Returning from his vacation, Orion began to be dragged by Hu Tao to run outside errands.
They called it running errands, but what kind of WangSheng Funeral Parlor business would actively seek outside work? You couldn't possibly knock on every door and ask, "Ma'am, has anyone died in your house?"
Even if you had seven Visions hanging all over your body, it wouldn't help. If you managed to run out of that street, it would mean you were quick on your feet.
As it turned out, Hu Tao actually came up with a unique reason for a business trip: inspecting the ley lines.
Guarding the boundary of life and death in Liyue has been the duty of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor since ancient times. This so-called boundary of life and death is actually a space formed in ancient times when The Eight Adepti refined the corpse of the God Tao Dou.
Its function is not that of the Yincao Difu, but is more like a resting platform between two flights of stairs, or perhaps the Bridge of Woe itself.
However, Meng Po set up a tea stall at the top of the bridge, filled with tables and chairs, selling two kinds of tea.
If you choose the ordinary bowl, you cannot continue forward. You can only wander in the first half of the bridge, chatting with acquaintances and adjusting your mood.
Once your wishes are fulfilled, you drink the second bowl and walk down the bridge. From then on, your soul no longer belongs to you, but to all of Teyvat.
Hu Tao seemed especially excited on the first day of running errands. She handed over all internal parlor affairs to Zhongli and the Attendant Sister.
"consultant Zhong, Sister Dudu, the parlor is in your hands!"
Zhongli nodded with his hands clasped behind his back, while the Attendant Sister—the Ferrylady—bowed slightly with her hands placed in front of her.
Orion looked surprised: "Who is Sister Dudu? Where did you hide my Ferrylady?"
"You have to call me Sister Dudu from now on. I am not called Ferrylady."
As a result, the first day was quite fruitful. Orion specifically instructed them not to go near South Gate of Heaven for the time being, as that area was currently unstable.
Seeing Orion's serious expression, Hu Tao agreed. The two of them only wandered around Mt. Tianheng and searched the mountains near Liyue Gate, already securing quite a few treasure chests.
Orion remembered that Paimon had been longing for the treasure chest on Liyue Gate that hadn't been dug out yet, so he told Hu Tao he was going up to dig it up, mentioning there was a big one up there. Unexpectedly, Hu Tao wanted to go up too.
But Orion thought the cliff was too steep and climbing would be dangerous for Hu Tao. The two argued fiercely, finally settling on a compromise.
Orion would carry Hu Tao up.
Hu Tao thought it was normal for an alien to jump so high, and with a great leap, she jumped onto Orion's back.
The moment the young woman's soft chest pressed against Orion's body, Orion felt a momentary daze in his mind.
Was this the front or the back?
Oh, oh, it was the front. Hu Tao's hands and full thighs were wrapped around him.
Orion's hands supported Hu Tao's fair legs. When his fingertips sank slightly into the soft flesh, Orion understood.
The texture was delicate, and the figure was well-proportioned. The moment Orion gripped them, he never considered letting go.
Orion then reached the mountaintop in a few great leaps, where he saw an activated Teleport Waypoint.
Let's just pretend I didn't see it; there's nothing here. Naturally evil Teleport Waypoint! Don't interrupt the intimacy between me and my Director Hu!
Guiding Hu Tao to dig open the hollowed-out rock, the two successfully obtained a precious treasure chest. Orion received Primogems, and Hu Tao gained Mora.
Afterwards, the two wandered for a long time and found many treasure chests. However, Hu Tao, this scumbag girl, treated Orion worse the more money she received. Finally, she even directly choked Orion's neck.
"Shouldn't you put me down now?"
"Absolutely not, Director. The vegetation here is dense, and you are wearing so little. I fear your esteemed body might be harmed!"
"Hurry up and put me down! My legs are going numb from your grip!"
"Yaaah!!"
In the end, she didn't get down because Orion used a miraculous biological force field to solve the problem of blood circulation in her legs. Hu Tao suddenly realized this wasn't bad at all. Where else could she find such a good deal: riding on someone's back, enjoying the scenery, and getting paid?
Returning to the WangSheng Funeral Parlor in the afternoon, Hu Tao happily took Sister Dudu to the Spirit Writing Division to count money, while Zhongli came over and pulled Orion away for tea.
This time, he didn't go out for tea. He didn't know that Orion had impulsively given Ningguang an kunai Hiraishin of alliance, so he was still in the stage of planning to give benefits to the Qixing later.
So he came up with a good idea.
"Orion, look what this is?" Zhongli laid out a talisman paper.
Orion took out a magnifying glass and examined it for a long time, replying, "Isn't this a Talisman?"
"That's the only conclusion you came up with after looking at it for so long?"
In the end, Zhongli revealed the answer himself.
"This is called the Talisman of Forbidden Covenants. It is a type of Talisman in which an Adeptus has sealed their Adeptus power."
"However, this is a relatively basic model. The characters on top function like a formation. As long as the drawing technique is correct, it can even absorb ambient energy without needing sealed divine power, though its corresponding power won't be very great."
Orion nodded. No wonder the Fatui could reproduce this item in the storyline—it was the basic model that didn't require sealed divine power. Didn't that mean the Fatui purely relied on making enough copies and using brute force to awaken Osial?
Zhongli saw Orion nod and continued, "I thought long and hard about how to make it easier for you to leave a contingency plan for the Qixing. If you were to travel to other nations and the Qixing suddenly called you back, wouldn't that be a burden on you?"
"So I remembered this. You only need to draw a few Talismans and leave a tiny bit of power within them. Then, should they encounter danger, they can use the Talismans."
Orion understood.
Thus, Orion began the process of "excelling in both fields": running around carrying Hu Tao while simultaneously practicing making Talismans under Zhongli's guidance.
Perfect. His enthusiasm for learning was unprecedentedly high.
Hu Tao also made considerable achievements. Simply by running around carrying her, Orion inexplicably triggered Xiao's Story Quest.
Essentially, there was a fraud claiming to be an Adeptus and scamming people everywhere. Xiao and Chongyun were busy farming monsters these days and completely ignored him, but the number of monsters emitting black energy was increasing.
However, under Orion's advice, Xiao still stepped forward to resolve the issue. It turned out the fraud was a Great Sage Chef, who finally reformed and went to prepare for the construction of temples for the Yaksha.
Yes, the Yaksha. With Orion contributing effort, how could they only build a temple for Pervases the Yaksha? If they were going to build one, they would build a big one!
He even printed out the blueprints for the small temple, which looked like the Little Western Heaven from Black Myth.
Because of this, Xiao seemed to have become slightly closer to humanity, and Chongyun's excellent performance was naturally one of the reasons that facilitated this change.
Hu Tao was greatly moved. Comparing this to the Great consultant in her own parlor who was simply coasting along, Hu Tao vowed to make Zhongli kowtow to Xiao.
Xiao suddenly felt his knees become heavy, as if crushed by Mt. Tai, but he didn't know why, so he assumed he was too tired and left first.
Hu Tao also took Orion... correction, Orion essentially carried her to Wuwang Hill, let him wander around the boundary of life and death, and experience being trapped by a Ghost Wall. Honestly, it was quite interesting.
What shocked Hu Tao the most was that Orion dug out several treasure chests from the boundary of life and death!
Seriously, who buried these? The Eight Adepti? Or a previous Director of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor?
Are you sick?! Why would you bury treasure chests here? To tease ghosts?
But since there was money to be had, Hu Tao swallowed her desire to complain. She figured it was possible that if Orion walked around her own boudoir, he might dig out a few treasure chests too.
Orion also gained a lot. He was now arguably the person in all of Teyvat who knew Hu Tao's thighs best—better than Hu Tao herself.
He even picked up a brush in Griseo's studio and wrote a world-shattering magnum opus: "A Discussion on Whose Thighs Are Superior: Hu Tao's or Eula's—"
The title ended there because Eula discovered it before he finished writing.
Eula was modeling for Griseo in the studio when he came in to write, but since all three people had identical hair colors and Eula had changed clothes, he didn't realize. The three girls were watching him from behind while he wrote the title.
That night, Eula put significant pressure on him.
"I'll let you write! I'll let you write! I'll let you write! Are you going to write..."
.
.
.
by soloing the Giant Spider!
Just like that, amidst peace and tranquility, as the Damselette Rosalyne refreshed in the Miliastra Wonderland on the last day, the bells for the Rite of Descension rang out.
The Liyue main storyline officially began!
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