Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [26]

To secure ownership of [Debate Club], Jiang Bai stuck to Hu Tao like glue the entire afternoon.

If she was thirsty, he fetched her water. If she was tired, he massaged her shoulders. If she was hungry, he handed her food before she even reached for it. All she had to do was ask, and he would immediately present whatever she needed.

That wasn't all. If a cat blocked their path, he would chase it away before letting Hu Tao pass. If someone came looking for her—even with Hu Tao standing right there—he would announce their arrival before she spoke. Even when she went to the restroom, he stationed himself like a guardian at the door, just in case she needed toilet paper and he didn't hear her. His devotion to the role of a lackey was absolute.

Finally, as dusk fell, Hu Tao had had enough and drove him away.

"Alright, alright! Take it, just stop following me!" Hu Tao had just stepped out of the restroom, radiating a world-weary aura as if she had lost all will to live.

"Please rest well, Director! Farewell, Director!"

With Hu Tao's approval, Jiang Bai bolted away, hoisting [Debate Club] over his shoulder as he rushed back to his room.

Only upon reaching his room did he suddenly remember—

He still hadn't asked Hu Tao how she made weapons vanish and reappear with just a flick of her hand.

Oh well, no rush. I'll ask tomorrow.

With that shadow finally gone, Hu Tao felt as though she had been reborn.

She climbed onto the rooftop, spread her limbs out like a starfish, and lay there, utterly drained.

Being followed that closely was beyond suffocating. At first, it was tolerable, but then it became downright outrageous.

Following her to the restroom—what the hell was that about?! And he just stood there by the door, refusing to leave! She had been on edge the entire time, terrified of making too much noise.

The mere thought of it made Hu Tao's face burn crimson.

Does that guy even realize I'm a girl?!

(°Д°)凸 Ugh!!!

Her skin was nowhere near thick enough to endure something like this!

Thankfully, Xiangling had already left. If she had witnessed this, she would've laughed about it for an entire year!

Hu Tao had initially thought she had brought back an amusing playmate. Turns out, she had met her match.

---

Above Liyue, a resplendent palace floated in the sky.

Its carved beams and painted rafters intertwined seamlessly with elegant flying eaves. Stone pathways wove between pools of water, where crimson koi swam leisurely beneath swaying lotus blossoms.

The smooth, expansive flooring, paved with massive slabs of bluestone, stretched all the way into the palace interior, flanked on either side by lush greenery—every detail exuding sheer opulence.

A woman clad in a qipao stood on an open-air terrace, gazing toward the sunset.

Her hands were as delicate as jade, her skin as smooth as porcelain. Her long white hair was loosely gathered at the back with a simple hairpin, and a golden tail ring adorned one of her fingers. A slender tobacco pipe rested in her grip.

She wore golden high heels that shimmered like glazed glass, the gilded patterns winding up from the soles. The slits of her qipao shifted with the breeze, revealing long, pale legs adorned with a phoenix tattoo. At her waist, her Vision gleamed under the fading sunlight.

She was Ningguang, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing—the wealthiest woman in Liyue Harbor.

She exhaled a slow breath of smoke, her gaze locked on the blood-red horizon.

"Yelan, what's the status of that man who came back from the dead?" She spoke casually, without turning around at the sound of approaching footsteps.

The woman behind her stepped forward, halting just half a step away.

She had short, dark blue hair, with an asymmetrical fringe that veiled one of her eyes. Her expression was cool and composed, her form-fitting attire exuding a sharp efficiency—clearly someone well-acquainted with danger.

Arms crossed, she gazed down at Liyue Harbor. "He's lost his memory. Other than his own name, he remembers nothing. He's currently under Hu Tao's watch at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."

None of this required much effort to investigate. A few casual inquiries at the parlor revealed everything—it wasn't exactly a secret.

For now, he displayed no signs of aggression. His level of threat was even lower than that of the eccentric funeral director who took an unusual delight in organizing burials.

"What's his name?"

"Jiang Bai."

"Jiang Bai..." Ningguang murmured the name under her breath, lowering her gaze to the distant Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, nestled in a secluded corner of Liyue Harbor.

A man of unknown origins, returning from the dead, stripped of all memories—such a case naturally warranted the attention of someone in her position.

But from this altitude, she couldn't see much.

"Have you found out anything about his past?"

"Nothing. Even with his name as a lead, there's no record of him anywhere. I combed through every Liyue family with the surname 'Jiang.' While I found a few people with the same name, none of them matched him."

"Oh? What about older records—say, from the Archon War?" Ningguang speculated.

If he had only appeared to die, then perhaps his supposed death had occurred long ago—maybe even centuries before. He might be similar to Qiqi, awakening after an extended slumber.

Even his memory loss mirrored Qiqi's condition.

However, he was not Qiqi. She might be an undead, but she was still had the blessings of an adeptus.

Ningguang idly rubbed her jade tobacco pipe between her fingers, her gaze shifting toward the distant islands in the heart of the sea.

"Perhaps he, too, has drifted through the river of time to reach the present day."

Yelan followed her line of sight toward the colossal stone spear piercing the ocean. She idly tossed a jade die in her palm. "It's possible. But that era was too chaotic—very few records survived."

She flicked the die into the air, then caught it on the back of her hand. Six.

"He only just arrived in Liyue Harbor, and with the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor watching over him, even if he's a thousand-year-old relic, he should be able to adapt just fine."

"That may be, but if we can uncover his origins and past, all the better."

Ningguang stepped forward, pacing along the edge of the terrace.

From here, one could see the vast river that nearly bisected northern Liyue.

The river originated from Dragonspine, where melted snow flowed through the Sal Terrae. There, it merged with streams from Stone Gate, passing through Bishui Plain and emptying into Luhua Pool.

And it was near Luhua Pool that Jiang Bai had been discovered.

"If we can't trace his origins from Liyue Harbor, then we should investigate how he appeared in the first place."

A supposedly dead man wouldn't simply materialize in a river without reason. There had to be a cause.

If they could pinpoint the place where he had slumbered, they might finally uncover some answers.

Yelan had clearly reached the same conclusion.

"Hm. I've already arranged for people to investigate that angle."

With that, the conversation about Jiang Bai came to a pause. Ningguang shifted the topic.

"Any leads on the Fatui Harbinger, The Regrator?"

"A few clues…"

Yelan's lips curled into a knowing smirk—one brimming with certainty.