Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor.
"Hu Tao, hey." Originally, Xiangling planned to bring Lumine and Paimon along to ask questions, but now she had a master. Of course, she felt that leaving Lumine and Paimon aside seemed a bit inappropriate.
"Xiangling?"
"And the Traveler?!"
Standing before them was a young girl with reddish-brown gradient twin-tails, wearing a patterned Chinese-style robe with a long back hem decorated with Equinox Flowers and Lilies. The girl had fiery red eyes with pupils resembling flowers.
The girl wore a Qiankun Tai Gua Hat with a black bow at the back. The hat's material was somewhat stiff and featured a strange emblem on the front.
The girl's slender fingers were coated with pitch-black nail polish. Her black robe reached her waist, and she wore shorts, short socks, and black shoes, with red knots tied around her legs.
A look of joy appeared on the girl's face. "Xiangling, why are you with the Traveler? Didn't they head off to Inazuma?"
"Master, she is the Director of the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao. She's my friend."
"Hu Tao, this is my Master." Xiangling had a smile on her face, yet her smile left Hu Tao somewhat confused.
Xiangling's Master? How could Xiangling's Master be an Inazuman girl? Raiden Makoto's appearance made her look completely like someone from Inazuma.
"The scent of the cycle of life and death." Raiden Makoto looked at the girl named Hu Tao; she could smell the scent of the rotation of Yin and Yang on the girl.
The reason Raiden Makoto was familiar with that scent was because she had once communicated with the boundary between life and death. In a sense, her authority allowed her to make people cycle through life and death, transforming between Yin and Yang.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to resurrect Kitsune Saiguu.
"Eh, Xiangling, why is your Master looking at me like that?" Hu Tao noticed Raiden Makoto's gaze was a bit strange and started laughing somewhat self-consciously.
"Sorry." Raiden Makoto smiled. "I just find you very interesting... You should be able to travel between the boundaries of Yin and Yang, right?"
"Ah, how did you know?" Hu Tao froze for a moment. She and Raiden Makoto should have never met before. Very few people should know she could travel between the boundaries of Yin and Yang. Most only knew her as the Director of the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, and most didn't even know the boundary between Yin and Yang existed in the world.
"My Master is very capable." Xiangling was quite proud. She was beginning to admire Raiden Makoto more and more; Raiden Makoto could actually see through Hu Tao's identity at a glance, even though she herself didn't know what that boundary between Yin and Yang actually was.
"To be honest, Xiangling, you must have come to find me for something, right? Just tell me directly, no need to hide it." Hu Tao looked at Xiangling thoughtfully. "Although I don't know when you took a Master, I wish you well."
"Pah, pah! Hu Tao, your blessings aren't usually good things. Tell me, what kind of food do you like to eat most?"
Xiangling's purpose was to introduce Raiden Makoto to her friends and, at the same time, interview people about their tastes to better develop new dishes for the Culinary King Competition.
"Sister... I seem to feel the presence of an old friend..." Raiden Ei stood beside Raiden Makoto and whispered.
"You mean Morax?" Raiden Makoto was stunned for a moment. She had already noticed Morax's traces; Morax was definitely inside the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor.
"Old friend? Master, do you have an old friend in Liyue too?" Because Xiangling was communicating so intently with Hu Tao, she only heard the words 'old friend.'
But wasn't her Master Inazuman? How could an Inazuman have an old friend in Liyue? However, Inazuma only started its Sakoku Decree a year ago; perhaps her Master had been to Liyue before.
"What food do I like? I really can't answer that." Hu Tao pondered slightly. "Why are you suddenly asking me that?"
"No need to be so precise. I'm just doing a public survey to develop new dishes."
"Oh, so it's for developing new dishes. Then just don't make it too troublesome. Boiled Fish with Shrimp Dumplings would be quite good."
"Wouldn't that be too ordinary?"
While Xiangling and Hu Tao were talking, Raiden Makoto turned toward the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor. At that moment, a handsome young man with elegant manners, dressed in a brownish-black suit-like outfit, stepped out.
The young man's clothes had some similarities to Hu Tao's. With the young man's appearance, Raiden Makoto knew that he was indeed her old friend, Morax.
Even though Morax looked completely different from five hundred years ago, she could still recognize that he was her old friend, Morax.
"Zhongli?!"
Zhongli's appearance brought joy to Paimon and Lumine. Paimon even shouted out to him directly.
From the moment he saw Raiden Makoto, a look of surprise emerged in Zhongli's usually calm eyes. A flash of disbelief crossed his brown pupils.
Even for someone who had lived as long as he had, he was somewhat shocked at this moment.
"Raiden?" Before him was the very same Electro Archon Raiden who had perished in the disaster five hundred years ago, the older sister of the current Electro Archon Beelzebul.
Raiden Makoto walked toward Zhongli with a smile. She and Morax hadn't seen each other for many years.
"Ah? Master, your old friend is the consultant of the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor, Mr. Zhongli?" Xiangling was stunned. Even Hu Tao couldn't help but be surprised. Xiangling's Master was actually Zhongli's friend?
That old stick-in-the-mud Zhongli's friend turned out to be such a beautiful Inazuman girl, and they were even a rare pair of twin sisters.
The fire of gossip began to burn in her heart.
Lumine and Paimon were very calm. After all, Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei were Electro Archons, and Zhongli was the Geo Archon. It was perfectly normal for them to know each other.
"Aren't you..." Zhongli confirmed once more. The Inazuman girl before him was indeed the Electro Archon Raiden who had become one of the Seven with him in the past. He could not be mistaken.
"Morax." Raiden Makoto gave a gentle smile. "Long time no see, old friend."
"Long time no see." Zhongli nodded. "However, Morax has passed away. You should call me Zhongli now."
"Mhm."
"Raiden has also passed away. You should call me Raiden Makoto now." Raiden Makoto's smile made Zhongli feel a bit dazed, as if the images of the Seven Sovereigns of the World gathering were only yesterday.
"Alright."
"Would you like to invite me for a cup of tea? Old friend..." Raiden Makoto's words brought Zhongli back from his daze. He nodded. "Alright."
Among the former Seven, the one he had the best relationship with was probably the Anemo Archon Barbatos from neighboring Mondstadt, but the one he got along with best was likely the Electro Archon Raiden of Inazuma.
He felt that, in a way, Makoto was a bit like her.
"Ei, you stay with them for now. I'll accompany Zhongli for a drink." She had some things to ask of Morax, but only those things.
"Sister?" Raiden Ei was stunned. "Can't I come along? Weren't we always together before?"
When the Seven met, she had always been there as Raiden Makoto's Shadow Clone, attending at the end of the Seven's table.
"You don't mind one more person, do you? Old friend."
"Of course not."
Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor.
"Wow, Xiangling, your Master is actually old friends with that old stick-in-the-mud Zhongli..." Hu Tao was very surprised; it was quite unexpected.
In her eyes, Zhongli was a very, very old-fashioned person. For him to have an old friend who was an Inazuman twin sister was truly a surprise, a huge surprise.
"I didn't know either..." Xiangling blinked. "How could I have known Master's friend was Mr. Zhongli?"
Because he had organized the Rite of Parting and was usually very sophisticated in Liyue, Zhongli had gained quite a reputation. Even Xiangling had heard of Zhongli's deeds.
"Did you become her disciple because you wanted to learn cooking?" Hu Tao looked at Xiangling curiously.
"Why else? Although I haven't tasted Master's cooking, it should be very good." Xiangling nodded.
"Sister Makoto's cooking... is very good!" Paimon chimed in from the side. "When we were in Inazuma, Sister Makoto made over twenty dishes for us directly, and they were all very, very delicious."
"Then how does it compare to mine?" Xiangling looked at Paimon and Lumine curiously. Paimon and Lumine had tried her dishes as well, so they should be able to make a comparison.
"I can't tell, they're all very delicious." As a foodie, Paimon didn't really savor the dishes that closely.
Lumine pondered for a moment before saying seriously, "Overall, Sister Makoto's flavor might be a bit better, but your cooking isn't bad either, Xiangling."
"What you're saying makes me want to try your Master's cooking too." Hearing Lumine and Paimon talk, Hu Tao's mouth started to water.
"So, Hu Tao, do you have any better suggestions? I need to develop a new dish."
"A combination of movement and stillness, meat and vegetables?" Hu Tao said thoughtfully. "Like I just said, Boiled Fish with Shrimp Dumplings. The Boiled Fish is spicy and fragrant, representing movement. The Shrimp Dumplings are translucent and delicate, representing stillness."
"Moving dishes? Still dishes?" Xiangling rolled her eyes and then had a sudden realization. "I know how to make moving dishes! Slime Condensate..."
"No, no, no, not that kind."
...Tea House.
"Honored guests, what would you like to drink?"
"The usual." Zhongli often had tea here, so the tea house waiter knew him well. However, he had never seen Raiden Makoto or Raiden Ei before.
Since the sakoku decree in Inazuma was lifted, there were many more Inazumans in Liyue.
"A cup of Oolong, please."
"I'll have the same as my sister." When it came to tea, Raiden Ei had no idea what to say. She didn't even know the different types of tea.
To save face, she could only order the same as Raiden Makoto.
"Coming right up."
"Please wait a moment, guests."
After the waiter left, Zhongli looked at Raiden Makoto with interest. "I can call you Makoto, right?"
"Of course." Raiden Makoto nodded. Morax was the oldest of the Seven Sovereigns of the World; he was more than twice as old as her and her sister. It wouldn't even be strange if Morax called her his niece.
But since they were both members of the Seven, they were colleagues of the same rank.
"I heard you perished during the invasion of The Abyss... but, how are you back?" Zhongli asked with slight curiosity.
It was normal for a God to be reincarnated, but to still possess the authority and memories of a God like Raiden Makoto was completely abnormal.
He had only faked his death, but Raiden Makoto had truly perished back then. Because of the distance between Liyue and Inazuma, he didn't know the specific details of her death.
But he knew that the Electro Archon of Inazuma had changed from Raiden to Beelzebul.
"I don't know either..."
To this day, she didn't know why she had been resurrected, why she had her past life's memories, or why she had returned.
She didn't know the reason.
"You don't know..." Zhongli fell into deep thought. With his vast store of knowledge, he couldn't determine why Raiden Makoto had been resurrected.
"You must have come here for a reason, right?" Zhongli looked at Raiden Makoto seriously. "If you've encountered any difficulties, feel free to tell me. If it's something I can help resolve, I will help you."
Zhongli recalled two thousand years ago, when they had just become the Seven Sovereigns of the World. The Anemo Archon Barbatos of Mondstadt had come over once. He had gone to greet him immediately, thinking his colleague was in trouble.
As it turned out, Barbatos had just come to find him for a drink.
But looking at Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei, he understood the personality of the Electro Archon Raiden. With Raiden's personality, she would definitely not do something as foolish as Barbatos.
Their coming here meant they must have a request for him.
As an old friend and colleague, he would do his best to help the Electro Archon Raiden.
"On one hand, there are internal problems in Inazuma that need to be resolved... I came here to wait for those fish to surface. On the other hand, I came to tell you that the Gods in The Abyss are becoming increasingly restless."
"The Gods in The Abyss?" Zhongli was slightly stunned. "Are they going to start invading Teyvat?"
The Gods in The Abyss were almost all losers of the Archon War. They could only flee into The Abyss, a place the Seven Sovereigns of the World could not govern.
"With my sister there before, they wouldn't make any major moves, but their minor skirmishes were also very detrimental to my people's survival..." Raiden Makoto sighed slowly. "So my sister and I followed your example and stepped down... Now that the thunderstorms in the seas around Inazuma have all vanished, the Gods in The Abyss might make a big move."
"If possible, I hope you can step in and help us when the time comes." Raiden Makoto looked at Zhongli seriously.
"Of course." Zhongli nodded. "If those Gods who fled into The Abyss come out, I will take action."
Inazuma was the front line blocking The Abyss. If his old friend was in danger, he would naturally help, not to mention that driving away other Gods was also his duty.
Even though he was no longer one of the Seven Sovereigns of the World, as the Geo Archon, he should still take action. Among the Gods in The Abyss were also his former enemies.
"Thank you." Raiden Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. Relying on her sister alone, they might be able to handle one or two invading Gods, but what if there were several? Could they solve it?
"One last thing... can Mr. Zhong help me with some land reclamation? Using your authority as the Geo Archon."
"land reclamation?"
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