"Something big is coming! Something big is coming!"
Outside the door, a black-clad undertaker rushed in, interrupting Hu Tao's enjoyment of checking ledgers and counting Mora.
Director Hu took a sip of tea and glanced at the undertaker: "What's wrong, Old Meng? Why are you in such a hurry? What major event has happened?"
Old Meng leaned on the table, panting heavily. Hu Tao, seeing this, poured him a cup of tea. Old Meng grabbed the teacup and chugged it down. A few trickles of tea overflowed from his mouth, wetting his clothes, but he didn't care. He just swallowed the tea, then vigorously wiped his mouth with his robe, and finally slammed the teacup heavily onto the table: "Director, this is bad! Something big is coming!"
Hu Tao looked down at Old Meng's empty hands with a puzzled expression: "What 'big medicine' is coming? Where's the medicine?"
Old Meng was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted: "Oh, Director, not medicine! It's 'big'! Something big has happened!"
"What's so big that it makes you this anxious?" Hu Tao pouted, but then her plum blossom eyes darted around, and she said with a look of surprise: "Eh? Could it be that today's Rite of Descension—"
Old Meng nodded hurriedly: "Eh, right, the Rite of Descension—"
Hu Tao grinned, snapped her right fingers, and drew a checkmark to the left: "At the Rite of Descension, Rex Lapis, that old man, suddenly appeared in his true form. Old Man Maocai got excited and 'eugh!' and passed out. Is WangSheng Funeral Parlor getting big business?"
Hu Tao, with Old Meng staring dumbfounded, put her hands behind her back and began pacing in the room, her mouth full of lecturing tones: "Old Meng, although you are not young, you have only been with WangSheng Funeral Parlor for a short time. It's understandable that you might consider this a big deal due to your lack of experience. But everyone in this world eats grains, and who doesn't experience birth, old age, sickness, and death?
Although Maocai Gong often engages in unjust business practices, many wealthy individuals like him donate Mora to Liyue for peace of mind. It's not our place to judge his merits or demerits. When a person is gone, they're gone. We just need to do our part well.
Look at that consultant Orion whom this Director recently recruited. He can handle both big and small matters with composure. That's what you call professional!"
Old Meng came to his senses and slapped the back of his hand anxiously: "Oh, what are you talking about! Maocai Gong isn't dead! He's not the one who died!"
"Ah?" Hu Tao turned around: "Then who died?"
"The Archon!" Old Meng screamed hoarsely: "The Archon, that old man, was assassinated!!!"
Hu Tao's eyes glazed over, her mouth gradually opened, then she suddenly rushed to the door and shouted outside: "Zhongli!!!
Business is here!!!!!!!!!!"
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In the Hall of Wonders, a group of people surrounded Skirk, all looking at the screen in front of her.
It was rare to see Skirk looking a bit uncomfortable; she didn't seem to adapt well to being surrounded by a crowd.
Yunli looked at the Archon's Exuvia and was the first to ask: "Is this Rex Lapis an undying dragon descendant?"
Anaconda also scratched her head: "Isn't this a Year Beast?"
It seems the aliens' knowledge is still too vast.
"Are Gods truly so enormous?" Noelle asked, looking at the Rex Lapis's massive dragon body on the screen. No one in Mondstadt City had ever seen a God's true form, and Venti's Anemo Elemental body could only be described as small and cute.
At this moment, Lumine on the screen also asked the same question, which shows that Lumine, not worried about being misunderstood, had grown much bolder.
[Is this Rex Lapis really that big? But even so, it must have changed its size, right? I feel like its true form must be several times larger, as big as Dvalin would be normal! Otherwise, how did it win the Archon War?]
Just kidding, it's much bigger than that. Orobashi was chased to Inazuma by Zhongli, and that great snake alone was the size of a small island.
Azhdaha's body was like a mountain, and Zhongli could drag that thing around.
Then Paimon suddenly said: [I know! Is this called 'Fa Xiang Tian Di' or something? I often see it in novels!]
Griseo and the other girls immediately exclaimed "Oh♦!" as if they had learned some local Liyue trivia.
Orion quickly interrupted: "What 'Fa Xiang Tian Di'? You've mixed up your books; that's a misnomer from modern novels. Both external form and internal meaning are 'Fa Xiang'; how could it be related to 'Tian Di' (heaven and earth)?"
"The correct term is 'Fa Tian Xiang Di.' 'Fa' means to imitate, and 'Xiang' means to simulate. It refers to imitating the might of heaven and the solemnity of earth, completely two different things. This Exuvia is simply one of Morax's many forms."
The girls again exclaimed "Oh♦!"
Skirk turned to look at Orion: "Did your Clairvoyance see the original course of the world again, which is why you called them all back? Originally, shouldn't it have been just Lumine and Paimon here?"
"Yes." Orion pointed: "Actually, Paimon and Lumine were originally supposed to arrive in Liyue today, but my interference caused them to arrive about a month early.
Having just arrived in Liyue, they didn't know if Zhongli was the God who kidnapped Lumine's brother, so they were very wary. As soon as they saw Morax assassinated, they turned and ran, which led to the subsequent developments."
"Now they have no reason to run, what do you plan to do?"
"If worst comes to worst, I'll go out and take them away later, right?"
Noelle and Shenhe didn't understand what the two were saying, but they did understand that, according to the original development, Lumine was supposed to be arrested.
They didn't find anything strange about it; after all, Adepti could calculate and divine, and Mondstadt also had diviners.
Looking back at the video, Lumine and Paimon indeed seemed very casual.
"Good thing Orion and the others left early, otherwise they'd be stuck here with us," Paimon said to Lumine.
Lumine pouted, but a smile was hard to hide from her lips: "Lucky them! I just hope they don't suddenly come back."
"I don't think so," Paimon said. "After all, if they came back and saw this place surrounded, they'd surely know to wait outside."
Orion felt a pang of tenderness; they're so good, still thinking of us.
At this moment, the murmurs of passersby nearby also drifted in.
"Oh, my Lady Furina! We only came for a trip, and we never expected to encounter such a thing. It's truly dreadful."
"You're right, darling. We should be glad we left the child at the hotel. You know, her leg was injured on the way. If she had come along and stood for a day, I truly can't imagine! Furina bless us."
"Furina seems to be the Hydro Archon of Fontaine," Paimon whispered.
Lumine nodded. She had nothing to do anyway, so why not listen for fun?
The two continued: "We really don't know how long we'll have to wait here. It's truly troublesome."
"Bear with them, my sweet. You know, when Lord Egeria passed away, we people of Fontaine were just as panicked and helpless. How could they be any different?"
"You're right. I truly hope the executioner who assassinated the God can be found quickly. We should contact Lord Neuvillette and have him interrogate this villain!"
"This is another nation's affair; we can't interfere. But you're right, this executioner is truly hateful. Tell me, who could have such a scheme?"
"Could it be a Fatui Harbinger? I saw a Harbinger at the coffee shop last time; her eyes were pitch black but glowed red. I have no doubt she would even dare to assassinate Lady Furina!"
"How dangerous, but it shouldn't be a Harbinger. I heard before that the Harbinger here in Liyue seems to have suffered an accident and is still lying in bed!"
Orion and Skirk covered their faces. That bastard escaped a calamity.
After a beating, he even got an alibi. Dain, you've done all sorts of evil!
"The strongest Harbinger can't make a move, so the other Fatui's suspicion must be very low. But who else could it be? Could it be the person who prepared the Rite of Descension?"
Lumine, Paimon: Shock!
"Very reasonable, you truly are a genius! If anyone could tamper with this Rite of Descension, it must be the person who prepared it! And the person who was there from beginning to end has the biggest suspicion!"
Lumine and Paimon exchanged silent glances, already having thoughts of retreating.
And the last sentence from the two became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
"Let's go! To return quickly and see our child, let's tell this deduction to the Liyue Qixing as soon as possible!"
"You're right! This deduction must be flawless, after all, we've never missed a single court session at the Opera Epiclese!"
Orion covered his face.
Is this how it's resolved?
It fits my stereotype of Fontaine people.
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