Fang Qiu was currently lying on her bed, looking at the ceiling in utter boredom.
Just like when she wrote buyout novels in her past life.
'Buyout' meant the manuscript fee was calculated based on a rate per thousand words.
Back then, she was still a struggling hack, writing buyouts at twenty yuan per thousand words.
Slogging through a whole day to write ten thousand words would only earn her two hundred yuan.
Despite the rock-bottom price, the quality requirements were surprisingly high.
They paid a price of twenty but demanded a quality of forty.
Every Monday after submitting her draft, she would lie on her bed playing on her phone like a salted fish.
By the time she snapped out of it, it would already be Friday, and then the liver-bursting typing grind would begin.
After three days of grinding, she would burn out and turn back into a salted fish, lying in bed playing on her phone again.
It was the same with Titanic this time. Although the plot wasn't long, she had expended a considerable amount of energy to polish the book properly.
So, naturally, she was burnt out.
"Come to think of it, once my popularity really finds its footing, I should enter a volume-by-volume update mode just like Legend of the Lone Sword."
Fang Qiu murmured, staring at the ceiling.
However, the main point of her distress right now wasn't that.
It was that she had no phone to play with...
Just lying there seemed a bit too boring.
After tossing and turning on the bed twice until her clothes were in disarray, she decided to go find Hu Tao to hang out.
Maybe get Hu Tao to take her fishing or something.
She changed into clean clothes, turned around, and went out the door.
Under the warm sunshine, Fang Qiu fell into deep thought.
Where should she look for Hu Tao?
It really was too troublesome not having a mobile phone in this day and age...
Couldn't Snezhnayan technology put in a bit more effort and build smartphones sooner? That way she could make calls.
Hmm...
Actually, that's not right either.
If she had a smartphone, wouldn't it be better to stay home playing gacha games and raising waifus? Why would she insist on going out to play?
Forget it.
Let's go to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to check first.
Liyue was very lively, with people coming and going on the streets.
Along the way, Fang Qiu was stopped by a girl from the Adventurers' Guild handing out flyers.
She forcibly stuffed a flyer into Fang Qiu's hand, inviting her to join the Adventurers' Guild, mentioning benefits like a monthly Mora subsidy.
Fang Qiu decisively refused on the grounds of her frail health.
If it were before she went into the wild to test her strength with Hu Tao and Xiangling, she might have been slightly interested.
But ever since witnessing the way the Hilichurls fought when attacking the caravan, Fang Qiu had made up her mind: unless she had the strength to condense an ice spear and pin the Overlord of the Vortex back into the sea, she would absolutely not run around alone.
Hmm...
Pinning the Overlord of the Vortex might be a bit of an exaggeration...
But logically speaking, she should at least reach the strength of that legendary female captain who slew Haishan, as mentioned by the Storytellers, right?
Although her strength had improved quite a bit this month.
Current her, alone, should... perhaps... probably be able to deal with two Hilichurls single-handedly.
But she was still far off. Let alone encountering a group of Hilichurls, if there were those large Hilichurls involved, a team of three Hilichurls might just beat her into the ground.
But the other party was relentless, saying that since she had the power of a Vision, she was definitely competent enough to be an adventurer.
Fang Qiu had no choice but to helplessly tell the girl that her Vision was actually a glass marble.
She claimed she bought it to keep up appearances for self-defense because her body was too weak and she was afraid of being bullied.
Since Fang Qiu had said as much, the other party finally gave up the sales pitch with regret.
This young girl's enthusiasm for selling was on par with Hu Tao promoting the business of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Fang Qiu wouldn't believe it if the Adventurers' Guild didn't give her a commission.
She made her way all the way to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
However, the undertaker who usually stood at the door of the parlor wasn't there, and the main gate was slightly ajar.
Fang Qiu took a secret peek inside; it was pitch black and chilly.
It felt a bit eerie.
In her memory, whether before or after her reincarnation, she seemed to have never entered Wangsheng Funeral Parlor even once.
However, as the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Although Fang Qiu wasn't a gentleman, she still understood the principle of avoiding danger.
In the novels she read in her past life, like in a certain 'Mortal Cultivation', the protagonist knew to silently take half a step back and retreat behind the crowd when encountering trouble.
She often heard people say that singing could be heard coming from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in the middle of the night.
Terrifying.
Thus, Fang Qiu decided to turn and leave immediately.
Only, just as she turned around, she heard a clack sound coming from deep within the room.
"Eh?"
Fang Qiu couldn't help but shudder all over; she was so scared that her Vision activated directly.
Azure ice mist instantly swirled up around her body.
Wh... What was going on?
Fang Qiu looked back. Through the crack in the door, the room was pitch black and silent.
"Ahem, must have heard wrong."
Fang Qiu turned to leave again.
But just as she turned, a sound rang out behind her once more.
"Hiss..."
Fang Qiu couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air and hurriedly walked away.
Fang Qiu knew a principle very well.
When targeted by a dog, you must retreat quickly but calmly; do not run, for the moment you run, the dog behind you will chase madly.
Ghosts were the same.
So she had to leave while feigning calm.
After walking a few steps, Fang Qiu paused.
Wait, as a materialistic new youth, how could she believe there were ghosts in this world?
Hmm... although this world did seem to have gods...
But what if the thing inside Wangsheng Funeral Parlor wasn't a ghost, but a thief?
Then if she left just like that, wouldn't she be allowing Hu Tao to suffer a loss?
At this moment, Fang Qiu had to complain again: Snezhnaya! Hurry up with the smartphones!
After a bout of intense psychological struggle, Fang Qiu decided to enter the house and investigate...
After taking a long, deep breath, Fang Qiu clenched her fists tight and slowly turned around.
Seeing nothing behind her, Fang Qiu finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the imagined scene of turning around to see a ghost head floating in the air didn't happen.
That was a plot point from ghost stories.
Fang Qiu gently pushed open the door of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
With a light "creak".
The door opened.
The warm sunshine from outside shone into Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
The layout of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was very classical, emphasizing being particular and refined; moreover, it wasn't lined with rows of coffins as she had imagined.
On the contrary, it was very tidy and clean.
There was also a piece of calligraphy on the table.
Eight characters were written on it.
"Yin and Yang have their order; Fate is fickle."
Obviously Hu Tao's calligraphy; the handwriting was much better than hers.
However, her attention didn't stay on the calligraphy for long. Her fists were half-clenched, frost energy swirling in her hands, ready to counterattack at any moment.
The place where the sound came from was behind the main hall. She walked cautiously towards the back of the hall; inside was deep darkness.
Just as Fang Qiu hesitated, a noise came from one of the rooms again.
It sounded like something hitting wood, mixed with the sound of prying.
Could it be a thief prying open the money box?
Thinking of this, the fear in Fang Qiu's heart instantly lessened a lot. Her combat power was equivalent to two Hilichurls, anyway; would she be afraid of a petty thief?
Instantly, Fang Qiu became much braver.
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