Su Yuan suddenly jolted awake—once again, that same familiar and unsettling feeling gripped his chest…
His left palm still showed no sign of the usual sting, yet Su Yuan knew—he had died once more.
Instinctively, he looked toward Aether, but found him completely normal, showing no unusual reaction at all.
Aether, however, soon noticed Su Yuan's gaze.
His expression shifted from confusion to realization—had Su Yuan triggered another death rewind?
But if that were true, why hadn't he sensed anything this time?
That couldn't be right.
If anything unexpected had happened, he would have done everything he could to die before Su Yuan, as always…
Yet by now, both Su Yuan and Aether had come to a grim understanding—no matter what they did, if they kept following the planned route forward, something was bound to go wrong!
Almost in perfect unison, the two spoke out:
"Everyone, wait a moment!!"
"Su Yuan, Traveler, what's the matter?" Ningguang looked at them in puzzlement.
"We're just about to reach the Stone Gate—the border to Liyue. Why stop all of a sudden?"
"Could it be… that you left something behind in Mondstadt and need to go back for it?"
Qiqi turned her head toward them and said quietly, "I thought… only my memory was bad…"
"No, it's not that," Su Yuan said.
"We just… sensed something strange. We can't say exactly what, but maybe we should take a detour."
"Detour?" Ningguang frowned slightly.
"The main road through Stone Gate is the fastest and safest route from Mondstadt to Liyue."
"If we detour, we'll either have to climb the high peaks of Windwail Highland or pass through the freezing Dragonspine. Neither path is easy—they'll both cost us a lot more time."
"Ugh, if I'd known, I'd have told you not to give back Dvalin's essence," Paimon complained.
"Or better yet, we could've just asked him to fly us straight back to Liyue!"
"That was his own power, not mine," Su Yuan replied with a faint, helpless smile.
"Since I was leaving Mondstadt, it wouldn't be right to keep holding on to it."
"How about this—just to be safe, we return to Mondstadt and ask Dvalin for help again?" he suggested.
"But we've come so far already," Ningguang said.
"Let's go a bit farther first. If the road ahead truly becomes impassable, then we can still turn back later."
"If you could clearly say there's danger ahead, I wouldn't take the risk," she continued.
"But a vague feeling… isn't always reliable."
"Uh…" Su Yuan and Aether exchanged hesitant glances.
Just then, a deafening BOOM echoed from ahead—an explosion, followed by the sound of something collapsing!
Everyone rushed forward to investigate and soon discovered that a wooden bridge along the path had been completely destroyed.
Nearby stood a wooden sign that read:
[Caution: Construction Ahead. This Road Is Closed. Please Take a Detour.]
"This sign looks way too suspicious!" Paimon said.
"What kind of construction site has no workers around?"
Aether stared at the handwriting on the sign, feeling a strange sense of familiarity—but he couldn't quite recall why.
"This handwriting… looks familiar somehow," he murmured.
"I have this strange feeling that whoever wrote this sign is someone we can trust."
"In that case, maybe we really should go back and seek Dvalin's help," Su Yuan suggested.
Everyone nodded.
They didn't understand what was going on, but being cautious was never wrong.
"There's no need for all of us to return to Mondstadt," Su Yuan said.
"Aether and I can just find a nearby teleport waypoint. We'll be back in no time once we've spoken to Dvalin."
"Yeah, you all wait here for a bit," Aether agreed.
"We'll go and return quickly."
Everything went smoothly after that.
When Su Yuan and Aether returned to Mondstadt, they found Dvalin just finishing his task of escorting Clorinde and Sigewinne back to Fontaine.
Together with Dvalin, they flew toward the Stone Gate—and successfully reunited with Ningguang, Qiqi, and Xiao.
"You've really been through a lot, Dvalin. Thank you for all the trouble you've gone through these past few days, flying back and forth," Su Yuan said.
"It's fine. This is something I should be doing anyway," Dvalin replied.
"But if you happen to meet Barbatos, please help me ask him where exactly he's been hiding all this time—and why he's not doing his job."
With that, Dvalin carried everyone as he flew high above the skies of the Stone Gate.
Yet, at that very moment, a head suddenly poked out from the ground below—like a mole emerging from the soil.
Dottore looked up at the swiftly passing Dvalin, frowning slightly in confusion.
"Was that really just a coincidence? They managed to avoid the trap I carefully prepared?"
He then chuckled lightly.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter. I have plenty of time—and plenty of chances…"
——
Riding on Dvalin's "air express," everyone soon returned to Liyue.
After Dvalin departed, Ningguang turned to Su Yuan and said,
"Su Yuan, you've been working hard these past few days. Why not rest here in Liyue for a day? Tomorrow, you can think about how to head to Natlan."
Su Yuan nodded in agreement.
That sounded like a good idea—after all, he could take the opportunity to visit old man Zhongli to gather some intelligence about Natlan.
Zhongli was erudite and wise; he would surely know a great deal.
Afterward, Ningguang returned to the Jade Chamber to handle official matters, while Su Yuan, Aether, and Paimon accompanied Qiqi to bring Xiao to Bubu Pharmacy, entrusting him to Baizhu's care.
Then, they made their way to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Inside Wangsheng, Su Yuan and Aether successfully met with Zhongli.
After hearing Su Yuan's purpose, Zhongli furrowed his brows slightly and spoke:
"Su Yuan, if you truly intend to go to Natlan, the most important thing is this—do not easily reveal your ability to use the Foul Legacy's Armament or the power of the Abyss."
"Natlan stands at the very front lines against the Abyss. Many there have witnessed the brutality of that power firsthand. If they were to see you wielding it, it could trigger a severe reaction."
"Understood, Zhongli," Su Yuan nodded.
"That kind of power doesn't truly belong to me anyway. Unless absolutely necessary, I won't use it."
Zhongli gave a slow nod, then continued,
"As for the Land of the Night God—it can be simply described as the border between life and death within Natlan…"