Chapter 713: The Tale of Taketori Monogatari: Continuation

"I only forget two kinds of people: those I don’t wish to remember, and those who endangered Gensokyo, so Madame Purple cleaned them up and corrected reality."

Kaguya spread her hands. "But they’re all more or less the same."

"In my fading memories, occasionally there were men and women—people like Hideyoshi—who came to Eientei with the sole purpose of 'conquering' me."

"Most were Eirin’s patients. Those with decent personalities who didn’t break any rules were usually sent to the outside world after recovering; only a few stayed in Human Village."

"The rest just provided games, comics, or entertainment like fighting games that don’t exist in the outside world. Occasionally, I’d meet someone with special abilities and use them to trigger an incident."

How to put it.

Satsuki Rin and Su Lin’s gazes toward the young group now held a trace of pity.

They were completely blinded by beauty, ignoring that the combined ages of all these people didn’t even reach Kaguya’s grandmother’s age by a fraction, and they didn’t even realize they were being toyed with by this old, wicked woman.

"Conquering... you still love games so much?" Satsuki Rin’s lip twitched.

"As one of the most socially experienced and hardest-to-conquer characters in Gensokyo, if I were this easy to 'conquer,' wouldn’t the Stone Bamboo Prince who once chased me madly, and Fujiwara no Fuhito—her father, the turkey—have burst right out of their coffins from rage~?"

Kaguya smirked. "Off-topic. So perhaps my forgetting Akarin is the work of the Idle Monster."

"Satsuki Rin, go back and kill the Idle Monster," Su Lin said with considerable sympathy.

"So what the hell are Akarin and Satsuki Rin?! My full name is Satsuki Rin—I just told you both a moment ago, even if you forgot!"

Thinking about this now is meaningless.

Looking into the bamboo grove, the ancient Kaguya of an unknown era maintained her aloof demeanor, hovering midair, overlooking the crowd trying to curry favor for passage.

Su Lin wanted to suggest to the Kaguya beside him: from now on, just stay silent and motionless like this—it might help restore a little of her first impression in the group’s minds.

"The two of you seem no different?" Su Lin asked, puzzled. "Is this reconstructed time fragment this realistic?"

Whether in speech or perception, it didn’t feel like a historical recording—it was as if they existed in the same state as these people.

Was this temporal chaos? Or something like time travel?

"My Shuyu can infinitely divide existence into every single instant."

Kaguya said with pride: "Within this eternal Shuyu, one can easily be considered detached."

"Why don’t you go up and talk to her?" Su Lin asked.

"It’s useless."

Kaguya gently stroked a strand of hair on her shoulder.

?? chuckled: "Shuyu splits into fragments. She can never see me."

Eternity means a world without past or future, never ending—in such a world, all activity seems frozen in the river of time, leaving no trace of history.

In contrast, Shuyu is the instant opposite to eternity.

It never occurred to him that Shuyu had such a peculiar trait—after all, for Kaguya, she could just rely on her immortality to recklessly test her limits.

"Even the moon in the sky is false. Right now, it’s probably the period of the Eternal Night Incident."

Kaguya looked up, thinking: "Logically, I, as the final boss of the sixth stage, shouldn’t be here. Let me think..."

To protect Reisen from being conscripted by the Moon’s emissaries, Eientei at that time hid the true moon and replaced it with a fake one.

Of course, that was only the initial reason; later, triggering the incident was merely to blend into Gensokyo and host an event similar to a fireworks festival.

"Lady Kaguya! I’ve brought you comics and games from the outside world—please listen to me—"

As if tired of the incessant chatter, 'Kaguya of the Hare Mountain' tilted her head, and several spell cards materialized in her hand.

"Eternal Night Return: Dawn Mist"

"Eternal Night Return: Daybreak"

Bizarre scenes continuously emerged from the void; dense, rain-like bullet patterns rained down from the heavens, dazzling yet intimidating.

Normally, taking two hits wouldn’t matter—but now, the spell card game had become a survival game. All participants had a chance to defeat the strong one, but injuries deducted existence value in the resurrection rounds, so no one dared approach.

Some had good positioning, but others, unable to dodge, were struck by light bullets, their health bars instantly drained, dissolving into scattered fragments amid screams.

"All of them are ultimate moves!" Su Lin sucked in a breath, staring at the bullet patterns that induced claustrophobia.

Even as a computer game, this Eastern Eternal Night Copy was hellish difficulty—fingers would burn out before finding a gap to slip through.

Some had begun to counterattack; even a few teamed up, launching bullet patterns with their own spell cards, and some even used spatial skills to strike the nearly defenseless Kaguya of the Hare Mountain.

Yet her gaze, now fully unmasked, radiated suppressed excitement, gleefully directed at the crowd.

"Eternal Night Return: Morning Star."

"Eternal Night Return: World of Light."

A fleeting dream, exquisitely magnificent—as if day had broken and night ended, light about to arrive. Not a treasured artifact, but the strongest attack, replicated from Kaguya of the Hare Mountain’s own abilities.

"I remember now—after the Great Barrier reset, I was bored. I had no interest in games or comics, and didn’t want to play the final boss role, so my aggression is high, and my battle aura is stacked."

Su Lin, hiding in the bamboo grove, was listening when suddenly he noticed the corner of 'Kaguya of the Hare Mountain’s' eye flick toward him.

Su Lin, hiding in the bamboo grove, was listening when he suddenly noticed Kaguya of Mount Hōrai glancing in his direction out of the corner of her eye.

The bullet patterns surged, swelling rapidly, like countless suns breaking through eternal night. Slowly yet decisively, they descended from the sky, covering every inch of the bamboo grove as the eternal night faded.

The danmaku surged and swelled, like countless suns breaking through eternal night, slowly descending from the sky with steady resolve as the eternal night faded, covering every inch of the bamboo grove.

As the declaration fell, golden lotuses bloomed. Su Lin, with a radiant halo of merit and virtue behind his head, one hand pointing to heaven, the other pressing the earth, eyes filled with compassion, sat cross-legged in empty space.

A golden Buddha form stood firm, ten thousand rays of Buddhist light bursting forth. Countless lapis lazuli swastikas filled every remaining gap, accompanied by a single "Namo"—the Buddha was everywhere, yet nowhere to be seen.

With a thunderous crash, profound Zen essence, carrying Buddhist light that purified and slaughtered all things, the bullet patterns vanished, and eternal night returned.

[Existence Value -3%, recovering continuously]

Su Lin’s "Buddha Card" was dense with bullets and had area-clearing effects, but by fairness, its flaw was immobility—it turned him into a stationary target. In this life-or-death dark spell card game, it was a double-edged sword.

The remaining outsiders turned pale. 'Kaguya of the Hare Mountain' descended from the sky, her mood slightly improved: "One more round?"

The outsiders whose health bars had not yet drained turned pale; Kaguya of Mount Hōrai descended from the sky, her mood slightly improved: “One more round?”

"Huh?"

Sensing Su Lin’s gaze, 'Kaguya of the Hare Mountain' scanned him up and down, looking annoyed.

"Though with my beauty, even a Buddha might break his vows," she sneered, "but, Master, you’re not going to claim you know me well too, like them, are you?"

Su Lin twitched his lips, glancing aside—this version of 'Kaguya of the Hare Mountain' ignored the other Kaguya beside her, who was laughing wildly without dignity.

"Who would willingly be a lapdog unless they truly loved someone?"

Kaguya egged him on: "At this moment, you should flatter me a bit—she might let you pass."

“Who would be a lapdog unless they truly liked someone?”

Yes, it was about time to kill.

As the opponent drew the Hare Mountain Jade Branch, preparing to launch another spell card attack,

"I am Fujiwara no Fuhito. Don’t you remember me, Kaguya?"

As the opponent pulled out the Hōrai Jade Branch, as if preparing to launch another spell card attack,

Kaguya of the Hare Mountain froze. Even nearby participants who were retreating or stubbornly clinging to resurrection rounds stood stunned.

Su Lin stepped out from the bamboo grove, stepping into the light. His features were sharply defined, eyes brimming with deep sorrow.

"The turkey will hunt you for ten days and ten nights."

Ignoring the voice at his ear, Su Lin raised his right hand—

As if reaching out across great distance, but the motion halted abruptly as he clasped his hands together.

"More than a thousand years have passed since the Nara era."

He took a deep breath, mournful: "I trained endlessly to see you again. Now I’ve attained cultivation, become an immortal, returned to youth, and regained my youthful form—don’t you remember me?!"

Saying this, he sighed long and wept uncontrollably.

"No," Kaguya of the Hare Mountain’s eyelid twitched twice: "I do remember Fujiwara no Fuhito."

"Really?" Su Lin exclaimed joyfully.

Completely unprepared for this answer, after a brief pause, her lips unconsciously curled upward.

"But aren’t you a monk?" Kaguya of the Hare Mountain asked. "Becoming a Buddha and becoming an immortal are two different things, aren’t they?"

He had not anticipated Su Lin’s reply; after a brief stunned silence, his lips unconsciously curled upward.

Su Lin glanced down at his Buddhist posture, then said casually: "Buddhism is Dao. Buddhism and Dao are one. I recently returned from studying in Tianzhu after a stay in Heaven—I’m still adjusting."

Where did this madman come from?

The spectators around were dumbfounded. The outsider 'Fujiwara Hachi'—who had just been rammed by Su Lin’s truck but hadn’t been sent to another world—leapt out:

"Lady Kaguya, don’t be fooled—he’s from the outside world! He just ran me over with a truck!"

"I run a Fujiwara Tofu shop in the outside world. I’ve returned to Gensokyo to expand my business—that truck was delivering tofu."

Su Lin said without blinking: "My daughter lives in Gensokyo. Thanks to your immortality pill, we’ve been reunited. Next time, I’ll have her drive up and deliver some to you."

“I run a Fujiwara Tofu shop in the outside world. Recently, I returned to Gensokyo to expand my business—that’s the tofu delivery cart.”

How could he say such obviously fake nonsense?!

"I remember Fujiwara Shi, true enough," Kaguya of the Hare Mountain’s smile turned sly. "But your appearance and memories are wildly different from what I recall. When you were caught forging exquisite jade branches to pass as Hare Mountain Jade Branches, fled your home—where did you go to cultivate?"

"I didn’t go anywhere to cultivate. I stayed locked in the Fujiwara household. Later, I shamelessly asked Satori to deliver a letter to you—with a poem inside," Su Lin said, ashamed.

"Back then, every man in the world longed to see you day and night—even just one glimpse would keep them awake all night."

Hearing this, Kaguya of the Hare Mountain opened her mouth in surprise.

[Hurry up—what else can prove I’m Fujiwara no Fuhito?]

[Why the hell am I helping you deceive myself?!]

Even so, as Su Lin revealed more past details, Kaguya of the Hare Mountain’s smile slowly faded, her expression turning strange.

Hurry up—what else can prove I’m Fujiwara no Fuhito?

Why would I help you deceive myself?!

That may be so, but as Su Lin recounted details of the past, Kaguya of the Penglai Mountain’s smile gradually faded, her expression turning strange.

"Hmm, truly not comparable to Lord Fubito."

Clearly visible, the surrounding crowd all seemed to be

giving questioning looks.

"There are too many people here; let’s go inside. I can tell you all about my years of experiences."

[Crystal Palace System Notification: Affection +1, Curiosity +15 for Hanyū no Kaguya (Man, you’ve successfully caught my attention).]

Setting aside the suspicious data sent via the chat group, this “Hanyū no Kaguya” was clearly no easy opponent—difficult to deal with, to put it mildly.

"It’s delightful to meet an old acquaintance, but so many years have passed—I’m no longer as familiar with Lord Fubito as before. The old riddles remain unsolved, and the Eternal Pavilion has no reason now to invite you in as a guest."

Hanyū no Kaguya pulled out several spell cards and said with interest, "How about playing a game with me?"

In the bamboo grove nearby.

Kaguya shrugged and shook her head, "So even if you truly were Fujiwara no Fubito, it wouldn’t matter~"

"You’ve got quite a few admirers," said Saizhou Lin, who had heard of the current state of Gensokyo; she glanced at the crowd and twitched her lips. "It seems quite a few here are utterly devoted to you?"

"Most likely, they’ve been overwhelmed by my beauty," Kaguya said, waving her hand as if it were nothing.

"Solving those riddles was already a version from the early tenth century. Back then, I set five challenges precisely because I had too many suitors and couldn’t refuse them due to my status—but those things were all in my possession, with no second copies."

"Now, at least, I’d add another condition: the suitor must be able to endure a few ten thousand, even hundred thousand years of daily life and still survive. After all, whether demon or human, all are fragile."

"A thousand blossoms swirling, memories included."

"And desires as well."

She smiled faintly, leaned back against the green bamboo, and sat down slowly, gazing upward at the false moon and stars. Around her, silence gradually settled, broken only by the mournful cry of cicadas.

"All tangible things in this world, the sorrowful passage of time—even my own appearance—are no different from this moon."

"Thus, one must choose with even greater care where to entrust the only true thing: emotion, yet equally fragile."

Kaguya slowly raised her hand as if to touch the moon; her bangs tilted slightly, her eyes lowered, and the flower card “Blossom and Moon” on her right sleeve slid down her arm.

Thud—!

A muffled sound came from behind.

"Lord Fubito, you—"

"No effort goes unrewarded. After years of cultivation on the Penglai Immortal Island, I’ve never forgotten what happened back then."

Uh.

Kaguya blinked, tilted her head backward, grabbed Saizhou Lin’s robe, and pulled herself up from the ground, gazing toward the edge of the bamboo grove.

Shizanbei, Penglai Jade Branch, the Buddha’s Sacred Bowl, the Fire Rat’s Fur Coat, and the Dragon’s Neck Jewel rotated clockwise in sequence and flew out.

Those looked like her belongings?

Wait—this man doesn’t mean to—

"I’ve found all the treasures," Su Lin displayed them one by one. "Now, can we go inside and talk about the past?"

Clearly visible, the “Hanyū no Kaguya” of this moment slowly grew blank-eyed, her eyelids twitching violently as she stared dumbly at the objects.

After a long while, she lifted her head and looked at Su Lin.

"To be honest, the old riddles are outdated. I’ve set new ones now."

Hanyū no Kaguya stepped back half a pace involuntarily; the oddness in her eyes deepened, yet she kept smiling: "If you can find titanium ore from the moon, Aether Red Stone, the entire ceiling of the Golden Pavilion, and a mysterious substance—"

"How coincidental—I just picked these up over there," Su Lin pulled out the gem he had taken from Star, then produced three more treasures.

"."

Hanyū no Kaguya fell silent for a moment, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at her lips: "Please."

"Wait a moment—I’ll go get the car," Su Lin nodded.

"Has he met the first condition then?" Saizhou Lin in the bamboo grove turned and asked. "Only the final condition remains—how long have you known each other?"

"Done," Su Lin walked over and gave a thumbs-up. "You—"

He stopped mid-sentence, because Kaguya was now repeatedly banging her head against the ground.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Again and again, until she lifted her head, blood trickling down from her scalp.

‘Kaguya… be careful you don’t play yourself into oblivion.’

The words of Yagokoro Eirin from days ago suddenly echoed in his mind.