Genshin Impact, I'm Slime

The area around Yiyan Palace was unusually quiet, or rather, there was an invisible barrier of silence surrounding Heuria, who was under close surveillance.

She leaned alone against the stone railing, looking down at the bustling Liyue Harbor. Her elegant figure appeared even more lonely against the backdrop of the noisy scene.

The footsteps of the traveler and Paimon grew closer.

Almost the instant the footsteps sounded, Heureia gracefully turned around.

In fact, the moment the Traveler met Night Orchid and the Geo elemental force appeared like a spark, Heureia had already sensed that unique and familiar elemental fluctuation, like a gentle breeze across a lake.

Although the power of the demon god has vanished like quicksand, that keen perception rooted in the ages remains like a sleeping mark, never truly dying out.

When Heureia's gaze finally clearly took in that blond figure, the memories from the Golden House instantly resurfaced.

The traveler from afar, who once stood beside the radiant light of the star Tianquan, with clear eyes and a resolute posture, now overlapped perfectly with the person before him.

The traveler abruptly stopped in his tracks the moment he saw Heureia's face, his boots scraping against the stone slabs beneath his feet with a barely audible sound.

The salt demon before me was in a state of shocking decay.

The backlash from losing power was like the cruelest carving knife, leaving indelible marks on her body, a stark contrast to Zhongli's composed and dignified state after she detached herself from the divine heart.

Salt Mother's movements were sluggish, as if every tiny turn required a great deal of effort. Her weakness and slowness made her seem like an old woman whose life was on the verge of being extinguished.

Heureia was fully aware of her current state.

Faced with the undisguised shock, pity, and even a hint of helpless inquiry in the travelers' eyes, she did not feel offended. Her eyes, which once held the power of the salt sea, were now filled with only a gentle calm.

Heuria forced a smile, a smile that reflected her understanding of her situation and carried a faint, almost imperceptible self-deprecation, which strangely made her gentleness appear even more pure, like the first snow covering bare branches.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the renowned traveler."

Heureia's voice rang out, her tone gentle and melodious, unlike anything of this era. Every syllable was imbued with an ancient rhythm, more elegant and composed than the common language of Teyvat today.

"Hello, Miss Heuria."

The traveler composed himself, trying to suppress the shock in his heart, his voice still carrying a hint of barely perceptible unease.

Paimon, who is usually lively and outgoing, only waved his little hand timidly in the direction of Heuria, then quickly put his hands behind his back, his small body slightly shrunken, showing a rare restraint and helplessness.

Before this weakened Salt Demon, both seasoned travelers and fearless Paimon felt an invisible pressure.

They can chat and laugh in front of Zhongli, joke with Famas, and even dare to tease Wendy to her face as a drunken poet, but when facing Heureia... the calm aura surrounding her is completely different from Morax's majesty, Halpas's straightforwardness, and Barbatos's casualness.

Heureia retains a more pure, lingering charm from the era of demons.

A compassion that grows ever more tender with the passage of time, a divine essence that cannot be erased even when power is lost.

Gentleness, compassion, and a divinity that is out of step with the mundane world.

She is more like a god than Famas, Zhongli, and Wendy.

Heureia, however, was perfectly clear-headed. She understood her situation perfectly well and instantly realized why the traveler had appeared there.

It was simply that the watcher lurking in the shadows added a touch of human voice to her otherwise tedious exercise time.

Heureia didn't let the silence, born of a mixture of awe and unfamiliarity, last long. Her lips, carrying an eternally gentle smile, parted slightly, and she steered the conversation towards the safest and most innocuous topic:
"Today the sky is as clear as a mirror polished from salt crystals, without a speck of dust."

"Look at the bustling crowds on the dock, it's so vibrant..." "The houses in Liyue Harbor, built against the mountain and staggered in layers, cast interlaced shadows under the sunlight, which has a unique and tranquil charm."

Heureia's soft whispers flowed on the wind.

The traveler simply nodded silently, his gaze following her words, while Paimon, like a restless little sparrow, paced anxiously around the traveler's clothes.

"Speaking of which..."

Heureia paused for a moment.

Her gaze finally returned from the distance, slowly landing on a small cluster of quietly blooming glass lilies in the corner of the Yiyan Palace square. A trace of elusive reminiscence settled in her eyes, as if it had traveled through a thousand years of dust.

Only now did a slight ripple appear in her usually gentle and calm voice.

"The fragrance of the glass lily seems to have embraced this land even earlier than I remember."

Heureia's fingertips twitched slightly, almost unconsciously, as if she were imagining touching the delicate petals, but froze at the last moment before she could make contact.

"Having witnessed the transformation of Guili Plain into the scorched wasteland it is today, I once thought that the splendor of the glass lily had vanished from this land."

Her voice lowered, carrying a dull pain buried deep beneath the passage of time.

"I never imagined that this fragile flower would have such a tenacious vitality, just like those little people in the Dust King's territory."

The traveler still didn't know how to start a conversation. She had just taken the initiative to chat with Heuria, but now she was just listening to the Salt Mother's ramblings.

It wasn't until Heureia turned her gentle gaze to her and asked softly, "Traveler, how has your journey been lately? Have you encountered any delightful or interesting things?"

The conversation finally turned to a topic she was familiar with, and the traveler breathed a slight sigh of relief. After a moment's thought, he began to describe his travel experiences to Heureia.

Paimon seemed to have finally broken free of an invisible constraint, excitedly stepping forward and chattering on with details, echoing the traveler's words.

Heureia didn't interrupt, but listened quietly, a gentle smile always on her lips, occasionally nodding slightly in approval.

This attentive listening and gentle affirmation made Paimon, who had initially been showing off, gradually feel embarrassed, and his voice became a little softer.

In the lighthearted narration and Paimon's occasional witty remarks, the breathtaking divine pressure surrounding Heureia seemed to fade away, and the traveler gained courage in this gradually relaxing atmosphere.

She took a deep breath, her voice unconsciously lowered, carrying a hint of cautious probing:

“Miss Heuria, Mr. Zhongli and I have visited the Salt of the Earth.”

“There, we saw some… uh, some ruins…”

The words "salt pillar" almost escaped his lips, but the image of that cold, solidified, endless suffering flashed through his mind. The traveler stopped abruptly, regretting his rash words. What a cruel reminder this must have been for Heuria.

Are you referring to those salt statues?

Heureia's voice rang out calmly. She spoke the heavy word for the traveler, her tone devoid of emotion, only conveying an almost transparent understanding.

The traveler was startled, and silence filled the three-person room, leaving only the faint clamor outside the Yiyan Hall.

Heureia's frankness only made it harder for her to ask the next question. Time seemed to stand still for a few moments before the traveler finally made up her mind, raised her eyes, and looked directly into Heureia's eyes, which held the weight of the ancient salt sea:
“Miss Heureya, Mr. Zhongli once told me about your past with that ‘King of Men’ of the Salt Land.”

The girl's voice trembled slightly as she asked the question that had been lingering in her heart for so long:
"I want to know, do you...hate him?" (End of Chapter)