At Ryan's persuasion, Hu Tao had no choice but to give up the idea of letting the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor employees admire the adepti's disciple.
"Since that's the case... I've got it! Why don't we go find Qiqi?"
Then, Hu Tao pondered for a moment before suddenly suggesting it to Ryan.
"Go find Qiqi now? You're not still planning something, are you?"
Ryan took another sip of tea, looking at Hu Tao with some confusion.
Didn't she just say she wasn't going to bury Qiqi anymore?
"Of course not! This Master is going to apologize... You have to come too; last time you were This Master's accomplice."
Hu Tao shook her head as she explained, then called Ryan along.
"How did I become an accomplice...?"
Ryan muttered, put down his teacup, and followed Hu Tao out of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"Since it's an apology, we can't go empty-handed, can we?"
As they walked onto the streets of Feiyun Slope, Ryan suggested to Hu Tao.
"This Master knows that, hmph hmph. If you're talking about what Qiqi likes, This Master knows it perfectly clear."
Hu Tao stood with her hands on her hips, looking a bit smug.
To trick Qiqi into her traps, she had long since thoroughly researched what Qiqi liked.
"Qiqi loves coconut milk the most. I've tricked Qiqi into falling for it herself with coconut milk many times, so we definitely need to buy a serving of coconut milk."
"Hmm, besides that, Qiqi also likes cute little Finches. We should buy one of those too."
Hu Tao listed the things Qiqi liked to Ryan.
Ryan nodded repeatedly, then he and Hu Tao searched the bustling Feiyun Slope for shops selling these items.
Finches were easy to find; they could be bought at the flower and bird market. coconut milk, however, was relatively harder to find.
After all, coconut milk is a drink made from processed coconut juice and coconut meat, but Liyue doesn't have many coconut trees, so the quantity of coconut milk has always been small.
Fortunately, Hu Tao had specifically searched for it before to tempt Qiqi and knew of a shop run by a foreign merchant that sold imported coconut juice. They successfully bought several servings there, and she even specially kept two servings for her and Ryan to try.
None of these items were cheap; Ryan couldn't afford them himself, so Hu Tao paid for everything.
No matter what, she was the Master of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was Liyue's largest funeral organization, so she had some spare money.
Ryan put the serving of coconut milk Hu Tao gave him into his Bolsa Qiankun, intending to give it to Ganyu later.
He had already drunk a lot of tea before and after, and now his stomach was full of water; he completely didn't want to drink any more liquids.
"Let's go, we're going to apologize to Qiqi. You carry the birdcage, be careful, okay?"
Hu Tao carried the coconut milk herself and handed the birdcage with the Finches inside to Ryan, giving him a reminder.
Ryan looked at the delicious little bird inside the cage, following Hu Tao while feeling a bit confused.
"This Finch isn't expensive, so why only buy one? But coconut milk is so expensive, why buy so much?"
Ryan asked Hu Tao about the confusion in his mind.
Although Finches are very cute, they are a very common type of bird in Liyue Harbor, so their price is naturally not high.
In contrast, imported coconut juice was not cheap.
"Because if there are too many, Qiqi won't be able to take care of them."
Hu Tao explained.
After all, Qiqi's memory isn't very good, and it's inconvenient for him to even take care of himself.
"Ah... So it's a pet? You mentioned it with coconut milk and said Qiqi liked it, so I thought it was a snack."
Ryan twitched his ears, saying with some surprise.
"Pfft~"
"So Ryan, you really are just a little fox! Most people wouldn't eat Finches."
Hearing Ryan's misunderstanding, Hu Tao couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
"But, but Qiqi isn't an ordinary person either..."
Ryan's face flushed as he awkwardly retorted.
"Qiqi isn't an ordinary person...?"
"To be honest, This Master considers Qiqi a close friend, so I don't want to see him continue to suffer in this world as an undead zombie."
"However, since living is his last wish from his life, then This Master can only hope he lives happily, rather than as if suffering."
Hu Tao muttered, then suddenly told Ryan the reason for her change of heart.
So this apology was more about giving Qiqi coconut milk and Finches to make him happy.
"Mm-hmm."
Ryan nodded in agreement.
He didn't quite understand the idea of sending Qiqi to rest in peace, but making Qiqi happy was also what he hoped for, after knowing Qiqi's experiences.
The two of them walked through the corridor bridge of the lotus pond, and along the steps, they arrived at Bubu Pharmacy.
"Hmm? Why is no one here?"
The two walked into Bubu Pharmacy together, and Ryan found it empty. He looked around confusedly, but didn't even see the pharmacist A Gui.
"Perhaps Baizhu went out on a house call. It's rare for only Qiqi to be left to mind the shop; This Master has only encountered it once."
Hu Tao also confirmed that there were no living people in Bubu Pharmacy and explained to the confused Ryan beside her.
"Ah? Then where is Qiqi?"
Ryan was a bit confused.
The smell of medicine and zombie mixed in Bubu Pharmacy. Although his fox nose was quite sensitive, he really couldn't distinguish it for a moment.
"He's... here~!"
Hu Tao ran to the counter of Bubu Pharmacy, put down the coconut milk, then propped herself up on the counter with both hands and looked inside the counter.
Sure enough, Qiqi was crouching behind the counter, hugging his head and hiding.
"Can't see... Qiqi..."
Qiqi prayed softly.
"Qiqi~ Come out and drink coconut milk~"
Hu Tao gently tapped Qiqi's hat with her finger and called out.
"coconut milk..."
The lure of coconut milk made Qiqi release his hands from his head and look up.
"..."
Meeting Hu Tao's smiling eyes, Qiqi quickly buried his head again, covering the top of his head with both hands.
"?"
Only then did Hu Tao realize that the shadow she had left in Qiqi's heart had surpassed the temptation of coconut milk.
"Oh my, good Qiqi, don't hide anymore. This Master has prepared a lot of coconut milk for you... Oh right, and there's a round, cute little Finch too~"
Finding that Qiqi refused to come out, Hu Tao couldn't force him. She simply leaned her upper body on the counter, looking at Qiqi, who was hiding with his head covered, while swinging her legs and continuing to tempt him.
"coconut milk... Finches..."
"Qiqi, won't fall for it..."
Qiqi seemed a bit moved, but in the end, he still shook his head.
"...Don't be afraid, little zombie Qiqi. Bad Hu Tao doesn't dare to do bad things anymore."
Ryan, seeing that Hu Tao couldn't call Qiqi out, had no choice but to speak up and help.
"Hmm... Really?"
Hearing that someone else was there and he wasn't facing the scary Hu Tao alone, Qiqi finally mustered the courage to lift his head.
"Of course! This Master is no longer a bad person. This Master is a good person... No, a saint."
Hu Tao got down from the counter, then simply cooperated with Ryan's statement and nodded affirmatively.
"Hmm..."
Qiqi slowly stood up from behind the counter.
But the counter was too high, so Qiqi had to stand on tiptoes and support himself on the counter with both hands, just to get his eyes above the counter.
He looked at Ryan and Hu Tao, and finally his gaze fell on the coconut milk on the counter and the birdcage containing the Finches.
"Oh..."
Qiqi's gaze was attracted by the round Finch in the birdcage, and the coconut milk was also very tempting to him. For a moment, he didn't know which to look at, so he just looked left and right.
It was clear that he loved coconut milk and Finches very much...