Ganyu and Su Yuan continued to follow behind "Zhongli," watching to see where exactly he was heading…
"For something like this to happen, it seems there's only one explanation…"
After thinking for a moment, Ganyu spoke:
"Someone must value money over their life and is still doing business with statues of the Geo Archon…"
"No, I don't think it's that simple…"
Su Yuan replied:
"In order for someone to be selling something, there has to be a buyer first, right?"
"Isn't there already a consensus in the black market that secretly possessing statues of the Geo Archon is a capital offense?"
"These are things with no real value to begin with — it was those greedy merchants who inflated the prices. I doubt any buyers would risk their lives for them…"
"Unless… they're the Geo Archon's ultimate fan…"
Ganyu and Su Yuan followed "Zhongli" to the outskirts of Liyue Harbor.
Then, suddenly, "Zhongli" sped up and ran ahead, leaving Su Yuan and Ganyu far behind!
"It seems like since there aren't many people in the suburbs, Zhongli no longer bothers to hide anything and just accelerated," Su Yuan said.
"Huh? Are we not people?" Ganyu asked with some confusion.
"Why do I feel like Mr. Zhongli, who's been corrupted by that eerie force, isn't avoiding us at all?"
"Maybe he knows we know him inside and out, so he doesn't care," Su Yuan replied.
"We should hurry and catch up!"
Eventually, Su Yuan and Ganyu followed "Zhongli" to a small wooden cabin…
"Zhongli" went straight inside, and inside the cabin, it seemed there were a few people dressed like treasure hoarder…
Su Yuan thought to himself: Could it be that these treasure hoarders stole some statues of the Geo Archon, then violated the contract by fighting over the spoils in front of the statues, which caused Zhongli to fall into that eerie state?
But at the same time, Su Yuan breathed a sigh of relief—fortunately, those who broke the contract were a gang of notorious treasure hoarders.
They deserved whatever punishment came their way; their deaths would be no loss.
"Who are you? Don't you know you're supposed to knock and give the secret password before coming in?" The leader of the treasure hoarder yelled at "Zhongli."
"Boss, this person seems to be Zhongli, the guest consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor… and with her is Ganyu from the Liyue Ministry of Civil Affairs," someone nearby warned.
"What? Could it be that what we did has been exposed? People from the Ministry of Civil Affairs have come looking for us?"
"Boss, don't underestimate Ganyu just because she looks like a woman—she's actually a half-adeptus. We're no match for her. We should surrender quickly and hope for leniency!"
Immediately, someone dropped to their knees, raised their hands high, and surrendered…
The leader of the treasure hoarder gang thought there was some truth to it and was about to surrender when he heard "Zhongli" speak slowly:
"We clearly agreed that as long as she paid, you would let her go…"
"But in reality, you took her money and still killed her…"
"There's no other way—just like that girl said, she promised not to report this to the Ministry of Civil Affairs or the Millelith Army, but we all know she definitely will. So we have no choice but to silence her…"
One of the gang members said this, but their leader scolded him harshly:
"Idiot, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"Although we are treasure hoarder, we are conscientious and principled treasure hoarder!"
"We only ever take money, never harm lives!"
But "Zhongli" didn't seem willing to give him a chance to explain and stepped forward, grabbed his neck, and said fiercely:
"Still making excuses here? Do you really think no one knows everything you've done?"
"The contract has been made; those who break their word shall suffer the Judgement of Wrath of the Rock…"
Then, the same terrifying scene repeated: "Zhongli" continuously forced rocks and yellow soil into that man's mouth…
"Zhongli" showed a strange smile and looked at the trembling treasure hoarder members around him, saying:
"Rest assured, anyone who shared in that girl's loot shouldn't even think about escaping…"
In the end, all the treasure hoarder present died from the same punishment…
Afterwards, Su Yuan searched carefully inside the house but didn't find anything related to the Geo Archon…
Could it be on the victim's body?
So Su Yuan said to Ganyu, "Ganyu, let's call the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Millelith Army to search the surrounding area and see if we can find anything related…"
Not long after, with the Millelith Army's thorough search, they found the body of a girl…
But after a detailed autopsy, nothing related to the Geo Archon was found either…
Su Yuan felt puzzled: so why did Zhongli know that a contract violation happened here, causing him to enter that eerie state?
They had been busy all day, and now the sky was gradually darkening...
Su Yuan looked toward the distant mountains bathed in the sunset's afterglow, suddenly seeming to realize something.
"Zhongli, Ganyu, I think I've figured out where the problem lies…"
Su Yuan pointed to a mountaintop not far away, where a statue stood tall.
"The Seven Statues of the Archons—aren't they, in a way, also statues of Morax?"
"We had the Ministry of Civil Affairs gather so many images and statues, yet overlooked something this important…"
"This must be Morax's most prominent statue!"
"But…" Hearing this, Ganyu looked troubled.
"The origins of the Seven Statues are very mysterious, and they are imbued with strange powers, making it nearly impossible to move or destroy them…"
"Who said they have to be moved or destroyed?"
Su Yuan recalled the scene when he met Furina in Meropide and said firmly:
"Anyway, the key point is not to appear 'in front of' Morax…"
"As long as Morax can't see it, there shouldn't be any major problem."
"So, we just need to find a blindfold or a hood and cover the Seven Statues of the Archons—that will do it!"
"All right." Ganyu nodded. "I'll arrange for my people to do it right away."
Su Yuan couldn't help but think back to his time in Fontaine.
If back then, at night, he had encountered a Furina doll, would it have immediately caused Furina to fall into that eerie state?
He didn't dare think about it further, because on the night he first arrived at Furina's place, he still vividly remembered the smell of that bug…
He wondered how everyone in Fontaine was doing now.
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