[Ding! Mission cooldown has ended. A new Multiverse Mission is now being issued!]
[Mission]: Help Mr. Ren, who has become a jiangshi, be laid to rest.
[Difficulty]: ★★☆☆☆ (2-Star)
[Time Limit]: 15-minute countdown to accept.
[Hint]: The mission will only be considered complete when Mr. Ren has been laid to rest in true peace!
[Note]: If the countdown ends before the mission is accepted, it will be considered automatically forfeited.
Su Han:@Hu Tao, this mission was practically custom-made for you!
Hu Tao:Hmph hmph… ?(^?^) Of course it is! I'm the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, after all. No one's going to fight me for this one, right?*
Ningguang:Then we will entrust this to you, Hu Tao.
Zhongli:This is indeed a mission that only Hu Tao can resolve.
Ganyu:By the way, Su Han, are there any instructions you need to give?
Ganyu remembered the last mission, where he had provided several crucial points of advice. Spurred by her reminder, Su Han took another look at the mission details and suddenly recalled something important. He quickly contacted Hu Tao, realizing that if she overlooked this one detail, the mission might fail.
Su Han:In this mission, the jiangshi, Mr. Ren, will try to kill his own son. So, the moment you arrive in that world, your first priority must be to save his son, Ren Fa!
Ningguang:So that must be what "true peace" refers to. If he kills his own son after death, I imagine he would never be able to rest peacefully.
Hu Tao:Got it! Hehe… I'll remember that!
At that moment, inside the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao grabbed her polearm and said to Zhongli, "I'm off! If anyone comes by, you know how to handle it, right?"
"Mm. I will simply say the Director has gone out to play."
"Yep, that'll do." Hu Tao gave a sweet smile, and her body slowly faded, disappearing from sight.
In the world of the jiangshi, Ren Fa was hunched over his desk, studying his business ledgers. Just that morning, he had overseen the relocation of his father's grave. He had originally thought his business was failing because of a competitor's schemes, a string of constant bad luck. Only now did he understand that the root of all his misfortune was the feng shui master who had chosen the original burial site.
"Sigh… I hope the Ren family can finally find some peace after this," he muttered. Just as Ren Fa stood up, preparing to go to bed, the window in front of him suddenly shattered. A ferocious, monstrous face appeared before him.
"AHHHH!!!!"
Ren Fa was scared out of his wits and turned to flee, but he had forgotten that his legs had turned to jelly from the shock. He stumbled and fell directly to the floor.
"No… don't kill me…" The moment he saw the monster, he knew it was a jiangshi. And worse, he knew it was his own father—he recognized the burial clothes he had personally bought for him.
As Ren Fa scrambled backward across the floor, a pair of exquisite leather shoes appeared in his line of sight. Whose shoes are these? It doesn't matter, as long as they can save me! But before Ren Fa could even look up, a cluster of flames ignited above him.
"Soul-Calming Secret Art!"
A fiery spirit entity materialized from thin air and slammed into the rampaging Mr. Ren, sending him flying backward. The jiangshi crashed through the broken window frame with a loud thump, landing hard on the ground outside. It struggled to rise, only to find that some mysterious power was pinning it down, making it impossible to stand.
Hearing the tremendous noise, the household servants came running out. Back in the room, Hu Tao looked down at the terrified Ren Fa, who had wet himself. "Hey… you can get up now. I've already taken care of your old man."
"O-okay." Ren Fa looked up and saw a young girl in black robes standing before him, her striking plum blossom pupils seeming to peer right through him. Her poise was like that of an immortal, and a sense of reverence immediately filled him. However, as he stood up, the cold, damp feeling in his trousers brought him crashing back to the reality of his situation.
"Uh… I need to go change my clothes. If you could please wait for a moment, Immortal One."
"Go ahead. Your father can't break my control. He won't be able to move for the next hour." Any ghoul struck by her Soul-Calming Secret Art would be unable to escape its restraints for a short period. It was a special technique of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, one that could only be mastered by those of the Hu family bloodline.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone had gathered in the courtyard. They stared at the trembling jiangshi, their faces pale with fear. They had only ever heard stories of such things; this was the first time they had ever seen one.
Ren Fa approached Hu Tao, his face a mask of desperation. "I beg of you, Immortal One, please help my father rest in peace. If it's possible to do so without harming his body, that would be best. But if it's not… then let him return to dust."
Earlier that day, Ren Fa had refused the suggestions of Uncle Kau. But after his brush with death, he saw things clearly now. The only thing that mattered was stopping the jiangshi from hurting anyone else. As for his filial piety, he had already fulfilled it while his father was alive. If not for this young lady's help, he would already be dead.
Hu Tao nodded. "That's simple. Have your people arrange a few things, and I will send him on his way. His body will not be harmed." Exorcising evil and conducting funerals—that was her specialty.
Soon, under Hu Tao's direction, incense, candles, a spirit tablet, and other ritual implements were all gathered. Some items were so obscure they had to send someone to knock on Uncle Kau's door late at night to procure them.