Zhongli's question

Igarashi immediately went upstairs to see Hu Tao... Lecturing the Slender Man?

'What the...'

"If you really are a guardian ghost, then swear that you will not severely harm people!" Hu Tao said as she slammed her Staff of Homa down.

The Slender Man, weirdly enough, nodded vigorously. It seems like he had experienced things no ordinary ghost should experience. He was almost exorcised... If not for the fact that he signaled to Hu Tao that he protects this place.

Seeing the Slender Man's nod, Hu Tao nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Now then, are you interested in helping me advertise our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?"

"Umm..." At this point, Igarashi decided to speak up. "What are you doing...?"

Hu Tao turned around and looked at Igarashi. "Oh, if it isn't the person harboring a ghost~"

She then stood up from her sitting position and walked towards Igarashi. She then leaned forward when she was close enough. But due to the height difference, she had to slightly look up.

"Do you have any explanation for this? The cycle of life and death must happen to every living being..." Hu Tao started explaining. "So an adrift spirit in the mortal realm needs to be sent to the afterlife..."

Igarashi calmed her down and tried to explain the situation. "Well, you see, me and our ghost friend here are in a contract..."

"So... you know... We have a deal." Igarashi lied.

Hu Tao was silent for a moment and judged him. After a few moments, she backed away from him. "Well, if the spirit is in consent, then I have no complains..."

She backed away more and intended to go back down, but not before leaving a message. "But do remember. Long exposure to Ying Energy is bad for the health of humans nearby... So keep your ghost friend in here, okay?"

"I will." Igarashi replied as he looked back at the Slender Man with squinted eyes for failing to hide.

Hearing his reply, Hu Tao showed a small smile before waving her hand. "Alright then, bye~"

And just like that, she left. She entered the second floor of Igarashi's shop without him noticing for the second time.

'If I had a Mora for every time Hu Tao secretly enters my shop, I'll have two.' Igarashi thought with a deadpan expression seeing her leave. 'Which isn't that much but it's weird that it happened twice.'

* * *

The shop continued its business as usual. Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Xiangling were still reading. One of the three people mentioned here is crying, who might it be?

Anyways, Hu Tao just bought one chapter of Violet Evergarden and left. Childe was reading Re:Zero with an amused smile the whole time while Zhongli sipped on some tea that he brought.

Some customers sensed the calm mood inside and entered. They purchased the new chapter of Re:Zero, The Avatar, and the new manga, Violet.

Soon, the calm and silent mood of the shop appeared. The coldness brought by the air conditioner coupled with the comfortable seats, along with the silence and some noises of pages being flipped, brought a comfortable feeling to the readers.

And on the other side of the wall, Igarashi's team was making another serialization. With the help of the two new lesser puppets, the rate of mangas being made has increased.

As for Mo Fan, it seems like he was not keeping up with the increase in workload so Igarashi decided to lend him one of the lesser puppets to help as his assistant.

As for the new manga they were making? Well... It's Death Note. Of course, Igarashi modified it to suit Teyvat by making some small changes. But overall, it's still the same.

As for the second one they're making, it's Weathering With You. It has been quite a while since Your Name was released so Igarashi decided to publish this now.

Truth to be told, Igarashi planned to make Azhdaha's comic too. But he suddenly remembered something. And that is the reliability of the story. Because in the game, Azhdaha's story was only Introduced by Iron Tounge Tian in one of his storytelling.

And Igarashi just remembered that Zhongli responded to his stories as "Farfetched" and "Rex Lapis couldn't have possibly made such creature. He lacks the ability to do so." That means Zhongli did not create Azhdaha's body... So if he were to try to make the comic, and Jiu sees it, it might anger him by making it look like he was created by Zhongli.

So, for now, Azhdaha's comic is put on hold.

"Haah..." Igarashi sighed. Unfortunately, he had already made the comic before remembering the aforementioned.

'When afternoon arrives, I'll open the shop in Mondstadt...' He thought. 'I'm gonna bring JoJo to Mondstadt soon..."

Just then, he heard someone call his name. "Sir Yunru?"

Igarashi recognized this voice; it was Zhongli!

Igarashi stopped what he was doing and stood up. 'What does Zhongli want...?'

He then approached the door separating the two rooms of the customer's lounge and the workplace.

He opened the door and saw Zhongli's tall stature. "Yes?"

Zhongli looked around before replying. "I would like to discuss something... In private." He said as he made a clear gesture with his eyes to the rest of the people.

Getting his body message, Igarashi nodded. "Of course."

He then let Zhongli enter and the two of them passed by the workplace before going to the upper floor to not get disturbed. Arriving there, Igarashi asked: "What would you like to talk about, Mr. Zhongli?"

Zhongli inspected the room. It was only a plain room with a white door leading to another room. On the ceiling, a light bulb was lighting up the whole room. There was also a desk and a chair nearby.

Zhongli then changed his attention to Igarashi. He crossed his arms and asked a question. "I have a question."

"Go on..." Igarashi let him continue.

Zhongli nodded before asking a bizarre question. "What would you do in face of a decision that will put the risk of everyone?"

"...Huh?" Igarashi was dumbfounded by such a weird question. He then kept his calm composure and continued. "I don't understand... Can you clarify it, Mr. Zhongli?"

Zhongli sighed before straightening his posture. "Let me ask another question then. An old acquaintance that you haven't met for a long time suddenly appears and wants to collect an item that is no longer of use to you but is quite important. What would you do?"

"An old acquaintance, huh..." Igarashi muttered before stroking his chin as if he was thinking of something. After a few moments, he gave his answer. "Well, since it's no longer in use for you, why bother keeping it? It's better to give it back to your old acquaintance that seems to need it."

"As for its importance... Is something you seldom use even that important anymore?" He added with a smile.

Zhongli heard his answer and contemplated it. 'Yes... It is as he says so. Perhaps 'she' needs it for her plans...' As Zhongli thought of this, the familiar figure of a woman appeared in his mind.

After thinking for a while, Zhongli nodded with satisfaction. "Thank you. That was a great answer."

Igarashi laughed and replied, "Haha, it's fine. But I don't think we needed to find a secluded place to talk about something like this..."

"Haha, you are correct." Zhongli replied.

Soon, the two of them returned below. Zhongli brought a book with him as he would read it later and left. Childe followed him behind.

"What did you talk about, Mr. Zhongli?" Childe asked with curiosity.

Zhongli continued walking with a slight smile on his face. "Just a random question."

Though, in his mind, a thought lies in secrecy. 'That Yunru... He already knows my secret... But he's still acting naturally. Hah... How curious..."

With a small smile on his face, Zhongli continued walking to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.