Su Yuan and his group followed the Sword Box Escort Agency’s convoy, swiftly moving forward along the road...
Time passed quickly, and before long, the sun had already set.
Night had draped itself across the entire sky...
However, based on Gaming’s estimation, the remaining journey wasn’t far.
In just a little while, they would likely arrive at Dawn Winery...
Sure enough, after a few more dozen minutes, Su Yuan and Aether could already see a vast estate looming in the distance—it was none other than Diluc’s Dawn Winery!
But just then, an unexpected incident occurred!
From the trees and tall grass lining both sides of the road, several Treasure Hoarders suddenly sprang out—armed with weapons, their eyes fierce, their faces masked to conceal their identities!
They blocked the convoy of the Sword Box Escort Agency, speaking in a vicious, arrogant, and utterly commanding tone:
"This road was built by me, and the trees were planted by me! If you want to pass—leave a toll fee!"
Su Yuan and the others were at a loss for words.
They hadn’t expected that just as they were about to reach their destination, a bunch of robbing Treasure Hoarders would suddenly jump out...
But just as Su Yuan, Aether, Gaming, and the escort guards were about to fight back, a masked figure dressed in black night gear and wielding a greatsword suddenly descended from the sky, landing right between the convoy and the Treasure Hoarders. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥
"You’re... the Darknight Hero who secretly protects Mondstadt???"
The Treasure Hoarder leader was stunned.
He looked at the figure in disbelief and shouted:
"But... aren’t you supposed to be protecting the city of Mondstadt in secret?"
"We specifically conducted thorough research and chose to commit our crime far from Mondstadt—at Dawn Winery! Why on earth are you showing up here???"
Su Yuan hadn’t expected that his first encounter with Diluc would actually be in his identity as the Darknight Hero...
As for why Diluc appeared here—wasn’t it obvious?
Although the Darknight Hero operated in secret to protect Mondstadt, Dawn Winery was still Diluc’s home...
So him showing up near his own estate—was that really strange?
"Guys! Run for it! We can’t take on the Darknight Hero!!! Scatter!!!"
The moment the Darknight Hero appeared, the Treasure Hoarders immediately panicked and scattered in all directions.
The Hero himself, however, didn’t seem to have any intention of giving chase.
He simply turned to look back at the Sword Box Escort Agency’s convoy and spoke:
"Mondstadt’s been a bit unstable lately. The Knights of Favonius have their hands full.
You cargo escorts should try to avoid traveling at night—don’t make yourselves easy targets for the Treasure Hoarders."
With that, he leapt high into the air once more, melting into the night and vanishing without a trace...
"Huh? Diluc didn’t recognize us? He didn’t even say hi?"
Paimon asked with confusion.
"Maybe it’s because there were too many people around," Aether replied quietly.
"Diluc probably wants to keep his identity hidden... so he pretended not to see us."
"Just now, Diluc said Mondstadt is a bit unstable, and the Knights of Favonius are preoccupied. Sounds like something unusual is going on in Mondstadt..."
Su Yuan recalled the scene just now and murmured thoughtfully:
"Once we arrive at Dawn Winery, we should talk to Diluc and get the full story..."
"Let’s hope our journey to find Venti... won’t be too difficult."
Although there had been a small incident near the end of their journey, Su Yuan and the others ultimately arrived safely at Dawn Winery and successfully completed the cargo handover.
Since it was already quite late, the butler of Dawn Winery invited the members of the Sword Box Escort Agency to stay the night and depart for Liyue the following day.
Meanwhile, Su Yuan joined Aether and Paimon in looking for any sign of Diluc...
But after asking several maids in a row, they all gave the same answer—Master Diluc hadn’t returned to the winery at all today.
Su Yuan and Aether were immediately puzzled.
Diluc hasn’t returned to Dawn Winery yet?
Then... who was that Darknight Hero they had just seen earlier?
"Could it be that Diluc is finishing up his work as the Darknight Hero before coming back to the winery?"
Paimon muttered, pouting.
Since no one knew where Diluc had gone, and there was no clear lead on how to find him—and with it already being late at night after a long day of travel—everyone was understandably exhausted.
So after giving it some thought, they all decided to head to their rooms and rest, leaving everything else for tomorrow.
Just like that, after parting ways with Aether and Paimon, Su Yuan returned to his own room.
He did a quick wash-up, then lay down on the bed.
So Diluc’s the nocturnal type, huh?
Doesn’t even sleep at night—just spends all his time playing Darknight Hero...?
With that thought in mind, Su Yuan slowly drifted off into dreamland...
Early the next morning, the soft rays of dawn filtered through the glass windows, shining onto Su Yuan’s face...
Su Yuan slowly opened his eyes—only to hear a lot of noise coming from the plaza outside Dawn Winery.
But he wasn’t planning to pay attention to that just yet.
Feeling a sharp sting in the center of his right palm, he decided to first check the intelligence update displayed there...
[First of all, congratulations on surviving your 18th night.]
[Currently available intel:]
[52. Diluc is the Darknight Hero, but the Darknight Hero is not necessarily Diluc.]
The very first line of intel today left Su Yuan completely stunned...
Was it hinting that the person they saw last night wasn’t actually Diluc?
But no matter what the case was, he figured as long as he stuck with Diluc, everything should be fine...
Su Yuan nodded to himself and continued reading:
[53. Since Mondstadt is the "Nation of Freedom," the Eerie force manifestations here may also become more "free."]
Su Yuan looked at that line of intel with a solemn expression.
Because Mondstadt is a land of freedom... the Eerie forces might also behave more freely?
That would mean that Eerie entities in Mondstadt might not follow fixed rules, simply because they’re... "free"?
If that were true, then exploiting rules to deal with the Eerie might become nearly impossible...
Still, Su Yuan considered the fact that Eerie entities do usually follow strict rules.
Maybe this "freedom" mentioned here referred to something else entirely...
[54. Whatever you do, don’t get held grudges against by Eula. If she holds a grudge, she will definitely take revenge.]
Reading this intel, Su Yuan nodded.
Looks is the trigger condition for Eula’s Eerie state.
So it’s really tied to her grudge-bearing nature...
In the past, Eula may have just said she held grudges as a joke, but under the influence of the Eerie power...
She might actually come for revenge now...
Su Yuan was still deep in thought, preparing to read more when suddenly, Aether’s anxious voice shouted from outside the door:
"Su Yuan! Something terrible has happened! The Darknight Hero is dead—and his body’s been dismembered!"
"Part of his body is lying in the plaza of Dawn Winery right now, along with a challenge letter!!!"
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