"Lumine, seriously…" Xing sighed at her.
"What's bad about it? Free rent!" Lumine giggled back.
They had arrived at the newly rented house; long unoccupied, it needed a thorough clean.
Moreover, since Hu Tao had bought it to store coffins, it had virtually no furniture—unless they wanted to sleep inside the caskets.
Otherwise the only option was to bed down in a coffin for the night.
Hu Tao actually thought that sounded fun and asked if they'd like coffin-beds to experience the feeling of passing on.
Both girls waved their hands in frantic refusal.
Leaving aside bad omens, sleeping in a coffin would be uncomfortable—and how could they do certain intimate things in such cramped space? Unfazed by the rejection, Hu Tao promised to buy two proper beds soon.
So for a few days they'd still stay at the inn.
"Free rent is great, though the thought of handling funerals scares me," Paimon chimed in.
"Sure, free rent, but…" Xing trailed off; Lumine had basically sold her.
Meaning she alone would stay as an aide at Wangsheng.
Lumine's motives were clearly not pure.
"Xing, befriending Wangsheng is worth it—such a big business must have unimaginable connections." Lumine grew solemn, then added earnestly, "So do your best, Xing."
"I'll try, I'll try…"
As they spoke, Hu Tao walked in.
"Here, the house keys—guard them well." She pressed two sets into their hands. "For the contract, I've called in a pro; with her here we're safe."
contracts matter in Liyue, the so-called nation of contracts; renting or buying always means signing one.
What Xing would simply call a contract.
Even if Hu Tao trusted them, the proper steps had to be followed.
Unfortunately, Hu Tao herself wasn't good at drafting one, so she left it to someone else.
"A pro?"
"Yep, a famous legal expert in Liyue Harbor." Hu Tao folded her arms and nodded.
That half-adeptus girl even calls herself Liyue Harbor's top legal expert—bar none.
It sounded boastful, yet no one had ever challenged the claim, proof enough of her skill.
"But it's just a rental contract—do we need a legal expert?" Paimon wondered.
"Alas, while I'm a master of poetry and song, dense legal jargon makes my head spin." Hu Tao spread her hands.
"If our consultant Zhongli were here we wouldn't need anyone—he knows everything and could draft clauses in his sleep."
But Zhongli was off bird-walking or opera-viewing again, leaving Wangsheng a mountain of bills.
The expert she contacted arrived quickly, keeping them waiting only moments.
Xing was chosen to sign the contract while Lumine and Paimon kept cleaning.
"Hello, I'm Yanfei."
"Hi…" Xing's gaze drifted to the girl's head.
A pair of antler-like horns, creamy white with a yellow tint, jutted from her temples.
They looked soft rather than hard, swaying slightly as she walked.
Hu Tao had briefly explained the girl's half-adeptus blood, so those horns weren't ornaments but part of her body.
How curious—what would they feel like to touch?
"You must be Miss Xing; Director Hu told me about you." Yanfei extended her hand.
Xing clasped the girl's delicate fingers.
Soft and silky like tofu.
After a brief shake Yanfei let go and produced a thick tome.
She seemed unaffected by Xing's peculiar constitution.
'Could adeptus blood make her immune?' Xing studied Yanfei; the girl didn't appear to be forcing herself at all.
It seemed she really hadn't been affected much at all.
Xing casually moved a little closer to Yanfei, her gaze fixed on her the whole time.
Under that scrutiny, Yanfei quickly began to feel uneasy.
So it wasn't that she was immune—just a bit more resistant than most... "How rare, Director Hu, actually throwing business my way." Yanfei noticed Xing's appraising stare; her cheeks warmed, but she brushed it off and refocused.
Her first impression of the Grey-haired girl was positive—she even felt an inexplicable fondness—so the attention didn't bother her.
She guessed the stranger was new to Liyue and simply curious about adeptus folk.
In truth, Xing had started out merely curious, especially whether her charm worked on adeptus, but she stopped caring almost immediately.
Maybe it was local fashion, but half the people she knew dressed scandalously; this girl was no exception—slender waist and much of her thighs bare.
The skirt wasn't exactly long either. Still a maiden's figure, nothing overt, yet Xing couldn't look away.
"Director Hu, Mr. Zhongli isn't around?" Yanfei steadied herself and asked Hu Tao.
Even she felt outclassed by that man when it came to legal matters.
He was a walking library; Hu Tao usually consulted him directly, so Yanfei had rarely set foot in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"Yup, no idea where he's wandered off to—only his bills showed up today..." Hu Tao sighed.
"Zhongli...?" Hearing the name again, Xing finally snapped out of it and looked away from Yanfei.
"Wangsheng's consultant—erudite and formidable," Yanfei explained with a smile, relieved.
"Impressive, yes, but a total stick-in-the-mud... forget him, let's talk contract."
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