"Su Yuan, you want to know the current situation of Azhdaha Geo Dragon Sovereign?"
Zhongli showed a thoughtful expression when he heard Su Yuan say this.
"To be honest, I once encountered Dottore at the place where Azhdaha was sealed."
"He attempted to use eerie powers to corrupt the seal, to pollute and control Azhdaha with these eerie powers."
"But in the end, that eerie power was absorbed by me, and by a stroke of fate, I also resolved the crisis with the sea monsters at Guyun Stone Forest."
"Also, during that battle, I consumed the eerie power within me and returned to normal."
Listening to Zhongli's explanation, Su Yuan nodded, but still felt something was off—an indescribable strange feeling...
"Su Yuan, if you want to see Azhdaha, we must first confirm whether he still retains some measure of sanity."
"If Azhdaha is still able to communicate, I can open a small gap in the seal to let you enter, but it's impossible to completely lift the seal."
"After all, Azhdaha is the Sovereign of the Geo Dragons. If the seal is fully broken and something unexpected happens, it will definitely cause great turmoil in Liyue."
Su Yuan nodded.
He could understand Zhongli's decision...
After all, the most important thing was to maintain the stability of Liyue and ensure the safety of the people's lives and property.
Just as Zhongli and Su Yuan were talking, the door of Wanmin Restaurant was suddenly kicked open!
Shenhe walked straight in from outside and said to Xiangling:
"Xiangling, I'm here!"
"Where's today's delivery order?"
Xiangling also came out from the kitchen and, following what Su Yuan had discussed with her earlier, spoke directly to Shenhe:
"Shenhe, today Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has temporarily suspended its delivery service, so you don't need to trouble yourself with food deliveries."
"Oh, I see. In that case, I'll take my leave."
Shenhe didn't say much more, turned around, and left Wanmin Restaurant.
"Su Yuan, just as you said, Miss Shenhe really doesn't have the red ropes on her anymore!" Xiangling said.
"Then Su Yuan, let's deal with Shenhe's situation first before we talk about visiting Azhdaha at the Dragon-Queller Tree," Zhongli added.
"Xiangling, you should stay in Wanmin Restaurant,"
Su Yuan said to her:
"After all, if we can't control the situation and Shenhe ends up getting corrupted by the Eerie state, as her friend, you'll be the first target she attacks."
"Now, Mr. Zhongli and I will go take care of this together."
And with that, Su Yuan and Zhongli quietly followed behind Shenhe to see what exactly she was up to.
"Zhongli, if there were a traitor among the Adepti of Liyue—someone who's been under the control of the Eerie force all along—who do you think it would be?" Su Yuan asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say it might be Cloud Retainer,"
Zhongli replied after a moment of thought:
"When the Eerie corrupted sea monsters first appeared, she was the one who discovered it all."
"And it was also her idea that each of us should use our adeptal arts to create a clone to live among the people in Liyue Harbor, so they wouldn't notice anything strange."
"Back then, her reasoning was that the people of Liyue Harbor mustn't learn about the crisis hidden within Guyun Stone Forest or the existence of the Eerie, or else it would surely cause unrest."
"But now it seems more likely she was trying to hide something."
Su Yuan nodded and said, "I asked Madame Ping about this too. She also suspects that Cloud Retainer might be the most likely culprit."
"And the disappearance of the red ropes from Shenhe's body might also be related to her."
Just as Su Yuan and Zhongli were deep in discussion, a tall woman with red glasses suddenly walked over from a side path and approached Shenhe.
Both Su Yuan and Zhongli furrowed their brows slightly—wasn't this Cloud Retainer's human form, Miss Xianyun?
Shenhe also saw the approaching figure and spoke, "Master?"
"You silly child, how could you forget something so important when you left the house this morning?"
As Xianyun spoke, she pulled a length of red ropes from her pocket and tied it around Shenhe.
"Even though, after all this suppression and your diligent cultivation, that aura of solitary resentment has weakened quite a bit..."
"If you don't wear this red ropes, your temper will become quite volatile!"
"In today's Liyue society, one must be civilized and courteous. That's how you'll earn others' affection and respect—and better integrate into human society."
Su Yuan was dumbfounded.
He had just been discussing with Zhongli how to deal with Shenhe's current condition, only for Xianyun to suddenly pop out of nowhere and resolve the crisis herself by tying the red ropes back on Shenhe?
Xianyun also noticed Su Yuan and Zhongli, who had been following Shenhe all along, and she smiled as she spoke:
"Mr. Zhongli, young friend Su Yuan—thank you both for your trouble!"
"My disciple Shenhe actually forgot to wear such an important red ropes when she went out this morning."
"Fortunately, I noticed in time. Otherwise, who knows what kind of incident might have occurred!"
Su Yuan felt deeply confused.
At first, he had assumed that the red ropes on Shenhe had been removed by Xianyun, who was under the influence of the eerie force.
But if that were the case, why would Xianyun now go out of her way to re-tie the red ropes on Shenhe?
Could it be that he, Madame Ping, and even Zhongli had all misjudged her—that Xianyun wasn't the one secretly controlled by the eerie force?
But if that was true, then how could all of Xianyun's abnormal behavior be explained?
"Well, since the matter has been resolved, I won't stay any longer."
"I still have to go back and work on my new automaton designs."
"Shenhe, you're free to do as you like within Liyue Harbor. My research into mechanized arts has reached a critical phase, so I'll be entering seclusion. Don't come back to Mt. Aocang and disturb me."
"Understood, Master."
Shenhe responded calmly, and Xianyun then promptly left the area.
"Zhongli, what do you think? Why would Xianyun help us resolve the crisis with Shenhe?" Su Yuan asked Zhongli beside him.
"There are only two possible reasons."
Zhongli replied:
"Either we were mistaken—Xianyun was never under the control of the eerie force."
"Or," Zhongli continued, "this was all just a play she orchestrated herself—meant to win our trust."
Su Yuan nodded and said, "Yeah, and I can't shake the feeling that Xianyun telling Shenhe not to return to Mt. Aocang… Even though she said it's for some so-called automaton research, it just feels like she's up to something shady behind the scenes..."
"It really gives off the vibe of someone saying 'there's absolutely no treasure buried here'—which only makes it more suspicious..."
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