Genshin Impact: The Sharpshooter of Teyvat

With that, Xiao nodded, vanished into the dark.

Hu Tao retrieved an ornate wooden box—its carvings hinting at ancient mysteries.

She opened it gently: inside lay a pile of pristine white bones, seemingly random yet each glowed softly. At the center rested a vibrant peach blossom, vivid against the ivory.

Hu Tao looked at Shao Yun, eyes glowing with expectancy: "Shao Yun, set these thirty‑six bones into a human shape. Then outline a human silhouette around them. Finally, place the peach blossom at the heart."

Shao Yun nodded and began, arranging the bones carefully like a macabre matchstick figure.

But when he finished, he counted only thirty‑five. The skull was missing.

His brow creased as he looked at the peach blossom and the incomplete figure. "Hu Tao, I think there's no skull."

Her face paled. "Ah? Let me see."

She crouched beside the occult arrangement, checking the bones and blossom, guilt visible.

After a moment, she looked up, embarrassed: "Damn—I can't believe I forgot something so important! I'm so careless. Next time I swear I'll rest better."

We can't give up now—do I need to kill someone on the spot for a skull? Nearby Fatui?

Suddenly, Shao Yun had an idea: a human skull was missing—but could an animal's do?

"Hu Tao, can an animal skull work?" he asked.

He pulled out the "Pagan Skull Mask" from his Legend of the East Satchel—an oddly shaped piece resembling an animal skull, perhaps bovine.

She blinked, confused but curious.

"An animal skull?" she repeated.

He nodded: "Yes. I got it on the road. Thought it might help."

Hu Tao studied it, hesitating. Unsure if it would suffice, but with no better option, she made a snap decision.

"Well… nothing to lose. Go for it."

Under her guidance, they completed the bizarre effigy—a figure with an animal‑skull head and a body built from other bones.

Though grotesque, on this night it seemed charged with uncanny power.

She then produced some "unclean items" to attract spirits. Shao Yun didn't ask—he trusted her.

When all preparations were complete, Hu Tao took a deep breath and announced:

"Alright—now just watch our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's performance." She turned to Shao Yun: "Hide nearby, but stay close. If things go sideways, you and Guardian Yaksha are our backup."

He nodded and melted into the tall grass to watch.

Hu Tao raised her "Staff of Homa", face solemn. The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's undertakers stood at each point of the array, awaiting her command.

Shao Yun watched: though unfamiliar, he felt the weight and mystery of the ritual. He whispered to himself, "They really are professionals—ghost‑catching isn't something amateurs can handle."

…

Deep within Wuwang Hill, night pressed heavy as ink. The slope, already gloomy, was now buffeted by chilling gusts rising from the earth.

Leaves rustled like whispers of countless souls.

Above, the bright moon was veiled by thick clouds, casting only a pale haze across the hill.

The spirit‑summoning banner flapped with an eerie whoosh—as if chanting ancient spells.

On the ground, the bone effigy lay battered by wind. Only the animal‑skull "head" remained upright; the rest had scattered.

Hu Tao shivered under the otherworldly atmosphere. She murmured in awe, "Only a month old... and it's gotten to this level? It can influence the ley lines of Wuwang Hill—it's unbelievable."

Her gaze snapped forward at a red‑shrouded silhouette emerging from the darkness—its aura overwhelmingly malevolent.

Her heart skipped. "A month ago Nianhua was dark—but how did she turn red? The change is too drastic!"

As the figure resolved, the red-clad ghost of Nianhua appeared—drenched, water dripping from her, hair disheveled, her face distorted and feral.

She fixed her gaze on the effigy and Hu Tao, mouth twisting into a cold sneer.

["I wondered who would dare draw me here, Miss Hu Tao. We meet again."]

"Nianhua, have you regained your senses?" Hu Tao called softly, voice echoing through the still night.

Nianhua snorted. ["My senses? I merely sensed something attracting me—I came to see."]

Hu Tao's heart ached—this wasn't the graceful woman she'd known, but a spirit trapped by obsession. She pleaded:

"Nianhua, you're dead. Don't cling to the past. The Millelith…"

But Nianhua cut her off angrily: ["Shut up! I said it: I'll fulfill two wishes—and even if my soul shatters, I don't care. Why should you stop me?"]

Her voice brimmed with anger and refusal, as if unleashing a lifetime of resentment.

Hu Tao's heart tightened—she knew what the wishes were: the children, Yi Xuan and Yi Zhu—the heartache and unfinished longing.

But she wouldn't allow Nianhua's impulse to lead to irreparable harm. She inhaled deeply:

"Nianhua, how can you meet your children like this? You'd endanger them."

Nianhua wavered. Silence stretched, then she spoke softly:

["I... I just want to see them, from afar. I'll give up the second wish—they must be the only thing."]

Hu Tao's heart both torn and fearful, understood her longing—but reality was unforgiving.

She took a steady breath:

"I know you long to see them. But your current state is dangerous. Your resentment is too heavy—if you touch them, the result could be deadly. The only way I can help now is by guiding you through the ritual—letting you leave in peace."

Nianhua's expression twisted—rage and sorrow merging in despair:

["You don't understand me! I endured so much suffering—and all I want is to see them. Why can't you grant me even this?"]

Hu Tao's heart ached, but she steadied her voice:

"Nianhua, I do understand your pain—but you've lost yourself. Don't let your own wish bring harm to innocents, including your children."

But Nianhua no longer listened—her eyes turned ink-black, the malice thickening:

["I don't need your understanding! I just need to fulfill my wish! If you won't help, I'll go to Liyue Harbor myself and get them. My wounds are healed—I'm not afraid of you!"]

Hu Tao stiffened, white as the moon's light. A bloodthirsty ghost doesn't heal like a living woman.

Fear surged. She asked in a trembling voice:

"Nianhua, are you really healed? Have you… killed someone?"

Nianhua's once-pleasant face had become terrifying, eyes burning with hellfire—

["To see my children… to avenge myself—I fear nothing!"] she shrieked, voice echoing into the night, thick with despair and rage.

Hu Tao stood firm, voice small but resolute:

"Then we have nothing more to discuss."

Her words triggered immediate conflict.

Nianhua, maddened, lunged like a wild beast—her red figure tearing through the darkness.

But Hu Tao held steady. The moment Nianhua entered the Ghost-Locking Array, Hu Tao commanded:

"Open!"

At her words, the twenty-eight Mora coins in the ground blazed with golden light, intertwining to form an unbreakable cage of binding.