Chapter 588: Strange Aaru Village

Su Yuan and his group originally thought that the people blocking their path were members of the Treasure Hoarders.

However, judging from their outfits… that didn’t seem to be the case.

Their clothing did not resemble that of the Treasure Hoarders at all.

Instead, they looked more like the Eremites…

But aren’t the Eremites supposed to protect Sumeru?

They’re similar to Mondstadt’s Knights of Favonius, Liyue’s Millelith, Fontaine’s Gardes, or the Shogunate troops in Inazuma.

So why would they be doing something like this?

“Hey! What are you guys doing?”

Paimon placed her hands on her hips, puzzled.

“Don’t you recognize him? He’s the famous Traveler! And his best guide!”

“What—It’s the Traveler and Paimon?!”

Clearly, these Eremites recognized Aether and Paimon.

Their expressions immediately changed—hopeful, almost desperate:

“Traveler, you must save Sumeru!”

“The entire Sumeru City—there are barely any people left. They’ve all disappeared without a trace. We fear they may have already been killed!”

“Only a portion of us Eremites received a mission from Lady Nahida. She ordered us to leave Sumeru City and capture people to bring back to the Sanctuary of Surasthana…

We don’t even know what is going to happen to them…”

Everyone finally understood.

No wonder the Eremites had been acting so strangely.

“But if you already realized something was wrong, why didn’t you run away? Why continue following Nahida’s orders?”

Paimon asked in confusion.

Sigh…

“We couldn’t escape. Our families, who lived in Sumeru City… all disappeared as well. No one knows where they are, or whether they’re safe…”

The Eremites spoke with grief:

“For the sake of our families… we have no choice but to obey Lady Nahida.”

“We… we don’t want to do this either…”

“So you were forced… then we can’t blame you.” Aether sighed as well.

“We do intend to save Sumeru—but now is not the right time.”

“So please, don’t tell anyone that we’ve come to Sumeru.”

“Understood. We won’t say a word,” the Eremites nodded.

Su Yuan and his group bid farewell and continued heading west, toward the borders of Natlan.

“If what they said is true… then Sumeru City has basically become a ghost town…”

Paimon shivered.

“It’s better than everyone turning Eerie, like I feared… but still, it’s scary!

And those missing people—just what happened to them?

Are they… still alive?”

“Alright, Paimon. Like I said—don’t dwell on things that will ruin your mood. Let’s keep going.”

Kirara reminded her.

Meanwhile, after Su Yuan and the others departed, the Eremites circled outside Sumeru City a few more times before returning to the Sanctuary of Surasthana.

“Reporting, Lady Nahida. We still haven’t found anyone today…”

“Oh? I see. Thank you for your hard work.”

Nahida’s voice came from behind the doors.

“Well then, we’ll take our lea—”

But at that moment—

The previously closed doors of the Sanctuary slowly opened.

Nahida appeared at the entrance.

“Lying… is not something good children should do.”

“But even so… I still want to invite you all— to come inside and be my guests.”

“Ahhhh!!!”

Their screams echoed as Nahida dragged them into the Sanctuary.

“You not coming to my home as guests… makes me very sad,”

Nahida said, wearing a subtle, almost unreadable smile as she closed the doors of the Sanctuary of Surasthana.

…

Su Yuan and his group followed behind Kirara, taking various rarely-used paths.

They passed through Vimara Village, Gandharva Ville, and even Water-Dome Narrows, before finally reaching the border between the Sumeru rainforest and the desert—Caravan Ribat.

Upon arriving, they were finally far enough from Sumeru City that everyone felt somewhat relieved…

At this moment, there seemed to be plenty of people moving around Caravan Ribat, and many merchants conducting business along the roadside.

“It looks like Caravan Ribat wasn’t affected much, probably because it’s far from Sumeru City,” Paimon observed thoughtfully.

“That’s actually good news for us. Maybe we’ll even run into someone we know here!”

“Paimon, now is not the time to catch up with acquaintances,” Su Yuan replied with a wry smile.

“Don’t forget our main objective is to head to Natlan.”

“Well, that’s true… but we’ve been traveling for so long already. Let’s at least get a good meal before we continue!” Paimon insisted.

So the group picked a small diner in Caravan Ribat, enjoyed a hearty meal, and then set out again toward the desert.

As long as they could cross the great desert, they would reach the territory of Natlan…

But looking at the time—they had already traveled all day.

And since the desert has extreme temperature differences between day and night, traveling after dark could be extremely dangerous…

“There’s Aaru Village not far ahead. Let’s stay there for the night,” Kirara suggested.

“That works. I’m sure Candace won’t refuse us,” Aether nodded.

However, when they finally reached the entrance of Aaru Village, they immediately sensed something was wrong.

The village was… too quiet.

The houses inside were completely dark—no lights at all.

“T-This… this doesn’t seem right…”

Paimon said nervously, fear creeping into her voice.

“Do people in Aaru Village go to bed this early?”

“That shouldn’t be possible. Even if they were all asleep, there should still be some sound… something…”

Su Yuan frowned, an uneasy feeling growing stronger in his chest.

Read more novel at decakranovel dot com