"Hey, have you heard? It seems things haven't been very peaceful outside Liyue Harbor lately."
"Huh? What do you mean 'not peaceful'? You've been listening to too many storytellers, haven't you?"
His friend looked puzzled. "We're just ordinary folks. How would you know anything about unrest outside the city?"
"No, seriously, you've got to believe me. Things out there really aren't peaceful."
His friend got flustered. "Haven't you heard people talking in town lately? They're saying that the trees outside Liyue Harbor have come to life and sneak into the city at night to capture people for food. It's a huge deal, and you're telling me you don't know about it?"
"Huh?"
The other man gave his plump friend a once-over. "Then why haven't they grabbed you yet? With your size, you'd be a meal for at least a day."
"Stop making jokes and listen to me, idiot!"
(╬￣皿￣)=○
"They say those trees drain people dry, then use their branches and vines to make cages, hanging the remains up in the trees to warn other creatures that it's their territory."
"Uh, you're not going to tell me you've actually seen this, are you?"
"How'd you guess?!"
...Well, duh. If you hadn't seen it, there's no way you'd build up such a spooky story just to impress me.
"I'm telling you, man, that night I had a few drinks and decided to go for a walk to enjoy the mountain breeze."
The plump man leaned in with a mysterious expression. "And that's when I saw it. Vines sprouted from every direction and trapped this emaciated guy, locking him inside!"
"Are you serious?"
Although his friend had always been fascinated by supernatural stories, he wasn't known for lying. In a way, that was one of his virtues.
"I swear! Do you really think I'd lie to you about something like this? If you don't believe me, we can go check it out together tonight!"
"No thanks, I'm not that brave. You may not fear death, but I do."
This sort of conversation had become common in Liyue Harbor recently. As the bustling center of commerce, almost every topic eventually related to business in some way. Yet, traditional folklore from Liyue's past had started to fade, and now, suddenly, an eerie tale had captured the public's attention.
---
"Ding ding~! Customer, all the coffins you ordered from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor have arrived. They're top-quality, made from the finest wood."
"If it's convenient, how about giving the smart, beautiful, kind, and lovely director of Wangsheng Parlor a payment worth a hundred times the cost?"
(ノ￣▽￣)
Hu Tao glanced at the neatly arranged coffins beside her, then skipped over to Gu Sanqiu and poked his cheek with her finger.
"Sanqiu, I'm touched! I can't believe you thought of me for such a big order. I'm practically in tears over here!"
"This is the biggest sale Wangsheng Parlor has seen in ages! All these coffins—what a treat!"
"Strictly speaking, it's probably a good thing for the Qixing that your funeral parlor doesn't often get this much business," Gu Sanqiu said, ignoring Hu Tao's playful poking.
Calmly raising his hand, green vines and paper talismans moved a dried corpse into one of the coffins, nailing the lid shut and sealing it with special incantations used by both the Incense-Bearer and Wangsheng Parlor.
The seals were mostly a precaution. If these corpses ever reanimated, they would pose a real threat to ordinary people, becoming even stronger as undead.
"Sanqiu, why don't we just cremate them? It'd be so much easier," Hu Tao pondered, tilting her head. "Wouldn't that make things simpler for you, especially considering all these bodies and coffins? It's a time of peace, after all."
"Cremation? That's not really in my playbook," Gu Sanqiu replied with a grin. "Do you really think an urn has the same weight as a coffin? No way."
"So what you're saying is..."
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Liyue Harbor, several well-dressed and equally well-fed individuals were angrily smashing everything in sight—teacups, antiques, chairs, and decorative stones. Well, the stones were too heavy to break.
"That brat! Does he think we don't know what he's up to?"
"If we don't rescue our people, everyone will think we're the type to abandon our own. No one will work for us, and we'll lose face in Liyue Harbor!"
"Then send more people! If we combine forces, I refuse to believe that little brat can make any waves. This is Liyue, protected by law! He's an Incense-Bearer—he wouldn't dare step out of line!"
"Protected by law? Ha! Do you really think the law will be on our side once this gets out?"
The argument continued, just as it had since the rumors of "man-eating trees" spread—rumors started by Gu Sanqiu himself.
They knew exactly what Gu Sanqiu was doing. And they also knew that if he killed all those people outright, it wouldn't even put a dent in their operations. But instead of seeking straightforward revenge, he had chosen a more insidious approach.
He had captured their men, and each day, more of them died—frustrated and hopeless, waiting for their bosses to rescue them. Do you save them, or not?
The other factions in Liyue were watching, waiting to see how they would handle the situation. Their remaining subordinates were also watching, wondering if their lives meant anything to their superiors. Would they be rescued?
Sure, the upper echelon might not care much about their underlings, but they still needed to keep up appearances. The debate now was over how to handle the rescue, but Gu Sanqiu wasn't about to give them time to figure it out.
"Sir! Something terrible has happened!"
A servant knocked on the door, his voice trembling. "Master, a large number of coffins have appeared out of nowhere in the estate courtyard. The household staff is panicking. What should we do?"
"What?!"
One of the well-dressed men shot up from his seat and gestured for the servant to come in.
"Explain exactly what happened!"
"Master, I don't know the details. The coffins just appeared out of thin air! If we hadn't dodged quickly, some of us would've had our legs crushed."
"There are Incense-Bearer seals on the coffins, but the charms are slowly fading away!"
"Master, we need your orders now! The guards and retainers have surrounded the coffins, but if we don't act soon, we may need to alert the authorities. This is a matter of life and death!"
What?!
Cold sweat dripped from the nobleman's brow. He knew full well what the Incense-Bearer seals were for. If those things broke loose from his estate, he'd have a massive headache on his hands!
And with the seals fading, wasn't this the sign of corpses coming to life?
Gu Sanqiu, that little bastard. He must have raised and bound these corpses himself just to torment them!
"Sir! Help!"
...
The continued shouting from outside brought the group back to their senses, wiping the smugness from their faces.
That eerie sound—like something summoning souls—it could only mean one thing.
Gu Sanqiu, that madman! Did he plant coffins at all of our houses?
---
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