Perilous Trail

Perilous Trail is the second act of the Interlude Chapter of the Archon Quests. Players must have completed Chapter I: Act III - A New Star Approaches, Raiden Shogun's Story Quest Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II - Transient Dreams, Arataki Itto's Story Quest Taurus Iracundus Chapter: Act I - Rise Up, Golden Soul, Wherefore Did the Spiritstone Descend?, and A Teapot to Call Home: Part I to start this quest.
During the Perilous Trail Event, the Adventure Rank requirement was temporarily reduced to 28 and the Quick Start function was available. New phases were unlocked each day during the first three days, so the full storyline of this act was only available after 2022/06/02.
==Quests==
# The Unexpected Guest
# Chasmic Maze
# Danger All Around
# End of the Line
# At Tunnel's End, Light
==Summary==
;The Unexpected Guest
Curious after the events at The Chasm, both Paimon and the Traveler decide to return to where they found the mysterious Chasm Nail. When they arrive, they find Yanfei looking towards it. Yanfei is surprised to see the two and tells them she's on important business and that if anyone is looking for her, to pretend they didn't see her. Soon after she leaves, Arataki Itto and Kuki Shinobu arrive, the former looking for Yanfei.
Shinobu reveals that she had returned to Liyue to pick up her graduation certificate from Tongwen Academy as she had been unable to as she was at home when the Sakoku Decree had been enacted. Itto had gone along with her for "safety", only to get into a brawl with the Millelith when Yanfei got him out of the mess he caused. After slyly getting Paimon to reveal that they knew Yanfei, Shinobu gestures towards the Traveler to misdirect Itto.
After sending Itto off, they head to the ground below the nail and find Yanfei. Just then, a mysterious woman arrives, who's introduced to the two as Yelan. Just then, Itto and Shinobu arrive, upset that the Traveler had deceived him. Yelan tells the two to leave for their own safety as the Chasm isn't a place for people to be wandering around in, but Itto takes offense to her attitude despite Shinobu's advice to de-escalate the situation. As the two prepare to fight, the ground beneath them cracks and sends them falling down into The Chasm's Bed.
As the group goes about to ascertain their surroundings, Yelan heads off to figure out where they are. They soon come across a strange portal and Yanfei recognizes the rocks around it are extremely old Liyue Mountain Rocks. Yelan then hears someone behind them, who ends up being Xiao. The Traveler asks what he's doing here, to which he claims that he's looking for someone and advises them to leave before he teleports out. With little choice, the group enters the Domain.
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;Chasmic Maze
After clearing the domain, the group finds themselves back in the same place they started. Believing that an evil youkai is responsible, Itto summons Ushi to dispel the demon. Ushi looks around but is unable to find any other exits, much to Itto's surprise.
The group spreads out to look for more potential exits but are unable to, while Yanfei notes that the ceiling above seems to have sealed up completely. Yelan tells the group to mentally prepare themselves for a potentially long stay underground. The Traveler decides to call Xiao, but despite saying his name, he fails to appear, causing the Traveler to become suspicious of the place. After checking in on the rest of the group, they decide to wait for an opportunity to arise.
----
;Danger All Around
A day later, Paimon complains that it has felt like 20 days to her, while the Traveler feels as if only one day had passed. Itto, Yanfei, and Shinobu then join in and the group realizes that since they've been stuck inside, they haven't felt hungry, thirsty, or tired at all. Yelan then calls the group over, having found another path that was hidden behind illusory magic. They enter the Domain within and explore it. As they do so, they hear Xiao talking to someone and he appears to be struggling, prompting them to assist.
Upon solving the puzzle, a mysterious door appears and the group convenes there, only for a rift to appear. Itto, believing that no one was inside, is surprised to find an illusion of Xiao pop up. Xiao is soon surprised to see the others and why they came, upon which he realizes that the domain is dangerous but is abruptly cut off while urging them to immediately leave. Itto then leaps into the hole and hurts himself, with the others following in.
The group encounters a door which Itto tries to open with brute force, only to notice a switch and embarrassingly opens the door with it. Upon doing so, he's greeted by various Inazumans who're upset with him for being a bad influence along with bowls of beans lying on the table. Itto then decides to have someone else go in, of which Shinobu volunteers and finds herself in a prior conversation with her mother who wanted her to become a shrine maiden. Yelan declines going in as she would have to kill everyone if she did as she works for Ningguang and thus is privy to many Liyue secrets. Yanfei then goes in, only to witness a civil dispute. The group then realizes that the door appears to lead into the opener's worst fears. The Traveler then decides to go in themselves, only to find themselves in the darkness of the Abyss that took their sibling away. The door locks on them from the outside, but they're able to escape from the door's grasp.
Paimon soon becomes tired and hungry, causing the group to realize that the domain is targeting their weaknesses and thus they retreat back to camp to re-group and re-plan. There, Yanfei talks to the Traveler in private, wanting to rescue Xiao before it would be too late. She theorizes that the area must be a chaotic space where normal logic does not apply and that they could use its own rules against it. She manages to dispel another illusion where they begin to clearly hear Xiao's voice and manage to drag him out of where he was just in time.
----
;End of the Line
After a good rest, Xiao explains that he is looking for his missing brother-in-arms, Bosacius, and believed that he was inside The Chasm. Xiao's testimony about domain's chaotic nature confirms Yanfei's theory that the domain is an antlion's den, using illusions to slowly entrap their victim. Xiao proposed that he'll used up his powers to get the group back to the surface at the cost of him being left behind, which the others vehemently oppose. Ushi informs Itto of the argument, in which he decides to punch open a path to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, although he ends up expending all of his strength in the process.
The new path that Itto blasted leads to another domain where they find a large version of the Fantastic Compass in the distance and a smaller one in the ground. Accompanying Yanfei, they run into Treasure Hoarders, but Yanfei recognizes them as hired thugs that were sent after her after winning against a defendant in a case. After she clears them out, they head into the next area through the compass where they find Yelan and the Fatui, who the two easily dispatch. After proceeding a bit further, they run into Xiao and a remnant of Bosacius' memory, confirming Xiao's suspicions that Bosacius was the Nameless Yaksha that participated in the Chasm. Xiao purges the memory after a brief fight, and after manipulating the compass a bit more, head into a manifestation of the Abyss. The Traveler spots their sibling and chases after them, but it's only an illusion that reveals another Fantastic Compass lying on the ground.
Yelan activates the compass and discovers that someone had used it before. They leave the area to take a breather while Yelan tries to unlock it to figure out what may be inside.
----
;At Tunnel's End, Light
After a short time, Yelan informs the group that the only thing hidden inside was about Boyang's fate, much to the dismay of the group as they believe themselves to be stuck for good in the chaotic space. This had scared Paimon into knocking the Fantastic Compass down, but as soon they moved to pick it up, it reacted to Yelan and Xiao's energy. Yanfei realized that from the compass is an exorcism catalyst made to repel demons using human's magic art and adepti's power combined. And by their theory, the Compass can bring the group to the Surface, but since the compass is an illusion created by the space, they cannot take it with them outside.
Activating the Compass unleashed a floating platform that began climbing towards the Surface. While Xiao was busy maintaining the energy flow, malevolent forces appeared that tried to snare the group back into the Depths. After breaking through a particularly large mass of malevolent energy, Xiao's own suddenly starts to give in, upon which he uses the last of his energy to hurl the group to the Surface. As the platform shatters, Xiao begins to fall back down, but a swirl of yellow energy appears from the Surface to rescue him. It is soon revealed that prior to Xiao's journey, he had informed Zhongli of his intentions, thus making the former Geo Archon aware of the trip.
After escaping, Itto wakes up and realized that he missed the show. While Yelan leaves, Yanfei decides that for all the trouble she caused, she should invite Itto and Shinobu for a tour in Liyue. Xiao later invites the Traveler to Pervases' temple, telling the Traveler that not knowing Bosacius' fate had always bothered him until now. Xiao reflects on his suicidal plan and his past actions, agreeing with the Traveler that those who died defending Liyue are heroes of history.
==Achievements==
==Soundtracks==
==Gallery==
Perilous Trail (Act).png|Preview Website
Interlude Chapter Act II Announcement.png|Act Announcement
Perilous Trail Event Cutscene Animation- "Moment of Life or Death" - Genshin Impact
Story Teaser- Only Old Memories Remain - Genshin Impact
==See Also==
* The Chasm's Bed § Lore
* Fantastic Compass § Lore
* Bosacius § History
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
==Navigation==
es:Senderos peligrosos
ja:険路怪跡
ru:Опасная тропа
vi:Lộ Trình Nguy Hiểm