"What? The Venti you saw, Su Yuan, was actually a fake?"
Inside the Knights of Favonius headquarters meeting room, everyone was shocked after hearing Su Yuan's report.
"If the Venti you saw was fake, then who was disguising themselves as him? And where is the real Venti?" Paimon asked in confusion.
Aether, after thinking for a moment, spoke up:
"Su Yuan, based on your description, that fake Venti could skillfully wield Anemo, seemed very familiar with you, and also showed deep resentment toward Dottore…"
"Putting those points together, there's one person who comes to mind…"
With Aether's hint, Su Yuan suddenly realized and said:
"Wait… Aether, you mean to say—that Venti was actually the Wanderer in disguise?"
"That's right…" Aether nodded.
"And Su Yuan, if that Venti was really the Wanderer, then shouldn't we re-examine everything he said as well?"
"For example, when he claimed that Albedo's so-called 'Chalky Soil' was nothing more than ordinary earth with some fluorescent agent added by Dottore—what if that was also a lie to mislead you?"
"Hearing you say that… it does sound like it!" Su Yuan recalled the scene.
"That fake Venti showed me the Chalky Soil and then put it back into his own pocket…"
"If it really was the Wanderer, with his personality, he wouldn't carry around some trash created by Dottore. He would've thrown it away in disgust, not kept it."
"Damn it, it's my fault! At the time, Dottore had me cornered, and when someone suddenly appeared to save me and Diona, I didn't think too much and just assumed it was the real Venti…"
Su Yuan spoke with regret:
"And I even told the Wanderer about Xiao needing Venti's healing… He's probably already headed to Liyue by now…"
"I don't know what state Xiao is in now, or if he's even safe…"
"If there's a chance, I want to go back and check on him…"
"But the strange thing is—before, I could use waypoints to travel between Inazuma and Liyue, yet now, for some reason, I can't anymore…"
"In that case, Su Yuan, since we saw that the Wangshu Inn waypoint was intact and untainted by the Eerie forces—just like Mondstadt's—"
Aether said, "I'll return to Liyue in your place. To be honest, I'm also very worried about Xiao's condition."
"Then I'll trouble you with this, Aether." Su Yuan expressed his gratitude.
After that, Aether and Paimon left the meeting room, while the others remained inside to continue their discussions.
"Su Yuan, you said there are currently two causes for Klee's Eerie state: one is not letting her go fish-blasting, and the other is not letting her play with other children…"
Jean looked toward Su Yuan and said:
"But before you and the Traveler arrived, Klee also wanted to go out and play, and I stopped her. Yet she didn't show any signs of an Eerie transformation back then…"
"Yes, Acting Grand Master. I've thought about that too. It's very likely because, at that time, Klee only wanted to go out and play in general, without having a specific playmate in mind. That's probably why the condition wasn't triggered." Su Yuan analyzed and explained.
"I see…" Jean nodded thoughtfully.
"But now that Klee knows that wanting to go out and play with other children might trigger the transformation, I doubt she'll bring it up again…"
Su Yuan could hear the pain in Jean's tone…
After all, suppressing a child's nature and not letting them play is indeed a very cruel thing for a child…
Meanwhile, Su Yuan was also considering: who should he use today's "Conditional Insight" on?
That ability could only be used once a day.
Though it consumed one of his death rewinds, not using it would be a waste…
Everyone present already knew the rules behind their own Eerie transformations.
Maybe he should try it on other Vision holders in Mondstadt?
After all, Vision holders were much stronger than ordinary people, and if they transformed, the threat would be far greater…
In Mondstadt, those Vision holders whose Eerie transformation conditions were still unknown included: Barbara, Noelle, Bennett, Razor, Rosaria, Sucrose, and several others…
Just as Su Yuan was weighing who was the strongest among them and thus should be prioritized in uncovering their transformation rules, a knight of Favonius suddenly burst into the meeting room, his face full of urgency!
"Acting Grand Master Jean, something terrible has happened! A murder case just occurred at the Cathedral of Favonius!" The knight, panting heavily, looked at Jean.
His expression suggested he had more to say, but in the end, he didn't voice it aloud…
"A murder case? How did a murder suddenly happen in Mondstadt?" Su Yuan asked, his face full of confusion.
"Wasn't Mona's Eerie state already resolved by us?"
Jean, noticing the unusual expression on the Favonius Knight's face, spoke gently: "Thank you for your efforts. Take a moment to catch your breath, and then tell me what you were trying to say but couldn't…"
Seeing Jean's unyielding demeanor, the knight took a deep breath and spoke, his voice filled with sorrow:
"Many of the nuns inside the Cathedral of Favonius have been killed…"
"Among them… is your younger sister, Miss Barbara, Acting Grand Master Jean…"
Although Jean had already suspected something when she saw the knight hesitate, hearing it confirmed made her shiver, leaving her momentarily frozen…
After a long pause, Jean slowly stood and addressed everyone present: "Everyone, let's go to the Cathedral of Favonius and see the scene for ourselves…"
Meanwhile, Aether had successfully arrived at the Wangshu Inn in Liyue using a teleport waypoint, but no matter how he searched, he could not find any trace of Zhongli or Xiao…
Panic began to rise in Aether's heart.
Could something really have happened to Zhongli and Xiao?
Just as he was pondering this, a staff member from the Wangshu Inn approached him:
"Eh? Isn't this the Traveler?"
"If you're looking for Mr. Zhongli, he left the Wangshu Inn not long ago. It seems he went in the direction of Mondstadt!"
Zhongli went to Mondstadt?
Hearing the staff member's words, Aether became more certain.
Xiao must have encountered some trouble, and Zhongli probably went to deliver the news!
"Alright, thank you. Goodbye."
Aether thanked the staff member and calculated the time and distance.
Zhongli should be approaching the Stone Gate teleport waypoint by now.
If he uses a teleport waypoint to get there now, he should just meet Zhongli along the way!
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