Of course, both Su Yuan and Aether knew about that enormous statue of the Anemo Archon, which stood tall in the plaza before the doors of the Cathedral of Favonius…
But how could such a massive statue suddenly collapse just like that?
"Su Yuan, let's hurry over to the site and see what's going on!" Aether immediately suggested.
"If there are any casualties, we must rush over to help and provide aid!"
"Mm." Su Yuan nodded, and together with Aether, they headed straight for the scene.
When they arrived, they found that the colossal statue of the Anemo Archon had already crashed to the ground, and the entire plaza was littered with its broken fragments.
The Knights of Favonius had also arrived long before, maintaining order at the scene in an organized manner.
Among them, Su Yuan and Aether also spotted the familiar figure of Acting Grand Master Jean.
Even though everyone often urged Jean to take proper rest, no matter what happened, she was always the one to charge into the frontlines—undaunted by danger, unfaltering in hardship—all for the sake of protecting the people of Mondstadt.
"Master Jean, what exactly happened just now?" Su Yuan and Aether hurried forward to ask.
"What about casualties? Was anyone injured?"
"It's you two—Traveler and Su Yuan. As of now, things are looking relatively fortunate. Although the Anemo Archon's statue collapsed with a great crash, no casualties have been discovered." Jean replied.
Hearing this, both Su Yuan and Aether let out a breath of relief. "Phew… that's really good to hear…"
"But this statue has stood unshaken in Mondstadt for hundreds of years. How could it suddenly collapse without any warning today?" Aether asked in puzzlement.
"Alas… that is precisely what troubles and confuses us…" Jean sighed softly before continuing, "Our Knights of Favonius regularly inspect, maintain, and care for this statue of the Anemo Archon to ensure no problems arise.
"The last inspection was less than three days ago, and back then, no issues were discovered at all. So how could it just collapse all of a sudden today?"
"Oh no, Acting Grand Master Jean! We seem to have found fragments of human tissue!"
At that moment, a Knight of Favonius shouted out in alarm from not far away.
Su Yuan, Aether, and Jean were all stunned.
Hadn't it already been confirmed that no one was injured?
Why would there suddenly be human tissue fragments discovered?
Could it be that someone really had been crushed to death beneath the massive stone blocks of the Anemo Archon's statue?
But when Su Yuan and the others rushed over and saw what the knight was talking about, they were shocked—but also a little speechless…
Because what they saw was indeed a part of a human body, yet not an entire corpse—just a single, solitary hand.
What's more, the cut at the severed edge was incredibly smooth and neat, and the blood had long since coagulated.
It clearly wasn't severed just now by the fallen statue's weight.
"There's no victim's body, just a lone hand… what in the world is going on here?" Jean frowned, deeply puzzled by the scene before her.
"Yes, I can't make sense of it either. That's why I immediately called Acting Grand Master Jean and you, Traveler, to come and see for yourselves." The Knight of Favonius also spoke in bewilderment.
"Wait… there seem to be words written on this arm!" Su Yuan suddenly noticed a detail, sharp-eyed as ever.
He picked up the hand and examined it closely…
[Hehe, I didn't expect that the arm I hid inside the Anemo Archon's statue would be discovered by you so soon!]
[This proves you've got a bit of skill, doesn't it?]
[And you've got guts too—daring to destroy Mondstadt's statue of the Anemo Archon. Aren't you afraid of being hunted down and executed by the Knights of Favonius?]
[Anyway, keep it up! Find all of the body parts, win the challenge I've given you, and I'll naturally return the Darknight Hero to you!]
Su Yuan and Aether immediately realized it—this handwriting, this tone, there was no mistaking it.
It was Aji!
To think, the mysterious and unexpected collapse of the statue had actually led them to the first hidden piece of the Darknight Hero's body that Aji had stashed away!
That meant… there were still five more body parts left to be found!
Jean looked at Su Yuan and Aether's expressions and felt that they seemed to know something.
She asked, "Traveler, Su Yuan, regarding this severed limb… do you two know anything about it?"
Su Yuan and Aether exchanged glances, thought for a moment, and finally decided to tell Jean everything—about Aji, the Darknight Hero's defeat, and how his body had been dismembered and hidden throughout Mondstadt.
After hearing their account, Jean's expression clearly showed panic and shock.
Su Yuan and Aether both understood why—Jean must have already known that the Darknight Hero who silently protected Mondstadt was none other than Diluc…
"Master Jean, there's no need to worry too much," Su Yuan said to reassure her.
"According to my intel, Diluc is indeed the Darknight Hero, but the Darknight Hero isn't necessarily Diluc…"
"Su Yuan, the Darknight Hero truly hasn't shown any activity for several days, and Diluc has also completely disappeared without a trace…" Jean replied as she took the arm from Su Yuan.
Pointing to the calluses on the palm, she said:
"Furthermore, the calluses on this arm are exactly the same as the ones Diluc developed from training with a claymore."
Hearing this, Su Yuan and Aether both frowned.
Back at Dawn Winery, the butler and the maid had also mentioned that the style and design of the boots matched Diluc's…
And now Jean was saying the same thing.
Could it really be that the victimized Darknight Hero was Diluc himself?
"Jean, thinking about this now won't help us—it'll only wear us down," Aether said.
"Our immediate priority is to figure out why the Anemo Archon's statue suddenly collapsed, and also to resolve the matter concerning young Abe in Dragonspine."
"This time, it was only the statue of the Anemo Archon that collapsed, and it happened in an open plaza. But if next time it's the Cathedral of Favonius, or the Knights' headquarters, or residential buildings… then the casualties would be unimaginable!"
So, in the time that followed, Su Yuan and Aether joined Jean and several other Knights of Favonius to make inquiries around the area, asking whether anyone had noticed anything unusual before the statue collapsed.
Soon, they stumbled upon a lead.
"Albert, why are you loitering around near the Cathedral of Favonius again?"
Jean asked with a helpless look at the man before her, not knowing what else to say.
"Don't tell me… you're here once more to give your so-called 'support' to Barbara?"
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