Since it was already evening by the time they arrived at Wangshu Inn, and after all the running around they did, the sky quickly darkened.
Afterward, under Yanxiao's cooking, everyone had a simple dinner together.
"Jiang Xue, I never thought the day would come when you'd actually leave Wangshu Inn…"
Yanxiao looked at Jiang Xue, speaking with a bit of emotion.
"What, can't live without me eating your food anymore?"
Jiang Xue glanced at Yanxiao as he replied.
"Tch, as if I'd miss you."
Yanxiao shot back without hesitation, "If I don't have to cook your portion, that's less work for me."
"Don't worry. I'll come back to visit you when I get the chance," Jiang Xue said.
"Tchh… the way you said that makes me sound like some lonely old man…"
Later, Huaian arranged a top-tier suite for Su Yuan, and that's where he would be resting for the night.
Lying on the bed, Su Yuan closed his eyes, wanting to fall asleep immediately, eager to get through the day and obtain some new intel.
Even though a lot of unexpected things happened today, he had still only used three rewind chances...
If Aether hadn't suddenly stepped in to help when they encountered Dottore, he probably would've had to use another rewind then...
But just at that moment, Su Yuan suddenly felt that something—or someone—had entered his room...
He opened his eyes and—oh? It was Xiao!
"Last time, due to the urgency of battle, I didn't have the time to properly thank you."
Xiao looked at Su Yuan and slowly spoke:
"Thank you for helping me retrieve my Yaksha mask. It's very important to me."
"Xiao, are you alright?"
Su Yuan asked with genuine concern, looking him up and down.
The wounds and blood he had seen all over Xiao's body last night had completely vanished...
So this is the recovery ability of the Yaksha clan?
"I'm fine," Xiao replied calmly.
"You've probably already heard from Streetward Rambler that among the Adepti, it seems one has been corrupted and controlled by the Eerie…"
"Do you have any suspects in mind?" Su Yuan asked.
"Not at the moment." Xiao thought for a while before answering.
But then, he suddenly changed the topic and said to Su Yuan, "However, I have a feeling that the Traveler… there's something off about him."
"But I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is…"
"In this world now overrun with the Eerie, we have to make sure that every person around us is truly trustworthy."
"That's why I've come to find you, Su Yuan—because for now, you're someone I can absolutely trust."
"I want you to help me test the Traveler, find out what's really going on with him…"
Listening to Xiao's words, Su Yuan nodded thoughtfully.
It was true—when Aether and Paimon showed up and met him earlier today, something about them had indeed felt strange…
And earlier, when he asked Aether to try calling for Xiao, he'd just brushed it off with an excuse and didn't do it…
Most importantly, Xiao and he shared the same feeling—Aether seemed… off.
But neither of them could quite say exactly what was wrong.
"Alright, Xiao," Su Yuan nodded in agreement.
"Actually, I've felt the same way."
"So, tell me—how should I go about testing the Traveler?"
Su Yuan thought to himself, Well, since I still have one guaranteed rewind chance left today, I might as well use it...
If he could obtain some brand-new intel, that would be even better!
Of course, starting tomorrow, he planned to try going a whole day without using the rewind ability, to see if anything special would happen because of it.
"It's simple. You just need to have the Traveler call out my name."
"If I can sense the Traveler's summons, then he is the real Traveler," Xiao said.
"Alright," Su Yuan nodded in agreement.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Xiao disappeared from the room.
Su Yuan also left his own room and found Huai'an, asking him to bring him to the door of Aether and Paimon's room.
Su Yuan knocked on the door and asked, "Aether? Paimon? Are you asleep yet?"
"I have something I'd like to talk to you about. Is now a good time?"
"Oh! It's you, Su Yuan!"
Aether's voice came from within the room.
"But you might have to wait a bit, I just got out of the shower and I'm getting dressed…"
Hearing that, Su Yuan instantly felt that something was… off.
Since both he and Xiao suspected that Aether was acting a little off, Su Yuan couldn't help but wonder—
Was Aether really drying off after a shower right now?
Or was he trying to hide something he didn't want others to see?
After a moment of hesitation, Su Yuan made a bold decision!
He pushed hard and slammed his shoulder into the door—
forcing Aether's room door open with a bang!
And what he saw next shocked him!
There stood Aether, wearing nothing but a pair of short boxers and a towel draped over his shoulders, towel-drying his dripping wet blonde hair...
The bathroom behind him was still full of warm steam, mist swirling in the air—it clearly looked like someone had just finished a shower.
"Ah! Su Yuan, what are you doing?! The Traveler already told you he was getting dressed! Why did you just barge in like that?!"
Paimon flew over in a panic, planting herself right in front of Su Yuan and waving her arms around to block his view.
"No peeking… NO PEEKING!!"
Even though Paimon did her best to shield his sight, her tiny body wasn't enough—
and with all her fidgeting, Su Yuan still managed to catch glimpses of Aether through the gaps.
Aether was clutching the towel tightly around his body…
And—wait—was that a blush on his face?
"Aww, are you blushing?"
"Come on now, be good… let me have a look!"
Although Su Yuan really wanted to blurt those words out, in the end, he held himself back—
because saying something like that would definitely make him seem like a total pervert…
Still, he couldn't help being curious.
Aether, what exactly are you so shy about?
They were both grown men, and Aether was even wearing shorts—so what was there to be embarrassed about?
"…Alright, alright, this was my bad," Su Yuan said as he sighed.
"I shouldn't have barged in before you finished changing."
With that, Su Yuan backed out of the room and shut the door behind him.
A little while later, Aether's voice called out from inside again:
"Okay, Su Yuan. I'm dressed now—you can come in."
Su Yuan pushed the door open and entered, only to find Aether sitting on the bed,
his face still red and wearing a slightly resentful expression as he looked at Su Yuan.
Su Yuan was baffled.
He hadn't even seen anything—was all this really necessary?
"Ahem… please allow me to apologize again," Su Yuan said with an awkward cough.
"I may have accidentally broken the door lock when I forced it open earlier. I'll ask Huai'an to replace it later, or maybe just get you another room…"
"Just charge it to Yelan's tab."
Seeing Aether like this made Su Yuan even more confused.
Was Aether really this shy… this reserved?
Or…
Was this Aether… not the real Aether?
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