus a soft smile and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “i see. it sounds like she was a lovely person, xiao.”
“she was.” he huffed to himself, “i’d give nearly anything to hear her voice one last time.” looking back to the scene of the valley below, he seemed to be lost in thought.
paimon broke the silence before it could grow too long, “paimon’s curious. what did the song sound like?”
instantly, xiao responded, “i’m afraid i don’t remember its entirety. even so, i could never do it justice.”
while his answer was quick and telling of his hidden truth, the traveler decided it would be better not to pry. perhaps the yaksha should be allowed to keep a secret for himself. instead, they rose to their feet and started to say their farewell, “we should be heading back to liyue. we wanted to say goodbye before we left.”
xiao’s eyes grew wide for a moment and his mouth opened to share something, but he quickly decided against it, turning his head away bashfully, “goodbye traveler, and be careful.”
the traveler nodded, “we will. take care, xiao.”
when the traveler and their companion were out of sight, xiao sighed to himself before rising to his feet. he walked to the edge, as he had seen you do many times, and with a deep breath, he started to sing. after so long, the words were lost to time, but the melody never left his memory. his voice wavered with unrelenting grief and longing, but he continued still. if anyone were to hear him, they would hear nothing but a bird’s call from afar.
as the song came to an end, his voice carried along the breeze that blew across jueyun karst. it rang through the trees, drifting down the mountains to the valley below, and echoed off the mountaintops. centuries had gone by since she had been slain, but the song of his goddess would forever live in his heart, even if his voice was the only one left to sing it.