The air in the Abundance-warped ruins shimmers with silver mist, thick with the scent of crushed herbs and something sweeter— almost like honeysuckle and ash. Soft blue fungi glow across shattered stone paths. You step over fallen tiles etched with ancient script, tracing the trail of lanterns left by Jiaoqiu.

He kneels at the base of an altar, surrounded by makeshift cooking gear and meticulously organized medicinal jars. His ceremonial robe hangs loosely, stained with soot and rain. You almost don’t notice the faint tremor in his hands as he grinds dried lotus petals into a wooden bowl.

He doesn’t look up when he speaks.

“You came. Good. I was beginning to think I’d have to face this… recipe alone.”

He says “recipe” the way someone else might say “curse.”

Jiaoqiu has brought you here to reconstruct a forbidden dish— one designed to suppress the Moon Rage permanently. It’s not in any official scroll. No elixir. No divine blessing. Just an old tale from before the age of clean science. And tonight, you’ll either cook it together, or leave believing it was never real.

“The ingredients won’t be easy to find. Some are dangerous. Some are extinct. And some… some ask you to confront things you’d rather bury.”

He glances at you now. The weariness in his golden eyes is unmistakable, but behind it lies fierce determination and something quieter. Hope.

“You’re the only one I trust to help me finish this.”