The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"no problem."

After flipping through the book her teacher had just given her, Yagokoro Eirin nodded confidently.

then……

"...Are you sure this is scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"

Looking at the dish on the table, Shi Bai silently raised his head and looked at the girl in front of him.

"Yes, I'm sure, I followed the recipe exactly."

After glancing at the recipe in her hand, Yagokoro Eirin nodded confidently.

"I guarantee there won't be any problems. Please, teacher, have a taste."

"So where does your inexplicable confidence come from...? Tomato and egg stir-fry is a dish with red and yellow colors, not a mixture of black and green!!!"

Just as you can't expect a retired veteran who killed countless people on the battlefield to be a good cook, Yagokoro Eirin had never been exposed to anything related to cooking before. Even if she followed a recipe, it was impossible for her to transform into a chef in the shortest amount of time.

After all, when she lived alone before, she basically only ate fruit every day... and not even that often.

Although he deeply suspected that Yagokoro Eirin wanted to poison him, Shibai ultimately had no choice but to start teaching him from the very basics of boiling an egg, all for the sake of his own little dream.

By the time Yagokoro Eirin was finally able to make normal dishes, more than a month had passed quietly, and the weather had turned cold. When she woke up, she could see a thick layer of frost on the window.

Over the course of more than a month, Eirin Yagokoro never gave up on her idea of ​​purifying the [Eternal Spirit Blade]. As the latent killing intent within her gradually faded during this period of daily life, the day when the [Eternal Spirit Blade] would once again shine was not far off.

During this period, Shi Bai was not idle. Apart from his usual slacking off and teaching the other party how to cook, he spent most of his remaining time writing medical books.

There are many races in the Celestial Realm that possess exceptional medical skills, and he didn't just idle away his ten years there. Furthermore, having lived alone for so long, his knowledge and experience far surpasses that of Yagokoro Eirin.

This medical book, into which he poured his heart and soul, will be given to his disciples as a gift when they graduate. It is no exaggeration to say that this book incorporates the essence of ancient mythology.

Passing on the medical knowledge of an era is a priceless treasure, no matter where it is placed.

Of course, according to Shi Bai's own estimation, completing this medical book is still a long way off, given the current progress...

In his spare time, as an extra activity for self-cultivation, he would choose to play chess with Yagokoro Eirin. Whether it was Ludo, Go, Gomoku, or Chinese chess, he would bring out all of them.

And the current record is... 10 wins and 123 losses.

P.S.: Tickets

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Happy New Year

Although she wasn't particularly talented in cooking, Eirin Yagokoro was incredibly adept at pure intellectual games like chess.

Once Yagokoro Eirin figures out the rules, in board games, Shiro usually suffers a crushing defeat.

Even though Shi Bai, in order to uphold his dignity as a teacher, went so far as to cheat by using a chess app on his phone to play against Yagokoro Eirin, setting the computer's level to Grandmaster... he only won two games, and then lost every game after that.

If even chess, which he considers his best game, is like this, then it goes without saying that Go or Gomoku are even worse.

The biggest problem is that Yagokoro Eirin seems to have developed a great interest in board games, especially Go, often playing a game for an entire afternoon. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to be courteous and frequently crushes him on the board.

...Shi Bai harbored considerable resentment towards this.

"Teacher, let's play chess!"

Just as Shi Bai was racking his brains over the blank medical book in front of him, Yagokoro Eirin walked in from outside the door carrying a Go board.

"Ahem... Yagokoro, let's not play Go today. Let's talk about something else."

Shi Bai coughed a few times, then put down his calligraphy brush.

As for why I chose to use a calligraphy brush instead of other more convenient ballpoint pens or fountain pens... well, it's because writing with a calligraphy brush looks cool!

...Ahem, as an old geezer who has lived for who knows how many years and will continue to live in the future, Shi Bai did not just drift along in those long years.

The years are long and endless; if we don't use this time to do something meaningful or improve ourselves, then it's not much different from being dead.

His beautiful and elegant calligraphy can be considered one of the countless small achievements he made during that time when he was wandering the earth alone.

Humans are social creatures after all. Although he has become an immortal being, his human heart remains the same. He doesn't want to become a monster in that endless time.

So even though he could go without eating every day without any problems, he still maintains the habit of eating three meals a day, lest his body be fine but his heart be dead.

It's not a problem for a person to wander for decades or centuries in a world without any living beings to interact with, but to stay in such a desperate world for hundreds or thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands or millions of years?

...Just thinking about it is a terrifying number.

Imagine a world where there is no one but you, no one to talk to, and you can only speak to yourself. Endless loneliness will forever envelop you...

Perhaps the gods could do this and remain calm, but Shi Bai didn't want to become something devoid of humanity, cold as a monster. That's why he chose to seal himself when his mental endurance was about to reach a critical point.

If even the self is worn away by endless time, then at that time... will you still be yourself?

"other things?"

Slightly puzzled, Yagokoro Eirin walked to the sofa and sat down, placing the Go board she was holding on the coffee table.

"Teacher, is there something important you need me to tell you?"

"Yes, it is indeed a very important matter..."

Shi Bai pressed his forehead with his hand, then left the desk and walked to the sofa.

"The New Year is just around the corner, let's make some preparations."

"Chinese New Year? What's that?"

Yagi Eirin was a little confused.

Is it a traditional celebration of the Dongshen tribe?

"Well... in short, it's a very, very important holiday. To be honest, you can think of it that way too."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai answered decisively.

"I'll write two couplets later, you can take them out and paste them by the door, and then prepare some... never mind, I'll prepare those myself, you just need to decorate the bamboo grove a little."

"couplet?"

It was rare to see her teacher so enthusiastic, and Yagokoro Eirin couldn't help but feel a little more curious.

"Should we stick them on both sides of the door?"

"That's right, come and help me hold the red paper..."

Walking to an open space inside the room, Shi Bai rummaged through his storage ring for boxes while muttering to himself.

"Speaking of which, I've been practicing calligraphy for a full six months, and now it can finally come in handy... Oh right, what kind of couplet should I write?"

After frowning and thinking for a long time, Shi Bai picked up the brush and wrote a couplet on the paper in no time.

[First came Hongjun, then came Heaven; Zi Ma was still before the Great Dao.]

Today I turn seventeen, a year has passed in the chaos of war.

Horizontal scroll: [Forever Seventeen]

Looking at his masterpiece in front of him, Shi Bai nodded with satisfaction, then turned to the girl beside him who had fallen silent at some point and began to speak.

"Yagi, please paste this couplet on the front door of my house in a moment."

"...Teacher, may I ask you a question?"

"Hmm? Ask away if you have any questions."

Looking at the girl beside him, Shi Bai spoke with some curiosity.

What was the couplet that the teacher prepared for me?

"【Punching the Yakumo Nursing Home, kicking the Red Devil Kindergarten】. The horizontal inscription: 【If you don't court death, you won't die】. How about that, pretty badass, right!?"

Twirling the calligraphy brush in his hand, Shi Bai wore a smug expression.

"Yakoi, let me tell you, this couplet is one of my masterpieces. Although you may not know what Yakumo Nursing Home or Scarlet Devil Kindergarten are now, you will understand in the future."

"...Teacher, can I write the couplet for my own door myself?"

After a moment of silence, Eirin Yagokoro spoke first.

"Eh? You want to write the couplets yourself? Hmm... that's fine, but what do you plan to write?"

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai nodded.

"Let's write this."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Yagokoro Eirin picked up her brush and wrote down the couplet she had conceived on the red paper.

[A blissful dream, a paradise untouched by worldly concerns]

[A carefree heart finds contentment in escaping the world's dust and grime.]

It seems that whether it's the monsters and gods of today, or the immortal beings of ancient mythology, they are all born with the ability to understand language and writing, and Yagokoro Eirin is clearly the best among them. Although she has only been using a brush for a short time, Yagokoro Eirin's handwriting is much more delicate than Shi Bai's, which surprised Shi Bai slightly.

"As for the horizontal scroll, I'll trouble the teacher to think of one."

Putting away her brush and standing up, Yagokoro Eirin turned to look at Shi Bai.

"The horizontal scroll?"

With a soft laugh, Shi Bai picked up his brush and added the final horizontal inscription to the couplet.

The Sage of the Moon

Oh hehehehe.jpg

P.S.: Please vote!

Chapter Thirty: An Unexpected Visitor to the Bamboo Forest

As the weather gradually turns colder, the bamboo forest is also getting colder and colder.

However, unlike the usual desolate and quiet bamboo forest, the bamboo forest has undoubtedly changed a lot now.

"...Teacher, what's the point of installing all this?"

After staring silently at the red object that her teacher called a lantern, which was hanging high up, for a while, Yagokoro Eirin turned around and asked her teacher a question.

"Of course it's because it looks good!!"

While rummaging through a large pile of boxes, Shi Bai answered without looking up.

"Instead of wasting time worrying about this, you might as well help me find these things. So much time has passed, who knows where I've put all those old things..."

"But I have absolutely no idea what the fireworks and firecrackers you're talking about are, teacher. If I try to help, I'll only make things worse."

Looking at the numerous boxes piled up like a small mountain in the bamboo forest clearing in front of her, Yagokoro Eirin shook her head, then turned to look at the couplet in front of her door.

"Also, teacher, what is the meaning of this horizontal inscription you provided?"

"It's okay if you don't understand now, you'll understand later. Your teacher is a super prophet!!"

With a nonchalant wave of his hand, Shi Bai put the box he had already inspected into his storage ring, and then dragged out another box from under the pile of boxes in front of him.

"In short, all you need is... I've finally found it. Looks like I'll have to find some time to categorize it next time..."

While muttering the above words to himself, Shi Bai took a large pile of "flammable and explosive materials" out of the box and neatly arranged them on the open ground in the bamboo forest.

"Are these...fireworks?"

As she stepped forward to take a look, Eirin Yagokoro couldn't help but appear somewhat curious.

"I couldn't sense any power from it at all; it felt just like a stone."

"Well, strictly speaking, this is science... Have we had guests?"

As if sensing something, Shi Bai turned his head and looked out of the bamboo forest with some confusion.

"Teacher, leave this to me. I have experience."

She frowned slightly, and a barely perceptible hint of killing intent flashed across Yagokoro Eirin's body.

"Go back and cook. I'll greet this guest."

Shi Bai glanced at the girl behind him and waved his hand dismissively.

"……I see."

After a moment of silence, Eirin Yagokoro nodded.