Genshin Impact: Return of the Water Queen

"Long time no see, Bushong[1]." Luo Chaya looked at the Great Tree King in front of her and sighed.

Although she had communicated with the Great Compassionate Tree King as early as when she entered Xumi, it was not until now that they met officially.

"The last time we met was five hundred years ago." The Great Compassion Tree King laughed. She looked at Nashida on the side and said, "Nice to meet you. Hello, Nashida."

"Hello...Great Kindness Tree King, but...why are you..." Nashida stared at the Great Kindness Tree King with a shocked expression.

"Why do I look the same as you, right?" The Great Compassion Tree King asked the question that Nashida did not ask in the second half of her sentence. She continued to say to Nashida: "Although the world tree is materialized here, it is still a consciousness space in essence. Since you and I have the same essence, we naturally present the same appearance."

"Why are they essentially the same?" Nashida asked immediately.

The Great Compassion Tree King looked at Nashida and said this with a smile, which shocked Nashida. She said: "Because, I am you. You... are my "reincarnation".

The Great Compassionate Tree King continued, "As the Great Compassionate Tree King, I am the incarnation of the World Tree, and you are the purest branch broken off from the World Tree. It's like... even if the tree dies, the branch will one day take root and grow. It will continue life in another form."

"The me in front of you is only me as the Great Compassion Tree King. The consciousness that remains here, the real me, must have been gone for a long time. Judging from your current appearance, I have been dead for about five hundred years."

The Great Compassionate Tree King spoke very calmly about the fact that he had been dead for five hundred years, as if it was just an ordinary matter and unimportant.

Luo Chaya immediately said: "Maybe, I have a way..."

"No, Egolia, don't do this!"

The Great Tree King quickly shook his head. She looked at Luo Chaya and warned her: "You shouldn't do such a thing! I am already dead. Unlike Baal, I cannot be pulled back into this world. If you do this, you will be in danger, and you still have things to accomplish. So promise me, please don't put yourself in danger again, okay?"

After hearing what the Great Tree King said, Luo Chaya was silent. She didn't know what to say.

"The World Tree does not need a second incarnation. The existence of Nashida is enough." The Great Compassionate Tree King looked at Nashida on the side again with a gentle expression, "Nashida, you must remember that everything has its own destiny. You don't need to force my destiny, just as you don't need to target me."

"Don't we need to target you?" Nashida was stunned.

The Great Kind Tree King nodded slightly and said, "Yes, you should surpass me and become a different god from me, the god of Mount Sumeru. After the branch grows into a new tree, it will never be the same as the original tree."

"I have another question..." Nashida was silent for a long time, and then asked another question, "I want to know what happened in the end, why you died, and why these terrible "forbidden knowledge" appeared."

"This matter is a long story." The Great Compassionate Tree King laughed.

She slowly told Nashida: "Five hundred years ago, the sky turned purple, and the seven gods except me were summoned to go to the country called Kanreya, but I had a more important mission. That is to protect the world tree."

"The disaster came with the contamination of "forbidden knowledge". Almost at the same time, I, whose consciousness was connected to the World Tree, also noticed something strange. Mental pain began to torture me. When I rushed to the World Tree, it had already been eroded by "forbidden knowledge". "

At this point, the Great Compassion Tree King sighed again and continued, "If I hadn't worked with the Scarlet King to manage the "forbidden knowledge" a thousand years ago, I would probably have been at a loss at that time."

Nashida continued to ask: "What exactly is "forbidden knowledge"? "

"That is knowledge that does not belong to this world, a 'truth' that cannot be understood. It comes from the bottom of the abyss, and even I cannot understand what is contained in it. The World Tree keeps rejecting it. If it is not dealt with, I am afraid that the entire Teyvat will be destroyed."

"At that time, I knew that I couldn't handle it by my own strength, so I created the "Void" to integrate human wisdom and manage forbidden knowledge." The Great Compassionate Tree King continued to narrate that she used the void to borrow people's dreams, and with the help of the power of dreams, she managed the existence of "forbidden knowledge."

"Thanks to the wisdom of the people of Xumi, I was able to remove the "forbidden knowledge" from the World Tree. However... things did not go as smoothly as I imagined. My consciousness was connected to the World Tree, and from the very beginning, I had been contaminated by the "forbidden knowledge."

"And I also realized that even if I die, my existence and everything related to me will be preserved in the World Tree, and the "forbidden knowledge" cannot be eradicated! And I... can never eliminate myself. So, this is a paradox."

The Great Kindness Tree King paused, looked at Nashida, and said, "So, I broke off the purest branch of the World Tree and gave birth to you. I look forward to your arrival and completely erasing my existence from the World Tree."

“But that also means that everyone will forget you, even... I might too.” Luo Chaya stood there, looking at the Great Compassion Tree King, her tone somewhat sad.

"I'm sorry, Egolia." The Great Tree King looked at Luo Chaya, smiled apologetically, and said, "I saw you off for the last time, but now it's your turn to see me off for the last time. This is really full of drama."

"I have fulfilled your last wish and placed the nectar of your divine body in the desert to suppress pollution. Now, please respect my last wish. What you and I did was all for Teyvat."

"But this is not fair!" Nashida shouted to the Mahabodhi Tree King.

"This world itself is not fair. Some are born as gods, while others are mortals. But none of this matters..."

The Great Tree King looked at Nashida and shook his head. She said, "As gods, we possess power that humans cannot reach, so this is how it should be. For the sake of humans and Teyvat, this is relatively fair."

"But this is too cruel!" Nashida looked at the Great Kindness Tree King, her tone full of tears, "I don't want... I don't want to forget you!"