After a hurried meal, Su Ming and Shenhe made their way to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
To his surprise, Zhongli was nowhere to be seen. He assumed the man was likely out with Lumine, purchasing and collecting the various items required for the Rite of Parting.
Fortunately, Hu Tao, who had just been seen handing out flyers on the street earlier, had already returned to the parlor.
"Oh my, the flyers I sent out today actually brought in guests! And it's you two of all people!"
Hu Tao looked genuinely surprised to see Su Ming and Shenhe. However, she quickly switched into her professional work mode and asked, "So... which of you needs our services?"
"It is for me," Shenhe said calmly. "I would like to inquire... how much Mora does it cost to repair a grave and arrange a proper funeral to go with it?"
Hu Tao placed her index finger against her lips, closing her eyes and tilting her head slightly as if calculating the overhead.
Before long, she opened her eyes and said, "It mainly depends on the size of the grave and the extent of the repairs you have in mind. Holding a retrospective funeral is a bit cheaper.
The philosophy of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is to see people off to the afterlife. I assume you wish to hold this funeral to make amends for something, miss?"
Shenhe remained silent for a long time before finally nodding. "Amends... perhaps. But more than that, it is to bring closure to the events of the past."
"Hmm, it seems you have your secrets, miss... Well, I won't pry. I'll go grab the price list and let you choose for yourselves."
"By the way," Hu Tao added with a skip in her step, "although I have a 'buy one, get one free' coupon, I can convert it into a fifty percent discount as a gesture of friendship!"
With that, she hopped away.
"What are you thinking about?" Su Ming asked, noticing that Shenhe had drifted back into thought.
Shenhe spoke with a hint of confusion. "I... I just don't understand why I suddenly have this idea."
"Back then, he was the one who abandoned me in that cave to fend for myself, yet I do not feel much resentment toward him."
"After my Master adopted me, she bestowed upon me the Red Ropes to bind my soul. They helped suppress my manic nature, but they also made my emotions as cold and thin as an Adeptus."
"Looking back on the past now, it is not so much a matter of hate or lack thereof, but rather a total lack of feeling."
"I suppose... perhaps the reason he did those things back then was because I am the Fate of the Solitary Star and Evil Slayer..."
Su Ming chuckled and interrupted her. "Alright, enough with all this talk of destiny."
"And besides, who started that rumor about the Adepti being emotionless anyway?"
"Just look at the Adepti you know. Which one of them is actually cold-hearted?"
"I won't even mention our Masteryou know her well enough to know she's anything but 'thin-hearted.'"
"Even the serious-looking Uncle Moon Carver and Uncle Mountain Shaper... those two felt so guilty because they couldn't cook. While they were looking after you, they could only let you eat wild herbs and flowers. They always felt they were mistreating you."
"Oh, right!" Su Ming suddenly remembered something. "Uncle Moon Carver once approached me just to thank me for helping you break the habit of only eating herbs."
"Then there's the Conqueror of Demons. He looks cold as ice and won't even go near mortals."
"But in truth, he only stays away because he's afraid his Karmic Debt will harm them. That's why he rarely shows himself."
"For centuries, he has never given up searching for the whereabouts of the missing Marshal Vritra. With that kind of loyalty, how could anyone call him emotionless?"
"See? Do the Adepti really look like cold, unfeeling beings to you?"
Su Ming smiled. "They have simply seen too much and experienced too much, to the point where they have become numb to the partings of the mortal world."
"They have experienced loss. They have watched their dearest friends depart and fade away."
"Getting used to it doesn't mean they are indifferent. And the same goes for you."
"If you really were some 'Fate of the Solitary Star and Evil Slayer' who cursed everyone around you, how come Master and I are perfectly fine?"
"To put it bluntly, that's just a labels people use when they want to blame someone for things they can't understand."
"Of course, it's true you have a bit of a temper, but that doesn't mean you're actually cursed."
"Don't overthink it. Just be yourself."
Su Ming's words visibly relaxed Shenhe. A faint smile played at the corners of her mouth. "I have said it many times, but... thank you."
"One 'thank you' is enough. It's just a Junior Disciple doing what he can for his Senior Sister. Why are you even more polite than Lumine?"
"That girl makes it much more painful whenever she asks for my help."
"Hiss... why are you pinching me?!"
Shenhe didn't say a word, simply turning her head away.
Just then, Hu Tao returned with the price list.
"Here you go! Have a look, my dear guests. What level of service would you like?"
Su Ming rubbed his sore waist before taking the list to look it over.
He took one glance and then silently put it back down.
He looked at Hu Tao with a serious expression. "Are these prices for real?"
"Is there a problem? Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has charged these rates for years."
Hu Tao's bright, innocent gaze left Su Ming in stunned silence.
Suddenly, he felt he understood why Zhongli could burn through Mora every day and the parlor could still reimburse him without breaking a sweat... Well, maybe not entirely without sweat; the man really did lack self-control.
But in reality, a huge portion of Zhongli's expenses was indeed covered by the parlor.
The remaining small portion was recently taken care of by the Northland Bank.
"As expected, the funeral industry really is a gold mine... If we chose the top-tier service, I'm afraid Master's entire private vault wouldn't be enough..."
Su Ming clicked his tongue at the numbers.
He had originally wanted to pick the most expensive service for Shenhe, especially since he had a fifty percent discount.
Now it seemed that even with the discount, the Mora in his hand would barely cover it.
However, the basic services offered by the parlor were surprisingly cheap.
Looking at the tiers, Su Ming realized the truth: the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was specifically designed to squeeze the wealthy!
The higher the tier, the more extravagant the ritualsand the more astronomical the price.
But the basic or intermediate packages were well within the reach of the average citizen of Liyue Harbor.
And since Liyue Harbor happened to be a nation dominated by merchants, it only made sense.
One had to admit that the parlor's business philosophy was quite advanced.
After all, those wealthy merchants likely wouldn't mind spending a fortune on their final affairs.
In the end, limited by his finances, Su Ming decided to settle for a standard service package.
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