As might be expected with such a massive game as Genshin Impact, there’s plenty of lore to dig into and a whole host of characters who play roles both minor and major in the game’s history and the present day. An enduring question in the minds of many players who have ventured through the Liyue region concerns one of these background characters — just who is the mysterious Guizhong?
Who is Guizhong in Genshin Impact?
Guizhong is a name that crops up surprisingly frequently throughout players’ travels in Liyue. In the Archon quest “Farewell, Archaic Lord,” the Traveler is sent to fix up the Guizhong Ballista, and the World Quest “Treasure Lost, Treasure Found” reveals that she was known as the God of Dust, and set up the ancient civilization known as the Guili Assembly alongside the God of Geo. For a long time, that was all that was really known about Guizhong other than little tidbits squirreled away in item descriptions in a move more akin to a Souls game than Genshin Impact. For example, the catalyst Memory of Dust alludes to the journeys shared by Morax and Guizhong and touches on her affinity for mortals and desire to protect them.
She was presumed to have died during the Archon War, but nothing more was officially confirmed until the third Lantern Rite event, The Exquisite Night Chimes. Over the course of the event’s questline, the Traveler and Paimon discover more about Guizhong, who was a kind-hearted adeptus and skilled mechanist who maintained friendships not just with Morax but also with Cloud Retainer, Streetward Rambler — also known as Madame Ping — and others. She created the Cleansing Bell needed for the Rite of Parting in the Liyue Archon quests, which also sheds light on why Ping was holding onto it in the first place — as a memento of her old friend. Guizhong was also confirmed to have died in the Archon War, in the same battle that laid waste to the Guili Assembly and turned it into the Guili Plains.
Perhaps most importantly, the touching animated cut-scene that plays out as Cloud Retainer fills you in on the history of the adepti finally puts a face to the name of Guizhong, much to the excitement of the fanbase. Though the circumstances around Guizhong’s death are finally confirmed and she’s known to have returned to the dust over which she once held dominion, many fans retain a glimmer of hope that she may still return from the beyond in future Liyue storylines.
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Max Fagandini
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