HE opens his eyes to the scarlet of a sunset sky, to the whistle of gentle wind through the grass he rests on. The scenery’s familiarity tells him it must be another one of those strange dreams, for these are clearly the hills of Liyue. The landscape is like that of somewhere to the northeast of Jueyun Karst, but not so far as Qingce village—he knows that from the body of water he sees not too far off in the distance, that would separate the two masses of land from one another. And he tries to recall what memory could involve such exhaustion, where it has him laid against a tree to catch his breath, bone weary with a wicker basket of herbs at his side. The setting sun says his day of herb gathering should be coming to its end, that Wangshu Inn should be his next destination lest he resort to setting up camp, and yet the doctor finds that he is simply unable to get up. Eyes blink a few more times, forcefully, as though to fight back some of the tiredness seeping into his body. As he does, a shape takes form at his feet—— And it gazes back at him through unkept hair, beneath one of many a talisman stuck to her body. Qiqi. Just like that, he knows precisely what memory this is.
But does she know? There’s no trace of recognition in the way she looks at him. With her memory so poor, would she have the awareness to know that this is, in fact, a dream? She looks to his wicker basket; Baizhu does the same, before panning his gaze back to her. ❝ Ah. My basket? I’m gathering herbs, you see. ❞ @resurrectiun —— dreamscape!
