I am the savior, but I am being asked by Alicia and the others to pay me back.

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Just as he thought, Ye Ming heard Hu Tao calling him before he even started looking.

"How did you know I was here?"

The not-so-bright moonlight with its blue phosphorescence could barely illuminate Walnut's face.

Ye Ming couldn't see Hu Tao's expression, nor could he see the plum blossoms in her pupils. Only the tear marks on her face were clearly visible.

I don’t know how many times I cried to end up like this.

"I wonder... where would a person who likes to sleep in a coffin go to relax in order to relieve his depression."

"Most people might choose to go by the lake or climb a mountain to see the view, but if it's you, this is the best place."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hu Tao threw herself into Ye Ming's arms.

But she didn't cry or say anything. She just silently felt Ye Ming's body temperature and heartbeat.

At the same time, as Hu Tao got closer, Ye Ming was gradually able to see the ghosts floating around him.

Looking at those wandering ghosts, he suddenly realized that he had oversimplified things.

"It seems... you didn't come here just to relax... you wanted to see grandpa for the last time."

At that moment, Ye Ming could clearly feel Hu Tao trembling in his arms.

"That's not what friends do."

I only heard Kurumi say in a soft voice:

"It's enough for a friend to be able to guess where I am. That's enough."

"If you know what I'm thinking... you're like a family member."

There was obvious sadness in Kurumi's tone. Using normal logic, I probably couldn't figure out why she was sad because of these words.

But Ye Ming was more or less accustomed to Hu Tao's way of thinking. He patted Hu Tao on the back and said:

"It reminds you of the last of your family you just lost... right?"

"Hmm..." Walnut nodded as if admitting defeat.

"Grandpa died in the middle of the night. He slept until dawn but didn't wake up. He was not found until the morning."

"I was not able to see him for the last time, nor did I hear what he wanted to say before he died."

“So I came here.”

After that, Hu Tao told Ye Ming: There is a secret passed down from generation to generation in the Wangsheng Hall. Starting from Wuwang Slope, one can reach the "boundary", which is the boundary between life and death.

If you stay here, you can find the souls of the recently departed.

"But I waited for a long time and couldn't find grandpa anywhere."

Hu Tao's voice became smaller and smaller. After a whole day and night of sleepless nights and without food or water, her petite body simply could not bear it.

Ye Ming knew that the most urgent task now was to bring Hu Tao back.

"Could it be that...your grandfather is not wandering around here at all."

Ye Ming looked around, saw the situation of those ghosts clearly, and then analyzed:

"If I'm not mistaken, the ghosts wandering in Wuwang Slope are all filled with regrets and obsessions, unwilling to return to the cycle of life."

"If your grandfather had left without regrets, why would he stay here?"

Walnut was a little dazed, as if she had never thought about this before.

"But... when Grandpa passed away, he didn't even have time to tell me anything. He usually loves nagging."

574. Walnut's Graduation Paper

"But... when Grandpa passed away, he didn't even have time to tell me anything. He usually loves nagging."

It was precisely because of this that Hu Tao felt that her grandfather might still be worried about her and she had to say goodbye to him properly.

"It is precisely because your grandfather trusted you so much that he passed away peacefully without saying a word."

This time, Ye Ming was not speculating, but was full of confidence.

"And I heard from the secretary of the Wangsheng Hall that you have been selected as the next hall master. This is the best evidence."

"..."

Hu Tao nodded silently. She thought about it carefully and realized that her grandfather never seemed to doubt her business ability.

Every time I nag, I say that I want to develop some normal hobbies and make more friends.

But the worries in this regard were relieved because of Ye Ming's appearance.

"Let's go back."

Seeing that Hu Tao had been persuaded, Ye Ming took her little hand and wanted to take her away.

But Ye Ming found that Hu Tao was still staying where she was and was unwilling to go back with him.

"what happened?"

"I don't know...what kind of funeral should I give Grandpa."

After so many years of being exposed to the business, and with Hu Tao often immersed in it, she has already memorized the rules and procedures of the funeral business.

What troubled Hu Walnut was not what to do with the funeral, but how to choose from so many options in his mind.

This is a ceremony that only happens once in a lifetime, and it’s for your most important family. Not only can you not make mistakes, you must also not regret it for the rest of your life.

"I even feel that this is a test question left to me by my grandfather, and I want to give him the best answer."

"Really……"

Ye Ming knew very little about the professional knowledge of funerals, so he was unable to give any specific advice.

But Ye Ming has witnessed too many separations of life and death, and he understands the wishes of the deceased and the longings of the living.

"Hu Tao, what kind of ceremony do you think a funeral is?" Ye Ming asked.

To this, Hu Tao answered very professionally: "It is a summary of the life of the deceased, and it is also a concentrated expression of respect for the deceased."

"As expected of you, the next head of the Wangsheng Hall. Your answer is flawless."

Ye Ming first affirmed Hu Tao's professional level, and then put forward a different opinion:

"However, what you said is from the perspective of the undertaker."

"As the person saying goodbye to the deceased, what does a funeral mean to you?"

Hu Tao's eyes widened in surprise. After Ye Ming reminded her, she suddenly realized:

I had just been thinking about how, as the head of the Wangsheng Hall, I should say farewell to the old head, but I hadn't thought about how, as a granddaughter, I should say farewell to my grandfather.

As for the latter, Hu Tao has not learned it.

"For me, a funeral means the final farewell. I don't care whether it is grand or not, and I don't care whether it is embarrassing or not..."

"I just want to use the funeral to express my feelings for the deceased and give my endless yearning a concrete place to rest."

"A grand funeral is a funeral, and a night of honest conversation in front of a small grave is also a funeral. It is not the rules that determine everything, but the intentions of the person bidding farewell."

After he finished speaking, Ye Ming himself was a little surprised.

He had never summarized these theories before, but he couldn't help but express his feelings when he recalled the farewells he had witnessed and experienced.

"I see."

Walnut closed her eyes and asked herself, and soon she got the answer.

Late at night, Ye Ming and Hu Tao returned home together from Wuwangpo.

During that journey, Hu Tao never cried again.

Along the way, Hu Tao held Ye Ming's hand and never separated.

···········

A few days later, it was the day of the old hall master's funeral.

There were sporadic raindrops falling from the sky, but the dark clouds were not very thick. The leaden sky was faintly lit and not completely dark.

As the new hall master, Hu Tao personally took charge of the funeral.

To be honest, looking at the heavy and wide coffin and then at Hu Tao's slender shoulders, everyone was worried about her.

Several executors of the Wangsheng Hall still clearly remember that day when the missing Hu Tao came back...

He politely declined the professional funeral plan that had been discussed in advance, locked himself in the house, and redesigned a funeral process that was different from the previous ones.

The funeral was held at a high level, but it did not alarm many people. Walnut walked at the front of the funeral procession, being drenched in the chilly rain, but she showed no sign of shivering.

She walked neither hurried nor slow, holding her grandfather's portrait and wreath in her hands, as if she was holding her grandfather's hand.

Hu Tao took her grandfather on a final tour of the mountains and rivers of Liyue, and the route of the funeral was completely different from any other time.

Instead of taking too many main roads, they passed through various small paths. That was where Grandpa would always find Hu Tao whenever she was shunned outside.

Afterwards, the funeral procession arrived outside Liyue Harbor and circled three times where plum blossoms were in full bloom.

Hu Tao still remembers that when she was young, she loved being held high up in her grandfather's arms and spinning around. The laughter and joy at that time seemed to be right next to her ears.

Finally, when the burial was about to take place, Hu Tao deliberately cancelled the mourning procession, and the other executors also stood a little further away.

Hu Tao himself did not kneel down or kowtow, but instead stayed close to the coffin, just like he had done countless times when he fell asleep holding his grandfather.

When it was time to say goodbye, she stood up silently and bowed deeply to her grandfather.

It was also at this moment that the crowd around realized that this was not so much a funeral as it was a pilgrimage for Walnut to commemorate all the good things of the past.

There was no grief, no crying, just like the time she spent with her grandfather.

That last bow clearly conveyed two words: Thank you.

Then, a gust of wind whistled past, sweeping away a few plum blossoms and blowing away the dark clouds, which were not very thick to begin with, allowing the warm sunlight to shine on Walnut.

Faintly, I seemed to hear the old man's satisfied laughter.

"Is this... what you feel for Grandpa?"

After everything was over, Ye Ming walked to Hu Tao, his eyes full of relief.

"Well, thanks to you, I can give the final answer."

When she looked at Ye Ming again, there was no more confusion in Hu Tao's eyes, but instead they were full of tenderness.

[I thought it was a knife, but it turned out to be a healing ending]

[It turns out that a sad story can be told so tenderly]

[At such a young age, the way she looks at Ye Ming has become like this. What will it be like when she grows up?]

[Ganyu's sugar and walnut's sugar each have their own sweetness]

[I feel relieved now. This time it is absolutely pure sweetness without any knife.]

If the video ended here, it can indeed be called heartwarming.

But the progress bar has its own ideas.