"Hmm? Su Yuan, didn’t you just say your means of acquiring intel had been somewhat obstructed?"
Neuvillette showed a slightly puzzled expression and said:
"But I haven’t even said anything yet, and you already knew who she was... Is this dancer named Nilou really that famous across Teyvat? Though I suppose I’m not too familiar with that kind of news..."
"Neuvillette, where are they now?" Su Yuan asked.
"They’re at the Opera Epiclese. If you’re heading over, I’ll come with you," Neuvillette replied.
"If you’re going, then take us too!"
Just then, Aether and Paimon appeared at the door of Neuvillette’s office.
And so, the group set off for the Opera Epiclese.
On the way, Aether spoke up:
"Ever since I learned about the Eerie, I’ve been worried about Sumeru’s current situation..."
"After all, when I left Sumeru, the Dendro Archon Nahida gave me a strange feeling..."
"I was planning to invite you, Su Yuan, to head to Sumeru with me to check on things once everything in Fontaine settled down..."
"But since fate has brought them to Fontaine, we should talk to her and see what she knows first..."
"Yeah." Hearing Aether’s words, Su Yuan nodded in agreement.
When the group arrived at the Opera Epiclese, they saw Furina happily chatting with Nilou, warmly holding her hand.
"Miss Nilou, so this is Sumeru’s famous Dance of the Flower Goddess—it’s absolutely stunning!!!"
"This style, this feeling... it’s so different from Fontaine’s opera and dance. I’ve never experienced anything like it before!"
"Lady Furina, you’re too kind..."
Nilou smiled and replied:
"Every nation’s dance has its own charm—there’s really no way to compare them as better or worse..."
Then, as if she sensed Su Yuan and the others approaching, Nilou turned and greeted them:
"Lord Neuvillette, hello!"
"And Traveler and Paimon, long time no see."
"And this person... someone I don’t know, but hello to you as well."
"Yeah, Nilou, long time no see,"
Aether waved at her with a smile and said,
"Although, it hasn’t really been that long, has it?"
"Hehe, isn’t there a saying in Liyue? ’One day apart feels like three autumns.’"
Nilou giggled and replied,
"To be honest, this time I brought the dance troupe to Fontaine for cultural exchange and study, but I also had a small reason of my own... I wanted to check on how you were doing here."
"After all, you left in such a rush. I was really worried something dangerous or urgent had happened..."
"Sorry about that, Nilou, for making you worry..."
Aether scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
"Don’t worry, nothing serious happened—I’m doing just fine."
"But actually, Nilou, I wanted to ask you—after I left, did anything unusual happen in Sumeru?"
Nilou looked a little confused.
"Traveler, why are you asking that?"
"I think I should be the one to explain the situation next," Su Yuan said as he stepped in to respond to Nilou’s question, and then he revealed the existence of the Eerie.
"So, there really is such a terrifying and dreadful force in this world..."
After hearing Su Yuan’s explanation, Nilou nodded, though she didn’t seem especially panicked.
"If I had to say there was something unusual, then... it’s probably the fact that it’s been quite a long time since anyone has seen Lady Lesser Lord Kusanali."
"She seems to have stayed inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana for quite a while now and hasn’t gone out at all..."
"If she has any instructions, she sends them through dreams instead..."
"Oh right, and there’s one more strange thing..."
"There’s been a series of disappearances happening one after another in Sumeru City, and so far, there haven’t been any leads..."
"The Corps of Thirty is completely overwhelmed, and even General Mahamatra Cyno hasn’t had time to play Genius Invokation TCG. He’s dedicating all his energy to investigating the missing persons cases..."
"It seems the situation in Sumeru isn’t looking good..."
Aether nodded with a grave expression, then turned to Su Yuan, stretched out his hand, and said:
"Su Yuan, come to Sumeru with me. Let’s go find out what’s going on with Nahida!"
However, Su Yuan shook his head and said:
"If I remember correctly, Nahida holds the authority over the Akasha System and the World Tree. She can observe everything that happens in Teyvat through it..."
"If she’s really been corrupted and taken over by the Eerie, then she’ll be extremely difficult to deal with..."
"That’s exactly why we need to head to Sumeru!" Aether insisted.
"You know as well as I do—Descenders like us aren’t recorded in the World Tree. That gives us the element of surprise!"
"That may be true..." Su Yuan murmured.
"But suddenly, I have a question..."
Su Yuan looked at Aether thoughtfully and said:
"If your information isn’t recorded in the World Tree, but Nilou’s is..."
"Then now that Nilou has seen you—that fact already exists—how would the World Tree record it?"
"Would there be no record of this at all? Or would it show something like ’Nilou saw someone,’ but that someone’s identity is blocked and not displayed?"
"Uh..." Aether was caught off guard—he didn’t have a clear answer to that.
"But even if Nahida doesn’t know what we’re doing, even if we sneak back to Sumeru..."
"If we want to rescue Nahida from the influence of the Eerie, we’ll inevitably have to confront her directly."
"And she seems to have an ability—being able to read other people’s minds..."
"That means unless we can completely suppress our thoughts, any strategy we come up with will be laid bare before her..."
"My point is..." Su Yuan paused, then said firmly, "We can’t go to Sumeru."
He didn’t even understand why—but his logic was clear, and those words flowed out naturally, almost as if he already knew what was going on in Sumeru...
And Su Yuan realized—he’d changed.
Ever since he learned he had only one last chance at returning by death, he wasn’t as brave as he once imagined himself to be...
In the end, he was still afraid of death—still clinging to life.
Now that the rewind mechanism had changed, he no longer had those few chances a day to make mistakes...
He had to give things up.
He had to be cautious—extremely cautious.
Su Yuan understood—without the power to rewind upon death, without the hints and rules written in his palm, he was nothing.
"Traveler, Nilou," he said slowly, sincerely, "for now, please stay in Fontaine. Don’t go back to Sumeru..."
Those were the truest thoughts from the depths of his heart.
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