Girls' Wishing Tree

"No." Ying pushed away the hand that was grabbing her ear and pinched Guo Yu's face: "You sleep in the training room with her. I'll sleep alone."

Chapter 95 Shrines, Festivals and Monsters: 52. Enjoying National Subsidies

If the Taoist nun from China wants to live here for a long time, this small shrine will definitely not be able to accommodate her - the small bedroom is only about ten square meters, which certainly cannot accommodate three people. Sleeping in the training room is not a long-term solution. If she wants to sleep in, she may be disturbed by the randomly refreshed cat guitarist.

The shrine's premises are now fully occupied. The shrine and the main hall must remain untouched. The shrine's warehouse is filled with ritual supplies, and these items cannot be left out in the open. There is a large covered corridor dedicated to various harvest-related deities, which is also a feature of the shrine. It cannot be sealed off and converted into rooms.

The only relatively uncrowded room had been converted into a training room, and the small dormitory was still a space separated from the warehouse.

Sakura Takagi has always wanted to build a two-story building, with the first floor used to store stage equipment and dressing rooms, plus a training room, and the second floor to improve the living space.

Once the small building and stage are completed, this will be a complete small Live House. However, we haven't raised the money to build the stage yet, so the small building has not yet been built.

After Gao Muying learned how to suppress and observe the demonic energy, she realized how dangerous she was before. The cherry tree emitting demonic energy was like a giant torch. Anyone who passed by with knowledge of mysterious powers would be able to detect this foolish tree demon. If it had no malicious intent, it would be fine. But if it had malicious intent...

She lay on the bed with her eyes closed, feeling a little scared.

Just as she was still thinking about what to do next, there was a knock on the door.

"Sakura? Are you asleep?" It was Sayu's voice.

"Come in, the door is unlocked."

Sayu pushed open the door, looking embarrassed. "Ying, why do you want me to sleep in the training room? The person who's staying here is so weird. She kept taking pictures of my legs and said weird things to me through the translator. I only dared to come here after she fell asleep."

No wonder that guy said he had a "beauty hidden in a golden house"; it turns out he was a girl who liked beautiful women. So, it seemed inappropriate for Sayu to sleep with her.

"You can sleep in my bed today. I have to go out for something. Tomorrow, I will arrange another place for you to stay." Takagi Sakura sat up from the bed and walked out.

"Yingwu1Qi b?aV%IIIZei Qi Liu1, it's so late——"

"It's okay." Sakura took a few steps, went around to a position where the cherry tree could block Sayu's vision, and went straight back into the cherry tree.

Sakura returned to the tree and began to practice according to the methods in the book under the moonlight.

She practiced all night, feeling the demonic power flowing in her body, and even didn't say hello when she heard Xun's piano playing.

The next day, Gao Muying seemed a little sluggish due to lack of rest. She walked into the training room at dawn and woke up Guo Yu who was still sleeping: "Wake up, why didn't my demonic power improve at all after I practiced all night according to the method in the book?"

"What are you arguing about?" Guo Yu glared at Gao Muying. "You tree demon, don't you have this little common sense? Cultivation is measured in years. What do you think you can cultivate in one night?"

This question stumped Takagi Sakura. With the system, as long as she had Shining Points, she could improve her strength. But if she wanted to block the system for a long time...

She pressed on, "How long will it take me to become a senior tree demon?"

"It depends on your aptitude. Ten years for good aptitude, a hundred years for average aptitude." Guo Yu said lazily, "You can't rush cultivation. If you rush, you'll fall into evil ways. Let me warn you, if you fall into evil ways, your demonic power won't be able to suppress it, and you'll be easily detected. Any country that's even slightly powerful will have a team to kill those who practice evil ways. Last year, there was a leopard demon in the United States who fell into evil ways. He practiced on homeless people on the street, and was mowed down by their demon hunting team with more than a dozen machine guns. His body couldn't even be pieced together."

"Ahahaha... I definitely won't fall into evil ways."

Guo Yu became serious. "Two years ago, there was a vampire in the Chillambana Temple in France. He had been sleeping in a coffin for decades. When he became unconscious, he ran out and started sucking people's blood on the street. He was chased by helicopters and bombarded with rockets. He was blown into fireworks over the Mediterranean."

"Huh? What about the vampires?"

"Go to the hospital and buy blood. If you're not too picky, drink animal blood. These days aren't the days when monsters can commit crimes at will. There's a tacit understanding between monsters, cultivators, and ordinary people. Monsters and cultivators abide by ordinary people's laws, and humans will provide subsidies to monsters and cultivators who can't make ends meet. That's what you call incorporation."

"Ahahaha... Are you a recruited ascetic?"

"Of course, my master and I are monks receiving government subsidies. We're not here for the money, but to get some mystical information."

Gao Muying asked curiously: "How much is it per month? If it's more, I want to get it for free-"

Guo Yu's face was a little unnatural. "It's not much money. I told you it's not about money. They just added us to the rural residents' minimum living allowance program."

"Oh, the low-income households." Gao Muying nodded: "Then I guess Tokyo won't be much different from China. For a little security fee, I'm too lazy to contact them."

"How come you, a tree demon, don't understand what I'm saying? What do you mean by low-income households? I already told you it's not about the money!"

Seeing that Guo Yu was about to get angry, Gao Muying stopped teasing her. "I'll do my best to be a good host and take you to see a live show tonight. I'll tell you, my method of cultivation is to play in a band with girls from Tokyo with my musical instruments. The speed of cultivation is much faster than that crappy book of yours about absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon."

This time it was Guo Yu's turn to be surprised. She gasped, "Hiss—you know how to practice willpower?"

"What is vow cultivation?" Ying had never heard of this term before.

Guo Yu was silent for a moment. "Looking at your demonic aura now, you should still be a demon with a conscience. Then I will tell you. Willpower cultivation is to satisfy people's good wishes and enhance your demonic power from their joy and satisfaction. This kind of cultivation is indeed faster than the conventional method, but..."

"But what?"

"Fulfilling people's bad wishes will earn you even more demonic power. You can even reap the wisher's soul a second time, transforming demonic power twice into one person." Guo Yu's tone became serious. "But doing so will lead you down the path of evil. The most difficult thing about using wish power for cultivation is resisting this temptation. You must either stop using wish power for cultivation, or be kind to everyone and not encourage the perverse intentions of those who wish you."

"Be kind to everyone?" Takagi Sakura felt a little guilty - she was not the type of person to repay evil with kindness, and although she had never deliberately chosen a bad option in the system's options, she could not be sure that every choice was the best for the girl.

Guo Yu poked Gao Muying's heart with his finger: "Here, you can't go astray. You can't use witchcraft to harm others, you can't use witchcraft to make money, and you must be generous and open-minded."

"What if someone provokes me?" Takagi Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"You can retaliate, but the degree of your revenge must be commensurate with the severity of the offense. You can't just wipe out their entire family because they scolded you." Guo Yu resumed his cynical tone: "You tree demon are such a blockhead! If you couldn't fight back when you were beaten, wouldn't all the righteous demons have died out long ago?"

Chapter 96 Shrines, Festivals and Monsters: 53. The audience is full of wishes!

There is a room in the grocery store downstairs from the shrine. Sometimes Rupa and Zhi would rest there at noon. No one lived there at night. Sakura temporarily placed Sayu there and let Guo Yu sleep alone in the training room.

After knowing that Ying could gain power by playing in a band with the girls, Guo Yu took the initiative to ask to go to LiveHouse to watch the show. Three hours before the show started, she began urging Ying to take her to Starry.

Since there were four of them, Ying simply called a taxi, spent a little more money, and took Zhi, Rupa, and Guo Yu there together.

When introducing Guo Yu to others, Ying said, "A friend I met in China as a child, who came here to travel for a while." Guo Yu didn't speak Japanese anyway, so at most they could exchange a few words using translation software, which was enough to give him a personal character.

Ying didn't have any tickets anymore, so she took Guo Yu backstage as an assistant.

Taoxiang, Rencai and Miaomeng have already arrived. Miaomeng is looking at the drum sheet and occasionally chatting with others. She doesn't look like she is about to quit the band.

"Ying, we will sing three songs first, and then you will come to assist. Get ready quickly." Taoxiang waved to Ying quickly.

"I'm ready. I'll perform two songs, about 7 minutes long, both solo. There's no need to adjust the equipment or change clothes. Basically, there's nothing to prepare on the spot." Sakura's identity as a shrine maiden has a big advantage, which is that she doesn't need to change into various performance costumes. Just one set of shrine maiden costume is enough for most performances, and the audience also recognizes her identity as a "musical shrine maiden."

Momoka nodded and continued to talk to Nina about the precautions for the performance.

Guo Yu, who didn't understand the conversation, touched Ying's arm and said, "Hey, Dryad, doesn't the show start in over half an hour? What are you doing?"

"Don't call me a tree demon. Call me Ying, or call me Sakura-chan like them. It'll give me away if someone understands Chinese," Ying warned in a low voice before answering the other person's question. "Performers need to arrive early to do the final equipment adjustments. If there are any problems, there's time to communicate with the LiveHouse staff to resolve them."

"It's so complicated... I can just pick up the instrument to perform."

"You're performing on the street, right? The requirements for commercial performances are different. Those people outside have bought tickets to get in."

Guo Yu's mouth twisted unnaturally: "Haha...it's just a street performance."

"What musical instrument can you play? Bamboo flute?" In Ying's stereotype, a Taoist priest playing the bamboo flute has become a classic image.

"Suona."

"Ahahaha... we can work together next time if we have the chance." Gao Muying didn't say anything more to Guo Yu, took out the pipa and began to adjust it. When playing the pipa on stage, other preparations can be omitted, but the instrument must be adjusted to the most appropriate state.

Gao Muying closed her eyes, played a short piece on the pipa, made some minor adjustments, played another short piece, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. After adjusting the pipa, she rushed back to the stage and began to help the girls in the band adjust their equipment.

This was the first time Guo Yu saw a fully equipped LiveHouse.

She practiced in a Taoist temple with her master when she was very young, and her only window to the outside world was the Internet.

This flight to Tokyo was her first time to come down the mountain, and also her first time to see the prosperity of the world up close.

The small Live House in the big city was filled with all sorts of equipment, some of which she had seen in the training room at the shrine, and some of which she didn't recognize at all.

Only Sakura can speak Chinese here, the rest of the people are speaking Japanese. Sakura is busy on the stage, she is standing alone backstage, like a pillar, completely lacking the aura of the online person who calls her "old lady" all the time.

Simply put, she is "sticky".

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, Guo Yu walked to the edge of the stage and watched Ying and Rupa communicating - of course, the two were communicating in Japanese.

She didn't understand, but when she looked at Ying, the feeling of uneasiness that came from nowhere was much lessened.

"Guo Yu, let's retreat backstage. The show is about to begin." Ying pulled Guo Yu backstage. "The stage lights will be turned off soon. The spotlights will be used only when the show begins."

Sakura, who had returned to the backstage, suddenly thought of something and turned to Momoka, "Have you decided on a name for the band?"

"Let's use the tentative name, Rock Jump." Taoxiang answered straightforwardly.

The name sounded strange, but Ying didn't object, thinking that Meow Meng would probably quit by the end of the performance.

While Renai was adjusting her voice, Chi put her hands in a piano-playing posture, her fingers waving in the air, as if preparing for the piece she was going to play later. Rupa held Chi's shoulders and whispered something to her.

Just then, several members of SICKHACK walked in. Hiroi Kikuri came in and gave Takagi Sakura a hug: "Thank you so much for helping me last time. If it weren't for you, I don't know where else I would have found a bass singer. I watched the video of that game, Sakura is very cute."

There was a faint smell of alcohol on Kikuri who threw herself on her. Sakura didn't know whether it was the alcohol that had absorbed the flavor or if she had drunk alcohol before the performance.

"Drink less next time. You won't be able to handle it when you get older." Takagi Sakura patted Kikuri's back gently.

"I want to drink less, but I just can't stop!" Kikuri let go of Sakura. "Next time the shrine holds a cherry blossom festival, I'm going to pray. Maybe Lord Shenming will let me quit drinking?"

Takagi Sakura's heart tightened - if a girl said something like this in the past, the system would probably throw out an option.

She was stunned for a moment before she realized that she had used the amulet to temporarily block the influence of the system.

"Then we welcome Sakura Matsuri to perform. However, Sakura Matsuri's performance style should be a little more lively. Something like Popipa would be great."

"Oh, that's a bit difficult." Kikuchi reached out and poked Sakura's cheek: "But since Sakura is so cute, I will think of a way!"

Sakura touched the spot where Kikuri's fingertip had poked her, feeling subtly like she was being teased. Her cheeks puffed out. "If you get drunk again, I won't cover for you. I've already given up my job as a musician supporter."

"I know. I'll be careful." Kikuri didn't talk to Ying anymore, and Yi7baba Lingqilu also walked towards Taoxiang.

Not long after, Momoka's band took the stage.

The spotlights came on, and Momoka, who had the most stage experience, spoke first: "I'm the band's guitarist, Momoka Kawaharaki. Our band is temporarily called Rock Jump - our lead singer is Niina, and the bassist is Rupa."

The spotlights came on, and Rupa waved to the audience with a particularly gentle smile: "In the back row are keyboardist Zhi and drummer Miao Meng!"

Miao Meng crossed her drumsticks and blinked. "Good evening! I'm your dear Miao Meng! Please follow my Postube channel!"

Guo Yu, who was standing backstage, looked at the audience waving fluorescent sticks with her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly opened.

"What's wrong?" Ying patted Guo Yu's shoulder.

"Wow... so cool... the power of the concert's wishes is so strong..." Guo Yu grabbed Ying's wrist and said, "Look, the audience is full of wishes!"

Chapter 97 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 54, System's Self-Defense

The band's performance went smoothly.

During the previous rehearsal, Miao Meng was not very compatible with the other four people, but now she was playing the drums with the mentality of wanting to quit, and instead formed a kind of tacit understanding.

Jinna, after Momoka's special training, also reached the stage standard. At least judging by the audience's reaction, the band's performance was a great success.

After the band played three songs, Nina called into the microphone, "Let's take a short break. We'd like to welcome our guest, Sakura Takagi, for a pipa solo! Please remain silent while you listen. Sakura will not be using any amplification equipment, allowing you to enjoy the instrument's most pristine sound!"

The spotlight on the stage came on again, locking onto Sakura who was sitting in the center of the stage holding a pipa.

Holding this Chinese musical instrument that is not very familiar to the Tokyo audience, Ying gives people a completely different feeling. Compared with the last time Bajiu V asked Zhulinwu to take the stage, Ying seems to be more calm and gentle.

After Rencai's explanation, the audience did not make any loud noises, leaving the performance hall relatively quiet.

The sound of Ying's pipa rang out in the studio.

Her advanced pipa playing skills allow the pipa in her hand, which is not particularly good, to faithfully express the musical language she wants to express.

The story of Concubine Zhaojun's journey to the frontier is not very popular in Japan, but the complex and varied emotions in the Sakura music have truly reached the ears of the audience.

The wishes offered by the audience slowly floated onto the stage and surrounded Sakura. One girl in particular, wearing a staff uniform and wearing golden twintails, offered an alarming amount of wishes.

Guo Yu watched this scene and finally understood why a "green and inexperienced" tree demon would appear in this era when demons tried to keep a low profile.

Sakura's training method is really... unique.

But she couldn't find the "dirty thing" that had been entangled with Sakura before.

Guo Yu sighed, and Ying in the stands changed to a passionate song. Perhaps it was easier for the audience to appreciate, and the speed of gathering the power of will became faster.

After playing two songs, Ying stood up and bowed to the audience: "Thank you everyone! Now, please continue with the performance of Rock Dance!"

Gao Muying returned to the backstage and just as she put down her pipa, Guo Yu came up to her and said, "Teach me, how did you do it? How can you get so much power just by performing on stage?"

"What...willpower?" Ying was a little confused and put the pipa in its case.

Guo Yu grabbed Ying's wrist and stopped her from closing the case: "Is this pipa a magical instrument?"

"What instrument? I just bought it online and it arrived a few days ago. What's wrong with you? You're acting weird when you get to the LiveHouse." Ying closed the violin case. "You keep saying there's power on stage. What's going on?"

"I forgot you're a novice tree demon." Guo Yu lowered his head and thought for a moment before continuing to explain: "The book contains a method for observing demonic energy. You should have learned it by now, right? The method for observing willpower is similar to observing demonic energy to some extent. You focus the demonic energy in your eyes and try to understand everyone's wishes and feelings. You will be able to see some traces of willpower. The stronger the wishes and feelings, the stronger the willpower. If you have a method to absorb willpower, you can also observe its flow."

Takagi Sakura tried it as she said, and sure enough, she saw a layer of mist above the stage. After the demonic power dissipated, the mist disappeared instantly.

She roughly understood the operating logic of the system - if there was no big problem with what Guo Yu told her, the system would absorb the willpower, and then through the "shining points", it would give back some of the benefits of the willpower to herself, and then allow herself to obtain more willpower.

Ying didn't say anything and went to the bathroom alone. She locked the door from inside the stall and took off the amulet hanging around her neck and held it in her hand.

Soon, the system prompt sounded in her mind.