Liyue knew naught but plague in antiquity. The warmongering gods made it so, for the vanquished were crushed under the rocks, and there they rotted and became soil. Thus were they returned to the cycle of Elements, which doth span both Heaven and Earth, and which knows no end. But some souls held on to their hatred and took on flesh once more as daemons. The daemons rose up in anger, giving rise to a miasma, which in turn engendered all manner of plagues, monsters and other perverse evils. They starved the earth and churned the waters, and wrought devastation on the people. Therefore, it is said: The daemonic is the shadow of the divine.
"Liyue suffered many outbreaks of disease in ancient times. Some say this was caused by the chaos of the relentless warring between gods. The defeated were squashed beneath the rocks of the earth, where they decomposed and became soil, and finally re-entered the everlasting elemental cycle. Some of the gods' souls were filled with bitterness at their fate, and refused to suffer it any longer. Their bitterness materialized and became evil monsters. The monsters' rage manifested itself in the form of diseases, monster infestations, and all kinds of other strange occurrences. The monsters ravaged the land and turned it into a wilderness, and unleashed all manner of evil upon the rivers and seas. They inflicted untold suffering on the people. Hence, what we call monsters are in fact physical manifestations of the resentment of gods defeated in war."
Rex Lapis summoned Yakshas unto him to purge the daemons. Illuminated beasts of dreadful appearance and warlike temperament were they, and no brutality did they spare in their duty to defend. Of the many, five were the strongest: Bosacius, Indarias, Bonanus, Menogias, and Alatus. Wherever battle took Rex Lapis, so did they follow, until the plague was purged. The five are known unto mortals as "The Yakshas."
"Rex Lapis summoned yakshas to help him destroy the monsters. The yakshas were illuminated beasts of Liyue. Ferocious and intimidating to behold, they were violent by nature and formidable in battle, ready to kill mercilessly to defend Rex Lapis' rule. Among the yakshas, five were known as the strongest: Bosacius, Indarias, Bonanus, Menogias, and Alatus. The five followed Rex Lapis into battle countless times, finally wiping out the evil at its source. They became know throughout the world simply as 'The Yakshas'."
"The Yakshas" were guardians of Rex Lapis for years without measure, and the evils they vanquished were incalculable. Yet, mighty though they were, beyond the torment that betide all who face war the Yakshas were not, and they became afflicted. Some were given unto their rage, others unto a madness which fear mongered. Many turned to the slaughter of their own, others were bewitched by shadows of the soul. After a millennium did fate present itself unto them, and it was such: three of the five perished, the fourth vanished, and all of the myriad shared the fate of the three or the fourth. The fifth alone prevailed, and the fifth was Alatus.
"The Yakshas' faithfully protected Rex Lapis and pacified all manner of catastrophes in the world. This continued for many years. But there came a day when the yakshas, despite their might, found that their deeds had taken their toll, and that the remnants of divine bitterness had begun to poison them. Some descended into a blind rage of a kind that can not be put into words, or were driven by fear to equally indescribable madness. Some turned on and destroyed each other. Some were lost to delusions of the mind. After a thousand years' scourges, three of the five were slain, and one disappeared. Many other yaksha of unknown name also either died or fled. In the end, only one of the five, Alatus, survived."
Alatus is the Golden-Winged King who is also the Conqueror of Demons. None knows whence he came, nor whither he went. Only at springtime, during the offering of lanterns at night, might the people see the glow at Guyun and declare: "Behold, the Vigilant Yaksha ends the dominion of daemons!" Or they might hear the sound of a flute amongst the marsh reeds, but find none who play the flute, and thus declare: "Hark, the yaksha calls to summon his old friends to their homeland."
"Alatus is also known as the Golden-Winged King, or alternatively as the Conqueror of Demons. Nobody knows where he came from, and nobody knows where he went. In spring of each year, when the Lantern Rite festival arrives, Liyue people will glaze at the glow in the air above Guyun Stone Forest, and say: 'Behold, the Guardian Yaksha ends the dominion of demons.' Some hear a sound like a flute coming from Dihua Marsh, but when they enter the marsh there is no flutist to be found. They say: 'Hark, the Yaksha calls to summon his old friends to their homeland."
Thus, divine endowment doth carry with it that ultimate and unbreakable trial: to lose kin, friend, or ally, to face the impossibility of redemption, to burn in everlasting anger and know no respite. To become the foe of an ancient evil was to abandon hope of both reward and resolution in his endeavors, and his torment was that of the preta, which is to be without satiety after ten thousand fates.
"For this reason, it is said that the wages of being blessed with supernatural power is a destiny of hardship and eventual destruction. For the Yaksha lost all his friends, family, and those he fought alongside. He built up an incalculable karmic debt from the violent deeds his like necessitated, and the consequence was a heart filled with darkness and hatred from which there was no rest. There was no reward to be gained from making an enemy of his own bitterness and hatred from the old days, nor there any escape from the unbearable suffering. The torment ate away at his heart like an insatiable wolf, and an infinite number of lifetimes could have done nothing to reduce it."