Chapter 860
Infinite Worlds, Infinite Future
Furina first met that person at the end of the corridor backstage at the opera house.
She had just finished a trial; the spotlight went out, the applause subsided, leaving behind empty seats and an even emptier heart.
She stood in the shadows, wearing that elaborate performance costume and with the mask still on her face, like a forgotten waterweed.
Su Chen appeared around that time.
There was no announcement, no warning, like a wisp of wind that shouldn't exist at this moment.
He stood at the other end of the corridor, looking at her with a calm, still gaze, devoid of pity or scrutiny, but filled with a strange, almost familiar, certainty.
"Who are you?" Funina asked.
Her voice, honed over five centuries, has long since learned to remain elegant and composed at all times.
But beneath that mask, the girl's eyelashes trembled slightly.
“Just passing by,” Su Chen said. “Just passing by and happened to see you glowing.”
Fu Ningna was stunned.
For five hundred years, she has played the role of a deity on stage, a judge on the bench, and "Lady Furina" in front of the people.
People look up to her, fear her, depend on her, but no one has ever said—in such a bland, matter-of-fact tone—that she is shining.
“You’re talking nonsense,” she heard herself say, her voice tense. “I’m just acting.”
“Acting is also a form of light.” Su Chen did not refute, but simply stated, “You burn yourself on stage to light up hope for Fontainebleau. That is indeed light.”
Funina did not speak again.
She turned around, the sound of her high heels clicking on the marble crisp and rapid, like an escape.
She didn't look back and didn't know when the stranger left.
But she remembered the wind at the end of the corridor that day, and the words, "You are shining."
He came again the following year.
Backstage after the trial, he maintained the same posture, as if he were just passing by.
Funina didn't ask him why he was there or where he came from, as if it were a matter of course.
“This year in Fontainebleau,” she began, her voice slightly more relaxed than last year, carrying a girl’s barely concealed pride, “the premiere of the opera Narcissus Cross received a standing ovation seventeen times.”
“Seventeen times,” Su Chen nodded. “Three more times than last year.”
Funina paused slightly. He remembered last year's numbers.
"You...you've been watching?"
"Just passing by," Su Chen said. "I just happened to be passing by."
Funina did not call out this lame excuse.
She simply lowered her eyes, and the corners of her lips curved into a very faint arc, one that she herself was unaware of.
In the third year, she began to confide in others.
It was not a report from a "god," but rather the murmur of "Furina."
She complained that an opera singer forgot his lines on stage, forcing her to improvise, complained that the budget bill had repeatedly delayed the theater's renovations, and complained that the trial about the "prophecy" was getting closer and closer, keeping her up at night.
Her voice was soft at first, like the first foot tentatively touching the ice, then gradually opened up, like a flood that had been building up for five hundred years finally finding a crack.
Su Chen listened without judging or interrupting, only gently untangling the mess at certain points where she was stuck.
“The actress forgot her lines,” he said. “Sometimes it’s an accident, sometimes it’s a subconscious cry for help. She needs rest, not just during rehearsals.”
"The budget is stuck on the Commerce Committee, where people are more concerned about seafood exports. Linking the theater renovation to Fontaine's cultural image will allow the Chamber of Commerce to see the trade opportunities that 'overseas tours' can bring."
"prophecy……"
He paused.
"Prophecy is a knife that has not yet fallen. What you fear is not the knife itself, but every second you hold it up alone while it hangs there."
At that moment, Fu Ningna's eyes finally reddened slightly.
The fourth year, the fifth year, the sixth year.
She was used to this season every year, used to his sudden arrival and departure without her knowing when.
She no longer asks "Who are you?" or "Where do you come from?", but when he appears, she takes off the mask she has worn for five hundred years and becomes, for a moment, the real, tired, seventeen-year-old girl, Funina.
He would offer her a cup of warm mint tea when she had dark circles under her eyes from insomnia.
When she was forcing a smile because of the attacks from the media, he would use the calmest tone to dissect the logic behind the malice, making her realize that "they were just afraid, not that they hated me."
When she practices her opening remarks for tomorrow's trial in front of the mirror until her voice is hoarse, she will whisper a word—
"That's enough, Funina. You've been good enough."
That year, she cried in front of him for the first time.
Five hundred years of weight, five hundred years of solitude, five hundred years of "must be perfect," shattered into uncontrollable, scalding tears in the face of that phrase "good enough."
He didn't say "Don't cry," didn't offer a handkerchief, and didn't try to comfort him.
He simply sat beside her at the end of the deserted corridor backstage of the opera house, accompanying her as she shed those five hundred years' worth of tears, drop by drop.
Fu Ningna is eighteen years old.
Or rather, after playing the role of "the goddess Funina" for five hundred years, this is the first time she has allowed herself to be just the eighteen-year-old Funina.
The tenth year.
She has grown from a girl into a true young woman, with a more relaxed shoulder line and deeper eyes.
She learned to precisely balance authority and warmth on the bench, to remain composed amidst the whirlpool of public opinion, and to coexist with solitude without being consumed by it.
She thought she had learned it.
Until that day, Su Chen looked at her and said, "Funinga, you don't need to be perfect forever."
All the words she had prepared stuck in her throat.
“You can be tired, you can be afraid, you don’t always have to be right.” His voice was soft, like the first evening breeze after nightfall in Fontaine. “You are Funina, not ‘God Funina.’ Those five hundred years were your shackles, but also your medals. But shackles can be removed, and medals don’t have to be worn on your chest all the time.”
Fu Ningna remained silent for a long time.
After a while, the corridor lights flickered on and off, and after a while, the footsteps of staff calling "Lady Funina" could be heard in the distance.
"Will you come again next year?" she asked. Her voice was soft, carrying a childlike anticipation that she herself was unaware of.
Su Chen looked at her.
There was something in that gaze that she couldn't understand, like a deep lake reflecting her own image.
"Yes," he said.
Fu Ningna nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
She learned not to ask him where he came from or where he was going.
She simply cherishes these few days each year, these moments that belong exclusively to "Furina" and not "God Furina," moments that can be seen.
The twelfth year, the fifteenth year, the twentieth year.
The prophecy of Fontaine draws ever closer, and the pressure is immense.
That year, with his company, Fulina recounted for the first time her true situation behind the "prophecy" in its entirety.
It was not a declaration to the people, nor a plea for help from travelers; it was simply spoken to one person.
After listening, Su Chen remained silent for a long time.
“You have walked alone for five hundred years,” he said. “I will accompany you on this last stretch of the journey.”
Funina did not cry.
She simply hummed in response, as if accepting a promise that was taken for granted.
The twenty-third year.
The prophecy has ended.
Fontaine was saved.
Funina relinquished her divine status and was no longer "God Funina," but simply "Funina."
She stood at the entrance of the Opiclad Opera House, looking at the people of Fontainebleau who no longer needed her to play a deity, and felt an emptiness in her heart.
Su Chen didn't come that year.
She waited the entire season, from late summer to early winter.
At the end of the corridor, there was no longer that wisp of wind that didn't belong here.
He didn't say goodbye. She didn't ask either.
She simply placed a sprig of mint at the spot where he last appeared.
Then she turned around and began to learn how to live the rest of her life as "Frinina, a mortal".
Years later.
Frynn stood on the street of Liyue Harbor, gazing at the building before her that was so different from Fontaine.
Black tiles and white walls, ancient copper bells hanging from the eaves, solemn stone lions in front of the door, and three characters written on the plaque: "Hall of Rebirth".
She had heard a lot about this place.
Rumors circulate in Fontaine's theater about "the mysterious guest of the Hall of Rebirth," and merchants from Liyue talk with great interest about "the romantic affair between the Lord of the Jade Pavilion and the guest of the Hall of Rebirth." Even the waiters at the Debo Hotel mention in their idle chatter that "I heard that the Thunder General of Inazuma personally went to Liyue just to see someone."
Funina did not connect these rumors with the "passerby" who appeared punctually every year more than 20 years ago.
Until she saw the inscription and signature on a landscape painting of Liyue that had been transferred to Fontaineble: Su Chen.
She recognized the handwriting of those two characters.
Every year, the mint tea at the end of the corridor, every year, the words "You are shining," every year, that calm and serene gaze... all the memories, like rocks revealed after the tide recedes, suddenly surface.
She arrived in Liyue.
The doors of the Hall of Rebirth were wide open, from which came the clear laughter of a young girl, and a lively and complex soundscape woven from several female voices, some languid, some aloof, and some composed.
Funina stood at the door for a moment.
She heard—
"Su Chen, you didn't go back to the hall to rest again last night. Did you go to Qunyu Pavilion again?" The voice was clear and cold like a spring, with a sense of detachment unique to immortals, but the tone at the end hid a small, unconscious grievance.
"Oh, Miss Shenhe, you've misunderstood him. He was here last night discussing a new definition of 'eternity' with me." A languid, amused female voice spoke, the last syllable rising like a fox's tail.
"Does exploring 'eternity' require being alone in a room until midnight?" This was another female voice, clear and dignified, yet subtly tense.
“Miss Kamisato is mistaken. When I met Su Chen, you were still playing with a fan in Inazuma.”
"you--!"
"Su Chen." The fourth voice rang out, brief and steady, yet carrying an undeniable presence. "You have not yet answered the question regarding the engagement."
"General! I went first—"
"First come, first served is not the only rule of a contract."
Funina listened quietly.
Then, she smiled softly.
That smile held the relief of a twenty-three-year wait coming to an end, the weariness of crossing half of Teyvat to finally reach the finish line, and a hint of something else.
She was surprised, almost mischievously, by her own eagerness.
She stepped forward and entered through the bustling door.
The noise came to an abrupt halt.
In the courtyard, many eyes turned to this uninvited visitor at the same time.
The pink-haired fox witch's fan-wielding hand froze in mid-air, the purple-haired martial god's brow furrowed slightly, the silver-haired immortal disciple subconsciously took a half-step closer to Su Chen, and the white egret princess, holding a folding fan, maintained her dignified demeanor, but her eyes were filled with scrutiny...
In the corner, Zhong Li, holding a teacup, twitched his eyelids slightly.
Hu Tao, who was cracking melon seeds under the eaves, suddenly sprayed out a piece of melon shell with a "poof," his eyes widening in surprise.
"You are...Furina?" Hu Tao jumped up, circled Furina twice, as if she had discovered a new continent. "Furina from Fontainebleau? Furina from the opera house? Wow, Su Chen, you know so many people!"
Fu Ningna bowed slightly, her manners impeccable, her demeanor elegant—a composure etched into her very being by five centuries of stage experience.
But those light blue eyes, passing over the crowd and the tense atmosphere in the courtyard, quietly and steadily landed on the person she could only see once a year at the end of the corridor.
he's changed.
Her eyes held the marks of time she couldn't decipher.
But the way those eyes looked at her was the same as that evening twenty-three years ago, at the end of the corridor, when she said, "You are shining."
The same.
“Mr. Su Chen,” Fu Ningna said, her voice steady, yet carrying a faint, almost imperceptible tremor that only he could hear. “It’s been a while since we parted ways in Fontaine. I hope you’ve been well.”
Su Chen looked at her.
Looking at the girl who had once stood alone in the backstage corridor, wearing a mask and playing the role of a god for five hundred years, now she stood gracefully in this noisy foreign courtyard, having shed all her burdens, her eyes as clear as the melting snow of maple leaves. "Furina," he said, his voice carrying the familiar warmth she knew, "You're late."
"Is it too late?" Funina tilted her head slightly, a very faint curve appearing at the corner of her lips, a curve made only for him. "But I remember, you never made a date for your return."
silence.
The tense atmosphere in the courtyard had subtly shifted in nature.
Yae no Miko's fan stopped waving, Kage's brow relaxed, Ayaka Kamisato's hand holding the fan fell limp, and Shin-haku's steps toward Su Chen stopped halfway...
They all heard it.
Hearing the words "there was never a set date for return" brought a sense of relief that was longer than the waiting itself.
Beneath those soft whispers, one could hear a bond deeper than any declaration.
Hu Tao looked at this and that, and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ah, I get it!" She clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling. "Another one! Another one who's come to 'catch up' with Brother Su Chen!"
She hopped up to Funina, her enthusiasm like a sales pitch for a VIP package at a funeral parlor: "Miss Funina, where are you from? How long have you known Brother Su Chen? Did you meet him through his 'time travel'? He's really in demand now, look over there—"
She pointed to several people in the courtyard with different expressions, "—They're all creditors, coming to collect debts every day!"
Funina looked in the direction she was pointing.
A purple-haired martial god, a pink-haired fox witch, a refined and dignified young girl, a snow-white-haired immortal disciple, a cold and handsome knight...
They were all looking at her.
There was scrutiny, wariness, and curiosity, but no hostility whatsoever.
It was a strange, subtle look in her eyes that she could understand.
similar.
Funina lowered her eyes and chuckled softly.
The laughter was soft, like the first spring rain in Fontainebleau falling into the Seine.
There was no bitterness, no grievance, not even a trace of relief at "finally catching up"—just a simple, gentle smile.
“I see,” she said, her voice calm as still water. “So all these years, you’ve been spending time with someone else elsewhere.”
She raised her eyes, her aquamarine eyes reflecting the sunlight in the courtyard, the copper bells on the eaves, the leftover tea on the stone table—and the person she had chased for twenty-three years, who was now looking at her.
“Just like what you would do,” she said. “Leave light wherever you go.”
No one speaks.
Yae no Miko had closed her fan completely at some point, and her purple eyes flashed with her usual playfulness, but also with a hint of something more.
Things beyond our scrutiny.
Shadow silently gazed at Funina. His eyes, which had always held only eternity and the glint of swords, now reflected this foreign woman he had never met before, rippling with a faint emotion that was difficult for others to detect.
Ayaka Kamisato pursed her lips.
Shen He's hand, very lightly, grasped Su Chen's sleeve.
Yura didn't care much; she knew Su Chen would definitely come back when it was time for her to come looking for her.
Funina didn't look at them.
She simply gazed at Su Chen, at the person she only saw a few days a year, yet who had sustained her through twenty-three years.
Then, she turned her gaze to the courtyard, where the bustling garden was filled with his "bonds."
Her light blue eyes curved into two gentle crescent moons.
“Wangsheng Hall…” she read the words on the plaque softly, her voice filled with genuine, girlish curiosity, “It’s a very lively place.”
She turned to Walnut and asked earnestly, "Are you still hiring here?"
Hu Tao was taken aback, then her eyes lit up: "Recruit, recruit! The Rebirth Hall is expanding its business and urgently needs talent in various fields! Miss Funina, what are your special skills?"
"Special skills..." Funina tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Having acted for five hundred years, I should be considered an actor? Having presided over countless trials, I should be considered good at controlling the situation? And—"
She paused, a faint, mischievous smile appearing in her light blue eyes.
"—Very good at waiting."
The courtyard was completely silent.
The silence wasn't awkward; rather, it was an emotion so heavy that it couldn't be easily digested slowly settling in the air.
Yae no Miko's fan fell to the ground with a "thud".
Ying's brow twitched slightly.
Ayaka Kamisato opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Shen He gripped Su Chen's sleeve tightly, like a small animal instinctively protecting its food, yet he didn't know how to deal with this sudden, gentle, almost frank "intruder."
He held Yura's small hand in his other hand, as if to express that he had a comrade-in-arms on the same side.
Hmm, for some reason, these two, who rarely talk, have a good relationship.
And Zhongli—
The tea, which had been held in the mouth for so long to conceal the turmoil within, finally broke free of control at this moment—
"puff----!"
The tea drew a perfect parabola in the air, precisely, as if mocking fate, pouring onto his newly acquired, expensive dark blue outer robe.
But he couldn't care less.
The Rock King, who had witnessed a thousand years of vicissitudes and countless contracts and reincarnations, was now simply staring blankly at the smiling, aquamarine-eyed woman in the center of the courtyard, at her seemingly casual yet incredibly weighty question, "Can I join?", at this event, orchestrated by his "time traveler" guest, spanning seven kingdoms and hundreds of years—
What the hell is this?!
His heart, which had been as solid as a rock for thousands of years, finally cracked open with a tiny, almost imperceptible fissure called "Why can't I retire completely even though I want to?"
"Mr. Zhongli! Your tea!" Hu Tao exclaimed.
“It’s alright…” Zhongli put down his teacup, his voice the last vestige of composure he had managed to maintain, “It’s just… I lost my composure.”
He paused, then looked at Su Chen.
There was no blame, no questioning in that gaze, only the deep, resigned acceptance of someone who has seen it all, the acceptance that comes from someone who has experienced the vicissitudes of life.
You can do it.
You're really something.
In this small space of the Hall of Rebirth, you've gathered "creditors" from Liyue, Inazuma, and Fontaine. What other surprises do you have in store for me?
Su Chen did not respond to that complicated gaze.
He just stared at Funina.
Gazing into her clear, calm eyes, and seeing her standing amidst the wary and bewildered gazes of the garden, so composed and serene, he watched her grow from a girl into a young woman, descend from her divine throne to the mortal realm, and transform from a waiter into a pursuer. For twenty-three years, he had watched her transform from a girl into a young woman, from a goddess descending to earth, from a waiter into a seeker.
He gave her light, companionship, and the words, "You don't need to be perfect forever."
He never gave her an answer.
Now, standing in this foreign courtyard, facing the garden full of her "kindred spirits," she gently smiled and asked—may I join them?
It's not about demanding. It's not about questioning.
It is a choice.
She is the masked girl who stood alone at the end of the corridor twenty-three years ago, and has finally learned to make choices for herself.
Su Chen stared at her for a long time.
Then, in the silence of the garden, he spoke.
"The Hall of Rebirth," he said softly, yet with exceptional clarity, "has no shortage of guest retainers."
Funina's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Su Chen paused, a very faint, soft smile curving her lips—the first time in twenty-three years she had ever seen it on his face. "But we're missing someone to come and freeload tea every spring."
Funina was stunned.
Those light blue eyes, at a speed visible to the naked eye, were filled with a thin, crystalline light.
She didn't cry.
She's endured five hundred years, so what's one more moment?
She simply nodded gently, just as she had done at every parting moment in the past twenty-three years, gathering all her emotions into the softest corner of her heart, leaving only a gentle smile for Su Chen, a smile that curved for him.
"……it is good."
In the courtyard, the invisible, taut string—who let go first?
Yae no Miko gave a soft hum, unfolded her folding fan again, covering half of her face and the faint smile that she herself was unaware of.
Ying lowered her eyes, and the faint, oppressive aura emanating from her body subtly diminished.
Ayaka Kamisato pursed her lips, her hand holding the fan tightening and loosening repeatedly, but in the end she just took a deep breath and didn't say anything impolite.
Shen He still held onto Su Chen's sleeve, but in her gaze toward Fu Ningna, the wariness that had been there before was now mixed with a faint, complex sense of mutual appreciation.
So you've been waiting for a long time too.
So you were one of those people he rescued from the cracks of time.
We're all the same, it turns out.
Hu Tao looked left and right, and finally burst out laughing. She jumped in front of Funina and grabbed her arm.
"Sister Funingna! Come, come, let me show you around the Hall of Rebirth! This place is really interesting! Su Chen's room is over there, and people often pretend to be 'lost' and sneak over there. Do you want to—"
"Walnut." Su Chen's voice rang out at the right time.
"Okay, okay! I won't tell!" Hu Tao stuck out her tongue, dragged Funina towards the inner hall, and her crisp laughter echoed all the way.
Fu Ningna was pulled along, staggered a few steps, and glanced back at Su Chen.
In that gaze lay twenty-three years of waiting, a pursuit that spanned half of Teyvat, and the only quiet confirmation amidst the clamor of the garden at this moment.
Su Chen looked at her and nodded gently.
Go ahead. There'll be plenty of time later.
Finally, the corners of Funina's lips curved into a truly relaxed, bright, girlish arc.
She followed Hu Tao into the inner hall, her light blue dress flashing lightly by the door before disappearing into the afternoon sunlight filling the courtyard.
A strange, subtle silence returned to the courtyard.
Yae no Miko waved her fan, seemingly lost in thought.
Kage lowered her eyes to look at the remaining tea in the cup, while Ayaka Kamisato bent her head to adjust the tassel on her fan.
Shen He still gripped Su Chen's sleeve, pulling Youla along, remaining silent.
Zhongli finally picked up the rotten tea leaf from his robe and let out a long, long sigh.
“Guest Su.” His voice was calm as usual, but his eyes held a complex mix of unspoken words. “Your Rebirth Hall… truly has no shortage of visitors.”
Su Chen picked up his teacup and took a slow, deliberate sip.
"Mr. Zhongli, you flatter me," he said in a flat tone. "It just so happens that I know a lot more people."
Zhongli gazed at him, at this colleague she had known for many years yet still found indistinct, at the women who had gathered and stayed in this courtyard because of him, at the daily life of the Hall of Rebirth, which had long since strayed from its original intention of "leisurely wandering in the mortal world"—
He suddenly chuckled softly.
That smile contained helplessness, relief, and even a faint trace of satisfaction that he himself was unaware of.
"That's enough." He put down his teacup, stood up, and looked at the ancient pine tree in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.
hall.
"Hey buddy, you're back again. When are you going to take Zhongli in?"
"What the hell? Why don't you take down the Five Elders in the One Piece world?"
"The hall is getting more and more lively, but a number of big shots haven't shown up for a long time."
"There's nothing we can do, the big shots are different from us. But many of the veterans continue to move forward, and many new people have joined. It's completely different from what it was like at the beginning."
"It's been so long since we last saw Konosuba. Could it be that he's gone to some Konosuba universe and is now playing the role of a hero who defeats a dragon and saves a princess?"
"Who knows? We never know what kind of world the next newcomer will come from. It's something to look forward to."
Su Chen from Genshin Impact said with a smile, "It's clear that you bunch of troublemakers are gradually getting old and looking forward to the arrival of newcomers."
"Once you know everything about your world, once there are no secrets in your world, once you have experienced and can imagine experiencing anything, you will be just like us."
"That's really terrible."
Su Chen smiled and said, "Luckily, I didn't collect them all at once. I'll take it slow in the future."
Nasita, Hu Tao, Qi Qi... and other girls.
He has no intention of letting go.
The End! (End of Chapter)