Hello, Rex Lapis!

Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, the only establishment in Liyue that handled funeral affairs, had now been passed down to its seventy-seventh generation. Its current director, Hu Tao, was a teenage girl. It was said that the first funeral she had handled after becoming director had been her own grandfather's.

Director Hu Tao was a lively girl with twin ponytails, and the plum blossom patterns in her pupils added an especially playful touch to her appearance. Her words and manner were completely at odds with her solemn ceremonial attire, leaving customers who met her feeling that she hardly seemed like someone who worked in the funeral industry.

At that moment, Hu Tao's pretty face was full of worry as she slumped over her own front counter. Young as she was, she now had two troubles.

The first was that the consultant she had paid a fortune to hire had vanished again. His absence alone would have been tolerable, but the problem was that people kept sending bills to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Now, whenever she saw someone enter, her first thought was no longer that they were a customer, but a runner delivering a bill.

Hu Tao could have understood if the bills had been for proper business, but most of them covered her consultant's tea tasting, drinking, dining, music, storytelling, shopping, and so on. And the prices were exorbitant.

Although this little bit of money was nothing to Hu Tao, it was still irritating.

If not for the fact that this consultant truly was first-rate at his job, she really would have liked to fire him.

As Liyue's sole funeral service provider, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had already established a monopoly. Once any business became a monopoly, it could hardly make only small change. In a city as large as Liyue, what day passed without some parting in life or death? Besides, birth, aging, illness, and death were things everyone had to experience. This was no longer an iron rice bowl, but a golden one.

Moreover, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor stood right beside Yujing Terrace. A location like that was roughly equivalent to opening your door and seeing Tiananmen Square.

Not only that, but Wangsheng Funeral Parlor single-handedly organized both the Liyue Qixing's annual Rite of Descension and the Rite of Parting. That alone could make her filthy rich. Hu Tao could be called one of the wealthiest girls in Liyue Harbor; if she wanted to be less modest, she could even drop the "one of."

Her second worry was that Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business was steadily declining, making her question her management methods a little. She had clearly borrowed Liyue's most successful marketing strategy-discount promotions-so why had business not improved?

Just then, a young man and woman walked side by side through Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's doors. Noticing someone enter, Hu Tao did not even lift her head. She raised a hand listlessly and said, "Whose bill is it this time? Give it here. I'll settle it for you."

After receiving no response for quite a while, Hu Tao found it rather strange and raised her head to look ahead. A young man and woman were examining Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's furnishings and decor. Although the young man had regular features, he simply paled in comparison with the woman beside him.

Hu Tao's gaze immediately settled on that striking ice-cold beauty, then drifted unnaturally downward and stopped on a pair of impressive peaks. Her hands unconsciously moved to her own chest. At that moment, Hu Tao's young heart suffered a devastating blow.

She quietly consoled herself: I'm still young. They'll grow.

"Excuse me, does Mr. Zhongli live here? We have a request for him."

When Hu Tao heard that the two of them were looking for Zhongli, she assumed they were delivering bills too. But the latter part of their statement meant that they were not. Instead, they were the people she valued most-customers!

Hu Tao perked up at once, instantly casting aside the discouragement from that earlier blow, and welcomed them with great enthusiasm.

"Hello, honored guests! I'm Hu Tao, the current director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. What can I help you with? We're running a discount promotion right now. Premium nanmu coffins, buy one, get one free; buy two, get three free. The more you buy, the more you get! Would you consider ordering a few sets?"

"Uh, we don't need coffins at the moment."

"No coffins? That's fine. Wangsheng Funeral Parlor offers all sorts of other services: laying out the deceased, keeping vigil, burial arrangements, memorial tablet placement, and more. We offer a complete service, guaranteed to let the departed cross the Border peacefully and without regrets, and pass on to their next life."

"Uh, Director Hu, you've misunderstood. No one has died. We just..."

"It doesn't matter if no one has died. You'll become my customers sooner or later anyway. Would you like to book our services for your relatives in advance? Or you could make a reservation for yourselves. Once you become our customers, if you meet with any accidents in the future, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor can arrange its services immediately."

"Umm... I don't have parents or relatives. Shenhe, you still have a few masters. Would you like to book services for them too?"

Shenhe looked at him as though he were an idiot. Booking Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's services for Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, and Mountain Shaper-how had he even come up with that?

"There's no need."

"Actually, we're looking for Mr. Zhongli to ask him a favor. Could you tell us where he is, Director Hu?"

"All right. Anyone who comes through our doors is a guest. Consultant Zhongli isn't at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor right now. Please wait here, you two. I'll go find him and bring him back."

With that, Hu Tao charged out of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, looking as though she had a bellyful of anger.

In fact, Hu Tao really was nursing her anger. Since Zhongli was first-rate at his work, she could tolerate him eating her food and using her things day after day. But there was one thing she absolutely could not allow: customers coming to their door and giving up on a deal because they could not find him.

She could understand being turned down when she went out to promote their business herself, because the customers had no need for their services at the time. But now customers had come to their door asking for Zhongli by name, only for him to be absent. That was unacceptable to Hu Tao.

If this deal fell through, he could dream on if he thought she would keep paying his bills!

Yucheng and Shenhe sat leisurely in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's reception area, entirely unaffected by its eerie atmosphere. Since the funeral parlor remained in the shade all year round, and dealt in funerals besides, there was always a faint chill inside.

Only half an hour passed before Yucheng heard a commotion outside. The petite Hu Tao appeared at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's entrance, desperately dragging along a handsome, imposing adult man.

In truth, judging by their bearing alone, Shenhe and Zhongli were very similar, giving them an inexplicable sense of compatibility as a couple. At that thought, a trace of displeasure suddenly rose in Yucheng's heart, but it soon subsided.

Hu Tao forcibly pushed the man in front of Yucheng and Shenhe, then spoke before he could. "This is Mr. Zhongli, our consultant at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Have a chat. I'll go prepare some tea."

Hu Tao skipped off to the back room of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to boil water and make tea. Zhongli shook his head helplessly before turning to look at the customers who had come to find him.

When he saw Shenhe sitting nearby, a trace of surprise appeared on his face. Isn't this that little girl from Cloud Retainer's household?

"Welcome to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, both of you. What can I do for you?" Zhongli had cultivated his composure extremely well. For an old hand like him, who had lived through more than six thousand years, remaining unruffled and unmoved by favor or disgrace was already part of the personal charm a mature man ought to possess.

Yet when he heard Yucheng's very first words, those years of cultivated composure nearly shattered in an instant.

"Hello, Rex Lapis!"