Beidou and Su Yuan followed Ganyu and successfully arrived at the Jade Chamber, where they met Ningguang.
Beidou carefully sized up Ningguang from head to toe and noticed that she looked no different from the last time they met.
"All right, Beidou, stop sizing me up and testing me. I am indeed Ningguang—no deception, and I have not been corrupted by the eerie," Ningguang said.
"Everyone who's drunk insists they're not... Your own words don't count!" Beidou said, quickly drawing the claymore behind her and pointing it straight at Ningguang's forehead.
Ningguang remained calm and steady, quietly looking at Beidou without any sign of dodging.
"Fine, I'll just take your word for it that you're Ningguang," Beidou said, sheathing her claymore.
"Now, let's get down to business."
Beidou asked:
"Ningguang, if it wasn't you who called me back to Liyue saying there was something important to discuss, then who could it have been?"
"I have no clue either, and besides, this matter isn't particularly urgent, so let's just put it aside for now," Ningguang replied.
"Right now, Liyue is basically the center of a vortex, and some unexpected situations have appeared..."
As Ningguang spoke, she placed some film stills from surveillance devices on the table.
On the table were dozens of pictures, each showing a person in roughly the same pose:
A terrified expression, a swollen belly, mouth wide open, and their mouths filled with rocks and soil...
"Liyue now has a serial killer on the loose."
"As you can see, their method of killing is extremely brutal..."
"Constantly feeding the victims with loess and rocks, until they are literally crushed and choked to death…"
"Such a cruel method, and with no trace of the perpetrator found, it's almost certain that this was done by someone controlled and corrupted by the eerie power… there's basically no doubt about that."
"It's just a pity that Yelan isn't in Liyue right now, otherwise the investigation and intelligence gathering would definitely be smoother…"
"So, we can only rely on you all to find this ruthless criminal and bring peace back to Liyue."
"Hey, hey, Ningguang, so you're just treating us like laborers you can order around, huh?" Beidou couldn't help but complain.
"Don't worry, Captain Beidou, your reward will definitely not be missing," Ningguang said with a slight smile.
"Forget it, forget it, I was just joking. Even without any reward, after the eerie killed so many of my brothers and sisters, I will fight it to the very end!"
After organizing the related case files, Ganyu led Beidou and Su Yuan out of the Jade Chamber.
"Beidou, Su Yuan, do you think there's anything suspicious about Lady Ningguang?" Ganyu asked.
"I don't think there's any problem for now. She's still the same as always," Beidou replied.
"The main issue is that we still don't know the conditions that cause Ningguang to become corrupted by the eerie power, so I can't say for sure. But as of now, there shouldn't be any problem," Su Yuan also said.
"Then let's analyze the situation of this case."
Ganyu looked at the case files and started speaking bit by bit:
"The first victim appeared to be Old Sun, the fishmonger at Liyue Harbor Wharf."
"According to the investigation by the Millelith Guard, besides Old Sun, there's another fishmonger named Old Gao at the Liyue Harbor Wharf."
"Old Sun had a very bad attitude toward customers and sold fish at exorbitant prices. In contrast, Old Gao was friendly and sold fish at fair prices, so the vast majority of customers went to Old Gao to buy fish."
"Old Gao and Old Sun seem like business rivals, but in reality, they're working together."
"They use this contrast to make customers all go to Old Gao to buy fish."
"According to Iron Tongue Tian's testimony, because of the Alcor ship incident, the wharf was shut down, preventing them from selling fish. This caused a conflict over the profits between the two, leading to a fallout…"
"Regarding this, Mr. Zhongli, who was also at the scene, can confirm it."
"Wait, you said Zhongli was at the scene?" Su Yuan immediately caught this crucial piece of information.
"I should have told you before — in front of Morax, one must abide by the contract…"
Ganyu also had a sudden realization: "So that's how it is, I roughly understand now!"
Beidou, however, looked puzzled and asked, "What are you guys talking about? I don't understand a thing."
"Oh, I forgot, Beidou, you didn't know about this yet. Actually, the Geo Archon hasn't passed away. The guest consultant Zhongli at the Funeral Parlor is actually the real Morax himself," Su Yuan briefly explained.
"That means Old Sun and Old Gao fell out over business, and in a way, they tore up the contract they had signed before…"
Ganyu continued, "And Zhongli, the guest consultant, directly witnessed all this, which caused him to fall into a eerie state, killing Old Sun for breaking the contract…"
"That's exactly right," Su Yuan nodded in agreement.
"And the way these people died — being forcibly fed rocks and soil — isn't that the punishment of 'Wrath of the Rock'?"
"The contract is sealed; those who break their word shall suffer the Wrath of the Rock…" Ganyu murmured.
"So next, it's actually simple. We just need to keep Zhongli from going out casually, avoid letting him come into contact with others, and make sure no one breaks the contract in front of him. Then he won't fall into eerie state."
Although Su Yuan said this, he still felt a bit worried—Old Man Zhongli, who loves to stroll around and birdwatch, could he really just stay put and not go anywhere?
But for the safety of the people of Liyue, he should be willing to do so, right?
"But… I still feel something's off,"
Beidou said, looking at the map showing the distribution of the victims with some puzzlement.
"Look at the places where these victims were found—they're all over Liyue Harbor, and some are even as far away as Wangshu Inn in Dihua Marsh…"
"In such a short time, could Guest Consultant Zhongli really have gone to so many places and witnessed so many people breaking the contract?"
Hearing Beidou say this, Ganyu and Su Yuan also started to feel that something wasn't quite right…
Old Man Zhongli was just out for a stroll—could he really have gone to that many places?
"Aiya, let's not overthink it for now. No matter what, we should focus on finding Zhongli first and telling him about everything that's going on!"
Su Yuan smacked his forehead, deciding not to think any further.
It was better to find Zhongli first and figure things out later.
"You're right. Let's find Guest Consultant Zhongli first and then discuss with him what we should do next," Beidou nodded in agreement.
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