Chapter 666: Not a Chance Encounter

"I lost... How could I possibly admit to such a thing..."

Su Lin lay on the surface of the lake, which still had traces of mist. The broken steel fragments gradually sank into the center of the lake, and the water splashed by the impact turned into raindrops hitting his cheeks.

"Unicorn, once again..." He reached out his right hand toward the sky as if to grab something. "Once again, creating a world with you."

The moment the Kabbalah Tree of Life mark and the Firmament Dharma image overlapped.

*Click. *

A faint light flickered and then extinguished again.

It couldn't reproduce the power that could modify reality when in Klein's dream world, and the Firmament Dharma image couldn't actively evolve to the ultimate level either.

And because the activation failed, Su Lin fell into a state of paralysis.

【Hatred value toward Su Su Tuoni +】

'I hate Digimon.'

Su Lin helplessly accepted reality and sighed: "Gensokyo encounter with the city manager, tried my best but couldn't win..."

"Not a chance encounter." Meng Qi's voice came.

"Not my best."

Su Lin lowered his hand and looked toward the shore, where a sweating Meng Qi was leaning on a tree branch, panting and wiping his sweat at the edge of the lake.

"You're already like this, can't you be a little more restrained?" Meng Qi's face was pale. "You're exhausting me to death; give the Overlord Blade back to me."

Su Lin said: "Maybe you could ride on the Overlord Blade like a magical girl; that way you wouldn't be so tired."

Regarding this practical suggestion, Meng Qi naturally turned to leave, but Su Lin predicted his move and admitted defeat first.

"Good person, can't you pull me ashore before you go?"

"Too far."

"Then I'll only have to use the Blade-Nurturing Technique from Song Song Shuhang's side on the Overlord Blade, and wait for her to take human form to pull me up."

"..."

What do you bastard want to do to someone else's divine weapon?

Finally, the two of them, soaked to the bone, lit a campfire by the lake, roasting their changed clothes while grilling a few slightly burnt fish.

"*Cough, cough*... almost got full just from drinking water... Where's your Invincible War Dragon?"

"The dragon soul has been transcended by me; it'll take at least a day to recover."

The nine dragon souls had been strengthened by Su Lin with his own essence blood and had the ability of Buddhist and Daoist Nirvana rebirth.

【Namo Amituopo Ye... Duotuoqietuo Ye...】

Su Lin played a segment of the Rebirth Mantra for the grilled fish on his phone and asked: "Why didn't you go to Hakurei Shrine with them?"

"I'm a mortal now, and I overlooked the fact that this journey is really too far for ordinary people," Meng Qi shook his head and smiled faintly:

"Without martial arts, it's really not a good experience."

He refused the help offered by others and instead chose to travel like a slow, leisurely journey, touring the scenery of the mountains and lakes here.

Although exhausted and tired, without the omnipresent flow of the Cause of All Fruits, the interaction between the inside and outside allowed him to personally experience gain and loss.

"Spiritual consciousness is turbid, the spiritual platform is covered in dust. My current understanding, for the me who had cultivation, is just an insight that could be derived with a little deduction, but the taste of it can only be understood by experiencing it personally."

Due to physical exertion, Meng Qi was famished. He picked up a grilled fish and said:

"The joys and sorrows of the mortal world are all in here."

Seeing the other party eating the grilled fish with relish, Su Lin, who didn't understand but felt it was profound, took out the cumin, chili powder, thirteen-spice, and other seasonings he carried with him.

"Why didn't you take them out earlier?"

"Well... aren't you trying to experience the mortal world..."

"If I have seasonings and don't use them, is my brain broken?"

The meat of this lake fish is delicate and has a clear sweetness, but it still needs spices to be better.

"Touhou LostWord?"

Su Lin didn't know much about non-danmaku games from later generations, but he remembered there was such a series.

The story of lost words causing huge incidents in Gensokyo, where items called seal crystals possess powerful energy, appearing in different Gensokyos and attracting visitors from other worlds.

There are indeed many versions of Gensokyo in there.

"Let me go; I don't want to get involved with the chaotic multiverse anymore."

"I don't quite understand what you're saying, but the other Reimu Hakurei who was collecting these items has already left..."

The two were just about to discuss the news sent by Lu Lu Mingfei and the others in the group, but a rustling sound came from behind.

An old man with a white beard, carrying a bamboo fish basket at his waist and holding a fishing rod, walked out of the overgrown forest path, looking at the two eating grilled fish with some surprise.

"Little brothers, your harvest is not bad!" The old man stroked his beard in surprise: "Can you still catch so many fish during the day?"

A bit embarrassed, because this was electrocuted by the Overlord Blade...

Feeling a bit ashamed, Su Lin and Meng Qi coughed twice, then picked up a grilled fish emitting a fragrant aroma and handed it to the old man.

"How can I be so embarrassed."

"Not at all, we disturbed your fishing."

The commotion of falling into the lake from high altitude, plus the electro-fishing of the Overlord Blade—the old man fishing here would likely be empty-handed.

Really no manners, neighbor Meng Qi.

"Then this old man won't be polite. The fish here are better to hook at night; it's just right for dinner."

The old man walked to a position slightly further away from the two with the grilled fish skewered on a tree branch, then put on the bamboo hat on his back and closed his eyes to rest while holding the fishing rod.

Su Lin and Meng Qi also shifted their attention to the group chat.

Senior Zhongli: "Hmm... to be honest, Kaguya is in the chat group; why don't you ask the person involved directly?"

Kaguya Houraisan: "Even if you say that, this concubine can only answer with an answer like 'Gensokyo is Gensokyo.'

Houraisan Kaguya: "Even if you say that, I can only answer that Gensokyo is Gensokyo."

Just treat the world as some game manufacturer."

What she said made sense; otaku game lovers like Lu Lu Mingfei and Huai Shi understood it immediately, but others always felt something was strange.

Klein: "Exploring Gensokyo slowly, where incidents have long been resolved and nothing is happening now, is also a kind of fun (Note: This sentence is a disclaimer)."

Song Song Shuhang: "Klein, utilitarian milk is not advisable."

Star: "New dungeon exploration, not taking me?"

Lu Lu Mingfei: "Didn't you say you were going to Penacony for a speedrun first? It's been several days; have you cleared it yet?"

Star: "But the train just arrived at Penacony... wait... I wouldn't have been hit by a trick, would I?!"

Li Changshou: "According to my personal experience, if this kind of memory conflict occurs, Fellow Daoist Stellaron, you are 99.999% hit by a trick."

Star, located in the festival star Penacony, suddenly frowned and looked around vigilantly.

The amusement park-like atmosphere, the luxurious city of debauchery, the humans and machines coming and going, enjoying dream life... after searching carefully, she didn't notice anything wrong.

"How could I... right now..." Star gently stroked her brow: "Days?"

She began to recall her experience after arriving at the Dream Hotel today.

First, she went to experience the dream-peeping phone, bought a poster of Robin, and then went to Dr. Edward's place to experience a certain Aeon's memory bubble.

Then, she met Clockie according to the process.

Wait a moment, stop here.

"..."

Who is Clockie?

Star looked at the Kamen Rider statue over there, whose head design was mainly based on a clock image, with three clock patterns on the forehead, and a mixture of gold and black all over.

Ohma Zi-O: "Star, have you collected your Ridewatches?"

"Is this in the crossover list?!"

The space began to shatter, like broken glass.

After a crisp sound, Star opened her eyes. In front of her was a somewhat surprised Sunday, and beside her was the Astral Express family, who were checking in with dull eyes.

"My bat and fire spear, pick one." Star took out the baseball bat and the fire spear.

"?" A look of slight confusion appeared on Sunday's face.

He ignored Star's attack stance and looked compassionately in another direction.

There, Acheron, whose colors had faded to nothing but pale white and a touch of bright red, was walking toward this side with a long sword.

"Little gray hair~ The Meme Aeon asked me to bring you a message~ *cough, cough*..."

"The Aeon family has upgraded due to the addition of 'Existence'. That piece of scrap metal, Erudition, is still secretly opening the Genius Society in other universes..."

"Guess~ will the power obtained by some Emanators from their Path change?"

The intimate whisper, carrying more teasing, passed away in an instant. When she came back to her senses, Star only saw a girl in wooden clogs glancing back at her in the crowd, then smiling and putting on a monocle.

Everything around gurgled, the Sea of Nihility stood out, rolling endlessly. As the waves swallowed everything, there was the chanting of Buddhist sounds, and billions of voices chanted together.

Thorns of light spread from the kingdom opposite to Nihility. At the end of the infinite corridor stood Sunday, who had wings of light on his back: "Everything is harmonious, leisurely and peaceful, enter my Heavenly Kingdom, and receive the same brilliance."

Acheron glanced at Star: "Run."

The crimson blade light tore everything apart, Nihility covered the gospel of the Heavenly Kingdom that had spread, and that long scar swallowed all of Star's mind, making her remember her true self from Nihility.

*Beep! *

A car horn sounded. She subconsciously stepped aside to let the vehicles on the "Golden Hour" street pass. That whole experience just now felt like a dream within a dream.

Sweat...

Flowed down from her forehead.

"Hey, Star, where are you going?"

March 7th saw Star take out a belt and run hurriedly in another direction: "Didn't you say you were looking for someone you knew?"

"Run."

Star: "Why did my side change from normal difficulty to hell difficulty?!"

Star: "Who filled in 'very simple' in the questionnaire?!"

Meng Qi turned his head to look at Su Lin, who was whistling, sitting innocently by the lake, and holding a fishing rod he had gotten from who knows where.

"Changshou and I seem to have seen Sunday on your side..."

"He just wants all corporate slaves to have a long vacation."

Su Lin immediately refuted loudly: "We weaklings also have the right to pursue a seven-day holiday!"

It's rare to hear a human word from your mouth, but what's with this stressed-out look?

"I just didn't expect you wouldn't even tell Star-bao."

"Both palms and the back of the hand are flesh; what can I do? I'm also very helpless!"

"It seems you agree with Sunday's philosophy."

"I wouldn't call it agreement..."

Su Lin was silent for a while, then smiled faintly: "But I like it, so this time I'll treat everyone equally."

"Then can you, as the Heavenly Emperor, treat everyone equally and go back to handle the official business of the Heavenly Court?"

Meng Qi asked: "In a period of both revival and rapid development, you can't do without a backbone."

"What are you, the Sect Leader, doing?" Su Lin rolled his eyes at him: "With so many industries, it should be simple to pull some people from a certain Jade Void Palace to work, right?"

"The logic is the logic." Meng Qi was a bit embarrassed: "But I'm currently a mortal, so many things are inconvenient, right?"

Wait...

This guy chose this time to slash the self and become mortal; besides preparing for proving the Legend, could it be...

"Pressing everything on this poor Daoist, who is a mortal, is a lot of pressure."

Meng Qi showed a simple and honest smile, scratched his head, and said: "I'll just be absent from work until you recover."

You bastard, are you plotting against me!?

*Splash. *

The beacon moved twice.

Su Lin pulled up the fishing rod violently, but there was nothing on the hook: "Let's go."

A joy for nothing, having lost interest, he decided to put the matter aside for now.

"It's past noon; at our pace, it might be evening by the time we visit Hakurei Shrine." Meng Qi reminded him.

"This seems to be the Misty Lake?" Su Lin turned his head to glance at the lake where the mist had returned, puzzled: "Then let's take this road to the Human Village for a stroll."

The two tidied up the clothes by the campfire and left one after the other.

The sound of footsteps on the mud faded away. In the distance, the old man who was hanging his head, as if dozing off, gradually opened his eyes and looked at the direction the two had left.

Suddenly, the fishing line on the bamboo fishing rod he had set up trembled a few times.

With a light tug, a blue fairy girl with mosquito-coil eyes emerged, spitting water while tightly clutching the fishing line.

The old man picked up the back of her collar and placed her on the ground, asking:

"Fairy little girl, are you okay?"

"Something just hit Cirno-sama's head, it hurts so much! Taigong Wang, did you see who ambushed this adult?!"

"This old man only just arrived, didn't notice such a thing..."

"Woo woo, damn it! Are you not fishing today? That big guy wanted to eat Cirno-sama underwater earlier."

Taigong Wang began to pack up his things; there was only a fishing line and no hook on that bamboo fishing rod.

"Next time; today..."

"There are still some things to do."

Girl in prayer...

Walking along the sheep-gut path, a peculiar building gradually appeared in front of them, with the words "Kourindou" written on the shop sign...

—"Kourindou"

In the past, the owner of this shop would sit by the fireplace reading inexplicable books to pass the time, but now he was standing at the door holding a sword, looking at the newcomers with a strange expression.

"There are quite a few more guests today than usual," said the otaku-style man with white hair, gold eyes, and half-rimmed glasses.

"Kourin, where are the two things I mortgaged to you before?"

Taigong Wang took out a jar of coins.

"Ah, that... you came at a bad time; two guests just came and bought them by bartering." Kourindou said, embarrassed.

After those two entered Kourindou and walked around, they acted like bandits entering a nest, saying they wanted to buy everything.

But most of the things in the shop were collectibles; to be honest, he really didn't want to let go, like the Kusanagi Sword he had managed to keep in his arms.

"So you sold my things?!"

"No... that... wasn't it agreed at the time that they were useless, so they could be sold?"

Kourindou turned his head to glance at several items on the table cabinet.

Things like "Assassin Potion," "Immortal Rainbow Garment," and "White Rainbow Sword"... he possessed the ability to know the names and uses of the implements, but he couldn't know how to use them.

Occasionally, items whose names he couldn't know would appear, like fossils or the whip that Taigong Wang had pawned there.

"What did those two look like?"

"Both are new faces, not residents of the Human Village, and the items they took out weren't things ordinary people could have... Taigong, your face looks a bit bad; how about you pick two things from my side to take back."

Regarding Morichika Rinnosuke's compensation, Taigong Wang shook his head with a bitter face.

"No..."

On the road to the Human Village.

Meng Qi's acupoints were sealed, and he couldn't take out any money or divine weapons.

Su Lin borrowed gold and silver valuables from Meng Qi, calculated the interest in his notebook, and then looked at the items in the other party's hand with a rather complicated expression.

"Defective product of modern industry."

Shaped like a wooden whip, with twenty-one sections, three feet six inches and five fen long, the surface had mottled traces and was bronze-colored. The other item was a bronze scroll stuck together with copper rust, looking dirty.

Respectively engraved with ancient seal script: God-Beating Whip. Investiture of the Gods.

"Found a leak." ===== CHAPTER 667 =====

"I found a loophole."