Early morning.
The sky was still overcast.
Fortunately, after three straight days of heavy snow, the snow had finally let up considerably, drifting down in sparse, scattered flurries.
For a while, the streets and alleys of Liyue Harbor were bustling with life, and outside Wanwen Bookhouse in particular, novel enthusiasts held up umbrellas and formed a long, winding line.
"Boss lady, give me a copy of Weathering With You, and one copy of The Temptation of the Boar."
"Sss... Brother, what the heck is The Temptation of the Boar? I know you're a Mondstadter who worships the freedom-loving Anemo Archon, but you... aren't you being just a little too free? We've got a famous doctor here in Liyue named Baizhu—I'd suggest you find some time to go see him..."
"Why would I need a doctor? The Temptation of the Boar is just a boar-cuisine cookbook. What's so strange about that?"
"Uh... so it's a cookbook, hahahaha, then never mind. Boss lady, I'll take one copy of Weathering With You, one copy of After Reincarnating as a Slime, I Gained the Devour Skill, and one copy of My Tentacles Are Invincible."
The proprietress Jifang breathed a puff of white mist onto her hands, rubbed them together, found the three books, handed them to the novel enthusiast, and collected sixty Mora.
"Ugh, it's so cold. When is this weather ever going to clear up?"
Looking at the overcast sky outside the window, Jifang sighed.
It had been snowing for so many days now, with no sign whatsoever of stopping.
Just as she was lamenting the weather, the people lined up outside Wanwen Bookhouse were shivering in the biting wind.
"Oh, mama... it's so cold... so cold it makes me want to compose a poem..."
"Wouldn't have guessed a big rough-looking bloke like you could compose poetry."
"Of course—when your crotch's on fire, anything's possible."
"Oh-ho? So full of rhymes. Then compose me a line?"
"Snowflakes drift as passersby gaze; Xuejian sees the snow, blithe and carefree."
"You son of a—! I've got no grudge against you, so why are you knifing me!"
"So cold. It's been snowing this long already—when will it ever end?"
"This wretched weather... my clothes won't even dry..."
"Come to think of it, I saw the new book preview yesterday—that scoundrel Fang Qiu's new book seems to be about the weather..."
"Isn't that too much of a coincidence?"
"You mean Old Thief Fang Qiu conjured up this weather just to make his book sell like crazy? Old Thief Fang Qiu is truly heinous!"
"What nonsense are you spouting... I mean that Old Thief Fang Qiu saw this wretched weather and only then wrote Weathering With You."
"Now that you put it that way, it's possible too..."
The crowd chattered among themselves.
As the crowd lined up to buy books, two figures—one tall, one short—walked past the line.
"You two young ladies over here, would you like to buy some apples?"
the apple-selling uncle asked.
"No need, thank you."
Lumine refused decisively.
"Traveler, do you think that if Miko finds out the books already went on sale in Liyue and we only then went to Liyue Publishing House to pick them up, she'll dock our pay?"
Paimon, cradling a big meat bun in her hands, floated along beside Lumine and spoke with a hint of worry.
"Relax, it'll be fine."
Lumine said.
They were supposed to go to Liyue Publishing House to pick up Fang Qiu's book the day after watching the new play Fang Qiu and Yun Jin had collaborated on.
But then heavy snow started falling the very next day, so they just holed up in the inn doing nothing at all—cooped up for a full three days.
It was only today, with the snow lightening, that they finally headed out to help transport the books.
"True enough—as long as we don't say anything, she won't know... Wow, this meat bun is so delicious. Exactly what you'd expect from Xiangling's cooking. Mixing meat sauce with fresh, savory, spicy seasonings and wrapping it all into a bun—it's just too delicious. And eating a meat bun like this on a winter morning warms you up all over."
Paimon took a bite of the meat bun, and the spicy, stimulating aroma of the seasonings and the meaty fragrance surged into her mouth together with the meat sauce and grease, making her praise it over and over without meaning to. After speaking, she took another fierce bite.
"Is it really that tasty? Let me try some too."
Hearing Paimon praise it so highly, Lumine also took a piping-hot, fragrant meat bun out of the paper bag and started eating.
Paimon was right—the meat bun was delicious.
Just as Lumine, left wanting more after a single bite, was about to take another, Paimon suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Lumine asked.
"Traveler, don't those two people look kind of familiar to you? I keep feeling like I've seen them somewhere?"
Paimon rubbed her chin, wearing a thoughtful expression, and said.
"Hmm?"
Following Paimon's gaze, she saw two dignified, imposing men standing at the back of the line.
The two of them wore long robes that gradated from brown into a dark ochre-yellow, and their every gesture brimmed with an otherworldly air.
One look told you they were no ordinary mortals.
"They do seem kind of familiar."
Lumine nodded.
"I keep feeling like I've seen them somewhere—it's so strange... why don't I have any memory of it at all?"
Paimon was a bit puzzled. She scratched the back of her head and said, "Never mind, I'll stop thinking about it. Let's just hurry to the publishing house. Even though Miko won't know unless we tell her, let's not keep her waiting too long either."
"Mm."
Lumine nodded.
As they talked, they made their way toward Liyue Publishing House.
Only after they had walked far off did Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper finally let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close—we were nearly spotted."
"Indeed. If the Traveler and her companion found out that we'd actually come to line up to buy Fang Qiu's book, the Adepti's dignity would be dragged through the dirt."
"That Cloud Retainer fellow—just because they went off to watch the film without bringing her along, she flew into such a rage. Having us come buy that child Fang Qiu's new book for her is one thing, but she even insists we read it together with her."
"Let's just buy them quickly and get out of here. There are quite a few Adepti living in seclusion in Liyue Harbor—we absolutely mustn't be recognized."
"Easier said than done—but isn't this line far too long? Just standing in it, we'd be here until noon."
"Not being able to come to Liyue Harbor in our Adepti forms is truly such a nuisance... having to wait in line just to buy a book."
Just as they were communing telepathically through their arts, a tall, well-built young man of extraordinary bearing walked over.
The moment they saw the young man, the young man saw them too, their gazes crossing.
The young man gave them a slight nod, then smiled helplessly, and without saying anything more, turned and left.
Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper were instantly dumbstruck.
That... that... wasn't that Rex Lapis!
They'd been seen by the very person they least wanted to have see them!
The Adepti's dignity...
Uh...
Wait—wasn't that a book in Rex Lapis's hand?
Was that Fang Qiu's... Weathering With You?
Rex Lapis actually reads Fang Qiu's books too?
Just as they stood there stunned, a voice rang out behind them.
"Ahem, hello there, you two."
Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver turned to look, and saw a young girl with red-brown gradient twin ponytails, wearing a Tai-hexagram hat of Heaven and Earth adorned with a winter plum blossom, standing behind them and pulling a small cart.
"I'm the seventy-seventh-generation Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. My name is Hu Tao. Seeing that you two gentlemen carry yourselves so extraordinarily, you must be men who do great things. And men who do great things often run into danger—which, by my reckoning, makes you Peach-tier clients. So, what do you say? Any interest in taking care of some Wangsheng Funeral Parlor business? We collect corpses across all of Liyue—no matter where you are, our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has the means to recover your remains and give them a grand, dignified burial, treating you to a funeral fit for the Adepti."
Without even waiting for the two of them to respond, Hu Tao launched into an unstoppable sales pitch.
This was the latest lesson she'd distilled from experience.
When pitching a Wangsheng Funeral Parlor package, you had to finish laying out the whole package before the other party could shoo you away.
Having finished the package, it was time to bring up the discounts. Hu Tao paused, then went on, "For the two of you, how about I give you fifty percent off? Buy one get one free, the more you buy the more you get. And if you can rope in one more person, I can go as low as sixty percent off—an absolute steal. So? Care to give it some thought?"
With that, Hu Tao blinked her eyes and waited for their order.
"No need."
Mountain Shaper refused.
Had they been ordinary folk, he would surely have ignored her entirely.
But seeing that this girl before him wore the very same clothes as Rex Lapis, and moreover claimed to be the Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor—in other words... she had some connection to Rex Lapis.
That helpless smile Rex Lapis had just given was clearly meant for this child.
Best to offer her a reply, then.
"Now, don't be so quick to turn me down. Are you two here to buy Fang Qiu's book?"
Hu Tao asked with a beaming smile.
"That's right."
Moon Carver said.
"I see."
Hu Tao smiled and said, "I can tell that waiting in line is quite tiring for you. So here's the deal—as long as you're willing to order a Wangsheng Funeral Parlor package, I'll wait in line on your behalf. How does that sound?"
"Oh? Now that's rather interesting."
Mountain Shaper raised an eyebrow and said, "In that case, we'll order a package from you."
"So what price range would you like? Our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor offers..."
Before Hu Tao could finish, Mountain Shaper simply took out a coin purse stuffed with Mora and tossed it to her.
"The price range of this much Mora. There—we'll discuss the package details later. We'll be waiting for you at the teahouse over there. Three books in total."
With that, they walked off toward the teahouse.
"Right, right, right—just leave it to me."
Hu Tao waved her hand with a beaming smile.
Looking at the pouch of Mora in her hand, she was thoroughly satisfied.
Not only could she move up two spots in line, she'd also landed such a big order.
The Mora in this pouch was more than enough to select the very highest tier of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's standard funeral rites.
A solid big client, no doubt about it.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Zhongli really did have a keen eye—that nod he'd just given was surely a hint for her to pitch to these two.
And this whole scene just now had been taken in by two people passing by off to the side.
Those two—one skinny, one fat.
"B-big bro, those two seem awfully rich, don't they?"
the fat one said.
"Obviously—your big bro here isn't blind."
The skinny man shot a glance at Hu Tao.
The seventy-seventh-generation Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Last time, his book-scalping scheme had run straight into her hands.
He'd lost a good several thousand Mora.
As for fighting—there was no way they could win. Never mind just the two of them brothers; even ten more Treasure Hoarder brethren would be no match for her.
They could only swallow their pride and choke back their anger.
But then again.
Thanks to her, though, they now had new customers.
He turned to look at the two young men leisurely sipping tea inside the teahouse, and a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Two fat sheep, ripe for the plucking."
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