"The Adepti... have all lost their memories and powers?"
As she listened to Su Yuan's account, Ningguang furrowed her brow slightly, her expression thoughtful.
"I can't guarantee that all the Adepti are ," Su Yuan replied, "but even the Conqueror of Demons, Xiao—his situation doesn't look too promising either. While he doesn't seem to have lost his memory or powers, it looks like he's locked in some kind of bitter battle..."
"But of the two Adeptus we've encountered so far—Adeptus Cloud Retainer and Adeptus Streetward Rambler—both have lost their memories and powers."
Su Yuan paused, then added:
"And that guest consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor—Zhongli, who is in fact the Geo Archon Morax—he's the same..."
A look of confusion appeared on Ningguang's face.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she nodded in understanding.
"While I always knew he wasn't just an ordinary man... I never expected that he was the Archon himself."
"That really is... quite the surprise."
"Zhongli possesses knowledge of many things unknown and misunderstood by others. I had even considered uncovering his weaknesses, turning him into one of my chess pieces—to use him for my own ends..."
"That's right..." Yelan nodded in agreement.
"In my intelligence network, I originally thought he was just some powerful Adeptus. I never imagined he was the Archon himself..."
As Yelan spoke, she suddenly walked over to Ningguang's side, locking eyes with her, as if she had something to say.
"Yelan, what are you doing?" Ningguang looked at her, puzzled.
"Why are you standing between Su Yuan and me?"
"Lady Ningguang, there's something I'd like to whisper to you in private..."
Yelan looked at Ningguang and spoke slowly.
"A whisper? Everyone present here can be trusted. Why the need for secrecy?"
"Also... what did you just call me? Lady... Ningguang?"
Noticing Yelan's clearly unusual behavior, Su Yuan immediately shouted toward Ningguang:
"Ningguang! Watch out! Yelan might be falling into Eerie corruption!"
The next moment, "Yelan" raised her bow and shot an arrow straight at Ningguang's head—but Ningguang seemed prepared and dodged the attack with a swift turn!
"Yelan... your movements were far too obvious..."
Ningguang used the momentum to put some distance between them and spoke calmly:
"I know you too well..."
"From the moment you walked toward me, I already knew—you had been corrupted and taken over by the Eerie."
A twisted laugh escaped from "Yelan's" mouth.
Her face began to distort, and a strange, unsettling aura started to radiate from her entire body...
"Ningguang... to think you figured it out this quickly..."
"So tell me... can I take your place as the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing?"
"Why is it that you get to live such a glamorous and prestigious life, while I am forced to toil away in the shadows, doing unknown, thankless intelligence work in the dark?"
"If it hadn't been for my help and support back then, do you really think you'd be sitting in the Tianquan seat as Ningguang today?"
"Now, I'm just taking back everything that should've been mine!"
At that moment, a burst of eerie energy suddenly erupted from Chongyun, who was sitting beside Su Yuan!
"The Eerie... I can smell it... I can see it..."
"Chongyun" glared viciously at Yelan and shouted:
"I must purge every last Eerie from this world—restore a clear and righteous sky to this land!!"
With that, "Chongyun" brandished his greatsword and charged at Yelan, engaging her in fierce combat!
Meanwhile, Ningguang seized the opportunity and moved quickly to Su Yuan's side...
"Su Yuan, just as you said—Chongyun's condition for Eerie corruption is witnessing someone else being taken over by the Eerie..."
Ningguang watched the scene unfold, her expression thoughtful:
"And indeed... he's only targeting the Eerie specifically..."
At that moment, Su Yuan couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh of relief...
Earlier, the message from the palm of his left hand had warned him to be cautious of a corrupted Chongyun—because he would target anything Eerie...
So Su Yuan had been worrying—Could I actually be Eerie myself?
But the current situation eased that concern.
"Chongyun" completely ignored him and went straight into a fierce battle with Yelan...
That, at the very least, was indirect proof—he probably wasn't Eerie, right?
"Su Yuan, according to your previous explanation, the strength of someone after being corrupted by the Eerie depends on both their original power and the intensity of their negative emotions..."
Ningguang observed the battle between "Yelan" and "Chongyun," then asked calmly:
"Between Yelan and Chongyun, who do you think will win?"
Su Yuan looked at Ningguang—who remained utterly composed—and for a moment, didn't even know how to respond...
No matter who wins or loses, it means one of them has to die—so why can Ningguang remain so calm and composed?
Could it be that, in her eyes, everyone is nothing more than a chess piece?
Not living, breathing people?
"Yelan, probably... Whether it's life experience or combat skills, Chongyun doesn't stand a chance against her."
Su Yuan gave a simple reply, then began pondering the condition that triggered Yelan's corruption...
Things had already reached this point—choosing not to revert time was no longer an option.
But before he did, he had to gather more intel...
Just moments ago, when sharing information, Yelan had acted completely normal...
But the moment Zhongli was mentioned as being the Geo Archon himself, her behavior started to shift...
Su Yuan recalled Yelan's exact words: In her intelligence network, she originally believed Zhongli to be an adeptus—but hadn't expected him to be the Archon himself...
Originally believed... hadn't expected...
Suddenly, a new thought struck Su Yuan—what if Yelan's corruption condition wasn't just receiving new intel, but rather when the new intel conflicted with what she previously believed to be true?
It seemed entirely possible!
"Ningguang, I just had a new idea," Su Yuan quickly said to the woman beside him.
"Yelan's corruption condition might be when the new information she receives contradicts her previous intel!"
"Oh?" Ningguang showed an intrigued expression and said, "Su Yuan, it seems we're thinking along the same lines."
It seemed his theory wasn't wrong—someone as sharp as Ningguang had reached the same conclusion as him.
"But Su Yuan," Ningguang suddenly spoke, "about the question I asked you earlier—you gave the wrong answer."
Was she referring to the question from before?
The one about whether Yelan or Chongyun would win?
If Ningguang was saying he answered incorrectly, did that mean she believed Chongyun would win?
But when Su Yuan looked up at the ongoing battle, Chongyun was already being completely overwhelmed by Yelan, steadily losing ground—it was clear he wouldn't last much longer...
Anyone with eyes could tell: Chongyun's defeat was inevitable.
"Because... the final victor..."
Ningguang spoke slowly:
In the next instant, an overwhelming surge of eerie power erupted from Ningguang's body!
In her hands were two gems swirling with bizarre energy—she abruptly launched them at Yelan and Chongyun with incredible speed!
The sudden strike caught both of them completely off guard—before they could even react, the eerie-infused gems pierced through their skulls!
In an instant, blood and brain matter splattered as both collapsed to the ground, lifeless and still.
Then, "Ningguang" slowly turned her head, her deeply sunken, pitch-black and blood-red eyes locking onto Su Yuan as she revealed a faint smile...
"Even if an antique is priceless, the joy it brings only lasts for the moment it's first acquired..."
"But you, Su Yuan, you're quite interesting..."
"You're worthy of becoming part of my collection..."
"And I think... you'll bring me joy for quite a while..."
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