Chapter 667: Not an Accident

Did I lose? How could I possibly admit to something like that?

Su Lin lay on the lake’s surface, where faint mist still lingered, as shattered steel fragments slowly sank toward the lake’s heart, the water waves stirred by the impact falling like raindrops on his cheeks.

“Unicorn once more,” he reached his right hand toward the sky as if to grasp something: “once more, create a world with you in it.”

At the moment the Qabbalistic Tree of Life mark merged with the Azure Sky Manifestation.

Plop

A faint glow flickered once, then extinguished again.

The power that once allowed reality to be rewritten within Kleine’s dream world could not be reproduced; the Azure Sky Manifestation could not actively achieve ultimate evolution.

And due to the failed activation, Su Lin fell into a rigid state.

[Hatred value toward Su Tuoni +]

“I hate Digimon.”

Su Lin helplessly accepted reality and sighed: “Fantasizing an accidental encounter with the city enforcement officers, and still failing to defeat them despite all my strength.”

“Not an accident,” came Meng Qi’s voice.

“Not my full strength.”

Su Lin lowered his hand and looked toward the shore, where Meng Qi, drenched in sweat, leaned on a branch, panting as he wiped his brow at the lake’s edge.

“After all this, can’t you at least tone it down?” Meng Qi’s face was pale as he said:

“I’m exhausted—give me back the Absolute Blade.”

Su Lin said: “You could ride the Absolute Blade like a magical girl; then you wouldn’t be so tired.”

For such a practical suggestion, Meng Qi naturally turned to leave—but Su Lin anticipated his move and preemptively surrendered.

“Good soul, can’t you pull me ashore before you go?”

“Too far.”

“Then I’ll have to apply Song Shu’s sword-nurturing technique to the Absolute Blade, and wait for her to take human form and pull me up.”

“.”

What the hell are you planning to do to someone else’s divine weapon?

In the end, the two drenched men lit a bonfire by the lake, drying their changed clothes while roasting a few slightly charred fish.

“Cough—almost drank myself full. Where’s your invincible war dragon?”

“I’ve already liberated the dragon souls; it’ll take at least a day to recover.”

The Nine Dragon Souls had been strengthened by Su Lin’s blood essence, granting them the ability to reincarnate through Buddhist-Daoist nirvana.

[Namo Amitabha. Tadyatha.]

Su Lin played a sutra for the afterlife on his phone to accompany the roasting fish, and asked: “Why didn’t you go with them to the Hakkaisan Shrine?”

“I’m just a mortal, and I underestimated how far this journey truly is for ordinary people,” Meng Qi shook his head and smiled:

“Without martial cultivation, it’s truly an unpleasant experience.”

He declined the others’ offers of help, choosing instead to travel slowly, as if trekking across mountains and rivers, savoring the scenery of these wild lakes and hills.

Though weary and drained, without omnipresence or the flow of the Fruit of All Causes, the interplay between inner and outer senses allowed him to truly feel gain and loss.

“My spiritual awareness is clouded, my spirit platform dusty. To my cultivated self, these insights are merely deductions—but only by experiencing them firsthand can one truly understand their flavor.”

Due to his depleted stamina, Meng Qi was now ravenously hungry; he picked up a roasted fish and said:

“All the bitterness and joy of the mortal world is in here.”

Watching the other eagerly devour the fish, Su Lin—who had no idea what he meant—pulled out his personal seasonings: za’atar, chili powder, thirteen-spice blend, and more.

“Why didn’t you bring these out sooner?”

“Well, you were supposed to be experiencing the mortal world, weren’t you?”

“If I don’t use seasonings, am I supposed to be brain-dead?”

The lake fish’s flesh was tender and subtly sweet, but it tasted far better with spices.

“Eastern Words of Return?”

Su Lin knew little about post-generation non-meme games, but he remembered such a series existed.

A tale of lost words causing massive anomalies in Gensokyo, where a phenomenon called the Sealing Crystal possessed immense energy, appearing across different Gensokyo worlds and drawing visitors from other realms.

There were many versions of Gensokyo within it.

“Leave me alone—I don’t want anything to do with this tangled multiverse anymore.”

“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying, but the other Hakkai Reimu who collected this item has already left…”

As the two were about to discuss the messages sent by Lu Mingfei and others in the group chat, a faint rustling came from behind.

From a dense, overgrown forest path emerged an old man with a white beard, a bamboo fish basket hanging at his waist, holding a fishing rod—he looked at the two eating roasted fish with evident surprise.

“Young man, your catch is quite good!” The old man, startled, stroked his beard: “You caught so many fish during the day?”

A bit embarrassed, since they’d electrocuted the fish with the Absolute Blade.

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Su Lin and Meng Qi coughed twice, then handed the old man a fragrant roasted fish.

“How could I possibly accept this?”

“Nonsense—you disturbed our fishing.”

The noise of someone falling from high altitude, plus the Absolute Blade’s electric fishing—this old fisherman was almost certainly going to be an Air Force recruit.

What a lowlife, Meng Qi next door.

“Then I won’t be rude—I’ll take it. The fish here only bite well at night; perfect for dinner.”

The old man walked to a spot a little farther away, threaded the roasted fish onto a branch, placed his bamboo hat on his back, and sat with his fishing rod, head bowed, resting.

Su Lin and Meng Qi turned their attention back to the group chat.

Zhongli: “Forgive me for saying so, but Himekami is right here in the group—why don’t you just ask her directly?”

Himekami: “Even if you say that, I can only answer that Gensokyo is Gensokyo.”

The anomalies that occurred here in the past are much like the stories you know—just like gacha games, using parallel world retcons for the same face girl isn’t exactly rare, is it?

Just treat worlds like certain game companies.”

She made perfect sense—Lu Mingfei and Huai Shi, both avid second-hand gamers, understood instantly—but others still felt something was off.

Kleine: “The anomaly has long been resolved; slowly exploring a now-peaceful Gensokyo is its own kind of pleasure. (Note: This statement is a disclaimer.)”

Song Shu: “Chief, don’t rely on opportunistic blessings.”

Star: "Aren't you taking me along to clear the new dungeon?"

Lu Mingfei: “Didn’t you say yourself you’d rush through Pinoconny first? It’s been days—did you clear it yet?”

Star: “But the train just arrived at Pinoconny… Wait… did I just get hit?!”

Li Changshou: “Based on my personal experience, when memory conflicts like this occur, Star Core comrade, you’re 99.999% been affected.”

Star, located on the Celebration Planet Pinoconny, suddenly frowned, alertly scanning her surroundings.

The atmosphere was like an amusement park—a luxurious, glittering metropolis, humans and sentient machines coming and going, enjoying dreamlike lives. After careful searching, she detected nothing amiss.

“How could I possibly be…” Star gently touched her brow: “Days?”

She began recalling her experiences since arriving at the dream hotel.

First, she tried the Dream Phone, bought a poster of the Robin, then visited Dr. Edward to experience a memory bubble of a Star God.

Then, as per procedure, she met Clockwork Laozi.

Wait—pause here.

“...”

Who is Clockwork Laozi?

Star looked toward a statue of a masked knight whose head was designed as a clock, with three clock faces on its forehead, its body a mix of gold and black.

Fengmo Zi-O: “Star, have you collected your clock faces yet?”

“Is this on the crossover list?!”

The space began to shatter, like shattered glass.

After a crisp sound, Star opened her eyes—before her was the surprised Sunday, and beside her, the Star Express family, mechanically checking in, eyes vacant.

“Pick one—my stick or my fire gun.” Star held out her bat and flame gun.

“?” Sunday’s face showed mild confusion.

He ignored her combat stance, instead gazing mournfully in another direction.

There, Huangquan, her colors faded to only pale white and a streak of crimson, walked toward them, gripping a long blade.

“Little gray-hair~ The Jester God asked me to deliver a message for you~ cough cough”

“The Star God family has ascended with the addition of ‘Existence’—Zhi Shi’s pile of scrap iron is still secretly running the Idiot Club in other universes.”

“Guess—could the powers some envoys draw from their Paths have changed?”

A whisper, intimate yet teasing, brushed her ear and vanished instantly. When Star came to, she saw only a girl in wooden geta turning back to glance at her once, then grinning as she slipped on a monocle.

Around her, a gurgling rose—the Void Sea emerged, churning endlessly. As waves swallowed all things, a sacred chant of merit and celestial glory echoed, billions of voices singing in unison.

Thorns of light spread from the realm opposite the Void; at the end of the infinite corridor stood Sunday, wings of light growing from his back: “All things at peace, tranquil and still—enter my heavenly kingdom, share the radiance of the stars.”

Huangquan looked at Star: “Run.”

A scarlet blade slashed through everything; the Void swallowed the heavenly gospel. That long scar consumed Star’s spirit entirely—within the Void, her true self awakened.

Beep!

A car horn blared. She instinctively stepped aside to let a vehicle pass on “Golden Hour” Street—the entire scene felt like a dream within a dream.

Sweat.

Dripping from her forehead.

“Hey, Xing, where are you going?”

San Yueqi saw Xing pull out a belt and sprint off in another direction: “Aren’t you supposed to be looking for someone you know?”

“Just chill.”

……

……

Xing: “Why did my difficulty suddenly jump from normal to hell mode?!”

Xing: “Who the hell marked this as ‘very easy’ in the survey?!”

Meng Qi turned his head toward Su Lin, who sat by the lake, whistling innocently, a fishing rod in hand—no one knew where he’d gotten it.

“Li Changshou and I seem to have seen Sunday over there…”

“He just wants all the office slaves to take a long vacation.”

Su Lin immediately shouted back: “Even the weak have the right to pursue a seven-day holiday!”

Rarely do I hear a sensible word from you, but why are you acting like you’re having a panic attack?

“I just didn’t expect you’d never even told Xingbao.”

“Both hands are my own flesh—what can I do? I’m just as helpless!”

“Looks like you really agree with Jesus Day.”

“I wouldn’t say I agree.”

Su Lin fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly: “But I like it, so this time I’ll treat them equally.”

“Then can this Emperor of Heaven equally balance things and go back to handle the Heavenly Court’s paperwork?”

Meng Qi asked: “When a sect is in revival and experiencing rapid growth, it can’t afford to lack a core figure.”

“What are you, the sect leader, good for?” Su Lin gave him a side-eye. “You’ve got so many enterprises—can’t you just pull a few people from Yu Xu Gong to help?”

“The logic holds,” Meng Qi said reluctantly. “But I’ve just reverted to mortality—many things are inconvenient now.”

Wait.

This bastard chose this moment to sever my mortal form—besides preparing to prove the legend, he couldn’t possibly…

“Putting all the burden on this lowly mortal? The pressure is crushing.”

Meng Qi gave a simple, earnest smile and scratched his head: “Guess I’ll just take an indefinite leave until you recover.”

You sneaky bastard, you tricked me!?

Splash.

The beacon twitched twice.

Su Lin yanked the fishing rod sharply—the hook was empty: “Let’s go.”

All that excitement for nothing. Losing interest, he decided to set the matter aside for now.

“It’s past noon. If we head to the Hakkaisan Shrine now, we’ll arrive after dark,” Meng Qi reminded him.

“This seems to be Mist Lake?” Su Lin glanced back at the lake, where the mist had reformed. “Then let’s follow this path to the Realm of Human Reason.”

The two packed up their clothes beside the campfire and left, one behind the other.

The sound of footsteps on muddy soil faded into the distance. Far away, an old man, head bowed as if dozing, slowly opened his eyes and watched their retreating figures.

Suddenly, the line on his fishing rod trembled a few times.

He lifted gently—a blue fairy girl surfaced, eyes spiraling like incense smoke, spitting water as she clung tightly to the line.

The old man grabbed her by the back of her collar and set her on the ground.

“Little fairy girl, are you alright?”

“Something just smashed into Qilunuo’s head—it hurt so much! Taigongwang, did you see who attacked me?!”

“I’ve only just arrived. I didn’t notice anything like that.”

“Wah! Damn it! Aren’t you fishing today? That big thing was trying to swallow Qilunuo just now!”

Taigongwang began packing up—his bamboo fishing rod had only line, no hook.

“Next time. Today…”

“I have other matters.”

The girl prayed.

Walking along a narrow path, a peculiar building gradually came into view—the shop sign read “Xiang Lin Tang.”

——“Xiang Lin Tang”

In the past, the shop’s owner would sit by the stove, reading bizarre books to pass the time. Now he stood at the door, sword in hand, staring at the newcomers with a strange expression.

“Today’s customers are far more numerous than usual,” said the man with white hair, golden eyes, and half-frame glasses—a reclusive type.

“Linzhi, where are the two items I mortgaged to you?”

Taigongwang pulled out a jar of coins.

“Ah, you came at a bad time—two customers just came by and bought them in a barter deal,” Linzhi said, troubled.

The moment those two entered Xiang Lin Tang, they scoured the place like bandits and declared they wanted to buy everything.

But most of the shop’s inventory are collectibles—he truly didn’t want to let go, especially the Caozhi Sword he’d barely managed to keep.

“So you sold my things?!”

“No, wait—I thought we agreed that if something was useless, you could sell it?”

Linzhi glanced back at several items on the table.

He possessed the ability to know the names and purposes of objects like “Assassin’s Elixir,” “Immortal’s Rainbow Robe,” and “Baihong Sword”—but not their usage.

Occasionally, he encountered items whose names he couldn’t discern—like fossils, or the whip Taigongwang had mortgaged here.

“What did those two look like?”

“Total strangers—not residents of the Realm of Human Reason. The items they offered weren’t things an ordinary person could possess… Taigong, you look pale. Why not pick two new items here to take back?”

Taigongwang shook his head, grimacing at Linzhi’s offer of compensation.

“No.”

On the road to the Realm of Human Reason.

Meng Qi’s meridians were sealed—he could no longer retrieve any money or divine weapons.

Su Lin lent Meng Qi silver, gold, and valuables, meticulously calculating a 9-out-13-return interest rate on his ledger, then gazed with complex expression at the object in Meng Qi’s hand.

“A defective product of modern industry.”

One was a wooden whip, twenty-one segments long, three chi six cun five fen in total, its surface weathered and bronze-colored; the other was a tarnished bronze scroll, glued together by rust, filthy and dull.

Each bore ancient seal script inscriptions: “Dashing God Whip.” “Canon of Divine Enfeoffment.”

“We hit the jackpot.”