The Group Friend's Remarkable Name: Invincible Pig Head Meat Pole-Dances at Home and Kicks His Mother-in-Law Flying

Weifei Land, Chenghui Plateau.

A home in an urban village.

Hmm. The main room's decor was a little strange. White cloth hung on the walls, paper carnations were piled by the door, and a display board covered in red cloth stood in the center.

In one corner sat an odd assortment of instruments: a suona, cymbals, an erhu, a drum, an electronic keyboard...

"Um... Nangong, are you sure this Yuzu Pepper teacher you found is reliable?"

Sunna surveyed the room's peculiar atmosphere, feeling a little uneasy.

Aria hesitated too. "Nangong, according to my core's analysis, this is a funeral hall in Weifei Land, not a rehearsal room."

"A funeral hall? What's that?" Sunna looked baffled.

"A room where the deceased's body is temporarily kept. It's a custom in Weifei Land."

"!!!!!!"

Sunna froze and instinctively edged closer to Aria.

"Oh, Sunna, Aria, you have nothing to worry about!"

Nangong looked at her two trembling friends as though she couldn't believe them.

With one hand on her hip, she quietly made a gesture behind her back with the other. "Look, even Griseo isn't scared!"

Behind Nangong, Griseo nodded on cue. "Sunna, Aria, there's no color of sadness here," she said earnestly.

In other words, if this really were a funeral hall, it would hold the dull gray left by grieving relatives.

There was none of that here. It was just a rehearsal room decorated like a funeral hall.

"R-really?" Griseo's words put Sunna and Aria somewhat at ease. After all, Griseo wouldn't lie.

The two stepped inside and looked around. Everything seemed normal.

Sunna had just breathed a sigh of relief when mournful funeral music suddenly rang out.

!!!!

A chill ran down Sunna's and Aria's backs. They whipped around to see what had happened—just as the table holding the display board flew into the air!

A figure with red twin-tails appeared. Then a tanuki dropped from the ceiling and hung upside down right in front of Sunna.

"Aaaaaah! The dead have come back to life!!!"

All the color drained from Sunna in a flash, leaving her like a black-and-white drawing.

Aria was no better. The fright made her freeze up, and her projected appearance flickered violently several times.

"Oh my! I didn't expect you two young ladies to scare so easily!"

"Ooh, and one of you is an Intelligent Construct~!" Yuzuha Ukinami tossed her red twin-tails and, grinning, raised a hand to call Cauldron back.

"Hmph! Nangong, I'm never talking to you again!!"

"Me neither!"

After recovering, Sunna and Aria huddled miserably in the corner and accused the mastermind behind the prank.

"Hey, hey, hey! Griseo was in on it too. Why are you only blaming me?" Nangong protested. I object!

"Griseo's such a good girl. You must have led her astray!"

"Exactly! It's all Nangong's fault!"

"..."

On the other side of the room, the scene couldn't have been more different.

"Oh! So your name is Griseo!" Yuzuha Ukinami brought out a heap of Tea Immortal pastries and treated Griseo enthusiastically.

She smiled as she studied the little girl.

How to put it?

Talkative and cheerful, Yuzuha had always been known around the neighborhood as the leader of the kids.

She was a lively little imp who spent all day inventing wild tales, but she had always been a good judge of people.

The moment she saw Griseo, she knew the girl was special.

Innocence? Childlike wonder? No, other children had those too.

She couldn't put her finger on what made Griseo feel so different from everyone around her. Whatever it was, she liked the little girl very much.

Of course, after that little episode, it was time to get down to business.

"Hello! I'm Yuzuha Ukinami from Strange Explanations Studio. Just call me Yuzuha—and this is my partner, Cauldron."

Yuzuha sat on an overturned wooden crate, her tone breezy.

Despite the room's strange decor, she was perfectly at ease. Cauldron nodded from her shoulder and raised a paw to adjust Cauldron's military cap in greeting.

"Hello, Miss Yuzuha. I'm Sunna, the composer for Angels of Delusion."

"I'm Aria, the lead singer. As you can see, I'm an Intelligent Construct. I hope you don't mind."

The three friends, now reconciled, introduced themselves in turn.

When Nangong's turn came, she gave only her name. She and Yuzuha had already gotten acquainted while planning the prank.

"Lovely to meet you! I've heard plenty about you, Miss Sunna!"

"Of course I don't mind, Miss Aria. We have an Intelligent Construct in Weifei Land too—Master Ban Yue. He's greatly respected."

With just a few words, Yuzuha put everyone at ease. Then her lips curled into a mysterious smile.

"Don't worry. Since you've asked me to be your guide, I'll make sure you experience the oldest and most influential music in Weifei Land!"

"Really? Teacher Yuzuha, take us there!" Sunna's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help calling out.

"We don't have to go anywhere. We're already here."

Yuzuha pointed at the floor beneath her feet. She walked to the corner piled with instruments, picked up a suona in one hand and an erhu in the other, then turned to face the three of them.

"Huh???" Sunna and Aria stared at her, utterly confused.

But Yuzuha really wasn't lying.

These two instruments were indeed part of Weifei Land's longest musical tradition. The others were too, of course.

As the saying went—

Of all instruments, the suona reigned supreme: when it played, you were either headed for heaven or off to your wedding.

A pipa lasted a thousand years, a zither ten thousand; one erhu could accompany an entire life.

You arrived in this world full of excitement; once the suona sounded, the whole show was over.

The first time you heard a suona, you didn't know its tune. The next time, you were already in the coffin.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!"

The three members of Angels of Delusion were plainly wondering whether she was serious.

Yuzuha hurriedly waved her hands, slipping into a playful tone.

"As the old saying in Weifei Land goes, there's no one an erhu can't make cry, no soul a suona can't send off, no sorrow a flute can't blow away, and no one a ringing gong can't wake!

"That's the very essence of Weifei Land!"

As she spoke, Yuzuha struck a pose with the suona, looking every bit like a traveling performer.

"Yuzuha isn't lying."

Over by the desserts, Griseo had already eaten most of the pastries.

Tea Immortal's sweets had clearly won her over. Perhaps they carried the flavors of Shenzhou from her memories, or perhaps Hua had made something like them for her before.

"Shall we give it a try?" Sunna and Aria asked together.

After hearing Griseo, they exchanged a glance and spoke hesitantly.

As for Nangong, she didn't mind either way. She knew how to do so many things that anything was fine.