There’s More to Genshin Impact’s Baizhu, Chenyu Vale Than Meets the Eye

Highlights

• The new area in Genshin Impact, Chenyu Vale, is rich with history and secrets for players to explore.
• Changsheng, the white snake, offers a deadly healing contract to doctors in need of her secret arts in Liyue.
• Baizhu’s fragile health and dedication to curing death showcases the theme of contracts in Liyue’s culture.

There is a new area for Genshin Impact players to explore in Liyue called Chenyu Vale. This area squeezed between Liyue and Fontaine is rich with jade-colored rivers and soaring mountains. Nestled in the upper vale, the quaint Qiaoying Village is renowned for producing fragrant tea and just so happens to be the hometown of the newest 4-star Pyro character, Gaming. Chenyu Vale also serves as the birthplace of another character, but not one that Genshin Impact players may be too familiar with. She is easily overlooked, thanks to her small stature.

Changsheng’s True Identity in Genshin Impact

According to the local legends of Chenyu Vale, it was once ruled over by an unnamed god and her adepti servants. One of those servants was known as the Herblord, who dwelt on Mt. Yaojun. The Herblord was close to the people of the Vale and taught them how to use medicine and, as her name implies, herbs. Sometimes she took the form of a young woman, other times she was a white snake. When the Archon War came to the peaceful Vale, the Herblord and another adeptus called Fujin made sanctuaries for the mortals caught up in the fight.

The unnamed god of Chenyu Vale refused to bow to Morax—also known as Rex Lapis, who players now know as the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s own Zhongli. When the unnamed god planned to flood the Bishui River, thus destroying the vale, Herblord and Fujin rebelled and secured the river.

This left both adepti diminished and weakened. But the legends about them remained. At some point in time, a doctor desperate to do something about a deadly plague traveled to Chenyu Vale in search of the legendary Herblord. There he found a white snake sunning herself on a rock.

Baizhu’s Bargain in Genshin Impact Is Bitter Medicine

The snake, Changsheng, spoke to the doctor and offered him a contract: she would teach him secret healing arts, but this would take a toll on his health. With their lives twined together, the doctor was able to practice healing but died young from the nature of the contract. Changsheng went on to have four more hosts before coming into the hands of Dr. Baizhu, owner of Bubu Pharmacy in Liyue Harbor and the game’s first 5-star Dendro healer.

Baizhu has been described as frail by other characters in Genshin Impact, which players now know is a result of his contract with Changsheng. Changsheng doesn’t appear to be maliciously feeding upon the lives of the doctors she has under contract and in fact laments the fact that she cannot save them and wonders how many people will take on this double-edged bargain. Baizhu is determined to be the final person Changsheng is tied to, searching for a way to cure death and become immortal.

Before Baizhu agreed to Changsheng’s contract, his eyes were dark pink. Once he and Changsheng’s lives were intertwined, his eyes became golden with slit pupils and her eyes turned dark pink as a signifier of their contract.

Liyue: The Land of Contracts

Baizhu is often well enough to see patients and has thus earned renown as a great healer and kind doctor. Other days, however, the contract takes its toll, leaving him extremely ill, bedridden, and suffering. This give-and-take is exemplary of the nature of contracts, which are a core tenet of Liyue culture and custom.

Although it is unclear if Baizhu knows that Changsheng was once an adepti, he did willingly take on her bargain. Moreover, the moment their contract was sealed was the moment Baizhu was granted his Dendro Vision. This perhaps reflects his determination to “find a remedy for this conundrum” as his late master said.

Baizhu and the strange, white snake around his shoulders were mysterious characters for several years before the doctor was released as a playable Genshin Impact character. Upon further examination of his story quest, players discovered a genuine healer rather than a mad scientist. Chenyu Vale shows that, like the doctor, Changsheng has always helped the people of Liyue.