Chapter Summaries

Xiu Yuan comforted Hu Tao after children mocked and beat her, then encouraged her interest in making up doggerel. At the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Yuan Chen apologized to Hu Tao, and she accepted his gift of mung bean cakes.

• Children mocked Hu Tao as an unwanted orphan and beat her until Xiu Yuan chased them away.
• Xiu Yuan comforted Hu Tao by telling her that her parents had gone to pick stars and that she still had him.
• Xiu Yuan recited a playful verse on the way home, and Hu Tao eagerly asked him to teach her doggerel.
• A woman brought Yuan Chen to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor so he could apologize to Hu Tao and give her mung bean cakes.
• Hu Tao accepted Yuan Chen's apology, and Xiu Yuan invited his mother inside to discuss an upcoming funeral.

Hu Tao befriended Yuan Chen and taught him and the other children doggerel, growing happier under Xiu Yuan’s guidance. After Yuan Chen’s grandmother’s funeral, Hu Tao asked Xiu Yuan what death meant and feared losing him.

• Hu Tao forgave Yuan Chen, shared mung bean cake with him, and accepted his apology for bullying her.
• Yuan Chen explained that he had bullied Hu Tao because he wanted to play with her, and they agreed to become friends.
• Hu Tao taught Yuan Chen to improvise doggerel, and she later led a group of children reciting verses around Liyue City.
• A week later, Hu Tao attended Yuan Chen’s grandmother’s funeral and asked Xiu Yuan what death and reincarnation meant.
• Hu Tao asked whether Xiu Yuan would die too, and he comforted her by saying he would not die anytime soon.

Xiu Yuan taught Hu Tao why funerals could be cheerful and explained that the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor honored each client's wishes. Later, he told Hu Tao she was old enough to bathe by herself, and she misunderstood his reason as a sign he was going to die.

• Hu Tao watched a lively funeral and struggled to understand how people could laugh at such a sad occasion.
• Xiu Yuan explained the Border, souls, and how the living could hold cheerful funerals so the dead would not see them grieving.
• Hu Tao realized the funeral had been lively to comfort the deceased's soul, and Xiu Yuan taught her that the parlor tailored ceremonies to clients' wishes.
• After Hu Tao returned late from playing, Xiu Yuan told her she should learn to bathe herself as she grew older.
• Hu Tao asked if Xiu Yuan was going to die, and he explained that he needed to keep proper boundaries as a man.

Xiu Yuan watched Hu Tao grow from a girl frightened of ghost stories into a mischievous child who liked sleeping in coffins. He told her that the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor could reach the Border, where she might see the dead, and revealed that the path began at Wuwang Hill.

• Xiu Yuan comforted Hu Tao to sleep and noticed how her growing funeral knowledge had made her fearless of ghosts and fond of turning ghost stories into silly rhymes.
• Xiu Yuan and the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor staff searched Liyue Harbor for Hu Tao, then found her waking inside a coffin; she apologized for frightening her grandfather and promised to warn him before sleeping there again.
• People in Liyue Harbor teased Hu Tao about her odd antics, including bathing the stone lions and chatting with statues of the gods.
• Hu Tao asked Xiu Yuan why some souls remained in the mortal world, and he explained that lingering attachments kept them from moving on.
• Xiu Yuan told Hu Tao that Wangsheng Funeral Parlor members could see the dead at the Border and revealed that the secret route began at Wuwang Hill.

Hu Xiu Yuan persuaded Zhongli to step down as Liyue’s god and asked him to become a Wangsheng Funeral Parlor consultant who would guide Hu Tao after Xiu Yuan left. Zhongli accepted the role, and Xiu Yuan sealed their contract with a wooden box.

• Zhongli reflected on whether he had fulfilled his duties after overhearing a merchant tell a subordinate to rest.
• Hu Xiu Yuan approached Zhongli at the harbor and revealed that he knew Zhongli was Rex Lapis.
• Xiu Yuan urged Zhongli to step down and quietly watch over Liyue as it grew without relying on his protection.
• Xiu Yuan asked Zhongli to advise Hu Tao because a contract would soon force Xiu Yuan to leave her.
• Zhongli accepted the request, and Xiu Yuan sealed their contract by giving him an exquisite wooden box.

After Yuan Chen reported that Hilichurls had captured Hu Tao, Xiu Yuan rescued her and fought off a horde of monsters at Mt. Tianheng. Just as he defeated them, two powerful Kairagi appeared, and Xiu Yuan began fighting them while Hu Tao watched from behind a rock.

• Yuan Chen rushed to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and told Xiu Yuan that Hilichurls had captured Hu Tao at Mt. Tianheng.
• Xiu Yuan raced to the mountain, rescued Hu Tao, and carried her away from the first three Hilichurls.
• Xiu Yuan protected Hu Tao behind a rock and used his spear and Eight-Sided Fire to destroy the attacking horde.
• Two level-100 Kairagi appeared, and Xiu Yuan blocked their attacks while telling Hu Tao to stay away and not return to Liyue for help.
• Hu Tao ran behind a distant rock as Xiu Yuan prepared to face the Kairagi.

Xiu Yuan fought four max-level Kairagi to protect Hu Tao and unleashed Torch Dragon Flame Dance, destroying them all. After the Millelith began investigating, he returned to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with Hu Tao, who sought comfort by sleeping beside him.

• Xiu Yuan blocked two Kairagi's attacks, struck them with Inch Punch, and chased them down, but another Kairagi hit him into a tree.
• Xiu Yuan realized he faced four max-level Kairagi and hesitated to use a move with irreversible backlash as they charged.
• Hu Tao stepped forward, and Xiu Yuan released Torch Dragon Flame Dance, summoning a blazing dragon that annihilated all four Kairagi.
• Xiu Yuan comforted the tearful Hu Tao, and the arriving Millelith promised to investigate the attack.
• Xiu Yuan and Hu Tao returned to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, where Hu Tao crawled into his bed during the night and he reassured her.

Knowing the Otherworldly Flower’s mark would soon kill him, Xiu Yuan spent his remaining time making Hu Tao happy while hiding how badly his condition had worsened. Hu Tao discovered the truth, but they both kept pretending, until an urgent voice called for Old Hu three days later.

• Xiu Yuan coughed up blood in the bathroom, and Hu Tao secretly saw him before pretending to be asleep.
• Xiu Yuan spent the following week with Hu Tao, whose stories about his battle with the Kairagi made the children admire him.
• The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor workers and Liyue adults concealed Xiu Yuan’s worsening condition, while he told a worker he wanted Hu Tao to have more time smiling.
• Hu Tao overheard enough to understand that Xiu Yuan was dying, then hid in her room and cried as he watched through the door without comforting her.
• Xiu Yuan and Hu Tao returned to acting cheerful with each other, and three days later someone urgently called for Old Hu.

Xiu Yuan died after a sudden bout of illness, leaving Hu Tao devastated but determined to conduct his funeral herself. After proving she could lead the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao set out on a journey to a little-known destination.

• Xiu Yuan startled Hu Tao with a prank, then coughed up blood and asked her to see him off before dying in her arms.
• A man watching from a distant tree identified Xiu Yuan’s death as another instance of Erosion and gripped a small wooden cube.
• Several days later, Hu Tao conducted Xiu Yuan’s funeral with solemn composure despite the doubts of the parlor’s employees and Liyue’s residents.
• At the gravestone, Hu Tao remembered her grandfather and watched a fiery-red butterfly fly away as the sky cleared.
• After the funeral, the parlor’s employees recognized Hu Tao as qualified to serve as its director.
• That night, Hu Tao packed supplies and left on a journey to a destination known to few.

Hu Tao searched the Border for her grandfather, Hu Xiu Yuan, and accepted that he had departed without lingering attachments. She returned to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and resonated with the Vision he had left for her, while Zhongli revealed that Xiu Yuan had entrusted it to him before his death.

• Hu Tao traveled alone from Wuwang Hill into the Border, asking its wandering souls whether they had seen her grandfather.
• After two days and nights of searching, Hu Tao collapsed, but an elderly woman told her that no Wangsheng Funeral Parlor director had lingered at the Border.
• Hu Tao remembered Hu Xiu Yuan's advice to live without regrets and decided to return to the living world.
• Hu Tao returned to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and found a Vision in her backpack that resonated with her.
• Zhongli revealed that a week earlier Hu Xiu Yuan had given him the Vision and asked him to pass it to Hu Tao after his death.

After choosing Flame Flash Body Flicker, Xiu Yuan began his second life with a mission to help Qiqi survive on her own. He freed her from Mountain Shaper’s amber seal and started teaching her to move, but her stiff body proved difficult to loosen.

• Xiu Yuan selected Flame Flash Body Flicker and received the mission to help Qiqi gain the ability to survive on her own.
• Xiu Yuan followed a call to the cave where Mountain Shaper had sealed Qiqi and melted the amber to free her.
• Xiu Yuan told Qiqi her name and that she was a zombie, then caught her when she struggled to walk and carried her out of the cave.
• Xiu Yuan brought Qiqi to a forest clearing and tried to teach her calisthenics, but her joints were too stiff to move easily.
• Xiu Yuan laid Qiqi on the grass and took off her shoes as he prepared to help loosen her body.

Xiu Yuan helped Qiqi regain her mobility, taught her stretches, and built a cabin with her in the forest. After Qiqi defeated a group of bandits, they took the Mora they left behind and planned to visit town for a notebook, ending the chapter with Qiqi happily calling the cabin her home with Xiu Yuan.

• Xiu Yuan massaged Qiqi until she could move freely, then taught her simple stretching exercises.
• Xiu Yuan and Qiqi began building a cabin, with Qiqi chopping trees and Xiu Yuan handling construction.
• Xiu Yuan heard bandits approach Qiqi and rushed to her, but found she had already defeated them with her Vision.
• Xiu Yuan took the bandits’ Mora and told them to leave, planning to buy Qiqi a notebook in town.
• Xiu Yuan reminded Qiqi they were building a home, and they finished a simple cabin together.
• Qiqi happily said she now had a home with Xiu Yuan.

Xiu Yuan took Qiqi to Wanmin Restaurant, where Xiangling offered him notebooks and coconut milk in exchange for gathering Violetgrass. After giving Qiqi a notebook to help her remember important things, Xiu Yuan left with her, unaware that someone in a Primordial Hexagonal Hat was following them.

• Xiu Yuan and Qiqi ate at Wanmin Restaurant, where Qiqi enjoyed drinking coconut milk.
• Xiu Yuan told Xiangling that Qiqi was a zombie and asked to buy coconut milk on credit so he could afford a notebook for her.
• Xiangling offered Xiu Yuan a notebook and two crates of coconut milk if he gathered Violetgrass for her.
• Xiu Yuan accepted the task and gave Qiqi a notebook, telling her to write down important things.
• Someone wearing a Primordial Hexagonal Hat secretly followed Xiu Yuan and Qiqi as they left.

While Xiu Yuan gathered violetgrass on Mt. Tianheng, Hu Tao kidnapped Qiqi to bury her, but Xiu Yuan rescued her. They continued searching for violetgrass, with Qiqi spotting another flower on a cliff and asking to climb for it.

• Xiu Yuan climbed a cliff to collect violetgrass while Qiqi waited below, worried he might fall.
• Hu Tao sneaked up behind Qiqi, covered her with a sack, and carried her away.
• After collecting another flower, Xiu Yuan found Qiqi missing and hurried to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor after spotting a plum blossom petal.
• Hu Tao tied Qiqi beneath a plum tree and began digging a grave, but Xiu Yuan arrived and freed her.
• Hu Tao tried to bury Qiqi again, so Xiu Yuan picked her up and ran; he later explained Hu Tao's intentions as Qiqi said she disliked her.
• Qiqi spotted more violetgrass on a sheer cliff and asked Xiu Yuan to let her climb for it.

Xiu Yuan rescued Qiqi when she fell while gathering violetgrass, then promised they would stay together forever. After Qiqi mistook his effort to keep her cool for dislike, she exercised under the blazing sun to warm herself, and Xiu Yuan found her crying outside the cabin.

• Qiqi slipped while climbing for violetgrass, and Xiu Yuan caught her before she fell.
• Xiu Yuan comforted Qiqi, promised they would stay together forever, and made a pinky promise with her.
• Qiqi climbed the cliff again, gathered violetgrass, checked her notes, and did stretching exercises with Xiu Yuan at the cabin.
• After Xiu Yuan kept his distance while sleeping, Qiqi thought he disliked her cold body and exercised outside to try to warm herself.
• Xiu Yuan woke to find Qiqi missing, then spotted her exercising under the hot sun; when she saw him, she began to cry.

Xiu Yuan realized Qiqi thought he had slept far away because he disliked her cold body, and he comforted her by explaining he had only wanted to avoid making her uncomfortable. After they returned to Liyue, Xiangling rewarded them for gathering violetgrass with food, coconut milk, and a caged finch for Qiqi.

• Xiu Yuan hugged Qiqi and apologized after realizing his distance had hurt her feelings.
• Xiu Yuan reassured Qiqi that he had stayed away because he was warm, and Qiqi asked to sleep beside him.
• Xiu Yuan and Qiqi returned to Liyue and gave Xiangling fifteen sprigs of violetgrass at Wanmin Restaurant.
• Xiangling treated them to a meal and gave Xiu Yuan two crates of coconut milk for Qiqi.
• Qiqi admired Xiangling's caged finch, and Xiangling gave it to her in exchange for ingredients on their next visit.

After six months living with Qiqi in the forest, Xiu Yuan returned to Liyue to ask people to look after her after he was gone. He gave away all his flower sachets while telling people about Qiqi and asking them not to shun her.

• Xiu Yuan left the forest with over a hundred sachets he and Qiqi had made, promising to bring her coconut milk.
• Xiu Yuan visited Xiangling at Wanmin Restaurant, gave her a sachet, and said he had little time left and wanted people to help Qiqi after he was gone.
• Xiangling sensed something was wrong and followed Xiu Yuan to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, where he gave sachets to Hu Tao and Zhongli and explained Qiqi’s story.
• Xiu Yuan asked Hu Tao and Zhongli to look after Qiqi and left before they could respond; Xiangling understood his purpose and departed too.
• Xiu Yuan spent the day and night distributing the remaining sachets around Liyue, asking people to treat Qiqi kindly, and gave away all of them.

Xiu Yuan sold the sachets he had prepared and returned home with food and Coconut Milk for Qiqi. After she told him how glad she was to have met him, his body began to glow, leaving Qiqi pleading for him to stay as luminous fireflies appeared across the forest.

• Xiangling brought Xiu Yuan food and water, then sent him home with Coconut Milk and packed meals.
• Xiu Yuan returned to Qiqi with the treats, and she learned he had skipped eating while selling their sachets.
• Qiqi told Xiu Yuan that he made her feel warm and that she was glad she had met him.
• Xiu Yuan asked whether Qiqi would remember him if he were gone, and she promised she would not forget him.
• Xiu Yuan began glowing, and Qiqi clung to him and begged him not to leave.
• Pale green lights spread through the forest, drawing the attention of people across Liyue.

As Xiu Yuan faded away, Qiqi begged him to stay, while the sachets he had given Liyue glowed and stirred memories and grief among its people. After chasing his final firefly into the sunrise, Qiqi felt its warmth and remembered the life and promises they had shared.

• Hu Tao and Zhongli watched the glowing forest and found themselves crying and sensing that Xiu Yuan's departure was connected to their grief.
• The people of Liyue held their glowing sachets, remembered Xiu Yuan's kindness, and watched the city shine alongside the forest.
• Xiu Yuan told Qiqi to care for herself, keep her notebook, and let the people of Liyue walk beside her after he was gone.
• Qiqi clung to Xiu Yuan and brought out Little Fluff, but he gradually vanished, leaving only a firefly behind.
• Qiqi chased the firefly out of the forest until it disappeared in the sunrise, and she felt warmth from the sunlight for the first time.
• Qiqi remembered how she and Xiu Yuan had met, their home and routines, and the promises they had made to stay together.

After Xiu Yuan’s death, Qiqi nearly gave up on living, but the people of Liyue welcomed her and reminded her that he had made the city her home. Months later, she was working at Wanmin Restaurant and set out with Xiangling to visit Xiu Yuan.

• Qiqi returned to her cabin, cared for Little Fluff, and filled more than a hundred notebooks with memories of Xiu Yuan.
• Qiqi went to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and asked Hu Tao to bury her, but Hu Tao and Zhongli showed her sachets and explained that Xiu Yuan had made a contract declaring Liyue her home.
• Xiangling and the people of Liyue welcomed Qiqi, giving her a reason to keep living, while Little Fluff returned to her hands.
• Several months later, Qiqi worked at Wanmin Restaurant and accepted Xiangling’s offer to go with her to visit Xiu Yuan.
• Little Fluff landed on Qiqi’s shoulder as she left the restaurant with Xiangling.