"Gnosis."
Kiyono Fugin said softly. He pondered for a moment and repeated, "You mean La Signora's purpose in going to Mondstadt is to seize the Anemo Archon's Gnosis... The so-called using the dragon disaster to pressure Mondstadt is just a front?"
"Mm."
Kunikuzushi calmly gave an affirmative hum.
This youth always wore a fox yokai mask. His deep purple bamboo hat covered his line of sight. He squinted slightly, gazing at the boy named 'Kiyono Fugin'.
"Mondstadt's Anemo Archon has been absent for a thousand years. How are they supposed to find her?"
"If you use your brain a little, you'll know that with Dvalin's incident, the Anemo Archon will surely return." Kunikuzushi said coldly.
He had checked the Pillar General's Order. It was genuine.
But this didn't mean he would acknowledge the boy in front of him.
Or rather, Kunikuzushi loathed all Inazuma people.
The only reason he appeared in Mondstadt was to fulfill an agreement.
"Did Dvalin go mad simply because Mondstadt forgot it, or because it was tainted by the poisonous dragon's blood?"
"Both. But the most important reason is that there's the hand of the [Abyss] in this matter."
Kunikuzushi said,
"This is all the information I know."
"As for what you plan to do, that's your business. If you die, it has nothing to do with me either."
Kunikuzushi patted the dust from his sleeves and slowly stood up. His ear-length short hair swayed. He said calmly, "I need to return to Snezhnaya. The Fatui will grow suspicious."
The situation in Mondstadt was complex and dangerous.
The maddened Dvalin might have God-tier combat power. That woman [La Signora] was also a lunatic. Plus the shadow of the Abyss. With all these factors piled together, Kunikuzushi didn't think Kiyono Fugin could handle it well.
But he had no intention of staying to help Kiyono. Exposing his identity was secondary. What Kunikuzushi detested was—he didn't want to help Inazuma people anymore, much less help that woman in Tenshukaku, his so-called [mother].
How did Kiyono Raimei die?
The Fatui's intelligence network was the best in the world. Even though Inazuma City was now in seclusion, they could still gather some information.
The great Pillar General, on a snowy night, went to the island alone. He eradicated all impurities on Yashiori Island and fought fiercely with Orobashi's remnant soul. After three days, he was no longer seen in the Pillar General's Mansion.
He just died like that.
And what about that so-called lofty Narukami?
What about those Inazuma people he protected?
They knew nothing. They could do nothing—they were hypocritical and full of lies. They clearly saw but pretended to be oblivious. They could have done something but allowed an old man to die.
Kunikuzushi loathed them, loathed everything. He even loathed Kiyono Raimei.
—To just die like this, breaking his promise. This was also a kind of betrayal.
After Kiyono Raimei's death, Kunikuzushi would have nothing to do with Inazuma. The puppet knew what he sought.
From now on, he would pursue what he lacked without any regard. He wanted a "heart".
A tender heart, a righteous heart, a kind heart... In his hundred years of wandering, he had seen countless people and countless hearts. The puppet, blank as paper, also wanted a heart.
Kiyono told him to become a true person, but Kunikuzushi no longer wanted to become human.
He loathed humans. His empty chest couldn't tolerate humans' base emotions. So Kunikuzushi clearly understood what kind of heart he needed—Gnosis.
"I see."
Kiyono Fugin blinked. "You're leaving?"
This Inazuma buddy's identity was really extraordinary, actually infiltrating the Fatui Harbingers?
You, an Inazuma person, actually penetrated Snezhnaya's central government. Kiyono Fugin was very impressed.
"Mm."
Kunikuzushi said calmly.
"Can I ask you one last question?" Kiyono said.
"What?"
"What kind of person was the Pillar General?"
"It took three betrayals for me. He was one of them."
Kunikuzushi said.
The sunlight at Starfell Lake grew dimmer. The dark shadow fell on his enigmatic fox mask. The puppet walked towards the depths of the sunset without looking back. It seemed he was really leaving.
"Perhaps, that guy named Kiyono Raimei, all the kindness he showed me, perhaps it was just a lie, perhaps he just wanted to use me."
"He never knew what I wanted. I don't want to become some 'true person'. I just want a heart, that's all."
"Three betrayals?" Kiyono asked.
"The first to betray me was a god, my creator... my mother."
"Valuing strength above all, she saw no worth in me, and I was discarded."
His tone held not a ripple of emotion, as if talking about someone else's affairs.
Facing these matters, he seemed to be used to it, no longer feeling sad, completely stripped of humans' excess base emotions.
"The second was a human, my family... my friend."
"Consumed by fear, he saw me as an abomination."
"The third was one exactly like me, a hope for the future... a fledgling barely out of the nest."
"Powerless before his mortality, he broke his promise to me."
"Humans... they can't be trusted. And the gods fill me with pure loathing."
The leaden sky slowly darkened. Whispering Woods was dead silent. Starfell Lake also stopped flowing, mute as death.
The puppet's silhouette slowly vanished at the end of the forest.
"Kiyono Raimei was the third."
This was Kunikuzushi's last sentence.
Wow... This guy, why was he speaking in riddles?
What did my past self do, what kind of person was my past self, Kiyono had completely forgotten.
Kiyono watched Kunikuzushi's receding back with some helplessness and sighed lightly.
But there was one thing Kiyono could confirm.
That was, his past self knew what Kunikuzushi sought.
Because the complete contents of that double-layered note were like this:
'By the shore of Starfell Lake in Mondstadt, a boy named [Kunikuzushi] is waiting for me. Show him the Pillar General's Order. He will understand. Don't let anyone know about this.'
'When my next self dies, remember to give the "heart" to this boy. I have a feeling the Serpent's Heart will pass to my next self. It is, after all, the heart of a god. And in turn, I want my own heart to pass to him. There is something rather interesting about that.'
'Kunikuzushi has helped Inazuma for centuries. This is the reward he deserves. Please tell him: Kiyono Raimei never broke his promise.'
'His thunder will forever beat within your chest.'
'From this day forward, you are no longer a puppet. You are a true person.'
Kiyono Fugin sighed helplessly again.
I left myself a bunch of messy loose ends...
Seriously.
The sky was already approaching dusk. The fire-roasted clouds spread out, the scarlet clouds and fish-belly white mixed together. Starfell Lake reflected this late winter sunset sky.
The lake sparkled, the clear lake light seeming to melt the setting sun. The vast world only had Kiyono left. He looked at this nightfall scene and smiled with emotion.
Life is so hard.
He was really hungry.
The agreed time for the Fatui's visit was also approaching...
He still had to walk the mountain path back.
Wow, how annoying.