Su Yuan recalled how his left hand had just moved uncontrollably—could it be that his left hand had a consciousness of its own?
Back when he was being restrained by that eerie force, it was still able to move freely...
Come to think of it, the fact that there were words etched into his palm in the first place was already pretty strange...
So then, when his left hand had pulled out the silk pouch just now, was it deliberately making such a big motion to draw Hu Tao's attention, so she would snatch the pouch and open it?
Was the goal to use the deadly poison gas inside the pouch to kill Hu Tao?
But Su Yuan still felt that something about all of this didn't quite add up...
If he didn't die and rewind this time, then he would now know that the pouch contained poison gas...
If he were to receive a new pouch from Kokomi in the future, and knowingly opened it despite being aware that it contained deadly poison, wouldn't that count as breaking the rules and essentially committing suicide?
Su Yuan stared at his left hand, and couldn't shake the feeling that if it really did have a will of its own, then its actions were... somehow contradictory.
On one hand, the words etched into his palm had deliberately avoided telling him what was actually inside the pouch—clearly, it wanted him to keep using the pouch to bypass the rules and exploit the no-suicide loophole...
Yet now, in order to resolve the crisis caused by the eerie state of Hu Tao, it had willingly exposed the existence of the pouch...
Anyway, he still had 1.3 death rewind left, and just moments ago, "Hu Tao" had said she was going to bury everyone here with Qiqi...
Even if he hadn't opened the pouch—even if he'd done nothing at all—there was still a high probability that a death rewind would've been triggered...
If his left hand really did have a will of its own, Su Yuan truly couldn't figure out what it was trying to do anymore...
Although Su Yuan had thought through all of that, there was still one most critical question...
Why had Kokomi prepared several of those pouches for him in the first place?
Back on Watatsumi Island, Su Yuan had already felt that something was off about Kokomi...
Why had she been so insistent on getting him to leave Inazuma?
And why would she go out of her way to prepare several of those special pouches for him?
Could it be that, as a strategist, Kokomi's foresight was sharp enough to perceive the workings of fate—to know that he could no longer trigger death rewind through suicide?
Or... was there some great master behind her, offering guidance?
"…Hu Tao… is dead… no breath left…"
Qiqi looked at Hu Tao, who had collapsed on the ground, and slowly spoke:
"Qiqi… doesn't need to be buried anymore…"
"But… why does it still hurt so much…"
As she spoke, Qiqi placed her hand on the talisman on her forehead, about to issue herself another command, but was stopped by Baizhu, who had stepped forward.
"That's enough, Qiqi. Don't give yourself any more commands…"
Baizhu looked at her with gentle eyes, a trace of heartache in his gaze, and said:
"Qiqi, can you tell me… back when you were tending to the injured Millelith soldiers—did you also give yourself a command then?"
"Yes… Dr. Bai…"
Qiqi replied softly:
"When I saw them wounded… screaming… dying… in so much pain… my heart… it ached so much…"
"So I gave myself a command… to heal them, to save their lives…"
"Even though I know… I don't have medical skills as advanced as yours, Dr. Bai… with my own abilities, I couldn't possibly do it all…"
"But as long as I give myself a command, I can focus solely on fulfilling that order…"
"I won't have to think too much… and I won't have to feel all that pain…"
"I'm sorry… Qiqi…"
Baizhu pulled Qiqi into a hug, one hand gently stroking the back of her head, the other softly patting her back, as he spoke:
"It's all my fault—my medical skills are limited. Without the help of Changsheng, I'm simply unable to save all the people of this world…"
"From now on, if there's anything weighing on your heart, you can always talk to me. Don't give yourself commands so casually anymore, alright?"
"According to the observations and deductions Su Yuan and I have made, the condition for your eerie transformation… is when you issue yourself a command that you're unable to fulfill…"
"After that, the eerie version of you will stop at nothing to complete the command…"
"…Dr. Bai… I understand now…"
Qiqi nodded and replied:
"From now on… I won't give myself commands so easily anymore…"
"Su Yuan, where did you get this pouch?"
Zhongli walked over to Hu Tao's side, picked up the few pouches, and examined them carefully...
"Zhongli, be careful—there might be deadly poison gas inside," Su Yuan warned.
"No need to worry. The poison gas inside has completely dissipated and been absorbed."
"So, Su Yuan, answer me—why are you carrying these kinds of pouches with you?"
Seeing Zhongli's somewhat stern expression, Su Yuan began to wonder if he was upset because Su Yuan had killed Hu Tao.
After all, Zhongli and Hu Tao had been together for a long time.
Now that she was gone, to Zhongli, it might feel like a father losing his daughter—a white-haired man sending off someone with black hair...
"These were given to me by Sangonomiya Kokomi, the military strategist of Watatsumi Island, before I left Inazuma. She told me only to open them in moments of great danger."
Su Yuan answered truthfully:
"To be honest, I didn't even know there was poison gas inside until today."
"But if you didn't know these pouches contained poison gas, then why did you deliberately draw Hu Tao's attention and let her take them and open them?"
"Uh…"
Hearing Zhongli's question, Su Yuan froze for a moment, then ultimately decided to answer honestly:
"As for that… I actually don't really know what happened either…"
"My left hand… it's like it has a will of its own. Even when I was completely immobilized by Hu Tao's eerie power, it was still able to move freely…"
"Su Yuan, can you sign a contract with me face to face to guarantee that what you just said is true?"
Zhongli suddenly asked, catching Su Yuan off guard once again…
"Of course I can. After all, we're still close companions. I have no problem signing a contract with you to guarantee that everything I just said is the truth…"
As Su Yuan spoke, he signed a simple contract with Zhongli…
After that, Zhongli gazed at Su Yuan—but nothing unusual happened.
"Su Yuan, as I thought—you weren't lying," Zhongli said.
"It's not that I didn't trust you… I just wanted to confirm a suspicion in my heart…"
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