Zhongli looked at the mask for a while longer, then handed Xiao's ceremonial mask back to Su Yuan.
After exchanging a few more words, Hu Tao suddenly appeared nearby…
"Aiya ya~ My dearest Consultant Zhongli, do you know what time it is now? It's already getting dark, we've got work to do!"
Hu Tao's mischievous, lively voice rang out as she skipped over to Zhongli's side.
"I waited and waited back at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but you never showed up, so I had no choice but to come looking for you!"
"I didn't expect to find you here, sipping tea..."
"You weren't the kind of person to be so tardy back in the day!"
"Su Yuan, my friend, let's leave our chat here for today..."
Zhongli looked at Su Yuan somewhat apologetically and said,
"As you can see, Director Hu has come to drag me back to work."
"You guys at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor… do you always do your business at night?"
Su Yuan looked at Hu Tao and Zhongli with a bit of confusion.
He really didn't know much about this particular topic.
"Yo yo yo~ This young man, you look like a stranger. Are you a tourist here in Liyue from another nation?"
Hu Tao responded cheerfully to Su Yuan:
"Here at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in Liyue, out of respect for ancient traditions and the deceased, some of our work is carried out at night."
"In the evening, the family of the departed will leave behind the necessary items and offerings for guests, then close the doors tightly."
"And we… do our best to carry out our work quietly and without disturbance, leaving only the funeral urn behind when we go."
"Young man, I actually wanted to tell you more about the Funeral Parlor, but we're really in a rush right now—no time to spare!"
As she spoke, Hu Tao grabbed Zhongli and vanished in a flash!
Su Yuan watched her go.
Judging by her current behavior, she probably hadn't been corrupted by the Eerie, right?
"So, what do you think? Does it seem like Mr. Zhongli has been taken over by an Eerie?"
Just then, Yelan appeared beside Su Yuan.
"Yelan, you said you had something to do and went ahead… Don't tell me you've actually been secretly following and observing me this whole time?" Su Yuan asked.
"You've misunderstood," Yelan replied with a faint smile.
"I just finished what I needed to do, and came here afterward, that's all."
"Zhongli… While he doesn't show any signs of being corrupted by an Eerie, there's definitely something wrong with his memory," Su Yuan said seriously.
"I noticed that too." Yelan nodded.
"Even I can recognize that this is the mask of the Conqueror of Demons. Someone as knowledgeable as Mister Zhongli couldn't possibly not know it."
"After all, the design of the Conqueror of Demons' mask isn't exactly a secret in Liyue…"
"Su Yuan, you've been traveling all day without a proper meal."
"It's right around dinner time now, and since you've just arrived in Liyue, let me treat you to a meal."
"If you want to go to Liuli Pavilion or Xinyue Kiosk, that's fine too—but we'll probably have to wait in a long line at this hour…"
"No need, let's go to Wanmin Restaurant instead."
Su Yuan responded to Yelan, thinking that he happened to be hungry as well—it'd be a good chance to grab a bite and also check in on how Xiangling was doing these days.
When Su Yuan and Yelan arrived at Wanmin Restaurant, they saw Master Mao and Xiangling working in perfect sync—everything was running smoothly, their coordination flawless.
As expected of a father-daughter team!
"Eh? Sis Yelan! What a rare sight! When was the last time you even came to Wanmin Restaurant?"
Xiangling lit up when she saw Yelan and greeted her enthusiastically:
"Come, come! Hurry and take a seat—this way, please!"
Seeing how cheerful and lively Xiangling still was, Su Yuan thought to himself that she probably hadn't been affected or controlled by any Eerie either.
"Sis Yelan, what would you like to eat this time? The extra spicy boiled black bass again?"
"I still remember the first time you came to our restaurant—you thought even the spiciest dish on our menu wasn't hot enough, and you just chomped down on a raw Jueyun Chili!"
Yelan nodded. "Then I'll have the boiled black bass, and also an order of tender chili chicken. And don't forget—extra chilies, as always."
"Alrighty!" Xiangling said cheerfully, then looked over at Su Yuan.
"First time at Wanmin Restaurant, huh? If you're dining with Sister Yelan, I bet you're no ordinary guy!"
"Can you handle spicy food? If not, I'd recommend trying our Triple-Layered Consomme, Universal Peace, Come and Get It, or Squirrel Fish…"
"Nice to meet you, Xiangling! I've heard a lot about you," Su Yuan replied with a smile.
"My name's Su Yuan."
"As for the dishes, feel free to pick whatever you like—I'm not picky with food..."
Su Yuan glanced around the interior of Wanmin Restaurant but didn't see any sign of Guoba.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, "Xiangling, where's Guoba? I don't see him around."
"Guoba, huh..." Xiangling frowned slightly, thinking for a moment.
"Now that you mention it, it is odd—he was already gone when I got up this morning…"
"But don't worry, this isn't the first time it's happened."
"Maybe he's just wandered off somewhere to slack off and nap again…"
Just off slacking and napping…?
A sudden sense of unease crept over Su Yuan.
Guoba isn't just an ordinary pet—he's the Stove God himself, the mighty Marchosius!
Even though he's taken on his current form due to the exhaustion of his power, who knows what kind of strength he might unleash after being affected by the Eerie phenomenon…
Su Yuan immediately felt a massive headache coming on—it was turning into a real problem…
The situation in Liyue… was truly far from optimistic.
After a simple dinner, Su Yuan followed Yelan back to the Yanshang Teahouse.
"I've already spoken to Ningguang—she wants to meet you tomorrow."
Before leaving, Yelan said to Su Yuan:
"Tonight, just rest here at the Yanshang Teahouse."
"This is my territory, so it should be relatively safe."
Afterward, Su Yuan lay down on the bed, hoping to quickly fall asleep and move on to the next day—but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't sleep...
Because the current situation in Liyue was simply too difficult to grasp...
Without intel, he had no way to proceed...
And another question lingered in Su Yuan's mind—when exactly did the information in the palm of his right hand appear?
Was it after midnight? Or when the sun rose the next morning?
And how exactly did this information show up in the first place?
Did it just appear on his hand out of thin air? Or was there something else going on?
Su Yuan was genuinely curious—where exactly did this intel come from? And who had been providing it to him?
Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he decided to just wait until midnight… to see if anything would appear in the palm of his right hand.
But in the very next moment, Su Yuan suddenly heard the sound of wind blowing outside the window, and then the wall-mounted window shook twice…
Right after that, a figure appeared inside the room…
He had short hair that faded into shades of teal, and a divine beast tattoo on his right arm.
He was a handsome young man, though not very tall...
"My mask… you have it, don't you?" he said calmly.
"Xiao!" Su Yuan exclaimed with joy at the sight.
Thank goodness! Xiao was still alive—he hadn't died…
However, he was covered in wounds and blood, and from the look on his face and his pallor, it was clear he was in bad shape…
"It's here! I have it with me!"
Su Yuan quickly took out the Yaksha mask and handed it to Xiao.
"Xiao, what happened? Why are you in this state…" Su Yuan asked with concern.
"Thank you."
But before Su Yuan could finish his question, Xiao had already taken the mask, uttered a brief word of thanks—and then vanished from the room…
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