A day later,

The news of the death of the old dean of the Tongwen Academy finally broke out in Liyue Harbor.

On the same day, the funeral procession of the Hall of the Dead set off.

A large number of gentlemen and students from the academy followed,

There was even a Millelith escort,

And in the Millelith Army, a white-clothed Keqing stood in it,

One of the Seven Stars of Liyue, Jade Hengxing, appeared at the old dean's funeral, and in the eyes of ordinary Liyue people, the old dean could be regarded as extremely honored.

And this also greatly eased the resistance of the academy students to Seven Stars.

No one noticed that part of the Millelith Army that escorted the old dean disappeared quietly.

evening

The four gentlemen seemed to have abandoned the internal contradictions, and the four of them carried the coffin of the old dean to the cemetery that had been prepared by the Hall of the Dead.

The four of them worked together, and under the guidance of the ceremonial staff of the Death Hall, the coffin of the old dean was buried in the cemetery of Wufupo.

Then, Hu Tao held the staff of Goma and began the death ceremony.

Under the unruly fire, a little ghost light emerged from the old dean's grave, which was the last true spirit of the old dean.

The old dean in the state of soul turned around and looked at the person who seemed to be seeing him off,

These people all had a sad look on their faces, and they were very sad about the departure of the old dean.

Among them was the gentleman of the college, who remembered the name,

There are also students of the academy, and he remembers the appearance,

There were many other people who had been helped by him, and even in a certain corner, he saw a ghost clan from Inazuma.

That's right, it's Arataki Kazuto, the news of the old dean's death, and he finally knew about it.

It's just that there is no thing that Kuki Shinobu is worried about, and Arataki Kazuto has a solemn face, and there is no hippie smiling face in the past.

In the eyes of this Inazuma Ghost King, the old dean is also his elder, and he knows the seriousness of things.

didn't look at Arataki Itto for too long, and lingered on the two female students beside the ghost clan for a while, and the old dean finally looked at a peak on the side of the slope.

He knew that Wang Daoyi was there looking at him and nodding over there.

The old dean looked at the person he was supposed to look at - Hu Tao.

"I didn't expect that the person who sent me away would be you, a little guy."

Hu Tao held the staff of Goma, and the unruly fire fluttered on her, and this divine fire that cleansed away all the filth in the world set off Hu Tao a little sacred.

"Dust to dust, soil to earth, life and death are different, insurmountable, Hu Tao, the seventy-seventh generation hall master of the Death Hall, please go on the road!"

Under the power of the ritual of death, the intersection of life and death is opened.

The old dean glanced at the intersection of life and death,

Shaking his head slowly, "I was born in Liyue, the first half of my life as a Millelith Army, fighting for Liyue, and the second half of my life as the head of the academy, inheriting civilization for Liyue. ”

"What I owe Liyue has long since been paid off; My contract with Morax has long since ended. ”

As he spoke, the old dean's soul looked at Hu Tao: "Child, my soul does not belong to Morax. ”

"There is a difference between life and death, it is insurmountable, since the old dean is an elder of ours, why is he reluctant to leave?"

Hu Tao frowned, even if the old dean was her elder, but if he was unwilling to enter the narrow space of life and death, Hu Tao would not let him stay in the world for a long time.

"Ha, don't worry, kid, I won't stay here, I already feel his breath."

In the distance, above the peak,

Wang Daoyi suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky above the funeral, where a very, very powerful force was gathering,

But the strange thing is that this force is obviously very powerful, but it gives people a . The feeling of vanity,

It's like.

"It's as if this power exists somewhere else, and here it appears only as a projection of Him."

With the manifestation of power,

An illusory gate appeared in the sky,

And Wang Daoyi's familiar aura was also revealed from behind the gate.

"Istaru." Wang Daoyi looked at the illusory door and muttered.

However, he didn't mean to get closer, and since the other party had just manifested, he wouldn't be afraid of someone snooping.

Therefore, even if Wang Daoyi wanted to take a look at the situation inside the door, he also held his temper and stood quietly on the top of the mountain, waiting for things to continue to develop.

And in the middle of the unruly slope, the soul of the old dean ignored Hu Tao's guarded eyes and stretched out his hands to the sky,

"The Great Reign of Time, after a thousand years, I have finally seen your kingdom again."

The old dean recognized at a glance the door in the sky, which was the gate of his lord, the kingdom of Ishtarus,

A thousand years ago, when he met Ishtarus in a dream, this door was behind Ishtarus,

After thousands of years, the old dean still hasn't forgotten this door.

High in the sky, there was no response from the door, but the power of time seeped out from the door, extending to the ground, as if to attract something.

Under the door, the old dean smiled expectantly, he knew that his god had come to take him home.

It seems to sense the strong emotions of the old dean, and above the sky, the vast power of time has found its goal.

Swept towards the old dean.

Although thousands of years have passed, Istarus has not forgotten His last Caretaker.

Now, He has crossed the distance of time and is here to bring His Clients back to His kingdom.

On the slope of Wuyuan, Hu Tao watched the old dean's movements of hugging the sky with both hands, and a trace of suspicion appeared in his eyes.

I was about to make a move and send the old dean into the narrow space of life and death.

A familiar voice sounded in my ears.

"Don't stop the old dean from leaving, that's the glory he deserves."

"Daoyi?" Hu Tao immediately heard the voice in his ear, and then let out a low murmur.

"It's me." The voice in my ears continued to ring.

The staff of Goma in Hu Tao's hand drooped slightly, no longer aggressive just now, she looked at the old dean hugging the sky, and a trace of doubt appeared in her eyes: "What the hell is going on?" ”

Even if she is the heir of the Hall of Death, even if Hu Tao knows a lot of secrets between life and death, even if she is proficient in various funeral rites,

But Hu Tao has never seen such a scene today.

"The god that the old dean believes in is not the emperor, so his soul does not belong to the emperor, he has his own destiny."

"This kind of belonging between souls, since all the immortals have not made a move, then the Afterlife Hall does not need to care, maybe it is the contract that has been drawn up between the emperor and [Him] for a long time, and it is now being implemented."

Wang Daoyi's voice sounded in Hu Tao's ears, and he explained the current situation to Hu Tao.

Hu Tao frowned slightly, she didn't want to let the old dean leave,

As the hall master of the Hall of the Dead, it is her duty to send every soul on the land of Liyue into the narrow realm of life and death.

However, out of trust in Wang Daoyi, Hu Tao still didn't make any superfluous moves after all.

She stood there silently, watching the old dean embrace the sky.

soon

The power of time that diffused from the high heavens came into contact with the old dean.

It's like a miracle, and it's like common sense.

Under the influence of the power of time, the old dean's old soul gradually traced back to the source and returned to the appearance of a young man.

"My kid followed. Homecoming"

An intermittent sound came from the door, reaching the old dean's ears through the power of time.

The old dean smiled happily and stretched out his hand to feel the power of time around him to express his affection.

"Great Reign of Time, thank you for remembering me."

The Force of Time did not respond, and no further sound could be heard from the door.

But the spirit of the old dean is slowly dissipating, no, not dissipating, and mixed with the power of time, which is mixed with the power of time of the old dean's spirit, slowly flowing back, towards the door of the high heavens.

On the top of the mountain, Wang Daoyi looked at this scene, and his eyes were a little shocked: "Is this the power of the reign of time?" Really, really, greatly. ”

Wang Dao understood all this at a glance.

Perhaps it was the day Ishalo and the old dean met, and Ishalo saw what happened today.

So, after the old dean's death, the back hand left by Istarlu was activated, and the kingdom belonging to Istaru opened the door and took the soul of the old dean.

Just as the God of Wind invokes the souls of every Mondstadt, so does the Rock God's Institution that sends the souls of the people of Liyue into the narrow realm of life and death.

And the heavenly consul like Istarus obviously has a way of dealing with the souls of believers.

Even if Istarus didn't know where he was going, his kingdom was still working.

At the very least, the regulations for the patrons are still working.

"So, behind that high heavenly gate, there is either a secret realm that belongs to Istaru alone, or the Sky Island, where the First Throne first came."

Ishalo as one of the four shadows of the First Throne,

His kingdom is either a solitary, secret realm that belongs only to Him, or it is with the Isle of Sky.

Wang Dao's eyes stared at the door above the sky,

suppressing the curiosity that continues to emerge in the depths of my heart,

Whether it is the secret realm of Ishalo or the Isle of Skye, it is not something he can peep into now, and restraining his curiosity is the most important thing.

However, Wang Daoyi did not do nothing,

The golden gnosis in his eyes flowed, and he still recorded the breath, fluctuations, and even coordinates of this door.

If he has the ability in the future, he can also use this information to try to forcibly open this door.

With the slow return of the power of time, the old dean disappeared in Hu Tao's eyes.

A trace of confusion flashed in his eyes, but Hu Tao knew that these things could not be known to ordinary people,

So, even if there is no goal, the death ceremony is still held according to the normal process and is over.

After the ceremony,

The ceremonial and walnut of the church of the dead left first,

The following is the time for the gentlemen of the academy, the students of the old dean, and the people (oni) who have been helped by the old dean, to start worshipping.

Among them are Kuki Shinobu, Yanfei, and Arataki Itto.

On the other side,

Wang Daoyi wrote down the coordinates and breath of the high heavenly gate, and went down the mountain, he knew that Hu Tao must be confused now, if he didn't explain to her, the hall master of the Hall of the Dead would probably have to remember a small book.

So, after the royal road got off the mountain, he waited on the way back,

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Hu Tao to come from the distant road with the ceremonies of the Dead Hall.

Seeing Wang Daoyi roaming slowly on the road, Hu Tao's eyes lit up, and he gestured to the other ceremonies, and then ran to Wang Daoyi quickly.

"Daoyi, stop!"

Hall Master Hu jumped to Wang Daoyi's side and shouted.

Wang Daoyi stopped, turned to look at Hu Tao: "Hall Master Hu hasn't seen you for a long time. ”

"It's not been long, it's only been a few days." Hu Tao waved his hand, and then looked at Wang Daoyi with a pair of beautiful plum blossom eyes, "Don't you have anything to explain to me?" ”

Hu Tao could confirm that it was Wang Daoyi who was talking to him just now, and let himself watch the old dean's soul dissipate and disappear.

Wang Daoyi's face was calm: "If there is anything that Master Hu wants to ask, I know everything." ”

"You were the one who spoke to me just now, what the hell is going on with the old dean?" Hu Tao asked.

"It's me." Wang Dao nodded, first admitted that the person who spoke just now was him, and then continued to speak, "As for the old dean, things are a little complicated. ”

Hu Tao pouted: "Don't try to fool me, no matter how complicated things are, they can be explained clearly." ”

As he spoke, Hu Tao's eyes flashed: "First of all, what do you mean when you just said that it was 'the glory that the old dean deserves'?" Has the old dean's soul dissipated? ”

Hu Tao can't see the power of time, Wang Daoyi can intuitively see that the soul of the old dean is taken away by the power of time.

But in Hu Tao's point of view, the old dean just dissipated directly.

"The old dean has fulfilled the duty given to him by the gods, so he deserves the glory he deserves." Wang Daoyi explained, "As for the soul of the old dean, it has not dissipated, but has been taken away. ”

Hu Tao's plum blossom eyes flickered slightly, and when she heard the word god, she knew that it was another secret.

Pouting, the girl ended the topic: "Forget it, forget it, it's this kind of big secret again, don't tell me." ”

Wang Daoyi was slightly stunned, he didn't expect Hu Tao to end the topic directly.

In fact, Wang Daoyi was ready to tell Hu Tao everything, after all, Hu Tao was the funeral person of the old dean, and the credibility of the Afterlife Hall could also guarantee that Hu Tao would not talk nonsense.

But Hu Tao didn't even give him a chance to speak, which really surprised Wang Daoyi.

Seeing Wang Daoyi's slightly stunned appearance, a smile appeared on Hu Tao's face: "Hmph, the Death Hall has been inherited for thousands of years, and the most important thing is to never involve secrets that we shouldn't know." ”

"As soon as you open your mouth, you are a god, and I know that it is not a secret that I should peep into, so don't tell me, I should not know about it."

Hu Tao waved his hand at Wang Daoyi, indicating that this topic is over, don't say it anymore, and she won't listen to it.

Wang Dao smiled and felt that Hu Tao, a girl, was really smart.

She often seems to do unreliable things, but in fact, she sees it better than most people in her heart.

At least, if Xingqiu is here, he will definitely not end the topic, but will ask Wang Daoyi questions.

It's not that Xingqiu is not smart, but Xingqiu can't be like Hu Tao, who instantly realizes the horror of the secret of the gods.

"Okay, then let's not talk about it, are you free tonight? Would you like to have a meal together at Wanmin Hall? ”

"No, no, after completing this order, there is another order, the business in the hall has been good recently, let's talk about it next time." Hu Tao waved his hand again, refused Wang Daoyi's invitation, and then turned around and walked back to the team of the Dead Hall.

Watching Hu Tao leave, Wang Daoyi shook his head slightly,

He saw something, and Hu Tao didn't want to come into contact with the knowledge of the [god] level.

"Maybe there's some taboo in the Hall of the Dead."

Wang Daoyi didn't think much about it, after all, the Afterlife Hall was originally an organization established to get rid of the epidemic after the war of gods and demons, and it was normal for the [gods] to be a little taboo.

After watching the people who went to the living hall go away,

Wang Daoyi glanced at Wufu Slope again, and finally disappeared on the road.

(End of chapter)