He changed Tiwat

"Nothing in the world is more or less like this: what one person cannot do, two people can do."

"If you are willing to believe me, please hold my hand, and the contract will be made."

Then, let's trust him.

Even if it means becoming his "familiar," what's wrong with that? Shadow should be able to understand her choice, right?

Besides... she did say she would repay the favor, right?

The divine child silently reached out and grasped Han Fulai's hand.

“I believe you,” she said.

Feeling the softness in his palm, Han Fulai was slightly surprised, but he did not let go of the Divine Child's hand.

"You may have heard that the Liyue Celestials have a secret technique that can capture souls and spirits, called the 'Dream Wandering Technique'. I used this technique to form a contract with the Demon Slayer and share 'karma' with him."

"But before we conclude the contract, there are some things I must make clear to you."

Han Fulai looked at the Divine Child and said solemnly, "This bond of familiarity may be deeper than the bond between you and Shadow. I will form a 'name contract' with you through my true name, connecting our souls together."

“Thus, I can draw the evil filth from your soul through this contract... but at the same time, it also means that your soul is completely under my control.”

"Of course, I can assure you that I have no ill intentions towards you, nor will I use this contract to force you to do evil against your will... But after the contract is concluded, your life and death will be in my hands. For you, this is indeed a very unfair contract..."

"I know, this is a contract similar to a 'shikigami,' or a 'contract of servitude,' right?" The divine child chuckled softly. "You said before that you wanted to know everything about me, was that for this reason? You wanted to find my true name from my memories, didn't you?"

Han Fulai nodded calmly.

"Shinko" is not her real name, but rather a title for the priest of Narukami Taisha Shrine. Like "Kusai-no-miya," "Xiao," and "Yoran," "Shinko" is merely a pseudonym.

He had been "tailing" the Divine Child in his dreams, all in order to obtain the Divine Child's true name. As long as he could obtain the Divine Child's true name, he could unilaterally force the formation of this contract even if the Divine Child himself disagreed.

Although this doesn't sound like a good thing, it is indeed the only way he can save the Divine Child right now.

The contract he is about to make with the divine child is actually the "familiar contract" that Xiao was once forced to make with another demon god.

Before Xiao became a demon-slaying yaksha under the Emperor's command, he was once subordinate to a "dream demon god".

The "Dream Demon" feeds on dreams, driving the Yaksha race to plunder "beautiful dreams" and create bloody and cruel "nightmares." Under the control of the "Dream Demon," the Yaksha race committed numerous acts of killing, and even in later generations, they were still avoided by the people of Liyue.

The contract that the "Dream Demon God" used to control Xiao and other Yaksha people was this contract based on their true names, also known as the "Name Contract".

The "Dream Demon God" forcibly formed a "name contract" with the Yaksha clan using the "Dream Travel Through Realms" technique.

The "Dream Travel Technique" had another name in ancient times: "Soul Capture Technique".

In essence, it is a method of binding the soul, and if used for evil, it will be a very dangerous evil art.

For example, the curse spell "Seven Arrows of Nailhead" in ancient Chinese mythology involves making a straw effigy, writing the enemy's name on it, lighting seven star lamps to draw the enemy's soul out of their body, and then shooting arrows at the straw effigy to kill the enemy.

In this type of curse, the real name, along with birth date and time, hair, and blood, serves a "precision-guided" function.

The powerful demons on the continent of Teyvat, once they know the true names of their followers, can also curse their souls.

When Han Fulai made the contract with Xiao, he also saw the "inner demon" rooted in Xiao's soul. Even a powerful immortal like Xiao could not resist this curse that went straight to the soul.

The reason why Xiao later stopped using his real name "Mikiro" and instead used the code name "Xiao" bestowed upon him by the emperor was precisely to guard against the curse of "Mingqi".

In fact, similar practices of using "name contracts" to control one's followers are not uncommon on the continent of Teyvat, and the Divine Child has heard of many such cases before.

The "Spirit Towns" under Ahmar, the "Red King" of Sumeru, also formed their contracts in this way.

The Church scholar, Pursina, recorded this contract in her book, *The War of Hamwaran*, as follows:

[A contract is formed through the true name. Using the true name to command—the essence of mysticism worldwide is similar, perhaps reflecting one of humanity's most fundamental fears—the fear of being controlled.]

During the "Demon Wars," most demons commanded their servants in this way.

In fact, the "Seven Rulers of the Mortal World" who do not use "contracts" to control their families seem more like outliers.

Well, among these outliers, we should add Han Fulai as well.

The goddess agreed to form a "familiar contract" with him, and was naturally prepared to pay a "price"... The price of only "freedom" might be considered cheap for her.

But seeing him so earnestly telling her that "this contract is unfair" left her with a strange mix of emotions.

Generally speaking, these kinds of "name contracts" are used to control the followers. In addition, as the superior party in the contract, the demon god can plunder power from the followers through this contract.

For example, the "Dream Demon God" who feeds on dreams draws power from the "nightmares" of the Yaksha people through the soul connection effect of this contract.

But Han Fulai clearly didn't want to control her.

What he wanted to do was use this contract to "plunder" the "karmic obstacles" in her soul.

She sacrificed herself to protect Inazuma, and endured filth to protect the earth's veins... these were her responsibilities all along.

For Han Fulai, entering into this "family contract" brought no benefit, but only harm.

He could have stayed out of it, but he took the initiative to bear the filth and responsibility that wasn't his in order to save her, and even acted as if he owed her something... What can she say about a person like that?

She suddenly pulled Han Fulai's hand and began to write words on his palm, stroke by stroke, with her fingers.

Han Fulai stared blankly at the strokes in his palm.

Those strokes together form a beautiful cherry blossom.

“Sakura,” the goddess whispered, “my name is Yae Sakura.”

Han Fulai slowly clenched the cherry blossom in his palm.

"...It's a name that suits you very well, it's beautiful."

"Hmm." The goddess puffed out her chest with a hint of pride, as if showing off the cherry blossom crest on her chest. "You must remember the names of your familiars, okay? Even if you forget everything else, you must not forget my name."

As if she had just thought of something, she suddenly asked, "Hey, I'm asking you, besides me, do you have any other family members? Like... uh, that 'deep-sea flounder' from Umijima Island?"

Han Fulai shook his head honestly.

"Just you."

Xin Hai did indeed say she was willing to let him bind her with a contract, but Han Fulai was too embarrassed to do so at the time. Moreover, even if he were to form a contract with Xin Hai, he certainly wouldn't use such a soul-deep "familiarity contract."

As for the other two contracts he bears, he has no subordinate relationship with Xiao, but with Gan Yu, he is more like a "familiar"...

"So that means I'm your only 'family'?" The goddess seemed to suddenly become very happy, and she smiled for no apparent reason.

Han Fulai smiled as well: "The contract hasn't been officially signed yet, and this is just a temporary measure to save you. Once this matter is settled, we can return to Liyue and ask the Emperor to help us cancel this contract..."

He himself did not know how to break the "familiar contract", but the contract between Xiao and the "Dream Demon God" was broken by Zhongli, the "God of Contracts". Presumably, the contract between him and the God Child can also be broken.

The divine child raised an eyebrow: "Oh? So you've already figured out how to dump him before the contract is even signed?"

"What do you mean by 'flipping'..." Han Fulai smiled helplessly. This pink-haired fox could never change her mischievous nature. "Anyway, let's make a contract first."

The divine child finally put away his playful smile and asked seriously, "So, what is the 'ritual' of the contract, and what kind of 'words of power' are needed?"

A ceremony is naturally required to conclude a contract.

Han Fulai had previously gone through this ceremony when signing contracts with Gan Yu and Xiao. The content of the ceremony was not fixed, but it basically just stated the identities of the two parties, the contents of the contract, and the penalties for breach of contract.

As for the form, it's really just a "sense of ritual"; what's important is the will of both parties and the guarantee of divine power.

Han Fulai had already prepared for this: "Let's follow the established procedures recorded in the 'Shenying Great Exorcism Guide'."

This time, the contract was made in his own name and with divine power. Of course, it couldn't be signed like Gan Yu did, using "those who break their word shall be punished by eating rocks" or like Xiao did, using the "Jiheng Jing". Moreover, the divine child himself was more familiar with the rituals on Inazuma's side.

According to the established ritual of "God's Cherry Blossom Great Purification", the incantation is divided into three parts: first, the name of the god is chanted, then one's own name is announced, and finally, the self-designated "word of power" is used.

Han Fulai grasped the divine child's hand, closed his eyes, and solemnly uttered, "I, Han Fulai, hereby establish a bond of kinship with Yae Sakura."

Since the contract was concluded using his own power, there was no need for fancy titles; simply stating their identities would suffice.

As for the final "word of power"...

"Our illustrious ancestors were the founders of our Chinese civilization. Our lineage has flourished and our sacrifices have endured, as majestic as the mountains and as vast as the rivers."

The two sentences he recited were original lines from the "Sacrifice to the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum," and were a "code" that only he, a time traveler from China, could possibly know.

After all, every Chinese person calls themselves a "descendant of Yan and Huang".

The divine child also closed her eyes and prayed devoutly: "I, Yae Sakura, hereby establish a bond of kinship with Han Fulai."

"I hereby declare to Bai Chen the reason for suppressing the soul. Please allow me to offer my prayers..."

She paused slightly at this point, a mischievous smile appearing on her face:

"...Fried tofu, come quickly!"

A silvery divine light flowed from Han Fulai's hand into the Divine Child's palm, connecting their souls together.

The cherry blossom that the priest drew in his palm had seven small cherry blossoms appearing around its outer edge, forming a new contract mark—the emblem of Narukami Shrine is a "shadow of the mountain" composed of a torii gate and cherry blossoms, and this mark could probably be called "Yae-sakura" (double cherry blossom).

The contract has been signed.

Han Fulai slowly opened his eyes.

The divine child also opened his eyes at the same time.

The two looked at each other, and a strange feeling rose in their hearts—it was like a telepathic connection; they could know each other's feelings at that moment without saying a word.

Han Fulai felt a sense of relief after the successful contract, while the Divine Child felt a mixture of unease and joy, and a little bit of... shyness?

The mysterious and fickle Yae no Kami, in his eyes now held no secrets whatsoever, like the "open and honest" atmosphere of a public bathhouse...

The goddess blushed slightly and spat at him irritably: "Don't think strange things! And how long are you going to keep pinching my hand?"

Han Fulai quickly released his grip, and the "telepathic" feeling immediately weakened considerably. The Divine Child lowered her head, pretending to adjust the collar of her priestess's robes, but actually secretly touched the contract mark on her body.

In Inazuma's spells, the contract mark often appears in the "upper dantian" and "lower dantian".

The Divine Child's Rai-ouka mark as a member of Narukami's familiar is in the "upper dantian," which is between her eyebrows. However, the contract mark between her and Han Fulai appears in the "lower dantian," which is... her lower abdomen.

Moreover, just touching his palm would cause the area marked with the contract to feel slightly hot, and her heart would pound—hmm, this must be a side effect of the contract… The divine child decided that he would never let him know about this.

Chapter 245 In our countless sinkings, I forgave your fear of getting close.

The dream dissipated.

Han Fulai's consciousness returned to his body.

He felt something scratching his neck, soft, furry, and constantly moving... so he instinctively reached out and grabbed it.

"Ah!" A startled cry rang in my ears.

He looked closely and realized what the thing that had been "bothering" him was—the son of God's ear.

"Hurry up and... let go..." The warm touch on her ear made the corners of Shenzi's eyes redden, and her usually confident voice trembled slightly.

She instinctively shrank her neck, looking like a little fox caught stealing fried tofu, her pitiful eyes making people feel sorry for her.

Han Fulai did not let go.

He stroked the soft hairs inside the shrine maiden's ear with his fingertips. Sure enough, when he moved, the shrine maiden's body would tremble, clearly indicating that she was very sensitive...

Hmm, it seems that Gan Yu and Yan Fei's horns are also weaknesses that can't be touched casually, and it seems that the fox's ears are the same—I wonder what her reaction would be if I touched her tail.

"Stop touching me..."

Ignoring the goddess's protest, Han Fulai glanced at her and scolded, "Were you trying to play a prank again? What time is it? Can't you be serious for once?"

The priest could only nod pitifully, "I know I was wrong..."

She woke up a little earlier than Han Fulai—when she woke up, there was a sleeping person next to her, so it would be natural to want to draw something on his face, right?

Unfortunately, Han Fulai woke up faster than she expected, preventing her from succeeding.

Forget it, I'll admit my mistake for now, but I'll do it again next time.

Han Fulai finally let go, stood up, and began to examine the fox-shaped cherry tree.

Previously, he knew nothing about this divine cherry tree, only that its shape must have been deliberately pruned by the divine child. But after learning that the divine child's soul had merged with the divine cherry tree, the tree's appearance seemed to make sense.

He had heard True Lord Liuyun say before that Gan Yu's Qilin form was actually quite large... Could it be that the Divine Child's true form was also as big as this tree?

The goddess, of course, had no idea what he was thinking. She rubbed her ears, hummed and whimpered as she stood up with Han Fulai, then stretched out her finger and touched the tree trunk.

As her fingertip fell, a large hole split open at the root of the Divine Cherry Tree, revealing a strange, dark purple-black spherical object inside.

The spherical object, entwined by the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree, was still pulsating rhythmically, like a heartbeat.

"This is the filth hidden in the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree, also known as 'malignant tumors'," the Divine Child explained.

Each "Divine Cherry Blossom Great Purification" ultimately aims to exorcise this "malignant tumor" formed from the filth and impurities of evil spirits.

Originally, this filth was borne by the "Hana-sanri," a remnant of the Fox Palace, but after the Divine Child merged with the Divine Cherry Tree, she herself began to bear this filth.

In theory, exorcising the "malignant tumor" is equivalent to killing the divine child.