Noon.
At the entrance of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
A tense banquet had lasted through the entire night until dawn.
When it finally ended, Venti was the first to bid farewell and return to Mondstadt, saying he had other matters to attend to.
After seeing Venti off, Taro and Zhongli made their way back to Liyue Harbor, walking slowly, stopping here and there, until they finally returned.
Today, however, there was still one rather important matter to handle. But before that, they had to come back here first.
"Brother Taro, how does it feel to bid farewell to your former self?"
Standing before the closed gates of Wangsheng, Zhongli suddenly halted, his expression solemn, and posed this strange question.
For him, if not for the descent of Taro into Teyvat, he would likely have followed his original plan by now—preparing his own final rites.
Although that plan had changed, thinking back still stirred complicated feelings.
Taro shook his head slightly.
"No real feeling. I know what you're asking, but my case is too strange to be a fair comparison."
"You know already: I am a Descender, not a native of Teyvat."
"Longing for my homeland? No. Regrets? None."
His first life had ended with him suddenly transmigrating—that didn't even count.
In his second life, he fought with everything he had, only to trade it for this third chance.
Past lives? Lives before that? All of them had already become smoke in the wind.
Now, he lived well, happily, freely—that was enough.
The only lingering ties he had would be cut clean with the two funerals yet to come.
He would sever the past, walk forward alone…
And once again claim everything he wanted.
What mattered now was cherishing the present and looking toward the future.
"Brother Taro is truly open-minded," Zhongli said with a faint smile.
"I hope the sights of Liyue as it is now will not disappoint you."
The heavy weight in his heart seemed eased as he spoke.
He, too, once had ties to the past he could not let go.
But now, those empty places in his heart had gradually been filled.
If he could not let go? Then he would take it back.
To have met Brother Taro in this life was his fortune indeed.
"Come. I imagine the Hall Master is already awake."
With that, Zhongli reached to push open the door—
Creak.
A soft sound, and before he touched it, the door opened on its own.
Standing there was Hu Tao, already dressed and neat.
"Well, well, look who it is."
"If it isn't Mr. Zhongli, the busy guest minister of Wangsheng."
"I thought you'd decided never to return."
Her fox-bright eyes narrowed as she looked at him.
This guy had vanished for days, not a single word sent.
And such important matters too, concealed from her, the very Hall Master herself!
How infuriating.
"Hall Master jests," Zhongli said stiffly, already expecting this.
"Cut the act."
Hu Tao glared, stepping aside.
"Come in, both of you. I've been waiting all morning."
Zhongli exchanged a glance with Taro.
The latter was smiling broadly, the former wearing a strained smile.
Somehow… this didn't bode well.
The three passed through the hall and arrived at the pavilion in the courtyard.
The scene mirrored another moment from the past, almost eerily so.
Hu Tao leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowed.
"You two know what happened last night, right?"
"You understand what was going on?"
Liyue Harbor had been anything but peaceful.
The distant skies had shifted from blood-red gloom to pale brilliance, again and again.
And that giant hand clashing with the immense golden spear—the noise was like firecrackers exploding right in the ear.
If not for the Qixing dispatching patrols everywhere to calm the masses, and the branch halls of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor helping suppress rumors, Liyue Harbor would have been thrown into chaos overnight.
"Indeed," Zhongli nodded gravely.
"Last night, Brother Taro and I personally witnessed it on Mt. Tianheng. Some abomination was wreaking havoc in the mountains, stirring up strange heavenly signs. Otherwise, how else could such wild rumors have spread?"
Taro almost burst out laughing beside him.
An abomination in the mountains, really?
If the Archon of Death knew Zhongli had just described her like that, she'd probably tear him apart.
But Zhongli was nothing if not sly.
"An abomination?" Hu Tao tilted her head, tapping her chin.
"What kind of abomination could cause such a commotion? Don't tell me it was an old Archon."
"I think not." Zhongli shook his head firmly.
"Brother Taro and I were far away, we did not see clearly. But had it truly been an old Archon, the chaos would not have ended so quickly."
"True enough."
Hu Tao muttered, a bit relieved.
"Still… only the Adepti acted? What about that newly-revived Archon of Dust?"
"Did the Geo Archon himself intervene?"
Zhongli froze for a moment, then slowly turned to look at Taro.
When did this child learn about that?
"Ah, right, I told her," Taro admitted helplessly, raising his hands.
"You never said I wasn't allowed to, and she asked, so I answered."
The matter of a revived Archon wasn't something that had to be hidden.
He had only kept quiet about being a Descender.
He always kept his promises.
Zhongli twitched at the corner of his eye.
This might get troublesome.
"Well, well," Hu Tao folded her arms.
"So it really was you, Zhongli."
She had thought both Zhongli and Taro were keeping it from her.
But now it seemed Taro had spoken under her questioning…
Which meant Zhongli had been the one to withhold it first!
She narrowed her eyes.
"Mr. Zhongli~"
"The two funerals Taro commissioned? This Hall Master has already prepared everything. And as for the remaining rites… I'll let you handle them. It's decided."
Not giving him the chance to argue, she turned to Taro.
"Taro, you know the second young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, Xingqiu, don't you?"
"Hmm?" Taro blinked, then nodded.
"Yes, I do. He was actually the very first person I met in Liyue… no, in all of Teyvat."
That day, Xingqiu had invited him to eat, but some retainers came and whisked him away, saying Ningguang had summoned him.
They hadn't seen each other in about two weeks.
Taro had assumed Xingqiu was just busy.
But apparently… that wasn't the case?
"Today, he even came looking for you at Wangsheng," Hu Tao said with a shrug.
"When he couldn't find you, he went next door to your shop, left a message with the manager, then came to me here. He just left, said he was heading to Wanmin Restaurant to wait for you."
"Want me to come with you?"
(End of Chapter)
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