Chapter 674: What Is

The shrine is located on the mountain, and due to its distance from the Village of Humans and the presence of yōkai along the path, it generally has little business.

Especially after a fellow practitioner arrived in Gensokyo, the shrine’s business plummeted.

There were no more customers seeking exorcisms or blessings, nor any visitors to pay respects.

“Please, have some tea.”

A heater sat at the center of the room, a necessity for enduring Gensokyo’s winters, but now it had been moved by Reimu Hakurei to Su Lin’s side.

“A small token,” Su Lin said, slapping a stack of ancient banknotes onto the table.

The large red bow tied behind the black-haired miko’s head swayed as she recoiled in shock.

Even Reimu Hakurei, whose concept of money was bizarre and whose understanding of monetary value was nonexistent, recognized that the dull thud signified “a lot.”

Reimu Hakurei’s innocent, adorable face showed a flicker of emotion as she spoke sincerely:

“If I’d known you were coming today to offer incense money, I would’ve gone easier on you yesterday. But you and the kappa also did something wrong—you should’ve fought with spell cards in Gensokyo.”

“.” Su Lin fell silent for a moment with a smile, then pulled out a gold ingot: “Indeed. This is my apology.”

He just threw money around at the drop of a hat.

Where did this rich bastard come from?!

Reimu Hakurei decided to treat this major client with the oranges and mushrooms Marisa had brought yesterday.

Watching the miko happily walk deeper into the shrine, some faces twisted in unease, others clenched their jaws, holding back their words.

Huai Shi: “Shouldn’t we find an excuse to head down the mountain early?”

He wasn’t worried about the safety of the big shots—he was afraid he’d get dragged in by accident and lose the resurrection item he’d just received as a livestream gift yesterday.

Within Gensokyo’s Great Barrier, Reimu Hakurei is invincible.

“Your historical projection has a time limit and a usage cap. Let me be clear—I won’t help you deceive a naive girl,” Kleine sipped from a cup of plain boiled water called ‘tea’:

“If she comes after you for answers, you’ll have to cheat.”

“Why come to me?” Su Lin propped his chin on his hand and yawned. “Shouldn’t you go to Yukari Yakumo about things that vanish out of thin air?”

Lu Mingfei: “.”

He’d thought this guy would behave more reasonably in Gensokyo—turns out he’d overestimated him.

From the moment he walked in, he’d already planned to frame someone, trick the red-and-white miko into treating him well, then leave her with nothing but empty joy—this was outright monstrous. Too primordial.

“The otaku who adore Reimu Hakurei will fight you to the death.”

“This dark, twisted Gensokyo has shattered my old otaku heart.”

Su Lin sat on the edge of the heater, slowly sinking into the kotatsu, his upper body slumped onto the table: “My precious unicorn died at Reimu Hakurei’s hands. It’s too dark.”

He’s still brooding over that mech’s loss—this petty, stingy bastard.

“Still want that lump of scrap?” Meng Qi asked.

Su Lin lifted his eyelids: “What for?”

“There’s still an Eight Trigrams Furnace in the Immortal Realm’s Doushigong. Take it back, put it in the furnace, and refine it again.”

“You’re going to fix it for me?”

“Remove the impurities. Extract the heavenly treasures and earthly gems you wasted on that overpowered toy.”

White snowflakes drifted down, blanketing the world in a sight unique to Gensokyo. During this time, the unicorn’s remains turned into a snowball of the same hue.

Reimu Hakurei didn’t know that the metals inside that scrap held a value equal to the total of a small auction in Zhutian City.

Of course, that assumed one had a flame capable of separating and refining the mixed materials.

Can you salvage a scrapped fixed asset and claim depreciation?

“What’s that smell?” Lu Mingfei sniffed.

The answer came quickly: Reimu Hakurei, dressed in her distinctive miko attire—with wide white sleeves detached from the top at the shoulders—carried a massive clay pot over.

The pot emitted a rich aroma of rice, mingled with the scent of mushrooms.

“Heh,” Reimu set the pot on the table, lifted the lid, and the entire room filled with fragrance.

It was a large pot of mushroom rice, garnished with a sprinkle of scallions.

“Special shrine mushroom rice—consider it lunch, shared with you all.”

Reimu brought out several worn bowls and chopsticks, then served herself a full bowl:

“You’re not ordinary people anyway—just head down the mountain later. I need to go buy groceries in the village.”

“Don’t be polite—it’s just this little rice.”

“Use the oranges over there as side dishes.”

Normally, outsiders who wandered into Gensokyo were instantly sent back by the barrier the moment they entered the Hakurei Shrine—but these people had claimed yesterday to be guests of Eientei, and the wealthy visitor needn’t fear minor yōkai attacks.

Wait, why does this guy look familiar?

“Eientei—you’re that Su...”

“Su Lin.”

“The guy from the newspaper, the center of that messy love triangle.”

Reimu paused, slapped the table, and burst into laughter:

“Come to think of it, you were chasing that crow tengu yesterday.”

“‘Hōrai Kira Yoru’—what a ridiculous fake name. And that diary entry, ‘Su Lin is the best’—a naive girl and a fickle, heartless man? Cough cough, sorry.”

Seeing Su Lin pull out another bag of copper coins, Reimu Hakurei snapped into serious mode.

Don’t misunderstand—it was just that beside him, a man surnamed Lu was about to lose it.

“Don’t worry—that newspaper story about the crow tengu was completely fake. I casually used my Yin-Yang Jade to smash her back to Youkai Mountain,” Reimu changed the subject.

I also accidentally smashed Mr. Su into Misty Lake—he nearly had to wait for that fisherman to fish him out.

But perhaps out of guilt—or because Su Lin gave too much—this shameless miko brought over a small bowl of something black.

“This last little dish is my apology.”

“.”

Su Lin stared at the bowl—it looked like the old salted vegetables hung from rafters in his rural hometown. Across from him, the miko hummed a tune like “The Most Amazing Ethnic Style,” then stuffed rice into her mouth with gusto.

For some reason, he suddenly felt the surrounding gazes prickling his skin.

As if accusing him: Do you really have the heart to deceive this innocent girl with a historical projection?

She’s offered you her most precious food as an apology.

“I’ve been worrying—there’ve been so few visitors lately, not even a single outsider willing to pay incense money to return home.”

Reimu said cheerfully: “I made this mushroom rice yesterday intending to eat it over three days—but since you’re here, let’s finish it all at once.”

No.

In this Gensokyo, is your standard of living for real?

Huai Shi, with his experience in frugality, analyzed her portion size: “Nine meals over three days... this rice won’t even last three days.”

“Nine meals? What nonsense. One meal per day, obviously,” Reimu served herself another bowl:

“Except during feasts—if there’s a feast, you can’t waste leftovers, then you eat five meals a day.”

There were six people present—each would eat about two bowls.

“.”

Su Lin lifted his chopsticks, scooping up glistening grains of rice and putting them in his mouth—the flavor was bland, only the aroma remained.

Honestly, don’t look at me like that—is this Su Lin’s fault that Reimu lives like this? Isn’t it Yukari Yakumo, the Sage of Yōkai, who’s truly to blame?!

“Don’t you get paid for exorcising yōkai and warding off evil?”

“That’s my duty—why would I get paid?”

Good heavens.

Even the most exploitative sweatshop in Ye Fan’s merchant guild wouldn’t do this—sure, overtime was mandatory, but the Zhetian Merchant Guild actually paid overtime wages, and triple pay on statutory holidays.

Reimu Hakurei didn’t know any of this. After finishing her second bowl, she noticed Su Lin hadn’t touched the side dish, and kept glancing at him with a furtive look.

Huai Shi understood—he’d once been so poor he nearly starved, standing outside Golden Arches, staring through the glass at others’ meals with that same expression.

He patted his pockets—only pulled out a Black Card issued by Giant Goose Group.

“.”

Clearly, Gensokyo didn’t accept card payments.

“Open my acupoints—there’s some gold and silver inside,” Meng Qi messaged Lu Mingfei in the group chat.

‘Stare.’

Kleine stared blankly at Su Lin, not activating his soul-level authority—but Su Lin still felt the weight of this bastard’s judgment.

[Open System Store]

[Manifestation Points -10]

[Exchange: 100 Sheets of Sacred Golden Leaves]

“Take it—incense money,” Su Lin covered his eyes as if exhausted, then grabbed a handful:

“Bless me with ten consecutive golden pulls, endless luck. I’ve got a twin brother who’s gone missing—wish him safe passage. May his knife never come in winter—it’s always the season of White Album.”

“.”

Reimu Hakurei’s eyes widened—the golden leaves, glowing in the heater’s firelight, reflected their radiance onto her face.

“I’ll pray for you right away! The gods will surely protect you and your brother!”

Hearing this, though he’d had no real hope, Su Lin felt a flicker of comfort.

Consider it spending on emotional value.

“By the way, who does your shrine worship—Dragon God or ZUN?”

"Who is that?"

Reisen Udongein Inaba pondered deeply: "The deity enshrined is the deity."

Feeling she could no longer avoid the question, she took out the Yin-Yang Jade, talismans, and other equipment, searching for any trace.

She always felt Gensokyo had many abstract aspects—for example, this red-and-white girl was clearly a Shinto shrine maiden, yet her magic drew from Taoist power; after all these years, no one knew which deity the shrine actually enshrined.

"In any case, the deity will protect you."

"Mm, Amen."

Su Lin clasped his hands together in understanding.

"Amen will protect you."

Reisen Udongein Inaba imitated him.

Su Lin suddenly felt a force on his shoulder; he turned and saw Lu Mingfei’s right hand gripping him tightly, his eyes filled with despair.

"Leave the last pure land of Che Wanren alone."

What do you mean by that?

"Then," Meng Qi suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked, "Can your shrine enshrine other deities?"

"Hah?" Reisen Udongein Inaba looked troubled.

But as Meng Qi took the other golden leaf from Su Lin’s hand and placed it on the table, Reisen’s expression softened slightly.

At Meng Qi’s signal, Kleen pulled out three simple, ancient statues of the Three Pure Ones and a plaque.

"Definitely not evil or wild deities—you can verify this. These three Heavenly Lords are well-known even outside; just place them anywhere for worship, no need to tend to them regularly."

So now it’s called "The Eastern Record of the Three Pure Ones," right?!

"Fine, put them there."

Reisen didn’t even hesitate, pointing to the spot to the right of the offering box.

You’re that casual?!

Su Lin’s brow twitched, his pupils dilating slightly as he pulled out a silver crucifix half his height.

"Find a place to hang this as decoration."

The two vampires in Gensokyo aren’t afraid of such things—their only weakness is flowing water; hanging it here won’t interfere.

Anyway, the money’s already spent.

"Fine," Reisen thought, imagining she could sell it to Kourin later if she needed cash.

"The Eastern Primordial Record" is now officially serialized.

Of course, Lu Mingfei had given up trying to reason with them, silently grumbling that this bizarre shrine aesthetic would appear at his future wedding.

'Don’t add any more elements.'

Especially when he saw Su Lin hanging a traditional folk-style portrait of the Jade Emperor above the crucifix.

Don’t you two find this weird?

But the shrine maiden on the other side didn’t seem to care at all that two incense thieves had taken over her shrine’s enshrinement spots.

She had absolutely no sense of propriety or principle.

"I’ll come back for tea another day—I’m going to buy some tea leaves at Kourin’s."

[Prompt: Reisen Udongein Inaba’s favor increased]

Reisen, satisfied with her haul, bid farewell to the group, hugging the heavy, reassuringly full offering box—apparently, the key character’s favor had also risen.

In a certain sense,

It was too easy.

Only after everyone had left and Reisen had flown off to the Village of the Human World did a figure wearing a top hat and vest emerge from a crack in history.

Kleen sighed as the "historical projections" neared their expiration, snapped his fingers, and used the powers of "Deception" and "Error" to twist them into reality.

He turned to leave, but unconsciously glanced at the pile of "symbols."

Kleen blinked, pulled out a seal of the Fool’s Church, and tossed it over.

Anyway, the money had already been paid.

As he departed, he glanced briefly along the guidance of his spiritual sense.

Soon after, a gap opened beneath the offering box; the box fell into it, then dropped from a new gap in the sky.

But now the box was much lighter.

"My staff or my fire gun—pick one?"

Back at Eternity Pavilion, Su Lin was blocked in the hallway by Star.

Probably wandered into the wrong scene—how else could Star Core Essence be rebooting her life?

"Calm down, let me explain first," Su Lin raised his hand and said,

"Exploration means venturing into the unknown—if you bypass everything with information, what’s the point of exploration?"

Star put down her bat and flame gun, frowning as she thought.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck her—she spotted the flaw and objected:

"I’m talking about you raising the difficulty of the Piconi dungeon!"

Tsk.

Hard to fool.

"Su Lin, come try this potion," Xiao Yan called.

Already? Amazing healing, doctor!

"The dungeon difficulty increased—can’t you level up?"

Su Lin pulled out a cultivation manual and shoved it into the other’s hands: "Go, go, there’s a trash bin behind you."

Star’s pupils shrank; she turned around—but saw nothing. She turned back again.

The person was gone.

She looked down—clutched in her hand was a scroll: "Daozang Foundation Establishment."

"I haven’t been at Foundation Establishment for a long time."