As the savior, I only want to play single-player games.

……

This chapter has 3K chapters. I'll update again tomorrow, maybe two, we'll see then.

May all gods swiftly come to my aid; if I disobey, I will be punished in Fengdu: Chapter Sixty-Four: Never to Return

"Dianpo" means to sway or shake.

Suzuka Ise opened her eyes with some difficulty. Although her vision was blurry, she could vaguely make out the scenery outside the car window: a rural village.

This old, remote village, far from the city, seems to have been forgotten. The aging population is extremely serious, and there are no young people left in the village. They have all gone out to make their way in the world, even if it means renting a small apartment in the city. They are unwilling to return to the stagnant village.

She regained consciousness for a moment, and the scene that came into view finally overlapped with her memory.

After going around in circles, I've ended up back here again.

That's how she left, taken away by Yoko Endo. Her grandmother stood at the village entrance, gazing at her. She still remembers that look in her cloudy old eyes, filled with reluctance and heartache, as if she would never see her again.

However, she didn't understand at the time why her grandmother had such a sad expression.

Although she felt uneasy at that time, she was more excited and thrilled. Before leaving, she secretly made up her mind that when she came of age, she would definitely take her grandmother away from here and let her eat the best food and sleep in the most comfortable bed.

Those vows echoed in her ears; she had never forgotten them.

But now, Grandma is gone forever...

As the vehicle entered the village and passed the small shop at the village entrance, Suzuka Ise suddenly said to stop, and the driver immediately stopped the vehicle.

"Goddess, is there something you need?"

Inside the carriage, the pretty shrine maiden respectfully inquired, "The priestess of Shimizu has returned to the shrine, but before leaving, she arranged for them to stay with Suzuka Ise, designating Suzuka as a priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine, and specifically instructed them to take good care of the priestess."

Suzuka Ise wanted to visit her grandmother's grave, so they separated from the caravan and formed a separate security force to follow her to this remote and impoverished area.

Japan has many mountains and forests, and the roads in the countryside are even worse. The bumpy ride made their buttocks ache, but the two shrine maidens did not complain. Instead, they were worried about Suzuka Ise's health. The shrine maiden's face was extremely pale, with a slight bluish tinge, her lips were purple, and her eyes were dark-rimmed. She looked like she was about to die young.

Each time the vehicle swayed, they became more anxious, fearing that Suzuka Ise might succumb to exhaustion and die.

The threat from that golden-eyed girl still lingered. She didn't even respect Amaterasu Omikami in her words, claiming that if Suzuka Ise were to fall ill, she would raze the shrine to the ground. No one knew what her origins were.

They dared not ask, but were extremely worried about Suzuka Ise's health. If this newly appointed shrine maiden hadn't come to see her grandmother, they would never have brought her here. They should have gone directly back to the shrine with the priestess Shimizu, fearing something might happen.

But they remembered very clearly why Suzuka Ise had agreed to come with them.

Suzuka Ise stared intently at the location of the convenience store, her voice barely audible as she asked, "What's going on there...?" She noticed a group of four or five people, both men and women, gathered in front of the convenience store she used to frequent.

The two priestesses exchanged a glance, and one of them got out of the carriage to inquire, but soon returned.

"Your Grace, the old lady in that house died a few days ago, and her children have come to handle the aftermath."

Suzuka Ise's eyes glazed over for a moment; she remembered the old woman who sold coarse sweets.

"Goddess, what's wrong?" A priestess asked with concern when she saw that her eyes were lifeless.

Suzuka Ise shook her head and remained silent.

As the vehicle continued forward, she saw that there were actually many people coming and going in the village, in groups of three or five, mostly young people. There were also civil affairs staff coming and going. This once desolate village seemed to have come back to life.

The dense traffic of outside vehicles blocked the road, but upon seeing the convoy from Ise-Suzuka, they quickly made way for them.

Suzuka Ise asked someone to get out of the car and received a reply: some elderly people in the village had passed away, and the young people who had left the village had become middle-aged. They had received the news and were now returning to bury their parents. They had all come together, but there were also elderly people whose children could not be contacted. The relevant departments needed to come and handle the remains, as they could not simply leave them unattended.

The witch who spoke pursed her lips. In fact, most of them were dead. The youngest in the village was over sixty years old and still had some life energy. He survived that night, but he developed mental problems and went insane. Now he was locked up.

But it was inconvenient to tell Suzuka these things. They found out that this was indeed her former residence, where she had grown up since childhood.

Now, there is only one living person left in the entire village. Soon, it will become a veritable ghost village, and its name will be erased from the administrative map.

“Suzuka, I remember now…” A strange man with disheveled hair suddenly lunged at the car window, startling the two shrine maidens. He saw Suzuka Ise through the window and began to cry and laugh hysterically.

“Grandpa Suyama.” Suzuka Ise raised her eyes, remembering who this person was, and said softly, “You’re still alive, Grandpa Suyama.”

Susan asked, "How could I have forgotten you? Didn't you leave? Why did you come back?"

Suzuka Ise said, "I've come to see my grandmother."

"What a filial child," Susan said with relief. "Your grandma is still waiting for you. She even made your favorite miso soup. I heard you're leaving. Are you leaving now? Don't come back once you get to the big city."

“I don’t like that.” Suzuka lowered her head; the old man’s memory was playing tricks on him.

The vehicle continued forward. Although there were many people in the village, it felt extremely oppressive and gloomy. Many people were dressed in black mourning clothes and passed by the vehicle.

"I'm going to see my grandmother," Suzuka said weakly.

The two witches obeyed her instructions, carried her out, and headed to the mountains.

The people of the shrine buried the old woman themselves. She was a half-spirit medium with weak aptitude, who inherited a fragmented lineage. She was a local shaman, but she was all alone and lost her only granddaughter in her later years.

Upon arriving at the grave, there was a portrait of her on the tombstone. She was an old woman dressed simply, with silver hair in a bun, looking old-fashioned and solemn. She gazed firmly ahead, her cloudy eyes seeming to pierce through time and space, seeing Suzuka Ise.

Suzuka Ise could no longer suppress her grief, and two lines of tears silently streamed down her face.

She struggled to get down, came to the grave, and hugged the tombstone, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Grandma, I'm back, I'm back to see you..." Tears streamed down her face. Before Endo Yoko took her away, they made a promise that he would bring her back once her grandmother passed away.

But she had always been in good health, and Suzuka Ise always thought that her grandmother would live to be a hundred years old, and she never believed that this day would come so early.

She was completely exhausted and slumped down there, her head resting against the cold tombstone. Thinking about the past, she felt as if it had flowed away like water, never to return.

May all gods swiftly come to my aid; if I do not obey, may I be punished in Fengdu: Chapter Sixty-Five: Farewell, My Dead Self

Grandma is gone, what does she have left?

From childhood to adulthood, she fought against illness and teetered on the brink of life and death countless times. It was always her grandmother who gave her strength, allowing her to live, to live like the most tenacious weeds, unyielding to the wind.

Suzuka Ise was lost in thought, unable to find anything.

She felt as if she had been plunged into a cold wave, and the whole world was icy cold.

She had heard her teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, say that suffering is meaningless, and that one's will is tempered because suffering is unavoidable. Her mother died early, her father neglected her, and her grandmother raised her with great difficulty. Later, she met Kagura Tendo, a deadpan character who initially ignored her, but later understood her brother's personality.

Later, she was fostered in Hiratsuka Shizuka's home. The gentle and patient teacher listened to her recount her past and patiently guided her, telling her to love life and not give up.

She had fought against death many times and survived everything, but now, facing this cold tombstone, she felt as if she had been abandoned in this vast fog, without direction, without motivation to move forward, and even had the desire to let death take her away.

Her body is now withered and barely recognizable as human. This cursed body is doomed to die. Is it really necessary for her to continue?

What is there left to cherish in this world, in this hell?

She closed her eyes, and everything seemed to disappear; the whole world was silent.

But Suzuka Ise seemed to hear whispers in her ear, calling to her.

"Suzuka, Suzuka..." A gentle voice came from the other side of the road. It was a voice I had never heard before, but it contained the deepest love, as if it were calling out to one's newborn child.

A warm feeling came over her, as if she were in the womb, not needing to breathe or move.

But this was immediately followed by a kind and gentle voice: "Suzuka, my Suzuka, you must live well, you must live on..."

"Grandma!" Suzuka reacted immediately, crying out in her heart as if she had collapsed, deeply saddened.

"I can't go on anymore, Grandma. I listened to you and ate well all the time. I never picked at my food, but now I have nothing left," she said sadly, her heart filled with despair.

"I absolutely must save your life, my Suzuka, my suffering child..."

The warmth was rapidly increasing; she was extremely hot, as if she were surrounded by raging flames that were burning her body.

"Grandma, I'm so hot!"

Suzuka Ise suddenly opened her eyes and found that she was still leaning against the tombstone, but her body was indeed extremely hot, as if she was about to spontaneously combust.

"Suzuka, Suzuka..." And indeed, a voice was calling her.

Suzuka Ise realized that the voice was coming from the tomb in front of her, as if someone inside was calling her.

But she wasn't afraid at all; the voice was so familiar—it was her grandmother.

"Grandma, are you still alive?" Overjoyed, she stood up to go forward, but was stopped by someone.

Two priestesses arrived in time and stopped her.

"Goddess, no."

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Suzuka shouted angrily.

The two priestesses were also filled with doubt and surprise. When Suzuka's head tilted to the side in front of the grave, they thought she had died from the heavy blow and didn't know what to do. But then she quickly stood up again, full of energy.

They were qualified and heard the calls; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to serve the High Priestess of the Clear Water. The old woman had indeed died long ago; when the people of the shrine discovered her, her body was already cold and beginning to decompose. How could she possibly have come back to life?

The sound coming from the tomb was an ominous sign, and they all thought of the taboo legend.

When a powerful person dies, their soul dissipates. If their physical body does not decay, they may crawl out of the ground and transform into a monster. It is absolutely forbidden to let blood relatives get close to them.

But if the person buried here was really that powerful, how could their soul be taken away by the gods?

They were inexperienced and couldn't understand it, so their priority was protecting the goddess, and they dared not let her take any risks.

"Your grandmother is really dead."

"This place is ominous; we must leave as soon as possible."

Suzuka was unwilling, because the sound from the tomb quickly weakened and gradually disappeared.

She was in a great hurry, and pushed aside the two witches who were blocking her way, and ran quickly over, but as soon as she arrived at the grave, the grandmother's voice completely disappeared.

“How could this be…” Suzuka placed her hand on the new grave, but when she saw that long, slender, and fair hand, she was stunned.

The pretty shaman approached. This didn't seem like a dangerous situation. If it were an ominous sign, the calling would have grown louder and louder, as if she wanted to summon all her descendants and then rise from the dead.

The priestess quickly realized something and exclaimed, "Goddess, your body..."

Suzuka Ise stood up, feeling her body. She felt healthier than ever before; she used to be very weak and would feel dizzy if she stood for too long.

But now it's different. She can even feel her powerful heart beating, her previously blocked blood vessels are now clear, and her breathing is extremely smooth—a feeling she's never experienced before. Her appearance hasn't changed, but her physique has. She's no longer sickly.

Suzuka Ise stared at him for a long time, her eyes dark and unfocused, showing no sign of elation.

Is this why Grandma asked her to come see her?

Even though she's dead, I still hope I can live a good life...

This is... a dying wish...

Yes, she can't die yet, there's no need for her to die. Why should she bow down to this world that causes her so much pain? The world kissed her with pain, and she's expected to repay it with a song? She once vowed to transcend the world's malice, how can she stop here?