Watching Aether and Liben interact, Su Yuan suddenly felt curious—what exactly was inside Liben's Box o' Marvels?
Back in the original game, it was always things like Primogems, EXP books, talent books, weapon ore, Mora, and so on.
But since Su Yuan had crossed into Teyvat, he had never once seen Primogems appear…
So he couldn't help but wonder—would Liben's Box of Marvels actually contain Primogems?
And if it did, what would Primogems look like in reality?
"Heh, a small matter!" Aether said, quickly gathering three Sweet Flowers, three Sunsettias, and three Mint sprigs, and handing them over to Liben.
In exchange, Liben passed a Box o' Marvels—shaped like a slime—into Aether's hands.
Su Yuan, however, raised a question: "Uncle Liben, you're collecting such common materials, yet offering such generous rewards. Aren't you running at a loss?"
Liben froze for a moment, then after a long pause, replied: "Ah, little brother Su Yuan, don't ask about a merchant's business. Trade secrets, you understand?"
Seeing Liben's reaction, Su Yuan thought to himself: sure enough, the fate of ordinary people in Teyvat was always guided by some unseen force.
Liben clearly didn't know why he was doing this, yet he still kept doing it…
If Liben were to learn that so-called Teyvat, in Su Yuan's original world, was nothing more than an online game, and that he was just an NPC in that game—what kind of feelings, what kind of expression, would he show?
Soon after, Paimon eagerly opened the Box o' Marvels Liben had given them, giggling: "Hehe, time for another unboxing! I wonder what goodies Liben has prepared for us this time!"
But when she opened the box, she was startled by what she saw!
Because inside the box wasn't any treasure or reward—but a blood-soaked, still-beating heart!
"What! Why is there a heart inside!?" Liben exclaimed in shock, "Where are the things I packed in there? When did someone swap it out???"
"And… could this be tied to a murder case? We need to notify the Knights of Favonius right away!!!"
"Uncle Liben, don't panic," Aether reassured him, "The Knights of Favonius are already aware of this situation. Just pretend you never saw it…"
"Yes, Uncle Liben, just act like you didn't see anything."
As Su Yuan spoke, he pulled out a slip of paper from inside the box.
On it were the following words:
[I didn't expect you to actually find the heart I hid!]
[The most precious thing in a person is their heart!]
[With a few cheap little things, you can trade for a piece of 'true heart'…]
[But is such a cheap trade really worth exchanging for a 'true heart'?]
[Do you like this gift of 'true heart'?]
[Come on, just one last step remains. I look forward to meeting you!!!]
Su Yuan and Aether frowned deeply as they looked at the handwriting on the note...
As expected, it was Aji again—that twisted murderer who dismembers his victims!!!
But hidden within these notes, there was also a lot of information…
First, Su Yuan and Aether were worried—since Aji had dismembered the Darknight Hero and even dug out his heart, was he really still alive?
For a normal human, once the heart is removed, survival should be impossible, right?
Then why was Aji still assuring them that the Darknight Hero was definitely alive?
Furthermore, judging from the last line—"only one step remains"—could it be that Aji had been watching them all along through some means?
Otherwise, how would he know that they had already found five out of the six parts...
And he claimed earlier that he had written a challenge letter, yet now there was no sense of challenge at all.
Su Yuan and his group hadn't actively searched for anything—everything had just been discovered naturally, without effort...
"Su Yuan, I think this is very likely a trap…" Aether said, brows furrowed, turning toward Su Yuan.
"All of this—every little thing—it feels far too coincidental, too smooth..."
"Sigh… But even if we know it's a trap, we still have to go…" Su Yuan exhaled lightly and said, "We must find out whether that Darknight Hero… is really Diluc or not..."
"Traveler, there seems to be a problem with this Box o' Marvels. Let me exchange it for a new one for you…" After calming down from his fright, Liben spoke.
"Thank you, but there's no need, Liben. We have more important matters to deal with right now," Aether politely declined his offer.
"Besides, what I gave you were just some worthless little things, so don't worry about it…"
"So, Liben, you said your Box o' Marvels was swapped. When do you think it was switched out?" Aether asked.
Liben thought for a moment before replying, "Last night, when I was checking my goods and the Box o' Marvels in the warehouse, everything was still fine…"
"But when I came out today to set up my stall, the contents inside had already changed…"
"And before you all arrived today, I only received a single customer—that was Ellin, you know her, right?"
"Ellin?" Hearing the name, both Su Yuan and Aether frowned slightly.
"Yes, that girl who's always training her swordsmanship on the wooden dummy, hoping to join the Knights of Favonius!" Liben continued.
"At my stall, she bought a Fillet Blade made in Liyue, saying she wanted to practice harder so she could pass the evaluation and become a true Knight of Favonius as soon as possible!"
Liben gave a helpless smile as he spoke: "But everyone knows Ellin. She definitely wouldn't be the type to swap out my Box o' Marvels and put a heart inside… she's not that kind of murderer."
"That's true, Ellin couldn't possibly be the killer!" Paimon chimed in.
"She works so hard and takes training so seriously, all because she wants to become a real Knight of Favonius. There's no way she would do something like this!"
But just then, it seemed Su Yuan thought of something.
He quickly exclaimed: "Wait! Ellin???"
"Hm? Su Yuan, what is it?" Seeing Su Yuan's startled yet suddenly enlightened expression, Aether asked curiously.
"Aether, I need a word with you."
Su Yuan said his farewells to Liben, then pulled Aether and Paimon into a deserted alleyway. With a solemn and serious look, he said:
"Aether, about that mysterious man in black you mentioned—the one who can imitate others' abilities—I think I may have an idea. It might sound absurd or impossible to you, but…"
"That person… is Ellin!!!"
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