Looking at the Zhongli before him, Su Yuan realized that what Aether had just said was most likely true…
The cloaked man from before really had been someone disguised as Zhongli, while the one standing here now was the real Zhongli…
"Traveler, Su Yuan, I finally meet you."
Zhongli leapt down from the floating stone pillar, landing before Su Yuan and Aether, and said, "It was my miscalculation. Xiao has been taken away by the Wanderer, disguised as Venti…"
"Mhm, we already know about all that," Su Yuan and Aether replied.
"You already know?" Zhongli first looked puzzled, but then quickly came to a realization and nodded slightly.
"I see. So it was thanks to Su Yuan's information methods, correct?"
Hearing that, Su Yuan gave a somewhat awkward smile.
This time, it hadn't been his intel at all—he had only learned everything from Aether…
"Zhongli, since we already know, you should return to Liyue," Aether said.
"In this special period of fighting the eerie force, Liyue still needs someone like you to hold the line."
"Indeed." Zhongli nodded, then turned to Su Yuan.
"Su Yuan, once you've settled matters here in Mondstadt—or whenever you have the time—you can return to Liyue for a visit."
"Alright, I definitely will," Su Yuan replied with a nod.
Without lingering further, Zhongli departed.
At the mention of returning, Su Yuan recalled a previous intel prompt: when he felt lost, he should return to his starting point—Furina's room at the top of the Palais Mermonia.
Perhaps there he might make a new discovery…
Su Yuan felt that now might be that time.
Having lost the information prompt ability inscribed on his left palm, he indeed felt uncertain about the future…
Once the situation in Mondstadt stabilized, he would first return to Liyue, and then head straight to Fontaine!
Meanwhile, Aether was also mulling over a question…
If all his earlier deductions were true, then as long as he killed himself first, and then killed Su Yuan afterward, Su Yuan's death rewind ability would trigger—and Aether would retain his memories.
If so, now that Timmie was dead, could this method perhaps be used to save Timmie?
But very soon, Aether rejected that idea.
After all, he knew that since Su Yuan possessed such a powerful ability, there had to be restrictions—there was no way it could be used without limit.
Everything came with a price…
Since Su Yuan himself hadn't shown any urge to trigger a death rewind, Aether couldn't just forcefully take his life to make it happen…
More importantly, Aether realized a critical problem: if he had to die before Su Yuan, then if he killed himself first, he'd already be dead—how would he kill Su Yuan afterward?
So after carefully thinking it over, Aether decided he would not actively try to trigger the death rewind.
Instead, if they encountered a crisis that couldn't be solved, he would willingly throw himself into death first—dying before Su Yuan.
"Su Yuan, we can't just leave Timmie's body here like this…" Aether sighed lightly and said to him.
"Let's contact the Knights of Favonius and let them handle it…"
After that, Su Yuan and Aether returned to Mondstadt City, found the Knights, and reported what had just happened.
When the Knights heard the news, they too spoke with sadness and emotion:
"What a pitiful child…"
"Timmie's father disappeared many years ago, his fate unknown. All these years, Timmie lived relying only on his mother…"
"And now that Timmie has passed away, I can't imagine how heartbroken his mother must be…"
After dealing with Timmie's matter, Su Yuan and Aether once again returned to the Knights' headquarters.
Earlier, they had rushed off to the cathedral to stop Rosaria's eerie transformation, so there were still many issues left unresolved.
But as they reached the headquarters' entrance, they noticed several construction workers wearing safety helmets talking with the Knights guarding the gate.
"The Anemo Archon statue in front of the cathedral collapsed the other day, right? The fragments are still too large for us to clear and transport. So we were planning to use blasting to break them into smaller pieces before moving them out of Mondstadt."
"But yesterday we discovered that either the material used to make the statue was too hard, or maybe our bomb mix ratio had problems—anyway, our blasting work hasn't been going smoothly at all…"
"So, the reason we came to the Knights of Favonius is to seek Miss Klee's help!"
"Even though she may be young, we've heard that when it comes to bomb research, she's unmatched in all of Mondstadt. If she calls herself second, no one would dare claim first!"
Hearing this, Su Yuan and Aether quickly stepped forward and said to the workers: "We've heard your request. We'll go and talk to Klee right away—she'll probably be more than happy to help you!"
"Ah, thank you so much!" The workers shook Su Yuan and Aether's hands tightly, as though they had just found their saviors.
Afterward, Su Yuan and Aether entered the Knights' headquarters, found Klee, and told her everything that had just happened outside.
But when Klee heard it, she frowned and spoke hesitantly: "But, in Klee's Knights' Survival Rules, it clearly says—'Blow something up in the city, and it's straight to solitary confinement!'"
"If I help those workers make bombs to blast apart the Anemo Archon statue fragments, wouldn't that be the same as blowing things up inside the city?"
"Even if Master Jean agreed to let me do it, this is still the eerie crisis period. Sure, the statue collapsed, and the rubble on the plaza may look a little unsightly, but it doesn't actually pose any danger…"
"For now, it's better to stay cautious. We shouldn't create more trouble out of nothing—I don't want to cause everyone extra problems…"
Hearing Klee's words, Aether also felt she made sense.
He nodded and said: "Alright then, Klee. Don't help them with the bombs. I'll go explain it to them right away…"
But just as soon as Aether finished saying that—an unexpected turn occurred!
Klee's face began to twist, and waves of eerie energy radiated from her body…
Aether and Su Yuan looked on in utter confusion.
Wasn't Klee's eerie transformation supposed to be triggered by forbidding her from fishing with bombs, or stopping her from playing with the other kids?
So why… why was "Klee" falling into eerie state again now?
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