Chapter 663: The Paparazzi Text

I've become a remnant of the old era.

Using a proxy to flip through the Masked Rider manga stolen from Xing, posing as the god of the Type-Moon universe, he holed up in Gensokyo to recover from his injuries.

"Without realizing it, I've lost my status as a two-dimensional creature," Su Lin gazed at the moon and sighed. "Life truly is impermanent."

"No, what exactly are you brooding about since just now?"

Lu Mingfei frantically mashed the controller as the giant serpent executed a combo that eliminated Huai Shi's Chun-Li, securing the Street King title.

"I'm mourning my lost youth," Su Lin sighed again.

Miss Kelaien was playing Black Myth alone, saying: "I really don't get your anime world."

The console, screen, and controller were all retrieved from Su Lin, though he claimed he found them in the trash downstairs; still, Miss Kelaien erased some of the numbers on the calculator.

"I paid for your broadband and phone bills while you were gone!"

"I didn't use them, so I won't pay for them."

Miss Kelaien stared at the emptied health bar and the dimming screen, then snapped his fingers to cancel the "Deception" effect on himself.

The Fate-man who just lost to Tiger Vanguard was the salaryman Zhou Mingrui; the current Fate-man is the Fool, Miss Kelaien.

You really came here to play games?

Su Lin withdrew his gaze and glanced at the 3G network indicator on the communication device.

"I'd better go fish the monkey out and banish him back to the mortal realm again."

But then my leave of absence would end prematurely.

"Should we ask Meng Qi to handle it?"

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

Speak of Meng Qi and he appears.

"No matter what you need, I can't help you right now," Meng Qi smiled faintly.

Miss Kelaien glanced toward Meng Qi and said: "You want the incantation to recreate yesterday?"

"That would be meaningless," Meng Qi shook his head with a smile.

The man before him had all his acupoints sealed, his dantian empty, his dharma body reduced to mortal flesh, and even karma no longer flowed but coiled around him.

Sever the self, become mortal.

"Can you just stop overworking yourself?"

Su Lin suddenly felt a pressure, like in high school, when his best friend in the back row had promised to slack off together—only to discover during the monthly exam that the guy had been pulling all-nighters to catch up.

Where is this?

A secluded land far from human clamor, chosen for divine concealment and escape—absolutely should not have the post-generation phenomenon of overwork.

"Isn't it because I was afraid you'd be lonely, so I severed my cultivation to keep you company?"

Meng Qi laughed heartily, appearing carefree: "I'd have reached this point eventually anyway; might as well give myself some leeway."

He had already begun setting up projections across the myriad worlds to spread the legend required for his Dao-certification, but this final step still had problems.

Perhaps related to the weight of his karma far exceeding his original fate.

Now, as Meng Qi pursued the essence of legend, even though he understood that all beings are Yuan Shi, he still sensed in the unseen that he was missing some "key element."

He couldn't articulate it—logically, with his current foundation and wisdom, he shouldn't be unable to comprehend "who I am."

After much thought, he still chose the path of severing the self to see the self.

"Did you seek out the Immortaless Hunyuan, Bi Jingxuan?"

"To be honest, given my current state, even a Celestial Immortal's Hunyuan Golden Dipper couldn't achieve this."

Meng Qi denied it: "I entrusted it to Teacher Yan Sen—he seems quite interested in alchemy and has stayed here. I came by to deliver a message for the Tianshen Sect's students."

Su Lin, Shi Hao, and Ye Fan all came here due to external factors; here is a man who severed his own cultivation, truly here to experience becoming mortal.

"A real one."

"Such a rare opportunity—why not sever your cultivation with me and seek your true self from a new perspective?"

Meng Qi said to Su Lin.

In the brief period without his cultivation, Meng Qi's mind had already regained calmness and gained a sudden insight.

Some things, even if known in advance, are meaningless; only by personally experiencing them can one gain one's own understanding.

"Good idea," Su Lin nodded. "I've often wondered—is what makes me me merely the myriad arts, the Dao's origin, the Genesis Epoch, and such external things?"

0 points—this kind of showing off is inferior.

Meng Qi silently rated it in his mind, but the moment the thought flashed, Su Lin continued:

"After I sever my cultivation, my cultivation might become free."

"What do you mean?"

"My cultivation might come alive."

"."

Perhaps due to his mortal body, Meng Qi felt he couldn't quite grasp what the other was saying—only that it felt terrifying.

He fell silent briefly, then decided to drop the topic and moved beside Miss Kelaien:

"You just used one life—let me take over."

Is this some kind of otaku gathering?

Mostly because it's already late, and now isn't the time to wander Gensokyo.

Su Lin thought for a while and decided to find Kaguya for some mind-altering spirit crow—if his guess was right, the NEET should be deep in her fixed boundary, grinding infinite gal games.

"Not here?"

Inaba no Tei jumped back in alarm, leaping to the corner and keeping a wary distance from Su Lin.

This human is very strange.

A group of rabbit demons were sweeping the room with brooms, the floor littered with trash, paper scraps, and game discs scattered everywhere.

Perhaps he had entered a state of time dilation, playing for who knows how long.

Otherwise, in just a few hours, he'd generated this much trash—he could practically be a Star resource spawn point.

"Little disciple, just hand me those games."

Su Lin pointed to a pile of game discs in one rabbit demon's hands—from major titles like Cyber Sword Immortal 2077 to trashy moe games like The Witch's Banquet—varied and plentiful.

Amitabha Buddha, he had come precisely to beg for these.

"I thought you were here looking for the Princess." Inaba no Tsukuyomi exhaled in relief. "She went to the Labyrinth Bamboo Grove to meet that turkey."

As long as this peculiar human wasn't here to demand the Princess back, he had no idea who these humans were or how the Princess had met them.

Turkey?

Su Lin paused, then his eyes flashed with recognition: "Fujiwara no Mokou?"

He collected the games into his storage pouch, asked roughly where in the Labyrinth Bamboo Grove she was, then walked down the corridor toward the exit.

Inaba no Tsukuyomi watched Su Lin's retreating back, pondered for a while, then her lips curled upward into an exaggerated smile.

She pulled out an old flip phone and dialed a number:

"Same as usual? This time it's different."

"Extra charge."

"Turkey, didn't you eat dinner tonight?!"

"Bitch! I'm going to mix your ashes with my rice today!"

"You used to call me 'Big Sister'~ Now you just call me 'bitch'?"

"Fuck! Don't gross me out!"

Tall bamboo soared into the clouds, emerald leaves swaying gently in the wind, shimmering like waves of jade under the glow of fire.

White hair fluttered in the air current, crimson eyes reflecting Kaguya's nearly flawless face, though her mouth curled into a mischievous grin.

Still so infuriating!!!

A colossal fire phoenix spread its wings, screeching as it hurled multiple fireballs toward Kaguya.

This flame of the immortal phoenix, capable of burning all things, was met without evasion—just as it had countless times before—enduring the agony of regeneration and destruction, then walking forward.

"Turkey, you've made zero progress—even goblins should've leveled up!"

Numerous icy talismans, weapons, and a laser cannon Kaguya pulled from nowhere all targeted the fire phoenix.

Sharp weapons pierced the phoenix, and as it crashed to the ground, smug Kaguya was immediately punched down by a pale fist.

"Cheating bastard, you cheated again!"

"You hit my face?! Fire Chicken, I'll sell you to Ye Zhetian Trading Guild as food supply!"

Blood splattered, brains scattered, organs—heart, liver, intestines, lungs, spleen, kidneys, eyeballs—lay strewn across the ground, the soil darkening and thickening with blood under the heat.

Hatred, grudges—perhaps these were present—but both were immortals who had consumed the Pill of Penglai.

So, this is just entertainment.

Obsessed with killing each other.

Only this way can their near-eternal lives avoid becoming unbearably boring!

Boring enough to go mad.

Her fists, skin torn and pierced by bone spurs, Fujiwara no Mokou tilted her neck upward, looking down at Kaguya's bloody, mangled form still wearing that disgusting grin.

The beauty that had once resounded across the land, even drawing her father's pursuit, vanished for a moment.

Perhaps she had gone mad long ago.

This woman was mad too.

We're all mad.

"Pfft." Fujiwara no Mokou spat out a bloody wad with a tooth in it. "Huiyin's calculus lessons these past few days have filled my belly with rage—I feel better now. You're weak today."

"No wonder your IQ is only nine, Fire Chicken."

Kaguya spat blood while laughing: "Look inside your belly!"

Fujiwara no Mokou looked down and saw a cold, bullet-like metal object inside her torn abdomen.

"This kind of toy..."

Before she finished speaking, countless blades erupted from her body.

"A special custom artifact of mine!"

Kaguya sneered as she pulled out a lotus-shaped bomb: "I'll let you taste the sensation of being torn apart by gravity."

Beep

The red indicator light flashed a few times.

"Wrong one? Whatever—hiss—!"

Kaguya dropped Stark's portable flame lotus device; as she rose, both feet were pierced and seized by a pair of palms bristling with steel blades.

"Fire Chicken, you?!"

BOOM~~~!

After flickering flames surged, a rain of blood fell upon the bamboo grove, its eternal state unbroken.

Moments later, two naked bodies crawled across the ground to behind a stone and began dressing.

Both wore grim expressions, not uttering a single word.

Crack.

Footsteps crunched on bamboo leaves nearby.

"Who's there? Get out here, you bastard!"

Fuwara Sae had not yet fastened her belt when she stood up and shouted toward the other side of the rock.

The footsteps grew closer, and the approaching figure made no effort to hide, walking straight out.

It was a male demon—with a pancreas hanging from his head, a deep-blue humanoid figure behind him clutching two hearts, and his face caked in blood.

When Time Stop fails, this is the result—and this isn't home; the God of Light is at full power.

He stared blankly as he pulled the pancreas off his head and asked, "Whose is this?"

"I believe it's about seven-tenths done. Want some?" Kaguya stepped out, pulling her shirt over her shoulder, smiling: "Eat my pancreas."

"Reverse Great Heaven."

Su Lin tossed the organ over.

Several thick tree branches were propped over the fire, skewered with various vegetables and chunks of internal organs.

Fat dripped onto the flames, hissing loudly, causing the fire to surge violently and release an enticing aroma.

The smoke from the roasting drifted slowly upward, blending with the thin mist of the night sky; three young men and women sat silently on dried tree stumps beside the bonfire, watching the meat cook.

"Do you always do this?"

"Sometimes we boil soup, sometimes we roast meat; if we're too lazy, we just crush some mustard and drink soy sauce."

"There are fresh bamboo shoots in the bamboo grove we can use as side dishes."

Based on Su's many years of medical experience, these two are mentally unstable.

He pulled out a jar of honey glaze and handed it to the two busy figures.

Brush on some oil, sprinkle some cumin, chili, and sesame, then flip and roast again—kids next door would cry from hunger.

Good heavens, even Hannibal would call this professional.

"You sure you don't want a skewer?" Kaguya held up a white scallion sausage: "Huowang has eaten organs before—try it once, you'll get used to it."

A strange sight is fine to glance at to satisfy curiosity, but Su's recipe has no intention of going down that path.

"If that's the case, then this will do."

Kaguya rummaged through the pile of offal behind her and pulled out a leg bone: "You usually eat dragon liver and phoenix marrow—how about making do with roasted turkey bone marrow?"

"Since the treasury tightened, I haven't seen any luxury items except peaches from the imperial orchard," Su Lin rubbed his brow with his right hand and shook his head.

"Don't be polite—consider it thanks for these spices; you've got more varieties than Xianglin Hall sells." Fuwara Sae bit into a piece of roasted liver: "Do you know this woman, Kaguya?"

"I know her." Su Lin finally tore his gaze from the food and turned to Fuwara Sae.

She wore a work shirt on top and red suspenders below, covered entirely in talismans.

She wasn't tall, and her masculine speech patterns contrasted sharply with her soft, girlish face—especially her pure white hair and crimson eyes, nearly triggering some DNA-level special affinity.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Fuwara Sae asked.

"There's no turkey character in the Fantasia Garden transformation plan," Kaguya shook her head dismissively beside her.

"You don't react to me or Reisen, but you react to this tomboy turkey? Your sexual preferences must be twisted."

"That's appreciation," Su Lin interlaced his fingers, propping his chin as he gazed at her.

"My main reason for coming to Fantasia Garden was to meet you."

Fuwara Sae stopped chewing, staring blankly at the man, then glanced at Kaguya, nearly leaping off the stump.

"I—"

"Don't mind it," Su Lin brushed dirt off his pants and smiled: "We're already divorced. Eat slowly—I'm heading back to Eternity Pavilion first."

He had even seen the paper doll that once hung in the room.

Honestly, the roasted meat smelled delicious—Su Lin now wanted to go back and get some normal food.

Crack.

A flash went off.

A girl with black wings retracted her camera, glanced at the small notebook in her hand, and nodded excitedly at Su Lin: "Thank you so much! Next time, please give us an exclusive interview!"

Whoosh.

Only a few black feathers remained in the air.

The Celestial Manifestation that had just appeared caught nothing.

"That was..." Su Lin's expression froze as he turned back uncertainly.

"Ah," Kaguya said, chewing on roasted meat: "Paparazzi."