"So what exactly is going on here…? Kun Jun is also Azhdaha?"
Looking at Ryan, who was still drawing out emotions to hard-control Azhdaha, and then at Kun Jun, who was emitting white mist, Paimon couldn't help but scratch his head, asking Morax and Kun Jun.
Lumine, standing nearby, also had a puzzled expression. Although Kun Jun had displayed peculiar abilities along the way, such as seeing the memories of stones,
He looked like an ordinary human no matter how she looked at him.
"Forgive me for not informing you of the truth sooner; I only remembered it when I arrived at this tree."
"To be precise, I am not the complete Azhdaha, but a small fragment of him."
"Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, the Two Poles—you can consider me and the Dragon King over there as such existences. We are both manifestations of Azhdaha's will."
Kun Jun apologized to Lumine and Paimon, then explained his identity.
The seal beneath the Fulong Tree had loosened, and Azhdaha's power had taken the form of a small girl, narrating his sealed resentment to passersby.
But when the seal loosened, another power awakened, with only one goal: to find Morax and have him stop Azhdaha.
This power was too weak to take form, so it could only possess a human, which was Kun Jun.
"You… if you are truly a part of me, then you should be fighting Morax with me. Why are you standing by the betrayer?"
Azhdaha seemed somewhat unwilling to believe him.
Although he recognized Morax as Morax, he couldn't vent his sealed anger.
Without anger as a driving force, he found that he couldn't lay a hand on Morax… "Alas, a secret unknown to both young humans and the ancient Geo Dragon… Morax, will you speak, or shall I?"
Kun Jun sighed and turned to ask Morax.
"It matters not; you decide."
Morax's gaze shifted from Azhdaha, whose eyes were gradually clearing from their rare calmness, and he nodded slightly at Kun Jun.
"Then I shall speak."
Kun Jun nodded, then walked forward to stand before Azhdaha.
The calmed Azhdaha looked down at him, hesitated for a moment, then slowly lay down, waiting for his explanation from a close distance.
Lumine and Paimon also curiously drew closer. Regarding Azhdaha's existence, they had actually heard the storyteller mention him when they dined with Morax before, knowing he was the Geo Archon Morax's comrade.
It was somewhat similar to Venti and Dvalin in Mondstadt.
In the sky on the other side, Ryan maintained his posture, but his ear was tilted towards them.
He only knew that his Martial Grand-Aunt was sealed beneath the Fulong Tree and some stories of her past battles with Lord Rex Lapis, but he wasn't particularly clear on why she transformed into an evil dragon and was sealed.
"Azhdaha was originally Lord Rex Lapis's confidant and comrade, with a lifespan far exceeding that of humans. However…"
"The memories of rock are not long-lasting; only extremely strong emotions can be preserved."
Kun Jun began to speak about Azhdaha.
'No wonder Martial Grand-Aunt smells so sweet…'
Hearing this, Ryan secretly nodded.
Before he knew about his abilities, when he met the little girl under the Fulong Tree, he always felt she smelled sweet.
Ryan had even wondered if he was some kind of perverted uncle who liked children, but thankfully, he wasn't… "The longer the time, the more blurred the memories become; erode is the fuse that the world ignites upon him."
Kun Jun continued to explain, mentioning the concept of erode.
"erode…"
Lumine murmured, having heard Morax mention this word before.
"erode robbed Azhdaha of his thoughts, gradually making him unable to recall the appearance of his old friend, and even forgetting Liyue Harbor, which he once personally guarded."
"The once complete Dragon King became irritable and aggressive…"
"Had it not been for this young friend suppressing Azhdaha's anger, we would have had a tough battle upon arriving here."
Kun Jun then explained how erode caused Azhdaha to go berserk.
"But I remember… that humans attacked the ley lines I relied on for survival?"
Azhdaha, lying on the ground, scratched his head with his front paw.
In his current calm state, he naturally had the ability to argue.
"After that, I went to The Chasm to stop them, but Morax blocked me, fighting me all the way from The Chasm to Jueyun Karst, and finally buried me."
Azhdaha said this and looked at Morax.
"…"
Morax nodded calmly, offering no defense.
'Poor Martial Grand-Aunt…'
Learning of Azhdaha's experiences before being sealed, Ryan muttered silently to himself.
"This is true, but it is also one of the harms caused by erode."
"Initially, to expand territory and develop production, Liyue people went into the mountains to mine, and excessive mining caused ley line tremors, making 'us' suffer immensely."
"But if we had been clear-headed then, we should have realized that Archons can manage and restrain mortals. Then you would not have personally attacked The Chasm, and the tragedy of mountains collapsing, the earth cracking, and tens of thousands of people being buried would not have occurred."
Kun Jun nodded, admitting the damage to the ley lines, but also explained Azhdaha's actions at the time.
erode causes one to lose reason, but it does not significantly reduce power; or rather, that is the most terrifying situation.
As Lord Rex Lapis's comrade, Azhdaha's strength was comparable to his. If the Geo Archon's Geo spears could form Guyun Stone Forest, then Azhdaha's seismic waves from trampling the earth could naturally sink Guyun Stone Forest.
So, when the irrational Geo Dragon attacked The Chasm, causing tens of thousands of casualties, it was because there were only tens of thousands of miners in The Chasm.
After that attack, tens of thousands of families lost their pillars of support, and Liyue's mining industry stagnated for a good period.
The turmoil at that time was by no means smaller than the recent incident of the Rite of Parting where the Archon was harmed and Osial invaded Liyue Harbor.
If Lord Rex Lapis were a more ruthless person, he might have held a Rite of Parting for Azhdaha, this founding hero, on the spot.
Of course, whether he could be killed was another matter.
"Did my anger cause the earth to swallow tens of thousands of lives…"
Azhdaha muttered in a low voice, though his voice couldn't be truly low.
But he no longer had many memories of protecting humans, so even if he harmed humans, he wouldn't feel guilty.
However, he could still understand the logic that Morax sealed him because he harmed humans.
"Ultimately, humans are still more important, Morax…"
Azhdaha's pupils, which had lost their red glow and become clear, looked at Morax.
"It's not a question of who is more important among humans; this is also our choice."
Kun Jun stepped forward, raising his hand to gently caress Azhdaha's forehead.
"The things you have forgotten are stored in my heart. If you are the memory of the earth, then I am the memory of coexistence with humans."
"The end of that battle made you lucid for a moment. In your heart, there is still affection for Morax, for Liyue, and even for all life on earth."