"Then, Mona, let's put Venti's matter to rest for now…"
Su Yuan spoke to Mona somewhat helplessly:
"Although none of us want to accept this outcome, all the signs now point to the fact that this tragedy has already happened…"
After Su Yuan finished, Aether continued:
"Mona, now we'd like to ask you to use your astrology to divine another matter — the body parts of the Darknight Hero that Aji, corrupted by the Eerie powers, has hidden across Mondstadt…"
"Aji hid a total of six parts, and we've already found half of them — three parts…"
"If we can locate the remaining three as soon as possible, we'll be able to confirm the Darknight Hero's safety sooner…"
"After all, right now we can't even be certain whether the Darknight Hero who was harmed is really Diluc…"
"In that case, why don't I first divine whether this Darknight Hero is actually Diluc or not?" Mona interrupted directly.
Her words stunned Aether for a moment, and then Paimon suddenly realized: "Oh, right! Since we've already come to Mona for divination, why not first confirm whether this Darknight Hero is actually Diluc?"
Mona then once again channeled Hydro to summon her scrying disc, performed a round of divination, and reached a clear conclusion:
"Rest assured, this Darknight Hero whose remains you found is not Diluc…"
"But as for who it is exactly, my astrology isn't precise enough to give a clear answer…"
"In that case, since it's not someone we know, can't we just leave Aji alone for now?"
Although Su Yuan felt puzzled about why Mona would say such a thing, he still spoke:
"Mona, that's not right, is it?"
"Our fundamental goal — is to fight against the Eerie!"
"Since Aji has already been corrupted and controlled by it, and he's within Mondstadt, we naturally can't just sit back and do nothing, otherwise he'll end up harming even more people."
"Although this Darknight Hero isn't the Diluc we know, as long as we gather all of his body parts, we'll be able to meet Aji, rally our strength, and take the chance to eliminate this threat!"
Hearing Su Yuan's reasoning, Mona nodded and said: "That's true, Su Yuan, what you said makes sense."
She then performed another round of divination and spoke: "Perhaps because Aji has been corrupted and controlled by the Eerie, its influence has interfered with my star divination as well, so I didn't get any particularly clear results…"
"I only obtained one piece of relatively useful information — that one of the body parts seems to be near Starsnatch Cliff…"
"Alright, thank you, Mona. We'll head to Starsnatch Cliff immediately."
After expressing their gratitude to Mona, Su Yuan, Aether, and Paimon immediately set out for Starsnatch Cliff.
"Su Yuan, even though Mona gave us a rough location, Starsnatch Cliff is no small place, and its terrain is really complicated. If we just search blindly, won't it be really hard to find what we're looking for?"
On the way to Starsnatch Cliff, Aether voiced his doubts and concerns.
"Don't worry, Aether. Since I'm taking you there straight away, it means I have some idea in mind…" Su Yuan replied.
"Although I can't really explain why, I have this strange gut feeling… Given Aji's twisted mindset, he might have placed the Darknight Hero's eyeball in the tallest tree on Starsnatch Cliff, so it can be the first to admire the beautiful sunrise every day…"
Hearing Su Yuan's description, Aether and Paimon both frowned, and asked: "Su Yuan, how do you know such details? Could it be that back in Fontaine, when you dealt with Aji, you saw him pull something like this before?"
"Not at all, I can't explain why I think this way," Su Yuan answered truthfully.
Not long after, they arrived at Starsnatch Cliff.
Paimon immediately flew up high to scout out the tallest tree and check if there was anything on it…
Soon enough, Paimon made a discovery.
"Traveler! Su Yuan! Inside a bird's nest on this tree, there really is an eyeball!!! And next to it, sure enough, there's another note from Aji!!!"
Paimon then brought down the entire nest, eyeball and note included.
The Traveler muttered under his breath:
"Paimon, seriously… You could've just taken the thing — why did you have to wreck the poor bird's home too?"
"I was just too nervous and scared, I didn't think that much…" Paimon scratched her head awkwardly.
After Su Yuan took out the eyeball and the little note, she flew back up to the tree and put the bird's nest back.
Meanwhile, Su Yuan and Aether looked at the note:
[Starsnatch Cliff is the highest place in Mondstadt, and I picked the very top of the tallest tree there to place this Darknight Hero's eyeball…]
[The reason he's called the Darknight Hero is probably because he only acts at night, right?]
[That means he should be catching up on sleep during the day, which means he can't admire the beautiful sunrise.]
[So, I placed his eyeball on the highest peak, on the tallest tree, so that he can be the very first to enjoy both sunrise and sunset every day…]
[Aren't I thoughtful? Aren't I merciful?]
[Keep it up. I look forward to the day you complete my challenge and finally meet me!!!]
Reading the note Aji had left behind, Aether couldn't help but speak:
"Even though you already warned me, Su Yuan, seeing it now… I still can't help but marvel at how twisted Aji is…"
"To harm others, take their organs, and yet still call himself considerate and merciful… He's nothing but a hypocritical demon…"
"Let's go. Since we've already found what we needed, let's head back to Mondstadt." Su Yuan suggested.
"Alright." Aether and Paimon both nodded.
But when Su Yuan and his companions returned to Mondstadt, they found the city in chaos, with many Knights of Favonius trying to maintain order…
The group was stunned — they had only been away from Mondstadt for a short while, so how could the city have already fallen into turmoil again?
"Traveler, Su Yuan, Paimon — you're back." At that moment, Acting Grand Master Jean appeared, her face full of worry, and said:
"Just now, several murders occurred within Mondstadt…"
"And the bodies all bore pitch-black, crimson wounds… as if they had been killed by Eerie powers!"
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