While "Azhdaha" and "Zhongli" were still locked in an intense battle, Su Yuan hurriedly took out the three pouches that Kokomi had prepared for him from the pocket inside his robe…
Kokomi had said that these pouches must only be opened when he was in a desperate situation.
Su Yuan recalled the calm and confident tone in her voice at the time—she seemed to have complete faith in what she had placed inside, as if they truly had the power to turn everything around!
Su Yuan had always been curious—just what exactly was inside these three pouches?
And now, at last, he would witness it for himself!
But very quickly, Su Yuan realized a problem…
Was there a specific order in which these three pouches had to be opened?
He tried to recall Kokomi's words—she didn't seem to mention anything about the order.
And looking at the pouches now, there were no visible markings to indicate any sequence; at least outwardly, they all looked exactly the same…
With no other choice, Su Yuan resorted to the classic elementary school method for making random selections to pick one of the pouches!
"Eeny, meeny, pick a man, riding horses off to war, rich ones drink, poor ones scram…"
Su Yuan stretched out a finger and began tapping the three pouches one by one…
Soon enough, he landed on one, and with a heart full of tension and unease, he carefully opened the chosen pouch…
Su Yuan had expected there to be some kind of special item inside—maybe a little tool or a slip of paper—something that could give him guidance…
After all, Kokomi was the brilliant tactician of Watatsumi Island.
Could she have already foreseen the situation he was in now?
But in reality, when he looked inside the pouch—it was completely empty.
Nothing at all…
How could it be empty?
Su Yuan brought the pouch closer to his eyes and peeked inside—sure enough, it was empty.
There was absolutely nothing in it.
Unwilling to believe it, he quickly opened the other two pouches as well, only to find that they too were completely empty…
Su Yuan was instantly struck with confusion and speechlessness.
Kokomi, what on earth are you doing?
Are you playing some kind of joke on me? Do you think this is funny?
Or… could it be that Kokomi actually did prepare something for the pouches—but simply forgot to put it in?
Before Su Yuan could figure out what was going on, he suddenly felt his heart racing, and his breathing grew rapid and strained.
A wave of heat surged over him, and he started to break out in a cold sweat, struggling to catch his breath…
"Wh-what's happening to me…?"
A chilling realization began to dawn on Su Yuan—he might have been poisoned.
"Wh-where… where did the poison come from…?"
"Could it be…"
Before he could finish the thought, Su Yuan suddenly collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud—"thump—"—frothing at the mouth, and lost consciousness…
...............
Su Yuan suddenly snapped his eyes open—a familiar, heart-pounding sensation surged through him once more...
Feeling the sharp pain in the center of his left palm, Su Yuan knew—he had died again.
He lifted his left hand and looked at his palm:
[Unfortunately, you have used one death-rewind attempt. Remaining available rewinds: 1.3 times]
[Do not accompany Zhongli to the depths beneath the Dragon-Queller Tree to confront Azhdaha—for now...]
[Someone will excessively mine ore and damage the ley lines, pushing things past a certain threshold, causing Azhdaha to enter a state of Eerie state and break free from Zhongli's seal...]
[Zhongli and Azhdaha are bound by a contract. If Zhongli personally witnesses Azhdaha's Eerie state and escape, he too will fall into the same Eerie state...]
[An Eerie Azhdaha and Eerie Zhongli will be evenly matched, resulting in a prolonged, drawn-out battle. The aftershocks of their clash may very well obliterate all of Liyue…]
[It is advised to immediately investigate and prevent the direct cause of Azhdaha's eerie state.]
[Also, Kokomi's pouches are effective—but must be used with caution...]
Su Yuan stared at the message in the center of his left palm, nodding thoughtfully.
It seemed that—for now—he and Zhongli definitely couldn't head to the Dragon-Queller Tree…
But it was the final line that left Su Yuan somewhat puzzled.
From the way it was phrased, it implied that he must have used Kokomi's pouch in the previous timeline in order to confirm its effectiveness…
But if it's already known to be highly effective—why must it be used with caution?
And why didn't this round's information prompt just tell him directly what was inside Kokomi's pouch?
Could the pouch really be that mysterious?
If you learn the contents in advance, and use it before meeting the required conditions, does that mean... it really won't work?
"Su Yuan?"
Zhongli, standing beside him, spoke up:
"What are you looking at? What are you thinking about?"
"If there's nothing else, let us depart from Wangshu Inn now and head to the Dragon-Queller Tree to meet Azhdaha."
"No, Zhongli, the situation has changed!"
Su Yuan replied:
"I've just received new intel—someone seems to be planning to overmine ore and damage the ley lines. And all of that… will cause Azhdaha to fall into an Eerie state…"
"Even if we don't have enough time to stop Azhdaha from being corrupted by the Eerie force, we absolutely cannot let you meet with him!"
"You and Azhdaha are bound by a contract. If you witness him violating that contract by breaking free of his seal, you too will fall into an Eerie state…"
"The two of you… will be locked in an endless battle with no winner, no end…"
"I see… I understand now," Zhongli nodded.
"So Zhongli," Su Yuan continued, "if there's currently a place in Liyue being overmined or where the ley lines are being damaged—where do you think that could be?"
"According to your description, Azhdaha will soon be controlled by the Eerie force…" Zhongli said thoughtfully.
"Logically speaking, for ore overmining or ley line damage to reach that level—it's definitely not something that could happen in just a short amount of time…"
"So, taking everything into account, The Chasm is the only possible location…"
"Since long ago, the people of Liyue have mined ores and labored there…"
"If there's any place in Liyue that has suffered the greatest damage to its rock layers and ley lines—it would most likely be that one…"
After hearing Zhongli's analysis, Su Yuan asked with some doubt, "But… wouldn't the Ministry of Civil Affairs have proper experience managing ore mining? They should know how to regulate it and avoid over-extraction, right?"
"The exact situation—" Zhongli replied, "—we can only understand by seeing it with our own eyes."
"There's no time to waste. Let's set out immediately…"
Before leaving, Zhongli turned to Xiao and gave him instructions:
"Xiao, I'll have to trouble you to keep watch over the area around the Dragon-Queller Tree…"
"If you notice anything unusual, please evacuate the nearby civilians right away."
"And whatever you do—do not confront the Eerie Azhdaha head-on. Your safety comes first."
"…Understood, my Lord," Xiao nodded.
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