After Keqing left, the vast hall suddenly became quiet—
only Adrian remained, along with Mr. Grant's corpse sealed within the crystal-clear ice coffin.
Before he transmigrated into this world, Adrian came from a family of undertakers going back three generations.
His very name, in his original world, was a homophone for "send to the underworld."
So sharing a room with a corpse hardly bothered him—
though the icy chill from the Cryo coffin was a bit unnerving.
Outside the hall, household servants and guards approached one after another, asking about the situation.
Once they learned Mr. Grant had been poisoned by Lillian and Victor, every one of them headed straight to the treasury to collect their remaining wages—
and then left the estate without looking back.
With their departure, the once lively, bustling mansion immediately became cold and empty.
Just then, footsteps approached.
Hu Tao and Zhongli entered the hall.
Hu Tao ran straight up to Adrian, her large, bright eyes sparkling with schadenfreude.
She practically bounced with excitement.
"Hehehe—Adrian, your business deal failed, didn't it? Serves you right, you shameless crook!"
Adrian looked at the mischievous girl before him, answering calmly:
"Director Hu Tao, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. Lillian already paid the deposit—two hundred thousand Mora."
Hu Tao froze.
Her expression morphed from triumph to utter disbelief.
Her eyes widened; her jaw dropped.
After several seconds, she finally yelled,
"Two hundred thousand Mora?! Are you insane?! Even Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's most expensive package only costs one hundred thousand!"
Adrian continued unhurriedly:
"I actually recommended your parlor to her. But the moment she heard you could send souls peacefully to the afterlife… she immediately changed her mind."
Zhongli instantly understood why Lillian would rather overspend than let Hu Tao handle the funeral.
Hu Tao, however—far simpler in her thinking—began bragging proudly:
"Well, some souls cling to the mortal world and won't leave. As the director, I have to send them off properly so they can rest in peace! Clearly that woman realized I'm too powerful—she couldn't afford me, so she hired you instead!"
She even made a playful face at Adrian.
Adrian's lips curled into a small smile.
"Director Hu, let's not dwell on that. I actually have a business proposal for you."
Hu Tao blinked.
"With me? You know we're rivals, right?"
Adrian waved his hand seriously.
"We're in the same industry. Like sharing one pot of rice—if one prospers, all prosper; if one suffers, all suffer. For the sake of the funeral business thriving in Liyue, we should help one another. Don't you agree?"
Hu Tao stared at him like he'd grown two heads.
This man stole business every chance he got—
and now he wanted "mutual support"?
"Fine, fine. What kind of 'help'?"
Adrian replied:
"I plan to subcontract the corpse-watching duty to your company."
Hu Tao instantly flushed red with anger, hands on her hips.
"Wangsheng Funeral Parlor sends souls off—we don't babysit corpses!"
Adrian remained calm.
"Two people for corpse-watching. Ten thousand Mora per day."
Hu Tao's eyes lit up on the spot.
She did the math quickly—and liked the result.
"Deal! Zhongli and I will stay here starting now! But you need to cover meals too. No discounts!"
Adrian replied without hesitation:
"Meal expenses must not exceed two thousand Mora per day."
Hu Tao pouted.
"Adrian, you stingy crook!"
Adrian laughed softly.
"If you don't want it, others will."
Hu Tao ground her teeth.
She wanted to refuse—
but the funeral parlor's terrible finances forced her to accept.
"…Fine! I'll let you off cheap this time."
"Then I'll leave it to you both."
Adrian said with a smile, then turned and left to search for his senior sister, Shenhe.
After he left, Zhongli sat on the chair Adrian had been using, closing his eyes to rest.
Meanwhile, Hu Tao, driven by her uncontainable curiosity, ran straight to the ice coffin.
She examined it closely from every angle, murmuring in awe:
"This ice coffin is amazing… If only I had a Cryo Vision too!"
Suddenly, she clasped her hands together and prayed devoutly:
"O great Cryo Archon, please grant me a Vision! And if you ever unfortunately pass away someday, I'll send you off for free—no Mora at all! Such a good deal!"
Zhongli nearly sighed aloud.
He said in his steady voice:
"Director Hu Tao, rationally speaking… no one in history has ever received two Visions."
He should not have spoken.
Because Hu Tao immediately launched into complaints:
"Zhongli! If you didn't keep charging everything to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's account, I wouldn't need to take corpse-watching jobs to survive!"
"And thinking about Adrian's smug face—ugh! I want to hit him!"
"And you—just because you bring us some customers doesn't mean we owe you unlimited spending! How is Wangsheng supposed to support you? Why did Grandpa force me, a young flower girl, to take care of an old man like you?!"