Hello I'm back, thy leg is healed but I don't have molars anymore.
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After Sigewinne left, Shao Yun shifted his gaze toward the bed.
Eula lay there quietly, her eyes closed, looking every bit like a sleeping beauty.
However, when Shao Yun looked more closely, he noticed her eyelids twitch ever so slightly.
Just as Sigewinne had said, Eula really was pretending to be asleep.
Watching Eula try so hard to keep up the act, Shao Yun couldn't help feeling a bit helpless.
"Your pretending-to-sleep skills aren't very convincing, you know. Sigewinne saw through it immediately."
Hearing this, Eula realized there was no point continuing the charade. She simply opened her eyes, pushed herself up with both hands, and lazily leaned against the headboard.
Seeing Eula finally stop hiding it and sit up so openly, Shao Yun found himself at a loss for words for a moment.
After a brief silence, he finally managed to find an opening line.
"Um… how does your body feel? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"
Eula glanced sideways at Shao Yun, then said with a mix of complaint and self-mockery, "Hmph, looks like my life really is stubbornly tough."
Clearly, she had taken Shao Yun's earlier offhand remark to heart.
Seeing how much Eula cared about what he had casually said, Shao Yun quickly forced a smile and explained, "Ah—no wonder Sigewinne didn't react earlier. I didn't mean anything bad by it, really. It was just a simple sigh, nothing more."
After hearing his explanation, a complicated expression surfaced on Eula's beautiful yet stubborn face.
She then pursed her lips slightly and muttered in a low voice, "Hmph, whatever… it's not like anyone would feel sorry for me anyway. That's just a fact."
Standing to the side, Shao Yun showed a hint of helplessness on his face. He gave a light shrug but didn't respond.
At this moment, faced with such a sensitive and downcast Eula, he truly didn't know how to reply.
For a time, the entire room fell into a stifling silence.
Eula kept her head lowered, her hands tightly gripping the blanket covering her lower body.
Shao Yun also stood there, unsure of what to do.
Just as the silence became almost suffocating, Eula suddenly lifted her head. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her eyes revealed an indescribable mix of shame and resentment as she asked, "Why did you save me… wouldn't it have been better if I had just died?"
Hearing this question, Shao Yun instinctively pressed his lips together before slowly answering, "Two reasons. First, because you said that once you became a formal garde officer, you'd make up with me. I couldn't watch you die while still carrying that regret…"
"Second—if you really wanted to die, you wouldn't have left your homeland and come all the way to Fontaine. If you truly wanted to die, then… sorry, just take it as me being cheap."
After hearing Shao Yun's reasoning, Eula took a deep breath.
Although his earlier comment about her being hard to kill had annoyed her somewhat, when she thought about it carefully, at the end of the day, if Shao Yun hadn't stepped in, she would have already been packed up and sent back to Mondstadt.
With that thought, gratitude welled up in her heart, and she said sincerely, "Thank you."
However, just as her words fell, Shao Yun immediately waved his hand and, with a serious expression, threw out another question.
"Don't thank me yet. What exactly happened last night?"
Although he had already learned about the situation from Furina and Arlecchino, in order to avoid an awkward lull and keep the conversation going, Shao Yun deliberately pretended not to know and asked again.
When Eula heard him ask about last night, she briefly recalled it and replied, "It wasn't anything special—just a battle with a huge gap in strength. I was simply outmatched. I couldn't even withstand three moves before being defeated."
She described the outcome lightly, as if it weren't something particularly discouraging.
But how she truly felt about it, only Eula herself knew.
When Shao Yun heard that Eula had been beaten half to death by Arlecchino within three moves, he couldn't help blurting out a remark.
"You didn't fight her bare-handed, did you? Your greatsword looks pretty intimidating when you swing it—no need to belittle yourself like that."
Shao Yun had only meant it as a joke to ease the atmosphere, but to his complete surprise, Eula nodded directly.
"Mm, that's right. I really did fight bare-handed…"
Hearing such an unexpected answer, Shao Yun's eyes widened instantly.
"What? Where's your greatsword? Don't tell me you left it in Mondstadt…"
Even if you leave home, you should bring a weapon—going bare-handed like that… even Lumine carries a Dull Blade, at least!
Seeing Shao Yun ask about her two-handed sword, Song of Broken Pines, Eula felt her heart tighten and instinctively swallowed.
"Well… actually, I sold my weapon. If I'd had it with me back then—hmph!—the outcome wouldn't have been so certain…" she said stubbornly, trying to save a bit of face.
Hearing that Eula had sold a weapon she cherished so dearly, Shao Yun nearly dropped his jaw.
"W-what? You sold your weapon? Why?!"
In sharp contrast to Shao Yun's shock, Eula's expression remained quite calm.
She shrugged lightly and explained unhurriedly, "I didn't have a choice. I needed money for travel expenses. If I didn't sell my weapon, where would the fare come from?"
Listening to her explanation, Shao Yun suddenly recalled how Dehya had once sold her Beacon of the Reed Sea to raise funds for the Sabzeruz Festival.
"How are you just like Dehya?"
After that, Shao Yun asked, "So who did you sell your greatsword to?"
Leaning against the headboard, Eula raised her head and looked at Shao Yun suspiciously, frowning as she asked, "Why do you care so much about who I sold it to? That doesn't really have anything to do with you, does it?"
Shao Yun urged her, "Don't worry about what I mean. Just tell me—who did you sell it to?"
Eula lowered her head slightly, her gaze flickering as she avoided his eyes.
"I… I sold it in Sumeru, to a merchant named Dori."
The moment he heard that name, Shao Yun didn't say another word. He turned around and strode straight toward the door, tossing out a sentence as he went.
"Alright, I got it. Just wait here for me."
Seeing Shao Yun about to leave, Eula's heart tightened. She hurriedly called out, "Wait! Don't go yet—tell me what you're planning to do!"
But Shao Yun didn't even turn his head back, only throwing a distant reply over his shoulder.
"Don't ask so much. I'll be back soon."
Watching Shao Yun's departing figure, Eula didn't need more than a moment to guess that his hurried departure was to help redeem the weapon she had sold.
At that thought, she gently bit her lower lip and murmured to herself, "Actually… you don't need to be this good to me. You know it too—I only said I'd make up with you because I couldn't beat you, not because I truly wanted to…"
…
Sumeru, Avidya Forest.
Countless massive fungal plants grew throughout the area, emitting a faint yet mesmerizing glow.
Those enormous mushrooms towered into the sky, their caps overlapping to form a dimly glowing canopy that blocked out the sun and moon alike.
Even at noon, only a small amount of sunlight could pierce through the thick mushroom canopy and fall upon the forest floor.
Suddenly, accompanied by a burst of dazzling purple-black light, an Abyssal portal appeared without warning.
In the next moment, Shao Yun stepped out from the portal. He cautiously scanned his surroundings, his gaze eventually settling on the towering world tree at the heart of Sumeru City in the distance.
"Hopefully Nahida doesn't come looking for trouble… I really don't have time to deal with her right now."
With no time to waste, Shao Yun sharply whistled, preparing to resolve things as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary complications.
However, to his surprise, the one who responded to his call wasn't his usual Andalusian horse, Carrot, nor the chestnut Bavarian—rather, it was a pitch-black horse exuding an eerie aura: the Barefaced, Baylock.
Shao Yun stared wide-eyed at the black horse before him and said in disbelief, "What's going on… Baylock?"
Baylock lightly lifted a forehoof and pawed at the ground, as if urging Shao Yun to mount up quickly.
Thinking about his reputation value in Sumeru, Shao Yun immediately understood why Baylock had appeared instead.
"I get it now—minus six reputation in Sumeru… looks like I'm being forcibly assigned to you," Shao Yun said helplessly, shaking his head as he looked at Baylock.
Still… at a time like this, he couldn't afford to be picky. A Missouri Fox Trotter would do—it wasn't too rough to ride, at least.
With that, Shao Yun swung himself onto the saddle and muttered, "Alright, let's go. First stop—Alcazarzaray Palace."
"Hopefully Dori isn't staying in Sumeru City. If she is, that'll be a real headache."
"Given my current situation in Sumeru, if I enter the city, Nahida might just turn me into a pincushion."
One reason Shao Yun didn't make Sumeru City his first stop was that Avidya Forest was closer to Alcazarzaray Palace.
On the other hand, considering his current popularity in Sumeru—or rather, lack thereof—he truly didn't dare gamble on whether Nahida would go easy on him.
Although Nahida had previously sent him a letter expressing her wish to discuss the feasibility of the Loom of Fate with his brother-in-law, Aether, that letter never mentioned reconciling with him.
After all, he had been responsible for the deaths of a quarter of Sumeru's population. Who knew how much Nahida truly hated him? For all he knew, she might already be sharpening her knives and waiting for him.
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