The Traveler and Paimon explained the situation to Dainsleif, telling him about their encounter inside the ruins.
Paimon: "It feels like where Abyss Mages lurk, Ruin Guards often wander too. Is that a coincidence?"
Dainsleif: "There are no coincidences in this world; everything is a seed planted in the distant past."
"Just like your appearance in that tavern... time merely waits for it to sprout."
Mona strongly agreed with this, as Teyvat's destiny is predetermined, so there truly are no coincidences; everything is fated.
At this moment, Bennett, who was with Mona, scratched his head. No coincidences? Does that mean my bad luck is fated?
Am I really that unlucky? Destined for such bad luck...
Leaving Bennett aside, Ying's last appearance in the tavern wasn't due to some 'seed from the past'; she was tricked into going there by Lin Qiu.
Although even if Lin Qiu hadn't tricked her, she would have coincidentally met Dain in the tavern anyway.
Returning to the book, Dainsleif even revealed that Abyss Mages and Ruin Guards all originated from the fallen ancient nation—Khaenri'ah.
Even more explosive was the Traveler's subsequent statement: "I have memories of Khaenri'ah."
The Traveler explained that when she awoke, she was in a sea of fire, and then her brother wanted to take her away, but they were ultimately stopped by an unknown god.
Many people only then realized that before the Traveler met that unknown god, she was in Khaenri'ah.
Everyone knew about Ying and her brother encountering an unknown god blocking their path, but they didn't know about any experiences before meeting that unknown god.
Not to mention the readers, Paimon in the story also only just learned of Ying's story before meeting the god.
This is because Ying didn't understand this world; she didn't know where that sea of fire was and only learned after traveling for some time.
Kaeya, uncharacteristically, was not joking, but seriously reading the story.
Dainsleif: "Hmm... After arriving in this world, your initial awakening was when your brother roused you from a fallen star."
"Then, your brother told you that Khaenri'ah's destruction caused cataclysms, and he wanted you to leave this world called Teyvat together."
"You experienced that catastrophe; that was... five hundred years ago."
This means the Traveler woke up once five hundred years ago. After being woken up by her brother that time, she hadn't even understood what was going on before her brother dragged her, wanting to leave Teyvat.
But they didn't manage to escape, were stopped, and then she fell asleep for another five hundred years.
So, the unlucky Traveler was only awake for such a short time during these five hundred years?
During that brief moment, the Traveler didn't even know where she was or what she was supposed to do.
It was only in this second awakening that she gradually understood this world and realized she had been in Khaenri'ah at that time.
Conversely, her brother woke up before her the first time, and he still woke up before her the second time.
The legendary Sleep King.
Dainsleif: "Regarding Khaenri'ah, I should know more than you all."
"Khaenri'ah was a nation without gods—the gods neither died nor left, but simply never existed in Khaenri'ah's history from the beginning."
"This was a powerful nation built purely by humans, and humanity prided itself on its unprecedented prosperity and brilliant civilization."
The riddle-speaking Dain finally gave a clear and understandable clue.
Khaenri'ah was a nation of humans, a nation where no gods existed from the very beginning!
Present-day Mondstadt and Liyue are, to some extent, 'nations of humans,' but they are not nations without gods.
But how did Khaenri'ah, without gods, survive through the ages of eternity?
People didn't know the answer to the question, so they chose to continue reading.
Dain continued, "Five hundred years ago, the gods descended together and annihilated Khaenri'ah."
"They eradicated the so-called 'pride of humanity,' like weeds, from the gods' garden..."
Kaeya frowned, his heart deeply conflicted.
This was the first time Diluc had seen Kaeya in such an emotional state while reading. He simply silently placed a wine glass in front of Kaeya, saying nothing.
On Dragonspine, Albedo was silent. As a creation of 'Gold,' he also couldn't fully explain what happened five hundred years ago.
For others, this sentence contained a lot of information. Five hundred years ago was a complete catastrophe for most nations.
But now, it seems like Khaenri'ah was the victim? What about us?
The gods' expedition against Khaenri'ah was not common knowledge.
Dain's words made people wonder why the gods would destroy Khaenri'ah?
But this couldn't make people question them, because these were the gods who had protected them for thousands of years; they couldn't question the gods based on a single sentence from Dain.
At most, they would be curious about their own gods' reasons for doing so, but they wouldn't question whether their gods were good or bad.
In Mondstadt, Kaeya and others looked towards Venti, their eyes full of questions, hoping Venti could answer them.
It was the same in Liyue; people were also curiously looking at Zhongli, wanting to know the answer.
However, these two old fellows naturally wouldn't say anything. Regarding Khaenri'ah, they had no choice but to lament.
The destruction of Khaenri'ah was not their original intention. Besides, if not for the troublesome events of Khaenri'ah, how many tragedies would the Seven Nations have avoided?
Venti wouldn't have fallen into slumber, Dvalin wouldn't have drunk poisoned blood, and thus wouldn't have been corrupted by the Abyss from the beginning.
If Liyue hadn't faced an Abyss invasion, how many fewer Millelith and Adepti would have died?
Inazuma even more so; if not for the events of Khaenri'ah, Ei would have been a much 'cheerier' girl.
At least several times cheerier than her current reclusive state.
And if Makoto had been governing, there would have been no Sakoku Decree or Vision Hunt Decree.
Fontaine even more so; if Egeria hadn't died, the prophecy wouldn't have happened, because Egeria could completely control the Primordial Seawater.
Dain spoke pitifully, but that was ultimately looking at the problem from Khaenri'ah's perspective.
In fact, the war five hundred years ago could be said to have had no victors.
As creations of 'Gold,' even the dragon Durin and Elynas died very miserably.
Durin merely listened to the 'music' and wanted to dance with humans, yet in reality, he caused irreparable disaster to the people on the ground.
When Durin awoke with a start, he only saw the Windborne Bard guiding the sapphire-like giant dragon, its fangs piercing his throat.
Before dying, Durin still thought of 'Gold.'
"Goodbye, Mother, my journey has ended."
"It's not bad to sleep in the shining silver snow."
"Goodbye, beautiful poet, beautiful dragon."
"If only we could meet, sing, and dance together at a different time and place."
Elynas was the same; he came to the surface kingdom, witnessed its colorful diversity, and he willingly went to his death.
As a creature of the Abyss, he could be resurrected at any time, but he didn't want to bring misfortune to the people on the surface, so he chose eternal slumber.
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Character Voice Line · Lin Qiu: About Khaenri'ah
"Khaenri'ah... sigh, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, too greedy."