"All right, since you've finished the manga, hurry up and eat. Otherwise it'll be too late."
Faced with Su Han's urging,
Paimon glanced at the time and was immediately shocked. She had thought it was only around seven o'clock.
But it was already ten at night.
"What? Ten already? No wonder I'm both hungry and sleepy! Su Han, why didn't you remind me?"
"I did remind you. You said you wanted to finish reading before eating."
Paimon blinked, a look of recollection appearing on her face. It seemed she really had said that.
The little one's face instantly turned red.
"I was just too into it, okay? Forget about that. Is there still food?"
"Of course there is. Xu Er, serve the dishes."
Hearing the boss's call,
Xu Er, who had been waiting and was about to fall asleep, hurriedly told the kitchen to bring out the food.
It turned out Su Han had kept the dishes warm, afraid they would get cold. Although the taste definitely could not compare to freshly cooked food,
it was already good enough to have something to eat.
Su Han ate a little and then returned to his room to rest.
For the past few days, Shenhe had been in seclusion, so he could only sleep alone.
However, just as he was about to fall asleep, the Den Den Mushi in his arms suddenly rang.
Su Han glanced at it. It was a call from Xingqiu.
At this hour, did he have something urgent?
Su Han picked up the receiver, but the voice that came through was not Xingqiu's.
"Hello, Mr. Su Han. May I have a chat with you?"
The voice was youthful, yet carried a trace of maturity.
In an instant, Su Han thought of someone.
The Dendro Archon of Sumeru.
The Little Lucky Grass King, Nahida. (TL/N: Just say cabbage lol.)
But how did she have Xingqiu's Den Den Mushi?
Suddenly, Su Han recalled a detail.
In the game, Nahida could transfer her consciousness, even attaching it to animals or plants.
She could even influence dreams.
If that was the case, hypnotizing Xingqiu was not impossible.
But why did she want to talk to him?
Su Han could not understand at all.
Seeing that he did not respond, Nahida's voice soon sounded again from the other end.
"Su Han, you don't need to be afraid. I'm just too lonely, so I wanted to find someone to chat with. Over the past few days, when you were talking with your friends on the phone, I overheard part of it. That's why I wanted to talk to you. You're someone I can trust, right?"
She had been eavesdropping on his calls.
Su Han's face turned green when he heard this.
Didn't that mean she also knew about his flirting with others?
Damn it.
Were any of the Seven Archons normal?
The Anemo Archon, constantly slacking off.
The Geo Archon, wandering the streets and watching the fun.
The Electro Archon, a shut-in, withdrawn.
The Dendro Archon, an eavesdropping maniac?
"How much did you hear?"
Faced with Su Han's questioning,
Nahida quickly replied.
"Not much, just some of the past two days."
Su Han immediately let out a sigh of relief. That did not sound like much. Over these past few days, he had only spoken with Kaedehara Kazuha and that cunning fox.
The rest had been government affairs from Mondstadt and Liyue.
Sensing his concern, Nahida quickly reassured him.
"You don't need to worry about me leaking your secrets. I'm imprisoned in a place, and it's extremely difficult for me to escape."
"So, you want me to rescue you?"
Su Han guessed her intention.
After all, Nahida was imprisoned in the Sanctuary of Surasthana. Since she knew about him, she was probably seeking help this time.
However, Su Han realized he had guessed wrong.
Nahida denied his assumption.
"No, I don't want to trouble you. This is a matter of our nation. As I said, I'm just too lonely, so I wanted to find a knowledgeable person to talk with. That's all."
"Then what do you want to talk about?"
Su Han sat by the window, looking at the bright moon in the sky.
For some reason, a trace of sympathy rose in his heart.
The gentlest god, yet from the day of her birth, she had never truly come into contact with the outside world.
It was truly pitiful.
"Heh, I can hear a change in your voice. Are you feeling sorry for me? There's no need. I'm already used to it. As for the topic, I'd like to talk about your views on the people of Sumeru, and its social system."
"Sumeru? My view is that it's ignorant and utterly foolish."
Since Nahida wanted to hear his thoughts,
Su Han naturally did not hold back.
He spoke his true opinions.
Nahida fell silent for a moment before asking, "Your evaluation seems very negative. This is the nation of wisdom."
"But they are still human beings, not machines. Since they are human, they should have emotions and desires. But look at what Sumeru has become. Marriage only requires both parties to have the same job. There's no emotion involved at all."
"Secondly, Sumeru City does not allow any form of entertainment. If I'm not mistaken, long ago Sumeru was a place of song and dance. But now?"
"I won't even mention the things ordinary people can already see."
"Let's talk about the system instead."
"The so-called Akasha Terminal is nothing but junk. Its existence hinders people's desire for knowledge, and people unquestioningly believe the answers it gives. Is that normal?"
Su Han's questions struck directly at Sumeru's flaws.
Nahida did not even know how to respond.
Thinking carefully,
In the past, during the era of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Sumeru was filled with song and dance.
Scholars gathered together, conducting all kinds of research.
But after she took the position, in order to consolidate the scholars' status, everything else was cast aside.
This was extremely bad.
As for the issue with the Akasha Terminal, Su Han had hit the nail on the head.
"Indeed, I didn't ask the wrong person."
Nahida's voice was filled with joy.
"Everything you said are flaws of Sumeru. If you were born in Sumeru, what would you do?"
"I'd leave. What else is there to do?"
Su Han's answer completely surprised Nahida.
But upon thinking about it,
for an ordinary person, leaving was indeed the simplest solution.
As long as one did not live in Sumeru, none of these troubles would exist.
But that was not the answer she wanted.
Nahida pressed her lips together and continued asking,
"Then what if you were in a position of power?"
"Then I'd take my faction and leave. It's that simple."
What kind of place was Sumeru now?
It appeared prosperous,
but in reality, it was full of lunatics. Not a single normal person.
The people at the top were cooperating with the Fatui,
bringing harm to all the citizens.
Unless Su Han was sick, he would never stay in Sumeru.
Hearing this answer, Nahida almost felt like crying.
But she had to admit that Su Han's choice was still correct.
If one were in a position of power,
leading their entire faction to another nation would definitely earn them importance.
But that was not the answer Nahida wanted.
Helpless,
the Dendro Archon chose to lay everything bare.
"Then what if you were the Dendro Archon?"
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