[EARLY ACCESS] SHRINK IMPACT | GENSHIN IMPACT - CHAPTER 40

The journey did not end in the stomach.

Mona drifted between pain and delirium, her broken leg throbbing, your voice a distant echo in the squelch and churn of Xianyun’s belly. The air was thick, heavy with the stench of acid and musk. 

Mona clung to you, pressing her forehead to your shoulder, each heartbeat marked by the relentless kneading of the walls. Every movement above—Xianyun’s pleased sighs, the faint gurgle of her contentment—sent new ripples through the cramped, burning darkness.

Then, the pressure shifted. The stomach walls pulsed in a new, purposeful rhythm, churning your battered bodies toward a tight, puckered opening at the far side. Your grip tightened on Mona.

“Mona—what’s happening?” you rasped, breath shallow.

“Sh-she’s…the next part,” Mona managed, her voice barely audible. “She’s sending us deeper. Her body is…”

You tried to brace yourself, but the stomach was relentless. A powerful, squeezing contraction forced your body against the sphincter. Mona screamed as the opening dilated, a pulse of heat and air sucking her forward. 

You were already half through, wrenched from her grasp, your panicked cry echoing back up the slimy, muscular tube. Your world narrowed to a ring of slick, convulsing flesh around your chest. 

Your lungs squeezed, vision blurred, and then—with a sickening, wet pop—you were through, tumbling headlong into Xianyun’s small intestine.

Everything there was tighter, slicker, more claustrophobic. The walls pressed close on every side, undulating in slow, powerful waves that forced you along. The air was humid and stifling, thick with the scent of bile. It was a living tunnel, a labyrinth of muscle and heat, and it dragged you ever onward—deeper, darker.

Somewhere behind, you heard Mona’s muffled voice, strained and thin.

“Mona! Help! Please—!” you shouted, your own words swallowed by the endless, pulsing squeeze.

She tried to call back, but her voice was lost. She could barely breathe, barely move, her hands slipping helplessly along the glistening walls. Every pulse of Xianyun’s body squeezed you both tighter, rolling you forward. Acid stung your skin, and the constant, pulsing squeeze left your body trembling and weak.

The world was reduced to rhythm and heat, humiliation and fear. Sometimes, Mona’s body was pressed flat, face-first, against the intestinal lining, so close to you she could almost touch you—only to be yanked apart by the next peristaltic wave. 

At other moments, she tumbled on top of you, clinging together in an intimate way, the press of your bodies the only comfort in the relentless, consuming darkness.

Your mind drifted—memories of stargazing in Mondstadt, of soft beds and cool air—until another squeeze, another surge of bile, brought you back. You cried Mona’s name, heard her sob in reply.

If none of this had ever happened…maybe the two of you could have…

Mona…this can’t be the end…

A spark of desperation flickered. Mona knew she had to try.

One spell. It’s all I have left. But it has to work.

She pulled you close, pressing her forehead to yours. “Hold on to me. No matter what. I’m going to try something—dangerous. I-I’ve never done it before, it may not work but…I have to try—.”

You nodded, eyes wide and shining with terror.

Mona’s voice was a cracked whisper as she began the incantation, calling on every scrap of power, every thread of fate and possibility. The words twisted in the air—warping, distorting, as the magic coiled around you both. The intestines clenched, fighting to keep you, but the spell flared.

The world convulsed, stretched, snapped. You felt yourself and Mona torn from the grip of the adeptus’s body, spun through a whirlpool of heat, cold, stars, and void.

…

You landed hard—on your back, air whooshing from your lungs. Mona tumbled beside you, both of you coated in a sticky, glistening sheen. You coughed, gasped, and pressed together, blinking at the sudden brightness.

Beside you, Mona tumbled to a stop, sprawled on her side, her breath coming in wheezing, sticky pants. Both of you were coated in a glistening layer of slime and sweat—acid-welted skin burning in places, hair plastered flat, eyes raw and rimmed with tears. The air around you felt impossibly bright, harsh after so long trapped in suffocating darkness.

For a heartbeat you just stared at each other, dazed and trembling. Then, with a desperate, broken little sob, Mona reached for you, her arms wrapping around your shoulders. You clung back, clutching her tight, not caring about the sting of stomach acid or the slick, disgusting sheen covering both your bodies.

“Are you…are you alright?” Mona’s voice was ragged, thick with fear and relief. You felt her shudder, her breath warm against your ear as she pressed her forehead into your shoulder. “I—I thought you might have—”

You squeezed her tighter, swallowing down a sob. “I’m here. I’m…okay, I think. Just…burned, maybe, but—” Your words cracked, the memory of that burning squeeze, the overwhelming heat, the living darkness still raw inside you. “You’re not hurt? Your leg—?”

Mona nodded, her face crumpling with pain but her voice steadier than before. “It still hurts, but…I can move. I’m okay. I’m so sorry I couldn’t—”

“Don’t,” you whispered fiercely. “We made it. We’re out. That’s all that matters right now. We can still find a way to save Ganyu too–-”

The surface beneath you was smooth and warm—polished wood, enormous at your size. You finally took a proper look around, and your heart froze in your chest.

You were on a chair. Not just any chair—a massive, elegantly carved seat in a sun-dappled parlor. The air was filled with the faint scent of tea and perfume, and, looming above, the enormous form of Ningguang.

The Tianquan of Liyue, regal and utterly unaware, was about to sit down. Her silks rustled, her hand reached for a stack of documents, and her magnificent, impossibly large form blocked out the light.

You let out a strangled gasp. Mona’s eyes widened in dread as Ningguang’s hips lowered, her flawless curves descending like a mountain above.

“We need to move!” Mona hissed, but her battered body could barely budge.

Ningguang’s shadow fell over you, her silk gown billowing…