Long Night Breaking into Day

Endmin! You're here as well!

Me too! I came here to help out with the clean-up and repairs.

Things? Are you looking for something?

Ah, thanks for your concern, Endmin. When I arrived at this place, I realized that ... I don't even know where to begin.

I was really young when they left.

The exclusion zone had been cordoned off for a decade. And past records don't keep tabs on the whereabouts of everyone.

Ten years ... really feels like a lifetime. I can't even begin my search when I hardly remember anything.

It's alright, Endmin. I've made up my mind already. I'll focus on helping my yard buddies find their families' belongings.

Maybe I'll learn more about Mom and Dad during the search.

Yeah. All of us survived that disaster, and lost our families to it.

They asked me to look for their families' belongings. I promised to bring back anything I find.

Haha. Come on, Endmin. Stop making fun of me.

So, I guess we can start right here.

Shuang! When did you arrive?

I got assigned to this place after the Very Large Rift got sealed. How did it go, Lifeng? Did you run into trouble while sealing the rift?

Not really. I just followed the Endmin, Tianshi Zhuang, and the Yinglungs, and took care of the mopping up, mostly.

I got some free time right now, so I came here to look for Uncle Bai's belongings. Oh, the Endmin also agreed to help us, you know!

Really? The Endmin is helping?!

That's wonderful! Let's split ways to speed up the search!

Sure!

Yeah. Me, Shuang, Xiao Ran, and Ah Sheng... We're about the same age, and we've been the best buddies even before the disaster.

From what I remember, Shuang was like the genius scientist of the yard. They say she got it from her dad.

Heheh. The grown-ups said I took after mom.

But that's what the grown-ups said. I don't remember much about her... Oops, I got carried away.

I promised Shuang I'll find her dad's belongings, so I gotta find it. Let me see. This is a huge place. Where should we start?

Shuang! Take a look at what we've found!

The flower of frost ... Shuang?

Now I wonder if we can find the door this keycard opens...

Old Bai... Were they talking about Dad?

What were they celebrating on the day of the disaster? I don't think I'll ever find out.

I remember ... when I was a little girl, I really wanted to play with the Tianshi apparatus, but Dad wouldn't let me.

There was this time when he rushed out and left it on the table. I tried climbing and grabbing it, but accidentally dropped it onto the floor.

I thought I broke it and kept crying till Dad came home. And that was how this Tianshi apparatus got a scratch. It's right here...

So these are what he left behind... Dad, I've earned my own Tianshi apparatus... Can you see it?

Shuang... You're like the first Tianshi disciple of the yard. Uncle Bai is definitely proud of you.

Thank you... I really appreciate this...

Lifeng, did you find your parents' belongings?

Xingzhi... That's Dad's name! He was here before!

Thank you, Shuang! I spent ages poking around and didn't find anything! This is like ... my first useful lead!

And, yeah ... please don't get too sad.

I ... I'm not.

Really?! I'll go look for them now!

Yeah. Ah Sheng just told he's coming over with Xiao Ran. I think they're headed to the Arsenal of the Bureau of Swordmancers.

Mom and Dad's stuff...? I tried, but I couldn't find any leads. I don't even know where they were at that time...

I actually found this. I hope you find it useful.

......

I'm just glad for Shuang. She can still remember her childhood days with her dad...

People said my Dad was an awesome Tianshi and one of the key members of Project Xiranite. But I ... I have nothing but blurry shadows about Mom and Dad.

I was too young back then. I could hardly remember anything...

I know none of them made it out. But when I heard how Dad got chased out of the labs, I ... I actually felt relieved.

It felt as though he had escaped his fate, like he just ... brushed right past me, and that they're all waiting for me somewhere up ahead.

Yeah. Let's go!

If only this could lead me to their belongings.

*Sigh*...

I got a little sentimental. When I was a kid and felt really sad, the grown-ups would try all sorts of ways to comfort me or make me laugh so I wouldn't cry.

I really wanted to become a grown-up back then because I thought they never cry. I wanted to help people, like how they helped me.

But when I got older, I realized that I thought wrong. Grown-ups actually...

I know what's happening, but I don't know how to comfort a grown-up who's really sad.

Understood, Endmin...

Lifeng!

It's Ah Sheng! He's over there!

That's Xiao Ran's full name!

You're amazing, Endmin! You found it so quickly! We're so glad you're helping us!

Let's toast Xiao Ran about this.

Sorry for making you sit through this long story.

There's nothing to be sorry about, Tianshi Lian. We just want you to feel better.

Yeah. And Lifeng is finally a grown-up who can listen and comfort others as well.

Yeah. People said I was tied to a burdenbeast that carried me to safety. Ah Sheng was there too, but I was unconscious during the escape...

Endmin, and Lifeng? Do you need help with something? Apologies, I'm a little...

Tianshi Lian, if you have something on your mind, feel free to tell us about it. It's just like how you kept me company in the past.

By the way, why are you here with the Endmin? Where's Ah Sheng? Wasn't he around somewhere? Or is he at the assembly?

Yeah, he's at the assembly. The Endmin is helping me find our families' belongings, but we couldn't find any more clues. I don't know where else to continue the search...

I might be wrong, but I remember that you're in the last batch of evacuees...

I remembered nothing but darkness. I was already on a hospital bed when I finally opened my eyes.

The last evacuees ... and the burdenbeast... I think you've been evacuated from somewhere near the old residential area.

If memory serves, that would be the Designated Urban Area. Plenty of people lived and worked there.

Tianshi Lian, are you saying that ... we might find something at the Old Residential Area?

That's right. Start searching the last place you stayed and work your way back... I've sent you the coordinates. Hopefully you'll find something about your and your friend's families.

Of course! Thank you so much, Tianshi Lian. I'll tell Ah Sheng about this. I really hope you're okay now!

I should be the one thanking you. Time really flies. The kid who's always hanging out with Tianshi Pan is now a fine young lad.

I understand.

Yeah ... I'm feeling much better already. I really needed that. Thank you.

Ah Sheng! You're here!

I ... I don't think so.

It's okay. Let's just start looking around. Maybe we'll find out more about them.

Yeah, I just arrived!

I never expected to get a new lead so quickly! You're incredible.

Tianshi Lian said that we probably evacuated from this place. Do you still remember who sent you out?

Of course. Let's do it!

Who's that?!

Careful!

Hmm. You aren't really like your brother, are you?

Go... Leave now...

Wanna see my brother's photo? He's super awesome and total slayer!

He's the muscle and I'm the brains, okay?

What is it, Endmin?

WHOAAAAAA — What the blight is this?!

Looks like the same to me. There's an inscription ... "Sheng"?

What? You mean the victims of the disaster ... could live on as Blightshades?

It's my... Wait. Is this my brother's...?

Yeah. It's a pair of keepsakes. I held one and my brother held the other. It's our names, you see. I'm Changsheng. He's Ansheng.

I'm alright, Endmin... At least I found my brother's belongings and got to see him one last time. It might be a shadow of him, but it works for me.

......

Though he had passed on, the one he cherished enjoys a peaceful life...

May the good winds protect, lead the souls away from suffering, guide them to the Veluriyam realm...

This is an Anasa prayer, one to ease the spirits of the deceased into passing.

I also found this nearby after defeating that Yinglung. Does that mean the Yinglung was...

I'm not scared, Lifeng! Let me stay and I'll help with your search!

I really appreciate that, but you saw what happened. I have got to look out for you, because if you get hurt, I'd be very upset.

Ugh ... fine. But come talk to me when you return to Wuling. There's a huge prize waiting for you! And one for the Endmin, too!

Alright. We got a deal!

We found the belongings of Shuang, Xiao Ran, and Ah Sheng's families. I feel happy for them.

Ah Sheng, since you've found your brother's things, it's time to leave. Things might get dangerous if you stay around for too long.

......

I just zoned out a little, and I think I saw what my parents left me ... but it's disappeared. Where did it go?

Also, they also need you at the transport team.

This is ... my evacuation registration! Mom and Dad signed it too! They actually made it to the evac point, but why didn't they leave...

Mom dropped me off by the dessert shop and said I could have as much as I liked. She told me to wait and that she'd pick me up once her shift ended.

I tried every thing and every flavor till Mom arrived downstairs and shouted out my name. I didn't want to leave because I haven't finished my tanghulu.

And then the entire world started churning and spinning...

Yeah. I heard my Mom screaming and passed out. When I opened my eyes ... I was on a sickbed ... and one of my arms was gone.

I always felt guilty for what I did. I wanted one last bite and ... and that was why I never got to see Mom and Dad again.

I never saw them when they left my side... I don't know how they said goodbye. I don't even know where they went.

I wanted to be a grown-up so badly, but as I grew older and bigger, so did the blank spaces in my memories. I remembered less and less about them. And now...

Yeah, I finally did...

...I didn't even get to see them one last time... Otherwise I'd remember what they looked like.

Lifeng? What are you doing here?

Uncle Chen! I'm here to look for my parents' stuff. They probably came here to fight a rift fissure during the disaster.

Did they...? *Sigh*. This wasn't the epicenter of the VLR eruption event. Plenty of people evacuated to this area.

But a new growing rift fissure suddenly appeared...

Many Tianshi rushed to this place. They did everything they could to fight and contain it to give the evacuees time to escape.

But none of them...

Thank you, Uncle Chen. I know what happened to them. I just want to find their belongings.

Lifeng, there are still residual Æther energy nearby.

Let's try to be safe. Wait for us to clean up the site before coming back...

Tianshi Han, I'm an actual watchguard now. I hope you didn't forget that.

If anything were to happen, it is my job to protect everyone. The Endmin is also here as well.

Ah, yeah, almost forgot about that. Ten years have passed and you're not a little boy anymore.

Alright, then. Try to be safe.

This must be the Tianshi who fought the rift ... as well as Mom and Dad...

They fought till the very last moment ... and gave me and everyone else the chance to escape...

Yet they left nothing of themselves...

I can't give up... I gotta keep searching. Perhaps there's a nook or cranny we missed...

AHH!

Careful, people! I'll handle them!

Hooo... Thank goodness we arrived on time...

And why did he ... talk like that? Sounds like he was trying to chase us off.

Is everyone alright?

We're good. All thanks to Lifeng and the Endmin. That was one dangerous encounter.

Hey, people! The Endmin and Lifeng just saved our lives. We should pitch in.

We should divide the search areas. I can search the sides. You can divide the rest...

Thank you, everyone... Thank you so much!

Apologies, Lifeng...

From these marks, the rift rupture ended in a violent reaction that blasted apart everything nearby.

Lifeng...

I know... I know what happened.

Thanks, Endmin. And thank you, everyone. I ... I just want to be alone for a while.

Is Lifeng alright...?

I wouldn't be any different in his shoes... Imagine working so hard to reach this place, only to realize there's nothing left of your parents...

Maybe Lifeng is still young and needs some time alone ... but I don't know if he can handle this...

Heya. Were you looking for something back then? Need a hand?

I'm looking for ... my parents' belongings.

Is that what happened...?

That's why there's nothing left of anyone in the last stand...

Endmin, I...

I used to pay respects to Mom and Dad at Serenity Garden. There's a merit stone with their names on it, but I know it's not their resting place.

So many years have passed and I became a grown-up. But I'm scared ... I'm scared that I'd never remember them again.

That's why I really wanted to find something that belongs to them... A keepsake to honor their memories. Anything ... that'd remind me of them.

But ... I ended up with nothing. Shuang, Xiao Ran, and Ah Sheng ... all of them found their families' belongings to remember them by...

I know I shouldn't feel so low. I gotta live a fulfilling life to repay the kindness that everyone gave me. But...

Lifeng.

Uncle Chen...

I know how your parents met. Tianshi Feng was an amateur swordmancer and she gave a sword dance in a party. It was love at first sight for Tianshi Li.

You probably don't remember but you loved swords when you were a little baby. You tore your mom's sword tassels bare. Your dad ended up buying a lot more.

I remember something too. You learned how to read at a very young age. Your father often carried you around the Science Station to teach you new words on the wall...

When you just learned how to run, you would wear your parents' Tianshi robe like a cape and swing a bamboo stick to demonstrate your swordmancy to people who visited your home...

I ... I never heard about these stories before!

Thank you, Endmin and everyone. I've learned my lesson. Although Mom and Dad left no physical belongings, I found a good place to pay my respects to them.

Endmin! I have you to thank for all this. You helped me discover my parents' last legacy.

All those things that people said just reminded me of a story that Mom used to tell me... It's about our people — the Anasa.

Long, long time ago in Terra, when the Anasa wandered aimlessly across the Land ... there was a chief who wanted to help the Anasa settle in a place where the sun never sets.

No. He searched long and hard, but the sun always sets and the cold night always descends.

One day when he saw the sun and moon make their slow course through their skies, and witnessed twinflowers in the wasteland where one bloomed while its twin wilted, he gained his epiphany.

All things die, but they don't simply fade away. Night is broken by day, and day always ends with night.

Yeah. My parents have passed away for many years. But I ... I'm the living proof of their legacy.

I will. Their hearts are always with me.

Endmin, if there's something I can do to help Endfield ... please don't hesitate to call me.

Treat it as a token of my gratitude, and the duty of one who inherited the names of Tianshi Li and Feng.

Tianshi Li and Tianshi Feng, your boy Lifeng is now a fine young lad. He really reminds me of you.

Thank you, Uncle Chen! Mom ... Dad... I guess you live on in everyone's memories. They'll be around ... as long as we hold them in our memories.

As for me ... I'll do my best to live up to memories of them that people hold dear. I am the child of Tianshi Li and Tianshi Feng, and I will not soil the name they gifted me with.

A tangible keepsake is a piece of treasure, but a legacy of heroic sacrifice is just as eternal. Xingzhi and Ah Ji, you couldn't ask for a better son.

That's it ... Time to pay my respects.

I see Tianshi Lian ... along with other Tianshi from the Bureau of Swordmancers...

Many Tianshi fell at this place... The ones here are probably grieving for their former colleagues and friends.

We probably shouldn't disturb their grieving. Ah Sheng and Xiao Ran might be inside, Endmin. Let's go in and look for them.

I don't see them. Shuang told us they've arrived here.

Tanjian Hall is over there. The north side ... should be nearby.

Endmin, I feel ... hopeful ... but also very nervous.

We found Tianshi apparatus of Shuang's father, the late birthday present for Xiao Ran, and the keepsake of Ah Sheng's older brother...

I really want this place to tell me something about what Mom and Dad did in the end, and if they left anything for me...

I don't know how else to put it... I'm like ninety-nine percent hopeful, but one percent scared that I'd end up with nothing.

We went through so many places and found nothing. If there's nothing here, should I keep looking in other places? And where should I go...?

Yeah ... let's start looking.

Need some help here... ANYONE...! I just need one more...

It's Tianshi Li ... and Tianshi Feng... Keep it steady...

Friggin' blightery?! Why are the both of you here...? What about Lifeng...?

It's far too strong for us... Just hold out as long as you...

So this is where you're at, dude. Hey, I thought Xiao Ran is with you.

Ugh. Everyone wants to join the supplies transport team. We submitted tons of applications before we got our chance.

But before we set off, Xiao Ran received a call and had to stay behind. Something went wrong with her soil testing results...

Yeah. She's going through her Tianshi disciple key assessments. Schoolwork is important.

That's true. And how are you doing, Lifeng? Found anything?

I don't even have a clue ... so, I decided to help out the rest of the yard. In fact, I just found the belongings of Shuang's dad.

Really... I guess I could say the same for me. I still couldn't find anything from my brother, so I might as well help Xiao Ran instead.

Her mom used to work at the Bureau Arsenal. So I asked around, got to the place, went through a few things, and found this.

This must be her mom's notebook... Xiao Ran is really detailed in her work and notes down everything. I guess it's in her genes.

I think so too. Look at the style and the handwriting. Even the strokes look the same.

Did you find anything else?

No... Maybe I got too lucky when I found this notebook and it used up all my luck...

Don't worry. We got the Endmin with us! Let's look around some more!

Xiao Ran got all excited and crying and stuff.

Back when Xiao Ran was a kid, she can't stop talking about the birthday party her mom promised. Turns out ... well, her wish finally came true.

Agreed. Let's make things faster by splitting ways.

Ugh. I don't know where my brother's stuff is. What should I do?

I thought you had a saying how a great start leads to a great journey, Ah Sheng. And we had a great start just then.

You're right. But we gotta hurry! The transport team is about to assemble soon.

I feel happy for her... I really do...

I really want to see my Mom and Dad's belongings... I want to remember something about them ... and get to "know" them for once.

I don't want to keep going like this and forget things I should've remembered...

Yeah. We'll find them.

It was their seventh anniversary. They actually gifted each other a custom-forged sword for the occasion.

We finally have a lead.

Yeah. I loved training with Mom and Dad when I was a kid. I even played around with Mom's sword tassel...

But why couldn't I recall details about our daily lives?

Great. We finally found something after all this time. But ... I'm still missing my brother's stuff.

So where would my brother keep his things...?

We can look elsewhere, Ah Sheng.

I'll just look around some more afterwards. It's almost assembly time for the team.

Don't be sad, dude. I'll keep looking around.

If I find out anything about your brother, I'll toast you on Baker at once.

Thanks a lot, people.

I gotta dash to the assembly right now. If you find something ... I'll ... I'll come looking for you right afterwards!

The North Wuling EZ is enormous, Endmin. You definitely got tons of important missions. Maybe you should...

Really appreciate that, Endmin. But ... can you wait for a while? I gotta take care of something first.

It's actually Tianshi Lian... She and Uncle Pan really cared a lot for us.

Thank you, Endmin.

It's hard seeing her being so sad. I really want to help... Maybe I can listen to her story, just like how she and Uncle Pan used to listen to me.