On the Duel Stage, the raging flames burned down the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and devastated the Guili Plains.
Flames soared into the sky.
[Demon God of the Stove – Marchosius], Great Guoba, watched it all happen, powerless to stop it.
A colossal fireball came crashing down toward Xiangling and Hu Tao.
Just as the fireball was about to engulf Hu Tao—
Hu Tao stayed calm, her whole body unmoving as a mountain…
Then—
Hu Tao's cool voice rang out across the firelit Duel Stage!
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card…
'Lingering Spirit of the Butterfly'!"
Around Hu Tao, countless plum blossoms bloomed.
A dazzling butterfly afterimage lit up behind her.
A stream of radiance flowed from Hu Tao's body—her life force itself.
[Hu Tao, LP: 4000 → 1]
The butterfly afterimage absorbed her strength, transforming into a barrier.
It unfolded before her—
Blocking the massive fireball!
"When damage would be inflicted, reduce your Life Points to 1 instead, and that damage is negated!"
"And then, draw 2 cards!!!"
Hu Tao added two cards to her hand.
But Xiangling wasn't so fortunate…
With no cards in hand and only two monsters on her field, she had no way out.
She could only scream in despair…
The colossal fireball struck Xiangling, wiping out her Life Points instantly!
[Xiangling, LP: 0]
She even ended up owing Hu Tao about 2,016,300 Life Points.
Defeated by the fireball unleashed through Hu Tao's [Peachbranch Fire Scales], Xiangling's Life Points hit zero.
The Duel Stage resounded with Hu Tao's theme song—The Ballad of the Hilichurls.
Hu Tao stretched out her two hands, clawing toward Xiangling through the air:
"Victory! Awooo!"
"What a fun duel this was!"
Seeing Hu Tao pull out a game-changing card at the last second, her supporters erupted in excitement.
"Hahaha!"
"Who knew Master Hu still had this up her sleeve~"
"Too cool!"
"To celebrate Master Hu's win, I'm pulling a 10-roll!!"
"Brother Fu, lend me 5,000 Mora, let me show my strength?!"
"Sure, a mere 5,000 Mora is nothing!"
"Damn, bro, you're awesome!?"
With Hu Tao and Xiangling's duel over, the onlookers, having no more spectacle, swarmed to buy card packs instead.
In just a few minutes, 600 packs were sold.
After the duel ended, Hu Tao was overjoyed.
She walked over to Xiangling and shook Guoba's paw.
Guoba laughed: "!@!"
Seeing Guoba's happy grin, Xiangling laughed too. Her disappointment from losing the duel quickly melted away.
With Guoba at her side, she was already content.
"Guoba~"
"Let's go home, I'll make you something delicious today!"
Guoba spun in circles with glee, laughing joyfully.
After her duel with Xiangling, Hu Tao had claimed victory.
She noticed there weren't many customers in front of Luya anymore, and happily walked over to him.
Luya smiled at her:
"Congratulations, Master Hu That was a clean win"
Hu Tao waved dismissively:
"Oh, come on!?"
"That was anything but easy…"
"Xiangling and Guoba's plays were really solid~ but there's still a gap between them and this hall master, hahaha."
Seeing Hu Tao in such high spirits, Luya asked:
"Master Hu, do you have any plans for the Lantern Rite?"
Hu Tao thought for a moment.
"Hehe~ Lantern Rite, huh…
Guess it'll be the same as always…"
"I'm all alone anyway, so I'll probably just get invited to perform—sing, dance, maybe rap or something."
Luya tidied the counter and smiled:
"Hall Master, you really are multitalented… Not only funerals, but also singing, dancing, and rapping!"
"In my hometown's legends, there's an adeptus called Lanqiu, loved by all, skilled in music, movement, and yes—even sing-dance-rap."
Hu Tao's eyes lit up with longing:
"I wonder when I might get the chance to meet this adeptus~"
"Speaking of hometowns… Shopkeeper, you're not from Liyue Harbor, are you?"
"So how will you spend the Lantern Rite!?"
Hu Tao's plum-blossom eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Luya nodded:
"You're right, I'm not from Liyue Harbor. My family isn't here either."
Hu Tao chuckled softly:
"Then how about this—Shopkeeper, you can spend Lantern Rite with me!"
"Neither of us has family here anyway."
"Keeping each other company for Lantern Rite… sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?"
Luya nodded:
"This Lantern Rite, I plan to host a Duel Tournament!"
"After the tournament, we can celebrate the festival together!"
Hu Tao lit up with excitement!
"Wow!"
"I'm definitely joining that duel tournament!"
"How will it work though… What are the rules?"
At her eager questions, Luya answered apologetically:
"Well, I haven't figured that out yet…"
"But…"
"I'll need Master Hu to help spread the word!"
Hu Tao pounded her chest:
"Don't worry! That's my specialty!"
"Leave it to me—everyone in Feiyun Slope will hear of it."
Seeing her eagle-like confidence, Luya found Hu Tao utterly reliable.
Then, with a smile, he said:
"As thanks, I've prepared a gift for you, Master Hu~"
"When Lantern Rite comes, I'll give it to you…"
Hu Tao beamed, nearly bouncing her hat off with joy.
"A gift!?"
"Alright, alright, then this hall master will thank you in advance!"
When Luya had opened Hu Tao's exclusive Ghostly Spirit pack earlier, he'd pulled a golden Legend card of Hu Tao.
Since he couldn't use it himself, he decided he'd gift it to Hu Tao for Lantern Rite—as thanks for her promotion of the tournament and for looking after his shop.
"Oh, right—the Yu-Gi-Oh! sequel!!!"
"I wanna see it too!"
"Didn't you say yesterday… the sequel would be ready today?!"
"Where is it?"
Seeing Hu Tao so impatient, Luya laughed and soothed her:
"Don't worry, it'll be ready any second now…"
Hu Tao sighed and sat down randomly. As she did, she noticed Keqing playing on the Electronic Duel Game Machine.
Keqing's clear laughter rang out.
"Hahaha!"
"Just one more card!"
"So this is Grandpa's card!?"
As the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing, with four pieces in hand, no longer carried her usual composed demeanor. Overwhelmed by excitement, she cried out.
Her exclamation drew over Hu Tao, Xiangling, and many idle customers.
They gathered around Keqing.
On the game machine, Keqing's character held four cards:
[Right Leg of the Forbidden One]
[Left Leg of the Forbidden One]
[Right Arm of the Forbidden One]
[Left Arm of the Forbidden One]
Her opponent was Seto Kaiba, who had three [Blue-Eyes White Dragons] on his field!
Those familiar with the manga knew:
As long as Keqing drew [Exodia the Forbidden One],
She would instantly win the duel.
[Exodia the Forbidden One] Level 3│DARK│Spellcaster│1000 ATK / 1000 DEF
╵When this card and the Right Leg, Left Leg, Right Arm, and Left Arm of the Forbidden One are all in your hand, you win the Duel.
The crowd pressed closer to Keqing, eager to see what would happen once all five pieces came together!
...
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