After Lumine and Paimon returned from Starsnatch Cliff, both of them were immersed in a sad atmosphere for a long time.
Before, when Lumine was sad, she had little Paimon to comfort her, but now Paimon seemed to be the one who needed comfort more.
Lumine patted Paimon's back, gently comforting the little girl.
After a while, Paimon's mood slowly recovered.
"Traveler, where are we going now?"
"Let's go back to Liyue."
"Mhm."
Liyue had a stronger sense of everyday life, and it would be better to ease their mood there.
---
Liyue.
Mu Qingge brought her younger sister, Mu Qingxu, to Wanmin Restaurant.
"Master Mao, is Xiangling here?"
"Oh, it's Qingge. Xiangling is busy in the back kitchen. Please come in!"
Hearing that Xiangling was there, Mu Qingge led her sister inside and found a quiet place to sit down.
Compared to Master Mao's cooking skills, Mu Qingge still craved Xiangling's handiwork more.
"What would the two of you like to eat?"
"Master Mao, just tell Xiangling 'the usual,' she'll know."
"Alright, then please wait a moment, your food will be here very soon!"
After Master Mao left, Mu Qingxu asked:
"Sister, what's wrong? I've noticed you've been absent-minded all day today."
"Nothing, just a bit tired."
Mu Qingge did not mention anything about Ruola.
Not long after, the food was served, and Mu Qingge took a bowl to serve rice for Qingxu.
"Sister, I can do it myself. Although you are a Liyue Qixing now, you must rest well when you need to!"
Mu Qingge looked at her sister with amusement; this girl was lecturing her now.
"Hurry and eat."
"Oh, oh."
While eating, Mu Qingge looked up and saw two familiar people.
Lumine and Paimon!
Having teleportation ability is really convenient. They were in Mondstadt earlier, and she was a little envious.
Back then, when she maliciously fled from Mondstadt to Liyue, even with extreme speed, it took her more than a day.
"Lumine, Paimon, over here!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Lumine and Paimon looked over.
"It's Qingge. Uh... and this person here is..."
"She's Mu Qingxu, my younger sister. Qingxu, this is Lumine, the famous Traveler you've always wanted to meet, and beside her is the equally famous Paimon."
Paimon was so praised that she became embarrassed.
Mu Qingxu put down her bowl: "So it's you two. I've always heard my sister talk about you, and I didn't expect to have the good fortune to meet you this time. That's great! My name is Mu Qingxu, and it's a pleasure to meet you!"
Seeing Mu Qingxu's enthusiasm, Lumine's expression suddenly turned sad, as did Paimon's, as if she had thought of something.
Mu Qingxu awkwardly took two steps back and quietly asked her sister in her ear: "Sister, did I say something wrong?"
Paimon and Lumine realized the misunderstanding and quickly said: "No, it's not that, it's not because of Qingxu at all. We... we just thought of someone else when we saw Qingxu..."
"Yes, that's right. Qingxu, don't misunderstand."
Seeing this, Mu Qingge proactively stepped forward to ease the awkwardness between them:
"Lumine, Paimon, our food has just been served. If you don't mind, let's eat together."
Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances and said: "Then thank you, Qingge."
Mu Qingge invited them to sit down and ordered more food from Master Mao.
Paimon started eating as soon as she sat down. She and Lumine had only eaten some grilled fish yesterday afternoon and had spent the entire night accompanying Ruola, so they were already starving.
The food tasted even better when everyone ate together, but only Lumine and Qingge seemed preoccupied and didn't eat much.
Later, many more dishes were served, almost all of which were eaten by Paimon alone. Even Mu Qingxu looked at little Paimon with amazement.
How could such a small stomach eat so much?
And after eating so much, her little belly didn't even get much bigger.
"Qingxu, I still have some things to do later. You can go back first, and I'll return a bit later."
"Mhm, sister, you must come back soon, and don't get too tired."
Mu Qingxu greatly admired her sister, and she would listen to almost anything her sister said.
Watching her sister walk away, Mu Qingge looked at Lumine:
"Ruola, she... has already left, hasn't she?"
Noticing Lumine and Paimon's surprised expressions, Mu Qingge sighed: "She, ah, always can't hide many thoughts. She thinks she can fool everyone, but the truth is already written on her face."
"I understand Ruola's actions, but she doesn't understand that to me, she is more important than many things. I want to ask you, in the end, was Ruola happy when she left?"
"What nonsense am I asking? How could anyone be happy when they leave?"
Mu Qingge mocked herself and changed the question: "Did Ruola, in the end, have any regrets?"
Lumine and Paimon's thoughts returned to the time they spent with Ruola this morning.
Lumine said: "Before Ruola left forever, she did many things she wanted to do, and she even took Klee to blast fish. Finally, we watched the sunrise, and everyone in Mondstadt was by her side."
"Were you all there?"
Mu Qingge's expression was a little dejected. Why was she absent at such an important moment?
"Um, Qingge, you won't blame Ruola, will you?" Paimon asked cautiously.
Mu Qingge chuckled:
"Where did Paimon get that idea? I just have some regrets. Ruola... she was my best friend, and in the last moments of her life, I couldn't be by her side."
Lumine and Paimon both stopped talking. They didn't know how to offer comfort either.
The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly grew cold.
Until...
"Yo, everyone's here, and the Traveler and Paimon too. Hehe, long time no see."
The person who stepped into Wanmin Restaurant at this moment was Hu Tao, the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"Hu Tao, I didn't expect to run into you here!"
"Ahem, this Director is usually very busy. See, didn't I come out to work today?"
Hu Tao said, pulling out a stack of flyers from her embrace and handing one to Paimon, Lumine, and Qingge each.
"Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's limited-time grand promotion: buy one get one free, buy two get three free, the more you buy, the more you get! Buying is earning! How about it, aren't you tempted? Are you planning to order a set?"
Paimon quickly waved her hands and hid behind Lumine. Lumine also indicated that she didn't need it for now.
Mu Qingge picked up the flyer Hu Tao handed her and looked at it. When she saw the words 'Professional Team, Trustworthy' on it, she suddenly felt like laughing, but fortunately, she held it back.
"Director Hu, I'll take a set."
"Ah?" x3
Not to mention Lumine and Paimon, even Hu Tao doubted her own ears.
"Qingge, are you really going to?"
People said that Kaiyang Star had been in a bad mood and acting strangely lately. Could it be that...
"What nonsense are you thinking?"
Mu Qingge rolled her eyes at Hu Tao, annoyed:
"I'm just adding luster to Director Hu's business. Anyway, there will be a day when it's needed."
And that day won't be too far away...
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