Chapter 671

The blue night sky stretched endlessly into the distance, the quiet village shrouded in a veil.

"Can't sleep in the deep night? What are you doing here?"

On the roof of the temple school sat two people: one was Meng Qi in a fluffy pajama, the other was Su Lin, seated at the roof's edge with hands resting on his knees.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Oh, I just got up to pee and saw you climbing the ladder, then came up to find you wide awake at night pretending to be profound."

After speaking, Meng Qi noticed the guy was staring at his waist and abdomen with a look of pity.

"You're almost getting married—I suggest you go to Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan for some Liuwei Dihuang Pills."

"Do you have any idea how much water I drank when I fished you out during the day?"

As a man, nothing is more intolerable than someone questioning your kidney function—and even if you went to Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan for this kind of medicine, aren't you afraid he'll turn it into a love potion, cough cough.

"I really like one line from Soseki: 'Born as a human, I am sorry.'" Su Lin shook his head, then gazed blankly up at the moon.

Meng Qi: "..."

What, have you been listening to Net Yinyun too much?

"I've noticed you haven't been working lately," Meng Qi said, sensing that though the man's eyes were hollow, a lingering emotion clung to them.

Hope? Torment? Endurance?

He glanced at the moon above and gave a faint smile of "I understand."

There was only one answer.

"From a universal moral standpoint, I should condemn you—but our relationship..." Meng Qi's tone carried subtle encouragement:

"I suggest you go learn from Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan or Ye Fan—suffer now, and the future will be beautiful."

After staring at Meng Qi for a moment, Su Lin frowned and tilted his head.

"Not the peach-blossom sorrow of Kaguya—then you're thinking of Yi Leina?"

"..."

Su Lin opened his mouth, then reacted: "When you descended to mortality, did you also shave off your IQ?"

"Fine, there's no one else here—feeling lonely and frustrated because you can't see the one you miss is only natural," Meng Qi exhaled.

He didn't care whether the man truly felt that way; he just seized the chance to tease.

But then Meng Qi saw Su Lin pull out Yi Leina's historical projection and hold it in his arms.

"Isn't she always right there to see?"

"... You should show some respect to the original."

"She suggested it."

You guys really...

Alright, Meng Qi had nothing to say—he sat down beside him, and Su Lin canceled the historical projection, revealing the truth:

"The new Foundation Establishment technique looks tempting, but it's useless—you can only hold it, not cultivate it, since I can't bear to abandon the Azure Sky Phase."

"Rarely do we get two Immortal Dao methods that actually make sense."

"What kind of situation is this?"

After listening for a while, Meng Qi roughly understood what had happened.

"Excuse me—why do you still need to establish your Foundation?"

"My foundation's weak—I want to strengthen it."

"Oh, I see... so what's so tempting about this Foundation Establishment method?"

As soon as he asked, Meng Qi suddenly realized the man beside him had relaxed noticeably—as if he'd been waiting for exactly this question.

Shit.

"Golden muscles, jade bones; purify the soul and spirit with the primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth to establish the foundation of the Cosmic Dao."

Motherfucker—now the dagger's revealed!

Meng Qi felt he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

He stood up expressionlessly, didn't even glance at Su Lin, and turned to climb down the steep eaves.

"I've already shown it to you—don't you want to feel it too?"

"You're my blood brother!"

Years of Shaolin basic training still paid off—he remained as light as a swallow even with all his martial cultivation gone.

It was a yellowed, blackened wooden slip, radiating a powerful ancient aura. Meng Qi held it, studied it for a while, then noticed another problem.

What the hell am I supposed to understand from this?!

"Since you have no Qi refinement method, and now your cultivation is completely gone—even a single thread of spiritual awareness is absent—how can you possibly comprehend a Foundation Establishment technique?" Su Lin said softly:

"Feel my pain."

Only then did Meng Qi realize he'd fallen for the bastard's trick again.

Now, another person sat on the eaves, staring blankly at the night sky.

At the entrance to the Human Village.

First, a barely perceptible gap with crimson eyes appeared among the grass; then, the surrounding space blurred, and several figures emerged.

"Captain, why did it suddenly get so dark?" The chubby man turned to look back at the sky behind them.

He remembered the sun had only just begun to set—how could it have turned pitch black so completely?

This was a seven-person team: five men and two women, dressed in simple attire matching the Human Village's style, observing the surrounding houses and buildings.

Drip... drip...

A light rain fell, and mist curled around them.

"It's raining—and since the Human Village is protected by half-Bai Ze, slight time discrepancies within the human safety zone are normal," explained the young man with glasses.

They pulled out a map, on which the temple school's location was circled; the entire team vanished, concealing not just their forms but their very existence.

"Tonight's a full moon? Then Hakutaku should be in its full form."

"To erase the history of Gensokyo, you must utterly kill Hakutaku Huiyin and Hieda no Akyuu. I can handle one Hakutaku—provided I deny it the chance to use its abilities."

"We have no time to delay. Once the Sage of Demons awakens, it'll be trouble."

The man called captain suddenly stopped walking; they stared at the two-story house nearby, several windows still lit.

"Just as described: on a full moon night, after transforming into Hakutaku, she finishes an entire month's accumulated work in one night."

But why are so many windows still lit? And who are the two people on the roof?

"The mental energy panel shows both have ordinary human physical stats," said the middle-aged woman. "There's a staircase behind them leading into the house!"

Spatial artifacts can conceal existence but cannot pass through solid objects.

Perfect—it avoids alerting the snake.

"One room each. Don't let a single soul escape!"

"The two upstairs too. Watanabe, wait until we're inside before you act."

"Before entering the Multiverse, every experience I had brought rich rewards—but always felt illusory, unreal."

Meng Qi spoke: "I fear such gifts may one day become a net, trapping me like a fish, leaving no escape."

Emptiness, oppression, physical and mental exhaustion—yet beneath the joy, there was fear.

Though conditions differed across worlds, other group members had subtly warned Su Lin, but this man seemed to never care.

"And now?" Su Lin asked.

"Do you even need to ask?" Meng Qi shrugged. "Karma entangles you, yet life brims with paths everywhere."

Su Lin smiled: "Have you ever considered that every move you make, every strategy you choose, was planned by the Monkey Emperor?"

"For me," Meng Qi paused several seconds, then said, "the future is insubstantial."

"Then that's settled," Su Lin clapped his hands.

Meng Qi blinked, then nodded thoughtfully.

"It's already like this anyway—worst case, I get possessed," Su Lin continued carelessly.

"." Meng Qi felt only this one thing was impossible.

Su Lin from another timeline might still be a target, but this guy has already become slightly godlike.

"Also—it's Yuan Emperor, not Monkey Emperor. I can tell the difference."

Meng Qi stood up, shook his head, and said: "My Absolute Knife and Jade Void Sword are still with you. Put them in my dantian cavern."

"I'll believe you when you get even more historical."

Su Lin snorted, drew the Absolute Knife, and stabbed it into Meng Qi's body, who had lowered his guard.

Pfft

Blood splattered the floor.

Dumbfounded, Meng Qi looked down at the Absolute Knife protruding from his chest.

"You—"

"." Su Lin asked, stunned: "Are you okay?"

"It doesn't hurt?" Meng Qi said.

"I didn't ask you. I asked him."

A man with a small mustache, spitting blood, appeared between Su Lin and Meng Qi.

In his hand he held a ninja's kunai; his crimson Sharingan with three tomoe stared in shock at his own chest.

The Absolute Knife slowly passed through his body, turning into a stream of light that entered Meng Qi's major dantian.

"Puff!"

Watanabe, standing aside, had endured listening to these two ordinary people chatter endlessly; he finally waited to strike—only to be instantly slain by a single blade.

Where did that knife come from? Aren't these two ordinary people? Could it be that Riko discovered my affair with Sally and tricked me with false information?!

But aren't you the captain's girlfriend?!

His head lolled; he died on the spot, dissolving into particles that scattered into the heavens and earth.

"What just happened..."

I hadn't even had time to pluck out his eyes yet.

Huai Shi had originally planned to sleep, but gazing up at the bright moon, he thought of his homeland—and thinking of his homeland reminded him he could never return.

Thinking of his unreturnable homeland brought to mind that annoying crow woman and his stolen resurrection artifact.

The resurrection artifact's price has gone up lately!

You damn wasteful woman—you sold it too cheaply!

Unable to sleep, Huai Shi had planned to go to the rooftop, but seeing two masters sitting there discussing the Dao, he changed his mind and entered an empty classroom instead.

The solid wood table bore dents and pits; outside, misty rain blurred the village—immediately, the atmosphere of antiquity filled the room.

Huai Shi unconsciously hummed the song Fu Yi often sang, the one he'd heard until his ears were calloused:

"The sky is blue, waiting for misty rain."

"Wada-san is waiting for you."

"Smoke curls upward, rising gently~"

"Slipping quietly into the village."

"."

Huai Shi glanced at the doorway—Lu Mingfei. How to put it...

Lu-san, have the cherry blossoms in your hometown bloomed yet?

"Cough, cough. I was just going along with the local custom and singing a couple lines. You carry on—I'll take a stroll."

Lu Mingfei felt awkward; he had just finished playing a game in Zhou Mingrui's room and was about to head back to sleep.

"We'll count on you to perform at the wedding."

Huai Shi nodded.

After Lu Mingfei left, Huai Shi set up several soundproof alchemical arrays, turned off the classroom lights, and closed the teacher's door that had been left ajar.

Finally, he pulled out the Universal Access Token, logged into his account, and entered his personal livestream room.

——《Life Is Hard, Mountain Ghost Sells His Art》

Due to Meng Qi's mortal disguise, certain functions on the Universal Access platform were restricted, but livestreaming, tipping, and product sales remained unaffected.

Every time this happened, Huai Shi regretted not realizing sooner the opportunity of internet traffic; the present realm's entertainment industry was clearly quite advanced.

Watching familiar figures like "Real-Name Internet," "Underworld Taibai Wants to Go Home," "Ancient Ghost Lord," "Soul Phantom Sect Hiring," "Super Idol Elizabeth," and "Can I See Your Underwear?" enter the livestream, Huai Shi added the Ye Zhetian Guild's artifacts and pills to his cart and launched today's extra performance.

If you can't sleep, might as well stream a couple shows.

The Mountain Ghost suddenly lost all tangible presence, as if turning into rising smoke, the Sacred Scar activating.

Opening with his favorite "Bach's Solo Cello Suites," the Death Sound played by the Catastrophe Musician echoed through the night of the Fantasy Realm!

The Sword of Virtue lifted; silver trails drifted erratically, as ash of calamity spread outward and somehow traced the silhouette of a figure holding a short knife in empty air.

"Ah—!"

"Madam, be elegant."

In the instant of Sally's terror, Huai Shi seized her wrist; boundless sorrow, carried by her wail and the ash, was sucked in without warning.

The cello's deep rhythm guided the souls of the living, flowing like water into this infernal performance; the number of viewers and tips surged wildly.

"Ancient Ghost Lord": How long has it been since I last heard such exquisite torment, since I became a nameless ghost among gods and demons? Keep going, child—I'll go fight gods and demons to earn you a living!

【Ghost Lord tipped a secret manual】

"Super Idol Elizabeth": Looking forward to collaborating with the streamer again!

【Elizabeth tipped a basket of golden apples】

【Cello Performance LV14】—A skill long stagnant had finally shown a hint of growth. Excited, Huai Shi remembered his viewers' tips and immediately poured a potion into the weeping Sally.

He tried to regain awareness, to call for his captain's help or use a survival item—but there was no response.

"Madam, would you kindly play one more piece for our top donor?"

The eerie, terrifying chant rose with the Mountain Ghost, flames of emerald fire burning as despairing wails returned; her beautiful form gradually withered.

Everything went smoothly.

Shang Baze Huiyin, fully absorbed in her work, noticed nothing of their arrival. As a Reincarnator who had unlocked the fourth-tier gene lock, she effortlessly pierced the Baze's heart with the demon blade in her hand.

Gathering his few returning teammates, the Reincarnator captain confirmed no survivors remained in the temple school, then led them without hesitation toward the mansion where Hieda no Akyuu resided.

This mission was simpler than expected—too bad, aside from the main quest, there was no time to trigger any side quests.

Racing against time, the seven-member squad stormed into a large courtyard and pushed open the door.

The sun shone bright, the dusk bathed the golden village in afterglow; tranquility flowed, a stream meandered quietly through the fields, villagers walked the streets carrying hoes.

"What's going on?"

He grew wary; the muscles along his back tightened completely.

"Captain."

The fat Reincarnator's voice trembled.

The captain followed the fat Reincarnator's gaze and saw Shang Baze Huiyin opening the temple school door and stepping inside.

How is this possible?!

No—she had altered history. She could do this much?!

He glanced at his surrounding teammates, realization dawning.

"Captain… what do we do?"

"Stay calm. We've remained under disguise and concealment. According to the rules, she can't touch us or know our identities if they're not recorded in history."

After a moment's thought, the Reincarnator captain gestured, and they returned to their previous hideout, lying low for a day.

The next day, they changed their attire and entered the Human Village, posing as outsiders who had wandered in, visiting Baze to inquire about the Fantasy Realm.

"Fantasy Realm? But this is Peach Blossom Spring."

Shang Baze Huiyin asked curiously: "It's been so long since any outsider came. The last one was Tao Yuanming. Do you know him?"

The Reincarnator captain involuntarily swallowed.

He didn't know what he was afraid of—there was no tangible danger—but this simple conversation sent chills down his spine and made his pores tighten.

This isn't the Fantasy Realm—it's Peach Blossom Spring?!

Only then did he notice Shang Baze Huiyin wore an ancient curved-sleeve deep robe, and the half-Baze's lips curled in a stiff, unnatural smile.

Inside the dim room, all fell silent.

"This is the Fantasy Realm," the captain said coldly.

His mental power erupted; he drew the mysterious-patterned demon blade from his storage ring and stabbed her heart again.

He finally realized this wasn't reality—it was a false illusion!

"You guessed right."

On Shang Baze Huiyin's face, countless transparent worms writhed, like fleshy buds rising and falling.

Under her dazed gaze, the intellectual woman transformed into a monstrous beast: tiger-headed, crimson-haired, horned, its body rotting and entwined with slimy tentacles, eyes milky white.

Monster

This was absolutely not the Fantasy Realm.

He staggered backward several steps; his last shred of reason urged him to abandon the mission—but his limbs stiffened, his thoughts froze, and his life force slowly drained.

The other several people slowly lifted their feet off the ground, as if suspended by invisible threads, swaying gently with the wind.

"Captain!"

At the last moment, Sally grabbed the Reincarnator Captain's wrist and dragged him running into the gray mist outside the room.

They got out?!

All his usual affection for Sally was not wasted—he looked at Sally, their eyes met, and everything seemed unimportant now.

"This is too weird," Su Lin leaned against the doorframe.

Inside the room, one person sat drooling and sniveling, as if utterly broken, while the other stared blankly at the first, muttering nonsense.

Kleine sat on the floor, staring at the TV screen, having retracted a cluster of dream-reality. "Their souls have some kind of defense mechanism—even if turned into puppets, it erases them."

This last survivor naturally requires more complex handling, and the one left behind by Huai Shi has already become a vegetable.

"Don't you have any normal methods?"

"Do you mean your brainwashing technique?"

"That's persuasion."

Su Lin lifted the man's eyelid to examine him.

"Actually, I can handle this level myself," said Teacher Huiyin and Fujiwara Mokou standing in the hallway. "Shall I investigate their origins?"

"No need, Teacher Huiyin," Lu Mingfei said beside them. "This is clearly a Reincarnator."

Though the other two had no idea what a Reincarnator was.

Su Lin released his grip and questioned the man trapped in the 'foolery' state:

"What's your team's name? Which zone, which street, what number in the Reincarnation Space? How many missions have you completed? How many points remain in your team's vault?"

Reincarnators are everywhere—truly like cockroaches.

But being this weak suggests they're a new team, and unlucky ones at that—ended up assigned to this Fantasy Realm for a mission.

"South Ice Continent Team."

"No suffix on your team name?"

He recalled the Reincarnation Space teams: "Zhongzhou Team First Deeply Romantic Braised Pork Belly" and "Demon Team Odd Culinary Omakase."

"No."

Fuck, how did you even get this ID?

"In the Master God Space, this is my fifth mission."

"Five missions shouldn't make you this weak."

Wait a moment.

"What space?"

"Master God Space."

"Is the orb in the room white or black?"

"White."

White Master God.

Shit, the real thing?!