As Wang Ping’an finished explaining, Su Yuan and Aether both nodded slightly...
Judging from Yanxiao’s strange behavior earlier—it really was him after all?
Wang Ping’an continued:
"Adeptus Xiao realized something was off with Yanxiao only after eating the Almond Tofu he prepared. But by then... it was already too late..."
"Normally, regular anesthetics or poisons wouldn’t work on an adeptus like Adeptus Xiao. But whatever substance Yanxiao added to that tofu—it knocked him out cold!"
"When Xiao woke up, he found his body paralyzed and himself completely under Yanxiao’s control. He couldn’t escape—so the only thing he could do was send me this message through a dream..."
Su Yuan nodded and said, "If that’s the case, then Xiao has only been restrained, not killed..."
"If we find a way to stop Yanxiao, we can still save Xiao..."
"But if Yanxiao was able to overpower Xiao like that... he must have already been corrupted by the Eerie, right?"
Aether said thoughtfully:
"Yanxiao may not be a Vision holder—he’s just a chef—but judging from his past experiences, I’d bet he’s far from weak..."
"But right now, we don’t have any allies specialized in fighting Eerie force. We may not be a match for Yanxiao..."
"Right," Su Yuan nodded.
"Which means we either return to Liyue Harbor and request reinforcements... or we try to outsmart him, uncover the root of his Eerie corruption..."
"But that won’t be easy either..." Aether murmured, deep in thought.
"If Jiang Xue’s death—and the disappearances of Huai’an and Verr Goldet—are all connected to Yanxiao..."
"Then that would mean Yanxiao had already fallen into the Eerie’s influence a long time ago. And if that’s the case, tracking the source of his corruption will be extremely difficult..."
As Aether and Su Yuan discussed their thoughts, Wang Ping’an—still wearing the mask—suddenly let out a sharp scream and collapsed to the ground.
Only then did Su Yuan and Aether realize—at some point, a tall figure had silently appeared behind Wang Ping’an, holding a bloodstained kitchen knife, its blade still dripping with fresh blood...
Just moments ago, this figure had ruthlessly slashed Wang Ping’an across the back, cutting him down in an instant!
He had appeared without a sound, and now, his face was horribly twisted, radiating an ominous aura... the power of the Eerie!
"Haha... Su Yuan... Traveler..."
"Yanxiao" grinned eerily, looking at Su Yuan and Aether as he let out a chilling laugh:
"Didn’t I tell you two earlier to just sit down wherever you liked? I said I’d come serve you once I was done with the other table..."
"But why didn’t you listen? Why did you insist on disobeying me? You even left the inn entirely..."
The Eerie power flaring from "Yanxiao" surged out, instantly suppressing Su Yuan, Aether, and Paimon—freezing them in place, unable to move...
Then, "Yanxiao" grabbed Su Yuan under one arm, Aether under the other, and tucked Paimon against his waist—before turning and walking back toward Wangshu Inn.
Su Yuan’s heart sank—this was bad.
Was he, Aether, and Paimon really about to be turned into dishes by Yanxiao?
Sure, people always joked about Paimon being emergency food, but now that they were the ones about to become ingredients... it was an entirely different, gut-twisting kind of fear and dread...
As he was being carried back to the inn, Su Yuan thought: if death this time was inevitable, then at the very least, he needed to gather more intel—so that if they had to face this again, they’d be better prepared...
So he forced himself to speak to Yanxiao:
"Yanxiao, why are you doing this??? Jiang Xue’s death, the disappearances of Huai’an and Verr Goldet—was it all your doing? And Xiao—what have you done to him???"
Faced with Su Yuan’s questioning, "Yanxiao" simply gave a faint smile and replied:
"Su Yuan, I know you’re in a rush... but no need to be impatient..."
"Once we’re back in the kitchen... everything will become clear."
Before long, "Yanxiao" had dragged Su Yuan and the others back into the kitchen of Wangshu Inn...
And the moment they entered, Su Yuan’s eyes widened in shock—inside a transparent freezer, he saw Xiao!
"Xiao!" Su Yuan shouted loudly, but the Xiao inside the freezer didn’t respond at all, as if he couldn’t hear anything...
"Yanxiao" bared his teeth in a grin and said, "Su Yuan, stop shouting. Xiao may not be dead, but he can’t hear you anymore..."
"He’ll be trapped in endless nightmares, locked in eternal slumber—one of my backup ingredients!"
"Yanxiao, why are you doing this???"
Su Yuan asked, unable to understand:
"Wangshu Inn took you in, gave you shelter—and this is how you repay the people here??"
"Su Yuan, I’ve been pondering a question for a long time..."
"Yanxiao" didn’t answer Su Yuan directly. Instead, he started talking:
"This question... was left to me by Jiang Xue..."
"Are all monsters in this world truly wicked, unforgivable creatures?"
"Who decided what is good and what is evil? Who drew that line?"
Come on, seriously? "Yanxiao," you’re a chef—not a philosopher! Even if you’re corrupted by the Eerie, how are you spouting things !?
"Why is Wangshu Inn only allowed to serve humans? Why not monsters too?"
"Not only that—why did Jiang Xue, Huai’an, Verr Goldet, and even Xiao dedicate themselves to clearing out nearby monsters... just to protect the guests of the inn?"
"Monsters have lives too!!!" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Monsters have the right to eat at Wangshu Inn! That’s what a truly equal world should look like—a world where all beings are treated the same!!!"
Su Yuan was completely speechless. At this point, it was clear—"Yanxiao" had lost his mind...
"Su Yuan... Traveler... little Paimon..."
"If you’d just behaved and stayed as proper guests... none of this would’ve happened..."
"But since you chose to run, to go against me—then I have no choice but to make you into ingredients..."
"Hey? Is anyone in there? We’re here for food!"
Suddenly, a voice called out from beyond the kitchen door...
Su Yuan froze—he felt like that voice sounded familiar... it almost sounded like Gaming.
Could Gaming be passing by with a delivery?
If so—this might be their chance to break the deadlock!
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