Genshin Impact: A Guide to the Unofficial History of Teyvat — Chapter 100

Chapter 100: 【Yelan x Shenhe】 For Whom the Love Trap is Set (Part 3)

【Chapter 5: Crisis in the Mines】

Since that fateful day, Shenhe and Yelan’s paths crossed with inexplicable frequency. Sometimes it was a formal invitation from Yelan to execute a joint commission; other times, it was a seemingly chance encounter on the bustling streets of Liyue Harbor, inevitably leading to a shared pot of tea and idle conversation. Yelan always possessed a flawless excuse to pull her along, and Shenhe found her own ability to refuse quietly slipping away.

Today, their pursuit of a brazen band of Treasure Hoarders led them far from the city, stopping at the crumbling ruins of a forgotten settlement. The trail vanished into the maw of an abandoned mine—a dark, jagged network of tunnels carved deep into the earth.

Yelan struck a flint, the sudden flare of orange illuminating the scuffed boot prints in the dust. “They’ve gone deeper. Keep your guard up; the supports here are rotted through. The whole ceiling could cave in at a moment’s notice.”

Shenhe gave a curt nod, her grip tightening on her polearm as she stepped into the gloom behind her.

The mine was a jagged throat of branching paths and dead ends. Without the faint tracks in the dirt, the darkness would have swallowed them whole. As they descended, the air grew biting and thick with moisture. Condensation beaded along the uneven stone walls, dropping into unseen puddles with hollow, rhythmic thuds.

A violent crash shattered the quiet. The ground shuddered beneath their boots, followed by the grinding roar of shifting gravel.

They exchanged a single, sharp glance and broke into a sprint.

Rounding a sharp bend, the tunnel choked down into a narrow fissure. Faint, flickering torchlight spilled from the far end—the Treasure Hoarders’ camp. But between them and their quarry lay a massive mound of freshly collapsed rock, leaving only a jagged, shoulder-width gap to squeeze through.

“I’ll take the lead,” Yelan murmured, turning sideways to slide into the crevice.

Shenhe followed, the rough stone scraping against her sleeves. The passage was suffocatingly tight. They were forced so close together that Shenhe could smell the faint, elegant perfume clinging to Yelan, cutting sharply through the stale, dusty air of the cavern.

Just as Shenhe shifted to clear the final jagged outcrop, a sickening crack split the air directly above them.

Yelan moved with blinding speed. Before Shenhe could even raise her arms, Yelan seized her waist, yanking her forward and twisting their bodies. Yelan slammed her own back against the falling debris, shielding Shenhe completely.

A heavy, muffled thud echoed in the tight space. Yelan’s frame gave a sharp, involuntary shudder against her.

“You—”

Yelan’s gloved hand clamped over Shenhe’s mouth.

“Quiet,” Yelan breathed, her lips brushing the shell of Shenhe’s ear. The sudden rush of warm air sent a strange, electric prickle down Shenhe’s spine. “They’re right ahead.”

Only then did Shenhe register the shifting orange glow bleeding into the tunnel. Heavy footsteps crunched over the gravel. The Treasure Hoarders were investigating the cave-in.

This was no place to fight. Pinned in a bottleneck against superior numbers, drawing weapons meant being buried alive.

Yelan dragged Shenhe backward, melting into the pitch-black shadow of a protruding boulder. The alcove was barely large enough for one. Pressed flush against the freezing stone wall, Shenhe found her chest flush against Yelan’s.

In the suffocating dark, Shenhe could feel the steady, powerful thud of Yelan’s heart against her own ribs. Yet, to her bewilderment, her own pulse began to race, hammering wildly in her ears. She couldn’t tell if the sudden rush of blood was born from the imminent danger, the intoxicating proximity of Yelan’s breath, or something entirely foreign.

The crunch of boots grew deafening. Torchlight licked the very edge of their shadowed alcove. Shenhe held her breath, her knuckles turning white around the shaft of her spear.

Without warning, Yelan flicked her wrist. A tiny, metallic dart shot from her fingertips, sailing through the dark to strike a loose cluster of stones far down a branching tunnel. The rocks tumbled with a loud, echoing clatter.

“Over there!” a gruff voice barked. The torchlight immediately swung away, the footsteps fading into the distance.

They waited until the silence returned before stepping out of the alcove. The moment they had enough space, Shenhe grabbed Yelan’s shoulder, turning her around. A dark, ugly bruise was already blossoming across Yelan’s pale shoulder blade, stark against her skin. Thankfully, the skin wasn’t broken.

Shenhe’s brows knitted together. “You are injured.”

“It’s nothing but a scratch.” Yelan rolled her shoulder with practiced indifference, turning back with a languid smirk. “Let’s finish the job first.”

Shenhe opened her mouth to argue, but Yelan was already slipping down the tunnel toward the enemy camp. Left with no alternative, she followed.

Yet, in the quiet dark, a realization settled heavily in her chest. Looking at that bruised shoulder, she felt a sharp, unfamiliar ache. She was actually distressed.

【Chapter 6: Red Strings Tie Mortal Fates】

The ensuing ambush was ruthlessly efficient. Moving in perfect sync, they dismantled the Treasure Hoarder camp, bound the unconscious thieves, and secured the stolen Liyue relics. By the time the Millelith arrived to haul the culprits away, the moon was hanging high and cold in the night sky.

The walk back to Liyue Harbor was steeped in silence. It wasn’t until the towering red gates of the city loomed ahead that Shenhe finally spoke.

“Come to my home.”

Yelan paused, an eyebrow arching in the moonlight. A spark of amusement danced in her eyes. “Oh?”

“Your injury requires treatment.” Shenhe’s voice remained perfectly level, but the tips of her ears burned faintly under Yelan’s piercing gaze.

A low, throaty chuckle escaped Yelan, the sound impossibly rich in the quiet night. “Then I suppose I’ll be in your care.”

Shenhe’s residence in the city was barren, possessing the same ascetic emptiness as her cave on Mt. Aocang. She guided Yelan to the lone wooden chair and carefully helped ease the heavy coat off her shoulders. The fabric slipped away, exposing the expanse of her back and the angry, purpling contusion marring her shoulder blade.

Staring at the bruised flesh, that same phantom ache twisted in Shenhe’s chest. She unstoppered a small porcelain bottle of medicinal oil, pouring a few drops into her palm. She rubbed her hands together to warm the liquid before pressing her fingers gently against the wound.

Yelan drew in a sharp, hissing breath.

“Bear with it.” Shenhe immediately lightened her touch, her palm tracing slow, soothing circles over the damaged tissue. “Why did you take that hit for me?”

Yelan tilted her head, looking back over her bare shoulder. In the dim candlelight, her eyes were bottomless. “Instinct, I suppose. What, are you upset about it?”

Shenhe fell quiet, her fingers unconsciously pressing a fraction harder into the skin. “I am not accustomed to being protected.”

“Habits can be unlearned,” Yelan murmured, letting out a soft, breathless gasp as the pressure hit a tender spot. “Just as you were accustomed to total isolation, yet here you are, letting me cross the threshold into your private domain.”

Shenhe’s hand froze.

It was true. She had never brought a single soul back to this room. Yelan was the first.

“Then…” Shenhe began, her voice unusually hesitant, her hands slowing to a stop. “Are we considered friends?”

Yelan turned fully around in the chair. Her collar hung loose, exposing the elegant sweep of her collarbones. A dangerous, magnetic light flickered in her gaze. “Is that what you want us to be?”

Shenhe met those eyes and found herself entirely stripped of words.

She didn’t know what she wanted. She only knew that whenever Yelan was near, her chest felt tight, as if a heavy stone had been dropped into the frozen, dead waters of her heart, sending endless ripples crashing against the ice.

It was terrifying. And intoxicating.

“I do not know,” Shenhe answered with brutal honesty, her gaze dropping involuntarily to the exposed skin of Yelan’s neckline. “I do not understand these mortal concepts.”

The sharp edge of Yelan’s smile melted into something infinitely softer. She reached up, her cool fingers wrapping gently around Shenhe’s wrist. Her thumb brushed deliberately against the woven Red Rope tied there. “That’s fine. We have all the time in the world to figure it out.”

Yelan knew the lore of that braided cord. She knew of Shenhe’s cursed fate, of the Adepti who had bound her soul to suppress her homicidal urges and freeze her emotions.

Once the oil was fully absorbed, Yelan pulled her clothes back into place and drifted toward the window. The silver moonlight washed over her, painting her silhouette in luminous, ethereal strokes.

“Lantern Rite is in a few days.”

“Yes. What of it?” Shenhe stepped up beside her, close enough that the night breeze blew their sleeves together.

“I heard the Ministry is releasing a new type of sky lantern this year. Care to watch them with me?” Yelan’s tone was breezy, casual, but her eyes held a heavy, waiting stillness.

Shenhe looked at the elegant curve of Yelan’s profile bathed in moonlight, and that strange, hammering pulse returned in full force.

“Alright.”

The word slipped past her lips before she could even form the thought.

Shenhe blinked, utterly stunned by her own voice.

She had agreed? Just like that?

She had committed to meeting another person, at a specific hour, purely for the frivolous act of ‘watching a spectacle’—not out of duty, not for a mission, but simply to be there.

It violated every rule of her ascetic existence. She was a creature of the mountains, accustomed to meditating on cold stone, pouring every ounce of her being into cultivation. Lantern Rite was nothing but noise and blinding lights in the harbor below. She had never once considered stepping into the throng, let alone specifically sharing the view with someone else.

Her eyes dropped to her wrist. The bright crimson of the Red Rope seemed to mock her.

Her master had tied this knot to lock away the calamity in her stars, to chain her very nature. The physical threads remained perfectly intact, taut against her skin. Yet, deep within her chest, something foundational—something that had been frozen solid for decades—had just experienced a microscopic loosening because of this sudden promise.

What was this feeling?

Why was it so easy to say yes?

Yelan watched the silent storm in Shenhe’s eyes. A knowing, triumphant smile curled her lips, though she possessed the grace not to voice it aloud. She simply tapped her fingers against the windowsill, her voice dropping to a velvet whisper. “Then it’s a date. I’ll be waiting for you near Feiyun Slope on the night of the festival.”

“…Mm.”

Shenhe stood frozen by the window, watching as Yelan turned and melted into the shadows of the Liyue night. She didn’t look away until the darkness had swallowed her completely.

【Gift Bonus Progress: 49%】