Chapter Text
it wasn’t common for the director of the wangsheng funeral parlour to be late. in fact, it was probably a first. but hu tao couldn’t help the slow in her footsteps as she took in the plum blossoms that crept along thin branches in all directions, a few soft pink petals already making their slow descent from the trees.
it has been a long, long while since they had bloomed so vibrantly; countless shades of pink and white blurring together to form a rare sort of tranquility as the usually bustling crowd of liyue citizens took in the sight as well.
“mama!” a young girl, no more than five by the looks of it, called out. she tugged on the sleeves of the woman next to her, who tore her attention away from the casual small talk she was making to bend down to her height. “yes, yu’er?” she responded, offering her daughter a warm smile.
“are those cherry blossoms?” yu’er asked, chubby fingers reaching upwards as if she could pluck them from the branches as long as they were kept in sight. hu tao watched the scene with a faint smile, and extended a hand of her own to one of the lower branches, before closing her eyes and letting her arm fall back to her side.
“these are plum blossoms, little one,” the mother spoke slowly, and ruffled her daughter’s hair gently. picking up a petal, she held it up to the child, letting yu’er prod at it with wide, curious eyes. “cherry blossoms have a small, little split at the end of each petal. see? plum blossoms, like these ones, don’t. d’you know how to tell the difference now?” the young girl nodded, and hu tao watched amusedly as yu’er scooped more of the petals up. “mama, i want to put them back up! they won’t be pretty anymore on the floor.”
standing beside the funeral parlour director, another woman breathed a slow, longing sigh. “these remind me of home,” she murmured. hu tao knew she was speaking more to herself than to her, but listened all the same. glancing briefly at the intricate patterns on her clothing, hu tao recognised her as atsuko; the woman who had fled the electro archon’s lands. “they’re not cherry blossoms, for sure, but it’s easy to close my eyes and pretend that i stood somewhere else,” she smiled wistfully, smoothing a petal out with slender fingers. when hu tao didn’t reply, atsuko added ruefully, “people say the most painful heartache is to love someone who does not return the sentiment, but i think...to be unwelcome at home is a weight you carry your whole life.”
hu tao blinked, wondering if she was imagining the layered meaning behind the woman’s words, but atsuko had already turned away, sparing one last glance at the flowers before quietly taking her leave. before the brunette could decide whether to chase after her or not, a high-pitched shout of challenge drew her attention. “bet you can’t get that flower up there!” a teenage girl sprouting black pigtails elbowed another, brown eyes flashing with mischief. the pair were strikingly similar in features, and hu tao recognised them as the twins: liuchun and liuqing. liuqing, she presumed, seemed to be the colder one of the two. the girl had snorted at her twin’s challenge, the high ponytail that she had pulled her hair into only accentuating her sharper features and giving her an air of arrogance. “watch and learn, little liuchun,” she snapped, and without warning—leapt up a tree with feline grace.
several passers-by halted in their steps, exchanging glances and concerned whispers carried by the wind. even hu tao couldn’t help but flicker her gaze upwards, but she was barely able to make out anything with the speed that liuqing was ascending the tree. “damn it!” a hiss of pain sounded from within the branches, and hu tao lurched forward, ready to catch the girl should she fall. a few terrifyingly quiet moments passed before a triumphant “got it!” rang out, and hu tao let out a breath she hadn’t even realised she had been holding.
“archons damned thorns!” the girl had grumbled, before slipping down the tree with effortless grace. “got your flower,” liuqing sneered, tossing it carelessly at her twin, who caught it with one hand. muttering curses under her breath, liuqing wiped away at her finger, hissing at the contact. “you got blood on this thing!” liuchun complained from beside her, and she rolled her eyes, scoffing, “you say that as if you can do any better.”
“hey! wanna bet on that?”
“oh, don’t even bother. you’ll just embarrass yourself in front of everyone else.”
hu tao opened her mouth, as if she wanted to comment on the twins’ conversation, but shut it after a second thought and turned away. glancing once more at the plum blossoms that bloomed ever so vibrantly; almost as if mocking the ones that sat atop her hat, hu tao sucked in a deep breath. reaching out quickly as if she would lose the courage to do so otherwise, the brunette snapped a branch off, clutching it tightly between her fingers. silently, she stared at the delicate flowers that could crumble within her fingers, before shaking her head and relying on muscle memory to bring her to the doorsteps of the funeral parlour.
*
yanfei sighed from under the stacks of legal contracts and documents that had piled up, almost precariously, atop her desk. she knew she should have sorted them out a long time ago, but there were new cases everyday which called for her attention, and she never got around to organising. or—a small part of her nagged—she was simply too lazy to. there was a liyuen proverb for this, she mused to herself: ‘the eyes are lazy while the hands are diligent’ . there was a certain wisdom to it, as with all other proverbs, of course, but it was just...difficult to get started.
muttering to herself, yanfei hastily crossed off the agenda for the day before finally allowing herself a moment to just think . it was a little overwhelming, the legal advisor admitted, and it wouldn’t hurt to clear her head a little. setting her brush down, yanfei slipped out of the office quietly, the pale moonlight that greeted her immediately setting her mind at ease. it had been long—she realised; far too long—since she had set aside the time for herself. not just for work, not just for others’ problems…but time for her own.
she grimaced at the thought. an adeptus having problems, what would the mortals think? just solve it with that magical vision - she promptly shut down the voice in her head. staring at the moon blankly, she recalled some silly old superstition about losing an ear if a mortal was to point at it, and a part of her wanted to try for the sake of testing that theory. pointedly tucking that thought away to her collection of ‘never think about again’ thoughts, she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind white-gold antlers, as if that would reinforce the mental mess she has locked away.
glancing around in an attempt to distract herself from her own racing thoughts, yanfei noted the first of the lanterns that the liyue citizens took pride and joy in handcrafting for the moonchase festival. it was an interesting sight to say the least; and it reminded her of the times spent with her mortal mother. biting her lip, yanfei turned her attention elsewhere, finally settling on observing a pair of girls who achieved a strange mix of ‘being at each other’s throats’ and ‘playfully poking fun at one another’.
“see? i obviously folded it better!” the one with pigtails grinned, waving her lantern like some sort of trophy in the other girl’s face. in return, the girl with a ponytail scoffed and batted the lantern away, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she weaved and cut away at the…clump—for lack of a better word—in her hands. yanfei fought to keep the amusement off her face, lest her observations be mistaken for something else entirely, and stood to leave. the piercing sound of wooden doors creaking open stopped her in her tracks, however, and the legal advisor wondered whether it was just curiosity that led her to, well, eavesdropping . “ma, look at the lantern i made!” pigtail girl beamed, almost shoving the lantern into her mother’s face. children.
her mother smiled gently, offering her a pat on the head. “why don’t you teach your sister? it’s not going too well for hers, isn’t it?” she said, not unkindly, but ponytail girl stiffened. yanfei frowned at the words. she was no parent, but thanks to her extended adeptus lifespan, she had bore witness to countless ways of parenting.
and comparing never ended well for anyone involved.
but it wasn’t her place to interfere, the half-adeptus admitted ruefully, and turned away once more. perhaps moonlight strolls did little to clear the storm in her mind, but even liyue’s constantly-adjusted laws did little to serve justice to all who deserved it.
*
hu tao was quite literally dragged out of her slumber the next morning, woken by hands that shook her with a gentle firmness which left no room for argument. although notorious for her “insensitive” jokes— or so she had been told— hu tao was completely serious when it came to affairs of the wangsheng funeral parlour, especially when her own staff were in disarray; panic-stricken faces and hushed whispers exchanged all around her. scrambling up from the casket she had fallen asleep in, the brunette asked loudly, “will anyone tell me what happened, or am i just going to be kept in the dark the whole day?”
brows furrowed and employees shared hesitant glances. even the ferry lady made a motion to speak, before pointedly glancing away to clear her throat.
hu tao raised an eyebrow. the last time she had seen the funeral parlour staff so lost was when morax himself passed on, and there was absolutely no way that old geezer went ahead and faked his death again . there were far easier methods to get out of the funeral consultant position than that.
“where’s zhongli?” hu tao asked quickly. the ferry lady shot her a quizzical look. “he’s attending to the rites for a client, director hu. i’m afraid it would not be appropriate to interrupt him now.”
“oh, good . so he’s still here,” hu tao commented offhandedly, and got even more blank stares. archons, was everyone always so oblivious to those who walked amongst them? “then what’s the problem? i was having a perfectly good dream.”
more glances were exchanged before hu tao finally put her foot down. “for fuck’s sake, this is the wangsheng funeral parlour. there are no taboo topics within these grounds, so spit it out, c’mon!” the young director said without venom, before her gaze landed on the ferry lady. “well?” hu tao prompted.
the ferry lady inclined her head, eyes stormy and unreadable. “there has been a murder in liyue harbour, director hu. the renowned legal advisor, miss yanfei, has requested for your presence.”
hu tao stared wordlessly; her very silence seemed to engulf the funeral parlour in a darker mood.
“take me to her,” the funeral parlour director finally said, and dusted her hands off on the thick fabric of her uniform.
*
the click-clack of the ferry lady’s urgent footsteps helped to drown out hu tao’s thoughts. at least, that’s what the director would prefer to think as she mirrored her employee’s stride, the normally bustling streets of liyue harbour remaining a chilling quiet as the shops and houses flashed by.
quiet; too quiet. even the funeral rites she led had more life than this ghost the city had become. murder? surely not, it had been decades since the last case, there was no reason for such a heinous crime. it must be a misunderstanding. who, present day, could be arrogant enough to dictate the life of another?
so maybe hu tao wasn’t as great at self-assurance as she had led herself to believe.
yanfei. the name was familiar to her ears, but not to her tongue. the legal advisor’s reputation truly precedes her; the most she had ever seen of the young woman were the flashes of pink hair that darted through the crowds, those slender fingers rapidly flipping through the heavy law book she always carried around. hu tao did not idolise the adepti like most liyuen citizens, but she respected yanfei for creating her own path, and doing a damned good job at it too.
a shame. she had been presented with the opportunity to discuss work with yanfei previously, but her schedule had been packed at the time. she’d have loved to meet yanfei, one businesswoman to another—but certainly not under these circumstances.
“director hu,” a voice called out softly, stopping hu tao in her tracks. jolting out of her reverie, the funeral parlour director swivelled around awkwardly, making a show of clearing her throat before letting her crimson gaze fall on the body.
it wasn’t a pretty sight to see.
in liyue’s funeral rite traditions, the bodies of the dead are to be treated with utmost care and respect, laid to eternal rest with grace, arms crossed over chests. at peace, at last, no matter what brought them to that fate. but this ...hu tao’s lip curled. this was mutilation.
it took considerable effort for hu tao to fight the sharp intake of breath back, even if death was as dear as a close friend, occupation-wise, at least. the very state the body had been left in made her consider the prospect of chasing away those intrusive stares of liyue citizens who began crowding around them, doing little to keep their murmurs down.
standing beside her, yanfei tried hard not to look like she was gauging hu tao’s reaction from the corner of her eye. in response, the funeral parlour director’s gaze shifted from the corpse— streams of dried blood left forever streaming down like some twisted piece of art—to the dagger that the legal advisor was fiddling with. “i suppose you’re not here to turn yourself in to the qixing, miss yanfei.”
the weapon almost slipped between the half-adeptus’ fingers.
yanfei scrambled to regain her grip upon it, and hurriedly shot back, “of course not.” allowing herself a hint of a smirk, hu tao crouched down, her touch carefully light as she slowly peeled back a portion of the clothing that clung to the corpse like a second skin. the morbid scene that greeted her nearly sent her reeling back, and the barely hushed whispers around the investigating pair only grew more panicked.
“this seems sadistic.”
yanfei set the dagger down onto the concrete floor, peering at the knife wounds that littered the body of a young girl; ugly dark red gashes slashed with such brutality that the legal advisor grimaced. she was one half of the twins from before , hu tao realised with a jolt, as she looked closer at the pained expression forever captured in death. but which one was it? liuchun? liuqing? were the hairstyles the only way to tell them apart? where was the other? still alive, or left for dead somewhere else on the streets?
“the wounds match the blade. did you know her?” yanfei said quietly, and the funeral parlour director shook her head, bitterness in her smile. “saw her yesterday, with her twin. never got to know her.”
yanfei’s gaze darkened. “can you tell when she passed on?” hu tao’s eyes widened by a fraction at the question, and the half-adeptus shrugged. “i guessed. there’d been rumours of the esteemed director hu investigating certain deaths when they seemed uncanny.”
“people talk too much,” hu tao grumbled, but gently placed two fingers on the girl’s wrist. there wasn’t any heat to be felt at first touch, but the brunette furrowed her eyebrows, and the pyro vision worn on her back flared. sweat beaded at her forehead, and hu tao detected the slightest hint of warmth. the girl jumped at the sensation and closed her eyes, immediately chasing after the liquid fire that once channelled through those veins without hesitation.
yanfei frowned. even the liyuen crowd seemed to hold their breaths with her.
hu tao started gasping for air.