At Wangshu Inn in Liyue, when Li Mo reached the part where the red oni successfully became friends with humans, but the blue oni left a letter and suddenly disappeared, the audience couldn't help but sigh.
That damned storyteller. Couldn't he tell a perfect, happy ending just once?
Just then, Arataki Itto, sitting in the corner, shouted again.
"Ah? What's going on? Why did the blue oni suddenly run away?"
"Although what the blue oni said isn't wrong."
"But as two of the few oni left in the world, they should stick together."
"For example, they should have started an Arataki Gang. Then who would dare bully them?"
The expression on Itto's face was rather complicated.
The moment he first saw the red oni, he had a feeling that this red oni must be connected to him somehow.
Could it be his ancestor?
What a coincidence.
Beside him, Paimon retorted, "Who has as much free time as you, wandering the streets all day?"
Traveler Lumine also said, "That's right. There are fewer and fewer oni in this world. If they don't work harder, they really will go extinct."
Itto: "Ha? The oni are going extinct?"
Hearing this, Itto was startled.
If the oni went extinct, would this great one also cease to exist?
That wouldn't do.
Once Shinobu arrived, he would have her think of a way to find more oni.
The oni couldn't be allowed to go extinct.
Seeing how energetic Itto was, Hu Tao smiled and said, "Mr. Street Thug... no, Mr. Itto. On this trip to Liyue, you probably didn't bring any Mora, did you?"
Itto patted himself down and indeed found not a single Mora. "Ahem, this great one is the boss of the Arataki Gang. I never carry Mora myself!"
Hu Tao: "Then do you want to earn some Mora?"
Itto paused. "Earn Mora? Is there work suited for this great one?"
Hu Tao smiled. "There's a batch of business recently. We need coffin bearers, grave diggers, and people to bury the dead. We do need someone for physical labor."
Because of the promotions over the past two days, there really were quite a few new customers.
There were holes to dig, coffins to carry, and burials to perform. There was a lot to do.
If the energetic Arataki Itto could help, things might be much easier.
Itto said confidently, "This kind of simple work, this great one can do with one hand! But let's be clear upfront. This great one works one day and rests three. Wages paid daily!"
A smile appeared on Hu Tao's face. "Hehe, no problem!"
Though he would work one day and rest three, Hu Tao had already made plans.
She would have Itto do four days' worth of work in one day.
And only pay him for one day.
Wasn't that a huge profit?
...
While the audience below was discussing, on stage at the inn, Li Mo took a sip of water and immediately continued his storytelling.
As he spoke, the Electro energy above the inn gathered once more, and the briefly frozen images began to shift again.
In the images, the red oni sat in the blue oni's house, holding the letter the blue oni had left behind.
He swore to himself silently: Blue, I will definitely find you and bring you back. Wait for me.
Then the red oni curiously began searching the blue oni's house.
To see if any tasty food had been left behind.
After rummaging through everything, he indeed found some prepared snacks in the cupboard, along with a few wrapped rice balls.
Not only that, beside the snacks and rice balls, the red oni found another note from the blue oni.
[Red, I know you often go hungry, so I've left quite a bit of food in this house.]
[Whenever you run out of food, come to this house to find some.]
[Blue.]
Holding the letter, the red oni's eyes grew moist again.
So Blue had left it for him on purpose.
So Blue had always been looking after him.
The red oni ate the snacks the blue oni had left while sobbing.
After finishing the snacks and rice balls, the red oni searched the blue oni's house again, wanting to see what else the blue oni had left for him.
In the cupboard, the red oni found a stack of picture books, all drawn by the blue oni stroke by stroke.
They recorded every little moment of the red oni and blue oni's life together.
Seeing this, the red oni finally understood how much the blue oni cared about him, how much he mattered to him.
After seeing these, the red oni's determination to find the blue oni grew even stronger.
So, about a week later, the red oni went into the village and bid farewell to every villager, one household at a time. He was about to set out on a journey.
Hearing that the red oni was leaving, the villagers all tried to make him stay.
"Brother Red Oni, if you leave, what if that blue oni comes back to cause trouble?"
"Brother Red Oni, remember to come back as soon as you can!"
"You haven't taught us how to make snacks yet. You can't sneak off!"
"Brother Red Oni, this is some dry food we prepared for you. Save it for the road!"
Through their interactions over the past week, the villagers had completely changed their view of the red oni. He had integrated into human society and become their friend.
Not only that, some villagers even suggested that the red oni stop living on the mountain.
He should just move into the village and live with them.
Hearing this suggestion, the red oni had to admit he was tempted.
But he still had to find the blue oni.
He couldn't abandon the blue oni.
The red oni said happily, "Thank you. I'll come back as soon as I can. Don't worry. While I'm away, that blue oni definitely won't come to cause trouble."
The villagers were relieved. "Be careful on your journey. Whenever you're tired, come back."
The red oni: "I'll come back as soon as I can."
And so, with the villagers seeing him off, the red oni packed all the remaining dry food, snacks, and rice balls into a small travel bag.
He began a new journey.
But the moment he left the village and looked at the unfamiliar road ahead, the red oni suddenly felt lost.
In the letter the blue oni had left, he hadn't said where he was going.
The red oni had no idea which way to go.
"Since I don't know where Blue is, then I'll search everywhere. I will find Blue!"
"He's my best friend!"
The red oni gritted his teeth and chose a road, walking straight ahead.
To do this, the red oni crossed hill after hill, encountered village after village, and met villager after villager.
Some villagers were very afraid of the red oni and ran away before he could even speak.
Some villagers weren't afraid of oni at all, and even joked with the red oni.
Whenever that happened, the red oni would ask the same question.
"Excuse me, have you seen a blue oni?"
"About the same height as me, with blue skin, a very, very smart blue oni!"
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New Fanfic:
Honkai Star Rail: The Eldritch Path Among the Stars