Genshin Impact, I'm Slime

Ningguang tapped the pipe lightly on the desk with her fingertips, and a few dark red sparks immediately flew up from the celadon ashtray.

She lowered her eyes and gazed at the rising smoke, her calm words like a block of ice thrown into the silent study.

"W-what?! Bones...ashes?!"

Paimon's scream nearly lifted the roof beams. She shuddered violently, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints in her wide-open eyes. Her body jerked backward as if electrocuted, nearly knocking over a teacup on the table in her panic.

The traveler helped Paimon, who was staggering, his knuckles turning slightly white from the effort.

The study fell silent instantly, so quiet that the soft sound of ashes collapsing in the incense burner could be heard. The girl's voice seemed to come from a great distance: "Whose ashes are these...?"

"Ning Lan, former head of the Yinyuan Hall."

Ningguang placed her pipe on the gilded stand, the smoke weaving a hazy veil before her. Her fingertips lightly traced the fine cloud patterns on the sandalwood table, the dark red lacquer lines resembling dried blood under the candlelight.

“I think this name is not unfamiliar to you.”

A gust of wind suddenly swept past the window, rustling the documents on the desk. Ningguang got up and walked towards the antique shelf. The hem of her cheongsam swept across the blue brick floor, and the jade pendant at her waist made a clear, cold clinking sound.

"You should remember that when the Golden House Rebellion occurred, I accepted the authority of the Salt Demon God Heuria and promised her to protect Ninglan's life."

Ningguang had her back to the two of them, and her voice was like an undercurrent beneath the ice, carrying the crispness of jade striking jade.

"Therefore, the final verdict for Ning Lan is to exile her to the abandoned mine tunnels at the bottom of the Layered Rock Abyss, and she will never be pardoned unless the Seven Stars jointly recommend her."

The traveler clutched the edge of Paimon's cloak, the fabric crumpling in her palm.

Although her journey had not yet reached the Abyss, the rumors circulating in the port about the Abyss mining area were already alarming enough.

A bottomless mine, a lingering stench, and unknown entities lurking in the darkness.

Throwing a once respectable woman into such an abyss, isolating her from the world and condemning her to never see the light of day again, is probably a more suffocating punishment than death. Moreover, Ning Lan has already lost her divine eye, and even among the elite vanguard of the Fools, many have been left forever in that darkness.

Ningguang stood in front of the bookshelf, the golden tassels at her temples drawing a sharp arc in the lamplight, like a blade drawn from its sheath.

"On the day of her escort, Ning Lan was still in a daze."

Her gilded armor tapped lightly against the edge of the table, each crisp sound like a relentless countdown.

"The actions of the Silver Plains Hall have offended not only the Seven Stars of Liyue, but also many foreign forces that are secretly eyeing it."

"To ensure the journey goes smoothly, the escort operation is led by Yuhengxing himself with 300 elite Qianyan Army soldiers. Also being sent to the Layered Rock Abyss are 76 accomplices from Yinyuan Hall."

The traveler noticed that there seemed to be some dark powder clinging to the edge of the box, which fell off when the light was tapped on the table.

Ningguang pulled open a hidden compartment on the display shelf, took out two items, and placed them on the table.

One of them is a square-shaped rock-type God's Eye, its light completely extinguished, leaving only a cold, stone-like surface. It was once Ninglan's symbol of power, but now it is nothing more than a heavy, stubborn rock.

The other item, completely sealed in a huge, pure, golden amber, is a salt ruler and salt cup, symbolizing the authority over salt.

Like frozen tears of time, amber eternally freezes the outline of the artifact and its last possible glimmer of light in hard, cold ice.

"How could Miss Ninglan...?"

Paimon's voice trembled noticeably as he stared at the square Eye of God bound with a black ribbon.

She seemed to have finally accepted the fact that Ning Lan had passed away. Her small body peeked out timidly from behind the traveler and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind.

Ningguang sighed softly and silently pulled out a sealed letter from the bottom of the urn containing snow-white ashes.

With a slight lift of his wrist, the letter flashed past the traveler's eyes in an instant. The dense text on it was not a language known to Teyvat, but some kind of coded pattern.

“Keqing’s message used the Seven Stars’ exclusive cipher.” Ningguang’s voice was calm as ever, yet it was like a pebble thrown into an ancient well, creating invisible ripples. “Let me briefly explain the details to you.”

Ningguang's gaze was fixed on a non-existent focal point in the void, as if he could see a horrific scene in the distance through the air. His voice was deep and clear as it unfolded:
Yesterday morning, the procession escorting Ninglan and the prisoners of Yinyuan Hall crossed the final boundary of Liyue territory, the last invisible barrier that the divine power of the Geo Archon could reach, namely the Great Abyss of the Rock.

The moment Keqing used the decree to open the Pan Key passage, a sudden change occurred! Without warning, wisps of white smoke began to emanate from the bodies of the prisoners, led by Ning Lan.

Initially subtle, like the steam rising in the sweltering heat of midsummer, yet carrying an unsettling, burnt smell.

Ke Qing's eyes flashed like lightning, her reaction swift; she instantly drew her sword and shouted:

"Alert! Prepare to defend against the enemy!"

The elite troops of the Thousand Rocks Army moved at the order, their gleaming weapons all pointing towards the center.

However, what awaited them was not the prison break or riot they had expected, but a deeper, more bizarre distortion from life itself.

Wearing shackles, Ning Lan let out a shrill, inhuman sob, curling up on the ground, her body convulsing violently.

Not only her, but all the prisoners in the Silver Plains Hall were as if they had been thrown into an invisible furnace. Their skin began to turn an abnormal red, and the temperature of the surrounding air rose wildly in a few breaths. Even the tiny pebbles on the ground were slightly hot, and the rising air distorted their vision.

"No! Everyone back off! Get away from them!"

Keqing's intuition rang like an alarm bell. She accurately sensed that it was not a force of resistance, but a destructive outburst from within. Although the Thousand Rock Army soldiers were alarmed, they remained calm and retreated swiftly like a tide, creating a huge isolation zone.

Soon, the wisps of white smoke suddenly intensified, and bright yellow flames burst forth from Ning Lan and the prisoners' bodies. Their flesh and blood instantly twisted, shrank, and sizzled in the flames!
"Quick! Put out the fire!"

Keqing's orders were urgent and clear. The soldiers did not hesitate. They poured water from their water bags and sand from the ground onto the humanoid torches. One of the Thousand Rock Army soldiers from Fontaine, who had some knowledge of water elemental magic, used all his strength to condense a clear and pure stream of water in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

The flames leaped eerily, with an almost arrogant stubbornness.

Water falls on it, instantly steaming up thick white vapor, but the flames only flicker slightly before burning even more fiercely; when sand is covered on it, it is instantly melted into a glass-like glaze by the high temperature, and the flames once again emerge from the gaps.

Even the clear stream that contained the essence of water was mostly evaporated by the eerie flames, as if what was burning was not matter, but some kind of curse, some kind of deeper rule.

Despair silently permeated the abyss, and the helpless crowd could only watch as the humanoid fireballs gradually withered and charred in a silent, tragic dance.

Even though Keqing and many of the Thousand Rock Army soldiers were veterans of countless battles, this terrifying scene was still deeply imprinted in the depths of their eyes.

Finally, the flames slowly died down, leaving only piles of exceptionally fine and pure white ashes that still radiated warmth. The wind blew, swirling up tiny particles, like untimely snow in winter.

In the final instant before Ning Lan was completely annihilated, her consciousness seemed to briefly return. From within the blazing flames came her brief, agonizing question, piercing the deathly silence:

"What... has ceased in the war?"

The sound abruptly stopped, as if the soul of the speaker had been completely consumed by the flames.

Keqing did try other methods; at the moment Ninglan screamed, purple lightning flashed on Keqing's Eye of God.

Holding a verdant longsword, Keqing attempted to use her lightning element to rush into the core of the flames, triggering an overload reaction and forcibly blasting a path to survival with a violent explosion.

However, the power contained within the flames was violent and chaotic. The lightning released by Keqing in her all-out effort exploded violently as soon as it came into contact with the golden-red flames, just like cold water being poured into boiling oil.

The out-of-control elemental turbulence suddenly backfired, and Ke Qing groaned as she was sent flying backward. Her entire right sleeve was charred and torn, revealing a patch of scorched red skin. The intense pain caused her to break out in a cold sweat instantly.

She was currently at the temporary camp in the Rocky Abyss, where the camp's medic was providing emergency treatment for her injuries.

After Ningguang finished speaking, a heavy silence fell over the room.

Tianquanxing closed the letter, his gaze sweeping over the urn and the dimmed Eye of God.

“An elite Thousand Rock Army soldier rode at breakneck speed, traveling day and night to bring back the news from the scene and this item to Liyue.”

Ningguang's voice finally took on a genuine heaviness.

"Keqing added a note in her letter, requesting my decision on the follow-up to this matter, while she remained in the Abyss of Laminaria to continue her investigation." (End of Chapter)