18th of the 2nd Cycle

The Wangsheng Funeral Parlour was a sizable building with several floors.

Built at the end of the bridge between Feiyun Slope and Chihu Rock, it sits at a crossroads in the middle of the city - any who cross from the Rock to the Slope will inevitably see the dreary halls of the building, and any going the other way tend to keep on the opposite side of the road to avoid being too close. There was a yard before the main door, where a plum tree grew out of a grass patch, as well as a board with wooden tiles hanging from it.

The yard was desolate, a slight breeze blowing the dead leaves on the stone floor.

Aether trudged forwards, walking under the tree to pick up a fallen plum half-buried under leaves. He brought it to eye-level, inspecting the shiny dark exterior and squeezing it to reveal the juicy glistening flesh beneath.

It was winter, and plums wouldn't be in harvest for several moons.

"What are you looking at?" Mona asked as she came up to him.

Wordlessly, he handed her the fruit in his hands, and she took it carefully - face twisting in distaste as the sticky juices stuck to her hands. But after her initial reaction subsided, her eyes widened when she realised she was holding onto a ripe plum in the middle of winter - slowly looking up to see the plum tree both in full bloom yet dying.

"What…"

"You shouldn't eat that."

They flinched at the sudden voice, swivelling around to see a tall, pale woman standing outside the closed doors. She looked like a ghost, her white skin contrasting greatly with her midnight dress and overcoat - decorated with gold lining and woven depictions of red equinoxes. Gloves covered her hands, and her hair was tied into a bun.

Aether swore that there was no one in the yard when they arrived, and yet here this woman was - silent as a spirit - he hadn't even heard the door open. And from the looks of it, Mona hadn't heard anything either.

"Once you eat the food of the dead," she continued softly, "You will never be quite alive again."

Mona dropped the plum as if it scalded her, hastily wiping her hands on her coat.

"S-Sorry-!"

"Welcome to the Hall of Rebirth," the lady bowed, "The director has been awaiting you."

"Uh- may we know your name?" Mona tried, "I'm Mona Megistus, and this is Aether."

"I am merely a ferrylady, there is no need to pay any attention to me," she smiled thinly, "Not while you still live."

The ferrylady turned and pushed open the door, which swung inwards silently. Cold air poured forth, sinking to the ground and Aether could feel the chill pool around his ankles. He and Mona shared a look, then followed the ferrylady into the funeral parlour.

What awaited them was a waiting room, where there were several low tables and cushions lying about. There was also a counter connected to a feature wall, where two passages flanked the wall in the backrooms. Several oaken doors lined the wall to their right, leading to other side chambers.

The place was deserted, and the counter was unmanned too.

Suddenly, Hu Tao appeared from behind the feature wall, walking around the left passage. She was sighing, removing bloodied gloves from her hands and placing them on the counter - before she noticed their presence.

"Oh!" Hu Tao exclaimed, "You've arrived! Good, good - just in time!"

Mona eyed the bloody gloves on the table, "Apologies if we are intruding on something…"

"Oh! No no, I was just finishing up," she dismissed her, before addressing the ferrylady, "Meng Jiang, why are you awake? It's not your shift!"

"We had guests, director," the lady bowed.

"My guests," Hu Tao chided, "Go get some rest, I'll handle them."

"Understood, director," she bowed again, before leaving through one of the side doors.

"She is… a character," Mona hesitantly said.

"Meng Jiang's a widow," Hu Tao corrected, beckoning them to follow her, "Came here begging to help prepare her husband's body, and has stayed ever since."

They walked around the feature wall to find another door behind it on a partition wall, and when Hu Tao opened it - Aether felt as if he was back in the middle of the Land of Wind. Inside was freezing, much colder than the waiting room. Stepping across the threshold, he found out why - the backroom was a single cavernous hall, and on the roof several massive zhuanshu runes.

Unlike Windic futhark runes, which consisted of symbols formed of straight lines and sharp edges, Liyuean zhuanshu runes appeared calligraphic, made of flowing lines. The zhuanshu runes inscribed onto the roof blew icy air downwards, filling the hall with a frigid chill - for good reason.

There were dozens of tables in the hall, organised into columns and rows. While some were empty, most had bodies lying atop them - either covered with a tarp or being worked on by groups of undertakers. Hu Tao led them to the side and up a set of stairs onto a mezzanine, where they could get an uninterrupted view of the entire preparation area.

"...Is Wangsheng always this busy?" Mona asked softly.

Hu Tao glanced back at her, before turning back forwards.

"Do people ever stop dying?" was all she replied with.

A moment later, they came across a wooden door which led into a sparsely decorated office. Besides a low table and accompanying cushions, there was a potted plant - a group of equinox flowers - and a painting hung on a wall. It was a curious painting, not depicting a person or landscape, instead there was a symbol - a flower with three petals and a large receptacle, except the petals were facing downwards.

Truthfully, Aether was unsure if the symbol depicted a flower at all - but the same symbol was adorned on the clothing of all of the funeral parlour's employees, including Hu Tao herself. He figured it must be the sigil of the House of Hu, of which Hu Tao was a descendant of.

"Take a seat," Hu Tao waved towards the cushions.

He and Mona slowly knelt on the cushions, slightly wincing at the strange sitting manner. Hu Tao meanwhile, went to a shelf and took a glazed jar along with several wooden cups, before coming back and putting the cups on the table and the jar on the floor.

"So, why have you called us?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Hu Tao hummed as she took a wooden ladle and scooped up the clear liquid in the jars and poured into their cups, spilling nothing, "Well, we will get an answer from the Qixing here - the Lady Yuheng recognised me, after all."

"I suppose that makes sense," Mona said, before slowly picking up the cup and bringing it to her lips.

Aether followed suit, taking a sip of the liquid - and finding it to be rice wine.

"This stuff is good," Mona muttered, downing the rest of the wine.

"Don't drink too fast!" Hu Tao laughed, refilling her cup, "This is strong stuff."

"How do you know we will get a response today?" Aether asked her.

"It's the Lady Yuheng," Hu Tao told him, "She doesn't care much for bureaucracy and stuff like that. I bet that she immediately informed the Qixing last night of our offer, she isn't one to waste around."

"And if you bet wrong?"

"Then we can still use this time to plan, hmm?" she smiled, "Speaking of which, what have you found out?"

"Well," Mona hummed, "I cannot do anything more than theorise without direct access to the corpus."

"We need to convince the Qixing if we are to get access to the corpus," Hu Tao pointed out, "That means convincing them our theory has merit."

"Who should we aim to convince?" Aether queried, "I highly doubt we will be able to convince all of the Qixing."

"We need to get four out of seven on our side," Hu Tao shot back a cup of wine, before picking the ladle and refilling it, "Our highest chances are with the Lady Tianquan and her allies, the Lady Yuheng, and the Lord Tianshu."

"We still need one more," Mona mildly observed.

"The rest are antagonistic to her," Hu Tao sighed, "But the Lord Kaiyang is one of Rex Lapis' devotees, he will surely support us if we frame it right."

"Well, that doesn't seem too difficult," Aether mused, "Three of them are already inclined to aid us, and one will as well after some convincing."

"But there's one more," she warned, "She isn't part of the Qixing, but her word may just carry more weight than all of them combined."

"Combined?" Mona's eyes widened, "Who-?"

"Jiangzhong Tianhua Zhenjun - the Perfected Lord who Tears Down the Celestial Heavens," Hu Tao downed another cup, "One of the Mighty and Illuminated Adepti, she earned her name back in the Battle of Lingju Pass during the Archon Wars, when she shattered the Sky and dropped it on an army invading out of Tian Qiu."

Aether leaned forward, "Literally?"

"Don't know, but that's how the story goes - Li Yue was still an emerging power, recently founded after the fall of Guili. The Qiu Dynasty of Tian Qiu wanted to nip them in the bud, so a massive army of a hundred-thousand departed southwards led by their god," Hu Tao sucked in a breath, "Back then, the Qixing hadn't been founded yet, and Li Yue was ruled by the Yue Dynasty. Rex Lapis led both the mortal forces under the Yue and his new adepti to a mountain pass between Tian Qiu and Li Yue to meet the Qiu army there."

"The adepti were a new thing, and this battle was meant to be their proving ground," she continued, "Rex Lapis made the mortals and the adepti sign a contract; the Divine Law - Lingju - which is what the pass there is now named after."

"They won the battle," Aether guessed.

"Mmm… they won outnumbered three to one," she nodded, "But they nearly lost, because the defences weren't built fast enough and they were nearly overrun. So, to slow down the Qiu army, Jiangzhong Tianhua Zhenjun tore out a part of her soul and fixed it to an arrow, before shooting the Sky. She nearly died, but the falling heavens slowed down the Qiu army enough that the final defences could be raised."

"I feel like that story has a great bit of embellishment," Mona dryly stated, "How are the falling heavens only enough to slow down an army?"

Hu Tao shrugged, "That's why it's just a story. If you want to know the full truth, best just ask her - she was a founding member of the Qixing, and has served as the General Secretary for millennia. These days, she goes by her courtesy name - Ganyu."

"What are her views on Rex Lapis?"

"The same as any adepti, I suppose - a devout believer," Hu Tao tapped her chin, "If I recall rightly, she only barely tolerates the Lady Yuheng because of her sceptic views."

"You're saying if we convince the Lord Kaiyang, then Lady Ganyu will also support us?"

"If we convince Lady Ganyu, then the Qixing will support us," she corrected, "Because Lady Ganyu is Rex Lapis' representative within the government, and now that he's dead…"

"Her words will be as good as his," he finished.

"That's right," Hu Tao clapped, "So then, what are our theories? I'll start, Bianjie hasn't undergone any change at all."

"Bian…jie?"

"The border between life and death, basically purgatory," she clarified, "Unlike Diyu - the underworld - which was created by Lord Ronove in conjunction with Rex Lapis, Bianjie was created solely by Rex Lapis. The fact that he has died, and the border still remains intact is suspicious to say the least."

Mona frowned, "Couldn't it be that Bianjie was created to be self-operating?"

"Unlikely," Hu Tao shook her head, "Bianjie was created for one reason only - so that the dead can continue to fight for the living. During the Archon Wars, Li Yue was the dark horse, constantly outnumbered in every battle. Bianjie was essentially a waiting room, and Rex Lapis would temporarily bring the recently deceased back to life for short periods of time to continue fighting his wars."

"If Rex Lapis was to stop maintaining Bianjie," she continued, "Then the realm would collapse, and all the dead would immediately pass onto Diyu without first entering Bianjie. But this is not the case - the border is still active, and the dead still wait for their turn to enter the underworld."

A silence swallowed them as they mused over the information. Truthfully, Aether had no choice but to take what she said at face value - he knew nothing of Liyuean death rites, after all. But, if it were true, then it would come a long way to help them in proving Morax had faked his own death for whatever reason he may have heard.

Yet, there was another thought that came to him - how did Hu Tao know of the status of Bianjie? She said it herself, the realm was a border between life and death - how can anyone learn of its status without being dead themselves? Aether eyed the young woman, to which she noticed, but only tilted her head in response.

Was it her Pyro Vision, or was a House of Hu secret?

No matter, that was not the issue at hand.

"What do you think, Mona?" he asked.

Mona jerked, snapping to attention as she was shook out of her thoughts.

"Pardon?"

"What do you think?" he repeated.

"Right," she coughed, "Here take a look at this."

She brought her pack onto her lap and opened the flap, shuffling through its contents for a moment before taking out a worn journal. While the book was clearly well-used, it was also clearly well-cared for. The leather cover was rough, but the brass adornments were still reflective.

Mona placed the journal on the table and flipped it open, shuffling through worn pages - some clearly showing water damage.

"Here," she licked her finger, "This is my recording of the Sky on the fourteenth of this moon, take a look."

Aether leaned over, with Hu Tao mirroring his action. On the parchment was the illustration of an incredibly detailed starchart, filled to the brim with notes and annotations. The illustration as a whole took both pages being shown, the string binding allowing the pages to form a flat surface without any dip.

Hu Tao wetted her lips, "I can't read this."

"Well, I suppose that was to be expected - you aren't an astrologist after all-"

"No, I mean," she cut in, "I literally can't read this, I don't understand Chantant."

Aether blinked, and quickly understood what she meant. Mona's handwriting was barely legible, an incredibly small cursive - likely made a habit from writing in cramped pages - only further jumbled from the flowing script of Fontainean Chantant. The words swam on the page before his eyes, giving him a headache from staring too intently - forcing him to blink and look away.

"O-Oh! My apologies," Mona sheepishly laughed, "No- no need to read anything, just look here."

She pointed at a small group of inked dots on the parchment, connected by thin graphite lines into a vaguely diamond shape.

"Saxum, Petra, Giada, Chrysol, Creta, and Aurum - the six stars that form Lapis Dei, the constellation of the Geo Archon," she pointed to each dot in order.

Mona then flipped to the next page, revealing what seemed to be the exact same copy of the previous starchart - or at least so it seemed to Aether's untrained eye.

"It's… the same?" Hu Tao asked, visibly confused.

"I drew this last night," Mona said, "Look here - the six stars of Lapis Dei are still visible in the night sky. If Rex Lapis has died, then it must be expected that something happens to his constellation, no?"

"But nothing happened," Aether surmised, "The exact same thing with Bianjie."

"Correct," Mona adjusted her hat, which she still wore even indoors, "There has been an incredibly long debate within astrological circles regarding whether divine constellations are connected to the corpus or the god themselves. Either way, however, both are intricately tied - in a symbiotic manner almost - so whatever happens, the constellation must be affected either way."

"I don't really understand," Hu Tao said, "But it sounds convincing enough for me. How about you, Aether?"

He shrugged in response, "These things… really aren't my forte."

"Come one!" she exclaimed, "You gotta have something!"

Before he could really insist that he doesn't, there was a knock at the door. Mona reacted first, her hand snapping forwards to slam her journal shut and shoving it in her pack, looking warily at the door. Hu Tao meanwhile, groaned in annoyance before standing up - stretching all the while - and walking towards the door and opening it slightly and peeking out.

"Who- oh, come with a visitor have you?"

She opened the door to reveal two men, one Liyuean and the other with more northern features. The first man who stepped through was taller than the other, Liyuean, with striking amber eyes and a stern expression. He wore a long waistcoat over black trousers and a dress shirt - a stark departure from the Liyuean fashion.

He stared at the man for a moment, to which the man met his gaze. For a long while, neither of them spoke a word - but Aether broke eye contact first, drawing his gaze to the second man.

Messy ginger hair framed his sharp face and dull yet keen blue eyes. He wore a flat grey jacket and a pair of grey trousers - with a noticeable Hydro Vision adorning his belt. On his right shoulder was some manner of golden-sable adornment, connected to a long red sash that crossed over his chest and over his left shoulder.

Aether wrinkled his nose - the stench of death surrounded the man like an ephemeral aura. Oh, the stench of death surrounded Hu Tao as well, but it wasn't the same - she smelled of bittersweet farewells and peaceful passages. The man, on the other hand, reeked of rot and slaughter, of brutality and screams - and an unrecognisable scent that Aether couldn't quite parse, and yet felt strangely familiar to him.

Suddenly, Hu Tao slapped her forehead, "Oh, let me introduce you! This is Zhongli, our resident consultant. And this is his friend… who are you?"

"You can call me Childe," the man smiled, "I'm from Snezhnaya. I'm afraid I have some business here, if you could give me a moment of your time…"

"...Most certainly!" Hu Tao's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, "Can you two please leave for a moment?"

Aether and Mona shared a glance, before collectively obliging - gathering their effects and leaving the room. As the door closed behind them, he could see Hu Tao leading the two men to their cushion-seats.

"Those men…" Mona murmured.

"Shh," he quietly hushed her, before leaning against the door.

Below them, several bodies were being loaded into coffins and carried out of the hall into a neighbouring room - only for new tarp-covered bodies to immediately be rolled in and occupy the newly emptied tables.

"...can I help you?" he could hear Hu Tao speak.

"I was hoping you would help us in a matter…"

"Who's us?"

"...No need to be coy, you know I'm with the Fatui."

"Hmm… I see," Hu Tao paused, "And what matter do you refer to?"

"As you know, Rex Lapis had recently died," Childe said, "I'd like to know how his funeral is to proceed."

Hu Tao laughed lightly, "You think too highly of us, sir. We haven't received any request for such a funeral!"

"Is… is that so? My apologies then… how about this?"

Aether heard the man slide something on the table.

"Hmm… I do not ever recall Wangsheng offering these services."

"Excuse me?" Childe chuckled, "We have requested similar services before, and you have always kept your end - we pay extremely generously, if you recall."

"It appears my memory is failing me. But believe me, Wangsheng does not betray our customers - you can trust us. Is that all?"

"Well… about the funeral rites-"

"I have already said, sir, that until we receive a commission for such, I can speak of nothing."

The man sighed, "I understand, that will be all."

"Thank you for your patronage!"

Aether walked forwards to lean on the railing, staring down at the embalming processes below - just in time for the door to open and for the two men to walk out. Just then, an employee of the establishment was walking past them with a stack of wooden tiles in their hands.

"Just in time!" Hu Tao called, making the employee flinch, "You, please guide Sir Childe to the exit - Zhongli, I'd like you to remain for a moment. And the both of you, come back in!"

Zhongli paused, before bidding farewell to the Snezhnayan and turning around on his heel to walk back into the office. As Aether and Mona followed the man back inside, he could hear the employee speak as they guided Childe towards the exit.

"Right this way, sir…"

The door shut behind them, and Hu Tao beckoned Zhongli over.

"You two, stand there for a moment," she told them, "Zhongli, come come, sit!"

"Of course, director," he calmly sat down, "How can I be of service?"

"So…" Hu Tao smiled dangerously, and the temperature began to rise, "Can you inform me since when we had ties to the Fatui?"

"Since the fall of yesteryear, director."

"I see, I see…" she hummed, "And tell me since have we offered assassination services?"

"Since the fall of yesteryear, director."

"Alright," she nodded, "And who received the Fatui's payments?"

"I believe it was Sir Longwei, director."

"Thank you, you're dismissed," Hu Tao waved her hand, "And bring me Longwei, if you would."

"Of course, director."

He and Mona slid out of the way as the man left through the door silently, nary sparing them even a glance. Meanwhile, Hu Tao was leaning against the back of her palm, elbows resting on the table - her blossom-shaped irises seemed to burning with a manner of furor even as she continued to smile.

As the moments wasted away without any of them speaking a word, Hu Tao seemed to snap - abrupt scooping up her cup of rice wine and downing it in a single gulp, before standing up. Both he and Mona pressed themselves against the wall in an attempt to move themselves out of the way of her silent rage - though it was unneeded.

For the young lady silently strode over to the side of the room where there was a particularly long lacquer chest placed against the wall, shaped eerily like a coffin. She crouched down and gripped the lid with both hands and lifted the lid, carefully leaning it against the wall. Then she picked up a long staff out of the box - with a length of polished yew and golden fittings connected to a red staffhead shaped in a pair of fiery wings.

Hu Tao stared at the staff in her hands for a moment, before using her feet to close the chest lid.

Suddenly, the door opened and a short, heavy-set man walked in, dressed in dark clothes lined with gold trim.

"Hu Longwei," Hu Tao called his name, "Explain to me how we had become… familiar with the Fatui?"

The man froze in his tracks, "...Pardon me, director? I'm afraid I have no idea what you are mentioning."

"Is that so…" she ran a palm down the yew shaft of the staff.

Longwei bowed deeply, "That is so, director."

Before Hu Tao could reply, a young woman dressed in undertaker clothing peeked through the open door - her eyes widening when she collected the scene inside.

"P-Pardon me, director," she bowed, "Someone from Yuehai Pavilion is outside."

"Perfect timing," she hummed, "All of you, follow me."

The five of them silently walked down the length of the mezzanine and down the stairs, before entering the waiting room once again. The counter had an attendant now, who suddenly jerked from their seat when they noticed them in the room, hastily bowing.

"Where is the messenger?"

"She's waiting outside, director."

Hu Tao strode over to the doors and pulled, swinging them open, before walking out without missing a step. They followed her outside onto the yard, where a sole person waited - a young woman with messy fur-like hair and reptilian eyes. A pair of bony horns extended from the back of her head, half-hidden within her mess of hair.

But the most striking thing about her was her skin, mostly pale and fleshy like all humans - but there were also scales running down her skin, noticeably at her thighs down to her feet, as well as her neck, chin, and arms - ending with claw-like fingers.

"Yanfei," Hu Tao greeted, "A surprise. From Yuehai Pavilion, are you?"

"Yes, miss," the half-beast bowed, "I will be the witness, and the lawyer drafting the contract between your party and the Qixing. They await you at Yuehai Pavilion."

"Good to see," Hu Tao moved over to the plum tree and picked a plum from the ground, "Give me a moment, will you? I need to deal with something first."

"Please be hasty, miss. It is not good to keep the Qixing waiting."

"Of course, of course," she took a bite out of the plum in her hand, before squeezing the juices out onto the head of her staff - the liquid coating the red finish, making it glisten in the sunlight.

Then, she threw the fruit away and looked back up - up at Longwei, "Do you still have no recollection of your meeting with the Fatui?"

Yanfei's eyes widened slightly as the man unconsciously took a step backwards.

"A-Afraid not, director."

"Then I suppose I'll have to find that memory for you," she hummed, idly spinning her staff.

As Hu Tao approached him like a stalking predator, the man hastily backtracked, holding his hands out in front of him.

"Wait… wait!" he cried, "You can't do this-!"

"Can't I?" she dashed forwards, sweeping her staff low and knocking the man's legs out from under him - forcing the man to his knees.

"Can't I?" Hu Tao repeated, looking at Yanfei.

"Huh…? Oh-!" she jerked, "Since the House of Hu are counts, this matter falls under the Wujue Integrity Act. All matters of a noble clan involving clan members, granted in the context of a clan-run business not involving non-clan employees, is no matter of the state."

Hu Tao stared back down at the now shivering man, bringing her staff close to his face - before the staffhead ignited into a blaze of Pyro, the sweet scent of plum juice quickly permeating the air.

"So," she repeated, "Do you still have no recollection?"

"...Mercy… mercy!"

The director snarled, withdrawing her staff away from the man's face before slamming the flat side into his back - the Pyro burning straight through his clothes and digging into his skin and flesh, causing it to bubble and boil - the scent of roasting flesh mixing with the scent of plums in the air.

"GYYAAAAGHHH!" his screams resounded through the cold air.

"Speak!"

"T-They misunderstood our business!" he keeled over onto the floor, whimpering, "They… they thought we dealt with- and… and!"

"And!?"

"And I accepted their deal!" he blabbered, "That's it, that's it! I swear!"

"That's it?" Hu Tao ever-present smile grew sharper, "Assassination is that's it?"

"I just- I just wanted the money!" the man whimpered.

"Money!" she giggled, leaning down to talk into his ear, "Embezzlement, lobbying, corruption! The House of Hu are no paragons of virtue, Hu Longwei, we have done it all before! But we draw the line at dealing with life and death, do you know why?"

"Because… because-!"

"Because our job is to handle those who have already passed!" she laughed, "We are the ferrymen - we deal with death, and death alone! It is not our job to decide who lives or dies!"

Longwei had curled into a ball, now, pressing his head against the stone floor and weeping inconsolably.

"Mercy…" he snivelled, "Mercy…"

"Let it not be said that I am not a law-abiding citizen!" Hu Tao announced, "Yanfei, my friend! What does the law say?"

Yanfei looked around nervously - a crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle, now. It was nearly noon, and most people were out for luncheon, so there was a large mass of people having been drawn by the commotion outside the yard - outside the House of Hu's grounds. They were silently watching the proceedings with wide eyes, all listening to what the half-beast lawyer had to say.

"This… this is a complicated manner," the illuminated beast admitted, "If you were to hand this matter to the state, then I suspect this man would have committed seven through nine of the Ten Abominations - lack of filial piety, discord, and unrighteousness."

"The punishment?"

"There is only one punishment for committing any of the Ten Abominations," Yanfei closed her eyes, "And that is death. Death by quartering, being boiling alive, beheading, hanging, a thousand cuts, and death by four horses."

"However," she continued, "Since this is a noble clan matter, it is also up to the clan head to decide the punishment without any oversight from the state."

"Hmm," Hu Tao hummed, "What do you think, Longwei?"

"You.. can't…"

"I can't?" she asked, "I have been the clan head since my father died, you know?"

"Please… mercy!" he cried, "I won't ever do it again- I'll break all ties with the Fatui, I swear!"

For the first time since meeting Childe and Zhongli, the smile finally left Hu Tao's face, which morphed into a frown.

"Too late for that, you know?" she told him, "I pray that your death will grant peace to all those that you have killed."

"No, wait- GYYAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

Hu Tao swung her flaming staff back down into the man's back - and this time, the Pyro scorched straight through the flesh. Aether watched in sick fascination as the man was burned alive, his skin peeling and boiling, his flesh melting off his bones - which were cracking due to the heat - all while he was still alive and writhing in agony.

And as his blood steamed and evaporated into air, his body began to crumble to ash - and ashen butterflies began to flutter away from his form - as his innards ignited. Then, his bones exploded from the heat, blasting fragments all over the inside of his body, rupturing flaming organs and arteries.

Even as the man was reduced to a steaming, burning pile of molten flesh on the stone floor, his screams still lingered in the air - and the ashes that remained flew off in the form of a swarm of butterflies, leaving nothing behind but a faint black scorch mark on the stone.

In the deafening silence that followed, Aether heard several people retch in the background.

"Alright!" Hu Tao smiled with that of a job well done, "Let's wrap this up, people! Where's the carriage?"

"...Waiting for you on the main road, miss."

"Let's go, best not leave the Qixing waiting, huh?"

Rewritten on 27/6/2022