Chapter 7: I'm not going to let you get away with this.

"Tomorrow... you shouldn't go make snowmen; you should stay home and rest properly."

Gan Yu looked at Yu Xie, her youthful face filled with concern, even though she wasn't yet an adult.

"I'm fine; I promised you. It's just making a snowman; it'll be no problem," Yu Xie replied with a smile that felt more genuine than forced.

"No way!" Gan Yu firmly rejected him. "Master said that if you're sick, you need to rest well."

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Yu Xie fell silent for a moment, ultimately conceding.

"Alright, I'll listen to you, but you have to promise me not to tell anyone that I'm sick." He extended his pinky. "Let's make a pinky swear."

Gan Yu hesitated for a moment, but then she extended her pinky as well.

Their pinkies hooked together, and their thumbs pressed against each other.

"Pinky swear," Gan Yu said. "You have to get better quickly!"

"Mm." Yu Xie nodded.

He had lied again.

He felt a bit selfish, but he really couldn't imagine his friends gathered at his bedside when he passed away.

He felt both reluctant and distressed.

"Forgive me," Yu Xie thought.

Outside, the snowfall intensified, and the sky grew darker.

The snowflakes in the evening light shimmered with hints of gold, as if a gentle golden snow were falling.

"This year's first snowfall reminds me of when Yu Xie first came to Guili Assembly," Ge Chen said, sitting under the eaves next to a poised, mature woman wearing red-framed glasses.

The woman was beautiful and flawless, her long hair tied in a high ponytail. Despite the winter chill, she wore relatively light clothing, and the green hem of her dress fluttered gently in the cold wind.

"Speaking of which, you were the one who brought Yu Xie to Guili Assembly, right, Liu Yun?" Ge Chen turned to her friend.

"Yes," Liu Yun nodded, gazing at the falling snowflakes in the distance. "It was snowing heavily that day, and Yu Xie was lying alone in the snow, nearly frozen."

As she spoke, Liu Yun couldn't help but recall the details of that day.

It had been a cold winter, with heavy snow, and nothing but white could be seen on the fields.

Due to a lack of some mineral materials needed to advance the mechanism's construction, and with Guili Assembly temporarily lacking those materials, Liu Yun decided to leave and search for them.

Finding the hidden minerals under such thick snow wouldn't be easy, but for an immortal like Liu Yun, it was just a matter of time.

What she didn't expect was that day she wouldn't find any minerals; instead, she discovered someone lying in the snow, nearly buried by it.

That was Yu Xie.

Liu Yun hadn't thought much of it; out of kindness, she brought him back to Guili Assembly, warmed him up, and pulled him back from the brink of death.

She had no idea that Yu Xie would bring about so many changes to Guili Assembly.

"I often wonder if it's because of your life-saving grace that he cares so much about you," Ge Chen said with a gentle smile.

"Don't joke around," Liu Yun paused. "I think he cares about everyone, not just me. He's just a person who values relationships deeply."

"Is that really what you think?" Ge Chen looked into Liu Yun's eyes.

"...Of course," Liu Yun said.

Hearing this, Ge Chen smiled.

"You should be more honest. You know, I actually envy you sometimes, maybe even a little 'jealous.'"

"..." Liu Yun didn't reply.

"Stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about," Ge Chen took a deep breath, looking at the fading glow of the sunset in the sky. "In this matter, I won't give in to you."

A slight chill blew through, and a few snowflakes drifted under the eaves. One landed on Liu Yun's hair, while another melted into a drop of water on her hand.

"I won't give in to you either," Liu Yun said slowly after a long pause.

Hearing this response, Ge Chen chuckled.

"Good, then let's rely on our own abilities. If you keep waiting like this, who knows, one day I might just steal Yu Xie away from you."

"When you really manage to steal him, come back and gloat to me then."

At first glance, their words seemed to carry a hint of "gunpowder," but if you listened closely, what filled the air was more of the teasing banter between two old friends, light-hearted and joyful.

They both gazed at the distant scenery, a faint smile on their lips.

Liu Yun recalled many years ago when Yu Xie had said something to her before setting off for battle.

At that time, Yu Xie was on horseback, full of vigor in his fine attire, and he turned to her, saying:

"Liu Yun, you look great with your hair tied up in a high ponytail."

From that day on, Liu Yun had always tied her hair up high.

...

Name: Yu Xie

Physical Condition: Aging (extremely)

Estimated Remaining Lifespan: Less than one month

Yu Xie sat by the fireplace, staring blankly at the prompt that floated in his mind.

The window was open, and outside it had completely darkened. The stars were nowhere to be seen, only the howling cold wind and occasional snowflakes drifting inside.

Gan Yu had already gone back.

Yu Xie added some charcoal to the fire, making it blaze more fiercely, further driving away the chill.

What kind of person will I become in my next life? Yu Xie couldn't help but ponder this.

In fact, the Mortal System had long made it clear that after he died in this life, his journey in Teyvat would not be over.

He would be reborn, traveling through time, becoming a completely new Yu Xie.

The memories of this life would be erased, just like after drinking Meng Po soup before reincarnation; everything from this life would turn to smoke, existing only in the river of time and in the memories of others.

However, the basic understanding of Teyvat would remain.

He would know that he had lived one life, but he wouldn't remember any details about that life.

This was a cruel reality.

All the landscapes he had seen, the experiences he had gone through, the people he had wanted to meet—those precious moments stored in his memory that he never wanted to forget—he would no longer recall them.

He would only know that his life had started anew, but the past would drift far away from him. Perhaps he would meet again those he cherished in his previous life, but he would no longer recognize them.

That was why Yu Xie felt reluctant.

But there was no way to change this; he couldn't share this secret with anyone. It was a rule, a fate.

Once he told someone, there would be unpredictable consequences. The order of time might gradually crumble, and everyone's lives would be affected in unforeseen ways, which was something Yu Xie did not wish to see.

Lost in thought, Yu Xie got up from beside the fire and walked over to the rack of swords, looking at the "Cloud Cutter" that Liu Yun had forged for him.

—Mark the Cloud Cutter.

Marking soon—Cloud Cutter

Confirm?

—Yes.

Marking completed.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Yu Xie to mark an item that did not have a recording function.

After marking, at the end of his life, he could take that item with him. The significance of that item would be imprinted in his subconscious.

In this way, even if he could not remember the origin of the item after being reborn, he would still understand its irreplaceable importance.

In the future, this Cloud Cutter would quietly "remember" the life of the great general who had protected him.