The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

—This is a small town built on a wide plain.

The remnants of the ancient mythological era mostly live here. Of course, there are also some who suddenly had the idea to live in other places in the celestial realm.

"As for the house number, I think it's... um?"

As Shi Bai was frowning and pondering as he counted the house numbers one by one, his gaze inadvertently fell upon a somewhat familiar figure under a peach tree in the courtyard, who was bent over a table counting something.

"...Heng'e?"

Looking at the figure in the courtyard, Shi Bai called out to the other person with some uncertainty.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, the figure sitting under the tree looked up at him. When her gaze fell on him, she reached up and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen across her forehead behind her ear. She stood up from the table, a gentle smile on her face, and began to speak to him quite naturally.

"You're back?"

"No way, it really really is you? What are you doing here?"

Shi Bai looked on with a puzzled expression.

"I heard from the Empress Dowager..."

"Who is this?"

Kazami Yuuka's words suddenly and abruptly interrupted the conversation.

"Hmm? Heng'e? A friend of mine from before, but she disappeared for a long time for some reason. I didn't expect to run into her here in the Heavenly Realm."

Somewhat puzzled, Shi Bai turned his head to look at Kazami Yuuka, and then answered quite naturally.

"That's right. And who are you?"

Heng'e glanced at Shi Bai without making a sound, then turned her gaze to Kazami Yuuka beside her, her tone seemingly undergoing a subtle change compared to before.

"Her? She is..."

"Yuuka Kazemi."

Shi Bai's words were interrupted for the second time.

"Uh... why did it feel like there was a tense atmosphere between you two before?"

He glanced at Heng'e, then turned to look at Kazami Yuuka, a strange expression on his face.

"So, do you two have some kind of grudge that I don't know about?"

"No / That's not necessarily true."

The two responses came almost simultaneously.

Shi Bai: "???"

To be fair, finding Heng'e here is indeed something to celebrate, after all, he had promised Hou Yi before... But the question is, why does Kazami Yuuka have a grudge against Heng'e?

I've thought about this problem for a long time but still can't figure it out.

Just as he was pondering, a fiery red figure suddenly pounced into his arms and hugged his neck, followed by an excited voice that rang in his ears.

"You're finally back!!!"

Just like a fallen leaf breaking the tranquility of a lake, as Xiao Xi's voice rang out, Heng'e and Kazami Yuuka, who were in a strange standoff, both abruptly shifted their gazes.

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

"That's right, Heng'e is currently working for the Dragon God."

Xiaoye blinked, her appearance almost unchanged from before, with an innocent look on her face.

"After all, she is the Dragon God's representative, so it's perfectly reasonable for her to reside in the Heavenly Realm, isn't it?"

"What about Chunhu?"

Turning his head to look at Heng'e, who was having a close and friendly talk with Kazami Yuuka in the distance, Shi Bai looked at her with suspicion.

"Shouldn't Chunhu be the Dragon God's representative?"

"Pure fox? What pure fox?"

Xiaoye's expression became even more innocent.

"It's this Pure Fox!!"

Shi Bai placed a photo on the table.

Photo.jpg

"Oh, I don't know."

Xiaoye picked up the photo, glanced at it, narrowed her eyes slightly, and shook her head.

"...Alright, let's talk about other things now."

With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Shi Bai realized he had absolutely no way to deal with the other party and decisively changed the subject.

"Does Heng'e know that you are the Dragon God?"

"How could that be? This information is top secret. Do you think you can just go around spreading things like this? She's just my neighbor."

With one hand supporting her head on the table, Xiaoye dangled her feet under the table, her tone seemingly relaxed.

"Please feel free to ask any further questions. I will answer them to the best of my ability."

"Alright, about Chunhu and Xixing Yao..."

"Didn't I tell you? I only know Heng'e, I have absolutely no idea there's such a thing as a Pure Fox. You should ask that Pure Fox Ten Pairs I don't know about~"

Xiao Ye mischievously placed her foot on Shi Bai's knee, interrupting Shi Bai's words, while maintaining a serious expression.

"Chunhu's affairs are Chunhu's affairs. What does it have to do with me, Xiaoye?"

"If you don't want to talk, then don't. I didn't come here specifically to interrogate you... Put your feet in place. You're a grown man, why are you still acting like a child?"

Shi Bai reached up and pressed his forehead, letting out a helpless sigh.

"My plan has basically started. Next, I need the cooperation of your Heavenly Realm. The severing of the Heavenly Dao cannot be done unilaterally. I think the closure of the Heavenly Gate is very necessary."

"You won't even let me lean on your foot for a moment? You're so stingy..."

With a pout, Xiaoye obediently pulled her foot back.

"I'm fine here, you don't need to worry about me. So, how long do you plan to stay this time? The Eastern Emperor Bell shouldn't be needed to suppress the dragon vein anymore, right?"

At this point, Xiaoye glanced at the top of Shi Bai's head with a hint of resentment.

"So, how long will it take before you can enter and leave the Heavenly Realm unconditionally without relying on it?"

"Don't worry, it will be soon. I estimate it will take no more than five or six hundred years."

After briefly estimating the time in his mind, Shi Bai nodded.

"When this world becomes more and more powerful, not only will I be able to freely enter and leave the Heavenly Realm, but you will no longer have to be trapped in the Heavenly Realm."

"Ah, another five or six hundred years... How can it take so long..."

With her arms hanging down, she casually leaned on the table and secretly glanced at Yuuka Kazami. Saya looked rather listless.

"If no one is watching over us for such a long time... wait, I don't think I need to worry about this?"

As if suddenly remembering something, Xiaoye's eyes lit up, and she raised her head from the table.

"There's nothing to worry about?"

The person looked completely bewildered.

"Ahem... It's nothing, just a small matter... Anyway, you wouldn't understand even if I told you, what can I do when your emotional intelligence is so high?"

Xiaoye coughed a few times and sat up straight.

"You don't need to worry about the other side either. The most skilled immortal in the Heavenly Realm is already treating that little girl. Although her strength has decreased significantly due to the destruction of her physical body, her body should not have any major problems in the future. There might just be some minor, harmless aftereffects... like here."

Xiaoye pointed to her head.

"……Um."

After a moment of silence, Shi Bai nodded sullenly.

? ? ? ? .jpg

nb.jpg

P.S.: I lost money today, and I'm heartbroken...

Chapter Ten: I'm utterly worthless!!

Without much sentimentality or anything else, Shi Bai's return this time seemed quite ordinary, as ordinary as a pot of clear wine.

The situation in the Heavenly Realm hasn't changed much compared to before. If we had to point out a change, the only one is that the Dragon God has gone into hiding and no longer appears in public, and the Dragon Palace Envoy, who lives in the sea of ​​clouds, has become the Dragon God's messenger.

Of course, the increasing number of immortals and celestial beings in the Heavenly Realm is also a factor. After all, the world changes quite rapidly, and the number of immortals and celestial beings who have completed their cultivation and ascended to the Heavenly Realm has been increasing year by year with the passage of time. Right now, the Heavenly Realm is showing signs of becoming full.

However, with the severing of the dragon vein, the number of immortals and celestial beings who will be able to ascend to the heavens will become increasingly smaller, which is an inevitable trend for the foreseeable future.

When humanity becomes the protagonist of the world and scientific development becomes the mainstream, the mysterious resurgence will unleash a frenzy of world evolution. As the world becomes more powerful, the scale and size of the celestial realm will be further expanded, and the problem of the celestial realm being overcrowded will be solved.

Of course, that's in the future.

Changes happening elsewhere in the celestial realm have no effect here. This unremarkable little town, which is basically inaccessible to outsiders, is actually the core of the entire celestial realm.

"So, the main reason you appointed the Dragon Palace Envoy was just to slack off?"

After listening to Xiao Ye's account of the various events, big and small, that had occurred in the Heavenly Realm during the years he had been away, Shi Bai couldn't help but grumble in slight exasperation.

"No, that's not right. Strictly speaking, this world needs the will of the Dragon God to exist, but the Heavenly Realm doesn't need a Dragon God, at least not a Dragon God in name only. It's enough for him to just be a background character."

Xiaoye held up a finger and waved it in front of her, then spoke seriously.

"Furthermore, if the Dragon God has to personally give orders for even the smallest matters, wouldn't that diminish the Dragon God's prestige?"

"Hmm... alright, I admit you're right, the existence of the Dragon Palace Envoy is indeed very necessary."

After thinking for a moment with his arms crossed, Shi Bai nodded thoughtfully.

"So the existence of the Dragon Palace Envoy is actually roughly equivalent to... the Eastern Depot?"

"The Eastern Depot? What's that?"

Xiaoye seemed slightly curious.

"East Factory... uh... the factory that manufactures Dongfeng missiles is called East Factory for short. In contrast, there is West Factory, and we are responsible for manufacturing Xifeng missiles."

Shi Bai was talking nonsense with a straight face.

"Alright, let's get back to the point. Tell me honestly, what exactly is wrong with you?"

"what?"

Xiaoye looked completely bewildered.

"What, what problem?"

"It's this and that problem."

"What what what what problem?"

"........."

After a moment of silence, Shi Bai looked at Xiao Ye, who was pretending to be stupid, and sighed softly.

“There’s no need to hide anything from me. You’ve forgotten that some things can’t be hidden from me. When I first arrived in the Heavenly Realm, I sensed something unusual about your aura. Otherwise, given your personality, you wouldn’t have asked someone else to pick me up; you would have come yourself… What exactly happened to you?”

"Well... it's just a trivial matter, there's no need to take it to heart."

Xiaoye seemed to deliberately turn her head to look to the side, her tone sounding quite relaxed.

"I'm the Dragon God now, a special being who represents the consciousness of this world. I can have... what is this?"

Xiao Ye was slightly taken aback when she saw the strange device that Shi Bai had suddenly taken out and placed on the table.

"During my previous trip, I acquired a very interesting technological product in the void... You don't have to tell me, but I have a rough idea of ​​what it is. The main reason I came back this time is to solve this problem."

While adjusting the instrument on the table, Shi Bai replied.

"Actually, whether it's the technological side or the mystical side of the world, there are both methods and contingency plans for preventing sudden crises. The mystical side is called 'obscuring the secrets of heaven,' while the technological side is called 'world coordinate shielding.' This is the latest version of the world shielding device that I obtained from the black market through certain means. I have checked it, and there are no hidden tricks or tampering inside. It's very safe."

"Uh, well..."