"Wow! Why is your mouth glowing, Yu Jin?" Inside the reception hall of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao saw the sparkling light from Yu Jin's mouth and inexplicably felt a sense of praise.
Could it be that the tea brewed this time perfectly suited Yu Jin's taste? But Yu Jin hadn't even drunk it yet?
"What's so special about my mouth glowing? My whole body can glow," Yu Jin said, and sparks began to gush out from the cracks in his body, choking Hu Tao.
Now he was alone again. After returning from the Dark Sea, Dvalin had fallen into a state of depression.
He passed through Liyue without a word, dropped Yu Jin without a word, and flew back to Mondstadt without a word.
This process was smooth and seamless—except for Yu Jin's cursing when he was dropped.
It seemed there was a tragic thick barrier between Dvalin and Kutri.
"Brother Yu Jin, could you please keep the noise down a bit? I can't see the quality of the noctilucous jade clearly," beside Yu Jin and Hu Tao was a very burly man.
Simply being robust wasn't much; what was more astonishing was that two bright orange jade horns grew on top of the man's head, looking quite peculiar.
This was Azhdaha in human form! At this moment, he wore glasses, held a magnifying glass, and was intently staring at the noctilucous jade on the table.
His entire face was almost pressed against the table—Azhdaha was good at everything except that he was severely nearsighted.
To use Baizhu's words, he was practically blind; he must have been someone who spent his youth hiding under the covers reading idle books.
Unfortunately, Azhdaha hadn't read many books at all; his eyes were naturally bad. If it weren't for Zhongli's touch, he would probably still be a blind dragon.
Could it be that the previous Lord Rex Lapis overused his eyes, and it was inherited by Azhdaha?
Yu Jin thought so. He looked at Azhdaha, who was wearing the same style of glasses as Baizhu, and only felt it was extremely incongruous.
Glasses and a muscular man, two completely unrelated things, appeared together on Azhdaha. One could only say he was truly a dragon; he easily achieved what humans could not!
"What are you doing, you fellow?" Yu Jin nudged the noctilucous jade on the table. If there was anything special about it... did the fact that the noctilucous jade's main body was inside the Shitou ore count?
"Gambling on stones? Haven't you heard of it, Yu Jin?" Hu Tao also ran over, mimicking Azhdaha's serious observation.
"Business in the parlor hasn't been great lately, so I'm here to earn some extra money," Azhdaha adjusted his glasses, picked up a mottled ore, and squeezed it hard.
"Clatter!" The outer shell of the ore completely shattered, revealing the warm, jade-like noctilucous jade within.
To call it jade would actually be somewhat belittling it; high-quality noctilucous jade often sold for a higher price than jade in Liyue. And what Azhdaha held was clearly such a top-grade item.
"Not bad, it seems my hands haven't gotten rusty after sleeping for so long," Azhdaha placed the noctilucous jade down and chuckled softly.
"This... this, this, this..."
Hu Tao held up the noctilucous jade on the table, and now it was her turn for her eyes to light up. Although she wasn't particularly fond of Mora, who would say no to more?
"Director, your drool is about to drip!"
Azhdaha tapped Hu Tao's head and continued, "Moreover, such good fortune is rare. Director, you should think more about how to expand Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business in the future."
Even after traveling all over Liyue, Azhdaha had only found this one bargain. The other ores on the table were merely of decent quality, far from being considered exquisite.
Although Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was neither big nor small, it couldn't be sustained by gambling on stones alone.
"Hehe, of course! I've already thought of a new idea!" Hu Tao chuckled, then confidently said, "For one business transaction, free stone gambling. How about that? Won't many people come?"
"I knew you'd say that. If the Director wants to, then go ahead and mess around!" Azhdaha sighed, helpless.
Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's funeral business had a long history, and people in Liyue had heard bits and pieces about it.
Although they usually avoided talking about it, when the need truly arose, the first place they thought of was still Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Therefore, Hu Tao's actions actually affected the number of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's businesses. But it didn't matter; young people being a bit lively was understandable.
"From what you two are saying, Azhdaha has joined Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?" Yu Jin raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Of course! Allow me to formally introduce you to the new consultant of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor—Azhdaha!" Hu Tao jumped in front of Azhdaha, pointing with both hands, looking very excited.
How could she not be excited? She originally thought that Wangsheng Funeral Parlor hiring Zhongli was already a stroke of immense luck, but she never expected Zhongli to also bring along someone similar to him.
When Zhongli brought Azhdaha, he said that Azhdaha was his good friend who recently wanted to try a different line of work, so he brought him to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, hoping Hu Tao could take him in.
Of course, Hu Tao wholeheartedly agreed to such a request. Zhongli's friend must be knowledgeable about everything, from astronomy to geography, right?
And Azhdaha did not disappoint Hu Tao. Azhdaha could interject on any matter, past or present.
Especially in matters of rock, his mastery was even greater than Zhongli's.
Although it might sound a bit unkind, Hu Tao truly hoped that Zhongli could send his other good friends over as well.
With such a group of consultants, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor expanding across The Seven Nations would no longer be a dream!
Thinking of this, Hu Tao couldn't help but hum a little tune that only she could understand.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know. The Director's thoughts are hard to guess."
Yu Jin and Azhdaha whispered to each other for a bit but couldn't figure it out.
The spirited Hu Tao saw Yu Jin whispering with Azhdaha, and suddenly a Khvarena flashed, and she quickly ran over, pulling Yu Jin's hand and saying, "How about it, Yu Jin, do you want to join us?"
"Our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has high salaries, good benefits, lots of holidays..."
In her words, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor seemed to have become the best organization in the world, and Yu Jin would suffer a huge loss if he didn't join.
However, none of this moved Yu Jin. He looked at Azhdaha, who was shaking his head helplessly beside Hu Tao, and then thought of Zhongli, who idled around all day.
Yu Jin considered Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's current strength and decisively rejected Hu Tao's request.
Yu Jin felt that Wangsheng Funeral Parlor could already contend with the Fatui, and with him added, Teyvat would probably see a change in its skies.
"No, no, Adventurers don't stay in one place for too long!" Yu Jin used the Adventurers' Guild as a shield, batting away Hu Tao's request.
"Is that so? Alright then, if you ever fall on hard times, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor can take you in."
"I don't think I'll ever fall on hard times."
Yu Jin felt that Hu Tao was cursing him.
"By the way, where's Zhongli? Out shopping again?" After talking for a long time without finding any trace of Zhongli, Yu Jin asked.
He wanted to know where Morgott had gone.
"Zhongli... hmm, indeed, he's been out for quite a while. Such a simple matter shouldn't take this long," Azhdaha pondered, recalling what Zhongli had told him before leaving.
Just signing a contract shouldn't take that long, right? Even if that contract was the "contract to end all contracts"... Northland Bank.
This was the Fatui's stronghold in Liyue. Although the previous unrest in Liyue should be attributed to the Fatui, that was only something the higher-ups knew.
For ordinary Liyue people, the earth-shattering commotion a while ago was caused by Lord Rex Lapis during his tribulation.
The Emperor's tribulation, the resulting celestial phenomena, could naturally flatten Minlin. But what was heartbreaking was that under that heavenly tribulation, the Emperor had died and his Dao dissipated.
Aside from the grief, more Liyue people chose to move forward. As for the Northland Bank, it was spared the fate of being pelted with rotten eggs.
"Creak—"
Zhongli pushed open the door. Inside the vast Northland Bank, only Yekaterina remained, looking somewhat desolate.
"Is the Lady here?" Zhongli walked to the counter, tapped the table, and asked.
"La... Lady?" Yekaterina looked at Zhongli and fell into thought.
"Yes, she should have informed you all. My name is Zhongli."
"Mr. Zhongli?" Yekaterina paused, then said with a constipated expression, "The Lady moved out a long time ago."
"She said she wanted to avoid disaster and hasn't returned yet."
"???"
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