Wangshu Inn, in all of Liyue, could actually be considered a very famous grand hotel.
Its cuisine was in no way inferior to the old establishments in Liyue Harbor; there were even instances where people specifically traveled all the way from Liyue Harbor to Wangshu Inn just to have a meal.
All of this was thanks to Wangshu Inn's head chef, Yanxiao.
The meal Philgoated treated Aether and Soraya to today was the lavish breakfast meticulously prepared by Yanxiao.
However, looking at these appetizing dishes, Aether and Soraya somehow had no appetite.
Especially during the meal, Aether and Soraya had to constantly face the strange gaze of the proprietress, Philgoated.
And her occasional strange questions.
These questions were all very tricky; a slight slip-up could easily lead to a wrong answer, exposing some details from yesterday.
Aether was fine, after all, he was already an old hand at this. Even if Philgoated asked some strange things, Aether could still feign ignorance without changing his expression.
But Soraya was miserable. He had absolutely no experience with this matter. Last night's events were like a dream, yet recalling them made them incredibly clear.
Listening to the conversation between Aether and Philgoated, he immediately blushed.
It was truly very awkward, like having done something unspeakable that everyone eventually found out about, but they didn't explicitly say it to save his face, only mentioning it in a roundabout way.
However, since there was still serious business today, this strange atmosphere did not last very long.
"Our people are already ambushed nearby, hidden very well. Precious Baby won't discover anything amiss."
Philgoated took a sip of tea, introducing the Millelith's work situation to Aether.
The Millelith had already scouted the area very early today and set up an ambush nearby, just waiting for Precious Baby and Aether to meet.
Although Philgoated was confident in this capture operation, as they were hidden and Precious Baby was exposed, to ensure absolute certainty, Philgoated still ordered the Millelith to go to the ruins as early as possible.
This way, they wouldn't fear any unexpected incidents during the capture process later.
"Don't worry, I'll find a way to approach her and directly capture her."
Aether nodded, signaling Philgoated to rest assured.
With his strength, ten Precious Babys couldn't defeat him. What's more, Precious Baby was still a young girl, and as long as she was a girl, she would absolutely not be able to escape his charm.
At that time, Aether would just find an excuse to get closer to Precious Baby, and he believed Precious Baby would quickly become disoriented and be taken down defenselessly by him.
These Millelith arrangements were actually unnecessary.
"Then I'll leave it to you. However, the Treasure Hoarders are cunning, and Precious Baby might even be Nan Changjie, so you still need to be careful."
Philgoated said very seriously.
She knew Aether's strength was considerable; both the previous intelligence and the recent events in Liyue were enough to prove that Aether was not someone ordinary people could take down.
But these Treasure Hoarders were especially adept at underhanded tactics, so they couldn't be careless.
"Yes, Aether, you must prioritize your own safety."
Soraya pushed up his glasses, agreeing wholeheartedly.
He was especially concerned about Aether's safety now; he had personally experienced the cruelty of the Treasure Hoarders yesterday.
"Don't worry, don't worry, no problem guaranteed!"
Aether's face showed a confident smile.
—
"That's strange, why does it feel so quiet here today?"
Precious Baby leaned behind a large rock, her brows slightly furrowed.
He first cautiously walked around the vicinity, then returned to his original spot.
He had arrived at the agreed meeting place with Aether early in the morning.
Yesterday, he had also agreed to meet Aether here, but Aether was late, so they ended up meeting elsewhere.
He was very familiar with the several areas nearby. Not to mention when he collaborated with another Treasure Hoarder organization to search for artifacts here, even after he accidentally lost that item, he stayed here for a very long time to find it.
It could be said that even with his eyes closed, he was confident he could navigate out of this ruin complex.
It was also for this reason that the changes here could not escape his notice.
As a former Treasure Hoarder, he was very sensitive to any disturbances. The atmosphere here had become very strange, completely different from before.
There were no sounds of small insects, no rustling of wind through the grass.
Although logically this should be considered a normal phenomenon, Precious Baby still felt something was off…
This was a ruin, after all. While such places were sparsely populated, they were a favorite of various monsters or animals. Was it really reasonable for it to be so quiet?
He put away the small pendant he had been fiddling with in his hand.
Aether had found this yesterday, and he had pocketed it.
Then he took out his axe, looking around cautiously.
Very wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
Everything was normal, except for being a bit too quiet, everything else was normal.
But too normal meant abnormal.
Precious Baby had always trusted his intuition, and in fact, it was because he trusted his intuition that he was able to survive in a place like the Treasure Hoarders, where people were devoured without a trace, and even gain a certain status.
Seeing that the situation was bad, the most important thing was to quickly escape.
Thinking this, Precious Baby didn't hesitate at all. He immediately turned and ran into the distance.
"Captain! The person ran away!"
The ambushing Millelith quickly shook the arm of the captain beside him, shouting softly.
"What?!"
The Millelith captain quickly got up and looked at Precious Baby's receding back in the distance.
"Could it be that someone from our side was discovered?"
He frowned and pondered for a moment, then immediately made a decision.
"Chase!"
Yes, they had to chase. Whether or not their people were discovered, they couldn't let this big fish get away.
Plans couldn't keep up with changes. Now there was no way to wait for Aether to arrive.
"Yes!"
The surrounding ambushing Millelith immediately chased after Precious Baby.
The originally silent ruins instantly became noisy, with shouts and footsteps echoing together.
…
A moment later, Aether finally arrived at the agreed location.
He blinked, looking confused.
How was this different from what was agreed upon…? Where were the people?
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