Sunlight filtered through the window and fell across the wooden tabletop inside the village chief's house in Aaru Village.
At that moment, the beautiful and elegant Eula sat quietly beside the table, fully savoring the delicious dishes Candace had thoughtfully prepared.
She wore the modified, form-fitting Knights of Favonius combat uniform, the outfit tightly hugging her body and outlining her graceful curves perfectly, though it appeared just a bit constricting.
Unlike before, her usual single-shoulder cape had been replaced by a white hooded cloak, likely something she had specially prepared to shield herself from the desert's swirling sandstorms.
Just then, Shao Yun stepped into the room.
The moment he entered, his gaze was instinctively drawn to Eula.
The Cryo beauty was completely absorbed in her meal, entirely unaware that someone had come in.
Seeing Eula like this, Shao Yun felt an indescribable emotion rising in his heart.
"Eula…" he called softly.
But before his words had even finished, Eula jolted violently as though she had been terrified out of her wits, the spoon in her hand losing control and clattering onto the table with a crisp ring.
"W-Wha…!" Eula lifted her head in panic, and the instant her eyes met Shao Yun's, a deep fear surfaced in them.
It was as if the person before her wasn't human, but some terrifying demon.
Shao Yun failed to notice her abnormal reaction and simply sighed to himself.
"Never thought I'd run into you here…" he murmured as he began walking toward her.
Eula blanched even further upon seeing him approach, leaping from her seat in a flash and circling the table, beginning a frantic game of musical chairs.
Pointing her right index finger directly at him, Eula shouted, "No! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"
Faced with Eula's extreme agitation, Shao Yun raised both hands above his head helplessly.
He gestured to show he meant no harm and gently reassured her, "I really don't have the slightest ill intent toward you."
"Honestly, I never expected to reunite with an 'old friend' of mine here in Aaru Village. Or perhaps 'old acquaintance' would be more accurate?"
But Eula seemed deaf to any explanation, continuing to shout emotionally, "We're not friends at all! Stop bothering me and get away from me!"
Before she had even finished, she had switched positions with Shao Yun, darted to the doorway, yanked open the door, and bolted outside.
She ran so fast and abruptly that she nearly collided with Candace, who had just arrived at the entrance.
Startled by Eula's sudden appearance, Candace steadied herself, glanced toward the direction Eula had vanished, and then turned her gaze to Shao Yun inside the room.
"It seems your friend doesn't think very highly of you," Candace said calmly.
Shao Yun stood at the doorway, staring at the empty space behind Candace with a complicated expression.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Sigh… we have a complicated history."
Hearing that there was messy history between them, Candace's thoughts began to whirl.
After a brief moment of speculation, a sly, almost wicked smile slowly appeared on her charming face as she asked, "Don't tell me that beautiful Eula is your ex-girlfriend?"
At those words, Shao Yun shook his head so quickly it resembled a rattling drum, denying desperately, "No! Absolutely not! Don't say nonsense!"
However, Candace remained unconvinced by his frantic denial and watched him with growing amusement, continuing her teasing interrogation with a mischievous glint.
"Really not? Because from what you just said, it sounded exactly like what former lovers say."
Shao Yun's mouth twitched in embarrassment at her relentless questioning.
Completely exasperated, he could only mutter weakly, "Oh come on, I can't even… Please don't tell me you got that from romance novels?"
Candace cared little for his protest. Tilting her head slightly toward the doorway with elegant poise, she gently reminded him, "If you ask me, we should hurry and go after your friend. If she accidentally wanders out of Aaru Village and gets lost, that will be troublesome."
Hearing that, Shao Yun nodded. "You're right. At that point, we might even have to hire Dori at a high price to rescue her."
…
And so, Shao Yun and Candace began a chase with Eula—the classic scenario of she flees, we chase, and Eula cannot escape.
Anyone unaware of the situation might genuinely think Shao Yun and Candace were attempting to abduct a girl.
Eula ran frantically without regard for direction and eventually ended up at the construction site of Aaru Village's new library.
At that moment, the library construction was in full swing.
Thanks to recent efforts, the first floor had already been completed, and workers had begun building the second floor without pause.
It must be said that the initial funding Shao Yun provided was exceedingly abundant, with virtually no budget limit.
Because of this, Kaveh, who oversaw design and construction, could finally work freely without the constant penny-pinching of the past.
Wearing a bright safety helmet as the project supervisor, Kaveh inspected every corner of the site diligently, ensuring everything proceeded safely.
He also frequently corrected and guided workers to ensure both quality and progress aligned with expectations.
Just as Kaveh was fully immersed in his work, a rising commotion echoed from afar.
The noise grew louder and clearer, like a warning that something bad was about to happen.
Tensing in concern, Kaveh paused his work and looked toward the construction site entrance.
At that moment, three figures burst into the site in a frenzy.
Eula ran in front with all her might, while Shao Yun and Candace chased closely behind.
More shockingly, none of the three wore safety helmets, utterly ignoring the dangers.
Standing on the second floor, Kaveh nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight.
Flustered, he waved his arms and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hey! You, the beautiful lady! This is a construction site, what are you doing!? And Mr. Shao Yun, Miss Candace—why are you entering without safety helmets!?"
But the three had no mind to listen.
Watching them rush into the site without any protection and ignoring his warnings, Kaveh felt both anger and fear.
Stamping his foot anxiously, he shouted again, "This is a construction site! There are potential dangers everywhere! Please put on helmets!"
Without wasting another second, he immediately turned to search for three suitable helmets.
As he rummaged around, he muttered nonstop, "Where are the helmets? Where are they!? These people are giving me a headache! I have to give them a full safety lecture later…"
Meanwhile, Shao Yun had finally cornered Eula within the construction site.
Seeing she had nowhere left to run, he slowed down and shouted, "Eula, wait! This is a construction site—be careful!"
On the other side, Eula stood beside the scaffolding, ignoring every possible danger, and yelled back, "Why are you here!? Do you want to kill me!?"
"Are you finally tired of my existence? Have you finally decided to wipe out the Lawrence bloodline!?"
When Shao Yun heard her say he wanted to kill her, his eyes widened instantly in disbelief. Shocked, he shouted back, "No! I—how could I ever want to kill you!?"
But Eula, looking like a frightened rabbit, wore an expression so pitiful it seemed she was about to burst into tears.
"You do want to! Why else would you appear here!? You must have been tracking me, planning to attack me in the desert and kill me!"
Listening to her groundless accusations, Shao Yun felt an overwhelming helplessness crash over him.
Shaking his head, he defended himself, "My goodness, I don't even know what to say anymore. You've got an extremely severe persecution delusion!"
"I told Noelle I was coming to Sumeru last time I returned to Mondstadt. Didn't you hear?"
Afraid his explanation wasn't enough, Shao Yun hurriedly added, "And for Lumine and Paimon's sake, I'd never hurt you! You gave the two of them warm milk to keep them from freezing—did you forget?"
"If not for you on Dragonspine, they might have frozen long ago."
Even as he shouted, Shao Yun couldn't help but wonder if this was the effect of his Sumeru-level -6 reputation—everyone acted like they'd seen a ghost when they saw him.
Just then, one of the workers at the library site somehow lost control of a brick during construction.
"Watch out!" the worker cried in horror.
But it was too late.
In an instant, the brick plummeted straight down and struck Eula—who was just about to unleash another round of verbal gymnastics—squarely on the head.
With a heavy thud, the brick landed solidly, delivering a devastating blow.
Everything went black for Eula as she collapsed forward, losing consciousness on the spot.
Seeing her fall lifelessly, Shao Yun's heart lurched.
"Dear god! Did Eula just get killed by that!?"
He rushed forward in three hurried strides, knelt beside her, and checked her condition with trembling focus.
He placed his fingers beneath her nose, trying to feel for breath.
A moment later, a faint, subtle warmth brushed against his fingertip, allowing the panic in his chest to ease slightly.
"Thank goodness… The brick must not have fallen from too high. It didn't kill her—just knocked her out," he muttered.
At that moment, Kaveh came running down from above, clutching three helmets in his arms, muttering anxiously the whole way.
"This is a construction site! There are dangers everywhere! You can't be so careless! Put the helmets—ah!"
Before he finished, he saw Eula lying motionless on the ground.
He froze, shock overtaking him. "W-What happened!? Did someone die on the site!?"
At the same time, the worker responsible for the mishap rushed down from the second floor, panic all over his face.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll go get a doctor right now!"
Shao Yun lifted Eula's limp arm, hoisted her over his shoulder, and stood up.
"She's still breathing—just unconscious."
Then he turned to Kaveh, still trembling in fright, and apologized, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Kaveh."
"Next time we enter the site, we'll definitely remember to wear helmets…"
===BREAK===
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