LiuBai

LiuBai is the femslash ship between Jingliu and Baiheng from the Honkai: Star Rail fandom.

Canon
Jingliu and Baiheng were both members of the High-Cloud Quintet, a legendary group of warriors that made history across the Xianzhou alliance despite being dissolved in less than a century. Aside from being a group of people with a shared cause, the High-Cloud Quintet was noted to be close to each other, almost akin to a family. Jingliu and Baiheng were no exception to this. In her Character story III, Jingliu says that she used to have only her swords as companions, but now she found herself surrounded by many friends.

In the same character story, Jingliu describes Baiheng as such; A well-traveled Nameless who had flown throughout across the cosmos steered his vessel for her, bringing divine nectar from the other side of the universe to share and gaze upon the scintillating stars by her side.

"I will cut down even the stars in the sky."

''She still vaguely remembers the boasts she made in moments of inebriation. That burning planet rushing towards her in childhood memories, that horrible nightmare that wouldn't let her go — those scenes were no longer so terrifying.''

''This is the first time she understood what "wanting to live" meant in all her years of wielding a sword. Before that, she was simply someone ready to die.'' In here, Baiheng is said to have brought Jingliu divine nectar/alcohol from other planets, and they would share it while stargazing. Interestingly, Jingliu's splash art contains her pouring a cup of alcohol into the water, where numerous purple hands reach up to her. These purple hands are seen once again in her Eidolon art.

Furthermore, aside from the obvious intimacy Jingliu describes Baiheng with, they are almost always seen next to each other in content featuring the High-Cloud Quintet, indicating a closer relationship between the two of them.

However, coincidentally, in Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae's character story III, Baiheng is said to tragically have died, setting off the chain of events that would lead to the fall of the High-Cloud Quintet. ''...Until a Starskiff ran everything through like an arrow shaft. He saw that girl crawling out of the ruins with great difficulty, lifting a "sun" of absolute darkness in her hand. In that fleeting eternity, he saw her hand disappear, saw her face disappear, and saw HER disappear — That item had ground everything around it into the finest dust and dragged them into a vortex of raw power, including that girl.''

''A tuft of hair and a few drops of blood fell to the floor as evidence of her existence. Those were the only traces she left.''

The Half-Draconic Abomination
As is mentioned, the High-Cloud Quintet fell apart less than a century into it's making, largely speculated to be due to a great sin Yingxing and Dan Feng, another two members of the High-Cloud Quintet, supposedly jointly committed, rather than a simple fallout between friends. It is still unsure what exactly this great sin entailed, but is speculated that it involves tampering with the transmutation arcanum, which resulted into the creation of a draconic abomination.

This draconic abomination is mentioned a lot, but is given no clear identity. However, it is speculated to have once been Baiheng. When prompted, one VIdyadhara egg in Scalegorge Waterscape will show the following dialogue; ''You hear furious roars coming from the Vidyadhara egg and move your ears closer to hear better. A thunderous sound explodes from the mouth of an abomination, and fills up the Scalegorge Waterscape delve as if a thousand swords had clashed together. Every one of your bones rattle from the deafening sound.''

''The abomination falls to the ground with a loud thud. You try your best to steady yourself before examining the abomination. Its semi-draconic head bears long whiskers and flowing beastly fur. You stare into its mercury-like eyes, sensing a hint of fear within them.''

''You think of running away, but there is nowhere to go. The temperature in the air drops all of a sudden, as a shadow drifts past at a speed so fast that it only leaves behind a misty trail.''

''A woman lands on top of the abominable dragon’s head. Her palms hold a ray of frosty light that she stabs downward. In a split second, you see the black veil covering her eyes falling off. Her lips move slightly, and you can faintly hear her utter the word "Sorry."''

''That is not your imagination, as she is also apologizing to you. The next second, ice waves as sharp as knives start spreading like transient flowers in the air, freezing everything they come into contact with, including you. Due to the similarities between the woman mentioned and Jingliu, mainly their control over ice, the use of the word transient,'' when one of Jingliu's titles is the Transcendent Flash, and a black blindfold, this dialogue is widely theorized to be recounting the moment Jingliu kills Baiheng, who has now been turned into an abomination, bearing a semi-draconic head with flowing beastly fur, like horrid cross between a Vidyadhara and a Foxian.

This Draconic Abomination is mentioned once again in Jingliu's character story IV, which details her confrontation with Dan Feng and Yingxing; ''...The half-draconic abomination swims through the air in blasts of lightning. Its body, enough to swallow the very horizon, sunders yet another floating isle. Its wails are loud as the clamors of a thousand swords clashing.''

She feels her Core Esse boiling, like a ripe wheat grain about to erupt out of its casing and swell eternally.

''She sees herself trapped in childhood nightmares again. The ominous planet is swallowing her overhead, and she, but an insect, cannot even struggle.''

The woman tears off a spread of black silk from the edge of her skirt and covers her eyes.

''The thunder strikes. She leaps up with her sword towards the draconic abomination.''

''In an illusion that feels half like a dream and half like reality, she feels her flesh has finally transcended its limits and has started to disintegrate. There are restraints binding her like strings, tightly wrapped around her limbs and organs, slicing apart her final shreds of self-consciousness bit by bit.''

Suddenly, she hears those words:

"I will cut down even the stars in the sky."

This passage strangely parallels Jingliu's words about Baiheng. With Baiheng, Jingliu says that the burning planet rushing towards her in childhood memories and the horrible nightmare that wouldn't let her go were no longer so terrifying, however, in here, Jingliu finds herself trapped in nightmares again with the ominous planet swallowing her overhead. Lastly, right before she slays the Draconic Abomination, she hears the words she and Baiheng shared-I will cut down even the stars in the sky.

The Aftermath Of The High-Cloud Quintet
A mirage echo in Scalegorge Waterscape will show the following dialogue; Old Voice: Who are you!?

Lady's Voice: ...Dan Feng said only the high elder could enter here.

''Old Voice: That traitor is already dead. Who are you? What do you want with the High Elder?''

''Lady's Voice: What do I want? I want to see her...see how she's faring...I want to see her!'' The lady is speculated to be Jingliu, seeing as how Dan Heng says her voice is familiar and it's striking resemblance to Jingliu's voice. This event most likely happened long after the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, seeing as Dan Feng is said to already be dead. The 'Her' Jingliu is talking about is speculated to be Baiheng.

The timeline still remains unclear, but it is implied that Jingliu becomes marastruck after slaying Baiheng, seeing as how this is when she starts wearing her blindfold which is what most likely controls her mara. Remembering negative memories exacerbates the influence of Mara, yet it is seen that Jingliu holds on to the memories of Baiheng longingly, even expressing a desire to have more of them. Her phone case contains a fox motif pertaining to Baiheng, and in the 1.4 version trailer, Baiheng's memory is bright and colorful compared to her memories about the other members of the High-Cloud Quintet, which are tinted in sepia tones.

Quotes
"We talked about the stars we flew past, the views we saw together, and the dangers we escaped. But...I can't remember the details. The things we said and did together have been shrouded in a layer of mist...a mist I cannot see through..."

- Jingliu (About Baiheng)

"Let me think... In the beginning, most of my time was spent on swordsmanship and defeating my enemies. Later, I found myself indulging in all manner of wines that Baiheng brought to me from different planets. And now, watching my enemies suffer has become my newfound passion. Strange pastimes, no?"

- Jingliu (Hobbies)

Fanon
LiuBai is the most famous ship for both Jingliu and Baiheng with 44 works on AO3 as of now. They are mostly shipped alongside Renheng, Jingren, Jingheng, or any variation of ship between the three men of the High-Cloud Quintet, with an established Liubai laughing at the mens' antics. That is not, of course, to say that there is no fanwork focusing only on the two of them, although it is rather rare.

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