Butterfly Guides the Departed

(Brain Storage)

Lin Yiyi's words struck straight at the heart, leaving Zhang Xiaoyan with no room to argue.

Zhongli and Hu Tao, who had stood nearby in silence for some time, did not know what to say either. The atmosphere fell into a deadlock.

After a long while, Zhongli finally spoke.

"Just as young friend Lin said, there is an old Liyue saying: 'Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things.'"

"The reason Liyue has flourished so greatly is inseparable from the warmth and harmony of every household."

"In ancient times, families raised pigs to prove that their households were prosperous and harmonious. That was how the character for 'family' came about."

"Madam, why not put yourself in her shoes? Every time you returned home exhausted, if all that awaited you were your parents' reproaches and beatings, what would you think?"

Hu Tao, standing beside him with her hands on her hips, said, "Hey, even the departed are burned a paper house to serve as their home."

"You living people should cherish what you have even more, shouldn't you?"

Lin Yiyi handed Chen Yue a tissue. The girl thanked him softly and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

I lost my parents when I was very young. My master took me in.

I did not know what a home was, but I went down the mountain early on. It has probably been three or four years now.

Traveling through the human world, I have seen many broken families.

I envy those of you who have a home, but I do not want to see you living in such disharmony either.

Because I have been caught in the rain, I want to hold an umbrella for others.

After a long time, Zhang Xiaoyan finally said to Chen Yue, "Girl, it's getting late. Hurry home."

"Mom was wrong before. Mom always hoped you would become successful, but I neglected your feelings."

"Mom is sorry."

Chen Yue cried even harder.

After her daughter had calmed down, Zhang Xiaoyan dropped to her knees. "Daoist Lin, thank you so much!"

"I was wrong before. Only after hearing what you said today did I finally come to my senses."

Then she pulled out a thick stack of red banknotes, making Lin Yiyi pause. "I know your life isn't easy either. No matter what, please accept this little bit of money."

"Consider it payment for driving the evil from my daughter today!"

Lin Yiyi nodded. Seeing that there were five thousand yuan, he returned three thousand. "The ritual costs two thousand."

The group thanked one another for a while longer. Zhou Cai was headed the same way as Chen Yue, so he left first with the mother and daughter.

Before leaving, he repeatedly reminded Chen Yue and Zhou Cai not to say too much about what had happened tonight.

"Oh, right." Chen Yue turned around. "You all seem to be into cosplay, and your costumes are really high-quality."

"There's a convention at the sports center this Saturday. If you want to go, you can have some fun there."

"Too bad we have classes. I don't know whether we'll be able to make it."

"See you around."

Lin Yiyi and the other two watched Chen Yue's group of three walk away. The boy took the cowboy hat from his backpack. "Let's go."

Then he seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, Hu Tao."

Hearing the boy call her, the funeral parlor director looked at him with mild curiosity.

"We all make a living from the same line of work between the living and the dead. About your grandfather..."

Lin Yiyi had already noticed that seeing him handle an entire funeral by himself had reminded the girl of the first funeral she had ever conducted.

"The deeds of your Wangsheng Funeral Parlor lineage truly deserve admiration."

Lin Yiyi sighed. Zhongli remained silent, quietly listening to what Lin Yiyi said next.

"Since ancient times, those who cultivated yin-yang arts have done things that defied heaven, guiding the ghosts of the underworld."

"Legend says that the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was originally stationed at Wuwang Hill, where demons and evil spirits bred."

"After the Archon War ended, corpses lay everywhere. The resentment of the fallen gods eroded the land in every direction, and the people could barely survive."

"Although Rex Lapis and Marchosius, God of the Stove, sacrificed themselves for the greater good and condensed that resentment into crystals, the poisonous miasma and evil spirits still ran rampant. Liyue remained trapped in misery."

"At that time, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor gathered the strength of its entire establishment, using heaven and earth as a chessboard to establish a formation that reversed the cosmos."

"As far as I know, this method combined the Seven Gates of Qimen Dunjia into one, but there had originally been Eight Gates, so one gate was missing."

"That is also why the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's lineage later became so sparse and prone to early deaths."

"It could be said that Liyue Harbor's prosperity today was bought with the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor lineage sacrificing its entire fortune."

"Yujing Terrace in present-day Liyue Harbor is the formation eye of that Qiankun Eight-Trigram Formation."

"In Qimen Dunjia, there are eight gates in total: Rest, Life, Injury, Obstruction, Scenery, Death, Fright, and Opening."

"The Life Gate among the eight gates benefits commerce, which is why it is where Liyue's merchants gather."

"The Rest Gate lies in the Kan Water position of the Eight Trigrams. It is auspicious and faces directly toward Liyue Harbor's city gate, also carrying the meaning of welcoming distinguished guests."

"A few turns away lies the Death Gate. Since Pervases had passed away, it was entrusted to Pervases to guard."

"The Injury Gate is located at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. The Injury Gate is unfavorable for business, which is why the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business has always been bleak."

"Hu Tao, as the director, you naturally know that the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor lineage has always acted openly and honorably. Those who defy fate and change destiny while alive will naturally be revered by countless people after death."

"Do not dwell on it too much. Your grandfather's spirit in heaven will protect you throughout your life."

Naturally, the girl had come to terms with it long ago.

But the death of a loved one was like a blade that never truly left. Whenever she thought of it later, it would stab fiercely into her heart.

Even with boundless longing in her heart, Hu Tao still tried to force out a smile.

"Ah, this director already knows. My grandfather, he, he..."

At that moment, even the quirky, optimistic, lively girl's defenses had long since crumbled.

Seeing the girl crouched on the ground and sobbing, the boy could not help feeling somewhat melancholy.

Growing up hurt like having one's sinews pulled and bones torn out.

"The director rarely mentioned Old Hu before. It seems she buried this longing deep in her heart."

Zhongli folded his arms. As someone who had lived through much, he naturally understood everything Lin Yiyi had said.

But hearing the boy bring it up again, even with his more than six thousand years of life experience, he could not help sighing with emotion. "Though things remain, people have changed, and all matters come to rest. Before one can speak, tears already fall..."

Lin Yiyi sighed and leaned casually beneath a streetlamp. The God of Rock looked at him, but in those deep eyes, the expression on the face obscured by the hat's shadow could not be seen.

As one of the Seven Archons of the mortal world, Rex Lapis, Morax, his more than six thousand years of life experience had shown him all the warmth and coldness of the world.

But as a god, he did not possess human emotions. Yet he had walked among mortals as Zhongli and had known the director for a long time, so he could naturally see the longing in the girl's heart.

Because he knew everything, he had remained at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

There was still a slight chill in the early spring night. For some reason, not a single pedestrian could be seen on the streets. Perhaps it was still cold, and everyone had gone home early.

Only the three of them remained on the desolate street when Lin Yiyi suddenly felt a gentle breeze blow over.

The boy did not feel cold. Instead, he found it exceptionally comfortable.

Realizing something, he slowly raised his head. His eyes, like two pools of stagnant water, carried a trace of disbelief.

Zhongli, beside him, followed his gaze toward the girl crouching on the ground.

The breeze gently caressed Hu Tao's hair, and she seemed to sense something.

"Grandpa... is that you...?"

Death was never the end. As long as someone still remembered him, he would live on forever in another way.