Successive Directors of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor bear the responsibility of guarding the boundary.
Hu Tao introduced Stelle to a lot of history about the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Originally, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was not the funeral institution it is today; on the contrary, it was more like a medical clinic that treated illnesses and saved lives.
During the God War, corpses littered the land, lives were devastated, infectious diseases spread everywhere, and "death" frantically encroached upon the world of the living.
At that time, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was born. As insignificant humans, they spent a long time driving death back.
After a long time, Liyue Harbor prospered, and everyone chased after fame and Mora. Finally, the frenzied people disturbed the "legacy" of death.
God remnants raged in the human world; that was "life" in ultimate destruction, and "death" in the backlash at its end.
After that, a very long time passed, balance was restored, and boundaries were drawn, leading to today's Liyue Harbor, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and…
"Hu Tao, can you tell me more?" Stelle, still wanting more, quickly asked again.
"No! Your curiosity is really strong, but it's best not to know things that don't need to be known." Hu Tao shook her head firmly, then spread her hands and said.
"In short, just treat these things as stories, and just remember that the current Wangsheng Funeral Parlor does funeral business."
"Oh… alright." Stelle nodded and redirected her gaze to what was in front of her.
This was a forest, and for some reason, faint mist was rising around it, making it appear somewhat terrifying and eerie against the backdrop of the night.
This area seemed to be called Wuwang Slope?
"Hu Tao, can we really find that person from the boundary?" Stelle couldn't help but ask.
Hu Tao said that if they asked the deceased, everything would be clear.
But she couldn't guarantee that they would find the person's ghost one hundred percent.
"It's hard to say. Generally, those who have regrets will linger at the boundary for a while." Hu Tao skipped ahead, looking very familiar with the environment here.
She must have been here countless times already.
"Of course, there's another possibility: because of deep resentment, they've already turned into a vengeful spirit."
"If that's the case, we might at most just see her off. Don't expect any information."
"Vengeful spirits… So, do people really turn into ghosts after they die?" Stelle's understanding of these things was limited to movies or stories.
She had never thought that there would be real vengeful spirits in the world. When she was renting a house, Xiangling said the house was haunted, but she just laughed it off.
It seems that if she rents a house again in the future, she'll have to thoroughly investigate whether it's a haunted house or not.
"Occasionally, but it's not a big deal. The reasons for their formation are very complex, and they're not as scary as you imagine…" Hu Tao rubbed her head and stopped.
"It's just ahead."
Unconsciously walking for so long, they finally reached their destination.
The boundary between life and death, located deep within Wuwang Slope, is inaccessible to ordinary people and not permitted to be entered. Apart from successive Directors of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, very few people can come here.
Of course, in Hu Tao's view, that place was just an ordinary place, with nothing special about it except that it was unknown to others.
Therefore, there was nothing wrong with making an exception and bringing Stelle along. The only problem was that the boundary was somewhat dangerous.
Hu Tao knew that Stelle's strength was considerable, and she was confident in protecting Stelle at the boundary.
But in a place like that, who could say whether an accident might occur…
"Stelle, why don't you stay here and wait for me?" Hu Tao turned to look at Stelle.
"Since we've come all this way, I think we should go together." Stelle shook her head. She was also very interested in the ordinary place between life and death that Hu Tao spoke of.
"Hmm, alright then, but you must follow me closely, and don't be too surprised if you encounter anything incomprehensible."
Hu Tao said not to be too surprised if she encountered anything incomprehensible, but experiencing a ghost wall firsthand would be hard not to be surprised by. Stelle seemed to have had a similar experience before, but that memory was a bit blurry and she couldn't remember it clearly.
Fortunately, Hu Tao was almost like a seasoned traveler here. He knew all the mechanisms and secrets of this place like the back of his hand. It seemed as if this place was specially set up by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to prevent others from accidentally entering.
"Up ahead…" Stelle looked at the distant, open, and bright area, her eyes widening slightly.
"It's a place quite close to 'death,' but it's not the legendary hell or underworld. It's just a place where ley line disturbances are relatively concentrated." Hu Tao shrugged, taking Stelle's hand and walking forward.
There were many transparent figures around, some hurrying along, others with expressions of resentment.
These were genuine ghosts; Stelle could see that.
"Director Hu?" an old man's voice suddenly rang out.
"Eh? You are…" Hu Tao turned around, looking at the old man who was speaking to her, feeling a sense of familiarity.
"You don't remember, but you personally sent me off."
"Hmm… Ah, it's Old Master Zhang." After staring at the old man for a long time, Hu Tao finally had an epiphany.
This old master lived in Liyue Harbor. A month ago, he accidentally fell down the stairs, hit his head, and unfortunately passed away.
The funeral was naturally handled by Hu Tao.
It was just that the appearance of the soul was somewhat indistinct, and it took Hu Tao a long time to finally remember.
"Director Hu, why would you come to a place like this? And this young lady, living people shouldn't come here."
"There are some things we need to investigate…" Stelle slowly spoke, looking at the ghost in front of her, and immediately felt a surge of curiosity.
This was a real ghost; Stelle had never seen one before.
"Perfect, Old Master Zhang, you've been here for at least over a month. Have there been any new arrivals recently?" Hu Tao quickly asked.
"It's a girl, not very old…" Stelle also added a few more physical descriptions.
These were all the physical characteristics of Hua Chu that they had investigated.
"Although there is a girl, her appearance differs slightly from what you described." Old Master Zhang's ghost pondered for a long time before finally speaking slowly.
"Oh? Where is she?" Hu Tao's eyes lit up.
Although the physical description didn't match, this could also mean that the girl named Hua Chu wasn't dead yet, and the body found at the water source in Feiyun Slope belonged to someone else.
"She already crossed the boundary long ago." Old Master Zhang shook his head.
"Ah?"
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