"So... so that's how it was..."
After everyone explained the situation, Xiangling finally understood what was really going on...
Su Yuan suddenly felt a bit of regret.
Back when he first encountered Xiangling, he should have told her about the existence of the Eerie…
This wasn't the first time he had made this kind of mistake—his intentions were good, not wanting to drag others into danger—but in the end, it only led to even worse consequences...
"I remember those two Snezhnayan merchants you mentioned..."
Xiangling spoke slowly:
"Although their behavior of wasting food was wrong, it definitely wasn't enough to warrant death..."
"If Guoba's condition for becoming Eerie was seeing people waste food..."
"Then those two Snezhnayan merchants are probably already done for..."
"Because when I found Guoba in the cave earlier, he was gnawing on a human body. I'm guessing it was one of those two..."
"But Guoba seemed to still recognize me. He didn't try to hurt me. Instead, he brought the human meat over and motioned for me to eat it..."
"So Xiangling, you ate it, and then fell into an Eerie state?" Yelan looked at Xiangling and asked.
"No, I could tell it was human meat—there's no way I would've eaten it..."
Xiangling let out a bitter laugh, feeling a bit helpless as she spoke:
"At that time, when I saw that Guoba was acting strangely, I ran away in a panic, trying to find Master for help..."
"But during my escape, I was so flustered and nervous that I accidentally bit my tongue and swallowed it..."
"After that, I lost consciousness, and only just woke up now..."
As she spoke, Xiangling spat out her tongue, and it was clear that a small chunk was missing from it...
Although Su Yuan knew that Xiangling might have eaten human meat, he didn't expect this to be the situation—she had just accidentally bitten her own tongue, and then became controlled by the Eerie corruption...
"However, my condition for becoming Eerie was actually eating a brand new ingredient..."
Xiangling sighed helplessly:
"From now on, I'll have to be extra, extra careful with food..."
"And I can't taste or innovate new dishes anymore..."
"Anyway, none of that matters now. I just want to get Guoba back to normal and have him by my side again..."
"Yeah, the priority now is to evacuate the people in the restaurant to prevent unnecessary casualties."
Yelan nodded and spoke.
She then called a group of Millelith soldiers, who evacuated all the customers from Wanmin Restaurant under the guise of a fire inspection.
Although all the customers looked dissatisfied, as if they hadn't eaten enough, they had no choice but to comply with the Millelith's orders since they were from the official Liyue military.
The Millelith also evacuated all the people from nearby shops and stores, setting up positions at every entrance and exit.
Now, within the entire Wanmin Restaurant, there were only Su Yuan's group and Guoba...
With no ordinary people around, Guoba no longer disguised itself, releasing an eerie aura, and vigilantly glared at everyone...
"??...??——!~!?!"
"?!!?@??&——?=?￥?~?!"
Guoba was speaking in a language none of them could understand, but from its behavior, it seemed to be very angry...
"I see now. I understand, old friend..."
Only Zhongli, after hearing Guoba's words, nodded thoughtfully.
"Guoba says that he hasn't harmed any innocent people..."
"The ones who wasted food got what they deserved, they had it coming."
"'They live only to become food for others...'"
After hearing Zhongli's translation, Su Yuan nodded...
It indeed aligned with what he and the others had speculated—the reason for Guoba's eerie transformation was related to food wastage...
Now, by reverse reasoning, if those two Snezhnaya merchants could eat all the food they wasted, Guoba's eerie transformation should automatically revert...
However, the most important issue now was that those two Snezhnaya merchants were probably already dead and gone...
How could one get a dead person to eat?
Wait... Su Yuan suddenly thought of something...
Dead people?
Isn't the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in charge of this?
They handle the funeral affairs of the deceased, including offering tributes to them, right?
"Everyone, I've just thought of something that might help Guoba reverse his eerie transformation..."
Su Yuan turned to Xiangling and slowly said:
"Now, Xiangling, let me ask you a question: Do you still have the leftover food from the two Snezhnaya merchants that day?"
This question is crucial because if those leftovers can't be found, then these ideas would just be futile...
"Uh... how should I put it... I think it should still be there..."
Xiangling thought for a moment before speaking:
"The food, it would be difficult to separate it now because it was all mixed together in the slop bucket..."
Su Yuan thought to himself, All mixed together... If that's the case, we'll just have to offer the entire slop bucket...
Su Yuan nodded and continued:
"The root cause of Guoba's eerie transformation might be seeing people waste food..."
"But now those two Snezhnaya merchants, it seems like we can't have them eat the food again..."
"But now I'm wondering, what exactly is the definition of 'wasting' food?"
"Let's assume those two Snezhnaya merchants are already deceased. Then, if we find their portraits, arrange a funeral or ceremony for them, and offer the leftover food to them, would that still count as wasting?"
After hearing Su Yuan's words, the group was momentarily silent...
They felt that Su Yuan's reasoning seemed to make some sense...
"This idea seems worth trying." Xianyun nodded and was the first to express approval.
"Perhaps we should try it. I'll go find the hall master to arrange the necessary matters," Zhongli also nodded.
"I'll contact the subordinates of those two Snezhnaya merchants and have them assist us with these tasks," Yelan spoke up as well.
"Then I'll leave it to you next, Lumine..."
Su Yuan looked at Lumine and said:
"The task of keeping Guoba restrained is in your hands now..."
In response to Su Yuan's request, Lumine simply nodded and replied with a single word: "Alright."
Looking at Lumine's calm expression, Su Yuan couldn't help but feel a little guilty...
At this point, he was basically treating Lumine like a tool...
But when he tried to ask her about that strange, cryptic line she had said earlier, she refused to explain...
Su Yuan thought to himself—once Guoba's issue is resolved, he must find a chance to have a proper talk with Lumine...
And so, the mission to save Guoba officially begins!
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