"I wonder how much longer I can stay by her side..."
Xiu Yuan murmured as he looked at himself in the mirror.
The Xiu Yuan in the mirror had short white hair and gentle features. His smile was warm, like the winter sun bathing someone in its comforting rays.
After getting dressed, he left the bathroom.
Once he had dried Hu Tao's hair, he went to bed with her.
"Good night, Grandpa."
"Mm... good night."
Looking at Hu Tao asleep against his chest, Xiu Yuan smiled fondly.
She was still very afraid of ghosts, especially ghost stories. Hearing one would leave her unable to sleep at night unless Xiu Yuan soothed her to sleep.
"So cute..."
Xiu Yuan gently poked her smooth, fair cheek and chuckled softly.
"Mm..." She curled up even tighter.
Time flowed like water, passing quickly.
As Hu Tao learned more about funeral arrangements, her disposition began to change noticeably.
Among those changes...
The most striking was that Hu Tao was no longer afraid of ghost stories.
Whenever she heard someone telling a ghost story, she would interrupt and insist on turning it into a heartwarming tale.
"Ghosts are just people's souls. They wouldn't hurt us or scare us."
"Ghosts are so pitiful. They can't eat all those yummy things-fried meatballs, mung bean cakes, ice cream... but they can float around. So cute~"
"One ghost, two ghosts, three ghosts there, drooling at food they can only stare."
Of course, she was also growing increasingly adept at composing silly rhymes. By now, she could make them up on the spot, whenever inspiration struck.
That was thanks to all the classical poems and verses she studied every day. Her store of literary knowledge kept growing, though it was something of a jumble rather than anything refined.
Still, being unrefined was the whole point of silly rhymes.
All of that was well and good.
The strange part was that this little girl had also developed a very peculiar habit...
She liked sleeping in coffins.
Xiu Yuan had discovered this one morning not long ago.
Hu Tao, who should have been curled up beside him, was nowhere to be found that day.
He thought she had gotten up early to recite classical poetry, but she was not there either. Asking the staff yielded no answers.
Only then did Xiu Yuan start to panic. The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was thrown into an uproar that day, with every employee heading out into the streets to search for Hu Tao and ask her playmates.
They nearly turned all of Liyue Harbor upside down, yet still could not find her.
Just as Xiu Yuan was feeling helpless, a coffin quietly opened.
The sight made his whole body jolt in fright.
In all his years in the business, he had never seen anything like it. He scrambled to his feet, but before he could flee, a familiar little hand reached out of the coffin.
"Ah~" Hu Tao yawned, then sat up inside the coffin.
Seeing her dumbstruck grandfather, Hu Tao smiled and waved happily. "Good morning, Grandpa!"
"Little... Little Tao...?" Xiu Yuan was stunned.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected her to climb out of a coffin.
Xiu Yuan wondered whether his anxiety had made him hallucinate. He even rubbed his eyes and pinched his arm.
Once he confirmed it was real, he slowly approached.
"Little Tao... why were you sleeping in there?" Xiu Yuan asked, utterly puzzled.
"Oh... that. I wanted to become a soul too, so I thought I'd try this and see if it worked. Hehe..."
She scratched her head with a goofy grin.
"You..." Xiu Yuan wanted to say something, but let out a sigh instead. Then a smile returned to his face. "You mustn't do this again..."
"Were you really worried, Grandpa?" Hu Tao seemed to notice the beads of sweat on Xiu Yuan's forehead, and asked with a guilty look.
"Yes, very worried. You mustn't go missing." Xiu Yuan nodded in admission.
Hearing that, Hu Tao threw her arms around him and apologized quietly in his embrace. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. Little Tao won't do it again..."
"There, there... as long as you're all right." Xiu Yuan gently stroked her dark hair, his voice tender.
Afterward, Xiu Yuan called back the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's staff and bowed in apology to everyone they had troubled.
When the people of Liyue Harbor heard what had happened, they breathed a sigh of relief, then began teasing Hu Tao.
"That little Hu Tao is such a mischievous thing. Her head's always full of strange ideas."
"Isn't it just? The other day, I saw her carrying a bucket of water to give the two stone lions outside the Ministry of Civil Affairs a bath!"
"Hahahahaha! That little girl is adorable. I saw her too. She even said they were Big Kitty and Little Kitty."
"She's scared the Ministry of Civil Affairs guards in the middle of the night, too. Apparently, she sneaks over with a bucket of water at midnight to bathe the stone lions."
"I heard that from the guards too. They said they'd finally gotten used to her midnight visits when she suddenly stopped coming. A guard asked her about it the other day. Guess what she said?"
"What did she say?"
"She said, 'Big Kitty and Little Kitty need to grow up and be independent. They don't need me looking after them anymore! Now I'm busy talking about life with the statues of the gods!'"
"Hahahaha! That little girl is so funny."
"She certainly is."
From then on, Hu Tao often went to sleep in a coffin, but she always told Xiu Yuan beforehand.
One day...
Hu Tao suddenly asked curiously, "Grandpa... you said before that some souls stay in the mortal world instead of moving on to reincarnation. Why is that?"
"Because they have lingering attachments. Someone they care about, something they haven't finished, a wish to see their friends and family one more time, things like that..." Xiu Yuan answered casually.
"Oh... then is there a way to help them let go of those attachments and move on to reincarnation?"
"There's nothing we can do about that. That's why we should live our lives well while we're alive, so we have nothing to fear when death comes. Remember to follow your heart and do what you want to do. That way, you won't have lingering attachments."
"Then... is there really no way for us to see people who've died again?"
"Other people can't, but those of us at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor can."
"Those of us at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor can!?" Hu Tao suddenly exclaimed, brimming with excitement.
"Yes. If you set out from Wuwang Hill, you can reach the 'Border.' There, you can see those who still have lingering attachments."
"Wuwang Hill...? Where's that?"
"It's a secret place passed down through the generations at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. I'll tell you now, but you must never tell anyone else."
"Okay!"
Before you continue