"Su Bai, is Mona really going to be okay like this?"
Paimon looked at Mona with some concern. Along the way, she kept seeing what seemed like white souls drifting out of Mona's slightly open mouth. Even now that they had arrived at Wangshu Inn, Mona still looked like she was on the verge of death.
"Hmm, there might actually be a problem. When I ordered a table full of meat dishes earlier, Mona didn't show any excitement at all. That is indeed unusual."
Su Bai rubbed his chin. Ever since learning that the notebook was what she had been looking for, Mona had been muttering things like "It's over" and "The old hag is going to kill me, she definitely will." This left everyone confused, but given her current state, they chose not to press her for details.
"Could it be because Mona is too poor? That she doesn't have enough Mora to go home?"
Lumine guessed as she handed out chopsticks. Noticing that Paimon's small hands couldn't handle regular chopsticks, Su Bai had specifically asked the innkeeper, Verr Goldet, for a pair of children's chopsticks for her.
"Go home? That's right! As long as I don't go back, that old hag can't do anything to me! Thank you, Lumine."
Lumine's offhand remark gave Mona an excellent idea. Indeed, if she simply didn't return, the old woman couldn't do anything to her, and she wouldn't have to worry about being subjected to that woman's "cruel methods."
But if she didn't go back, where could she go? Initially, she had planned to take Su Bai to Mondstadt. With the city still recovering from Stormterror's attack, rent there would surely be cheap. Plus, she could fulfill the appointment the old hag had made with Alice years ago.
But now Su Bai didn't want to leave Liyue, and the star of that appointment—little Klee—was too young to understand anything. She also didn't feel comfortable leaving her pen pal alone in Liyue. What if he ran into danger? Unlike her, who could use her astral projection to escape underground, Su Bai didn't have such abilities.
Mona tugged at her hair in frustration. It all came down to the same problem: she was poor, without Mora. If she had known things would turn out like this, she never would have bought that latest astrological equipment. Now that equipment was sitting with the old hag, practically given away for free.
"How frustrating! Why is there never enough Mora?"
Watching Mona suddenly become agitated, Lumine saw a reflection of herself. There was a time when she had been frustrated about Mora too. As for now, she had fully adapted to living without it. After all, wild raspberries and apples were edible enough, and clearing out a Hilichurl camp wasn't the worst place to sleep.
Seeing that Mona had come all the way to Liyue out of concern for his safety and had even fainted from hunger on the way, Su Bai felt he should help her find work.
"Well, Mona, if you need a place to stay, I can find you a job with room and board included and decent pay."
"You'd have plenty of free time every day—you might not even work more than a few times a month. But the work location... I'm worried you might not be comfortable with it."
"Really, pen pal? I don't care about the location, as long as I don't have to fight the Oceanid and I get room and board!"
Mona got so excited she jumped up from her seat. A job with room, board, and decent pay would solve her immediate problems and, more importantly, let her stay in Liyue.
"Calm down. Let me first tell you what the workplace—Wangsheng Funeral Parlor—does before you get too excited."
Su Bai gestured for Mona to settle down. Would she get angry with him later when she found out what Wangsheng did? He genuinely liked his pen pal and thought she was someone worth befriending.
"Wangsheng was established when Liyue was first founded, and now it's on its seventy-seventh generation. I don't know what it did in the past, but now Wangsheng specializes in funeral services."
"If you're not afraid, I'm sure Director Hu of Wangsheng won't treat you unfairly."
Hearing the word "funeral," Mona initially hesitated. But hearing that Su Bai seemed to work at Wangsheng too, and his promise that she would be well-treated, she gritted her teeth and agreed. It's not like she hadn't seen dead bodies before as an astrologer—she wasn't some little girl who screamed at the sight of a corpse.
"No problem. I appreciate your help. I'm not one of those girls who scream and cry when they see a dead body."
"Great, it's settled then. When we get to Liyue Harbor, I'll introduce you to Hu Tao. Oh, and Lumine, do you want to put your name down at Wangsheng too?"
"If you do, you could probably stay at Wangsheng and not have to find a place in Liyue Harbor. From what I remember, monthly rent there is pretty steep."
"Well... I suppose... I'll take you up on that, Su Bai."
Lumine had been about to refuse, but after hearing Su Bai's last comment, she quickly changed her mind. As for Paimon, as long as there was good food, she wouldn't complain even if they ended up sleeping at Wuwang Hill.
After Su Bai gave Mona a general overview of what working at Wangsheng involved, she understood she wouldn't be moving bodies but rather stepping in to help whenever the funeral parlor was short-staffed. By the time he finished explaining, Su Bai was parched.
"Boss, isn't the almond tofu ready yet?"
"Young Master Su Bai, there's been a small issue in the kitchen. Yanxiao is cooking using the makeshift stove downstairs, so naturally things are taking a bit longer. Would you like me to brew some good tea for you first?"
Verr Goldet swayed her hips as she walked over from behind the counter to explain. This fox adeptus was someone Lady Ningguang had personally instructed her not to offend. If anyone else had asked, she would have simply brushed them off.
"There's an issue in the kitchen? It's not blown up, has it? That can't be—little Klee has been sitting quietly on her stool the whole time."
"Young Master Su Bai, you jest. The problem is that Yanxiao claims he saw the ghost of a little girl in the kitchen and insists on finding a master to exorcise it."
"That's why today, a so-called master has come to perform the exorcism."
A little girl's ghost? Su Bai thought for a moment. He vaguely remembered Hu Tao mentioning something about this. Logically speaking, Yanxiao shouldn't have been able to see anything.
Verr Goldet placed a small white cat in front of Klee. The little girl's eyes lit up as she petted it, and the cat obediently sat on the table, letting her touch it as she pleased.
The innkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. She had heard of this Spark Knight's destructive capabilities. Thankfully, she seemed far less interested in the kitchen than her mother had been. Otherwise, Wangshu Inn might have needed renovations.
"Oh? An exorcism master? I don't sense any adeptal or elemental energy nearby. Is this some new method of exorcism?"
Hearing that Wangshu Inn had attracted an exorcism master piqued Su Bai's interest. Since the food wouldn't be ready for a while anyway, he might as well go see what all the fuss was about.