The Dustborne system: tales of the runaway goddess

Guizhong—was shaking.

And not just from the cold.

Oh, the freezing, merciless blizzard of Dragonspine was bad, but what was infinitely worse?

The fact that Morax was closing in.

[WARNING: MORAX IS NOW WITHIN A 2-KILOMETER RADIUS.][EVASION SUCCESS RATE: 10%][HOST HAS VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL.]

Guizhong slapped her own face, trying to stop the oncoming panic attack.

"Venti, I am going to die."

Venti, who was still way too calm for the absolute crisis unfolding, sighed. "Wow, you really have no faith in me, huh?"

Guizhong grabbed his stupid bard clothes.

"HE'S GOING TO FIND ME, DRAG ME BACK TO LIYUE, AND—"

The system interrupted her.

[AND IMPREGNATE YOU.]

Guizhong screamed.

Venti choked.

"Okay, okay—wow—you're in way deeper than I thought!" Venti coughed, his face almost serious for once.

Guizhong shook him violently.

"VENTI, I AM BEGGING YOU! SAVE ME OR I SWEAR I'LL—!"

Before she could finish, the mountains trembled.

The ground beneath them cracked.

And a low, divine voice echoed through the storm.

"Guizhong."

Everything froze.

Even the blizzard itself seemed to hold its breath.

Guizhong's soul nearly left her body.

She turned her head slowly.

Through the thick snowfall, a golden glow flickered in the distance.

A familiar, terrifying glow.

He was here.

Venti whistled lowly. "Welp. We're officially screwed."

Guizhong punched his arm.

"DO SOMETHING, YOU USELESS WIND GREMLIN!"

Venti winced, rubbing his shoulder. "Okay, okay! I just need a sec to—"

The voice spoke again.

"Guizhong, my love."

The very air grew heavy.

Guizhong felt all warmth leave her body as that ancient, unshakable voice carried through the storm.

"Come to me."

The command in his tone was overwhelming.

For a moment, her body nearly moved on its own.

Like some deep, buried part of her past self still remembered how to obey.

[WARNING: HOST IS EXPERIENCING DIVINE PRESENCE SUPPRESSION.][RECOMMENDED ACTION: ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING BUT STANDING STILL LIKE AN IDIOT.]

Venti snapped his fingers.

The wind howled, breaking the trance.

Guizhong gasped sharply, stumbling backward.

"What—what the hell was that?!" she hissed, her heart slamming against her ribs.

Venti frowned. "Oh, that? That was Morax using his 'you're mine forever' voice. Pretty effective, huh?"

Guizhong kicked him.

"DO NOT CALL IT THAT!"

Chapter 4 part 2: Morax is Done Playing Games (Zhongli POV)

Zhongli's glowing figure was getting closer.

The snow and fog swirled around him, his long coat billowing, golden eyes locked onto Guizhong like she was the only thing in the world.

This was it.

She had one shot.

Guizhong turned to Venti, eyes wild with panic.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE, NOW."

Venti grinned, cracking his knuckles. "You got it, Your Dustiness."

With a snap of his fingers, the wind roared to life.

A massive burst of Anemo energy erupted beneath them, launching them off the ground.

[NEW OBJECTIVE: AVOID GETTING YEETED INTO A MOUNTAIN.]

Guizhong screamed as she was flung into the sky.

Venti laughed. "Oh wow, I might've overdone it—"

Meanwhile…

Zhongli's golden eyes narrowed as a sudden burst of Anemo carried Guizhong away.

Again.

For the second time.

His hand slowly curled into a fist.

The earth rumbled beneath him.

His patience, already hanging by a thread, snapped completely.

"…Enough."

He raised a single hand.

And the mountain itself moved.

With a deafening CRACK, massive Geo constructs exploded from the ground, reaching into the sky like giant, golden hands.

They swung toward the airborne figures.

One nearly caught Guizhong's leg.

[EMOTIONAL SURGE DETECTED: MORAX—ABSOLUTE POSSESSION. +8,000 EP]

But before it could trap her, Venti kicked it off mid-air.

"Not today, Rockhead!" he cackled.

The wind howled, propelling them even higher.

Zhongli's expression did not change.

But the very air around him darkened.

His voice was quiet. Deadly. Absolute.

"You cannot run forever, my love."

[CURRENT STATUS: ESCAPING… BARELY.]

Guizhong after hearing the system notification was still flying.

Against her will.

At very unsafe speeds.

"I HATE THIS!" she screamed, gripping Venti for dear life.

Venti, still laughing his ass off, gave her a thumbs-up. "Hey, at least you're not in his arms, right?"

Guizhong gritted her teeth.

That was true.

For now.

She didn't know how long they could keep this up.

But one thing was painfully clear.

Morax was not giving up.

Not now.

Not ever.

And next time?

He wouldn't let her escape.

Back to 2 runaways (more like 1 and the other for fun)

Guizhong for all her wisdom and her keen sense of instinct—was still screaming.

She had lost track of how long they'd been in the air, but one thing was clear—

Venti's flying was the opposite of safe.

"VENTI, YOU DRUNKEN GREMLIN, STEER PROPERLY!"

Venti, holding her like a sack of stolen potatoes, grinned. "Relax! I know what I'm doing!"

The next second, they narrowly missed slamming into a frozen cliff.

Guizhong bit his arm.

[WARNING: HOST HAS DROPPED TO 5% SANITY.]

She kicked, flailed, and screamed curses at the system as Venti zigzagged through the sky, dodging the giant golden Geo constructs still chasing them.

From below, Zhongli stood unmoving.

But his golden gaze never left Guizhong.

His presence was a constant weight, a reminder that no matter how far she ran—

he was coming for her. (A/N: Ooh Kinky)

[STATUS: ESCAPED… TEMPORARILY.]

[ESTIMATED TIME BEFORE MORAX RESUMES HUNT: 10 HOURS.]

Guizhong let out the biggest sigh of relief in her life.

"I'M ALIVE."

Chapter 4 part 3: Crashing into Nowhere (A/N: cough *Dragonspine*cough)

Ten seconds later, they crashed into a snowbank.

Guizhong sank into the snow like a frozen corpse, staring at the sky.

Venti hopped out, stretching.

"Whew! What a ride, huh?"

Guizhong's eye twitched.

"You. Are. The. Worst."

Venti flopped onto the snow beside her. "Yeah, yeah, but hey—we got away!"

Guizhong sat up, teeth chattering. "We got away, but we're still in Dragonspine! Morax is going to start looking again in—"

[ESTIMATED TIME BEFORE MORAX RESUMES HUNT: 9 HOURS 59 MINUTES.]

She screamed into her hands.

Venti seeing Guizhong being a drama queen decide that they needed a place to hide.

Fast.

[NEW OBJECTIVE: HIDE FOR THE NEXT 10 HOURS.]

Venti scratched his head. "Alright, alright—so, where do we lay low?"

Guizhong rubbed her face. "We need somewhere safe, somewhere Geo energy won't betray us, and somewhere Zhongli won't immediately check—"

Then it hit her.

"The old ruins."

Venti blinked. "Oh, you mean the creepy abandoned domain?"

"YES. NOBODY GOES THERE. NOT EVEN ADEPTI."

Venti snorted. "Wow, hiding in a haunted ruin to escape your yandere rock husband. That's love for you."

[NEW OBJECTIVE: REACH THE DRAGONSPINE RUINS WITHOUT DYING.]

Guizhong grabbed Venti's arm.

"Less talking, more running!"

And with that, they took off through the snow.

Chapter 4 part 4: Meanwhile, in Liyue… (Zhongli POV)

Zhongli sat in Wangshu Inn, calmly drinking tea.

To any observer, he was composed, patient, as serene as ever.

But inside?

His mind was burning.

She had escaped.

Again.

And yet—

He was not worried.

Guizhong was still within his reach.

The hunt was far from over.

His golden eyes flickered.

"You can run, my love."

"But you will never be free."

And in his mind, the next time he found her—

She would not escape.