26 A pleasant surprise

"My name's Hu Tao." She introduced herself with a bright smile. "How curious... Why are you dragging along such a big coffin? Are you taking it somewhere?"

Isaac was stunned for a moment before curling a wry smile. He then spoke with this persona's manner of speech. "Well... It's a perfect way to start conversations."

"Huh? Conversations?" Hu Tao looked at Isaac with a doubted yet curious expression.

Seeing her expression, Isaac call smiled before replying. "Well, to start, let me introduce myself. My name is Luocha— a traveling merchant."

"As for why I carry a coffin with me, well, it's a great device to start conversations," he explained to her with a calm smile the whole time. "When people see you carrying a massive coffin, they will naturally want to strike up a conversation, giving you a chance to sell your wares to them in the process."

"Hoh? Now that's a new and interesting approach!" Hu Tao nodded her head after hearing his explanation. She then looked at the coffin behind him. "However, I'm curious. Does your coffin truly contain something in it? If so, I believe that the... Person inside... Won't be in the best condition for traveling."

'Can I say Kallen Kaslana?' Isaac thought with amusement before leisurely shaking his head. He then answered ambiguously. "Yes."

"Is it family?"

"No."

"Friend?"

"Nyet."

"Lover?"

"Haha, what makes you think that? Which person carries their loved one's corpse everywhere? That's lunacy— and some twisted devotion." Isaac chuckled softly before shaking his head. "No, the person inside is someone I had met only once. By chance, I made a promise to someone, so I have to run their errands and deliver this person's remains."

Of course, these are all just bullcrap he made on the spot. He was just following along the original Luocha's steps.

In truth, there was nothing in the coffin except for his Dendro Vision which would produce some vines for him.

Hearing this, Hu Tao grasped her chin while nodding. "Well, I have to admit, you are the weirdest traveling merchant I've met."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Isaac smiled gently before picking up the coffin. "Well then, if you excuse me."

With that, he started walking off while carrying his coffin.

"Wait!" However, he was stopped by Hu Tao once more.

'Please, I'm exhausted. Let me rest.' Isaac kept his polite smile as he turned around. "Yes?"

"How about dropping by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?" Hu Tao said as she placed her hands on her hips. "I can assure you that we'll provide the best funerary service to your acquaintance!"

'Sorry, but I think you'll only find an empty coffin behind this...' Isaac looked at her with a gentle smile before answering. "I appreciate the offer, but forgive me. I only wish to deliver this and not hand it to anyone. Please understand as it's a promise."

Hu Tao was silent for a few moments before sighing deeply. She then put up a faint smile. "Well, if you need someone to help you once you reach your destination, make sure to contact us! We'll be sure to assist you— as long as it's within Liyue's borders, of course."

"I'll keep that in mind." Isaac nodded before carrying the coffin once more and going down the stairs.

He then used this opportunity to escape and teleport away.

---

Meanwhile, Hu Tao watched as he quietly departed.

"What an interesting person... For some reason, he reminds me of Zhongli..." Hu Tao crossed her arms while grasping her chin as she pondered. "They both have that encyclopedic aura around them and that refined gentleness..."

Woosh—*

Just then, while talking to herself, a breeze suddenly blew past her.

"...he's gone?"

Hearing the voice, Hu Tao quickly turned head and saw that, beside her, a short person instantly appeared.

"Ah! Conqueror of Demons?" Hu Tao, who was quite learned in the field of the Adepti, instantly recognized who the person was.

Xiao glanced at her and noticed her appearance. He then thought for a moment and remembered something. "...the funeral parlor?"

"My, you actually remembered our family's parlor!" Hu Tao smiled warmly as she said this. "We're honored, Conqueror of Demons."

"No," However, Xiao shook his head. "Your family helped us greatly in the past by protecting the border between the afterlife."

"It would be hard for me to not remember you." Xiao then crossed his arms. "Moving on, I want to ask. Where did the person carrying the coffin go? I assumed that he was part of your Funeral Parlor."

"You're looking for him?" Hu Tao raised her eyebrows as she grasped her chin. "Hmm... Is he someone important?"

"He just has something I'm curious about." Xiao shook his head lightly.

"Well, if that's the case..." Hu Tao sighed before crossing her arms once more. "I think he's still going down the stairs. You should meet him by the stairs if you go down."

"My gratitude," Xiao said before disappearing in the blink of an eye in a turquoise flash. However, a moment later, the same flash appeared and he appeared once more. "...he's not there."

"Huh? That can't be right..." Hu Tao said, also confused. "He just left! How could he have gone far carrying a coffin with him?"

"..." Xiao went silent as he looked at her before shaking his head. "...No matter."

"If you meet him again, just shout my name and I'll be there." After saying this, Xiao once more disappeared in a flash.

Now, Hu Tao was left alone in the reception room.

"Seriously, they all just left!" Hu Tao shook her head before sitting down and crossing her legs. "I wonder... Will we meet them again? What do you think..."

"Mr. Zhongli?"

Turning her head, she looked beside her and saw a refined gentleman quietly drinking on the sides.

He carried an elegant yet knowledgeable aura and had the air of an experienced senior.

Although he had been there since the beginning, his presence was quite hidden.

The man known as Zhongli took a quick sip from his Osmanthus Wine before looking at Hu Tao with his deep amber eyes— similar to that of Isaac's which seems to contain a vast sea of knowledge.

"I believe that time will tell when we will all meet again..." He answered in a calm tone before returning his attention to his wine.

"There you go again with your ambiguous talks again..." Hu Tao sighed deeply after hearing him. "How at you even sure that all of us will meet again?"

Zhongli stopped drinking his wine before looking at her once more. This time, a faint smile was present on his lips.

"I believe that it shall happen once more in the near future."

"Yeah, whatever." Hu Tao stood up before approaching his seat. "Well then, shall we depart as well? We still have preparation for Red Lapis' Rite of Descent."

Zhongli nodded lightly. "Alright."

Of course, never would have Hu Tao thought that Rex Lapis— The Geo Archon and the God of Liyue— was sitting right in front of her sipping wine in a leisurely manner.

---

Fontaine, inside Le Souffle du Silence. Inside Isaac's room.

A door of light with swirling mists suddenly materialized and Isaac walked out of it, still within his disguise.

"I'm back!" Seeing his familiar room, Isaac immediately placed the coffin in his inventory and slumped down on his bed. "What an exhausting day..."

"Gotta say, I need to remind myself to respect Murphy's Law now and then..." He sighed as he lay on his stomach while hugging his pillow. "As Murphy's Law states, Everything that can go wrong will go wrong..."

"To think I'd meet Hu Tao there..." He then turned over and lay on his back. "Seriously... She's like Furina but red..."

"BlueTao and Furedna..." He muttered those words with an amused smile. "They just seem so alike that it scares me..."

"Plus..." He then remembered another matter as his face turned complicated. "Why was Zhongli just sitting there... Silently?"

He noticed it when talking to Hu Tao. From the perspective of others, Zhongli might seem hidden, but to Isaac's unique observational traits, he was able to easily spot him.

"To top it off, he was just staring at me... Menacingly!" Isaac knew Zhongli's true identity and believed that he wouldn't do any harm to him. But still, it gave him a bit of pressure. "Maybe... He was just intently observing me? Ah, whatever..."

"Hawn..." Just then, Isaac's mouth opened and let out a deep yawn. "So... Tired... That's odd... The night's still early..."

His eyes soon began to turn heavy as he lay quietly. '...must have worked myself out too much... Whatever.'

'A good night's sleep is always accepted.' Isaac thought before changing out of his clothes and packing them inside his inventory.

Just then, right before he was about to sleep, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh right... I've accumulated enough system points for a new invite ticket..."

Isaac had been saving up for quite a while now and coupled with the recent quests, his system points have been stacked up well.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt for a pull before sleeping..." The Gamba instinct started running through his veins. Soon, he opened the system shop and bought the invite ticket. "160 System points... Aiyah, it hurts."

Those are points that he had accumulated— and seeing them disappear and his heart tighten. "But it's for a new character... So it's worth it..."

[Use Invite Ticket? Y/N]

'Yes.' Isaac didn't hesitate and clicked the yes button as he started getting really sleepy. 'Please be someone I can manage...'

Soon, the door on the first floor started glowing a bright golden color, afterward, the summoning ended.

The profile of the new character soon appeared in front of him.

'Oh? This is...' Seeing who it was, Isaac was actually pleasantly surprised. 'Now this is something new...'

[Profile]

[Name: Nahida]

[Gnosis: Dendro]

[Title: God of Wisdom/Dendro Archon]

[From Sumeru]

'This is the first time I'm summoning a God...' Isaac thought with great interest as his eyes slowly started shutting down. 'How... Interesting...'

His eyes then completely shut off.

And so, he fell asleep.

Without even noticing the pink fox tail that just entered the room and left half an hour later.

* * *

A/N: It's over, Genshinbros. My phone reached its storage limit. I can no longer play Genshin by the time the 4.1 content arrives...