Even with the help of Lyney, Lynette, Freminet, and the House of the Hearth behind them, the entire day passed without a single lead on the Traveler...
That evening, after dinner, Zhongli invited everyone to the Heyu Tea House to watch an opera, saying it would help ease the tension and lift their spirits.
"Ah, I’ve heard of Yun Jin, the renowned lead of the Heyu Tea House, for quite so ti!"
Lyney said with a smile:
"Looks like our timing is perfect—turns out Miss Yun is performing tonight!"
"Co to think of it, Liyue opera and magic shows aren’t all that different at their core..."
"They’re both stage performances ant to deliver emotional value to the audience."
"Mhm." Lynette nodded in agreent.
"Maybe we can even ask Miss Yun for advice on how to improve our own stagecraft."
"Freminet, aren’t you coming with us?" Su Yuan asked.
"I’m not fond of crowded, noisy places..." Freminet replied softly, lowering his voice.
"I think I’ll head back and rest..."
"It’s fine, Su Yuan," Lyney said with a smile.
"Everyone has different personalities—just let him be."
"Freminet, be careful on your way back, alright?"
"Mm." Freminet gave a small nod and quietly took his leave.
Just as everyone was getting ready to head to the Heyu Tea House, Zhongli suddenly furrowed his brows slightly and said:
"Su Yuan, you all go ahead without . There’s sothing I need to take care of—I’ll have to leave first..."
Seeing the look on Zhongli’s face as he tried to slip away, Su Yuan imdiately guessed—it was probably because Neuvillette was about to arrive...
Seriously now, why was Zhongli so unwilling to et Neuvillette?
Would sothing truly go wrong if the two of them t?
But surely... they couldn’t avoid each other forever, right?
After all, Zhongli and Neuvillette each, in their own way, represented the pinnacle of Liyue and Fontaine...
Just as Su Yuan was deep in thought, he suddenly noticed—his left hand had moved on its own, reaching out and grabbing Zhongli to stop him from leaving...
"Su Yuan, what is the aning of this?"
Zhongli asked, sowhat confused.
"It’s not that I’m unwilling to et Neuvillette... it’s just that now is not the right ti."
The next mont, Zhongli tried to pull away with so force, only to be shocked to find that Su Yuan’s hand was clamped onto his wrist like it had been welded there—completely unshakable...
If he wanted to forcibly leave, he’d either have to sever Su Yuan’s hand or his own wrist—or else drag Su Yuan along with him...
Zhongli frowned slightly. "Su Yuan, what are you doing?"
"I don’t know either, Zhongli! My left hand—it’s not under my control!" Su Yuan replied, equally confused.
Although he could still feel his left hand, he had completely lost the ability to command it...
He couldn’t understand why he was suddenly unable to control it...
Back when he was being suppressed by the Eerie force, the sa thing had happened—his left hand moved on its own...
That ti, his left hand had saved his life—but it had also rendered Kokomi’s strategic pouch completely ineffective...
And now, his left hand had grabbed Zhongli—was it trying to force him to et Neuvillette?
As Su Yuan and Zhongli stood there, hesitant and puzzled, a voice suddenly ca from nearby:
"Hello there. I heard you’re all going to the Heyu Tea House to watch Liyue opera—may I join you?"
"I’m just a tourist from Fontaine, passing through Liyue. My na is Nat..."
"Back in Fontaine, I watched many performances at the Opera Epiclese. Now I’d like to experience the traditional opera of the Heyu Tea House..."
At that mont, Neuvillette had changed into a different outfit—he wore a suit, a black hat on his head, glasses on his face, and even a small mustache at the corner of his mouth...
But honestly, the disguise did almost nothing.
Anyone could imdiately tell—it was still Neuvillette.
"There’s absolutely no Hydro Dragon Sovereign here, no Chief Justice of Fontaine—just an ordinary tourist from Fontaine, nothing more..."
Hearing Neuvillette say this only made it harder for Su Yuan to keep a straight face...
Disguising himself was one thing, but why did Neuvillette have to emphasize that so deliberately?
It felt like the classic "nothing suspicious going on here" mont.
"Sigh... I hesitated after all..." Zhongli let out a quiet sigh and whispered to Su Yuan, "Since we’ve already t, then there’s no avoiding it..."
With that, Zhongli returned to the group, no longer attempting to leave.
At the sa ti, Su Yuan’s left hand let go on its own...
Su Yuan raised his left hand and tested its movent a few tis—he could control it perfectly, and it didn’t feel strange at all...
He stared intently at his left hand.
Could it really have a mind of its own?
A brain growing in it or sothing?
If only Liyue had an X-ray machine right now—he would definitely take a look inside to see what his left hand was made of...
"This gentleman nad Nat—there is no Geo Archon here, no God of Contracts—only a humble guest consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor,"
Zhongli looked at Neuvillette and said:
"Since Mr. Nat is interested in the opera of the Heyu Tea House, while I am no great scholar, I do know a thing or two. I’d be happy to explain it to you along the way..."
"Let us depart now. We can talk as we walk to the Heyu Tea House."
Seeing Zhongli’s response, Su Yuan didn’t even know what to say anymore...
Zhongli, seriously?
You too with the exaggerated "I’m totally not who you think I am" routine?
Unbelievable—one’s Morax, the other’s Neuvillette, and here they were, both chatting while pretending to be soone else.
But then, sothing clicked in Su Yuan’s mind...
Both Zhongli and Neuvillette were deliberately stressing their identities—insisting that they were not the Geo Archon or the Hydro Dragon Sovereign...
Su Yuan suddenly recalled how, after reclaiming the full authority of the Primordial Dragon, Neuvillette had once declared his intent to judge the Archons...
As for how that judgnt would be carried out—no one really knew.
So... was Zhongli avoiding Neuvillette because of that?
Now that Neuvillette had disguised himself and was claiming not to be the Hydro Dragon Sovereign or the Chief Justice, he no longer had to carry out those judgnts...
And Zhongli, by saying he was no longer the Geo Archon or the God of Contracts, naturally removed himself from the list of targets to be judged...
With this double layer of identity-denial, it seed they had successfully avoided triggering Neuvillette’s divine judgnt of the Archons...
If that really was the case, then everything... made perfect sense.
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