Chapter 413: Ch 413 : Nightmare
After resolving the crisis caused by Yanxiao, Su Yuan and his group went around to check the various private rooms and dining tables.
They discovered that, aside from some ordinary and normal guests, there were also members of the Treasure Hoarders dining there...
There were even some who weren’t human at all.
Just as Yanxiao had said, he had wanted to receive monsters in Wangshu Inn as if they were guests.
Su Yuan and the others guided the normal guests out of Wangshu Inn right away to keep them from falling into danger...
As for those ruthless criminals like the Treasure Hoarders, they were all subdued and tightly bound, and they attempted to contact Liyue’s Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Millelith to come handle the situation.
The monsters and wild beasts, however, were executed on the spot to prevent them from harming nearby residents any further...
Not long after the message was sent out, Ganyu arrived with members of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Millelith to take over the situation...
And because news of Xiao’s incident had spread, Zhongli was among those who had come as well...
Su Yuan looked at the unconscious Xiao, then turned his gaze to Zhongli and asked, "Zhongli, Xiao should still be alive, right? But why hasn’t he woken up yet?"
Zhongli looked at Xiao, whose brows were tightly furrowed as he remained unconscious, and as if he had seen through something, he spoke:
"Xiao’s current condition... It seems he is trapped in a nightmare—a nightmare from which he will never awaken..."
"A nightmare... A nightmare that will never end?" Upon hearing Zhongli’s words, everyone present drew in a sharp breath...
"I believe you’ve all heard—’Xiao’ is a name I bestowed upon him..."
"A long time ago, Xiao did not yet bear this name. Back then, he was under the control and enslavement of an evil god, forced to devour the sweet dreams of countless others and commit many dark deeds..."
"Later, I defeated that evil god and rescued Xiao from his hands, bestowing upon him the name ’Xiao’..."
"And that evil god’s power happened to be... related to dreams."
"For Xiao to end up in this state now, I fear it’s due to that evil god’s lingering resentment. After Xiao was ambushed, it likely seized the opportunity to strike back..."
"Then what should we do now to save Xiao?" Su Yuan asked with concern.
"Xiao must be suffering, trapped in such a nightmare..."
"The method is actually quite simple—just two main approaches..."
Zhongli slowly spoke:
"One way is to believe in Xiao—believe that his unwavering willpower is enough to shatter that unfathomable nightmare..."
"The other is to seek help from the outside world—to help Xiao resolve his current mental state, break through the nightmare’s barrier, and awaken successfully..."
"Is that even a choice?" Paimon immediately spoke up without hesitation.
"Xiao is our good friend! How could we just sit here and watch him suffer like that?"
"In that case, of course we’ll do everything we can to help him!"
"Zhongli, just tell us what we need to do. I’m sure the Traveler and Su Yuan can handle it!"
"It’s quite simple—you’ll need to head to Mondstadt as soon as possible and seek out Barbatos, the Anemo Archon..."
Zhongli continued:
"Xiao’s Vision is Anemo, and a long time ago, while he was in Dihua Marsh, he once heard a gentle flute melody that helped alleviate some of the burden of his karmic debt..."
"But now, due to the Eerie forces at work, I’m not sure what state Mondstadt is currently in, so you must be extremely careful..."
"Huh? You mean we have to go find that busker?" Paimon said.
"He’s always slacking off, but hopefully he’ll actually be reliable this time..."
"Traveler, Su Yuan—you should’ve said earlier that you were going to Mondstadt!"
Gaming chimed in from the side:
"Our escort agency just so happens to be transporting a shipment of brewing ingredients today—destined for Dawn Winery..."
"No time to lose, let’s depart now. If you follow our caravan, you’ll definitely travel much faster, and we can watch each other’s backs."
"Mm." Su Yuan and Aether both nodded. "Then let’s set out now!"
And so, after a brief reunion with Ganyu and Zhongli, Su Yuan and the others said their goodbyes once again.
They joined Gaming and the Sword Box Escort Agency’s caravan and continued heading north—on their journey to Mondstadt...
"This batch of brewing ingredients we’re delivering is top-tier stuff—personally purchased at a high price by Master Diluc of Dawn Winery!"
On the road, one of the guards from the Sword Box Escort Agency chattered enthusiastically:
"At first, I was really worried. What if someone tried to rob this shipment of ours?"
"After all, this is a major international business deal. Losing the goods and compensating for them is a small matter—what really matters is the reputation of our Sword Box Escort Agency and Liyue!"
"But now? With the famous Traveler and Su Yuan traveling with us, who would even dare have thoughts on our cargo!?"
"Aha, mister, you’re flattering me... I’m really not that amazing..." Aether replied, a little embarrassed.
Su Yuan, meanwhile, was lost in thought, considering what exactly his goal should be for this trip to Mondstadt...
Originally, the plan was to use Neuvillette’s letter of recommendation to establish some kind of connection with Albedo.
But now it seemed that perhaps he could follow the Sword Box Escort Agency’s lead and first build a connection with Diluc instead...
However, Su Yuan quickly realized that his concern was entirely unnecessary.
After all, the Traveler—Aether—was right by his side.
He was basically friends with people all over the world and knew practically everyone.
As long as he stuck close to Aether, it was as good as being connected with everyone.
Then, as for the immediate objective—it was clear that finding Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, should be the highest priority.
After all, Xiao was still unconscious, trapped in that nightmare, and waiting for Venti to save him...
If Venti hadn’t been corrupted or controlled by the Eerie, things should go relatively smoothly.
But if Venti had already been taken over—just like Lesser Lord Kusanali had been—that would definitely complicate matters...
Also, Su Yuan figured that this journey to Mondstadt would probably be just like it had been in Liyue—that he’d need to acquire the power of the Anemo Dragon Sovereign, even if only temporarily, or just for a brief moment...
Although Su Yuan didn’t fully understand why he needed to collect the powers of the Dragon Sovereigns, since the system gave him that objective, he figured he might as well follow along.
In that sense, he and Aether were actually kind of alike—Aether traveled across nations to gather the power of the seven elements, while he traveled across nations to gather the powers of the seven Dragon Sovereigns...
The only difference was that Aether truly absorbed those powers into himself, while he... was mostly just going through the motions to get a feel for them.
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