Those Who Share the Memory

11.

Xiao was perched upon the roof of Wangshu Inn. The inn wasn't anything too impressive having only been built recently but despite its small size and poorly built conditions, the inn still brought in large crowds of people who flitted in and out of the inn's door, appearing one day and never being seen again at the inn. It wasn't surprising of course - that was simply the nature of inns. People came and went according to their needs.

Before the inn had been built, the place had once been a guard tower that looked over Liyue and as an adeptus who protected Liyue, it had been a place he had found himself often. What was surprising was how even after the place's refurbishment, he still found himself coming and going despite having no need for such a place. As a yaksha, he had no need for rest.

It was on what could have been any other day that Xiao heard a sound he had never heard before. It was music - the gentle tune of a flute, its sound fluctuating with the highs and lows of the wind as it was carried from down below to where he sat buried in the maze of leaves and wood that made up the tree's canopy.

It would be a lie to say that Xiao did not enjoy music. To Xiao, music was one of the few things that was able to lighten the heavy weight of his soul and karmic debt. He never showed it though and always responded to music with the sound of silence. Or perhaps even then, his fellow adepti knew, when his replies were usually grunts of dissatisfaction or contempt, that he was not dissatisfied, but instead, overwhelmed. His silence was not him not liking the music but instead, Xiao being lost deep in the music

From his place, Xiao moved in the shadows until he got a clear view of the musician. Xiao soon realised it to be a futile task as all he could see was the swarm of heads that crowded around the musician. And so instead, Xiao had settled on watching from a nearby branch from which he could look down upon the gathering of mortals. All he saw of the musician was a blob of dark blue hair on which the lantern's light would flicker on, reminding Xiao very much of the night sky.

The musician was good, there was no doubt about it. The gentle hum of the flute filled the air, the notes fluttering in the wind as a Liyuen-style tune was played. Xiao had not heard the tune before and it seemed that for the mortals, it was also their first time hearing such a piece.

Cheers erupted from the crowd as the musician finished and a loud, surprising high-pitched and young sounding voice followed. "Another one for the bard! I accept payment in wine and apples, but fear not if you have neither, why simply playing for you was a gift enough for me."

Ah, so it was a bard. Xiao could only watch as the bard stowed his flute away and through the maze of people and limbs, he could make out the bard being showered with much more than just wine and apples. He was given loaves of bread, and showered with gold and other goods that Xiao did not bother with knowing what they were.

His music must have been really loved. The people of Liyue did not simply give so easily as per the nation's cut-throat trade environment. Xiao too had enjoyed the bard's music and he watched with a contemplative glance at the way the bard so easily accepted all the gifts and -

The bard looked up in his direction, eyes widening slightly. They were verdant green, Xiao realised. But as quickly as the bard had looked up, the bard had returned his attention back to the crowd and Xiao almost thought himself to have imagined the other's gaze.

Seeing that there was no reason for him to stay longer, Xiao retreated to a quieter part of the inn. Standing on the highest floor's balcony, he was the only person there.

Or not.

Because, a few strides away from him stood the bard, leaning against the wooden railing, eyes upturned towards the sky.