"I came unannounced, have I disturbed you? Should I come back later?"
Lu Ze even suspected that the battle hadn't ended, and he had interrupted it. If he had known, he should have come later.
Disturbing someone's pleasure, how impolite.
"No, no, how could you possibly disturb us? You speak first, what do you need me for?"
Raiden Ei quickly picked up the pink little fox from the ground, smiling at Lu Ze. Although her eyes dodged a bit, she seemed normal.
"I don't really need you for anything, I just want to give you this. I think this should be quite important to you."
He slowly opened his palm, and a cherry blossom appeared. Raiden Ei was a bit confused, a cherry blossom? What was so important about it? If he sought her out just for a single cherry blossom, wouldn't that be making a mountain out of a molehill?
"This cherry blossom... what's wrong with it? Is there anything special about it, or..."
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Ze quickly tossed the cherry blossom towards Raiden Ei. The blossom, as if by fate, landed precisely on her forehead. Immediately, the memories within the cherry blossom unfolded, and she froze in place.
"What is this... why did I see Makoto?"
The same memories, the same words, but Ei couldn't wake up. Looking at that familiar person, how she wished... Makoto was standing in front of her.
After a long while, Ei, with an unknown emotion in her heart, removed the cherry blossom from her forehead with her hand and held it tightly.
"Hmph... Thank you, Lu Ze. This is indeed very important to me, thank you! May I ask, where did you find this cherry blossom?"
The little fox in her arms opened its purple eyes, looking at Ei with some curiosity. What had she seen that caused such a strong emotional reaction? Could it be some secret?
As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, and sometimes curiosity can kill a fox too.
The pink little fox wanted to pry open Ei's palm to see what could cause such a strong emotional fluctuation.
Sensing the movement, Ei impatiently swatted away its little paw and whispered sternly,
"Yae Miko! Don't mess around, this is not a time for jokes."
The reprimanded little fox felt a little wronged and chose to close her eyes and ears.
The entire fox curled up in her arms. Lu Ze watched this scene, his mouth twitched. Good heavens, it really was Yae Miko. That made sense... after all, which other fox was pink?
"I found this cherry blossom by chance on a cherry tree by the street. It shocked me for a while. However, I thought that someone extremely similar to you would likely be your sister, so I felt this thing would be important to you and wanted to give it to you."
A cherry tree by the street? Raiden Ei felt a little disappointed upon hearing this. She had thought it would be some mysterious place.
"I see! I express my gratitude to you once again. Thank you for giving me this. Is there anything else?"
Hearing this, Lu Ze knew that the host was about to issue a polite dismissal. He also knew that the other party was feeling a bit down and it was normal for her to want some time alone.
However, it was better to get everything out in one go, so as to avoid such awkward situations in the future.
"Naturally, there are other matters. Ei! Do you want to resurrect your sister? I mean true resurrection, to live in this world again, indistinguishable from the past. She would still be your sister, and you would still be her sister."
Upon hearing the word "resurrection," Raiden Ei's face finally showed a flicker of emotion, but she quickly calmed down.
"Resurrection... While I don't want to dampen your spirits, I have already tried. In Teyvat... Archons who die are not truly dead; they have time to recondense their consciousness and return. Therefore, to kill an Archon, one must destroy all their will, making them truly dead."
As Ei spoke, memories of the past flashed through her mind.
On the battlefield filled with war, she saw Makoto lying in a pool of blood, her will gradually dissipating. Beside her lay her katana, blood trickling from her lips.
"Ei... why are you here? Hurry back! This is not a place for you... From now on, sister probably won't be able to accompany you anymore... You must learn to take care of yourself."
As her aura as an Archon grew weaker, Makoto's fair left hand slowly slipped and fell heavily to the ground.
Ei didn't know how long she cried then. All she knew was to protect Inazuma and to let her sister's will, her sister's ideals, continue to live on.
She would accomplish what her sister couldn't. That day, she carried her sister's corpse and walked back to Inazuma step by step.
She hadn't not considered resurrection; she had even acted on it. The initial intention of creating the puppet was to resurrect her sister, but she knew... no matter how exquisite the puppet, it couldn't bring her sister back.
So she created the Shogun, who would work in her stead, while she herself contemplated eternity in the Sacred Sakura and how to achieve it, so that all she cherished would never disappear.
This took a long time, and it wasn't until Lu Ze's promotional video was released that she gradually let go of her emotional burdens and was no longer fixated on eternity.
As for the Shogun, Ei had already separated her consciousness. All that was needed in the future was to create another puppet and transfer the consciousness into it.
"I dare to speak of resurrection because I am absolutely confident I can achieve it. I never speak of things I cannot do, neither in the past nor in the present. I need your belief, and I must borrow some things to be able to resurrect your sister. And even your companions in the future."
Listening to Lu Ze's words, Ei was reminded of Kitsune Saiguu, Utsuho, and others. Yes! Since there was no loss, why not give it a try? What if... what if it could really work? What if she could truly be resurrected?
Even with just a sliver of hope, Ei felt she had to pursue it. But before that, she had to confirm if the other party's plan had any flaws.
"Then how... do you plan to resurrect her?"
Seeing Raiden Ei finally relenting, Lu Ze felt utterly exhausted. However, the thought that she wouldn't show such a distressed expression again made this exhaustion seem insignificant.
"My plan is... I will obtain three items. First, I will resurrect your sister, as it is the easiest. The current challenge is... how to find the remaining fragments of your sister's soul. I believe you know the answer to this, don't you?"