Chapter 718: Don

Mountain winds carried mist; dew hung from leaves, crystal-clear, reflecting the silhouette of a figure standing with a sword as the droplets fell.

“You’ve been following us this whole time—want to join our team?”

Cold air rushed toward Su Lin’s face; dawn’s light pierced the forest as a red-and-white phantom emerged from the haze, her hem brushing the ground, awakening dormant sealing incantations one by one.

“Or do you need a hundred thousand yuan just to pass?”

Upon hearing “hundred thousand yuan,” the red-and-white shrine maiden’s eyes flickered, then returned to normal as she pulled a spirit-exorcising rod from her waist.

“My instinct tells me you’re the culprit behind this anomaly.”

Irrational instinct.

But this slightly odd Reimu didn’t radiate the oppressive aura of a city enforcer; playing a danmaku game with her wouldn’t be bad.

The moment the thought surfaced, several more red-and-white shrine maidens stepped out from around him, identical in appearance.

“Isn’t the rule of spell card battles one-on-one?” Su Lin asked.

“You’ve already broken the rules.”

Memories sealed away by past Reimu shrine maidens during the Great Barrier’s reboot have come back to life—this resurrection is truly bizarre.

Su Lin’s gaze swept over this group of “Reimu Reisen,” noticing their eyes deliberately fixed on a nearby mud truck.

Kaguya or Saizou Rin?

Swoosh—!

Dozens of spirit-sealing needles shot toward him; a blue sword spirit phantom appeared, exhaling a freezing tide that halted time.

Su Lin turned his head; blades of light slashed through the air, shattering the needles into glowing phosphor dust amid a swirling vortex of cosmic stars and rivers, splitting the region and space apart.

“You’re actually my favorite character besides Old Man Red.”

Su Lin smiled faintly: “So can we make peace?”

In response, a growing Yin-Yang Ball hurtled straight at him.

“What a pity.”

Annihilating, ominous crimson starlight transformed into countless sword qi, a killing technique descending like a storm from all directions.

Day and night alternated; at this hour, the sequence of light and dark grew vague and ambiguous—especially for the hidden human village.

It was nearly impossible to tell whether night or day would come next.

Especially when a metallic spacecraft descended from afar, while countless thunderbolts brewed in the clouds—when they collided, they exploded, vaporizing every demon and beast corpse on the ground.

In the alley, Miko and Huai Shi secretly slipped out of the temple school, puffing smoke, silently watching the scene.

“What the hell is going on with this chaotic Gensokyo?”

The bitter taste of nicotine clung to his nostrils; after drawing the last puff, Huai Shi exhaled the stale air from his lungs.

Smoking in public like this would cost him fifty yuan in the Real World, but here, rules were few.

He tossed the cigarette butt on the ground and stamped on it with care, minimizing fire risk.

“Can’t you just let me finish watching the recap?” Huai Shi sighed.

Even though the big guys up front would hold up the sky, this art style—like a MOBA game loaded with endless patches—was dizzying.

Miko flicked ash and asked: “Are all those things on the recap real?”

Right now, the Celestial Golden List was broadcasting how the reincarnated sword cultivator Emiya Shirou stole the Church’s saint, Illya, and was being hunted by a horde of Great Immortals.

“There’s some artistic embellishment,” Huai Shi said cautiously.

As newcomers to the group, they knew little about past events, but there was one thing they all had to watch.

The one labeled “Coincidence if Similar”—that endless TV series, the Consuming series, which took over ten straight days to finish.

Thus, the Celestial Golden List was a condensed version; Huai Shi found it entertaining, but among the harmless outsiders and transmigrants sheltered in the human village, some wore expressions like they’d been constipated.

“What’s the relationship between Kaguya and the other two?” Fujiwara Miko asked.

“I—” Huai Shi stammered, forcing a smile: “I don’t know that either. I only met them later.”

“Huh? What do you mean you don’t know?” The crow appeared out of nowhere on Huai Shi’s shoulder, casually remarking: “Anyone with eyes can see—it’s absolutely, utterly, weird.”

Fuck!

Huai Shi’s smile froze for an instant, twitching.

“What are you playing at, you bastard pretending to be innocent?” The crow lifted Huai Shi’s chin:

“I’ve been there. Aside from the two involved and that star-core girl with trash and sticks in her head, who among you wasn’t secretly watching?”

“If only my fists were bigger, I’d have tied him up with red thread until—mmph?!”

Shut up, don’t drag me into this.

Huai Shi gripped the crow’s beak tightly, then glanced nervously at Fujiwara Miko—the old rival who had loved and fought Kaguya.

“Is that so?” Fujiwara Miko extinguished her cigarette thoughtfully: “It’s strange that someone as cruel as Kaguya would feel that way—but anyone who meets her usually ends up unlucky.”

Unexpectedly calm.

Bam—! A black wing struck Huai Shi’s face unexpectedly, making him yelp and release his grip.

“I remember the Pill of Immortality you ate was made by her.”

The crow fluttered onto Fujiwara Miko’s shoulder and asked: “Your dad chased Kaguya too—and got humiliated?”

Calculating.

Ah!

Huai Shi’s eyes widened—he realized this woman was probing his secrets under the guise of conversation.

“Correct,” Fujiwara Miko nodded.

“I’ve been immortal for thirteen hundred years, and even now, I still hate Kaguya. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

She pulled out a pack of old-fashioned Japanese Seven Stars cigarettes, shook them twice—only to find them empty—and turned to head back to the temple school.

“Smoke these—they’re stronger,” Huai Shi held up a cigarette box.

“Oh.”

Miko summoned a flame in her palm and lit the cigarette.

“Why do you hate her? It was mutual. Besides, immortality is what humans dream of,” the crow continued.

“Maybe,” Miko shrugged.

Long ago, before she became immortal, she was the daughter of a noble family—but because of her mother’s low status, she was never expected to amount to anything.

She heard her father had been bewitched by a woman of low birth, so as a child, she sneaked out and went to the bamboo basket house.

Indeed.

She had never seen anyone so beautiful.

And when discovered, the woman gently played with her.

At the time, she thought—if only this woman could marry her father and stay with her forever. But good times didn’t last; Fujiwara no Fuhito’s forgery was exposed, and Kaguya vanished into seclusion.

Her father, who had never shown affection, became obsessed with Kaguya—and after being rejected, abandoned his family.

This made young Miko harbor hatred.

“Later, I heard she left behind a medicine jar, so I decided to steal it as revenge,” Fujiwara Miko fell silent.

To obtain the jar, she followed an army; General Iwakasa was ordered to destroy it, but halfway, she was spotted and mistaken for a lost child—he took her in, gave her food and water.

A goddess appeared and told everyone it was the Elixir of Immortality.

The next day, corpses littered the ground, rivers ran red with blood—all soldiers dead. The goddess reappeared, claiming they had slaughtered each other over the elixir; only she and Iwakasa survived.

Though Iwakasa sensed something was wrong—last night had been eerily silent—he never noticed the change in Miko’s eyes.

“Immortality.” A magical phrase, promising eternal time to make up for all losses.

On a steep downhill path, Miko kicked him hard in the back, seizing the Pill of Immortality.

Humans who cannot grow cannot live on the same land; she was forced to keep relocating, fleeing demons and monsters, living a nomadic, wretched life—until one day…

The Flame Bird, guiding souls through reincarnation, suddenly appeared and swallowed her whole.

They fused in flames, endlessly burning, endlessly reborn—regret, pain, guilt—all blamed on Kaguya.

Only this way could she find the strength to endure.

When she met Kaguya in Gensokyo, though surprised, her heart felt only joy.

Miko exhaled smoke, a self-deprecating smile on her face: “After fighting her, I feel fulfilled. Since I can’t die anyway, this is fine.”

“I get it,” Huai Shi said. “But didn’t you ever think the goddess seemed… off?”

“Irrelevant.” Miko’s cigarette burned to its end; she walked toward the temple school, glancing back at Huai Shi:

“I don’t know when it started, but lately, when she fights, her eyes show weariness—until recently, when she began using strange weapons, something changed back.”

I don’t know when it started, but the woman’s eyes grew weary in battle, until recently when she began wielding strange objects as weapons, something in her changed back.

“So if I can drag that bastard who tasted freedom from hell back, I’ll do anything—no matter what Yuyuko thinks.”

With that, she opened the door and stepped inside, leaving Huai Shi stunned.

“You’re smoking again? I told you there are children here!”

The scolding voice of Shirozawa Keiin and a dull thud echoed.

Huai Shi snapped back to reality.

“Weariness…”

Bam—!

“Why are you hitting me again?!” Huai Shi’s eyes blazed with fury—he realized this bitch had grown increasingly reckless lately.

“Oh, afraid you’ll get your prince syndrome and ride a white horse to rescue a princess.”

“You want me dead?!”

You wish I were dead?!

He didn’t even consider what rank this Fantasy Land was—just handling the anomalies here and securing the safety of the Human Village had already tied him down; how could he go save a princess?

And who says a prince must ride a white horse? Tang Sanzang rides a white horse too!

“I think I get it now, hmm,” the crow said, cradling its beak with its wing and gently stroking it.

“The kind like Oudem, always finding some amusement for himself—but there are other factors too. I think that line about ‘regretting for life’ was sincere.”

“Hey, if I sacrifice myself for you this time when I go back, will you remain faithful to me?”

“.” Huaishi had no intention of discussing this with the crow—he wanted to know if he’d get a bounty put on his head by both the legal and outlaw factions after returning.

He didn’t want to wake up tomorrow with a rolling pin shoved through his back.

“I already took care of it,” the crow said, looking smug.

“How exactly did you fix it?”

This was what Huaishi couldn’t understand—the bitch vanished for a moment, then came back and swore it was all settled.

She gave her word it was secure.

How could something this messy be secure?

Seeing Huaishi’s skeptical expression, the crow clutched her chest as if heartbroken.

“I just called in a few favors. Oh, by the way—”

The crow suddenly remembered something and added: “If the Jester’s resurrection match isn’t won, consider this whole thing unspoken—and don’t come back yet.”

“?”

What kind of trap did you just dig for me again?

“I didn’t dig any trap.”

“Really?”

Huaishi slowly clenched his fingers: “Then explain how you got back those two Limited Eternity Cards and the resources.”

“Of course, I traded them for the latest research findings from the Heavenly Genealogy,” the crow said.

“What kind of findings?”

The crow glanced around, then whispered into Huaishi’s ear:

“I waved a resurrection coin sealed with a sliver of God’s power and aura in front of those old bastards, and told them the Heavenly Genealogy had developed a breakthrough reversing the Rancher’s nature.”

“But I’m out of stock now. Once my good sister returns, I’ll get some light from her—then we can keep applying for research funding using this thing.”

“A similar divine nature, infused with the full Slavic genealogy’s properties, refined further—you know what I mean.”

I know your damn twist!

“So you can be bold—those old bastards would happily bang their heads against the ground for you, begging us not to die.”

Huaishi’s face flushed red.

Blood rushed to his head—he nearly fainted.

Huaishi: [Brother Su, Master Su, please come back alive!]

Huaishi: [Qiuli ointment, bang bang bang! orz]

“.”

Is the Book of Fate really this terrifying?

Never mind how Huaishi learned he nearly got crushed by a card battle where combat power disparities were forcibly erased, and victory relied purely on skill and effort.

When had he come to hold such a place in this boy’s heart?

Was it because the boy was too emotionally devoted—or because of the terror of Azathoth’s dream, the empathy between fellow victims?

Su Lin glanced at the recovering existence bar, closed his Yubei system backpack, and watched the last remaining shrine maiden vanish swiftly through a sub-space hole.

He chose not to pursue, instead stepping over the individuals dissolving into particles, arriving at the dump truck and pulling open the door.

“You’re back.”

The moment the door opened, Hikari of the Immortal Mountain knelt on the seat, holding up a bag of chips with a sweet smile:

“Eat first, bathe first, or…?”

Bang!

The door slammed shut, then reopened.

“I didn’t even finish my line.”

Hikari

slumped back in her seat, tearing open a wasabi-flavored chip and shoving it into her mouth: “In a visual novel, this kind of option means you can unlock a CG—aren’t you tempted?”

“I just had a stress reaction. With your face and that line, I almost thought I was still trapped in the Eternal Time Loop,” Su Lin exhaled in relief.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay with me forever?”

“After I got hit by Yao Tian’s technique in the City of All Realms, why do you think I chose Su Tuoni’s Path of Karma Fire?”