He changed Tiwat

But he wanted to let go and ignore it, while Yura didn't.

Yura stared at Abedo and asked a question: "The Fools say that Abedo killed someone with the Corruption Sword an hour ago. At that time, you should have sensed the growth resonance of the Corruption Sword, so why didn't you tell us?"

Chapter 132 Hostages

Han Fulai looked up at the sky, thinking to himself, "Youra, you're so smart, you should know the saying 'don't expose people's hardships.' How come you're just like Mona?"

He deliberately didn't mention it, but Yura still found out... This is awkward.

Abedo lowered his eyes and said only two words: "I'm sorry."

Yura's face was frosty, and she remained silent.

According to the Fools, they were not far from Abessau at the time.

After Abedo sensed the Corrupting Sword, he could have immediately led them to track down Abedo.

Even if Abedo felt that the tracking might not be successful, or if he was concerned about Bennett and Amber's safety and didn't want to involve them, he should at least have told Yura and Hanfu that Abedo was nearby and to be careful.

He would keep this a complete secret, the only reason being that he didn't want to see Abe so soon.

But their purpose in going to Dulin's crypt was to lure out Abe and ambush him, as planned.

If you don't pursue them at the time, but later you still have to lure them out, what's the difference between the two?

Yura's pale golden eyes coldly swept over the two men in front of her—Han Fulai was looking at the sky, and Abedo was looking at the ground.

Yeah, the reason is to keep it from her, right? Because that Abed is Abedo's brother, right? If we chase after him on the spot, only a simpleton named Yura Lawrence would actually fight him, right?

Oh, think about it again. This Vice Minister Han of Liyue here possesses wind wings imbued with the power of the wind god, and has extraordinary skills but keeps them hidden, pretending to be weak; over there is the chief alchemist of the knight order, who claims to ask her to trust in camaraderie, but in reality, he keeps her in the dark—these two are even secretly colluding.

The person she was just desperately protecting turned out to be lying to her. Ah, that's quite a feeling.

Yura almost wanted to storm off on the spot—if she hadn't remembered her duty as a guard.

But she has decided to hand over this guard duty as soon as she returns to Mondstadt.

As for asking Han Fulai to find someone... needless to say.

Yura said coldly, "I know you two don't want to find that person, and I won't force you to help. But that dangerous person wielding the demon sword is nearby, and as a Knight of Favonius, it's my duty to patrol the area."

Anyway, she's superfluous. Nobody's willing to tell her the truth, and nobody really needs her help, right?

"I'm going to fulfill my duties. You two don't need to wait for me; you can return first."

Just as she was about to turn and leave, Han Fulai called out to her, "Wait!"

Yura's expression remained icy: "What instructions does Deputy Minister Han have?"

"...Miss Yura just said that the dangerous person is nearby...This reminds me of something very important—why would the Fools be in that cave?"

Han Fulai's voice and expression were very serious, which surprised Youra.

She asked in surprise, "What do you mean, why? Weren't the Fools chasing after that Abe?"

“This is it.” Han Fulai nodded. “The Fools encountered Abe about an hour ago. At that time, we were still with Bennett and the others. We hadn’t reached the cave yet, nor had we shown any intention of going there beforehand, right?”

Upon hearing Han Fulai's words, Abedo was stunned for a moment and suddenly raised his head.

Han Fulai continued, "The encounter between the Fools and Abe was probably an accident. But this accident exposed two problems—first, why was Abe near 'Sleeping Dragon Valley' at that time? Second, after encountering the Fools, why did he flee towards the caves in 'Sleeping Dragon Valley'?"

“…This certainly shouldn’t be a coincidence.” Abedo’s voice also became serious.

Indeed, the timing of the Fools' appearance was too perfect, with only a little over ten minutes between their arrival and their entry into the cave.

In such a short time, if Abe hadn't initially planned to venture deeper into the heart of "Sleeping Dragon Valley," even if he had rushed here immediately after sensing the impact of Dulin Dragon's might, there simply wouldn't have been enough time, especially since he was still being chased by the Fools...

The fact that the Fools were chasing after Abesch means that Abesch was running in this direction.

Before they entered the cave, before Abedo pierced Dulin's heart with the "Cinnabar Spindle," Abedo had already run in this direction—from the very beginning, Abedo's destination was the location of Dulin's heart!

The three of them fell silent for a moment.

Did Abe have already figured out their "encircle and attack reinforcements" strategy?

No, they initially took the route that took Bennett and Amber down the mountain, only changing course halfway through. Even Amber and Bennett, who were traveling with them, didn't know where they were going next, so how could Abercrombie know?

Considering that Abe was very close to them at the time...

"He's been spying on us!"

Yura and Abedo received the answer at the same time.

—Yes, one should suspect that their every move is under Abe's control.

Han Fulai's thoughts were now at a deeper level:

So why didn't Abe, who knew they were heading for Dulin's heart, try to stop them?

...Because his own forces were stronger than his, he made the decision, after observing the situation, that he could not overpower him.

Well, very likely.

But is he just going to do nothing? They've used the heart of the dragon Durin as a "hostage" to threaten him into showing himself, and he's just going to hide and watch Durin die?

Moreover, after Dulin's death, wouldn't it have been a waste of his efforts to impersonate Abedor and steal the Corrupted Sword from Mondstadt?

Is it simply because Abe lacked the ability and had to give up?

and many more……

Abesson was also an alchemical creation of Rheindorf. Although he might not be as good as Abedo, he was simply a "failure" relative to Abedo.

In fact, Abessho can also be called a miraculous alchemical creature. He possesses intelligence and is an artificial human "born with knowledge" like Abedo.

He steals, he can impersonate Abedor to deceive people, and he wants to save his brother Dulin… He steals the Alchemy Notebook to study it, and he monitors them to observe them…

Let's assume Abel is actually a very intelligent and quick learner. Just as the Sword of Corruption grows, Abel will also grow, and at a rapid pace... He improves every day, becoming stronger each day...

If it was true that Abe had been monitoring them all along, tracking them from afar; if he had been observing them from the very beginning, hiding near the alchemy lab watching their every move…

So, Abe must have seen Abe take out the "Cinnabar Spindle" to "buff" them, seen the three of them making thorough preparations to enter the cave, and realized that Abe had a way to deal with the humic poison.

He could also foresee what Aberdo would do, and consequently, Dulin's crisis, and realize that this might be a trap—

The other side has Dulin as a "hostage" and has set a trap for him, but he is outnumbered and cannot launch a direct attack.

How should he rescue the hostages at this point?

"Hostages!" Han Fulai suddenly realized. "Amber and Bennett are in danger!"

Chapter 133 Avalanche

Although it is Han Fulai's deduction that Abel wanted to kidnap Amber and Bennett as "hostages" to rescue Dooling, there is currently no concrete evidence, but the suspicion that Abel did not show up cannot be ignored.

He went to so much trouble, impersonating Abedo, stealing the Corrupting Sword, and following them. He couldn't just be a bystander and do nothing, could he?

Assuming that Abe did indeed realize their attempt to "kidnap" Dulin as a "hostage" to force him into a trap, then exchanging "hostages" for "hostages" would be the most reasonable way to break the deadlock—and this behavior pattern is very much in line with the alchemical principle of "equivalent exchange".

Furthermore… Bennett's bad luck, which bordered on the mystical, further reinforced this possibility—events that would be considered a bolt from the blue for ordinary people were just routine occurrences for Bennett, like eating and drinking. He was the kind of unlucky guy who might run into a bank robbery just by going to deposit some money…

The most worrying thing is that Dulin is dead... which is equivalent to Dulin being "kidnapped".

Once Abbey discovers Dulin's death, he might take any kind of insane revenge...

Realizing this, a worried Yura rushed out, followed closely by Han Fulai and Abedo, both praying that the guess was not true.

After parting ways with Han Fulai and the others, Bennett and Amber didn't actually go very far down the mountain.

At that time, the dragon's might emanating from Dulin affected the entire area around "Sleeping Dragon Valley," and Bennett and the others sensed it as well.

When Bennett noticed the strange "tinnitus," he immediately connected it to the subtle sounds that preceded the avalanche and quickly told Amber.

Having learned her lesson the hard way yesterday, Amber naturally preferred to believe it rather than not, and without saying a word, she dragged Bennett to a nearby sloping woodland to hide.

The adventurers who have tried to conquer Dragonspine Mountain over the generations have accumulated a wealth of valuable experience. The fact that Amber and Bennett were able to survive yesterday's series of landslides and avalanches is undoubtedly due in large part to the experience left behind by the adventurers of the past.

For mountaineers, avalanches are a very common natural phenomenon, no different from thunder and rain. Just as people can predict weather conditions based on cloud formations, predicting the danger of avalanches based on terrain is one of the essential skills for adventurers.

Generally speaking, avalanches are most likely to occur on slopes between 30 and 50 degrees. Even if an avalanche occurs on a gentle slope with a slope of less than 30 degrees, the impact force will not be too strong. Therefore, adventurers will try to choose gentle slopes when setting up camp in the mountains.

Trees and rocks are the best references for estimating the likelihood of an avalanche. Areas with dense trees and large rocks have a very low chance of avalanches because these things will be destroyed after an avalanche. Conversely, areas with sparse trees and only small rocks often mean that avalanches are likely to occur frequently.

In addition, large trees and rocks can act as "anchors" for snow in the mountains, fixing it in place and making it less likely to loosen.

The two remained hidden in the woods until Dulin's dragon roar ceased, waiting for the "avalanche crisis" to pass.

Bennett and Amber's footprints were clearly visible on the snow-covered mountain path, which made it much easier for the three chasing them—but it also meant that Abess could easily catch up with them.

Moreover... after chasing for a while, the three of them discovered a new set of footprints that did not belong to Amber and Bennett.

Clearly, Abe really did chase after Amber and the others.

Abe's footprints only appeared for a short distance before disappearing, presumably because he took a shortcut to intercept Amber and the others.

This undoubtedly made Yura even more uneasy.

The guerrilla knight's speed was truly impressive. When Yura sped up, Han Fulai and Abedo couldn't keep up and could only follow the blue cloak from afar.

Although they all tried to persuade Yura to slow down and be careful of potential traps, Yura had clearly lost her composure—thinking that Amber might be in danger, or even in a life-threatening situation, Yura really didn't want to waste a single second.

Fortunately, their concerns do not appear to have materialized.

After a nearly half-hour forced march, Yura spotted the two red figures walking ahead in the distance.

“Amber—!” Yura shouted.

"Yura—! I'm here!" Amber stopped and responded to Yura's call when she heard her voice.

In the blink of an eye, Yura had already rushed in front of Amber.

She grabbed Amber's shoulders and looked her up and down, as if checking if Amber was missing any parts—then she finally rubbed Amber's bunny ears with satisfaction.

"Hmm... It's good that you're alright."

Seeing Yura's expression, Amber became curious: "Yura, why did you come to find us? Where are Abedo and the others?"

As soon as everyone arrived, Abedo and Han Fulai, who had been left behind by Yura, also appeared one after the other.

Seeing that Amber and Bennett were alright, the two of them could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Didn't you see anyone else along the way?" Abedo asked.

This is his biggest concern.

"People? It's not that easy to run into people in these snowy mountains. Look, I've been looking for Joseph for three days and haven't found him yet." Bennett shook his head nonchalantly.

"By the way, it seems you haven't gone very far?" Han Fulai asked.

Bennett scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and replied, "We heard strange noises on the road and were afraid of an avalanche, so we hid for a while... Maybe I was just too nervous."

Hearing Bennett say that, Han Fulai couldn't help but laugh.

Could this be considered a blessing in disguise?

Because Bennett was incredibly unlucky and overly sensitive to every sound, the noise Dulin made made him mistakenly believe an avalanche had occurred. So he and Amber found a place to hide for a while, which conveniently allowed them to evade Abel's pursuit?

Yura placed her hand on her chest, calming her breath slightly after running at full speed.

"Phew... Anyway, it's good that nothing bad happened. Let's go down the mountain together."

Since Abel hadn't shown up, there was no need for her to bring it up and make Amber and Bennett worry. For some reason, Abel seemed to have missed his chance to act, and now that they had gathered the strength of five people, even if Abel wanted to make a move, he would have to think twice.

Just as the group was preparing to continue their descent, a sudden change occurred—

A small pebble tumbled down from above the mountain path. This time, it hit Aberdo, not Bennett.

At the same time, everyone heard a clear rumbling sound.

Abedo looked up in astonishment and saw a terrifying snow line rushing out from the cliff above him.

Chapter 134 Clinging to Yura's Thigh

"It's an avalanche! Everyone run!" Bennett cried, his face contorted with grief.

How come the avalanche came right after he said "avalanche"?

However, as the saying goes, "misfortunes never come singly," at the same time as the avalanche, the mountain road also shook, and Bennett, who was trying to run away, fell face-first into the mud.

Without hesitation, Yura hugged Amber in front of her and leaped to the side of the mountain path.

In the next instant, the mountain path completely collapsed.

Whether it was Bennett who fell to the ground, Han Fulai and Aberdo who were standing still, or Yura and Amber who were suspended in the air, they all lost their footing at the same time.

"Wings of the Wind!" Yura only managed to shout once.

Amber's reaction was incredibly fast; she instantly unfurled her massive blue wind wings in mid-air.