[the admission doesn't go unnoticed by the Renan; he shifts around, body twisting so he can look at Zhongli with those crazed eyes. there's a flush under his skin from the fever; with how close he is to the deity's face he is all of a sudden, Zhongli might feel the heat radiate off him]

"Beginning to think"? Were my words not enough for you?

[a hand slides up to gently wrap around Zhongli's throat, but it doesn't squeeze like it usually does whenever the corruption's gotten its hold on Dohalim. no, instead, he gently pushes the other back down onto the bed, before moving to straddle him]

I've wished for death so many times. I've begged in the silence, I've begged to you, and yet... the fates are not so kind. Why preserve the life of someone who does not want it? Why fight to keep someone alive when they feel they don't deserve it? When the bloodstains on their hands will only be washed away once their light is snuffed out?

Your efforts are placed on the wrong person. If you are the god of this land, then protect those who truly belong on it. You are wasting your time and energy on me.