Genshin Impact: Starting Guide - End of the World Qi Bao

Aponia spoke slowly.

"I can't hide anything from you now, Mr. Juexi. Recently, many people around the sanatorium have been inexplicably infected with Honkai disease. What do you think about that?"

"I don't know the reason either, Aponia. But are you worried that the children will be infected with the Honkai again?"

Aponya nodded.

Juexi didn't know what to say. Your lovely children were about to be wiped out, and she couldn't just say it directly.

Jue Xi comforted him.

"It's alright, Aponia. If the children get infected with Honkai again, I'm here for you."

Aponia rarely showed such excitement.

"Mr. Juexi, you have done so much for the children, how can I possibly thank you?"

Jue Xi quickly waved his hand. Although he did have a slight desire for Aponia's body, he still wanted to remain chaste for Qi Bao.

"No need, we're all family. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Aponia made a surprising statement.

"Does Mr. Juexi prefer the girl Padofelis?"

"Huh? Aponia, you know Paddo?"

"I wouldn't say we know each other. According to her, she once came to the sanatorium to buy goods, but I caught her."

Jue Xi scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, recalling a scene where Aponia was about to get angry when Pado suddenly knelt down...

Aponia continued calmly.

"If Mr. Juexi likes it, I will..."

This time, Juexi didn't wait for Aponia to finish speaking before interrupting her, looking embarrassed.

"Wait, wait. Pado and I are just friends, or you could say superior and subordinate. I'm her boss. I have a girlfriend, Aponia. Thank you for your concern."

"I see. Well then, Mr. Juexi, I'm sorry."

"it's okay no problem."

Jue Xi hurriedly left the sanatorium. Before leaving, she seemed to hear something: the children were saying they wanted to prepare a gift for Qian Jie...

After Juexi left, Aponia surprisingly went outside to clear her head. Suddenly, she saw a pink-haired girl and instinctively called out to her, trying to warn her to be careful. But Aponia saw her 'fate'...

The girl looked at Aponia, and the two stared at each other in silence. Aponia thought to herself that the girl's fate was surely not that of an ordinary person, and that she was no longer someone she needed to worry about. So Aponia turned and left. The pink-haired girl also gave Aponia a meaningful look before leaving as if nothing had happened.

......

That evening, Juexi arrived at Pado's place. Pado unexpectedly did not return on time, so Juexi took on the responsibility of feeding the cat for her. Until late at night, Juexi impatiently petted the cat and complained.

"No, is it true that Pado's skills have deteriorated because she hasn't been able to restock for too long? Should I go and save her?"

Just as Juexi finished complaining, she saw Pado carrying a strange long strip back home.

"So you finally decided to come back? What did you steal? Why are you coming back so late?"

Pado took off her hood and gestured with her finger to be quiet.

"Shh~"

Jue Xi interrupted impatiently.

"What's with the shh? You're already home, and I'm still here. What are you afraid of? Let me see what you're carrying."

Pado unwrapped the long strip of black cloth and said with some pride.

"Boss, you have no idea, we found something really good today. My intuition tells me this treasure is definitely something special. Boss, do you remember we mentioned a bunch of strange people coming here?"

"I remember, so what?"

"I think I met their boss today. The terrifying aura she exuded scared me to death. I dare say she must have killed a lot of people."

Jue Xi felt increasingly uneasy. Could this guy have stolen Sakura? She vaguely remembered something like that: Sakura came to Twilight Street on a mission, but her sword was stolen by Pado. Could it be this time? So fast.

Just as Juexi was lost in thought, the long strip revealed its true form. Juexi had thought it was impressive that Pado could steal Sakura's dagger, but it turned out she stole the Key of God?!

"Super! Seven Thunderbolts of Purification!"

Pado looked smug.

"How about it? How about it? Isn't it a treasure? My intuition is usually very accurate; this one looks valuable."

Jue Xi was somewhat speechless as she slowly explained to Pa Duo.

“Pado, you probably don’t understand the importance of this. If Sakura realizes you’ve stolen it, you might lose your head tomorrow. This knife is like a missile, no, this knife is even more strategically significant than a missile. It’s a weapon made from the Herrscher Core of the Third Herrscher, called the Divine Key. There’s only one in the whole world. And Sakura is a top-tier assassin.”

Although Pado didn't quite understand what was going on—the strategic significance, the Herrscher, the Divine Key—she understood that this would cost her her head, and the last sentence about Sakura being an assassin...

Therefore, after a mere 0.001 seconds to react, Pado immediately knelt down and tightly hugged Juexi's leg.

"Boss! You can't just leave me to die! I already said I wasn't going out, I was going to stay home obediently. You insist on making me go out to buy supplies, I haven't had enough of living yet, boss!"

Jue Xi pushed Pado's head with both hands.

"Let go, stop hugging me."

"No, right? Boss, you know that pink-haired assassin, right? Sakura?"

"Yes, let go. It's okay, we know each other."

Pado only let go after hearing this.

"You should have said so earlier, boss. It's good that you two know each other. No wonder I felt that you two had a similar aura."

Jue Xi wanted to tease Pa Duo because of her appearance.

"Yes, we know each other. I defected from the organization, and she's here to kill me."

Pado paused for a few seconds, then her mind raced.

"Hmph, boss, you can't fool me. She's definitely not as good as you."

"How did you know?"

Pado said with a touch of pride.

"She doesn't have the same intimidating aura as you, boss."

Jue Xi was too lazy to investigate any further; he had a feeling that something was about to happen. Why did he have this vague sense of unease?

......

The sanatorium was completely silent at this time.

The long corridor was eerily quiet, with the faint sound of liquid flowing. The girl was there today to carry out the "cleanup" task assigned to her by her superiors. Although most of them had never committed any evil deeds, Sakura had no choice but to do so.

Finally, the corridor seemed unusually long, and the girl entered the room at the end of it. The room was empty.

"It seems the mission is over."

The girl finished speaking with a hint of sadness. These children were about the same age as her sister, but faced with Lina's incurable illness, she could only choose to bear the burden of sin. The girl habitually placed some small blue flowers down and prepared to leave.

"why?"

A sudden male voice broke the silence of the corridor, its deep tone jarring. It sounded as if the voice was questioning the girl, calm yet laced with barely concealed rage. The girl jumped in surprise, turning to see a man.

A man sat cross-legged in the shadows of the room, wearing a poorly made and childish mask. But the mask seemed unable to change the face distorted by extreme anger.

Sakura wondered, was he just there? He was clearly a living, breathing person, so why didn't she see him at first glance? She sensed the aura emanating from the man... it didn't have any human aura at all, it was more like, a wild beast?

"Why? Because of women."

The man's voice sounded again.

"They are infected with Honkai, and are the only source of infection in this area. Although their own Honkai has been cured in an unknown way, people who come into contact with them will still be infected. Only in this way can more people survive."

Qian Jie remained silent.

Sakura paused for a moment before asking.

"...Who are those people outside to you?"

Qianjie remained silent, turning his head to gaze out the window. It was raining, a torrential downpour. It seemed as if the heavens wanted to quickly cleanse something.

"boom!"

A bolt of lightning illuminated Qianjie's mask and the sword in Ying's hand.

In that instant, the man made his move. Though swift, it was the 'Fusion Warrior' Sakura.

"sorry."

After apologizing, Sakura drew her katana.

......

Just twenty-eight seconds later, Sakura's katana pierced through Senju's powerful heart. Senju lost, but even though he lost the ability to fight, his heart was still beating.

This sanatorium, once filled with beautiful and warm memories, was reduced to ruins because of the two's battle...

Thousand Tribulations (left) and Cherry Blossom (right)

......

When Sakura returned to the inn to retrieve the Divine Key, she sneezed a few times, but she didn't pay much attention to it, thinking she might have caught a cold. At that time, she didn't know she was allergic to cat fur... Pado secretly put the Divine Key back.

The next day, Juexi looked at the ruins and understood what had happened the night before. Juexi let out a long sigh.

"It's time to move to a different place."

......

Aponia and Qianjie were taken back to the Firemoth by Sakura. The two were interrogated separately. As expected, Qianjie didn't say anything and just kept cursing.

Aponia remained silent, refusing to discuss why the children had suddenly recovered from the Honkai. She simply wanted to know: Were there any survivors among the residents of the sanatorium?

Sakura replied.

“Aponia, sometimes, concealment is not deception, but another form of protection.”

Aponia looked at Sakura and said calmly.

"I understand. Sakura, your name is Sakura, right? If I had called out to you on Twilight Street back then, would our fates have been different?"

"A fallen flower cannot return to its branch. Such a hypothesis is meaningless, and I cannot give you an answer, but perhaps the person who can give you the answer has arrived."