Chapter Text
The port city of Liyue Harbor was a place surrounded by mountains and water. It was larger than Mondstadt and much more densely populated, judging by the crowds they could see from the hill they had just crested. The architecture and atmosphere was very different to anything Hyacine had experienced before and it made it an excellent location for them to visit early into their journey.
Especially with Cassie and her new friends acting as their tour guides! She always was such a considerate person, attentive of her surroundings and the people around her.
“So once we’re through the gate and past the bridge, we’re officially in the city,” Cassie informed them as she walked backward along said bridge. “Liyue is a land of great history, carved from the very stone through the efforts of our illustrious Arch- blah, blah, blah. You don’t care about that stuff.”
“I do Cassie,” Hyacine reminded her. ”I’m always ready to listen to stories about your past.”
“Well it’s not my past,” Cassie replied as she twirled on her feet and started facing the direction she was walking. “And if it was, it kinda sucked if I remember it correctly.”
“Hu Tao. There is much we can learn and entertain ourselves through the history of our home,” Xingqiu argued.
Cassie waved him off. “Yea yea. Archon Wars, Yaksha, plague. Stuff that makes great stories in the history books but absolutely horrible to actually be living in that time. My family kept a lot of records of that time and let me tell you, shit got reaaaaal crazy.”
“Oh. What does your family in this life do?” Hyacine asked as she grabbed Cassie’s hand just as they finished crossing the bridge and made it to the city proper. Quite a few people nearby shot quick glances at their eclectic group, though Cassie did get a few disapproving or way looks.
That just seemed to be a constant for her in either of her lives, through no fault of her own unfortunately.
Cassie froze and turned to Hyacine before turning to the rest of her friends. “Did we never tell her?”
“Yea I think we were busy with so much other stuff that we lost track of it,” Xiangling replied.
“You’re usually the one doing random promotions of your services to strangers,” Chongyun commented.
“So uh, what do you do?” Paimon asked.
“Oh me?” Cassie gave Paimon an uncharacteristically cheeky smile. “I burn people!”
Paimon froze mid air, before slowly bringing her hands to her lips. “Um… do you mean that metaphorically?”
“I burn them, bury them, and even sometimes send them out to sea!” As she began slowly approaching Paimon who had begun to lean away in terror.
“Uh. Uh! Please don’t send Paimon out to sea! Paimon’s too young to be eaten by a sea monster!”
“I’[m pretty sure you’d already be dead by the time she sent you out,” Sunny replied casually.
“For the love of- She’s a Funeral Director!” Chongyun shouted. “She does funeral rites.”
“Not just any Funeral Director,” Xingqiu informed them as Paimon sighed in relief.
“Yep!” Cassie pointed to herself with her free hand. “You’re looking at the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! We have existed for 77 generations, 7 is a lucky number in Liyue by the way-“
“It is in most places,” Sunny commented.
“Actually in Liyue it's mixed,” Chongyun informed them. “In the Liyue language it can mean being associated with ghosts and the dead.”
“Which is perfect for a funeral parlor,” Cassie replied cheerfully as she let go of Hyacine’s hand so she could run forward a bit and gestured to them to follow her again. She was now happily skipping through the city as she led the way. “Anyway the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has existed for 77 generations. Since ancient times when corpses were plentiful and plague rampant, we’ve helped to purify the air and cleanse the land through proper funeral rites. We also work tirelessly to maintain the balance between life and death, ensuring that spirits too are allowed to pass on!”
“That suits you,” Hyacine commented. It really did. Cassie had once given up her life among the living to fulfill that very duty, so it was nice that she could do so here without much sacrifice.
“On that note!” Cassie reached into her clothes and pulled out a slip of paper that she handed to Sunny.
Sunny looked down and read it. “Buy one get one free?”
“For your funerals! It’s like insurance. Whenever and wherever you two might happen to croak it, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor will happily come to retrieve your bodies and give you a proper funeral. We’ll even use your preferred method whether cremation, burial, being sent out to sea, or flown into the stars using a giant firework!”
“Wait, when did you start offering that firework thing?” Xiangling asked.
“It came to me in a dream.”
“Lady Tribbie’s idea?” Hyacine asked.
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
Sunny looked at the coupon with a strange eye before stuffing it into her clothes. “I’m planning for us to live a long time, you know?”
“That’s fine! Even if I die first then my kids, or their kids, or whoever I pick as the 78th Director will conduct your funerals,” Cassie explained. “Through rain, sleet, and snow, through time, space and worlds, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor will always be there to fulfill its obligations to its customers!”
“We would prefer it if you lived longer though,” Chongyun commented. “Less corpses for that Hu Tao really shouldn’t go off trying to fetch corpses on her own.”
“Like you guys or Zhongli would ever trust me to be alone,” Cassie whispered under her breath, lightly enough that only Hyacine and maybe Sunny could hear properly.
“What was that?” Xiangling asked.
“Nothin.”
“Ooh maybe I’ll buy a plan for me and mommy!” Klee said cheerfully.
“No Klee I don’t think that’s a-” Paimon objected before putting a hand to her forehead and turning to Cassie. “Aren’t you too happy about this funeral nonsense?”
“It’s not nonsense,” Cassie’s smile fell away to be replaced by a more solemn expression. “Death is inevitable, a necessary part of the cycle of this world. It is through death that life has its meaning and it is only by living life to the fullest can we pass on without anything holding us back.”
“Funerals are as much for the dead as they are for the living,” Hyacine commented.
“Exactly!”
“Ok Paimon apologizes. Clearly you feel strongly about this.”
“Well of course, that’s my duty as the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor,” Cassie replied before the cheer returned to her face. “Now c’mon! Get to show you guys where you’ll be staying for the night.”
With a great dramatic shove, not too strong though have to make sure the building was kept in good condition, Hu Tao opened the door and introduced the building to them. “Welcome to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! Please take off your shoes before coming in.”
It was just the five of them now, Hu Tao and her new friends. Her old ones had already run to do their own thing, though not without getting another promise from her that she’d contact them if she ever needed to explore outside the city and Mr. Zhongli wasn’t available to act as an escort.
Unfortunately she couldn’t exactly run off on her own without anyone noticing, Mr. Zhongli always seemed to know whenever she tried to do so.
“We’ve some spare rooms and a kitchen for you guys,” Hu Tao explained as she continued giving them a tour. “Try to stay out of the restricted area without me or an employee with proper clearance, you’ll know you’re going the wrong way when things start getting dark and spooky.”
“Isn’t this already dark and spooky?” Sunny asked.
“Well spookier. Wooooooh,” Hu Tao wigged her hands in front of the Traveler before grabbing their hand and leading them down a nearby hallway.
Her hands were surprisingly warm, firm, and calloused despite appearances. A contrast to Barbara whose hand felt cool, soft, and dainty.
“So anyway these are your rooms,” Hu Tao gestured to a pair of bedrooms standing across from each other. “Split them however you want. Sorry we couldn’t give you each your own, but I gotta leave some for emergencies.”
Mostly for grieving clients or employees that had been working some serious overtime. The latter was usually her and Zhongli, though she had her own private room on the premises. One that had actually been previously used by her grandfather and father.
Ah Bàba. If only you hadn’t messed up back then, then maybe all your things would’ve still been in that room and not tossed -respectfully- into storage. Dumb old man. You were supposed to be the genius of the family, if you hadn’t hesitated in the last moment-
“Ah. Director Hu. I see you’ve brought guests.”
And speaking of things her father left behind for her. “Hey Zhongli. These are my new friends. Friends. Zhongli.”
The man was taller than all of them wearing elegant and form fitting clothes. With an appearance like that you’d think he’d have come from a rich family, but nope. Just showed out of the blue all those years ago.
“Greetings friends,” Zhongli replied as he bowed his head lightly to them. “I am Zhongli. A consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.”
“It’s nice to meet you… A-Zhong,” Barbara replied as she curtsied to him.
Zhongli raised an eye. “A-Zhong?”
“Your nickname. I thought I would style it similar to nicknames given in Liyue,” Barbara replied cheerfully.
Zhongli looked back at Hu Tao. “This girl is a natural at making friends.”
“Yeeep. Reason why she’s staying over.”
“Thank you for letting us stay in your home!” Klee said cheerfully. “It’s super cool and spooky, and I can tell that it’s actually super hard to burn down so I probably won’t get in trouble for accidently destroying it!”
“You must be Klee,” Zhongli said.
“How do you know her name?” Sunny asked suspiciously.
“I know her mother.”
Paimon nodded. “That would do it.”
“Oooh. So you actually know other people,” Hu Tao teased. “Am I finally going to hear more about your mysterious past?”
Zhongli shrugged. “There is nothing mysterious about it, nor anything that needs to be told for the time being.”
Hu Tao rolled her eyes and pointed her thumb at him. “This is what I deal with on a regular basis.”
“Well it’s not a bad thing to respect other people’s privacy, Cassie,” Barbara replied.
“Cassie?” Zhongli asked.
“Just a nickname,” Hu Tao replied as she waved him off. “Anyway Klee, the reason why this place is hard to burn down is that we do a lot of our cremations here. Kinda prefer not having the building collapse on my head when we’re doing our jobs. Unless any of you are satisfied with your lives and want to pass on early. That can be arranged.”
“I honestly can’t tell if she’s joking or not anymore,” Paimon commented.
“She is,” Zhongli replied. “Have you all eaten yet?”
“Not since lunch,” Hu Tao admitted.
“Then I shall cook you all a meal,” Zhongli replied before walking toward the kitchen. “Feel free to settle down in the meantime.”
“Well you heard the man,” Hu Tao replied as they split up to do just that. She took it as a chance to finally walk into her room alone, close the door, and then immediately fall face first onto her bed.
It had been a long day. She was an extrovert, but even then, her social battery had been completely drained. It wasn’t hard to figure out why considering the people she had just met and the things she had just learned.
Things that really didn’t matter much to her but were apparently a big deal for the other people that she liked so she had to stress about dealing with it for their sake.
Story of her life. Was it weird that pranking random strangers was less stressful for her than hanging out with her friends sometimes?
Hu Tao quickly sat back up and slapped her cheeks.
Alright. Mope session over. Remember the good things in life.
Yes, she had dreams of a previous life, but that just meant more material for her to write with. Yes, her friends could be incredibly overprotective, but that just meant they cared. Yes she was technically an orphan, but she had a Zhongli.
She had a lot of things to care about in her life and she was mostly satisfied with it all. She was also prepared to let go and give it all up at a moment’s notice. Live in life, die in death. To live fully so that she wouldn’t hesitate when the time came.
And may that death bring her the freedom that she so dearly sought. To be allowed to wander alone again and return to that beautiful field of flowers.
A/N
Just a short transitionary chapter before we get the meat of this arc. Also a bit more exploration into Hu Tao’s mind.