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“Cooking. A ridiculous talent that will not benefit you in any way.”
“I want to walk my own path, weave my own milestones, not proceed with something that I won’t appreciate!”
“There’s the problem. You think you have to like something to do it, but that is simply not the case! You-”
“I hate you!”
Such brash words coming from a placid girl such as you.
She froze at the cold but familiar voice in her head, the same voice she had been hearing for over a week.
“Guoba?”
I have waited long enough. You are but a placeholder I must use to battle my way back to the heavens.
“W-what? I thought you were my friend!”
Was. I enjoyed you for a while, but you are simply too boring for me.
<>
“WHAT?! He’s a GOD?” To say that she was surprised was an understatement. She was completely, utterly baffled.
The adeptus who stood before her shared a look with the golden haired traveler. “
Yes. He is the stove god. Is that information too hard to bear? If you would like to, I can bring him away to-” The traveler slapped a hand over Xiao’s mouth, shaking his head.
“No, no! Xiangling, he always seemed special, right?” Xianling rubbed her chin in deep speculation.
Uh, yes! A little, since I did see some golden light come off him when I picked him up from that hearth.”
“Hah? You saw golden light and you assumed…assumed that he was a normal housepet?!” Xiao, who was crossing his arms around his chest, rolled his eyes, making Xiangling giggle under her breath.
“Ah, traveler, don’t worry! Oh, I invented a new version of that sugared slime you made for the Tianquan! You wanna try some?”
The traveler pinched his nose and peered at Xiao, who was trying very hard to muffle his laugh. When the adeptus saw him, he immediately straightened and his face went back to its usual demeanor, aloof and sharp. “If you have gotten the information I provided, then the traveler and I have to get going to other businesses.”
The traveler chose that moment to wrap his arms around Xiao’s shoulders, giving Xiangling one last grin before whispering something to Xiao that made him blush and on another second, teleport away with the traveler still on his back.
Xiangling glanced at Guoba, who gave her an innocent stare. She laughed and scooped him up, giving him a warm embrace. “No matter who or what you are, you’ll always be my best friend, ‘kay?”
<>
“S-stop cooking? This is a dream and an existing love that I developed over ten years, how could you just say that?”
Her father, out of all the people in the world, is telling her to stop cooking. The literal owner of his own restaurant.
“Xiangling, this isn’t doing you any good. Cooking…I know Wanmin is an ambitious attempt-”
“It’s NOT an attempt! It’s family! How can you just decide that you hate cooking in a matter of days?”
“I will not keep discussing this issue with you.”
“Father!”
<>
“How could it be? Why would one give up so suddenly on their life’s work?” It was surely a good thing that her friends still supported her so much.
Xingqiu, Hu Tao, Chongyun, three unique souls who had their own paths marked out clearly.
Xingqiu, who had an entire clan under his future command, a Guhua master following in his father’s footsteps.
Hu Tao, after the entire fiasco last lantern rite, was clearly dedicated in her role as a funeral parlor. Xiangling had never seen anyone this poured into their work, let alone chase multiple poor adventurers into the dark woods just to hand them promotional posters.
Chongyun, an ambitional exorcist. Although he’d never seen an actual demon before, powerful Yang energy still ran through his veins.
“It’s fine, guys. I’m alright. I’ll find another way to keep doing what I’m good at, I’m sure of it!”
<>
Little girl, you do not understand the path you are treading on.
“Who is it?”
Nothing.
Xiangling whipped her head around just to find nothing in the damp, dark woods of Wuwang behind her.
“Hiii ‘Ling~” Hu Tao’s sultry tone came from behind her, two trinkets of Jueyun chillies hanging from one arm.
“Oh, Tao! Six of them, right? Oh, you got me those flies? Thank you so much! I’ve always wanted to try those hydro thingies.”
Hu Tao giggled, tipping her big hat in Xiangling’s direction. “Consider a favor from those delicious vegetable rolls you gave me!”
<>
Hm. Full of useless ideas.
“What are you? Why do you keep speaking in my ears? What is the purpose of it?” She was at her last straw.
Her father stood coldly at the door of the restaurant, holding a torch. A weird glow lit up anger and jealousy in his eyes.
“Father! No!”
A burst of flame.
Too strong even when she tried to control it with her pyro vision.
“No…no no no no..” The view in front of her…
Covered with ash, the smell of burning flesh invading her senses, burning flesh, burning flesh…
Her hands were somehow covered in cold blood. Cold blood. It was inhuman.
So she ran like she always did.
The voice of her companion followed her like a trailing fire, throwing sparks whenever it could.
<>
She was still running. She was sure that she had already passed the border of Liyue, but stopping was impossible right now.
Run all you want. You’ll never escape the hard truth. I have ascended back as a god, and the power of the abyss shall aid me!
A hill stood before her, and she ran up instinctively, tears blurring her sight.
The edge.
A beautiful, dreamy patch of land, blooming with fresh, non-native flowers, reds, blues, golds, greens, mixing to form a heavenly shade of red and yellow.
“Tethered to the hearth…” She muttered. Her senses were lowered, and everything around her whitened.
So she jumped. Into a small cutout of a dreamscape.
Say no less.
To her death.
A girl, who chased her dreams, reduced to nothing but a pile of limbs, flesh, and blood.
A girl who died smiling.
Quite the irony. Shame, I still wanted a taste of that vegetable roll…heh.