Tingyu lay sprawled lazily on top of the blanket while Sanmi bounced around her in circles.
Hu Tao had settled onto the Jumpy Dumpty beside Fang Qiu and was regaling her with the day's more entertaining moments.
That afternoon, two Treasure Hoarders who looked like they hadn't been blessed with much in the way of brains had shown up at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to ask Hu Tao whether it was true — as Han Lingsha's uncle claimed in Sword and Fairy 2 — that grave-robbing shortened your lifespan.
Since Hu Tao had only gotten her copy of the book at noon and was still working through the Nüluo Rock storyline — nowhere near the Ghost Realm arc yet — these two had gone ahead and spoiled it for her.
That, combined with the fact that they were Treasure Hoarders, was reason enough. So Hu Tao told them yes, it was absolutely true.
The color drained from both their faces. They scrambled to ask her how much lifespan they had left — how long did they have to live.
Hu Tao looked them over, then said: "Ten."
Their expressions curdled further. They asked if she meant ten years.
Hu Tao didn't answer. Instead, she quietly intoned: "Nine."
They asked frantically what she meant.
She counted down again: "Eight."
The two Treasure Hoarders stared for a moment — then it clicked. One of them was so terrified he burst into tears.
Hu Tao just smiled and said: "Crying still counts. Five…"
So the two Treasure Hoarders could do nothing but wait in abject despair as she finished her countdown.
When she reached the end, they realized, to their bewilderment, that they hadn't died. Nothing had happened at all — except that the fatty among them had been so rattled by Hu Tao's creepy grin that his legs turned to jelly and he collapsed onto the floor in a heap. Beyond that, not a thing.
She then informed them that she'd only been counting down the time for her kettle to boil. Now that it was done, she was going to brew herself some tea.
"Those two idiots actually thought I was counting down their remaining lifespan," Hu Tao said, laughing.
Listening to the story, Fang Qiu couldn't hold back either — she laughed until she shook, shoulders trembling with mirth.
That was genuinely too good.
The two of them talked for a long while after that, and Fang Qiu's mood lifted considerably.
The night deepened gradually.
Tingyu made her dignified way back to the cat bed and tucked herself in for the night. Sanmi climbed up the cat tower, attempting to squeeze into Tingyu's bed, only to be firmly refused entry.
"Hu Tao… you can't go back tonight, right? Stay and sleep here with me… I'm still a little scared."
Fang Qiu asked, testing the waters.
She'd been dragged out at the crack of dawn by Ganyu and Keqing to read at that Mondstadt dessert shop, and she hadn't slept properly at all. Now that the tension had finally unwound from her body, drowsiness came flooding in wave after wave.
But sleeping alone was out of the question. She'd almost certainly spiral right back into the trembling, wide-eyed state she'd been in earlier.
Sure, the ghost had only been a child — but a ghost was a ghost, and she was allowed to be scared…
In her past life, horror movies had terrified her thoroughly. Seeing an actual ghost in the flesh was something else entirely…
Though, when she thought about it — every other person who got transmigrated into another world seemed to be effortlessly cool, unfazed by anything, strutting through life like they owned the place.
And here she was, scared into tears by one little ghost.
A disgrace to transmigrators everywhere.
At least the only one who knew was Hu Tao. If anyone else ever found out, the title of future Cryo Vision holder would forever carry the shadow of that one time she cried because of a ghost.
"Sure, don't worry. I'm here." Hu Tao smiled and nodded.
Truth be told, she hadn't been comfortable with the idea of Fang Qiu sleeping alone either.
They washed up and made their way back to the bed.
Then Fang Qiu started deliberating.
Under normal circumstances, she would have worn the nightdress Sister Ying'er had given her.
But… the problem was that the nightdress had been ruined. The chest was cinched down to its absolute smallest, and with her figure, there was simply no getting into it.
Sleeping fully clothed, on the other hand, was deeply uncomfortable.
In the end, Fang Qiu settled on stripping down to just her inner layer and sleeping in that.
Sharing a bed with Hu Tao in nothing but undergarments would have been a bit too strange, after all.
When they lay down, Fang Qiu took the inside of the bed against the wall, while Hu Tao took the outside edge. Hu Tao set her Wangsheng Funeral Parlor director's hat on the writing desk.
The Staff of Homa rested against the headboard within easy reach.
Wall on one side, Hu Tao on the other.
Utterly secure.
After all, if she were sleeping on the outer edge and accidentally let a hand or foot slip out from under the blanket mid-sleep, she'd probably be jolted fully awake on the spot — unable to sleep for the rest of the night.
Because in more than a few horror movies from her past life, that was exactly how it went: the victim's foot would slide just a little past the edge of the mattress while they slept, and then — a sudden grip around the ankle. Something cold, from below.
The victim would pick up their phone, switch on the flashlight, and slowly — slowly — crane their head over the edge of the bed to peer underneath… only to find a pair of eyes staring back, filled with something wrong.
There's a ghost under the bed.
There were even jokes online about it: humans have their rules, ghosts have theirs. Ghosts cannot cross the boundary of the bed to harm the living.
Which was probably nonsense, of course — but the point was the feeling of safety. That mattered.
Fang Qiu left the light on. Once Hu Tao had settled in, she pulled the blanket tight around herself and curled toward her. Hu Tao lay on her side too, her pretty face turned toward Fang Qiu.
The bed wasn't large, so they were close — very close.
Close enough that Fang Qiu could catch the scent drifting from Hu Tao: plum blossom and lily, with a faint, clean note of mandarin orange underneath.
Fang Qiu's face warmed.
This was the first time she'd shared a bed with Hu Tao while fully conscious, after all.
Something stirred in her chest — an emotion she couldn't quite name.
A pull. An urge to close the distance just a little more.
Just a little closer.
Well… she was a bit scared of the space farther away, so it was only reasonable.
So she made a show of doing it casually, shifting her body forward just a fraction.
Hu Tao's face, meanwhile, had gone a considerably deeper shade of red. Her cheeks flushed a tempting, rosy crimson, and she couldn't bring herself to meet Fang Qiu's eyes, dropping her gaze to the side.
So close.
Close enough to make out the flawless texture of Fang Qiu's skin, the soft, rosy swell of her lips, the elegant line of her neck, and the delicate arch of her collarbone — and beyond that, the twin peaks that her thin inner layer was utterly failing to conceal.
Come to think of it, if Fang Qiu had been wearing nothing but undergarments, the view would have been… quite something.
The faint warmth of Fang Qiu's breath brushed softly against Hu Tao's cheek.
Hu Tao felt her face grow hotter still.
They didn't fall asleep right away. Instead, they lay there talking for a good while longer.
After some time, Fang Qiu felt the tiredness become impossible to fight.
"Hu Tao, I can't hold on any longer — I'm going to sleep. You should get some rest soon too." She rubbed at her heavy, half-closed eyes, her voice soft and drowsy.
"Mm. Go to sleep." Hu Tao gave a small nod.
With that, Fang Qiu let her eyes drift shut and sank into sleep.
Before long, her breathing settled into a slow, even rhythm — she was out.
Only once Fang Qiu had drifted off did Hu Tao finally close her own eyes, following her quietly into sleep.
Across the room, Sanmi had wriggled her way into Tingyu's cat bed. Tingyu's resistance proved futile; with no other option, she shifted to the side and grudgingly made a little room.
Outside the window, moonlight fell like still water.
Liyue Harbor lay in perfect quiet. The moon was at its loveliest.
A soft sea breeze drifted through, and the harbor's surface glimmered and rippled, carrying the reflection of the moonlit city on its gentle waves.
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