The Lost People of Teyvat

Chapter 9: Walnut Master

"What?! I'm charging twenty-eight thousand for a box?! Why don't you just go and rob it?!"

"This... is the most expensive one you requested..."

“That can’t be so expensive.”

Chen Tianfeng rubbed his cheeks, looked at the undertaker with a polite smile, and sighed, "I was just daydreaming. Please get a better and more reasonably priced box. Thank you."

He was superficial, he didn't expect that a casket could be priced at tens of thousands of Mora, and thought the most expensive one would be at most a few thousand. It was also his fault that he didn't know anything about it, so he confidently shouted for the most expensive one - normal people generally don't bother to understand this.

The Mora he has now is only a little over 20,000, not even enough to buy the best box.

"Okay, please wait a moment."

The undertaker put away the urn that was said to be made of "precious wood, master craftsmanship, and inlaid with gems" and took out a box made of some kind of golden brown wood.

"It is still the work of a master craftsman, carved from Quesha wood that is at least 300 years old, discarding useless jewels and returning to a simple and elegant style, which is well received by the people of Liyue."

The undertaker finished reciting the advertisement with a perfect smile: "The price is 9,300 Mora. If you buy now, you can enjoy a discount and get a beautiful gift."

"...I think the slogan of your Wangsheng Hall is a bit over the line."

Chen Tianfeng twitched his lips and asked curiously: "How much is the discount? What gift?"

"10% discount, and a signed photo of our master as a gift!"

The girl who had arrived at some point was smiling mischievously, with the blood plum mark under her eyes particularly peculiar. Under her Qiankun Tai Gua hat were two ponytails with a gradient reddish-brown color. She was wearing a black robe with patterns and a long back that reached her waist, shorts, white socks and black shoes, which made her pair of long, white and smooth legs look even more attractive.

The 77th head of Wangsheng Hall is Hu Tao.

Lively, cute, pretty, full of clever ideas, a popular character who loves limericks, the famous Fire A in the game.

Chen Tianfeng naturally recognized Hu Tao, so he calculated carefully and said solemnly: "10% off, that's 8,370 Mora, can you round it off? Also, can I get a discount for the autographed photo?"

The girl in front of you is the head of the Wangsheng Hall with a wealthy family. She is not a virtual character in the game who can call anyone "wife". Instead of thinking about all those messy things and getting useless autographed photos, you might as well try to save some Mora.

The inheritance of the Silver Wing Treasure Thieves was not easy to come by.

"Oh?"

Hu Tao uttered a surprised nasal sound, looked Chen Tianfeng up and down, and rubbed his chin as if thinking seriously: "Of course you can round off the price. I will take charge of you 8,000 Mora. But as for the cash discount... I'm afraid that's not possible."

The girl put her hands on her hips and raised her chin slightly. “Because this hall master really doesn’t know how much to discount. In my opinion, the autographed photo of the 77th hall master of Wangsheng Hall is a priceless treasure.”

"As expected of the current head of the Wangsheng Hall! So generous!"

Chen Tianfeng said he didn't want Mora's good words, and cupped his hands: "For a person like the hall master who is great now and will be even greater in the future, the autographed photo is naturally a priceless treasure. You can't get a discount, why don't you exchange it for a gift, such as the sachet that this lady has already taken out?"

Chen Tianfeng pointed at the funeral lady beside him. After Hu Tao appeared, the standard polite smile on the lady's face turned into gentle helplessness.

"Okay, this saves me from having to take a photo now."

Hu Tao nodded and glanced at the jar that Chen Tianfeng placed on the counter: "Do you need help?"

"...Yes." Chen Tianfeng's expression became more serious, "Thank you for your help, Hall Master."

“My job.”

Hu Tao waved his hands and made a seal. The lid of the jar rose up without wind, and the coarse cloth wrapped in the ashes floated up. Dozens of red butterflies that looked like condensed fireflies fluttered in the air and flew from Hu Tao's fingertips to the ashes.

The crude ashes made by Chen Tianfeng experienced the second embrace of fire. In a trance, he seemed to see Yuan Mu's silly smile, and saw him waving and greeting, thanking Chen Tianfeng for sending him back to Liyue Harbor.

What a fool you are, but I killed you... Chen Tianfeng pursed his lips and noticed that Yuan Mu had already moved into his new home. The funeral girl closed the box and seemed to be mourning for the deceased in a low voice.

"It is said that my flame can allow people to see the last image of the deceased. What did you see, sir?" Hu Tao put away the seal and looked at Chen Tianfeng with his eyes with the blood plum mark.

"... I saw a fool."

Chen Tianfeng rubbed his eyes, suddenly thinking of something, and quickly looked at Hu Tao: "One last photo? Can the ashes be burned again?!"

"what?"

"He still has a mother-in-law! His mother-in-law didn't even have the chance to see him for the last time!"

"Oh, I'm afraid that's not possible."

Hu Tao shook his head, stretched out his hands, and said, "To be honest, it is already a very rare thing for you to be able to see the image of the deceased. I have burned so many people, including you, but I have succeeded in less than one palm."

This was a bit scary... And if it was "a palm's worth", why did he have to stretch out two hands... Chen Tianfeng sighed: "I understand, thank you, Hall Master."

"Birth, aging, sickness and death are part of human nature. It often happens that relatives cannot see each other for the last time. Just let it go." Hu Tao's expression was calm, as if he had already seen through life and death.

"Too."

My family is also destined not to see me for the last time... Speaking of which, does [time travel] mean "dying without an intact body" or "dying without a trace of the person"?
Chen Tianfeng collected his thoughts, took out eight Mora coins of the largest denomination from his purse and placed them on the counter, hesitating for a moment: "How many Mora coins are needed for the best funeral service at the Wangsheng Hall?" "Your Mora probably doesn't have enough, right?" Hu Tao glanced at his purse and advised: "Funerals are about the thought, not the more expensive the better. There's no need to pursue these fancy things."

She hadn't said anything else. The dead are gone, and it would be better to leave these Moras to the living... The dead probably don't want their departure to make the lives of the living even worse.

"It's just Mora. I can always find a way to earn it." Chen Tianfeng was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "My brother had a hard time when he was alive. He must die gloriously, so that he won't have to be looked down upon in the underworld... I promised him."

"A contract, that really shouldn't be violated."

Hu Tao looked at him in surprise and nodded: "Okay, I will ask the most knowledgeable and reliable guest official in the hall to prepare for the funeral and ensure that your brother is sent off in style."

"But you must be prepared. I, a guest official, never look at the price when preparing things, and I like to use the best things, so..."

Hu Tao rolled her eyes and smiled: "The Mora you need to prepare is not a small amount. Have you thought about where to make money?"

Chen Tianfeng guessed who Hu Tao was talking about: "..."

Yuan Mu, you are lucky as a fool, because your funeral is prepared by the Rock King himself!
Mr. Zhongli, a guest official of the Wangsheng Hall, appears to be an "ordinary person" who is particular about everything, knowledgeable, and has an extraordinary bearing. But in fact, he is Liyue's God of Rock, the Rock Emperor [Morax].

Mr. Zhongli was good at everything except that he never looked at the price when paying or asking someone to pay. As long as he liked something, he would pay whatever the boss said, and occasionally he would even offer a higher price and buy it in one go.

More importantly, Mr. Zhongli was not good at carrying money. All expenses were either paid for by "friends" or reimbursed by Wangshengtang.

"To be honest, I haven't thought about it yet." Chen Tianfeng took a breath and said, "But I think there will always be a way out."

"How about this hall master give you some advice?"

"Speaking!"

"Go to the Adventurer's Guild to buy some resin, and then go to the wilderness to look for the earth vein flower. It is said that if you successfully challenge it once, if you have enough resin, Mora alone can get hundreds of thousands."

Walnut cracked his white fingers, as if calculating something: "It's just a bit risky. I don't know how many adventurers have lost their lives because of this. If you are ready to go, since you are quite interesting, I can go there in person to collect your body."

The silvery-white ancient trees and flowers are connected to the earth's veins, and the energy contained in the resin can clear the channels of the earth's veins and refine the substances that are stagnant therein.

The flower is the flower of the earth vein. Whenever the earth vein in the wilderness is silted up, a flower of the earth vein will grow on the ground. Activate the flower of the earth vein and defeat the phantoms of various creatures recorded in the earth vein, and you can exchange resin for harvest.

The silvery-white ancient trees exist in various secret realms on the continent of Teyvat. They can also be harvested by defeating the phantoms of the earth veins and exchanging resin for harvest.

The rewards are often very rich, attracting countless adventurers, treasure-hunting groups, knights, and travelers to challenge.

However, these phantoms are difficult to deal with most of the time, and no one can predict what kind of phantom enemies will appear. As long as they are recorded by the earth veins, they may appear.

It is said that a group of treasure-hunting groups encountered phantoms of the same group when they were challenging the Geocentric Flower. After a long fight, the last survivor suddenly realized that all the people present except him were phantoms.

The treasure-stealing gang member was nearly frightened to death and changed his ways from then on.

Fortunately, due to the restrictions of the rules, these phantoms will not leave the earth vein flower too far, giving challengers hope of escaping and surviving after realizing that they are defeated.

These are common sense for adventurers.

During the past few days of traveling, Chen Tianfeng had learned this common sense from "Brother Lan You" through many half-true and half-false stories, which consumed a lot of brain cells.

"No need, I still cherish my life."

Chen Tianfeng twitched his lips, glanced at Yuan Mu's new home, and turned to Hu Tao: "Master Hu, I want my brother to stay in Wangsheng Hall for a few days. How much Mora will it cost?"

"I don't want a cent." Hu Tao folded her arms, "This is a service included in the package, but the Hall of the Resurrection will wait for you for a month at most. If you haven't returned by then, the Hall of the Resurrection will have to bury your brother according to normal standards."

"Thank you, Master!"

Chen Tianfeng saluted again, then without hesitation, turned around and left the Hall of Rebirth.

Hu Tao narrowed her eyes and watched Chen Tianfeng leave. As the head of the Wangsheng Hall, she could see many things that ordinary people could not see.

Take this guest for example...it's really interesting that the surviving soul does not hate the person who killed him, but is full of gratitude and blessings.

The story should be complex, but not new. There is nothing new under the sun.

Hu Tao shook her head, looked at Yuan Mu's urn, and suddenly asked, "You're not following him anymore?"

"···"

"Yes, you are almost gone. You should save some energy to say goodbye to your loved ones."

Walnut nodded, bent her fingers and tapped the box lightly: "Then have a good sleep, so that you don't have to say a few words when you say goodbye."

The undertaker standing by was not surprised.

"Zhongli... Never mind. He is definitely not in the hall at this time. He is probably listening to opera in the Heyu Teahouse. Go and call Mr. Zhongli back and tell him that the hall master has just negotiated a big deal!"

"Yes, Hall Master."

(End of this chapter)