The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"And I think my erhu playing sounds pretty good..."

Looking at Shi Bai, who was slumped over the table with his hands covering his head, a faint smile appeared on the girl's lips, but her words remained as calm as ever.

"It sounded nice? Then may I ask what piece you were playing?"

"Uh...Erquan Yingyue..."

"Do you need me to play 'Erquan Yingyue' for you for three days and three nights straight? I still remember the melody perfectly."

"……I was wrong."

At the crucial moment when his dark past was about to be revealed one by one, after a brief silence, he chose to surrender decisively.

Well... there's nothing shameful about it.

After all, the harshest punishment he's ever heard of is being tied to a chair and having someone read to you word by word the words you wrote during your teenage years and all your embarrassing moments... and maybe even being tied up and forced to watch a "transformation" video?

Hey~ let this sinful world be destroyed, I will be with you... Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey?! What the hell?!

As if trying to forget again those things that he had selectively forgotten but were now replaying in his mind, he banged his head on the table repeatedly.

....................................................................................

As the ruler of this dream world, Youxiang naturally possesses complete control over it. Although, so far, she is the only being born in this world, making it incomparable to the outside world...

But it's safe here.

Although there is no distinction between day and night in this world, the problem was easily solved after Shi Bai deliberately flipped over a large wall clock. It wasn't until dinner time that evening that Shi Bai vaguely understood what Youxiang meant when she said she wanted to take responsibility for her.

Because he instilled in her an extremely picky eating habit a long, long time ago, she can hardly eat anything unless he cooks it...

It's important to know that his culinary skills are enhanced by the "God of Cookery" talent. In this world, there are practically no beings who can reach the same level of culinary skill as him.

...and then things turned out like this.

For this reason, he had to participate in the dinner that was originally supposed to be prepared by Eirin Yagokoro.

After all, they had cared for that flower for several years, and they had developed an attachment to it. Moreover, they were now living on the other party's territory.

So being a picky eater is a big problem, especially one as picky as Yuuka. What's the point of raising Yagokoro, the cook, all this time just to be lazy...? Could it really be prepared for some NEET princess in the future?

Looking at the spatula in his hand, Shi Bai suddenly began to question his existence.

Happy Chinese New Year.jpg

P.S.: Please give me some monthly votes!

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Chosen One

Some things are really hard to explain.

In this era of constant warfare between monsters and gods, hatred seemed to have become something etched into one's very bones.

While Shi Bai was deliberately hiding in the Dream World with the succubus Yagokoro Eirin and the others, the situation outside underwent a dramatic change.

Gods and demons, who have gradually reconciled in recent years, are once again engaged in a fierce war, far more intense than ever before, on the eve of the opening of the underworld.

In the long years of war before, too much hatred had accumulated; hatred and death were always the themes of war.

In the face of what may be an unprecedented, massive war, no entity can remain uninvolved.

Even Eirin Yagokoro's bamboo forest was violently destroyed on the third day after the outbreak of war, when the barrier she had set up to protect the bamboo forest was broken in an instant, and the bamboo forest turned into a sea of ​​fire.

...Whether it's the gods or the monsters, both sides seem to have gone mad.

Hatred seems to be washed away only with blood and death. For some who only have the thought of revenge in their hearts, the opening of the underworld is an obstacle to their revenge.

When all their relatives and friends have died in the war, and when they are the only ones left in the world, revenge becomes their only meaning, and death becomes their best destination.

Or perhaps they simply don't want to fall into the cycle of reincarnation, because to them, it would be a betrayal of those beings who have long since died but have nowhere to go.

As time goes by, the flames of war continue to spread.

...This was an extremely insane war.

After risking her life to rescue Ibaraki Kasen for the thirteenth time, Hoshiguma Yuugi finally lost her temper. Ignoring her already severely injured body, she punched Ibaraki Kasen hard in the face.

"Do you really want to die that badly?!"

"...Do you remember what you said?"

After getting up from the pile of rubble, Ibaraki Kasen wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her face expressionless.

"It is our honor to die on the battlefield. You don't need to come to save me again and again."

"Are you kidding me?! I've already lost one of my best friends, are you going to just let another one disappear?! Wake up!!"

Hoshiguma Yuugi clenched her fists tightly, displaying extreme anger.

"Tell me!! What was that look of you wanting to die?!"

"She has gone astray, and there's no way to bring her back."

Before Ibaraki Kasen could reply, a voice suddenly rang out softly.

"Jin Jie Luo!?"

Turning around, Hoshiguma Yuugi saw a woman not far behind her, wearing a red robe, with a single ponytail, and a horn on her forehead just like her. She spoke in a cold voice.

"Weren't you always staying on the Demon Mountain? Why did you come out at this time? And those demons you brought out behind you, can I take that as a declaration of war against us two Demon Kings!?"

Even though she was seriously injured, her aura was only growing stronger.

"No, I'm waiting for that time to come."

With a calm expression, he shook his head and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

"War and hatred should never have been the themes of this world. You simply do not understand the meaning of reincarnation. This final, frenzied war is about to come to an end."

"What do you mean?"

Upon hearing what Jin Jieluo said, Hoshiguma Yuugi frowned deeply.

"This war has only been going on for less than a month. Do you know how heavy the casualties are on both sides? Do you know how many monster races have been completely wiped out? Do you know how many new hatreds have been born on top of the old ones?"

Jin Jieluo's tone was extremely flat, even sounding somewhat ethereal and nihilistic.

“You don’t know, so I’ll tell you. The Oni clan lost nearly half of its members, the Tengu clan lost more than nine-tenths of its members, only a handful of Karasu Tengu survived, and the Kaku clan was almost completely wiped out… This is the price of this crazy war that has lasted for less than a month.”

"...But the gods also paid an equally heavy price."

After a moment of silence, Hoshiguma Yuugi gave a cold response.

"So what? If this continues, will the result be mutual destruction or total annihilation? You only see the losses on the gods' side, but I see only devastation."

Jin Jieluo closed his eyes.

"War is always cruel, regardless of which side it is on. Yuugi, admit it, once the underworld opens, the world will no longer be an era of gods and monsters. Our era should come to an end."

Whether the curtain falls or not is not up to you to decide!

Hoshiguma Yuugi clenched his fists, his face filled with arrogance.

"If we don't see eye to eye, a few words are enough. What are you trying to do by coming to the heart of the battlefield at a time like this?"

"Waiting for the underworld to open, and incidentally, waiting for her to make a choice."

"Her? Who are you referring to?"

After hearing what Jin Jieluo said, Hoshiguma Yuugi couldn't help but look a little puzzled.

"The chosen one, destined to usher in the next era."

...........................................................................

"That's right, I am the chosen one!!"

Shi Bai held the dumpling he was holding with his chopsticks high above his head, his face beaming with pride.

"I got the only coin. I told you before, when it comes to gambling, even if you all combined your resources, you still couldn't beat me!!"

"Very well, since you ate it, then you can wash the bowl."

Yuxiang put down her chopsticks and nodded in acknowledgment.

"...Wait! I clearly remember the rules yesterday weren't like this!?"

"Ahem... Actually, the rules have been changed."

After coughing a few times, Shen Qi magically produced a plaque from under the table and placed it on the table.

"The rules are indeed like this today: whoever finds the lucky coin has to do the dishes."

"........."

After reading through what was written on the sign, Shi Bai raised his head with some suspicion.

"While that's certainly true... I still suspect you're targeting me. Little Four Seasons, help me determine if they are... Little Four Seasons?"

"Brother, are you calling me?"

As if waking from a long dream, the little girl raised her head in a somewhat confused manner.

Tong.jpg

P.S.: Tickets.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Little Four Seasons' Choice

Some things, if they're meant to happen, will eventually happen.

Things like fate, ultimately, will not veer off course into unpredictable directions because of the actions of a few individuals in certain situations...

Although fate is unpredictable and elusive, it truly exists in this world.

What is fate?

Sometimes, the things we fear get closer to us, and the things we most desire seem to drift further away.

Hmm... this isn't called fate, this is called Murphy's Law.

As time went by and the date of the opening of the underworld drew closer, Shi Bai became increasingly worried.

Because at an almost visible rate, the green-haired loli was spending increasingly longer periods in a daze, and everyone could clearly notice this during the month they stayed in the dream world.

But no matter how much the succubus worried about her sister, there was nothing she could do, because she had already done almost everything she could.

Faced with this global trend, all she could do was remain silent and work even harder to improve her strength. It seemed that only in this way could she temporarily stop thinking about those things.

—Shinki always stayed by her side.

After washing the dishes as quickly as possible, Shi Bai found a little girl on the lawn.

Looking at the little girl sitting there with her legs drawn up, head down, seemingly lost in thought, Shi Bai sighed with a hint of helplessness and sat down beside her.

"Don't keep things bottled up inside anymore. Just say what's on your mind. Do you need me to give you some more advice?"

"...Brother, I saw many things."

She showed no intention of raising her head. After a long silence, the little girl spoke softly.

"The war outside has broken out again, and so many people have died. Slaughter, death, hatred... there seems to be no end to it all, as if it were a circle that's been connected..."

"So what?"

Looking at the black dot of light resting on his fingertip, Shi Bai had an indifferent expression.

“I hate war too, but some things don’t just not happen because you hate them. Isn’t it better for us to stay quietly in this safe place? When the underworld opens, the war will temporarily end, and then we can go back to the bamboo forest together, and you can live the happy life you used to have…”

"I do not want."

The girl's words, though spoken in a very soft voice, were unusually firm.

This was the first time she had interrupted her brother.

"........."

“Brother, I know you bear far more than I do, so I don’t blame you for saying those things. But I also have things I want to do, and I don’t want to see any more sacrifices… The Underworld can never truly take shape without me.”

"But do you know what you're going to be facing?"

Looking up at the colorful sky, Shi Bai spoke calmly.