Su Yuan exchanged a few brief words with Huai'an, then prepared to leave Wangshu Inn and head to nearby Dihua Marsh for a look around.
Just as he stepped out of the inn's main gate, Yelan appeared at his side.
"Yelan… What are you doing here…"
Su Yuan looked at her, unsure of what to say.
People who dealt in intelligence work really did have a knack for appearing out of nowhere.
"Su Yuan, it's so late—why aren't you resting? What are you doing out here?"
Yelan glanced at him and asked:
"By the way, how did your and Xiao's test of the Traveler go?"
Su Yuan thought to himself, As expected of Wangshu Inn, Ninguang and Yelan's turf—of course she knows everything.
"Xiao said the Traveler seemed fine, but I still feel like something is off…"
He looked at Yelan, then said seriously:
"I even suspect that Xiao might have already been taken over by the Eerie…"
"That the traitor Madame Ping spoke of among the Adepti… might be him."
"Just now, I tried to find him again to confirm a few things, but he was nowhere to be found on the rooftop of Wangshu Inn…"
"So I thought I'd try my luck at Dihua Marsh to see if I could find him."
"I see." Yelan nodded at his explanation.
"Then let's go together."
After a while of traveling, Su Yuan and Yelan arrived at Dihua Marsh.
Dihua Marsh is called Dihua Marsh not for any particularly special reason—simply because reed flowers grow abundantly by the waterside here…
The leaves of the reeds are a common material used in papermaking, while the solid end of the reed stalk can be made into a writing brush, and the hollow end into a flute—quite an elegant tradition in Liyue.
Of course, Su Yuan and Yelan weren't here to discuss the cultural history of Dihua Marsh right now—they were here to look for signs of Xiao.
Up ahead, not far from them, on a stone protruding from the water, a figure sat cross-legged, holding a jade-green polearm in his hand…
Around him lay numerous corpses of monsters, all of them torn to pieces—severed limbs and mangled bodies scattered about.
However, something about Xiao seemed… off.
He was gasping heavily, and his entire body was trembling…
"Xiao?" Su Yuan called out cautiously, raising his hand to greet him.
Xiao seemed to hear Su Yuan's voice and turned to look over…
But in the very next moment, Xiao suddenly went berserk and charged straight toward Su Yuan!
"Su Yuan! Watch out!"
Yelan reacted in an instant, tackling Su Yuan to the ground, narrowly dodging Xiao's sudden attack.
Su Yuan's heart sank.
Could it be that Xiao had already been corrupted and controlled by the Eerie?
No… that didn't make sense.
If Xiao had really been corrupted by the Eerie, he had gone to great lengths to hide it earlier—so why would he suddenly blow his cover now?
Su Yuan and Yelan looked at the black smoke-like substance continuously drifting from Xiao's body and felt an overwhelmingly ominous presence…
But this aura—while menacing—felt distinctly different from the power of the Eerie.
"It's karmic debt… the lingering resentment and remnants of the gods and demons Xiao has slain—it's erupting all at once," Yelan said solemnly, watching the scene unfold.
So it was karmic debt—not Eerie corruption after all.
No wonder Xiao had left Traveler's room so abruptly earlier.
He must have sensed the karmic debt was about to surge and didn't want to harm anyone else, so he came here to Dihua Marsh alone…
"Still… this karmic debt business looks like it might be a bit easier to deal with than the Eerie…"
Yelan drew her weapon and faced off against Xiao, speaking slowly:
"At the very least, karmic debt isn't immune to elemental power…"
"But still…"
Su Yuan looked at Xiao, tormented by the karmic debt, and couldn't help but feel worried…
Though karmic debt and the Eerie are two different things, there are still many similarities between them—
They both stem from negative emotions, both can take control of a person's body, and both can twist someone's thoughts into something cruel and mad…
But the most pressing problem right now is—even if he and Yelan team up and actually manage to defeat Xiao, he has no idea how to suppress karmic debt…
"Yo… night fishing, and you didn't think to invite me?"
"Well, look what we've got—a big catch…"
At that moment, Su Yuan and Yelan heard a voice from behind them—it was Jiang Xue.
Jiang Xue glanced at Xiao, who was being consumed by karmic debt, then looked at the piles of monster corpses around him, and slowly said:
"The Conqueror of Demons… I think you'd get along quite well with my junior disciple."
As he spoke, Jiang Xue slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side, continuing:
"Though I once swore to seal my blade, today, in order to seek guidance from the renowned Conqueror of Demons, I shall…"
"Draw my sword!"
In the next instant, Jiang Xue unsheathed his weapon.
His entire aura changed.
His once-lazy gaze became razor sharp once more…
Su Yuan vaguely recalled a conversation Jiang Xue once had with Yanxiao in a certain world quest…
Jiang Xue had said that he had trained in the sword tirelessly, using every means possible to grow stronger—knowing full well it was the wrong path, yet still walking it.
All just to seek justice, to find an answer…
This "wrong thing that must be done," the justice he needed to pursue, the answer he had to know—was to face the Geo Archon alone, with nothing but a sword, and ask him:
Why had someone like him, who had no desire to fight monsters and was practically a useless man, been chosen by the heavens and granted the gaze of the gods—a Vision…
While his junior disciple, full of passion and determination, died without ever receiving one?
In the end, Jiang Xue made a scene in Dihua Marsh and successfully came face-to-face with the Geo Archon.
But as expected, the battle's outcome was never in doubt—Jiang Xue was defeated…
However, the Archon acknowledged Jiang Xue and told him the answer he had long sought.
It was simple: the granting of Visions is not decided by the gods.
Upon receiving this answer, Jiang Xue gave up his original name and began using the alias "Jiang Xue."
He abandoned his Vision, sealed away his sword, and came to Wangshu Inn—the only place willing to take him in—where he lived as a carefree fisherman, idly passing the days…
If all these speculations were true, even so, Jiang Xue was still just an ordinary human.
Could he really stand as an equal against Xiao—the Conqueror of Demons—now driven mad by karmic debt?
After all, mortals and Adepti are not the same.
In terms of experience, technique, physique—Jiang Xue didn't seem to match up to Xiao at all…
Just as Su Yuan was growing anxious and the clash seemed inevitable, everyone present suddenly heard the sound of a flute, gentle and flowing…
The melody was ethereal and open, as though a breeze were passing through one's heart.
It brought peace and clarity to all who heard it.
Su Yuan looked up—and there, atop a stone platform rising from the center of the water, sat a figure clad in a green cloak and wearing a matching hat, adorned with a single Cecilia flower at the brim.
The figure faced away from the crowd, legs swinging casually in little black shoes, playing the flute freely…
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