The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"I am Hieda no Rei, a courtier from the Imperial Family. I have recently been commissioned to compile the Kojiki. I have heard that your painting skills seem to have a great connection with those of the ancient master Hata no Katsu. Therefore, I would like to ask for your help in this regard."

Although doubts still lingered in her heart, Hieda Rei managed to control her curiosity and calmly explained the purpose of her visit.

"Baedian Ali..."

After listening to the girl's story, Shi Bai's expression became slightly strange, especially after hearing the name Qin Hesheng from her.

However, if we look at the timeline, Hieda Rei did indeed begin compiling the Kojiki during the period of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter... It seems that Hieda Rei passed away not long after the Kojiki was completed, right? Then he was reincarnated as Hieda Oichi, compiling Gensokyo Origins, and continued to be reincarnated until the era of Hieda Oki...

It hasn't been that long, has it? How did Qin Hesheng suddenly become an ancient person...? Oh no, speaking of time, Qin Hesheng does seem to be from several hundred years ago...

(So ​​when did I start adopting the time concept of the immortal race?)

With a slight sigh in his heart, Shi Bai stood up.

"No problem. Please don't hesitate to ask if there's anything I can help you with. May I ask what aspects the Kojiki covers?"

“Starting from the era of the founding myth, including ancient myths, legends, folk songs, historical stories... I’m only just getting started here.”

Reaching out to tuck a strand of long hair behind her ear, Hieda Rei gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I wasted too much time researching today, so it's already quite late. I'm sorry to bother you now. Can I come back tomorrow to discuss the details?"

(The founding myth... did it begin when Kamiki established Takamagahara and unified the country?)

As this thought crossed his mind, Shi Bai nodded.

"no problem."

P.S.: Good morning! ヽ(ー_ー)ノ

Chapter Twenty: Hieda no Rei's "Appetite"

As the sun completely set, night began to fall quietly, and a full moon was set in the night sky, draping the earth in a layer of silver light.

Because he had lingered a little longer in Fujiwara-kyo, it was already completely dark when Shiro set off on his return journey.

However, whether it was dark or not was not important to him, and there were shrines and temples all around Fujiwara Kyo, so he was not worried about any foolish monsters jumping out.

However, when he returned to his bamboo house in the bamboo forest, he was surprised to find two suspicious figures next to his house. They seemed to be planning to break into his house to steal something. So he knocked the two unlucky thieves unconscious and tied them up, intending to take them to the authorities the next day.

A guy who would come to such a remote and impoverished place to steal things is obviously not a good person.

After muttering a slight sigh, Shi Bai ignored the two men and went straight back to his room.

He felt he needed to think carefully about the strange sense of familiarity he felt with Hieda Rei, whom he had met today.

With the return of his desires, many emotions that had disappeared from him have been completely revived. In fact, after seeing Hieda Rei today, along with the inexplicable sense of familiarity in his heart, there was also a desire to devour the other person completely... or rather, an appetite.

...in a purely physical sense.

Although this desire was shallow, it was real. He truly wanted to devour the other person completely, leaving not even their soul... He felt he needed to reflect on the reasons for this desire.

Originally, it was just something to pass the time while waiting for the arrival of a certain moon princess, but he never expected to encounter such an unexpected surprise.

As the ancestor of the sons of Hieda Rei, Hieda Rei is essentially a limited-time hidden character. Once you miss this opportunity, you'll never have another chance. If Hieda Rei hadn't taken the initiative to find him, he wouldn't have even thought of looking for him.

...However, the main reason is actually because Qin Hesheng?

If Qin Hesheng hadn't painted those paintings back then, and they hadn't happened to be preserved as treasures, then Hieda Ari's subplot probably wouldn't have been triggered... But what exactly is this inexplicable sense of familiarity about the other person?

And judging from the looks of it, it seems the other person also retains some memory of me, which is impossible! After all, I've never met them before, unless it was in a past life... uh...

...Speaking of which, it seems there really was such a thing, that was in the underworld...

After lying in bed with his head propped up on his hand and thinking all night, Shi Bai finally found out from his memories where he got that sense of familiarity with Hieda Rei from.

If his memory serves him correctly, their first encounter was when he was serving as a ferryman of the dead in the underworld. At that time, the other person might not have been called Hieda Rei but had another name, but certain essential aspects of their souls would not have changed.

Thanks to the evil god Shi Bai, he is always exceptionally sensitive to matters of the soul. The other party's soul should also possess certain qualities, otherwise the other party would not still have some vague impression of him.

Hieda Rei's soul must have something special about it, otherwise it would be impossible for the other party to still have an impression of him after reincarnation, and it would be impossible for him to have such a deep impression of the other party, or even to want to devour him... Is it a soul-related one?

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai closed his eyes and his consciousness actively descended into the deepest part of his own sea of ​​consciousness.

Within this impregnable prison constructed by his will, a whole host of terrifying creatures were imprisoned; to describe it as a chaotic dance of demons would be an understatement.

After he reinforced the seal on the bottom of his consciousness for the last time, this was the first time he had come here on his own initiative. In the study of the soul, the evil god Shi Bai was more authoritative than him.

About half an hour later, he left with a dark expression on his face.

Talking to the evil god Shi Bai was incredibly torturous, causing his sanity to plummet. However, since the other party was himself, his sanity remained in a constant state of ups and downs... Was he doing sit-ups here?!

But he was completely helpless against the other party, and he truly experienced the frustrating feeling of the world being powerless against him.

However, he also found the answer he wanted in that chaotic self-awareness. Hieda Rei's soul did have a certain special attraction, especially to the evil gods, making them eager to devour him. Hieda Rei's soul was a delicious and tempting meal for the evil gods.

His deep impression of Hieda Rei stemmed from the subconscious influence of the evil god Tokihaku; after all, the other was also a part of him, and such influence was unavoidable. If it weren't for the fact that Tokihaku was firmly suppressed and sealed away, who knows what kind of heinous things that guy would have done.

Shi Bai was deeply moved by the generous and honest answer from the evil god Shi Bai, and then raised the security level of this guy's cell by three levels.

...You'd better stay in there and die peacefully!

After finally resolving his doubts, Shi Bai breathed a sigh of relief. He realized he had indeed been influenced by that guy's subconscious; otherwise, he would have thought he was a perverted man who coveted the other's soul...

Therefore, the fact that his desires had almost completely dissipated before also had a positive aspect. The dissipation of desires could effectively suppress the subconscious influence of those things in his heart.

If it weren't for Eirin Yagokoro's help in freeing him from the shackles on his soul, the desire that arose in his heart when he first met Rei Hieda wouldn't have been just a faint urge to devour him.

Fortunately, with the liberation of his soul, he is now able to suppress that desire quite effectively. However, what troubles him is that the things in his heart are not just the evil god Shi Bai. Who knows what kind of problems he will encounter in the future... Perhaps he should directly let Ri Luoyuan control the desires in his body so that he can return to his previous state?

In his previous state, he wouldn't have been affected by those things. When he existed as a ferryman of death on the Sanzu River, he only showed some interest in Hieda Rei's soul due to some inexplicable attraction, and he didn't have such a perverted desire to devour the other's soul as he does now.

However, upon recalling his previous state... Shi Bai shook his head resolutely. He still wanted to enjoy playing games with Kaguya Houraisan.

"Forget it, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Running away isn't the solution... We need to find a way to bring in an Italian cannon and give it a good blast."

Looking at the ceiling above his head, Shi Bai began to ponder.

"After all, running away isn't my style. If I could find a way to completely sever those ties with me... Oh right, once Kaguya Houraisan arrives, I can invite Hieda Rei to play mahjong. We're short one player... I remember Hieda Rei's mahjong skills are pretty good..."

The main reason he was able to connect Hieda Rei with the ghost from that time so quickly was because during the card game on the small boat... he was blocked by the opponent three times.

The hatred he felt for Duan Yaojiu was something he couldn't forget, even if he wanted to.

"But if that's the case, maybe I can actually get her to play mahjong with me in the future. There aren't many people who can resist my real lucky aura..."

Shi Bai lay in bed all night with one hand under his head, looking thoughtful.

When Kaguya Houraisan arrives, he, Kaguya Houraisan, Fujiwara no Mokou, and Hieda no Rei will be able to make a perfect mahjong table.

Two people can only play chess, three people can play Dou Dizhu, four people can play mahjong, five people can play a game of Three Kingdoms Kill, and six people can probably... what?

After regaining his sense of desire, Shi Bai found that his thoughts seemed to easily wander off course.

Seeing that it was already dawn, he no longer had any intention of continuing to sleep and went to the courtyard to wash up.

The scene of going to Takamagahara with my mother to find Shinki is still vivid in my mind, but in the blink of an eye, it has become the so-called mythological era. To be honest, this feeling is a bit strange.

However, in that era, a theocratic age where gods ruled over countries, it wouldn't be wrong to call it a mythological era... The era in which the goddesses lived was already equivalent to the ancient times of several hundred years ago, let alone the era of Shinki.

"……Um?"

As if sensing something, Shi Bai suddenly raised his head, and a plump pigeon slowly flew to the eaves under his gaze.

—One minute later.

"Messages delivered by carrier pigeon? Seriously, what era is this...?"

While fiddling with the barbecue in front of him, Shi Bai opened the small note in his hand with a slightly speechless expression. As he did so, several lines of delicate handwriting appeared before him.

Eirin Yagokoro's handwriting was easy to read, and the contents of the note were quite simple. It only told him the specific time and location of Kaguya Houraisan's descent to the mortal realm, and also mentioned that before that, the Moon People would offer enough gold to the pre-selected Taketori family.

After all, if we're hiring someone to take care of a princess from the Moon Capital, the necessary expenses can't be skimped on.

"Gold? It's not like I'm broke... Wait, this letter is from yesterday afternoon? That means Kaguya Houraisan already left the Moon Capital and arrived in the mortal realm last night... That doesn't make sense, wasn't it supposed to be that the Moon People would come to deliver gold? I didn't see any, they were supposed to be responsible for leading the Bamboo Cutter to the location where Kaguya Houraisan descended... Did they all skip work?"

Shi Bai tilted his head slightly, sprinkled some cumin on the roasted pigeon in front of him, and looked puzzled.

When he came back last night, he didn't see any Moon People around here... uh...

Shi Bai suddenly remembered the two "thieves" he had casually knocked down, knocked unconscious, and tied up yesterday.

Following his memory, Shi Bai looked toward a corner of the bamboo grove courtyard and indeed found more than a dozen pieces of gold scattered on the ground. It seemed that they had been thrown in directly from outside the fence. When he moved his gaze to the side, he met two pairs of eyes filled with terror.

Shi Bai: "..."

Because he had been deeply preoccupied with the source of his inexplicable urge to devour Hieda Rei the entire previous night, he hadn't paid much attention to the two thieves he had knocked out and tied to the bamboo. However, looking at them now, he realized that the two thieves he had knocked out and tied to the bamboo appeared to be two moon rabbit girls with different hair colors; their long rabbit ears completely betrayed their identities…

"...Qinglan and Linghu?"

He quickly searched his memory and found the identities of the two moon rabbits in front of him. After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai first took out his phone and took a few pictures of the two tied-up moon rabbits in front of him. Then, he calmly turned back to continue roasting the pigeon.

Yesterday, he only ate breakfast all day...

Qinglan/Linghu: "???"

To be honest, rather than going up to help the other person untie their clothes and then being awkwardly speechless later, he might as well fill his stomach first.

Hieda Rei had promised to come see him today, and he didn't want to feel any more appetite for her... Just thinking about it was an extremely bizarre scene for him.

...Fortunately, that desire was very weak.

While roasting the pigeons, he didn't forget to carefully review the note in his hand again. After all, it wouldn't be good if he missed some crucial information; otherwise, he wouldn't have knocked out those two unfortunate moon rabbits... uh...

Looking at the last line of writing on the note, the person's hands suddenly froze, and their gaze involuntarily shifted to the perfectly roasted pigeon in front of them, which was emitting a rich aroma.

"...When did Eirin get her pet?"

P.S.: The author seems very ______.

Reward Notification

These past few days, the monthly pass for the event can be used unlimited times... although it's not really useful to me.

I'm just asking for some razor blades, look how much I update, right?

I can guarantee that among books published around the same time, I now have the most words.

So I'm offering a bounty.

Bonus chapters for monthly tickets, blades, recommendation tickets, or rewards. The rules are the same: 100 monthly tickets, 100 blades, 1000 recommendation tickets, or 10,000 rewards will result in a bonus chapter.

The above are the nine lives.

Chapter Twenty-One: Kaguya of Houraisan - Opening the Error

Although she was temporarily tied up with matters in the Lunar Capital, Eirin Yagokoro was undoubtedly extremely concerned about things on the ground. However, she couldn't devote all her energy to the ground, so the pet pigeon she had bred served as a bridge between the two.

On the little note that Yagokoro Eirin brought with the pigeon, this point was specifically mentioned. Because it came from the Moon Capital, the pigeon was named Moon Pigeon, just like the rabbits of the Moon Capital are called Moon Rabbits.

Looking at the note written by Yagokoro Eirin about feeding the pigeons, Shi Bai thought for a moment, then sprinkled some chili powder on the roasted pigeon in front of him, and sighed with great emotion.

"As expected of the pigeons of the Moon Capital, they actually like chili powder..."

Seeing the person's actions over there, Qinglan and Linghu, who were tied to the bamboo and unable to move, couldn't help but tremble.

Although they had heard that the people on the surface were savage before setting off for the surface world, this was the first time they had ever witnessed something so barbaric. Those were moon pigeons, roasted and eaten by that terrifying man… What if that man came and ate them too? Perhaps the looks he gave them earlier were him plotting his next move…

Shouldn't this have been a simple and easy task? Why did it turn out like this? Where is the kind-hearted family of the bamboo keeper who should have lived here? Why has it suddenly been replaced by an extremely dangerous individual...? The surface is indeed very dangerous...

The two moon rabbits, who were first knocked unconscious and then tied to bamboo and left to dry overnight, suddenly began to question their very existence.

"Indeed, these are pigeons from the Moon Capital. The taste is superb. In terms of cooking, high-end ingredients are extremely important."

Shi Bai took out a toothpick, put it in his mouth, and nodded with satisfaction.

Although it's a bit shameful that I let my student's pet die so quickly, there are always accidents in the world. Pigeons have natural enemies too. As long as I and the two moon rabbits over there keep quiet and don't tell anyone, who would know that I was the one who ate this moon pigeon?

Besides, who told this pigeon to be so fattened up by Yagokoro Eirin...?

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai walked towards Qinglan and Linghu, who were trembling and on the verge of tears, with an unusually kind smile on his face.

"That...that won't work..."

"No...no...it's very sensitive there..."

"Waaah... Don't grab it with your hands..."