Su Yuan took a deep breath to calm himself, then walked over to the teleport waypoint by the water's edge.
After looking around carefully and confirming that no one else was nearby, he once again tried to activate the teleportation.
This time, everything went smoothly—the teleportation triggered instantly, and Su Yuan quickly returned to Mondstadt.
"So it really was that the previous waypoint had malfunctioned, huh…" Su Yuan muttered to himself.
"Su Yuan, you're finally back! Did it really take you this long just to find a teleport waypoint with no one around?"
Hearing Paimon's voice, Su Yuan turned and saw both Paimon and Aether waiting by the waypoint—they'd apparently been standing there this whole time waiting for him.
"Su Yuan," Aether said, "Paimon and I agreed—if you hadn't come back in another five minutes, we were going to head back to Fontaine to look for you. Dvalin's already departed for Fontaine; he should be able to bring Sigewinne and Clorinde back to Mondstadt soon."
"Now that you're back, there's no time to waste. Let's head for Inazuma right away!"
"Mm, I don't have a problem with that," Su Yuan replied.
"But Aether, are you sure you don't need to rest for a bit?"
Seeing how Aether's clothes were soaked through with sweat, Su Yuan couldn't help but ask with concern,
"When you teleported back from Fontaine to Mondstadt just now, you must've felt that even more intense sensation—like being cut into a thousand pieces, right?"
"Honestly, if it's just about notifying our allies in other nations and asking for help, I could do it alone. You don't have to keep pushing yourself like this."
"It's fine," Aether said with a faint smile, signaling for Su Yuan not to worry.
"Besides, better to deal with short pain than long pain. Once all this is over, I'll rest as much as I want."
With that, Aether took Paimon and once again used the teleport waypoint corrupted by Eerie power, vanishing toward Inazuma.
Seeing Aether's unwavering determination, Su Yuan was left speechless.
After confirming that there was no one else nearby, he too activated the waypoint and teleported to Inazuma.
When Su Yuan arrived at the waypoint in front of Tenshukaku, however, he found Aether drenched in sweat, his face twisted in agony as he collapsed to the ground, convulsing and writhing in pain.
"Traveler… Traveler! Are you okay???" Paimon cried out in panic, clearly terrified.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? How dare you roll around and make a scene in front of the Tenshukaku gates?!"
Just then, several Oniwabanshu patrol members nearby noticed something strange happening and quickly rushed over to check the situation.
"You there—leave this place at once! If the Almighty Shogun descends her thunderous judgment upon you, none of you will be able to bear the consequences!"
But moments later, they suddenly realized that the people before them looked very familiar…
"Wait—what?! It's the Traveler, Su Yuan, and Paimon?!"
"They've returned to Inazuma?!"
"Quick, inform the Almighty Shogun immediately!"
"And the Traveler's body seems to be in an abnormal condition—call the medical team right away!"
…
"Come on, follow my lead—three, two, one… one, two, three… aaah…"
Half-conscious, Aether heard a familiar voice speaking to him—saying words that stirred a faint sense of déjà vu.
When he slowly opened his eyes, Yae Miko's face appeared right before him.
"Ah!!" Aether instinctively flinched in surprise, gasping for breath.
"You're… Yae Miko? Where… where am I?"
"Hehe~ Is this the reaction of someone who's simply too overwhelmed after seeing the wise and beautiful Lady Yae Miko again after so long?" Yae Miko chuckled softly, covering her lips with a graceful hand.
"This is the Tenshukaku," came Raiden Ei's calm voice from nearby.
"Su Yuan has already explained the situation to me."
"Traveler, even though your body was clearly reaching its limit, you still forced yourself to use a teleport waypoint corrupted by Eerie force. You truly shouldn't have done that…"
Seeing the worry and concern in everyone's eyes, Aether felt deeply moved—and at the same time, realized that he really had pushed himself too far.
But soon Aether noticed something extremely—almost absurdly—off and exclaimed in surprise:
"Wait… Yae Miko??? What are you doing here???"
"Hm? Inazuma is my hometown. I'm from Inazuma—if I'm not here, where else would I be?" Yae Miko said with a faint smile.
"All right, Guuji, the situation's urgent—stop teasing the Traveler," Raiden Ei interjected.
"That pink-haired little fox you found up on Narukami Shrine earlier—that was actually the Guuji herself."
"Although we still don't know why she lost her power and reverted to that form, after some time recovering she has now regained her strength…"
"I see…" Aether nodded at Raiden Ei's explanation, then turned to Yae Miko and said, "Lady Yae Miko, wise and beautiful—thank you for leaving the Narukami Shrine to come and save and heal me. I am truly grateful…"
At that, Yae Miko's expression slowly grew cold and sorrowful.
She looked at Aether and said softly, "Traveler, the Narukami Shrine no longer exists."
"What do you mean the Narukami Shrine doesn't exist?"
Aether and Su Yuan's faces filled with bafflement.
The Grand Narukami Shrine is a landmark of Inazuma—how could it suddenly be gone when they'd only just left Inazuma not long ago?
"Traveler, Su Yuan, Paimon—you don't know: not long after you left Inazuma, a horrifying murder took place at the Narukami Shrine," Raiden Ei said gravely.
"All the shrine maidens at Narukami were mercilessly slaughtered… many of the shrine's historic buildings and relics were destroyed…"
"Although reconstruction of the shrine has mostly been completed, the original people are gone. What's the point of rebuilding a shrine if the people who belonged to it are no longer here?"
"What makes things even more baffling is that, even now, we still haven't found who that cruel killer was…"
"I'm a genteel person by nature," Yae Miko said, her voice ice-cold, "but if I ever find out who that murderer is, I swear I will tear them to pieces."
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