The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

"Whether it's a natural disaster or a man-made one, it's probably related to Saigyou Sakura. Although these things have nothing to do with us, I can still tell you since you want to hear about them."

After thinking for a moment, Yukari Yakumo released the firefly and summarized what she knew in the simplest terms.

"Tonight, Saigyou Sakura will become Saigyou Ayakashi, a yakura tree that guides all life around it toward death. Under the cover of that absolute death power, not only the Saigyouji family, but all life in Gensokyo will be guided to death by that Saigyou Ayakashi."

"........."

Saigyō Sakura is the name of the cherry blossom tree under which the Saigyō monk was buried after his death.

"But don't worry, I'll get you out of here before then."

Standing up from the ground, Yukari Yakumo looked up at the night sky.

As time goes by, more and more meteors streak across the sky, and a magnificent meteor shower is about to begin.

Looking at the meteor shower in the sky, Yakumo Yukari smiled and turned her head to see Saigyouji Yuyuko, who was still sitting on the ground hugging her knees.

"Alright, let's stop worrying about those pointless things. Now, let's enjoy this once-in-a-century meteor shower. Even for me, a sage among demons, such a rare spectacle is practically impossible to witness..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Saigyouji Yuyuko, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly turned her head and glanced at her. When she met the gaze directed at her, Yakumo Yukari was immediately stunned.

—That was a strange look she had almost never seen in the other person's eyes before.

After glancing at her, Saigyouji Yuyuko didn't even say a word before getting up from the ground and running back the way she came, in the direction from which the meteor shower had disappeared in the night sky above.

Staring blankly at the departing figure, for some reason, Yukari Yakumo suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of irritability and... bewilderment.

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

The Saigyouji family was once the largest demon-slaying family, but now, the entire Saigyouji family compound has become more desolate than ever before, with all the Saigyouji family members who originally lived there having disappeared without a trace.

Without a second thought, Saigyouji Yuyuko ran straight to where Saigyou Sakura was. But before she could even catch her breath, the scene before her completely stunned her.

Beneath the cherry blossom tree before them, all the members of the Saigyouji family who had previously disappeared gathered. As if on a pilgrimage, they formed several circles under the tree, tilting their heads back and opening their mouths to look at the cherry blossoms before them. Wisps of their souls drifted out from their mouths and flowed into the cherry blossoms, making the cherry blossoms on the tree bloom even more brilliantly.

After a brief silence, Saigyouji Yuyuko reached out and took out the only item she had taken with her when she planned to leave the Saigyouji family... it was the small knife that Yakumo Yukari had given her as a return gift.

Without the slightest hesitation, she pulled the knife from its sheath and let it fall to the ground. Then, she stretched out her left hand and slashed the knife straight down her wrist.

After doing all this, she let go, letting the knife fall into the dust, and then raised her left hand high in the direction of Saigyou Sakura.

In an instant, drawn by some inexplicable force, countless drops of blood gushed from the wound on her left wrist, transforming into countless fluttering crimson butterflies in mid-air, flying towards the Saigyou Cherry Blossom in front of her.

Wherever the crimson butterflies flew, the cherry blossoms that were originally in full bloom on the trees quickly withered and turned into countless cherry blossom petals fluttering in the air, staining the cherry blossoms with ink.

The beautiful scene of cherry blossoms falling and butterflies dancing was what Yukari Yakumo saw when she arrived.

The earth began to tremble, and countless black tree roots surged up from the ground, sweeping wildly towards Saigyouji Yuyuko like a tidal wave. Yakumo Yukari shouted something to Yuyuko in great panic, but the other party never turned around and let the sweeping tree roots completely bury her.

Everything about the Saigyou Ayakashi was rapidly withering away. First the cherry blossoms, then the trunk, and finally, the once lush cherry tree became a massive, dead trunk. Those under the tree who had been bewitched by the Saigyou Ayakashi were suddenly awakened, and all sorts of noises and commotion filled the air.

"No one died, or rather, only one person died..."

Looking at this outcome, which he had never imagined, Morichika Rinnosuke's eyes widened slightly.

"........."

Silently observing everything before him, Soul Phantom suddenly sheathed his longsword, then turned and walked straight into the darkness, seemingly heading nowhere. He ignored the calls of Morichika Rinnosuke behind him.

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

Yukari Yakumo found the small knife she had once given away amidst the mud and dust.

It was covered in dust and mud, with faint traces of blood mixed in, which made it even more glaring to her eyes.

Seeing Yuyuko willing to be devoured by the Saigyou Ayakashi rather than look back at her, she felt a strange emptiness in her heart. She didn't understand why things had turned out this way, nor could she comprehend why Saigyouji Yuyuko would treat her this way.

What did I do wrong...?

"No, that's not right... The Underworld... I need to go to the Underworld to find her and get to the bottom of this... She's definitely in the Underworld right now... No matter what, I have to bring her back from the Underworld..."

Gripping her folding fan tightly, Yukari Yakumo muttered something to herself before her figure was suddenly enveloped by a purplish-red gap and vanished from the spot.

And exactly the next second after Yakumo Yukari left, Shi Bai's figure silently appeared in the arena.

After glancing in the direction where Yakumo Yukari disappeared, Shi Bai shook his head almost imperceptibly and looked up at Saigyou Ayakashi in front of him.

"Ink-dyed cherry blossoms... I'm going to be busy from now on."

Someone spoke in a low voice.

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

The underworld, a hall of right and wrong.

"How could she not be here?! She's definitely going to be here!!"

Yukari Yakumo looked on in disbelief.

"Don't forget where you are. Even if your special abilities allow you to come here, it doesn't mean you can act recklessly here."

Shiki Eiki spoke coldly.

"I'm only helping you look those things up because of my brother, so don't push your luck."

"But, but..."

"Didn't you hear me clearly? I think I made myself perfectly clear just now. Among the dead spirits who have come to the underworld, there is no such person as Saigyouji Yuyuko. Or to put it another way, the girl named Saigyouji Yuyuko you mentioned never existed in this world."

Lowering her head, Eiki Shiki continued her work.

"Even if that girl named Saigyouji Yuyuko really exists, if she is the important person you mentioned, how could you let her die in front of you?"

"........."

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

"...Can I ask you for one more favor?"

"No, you've already interfered with my work to a great extent."

"This is the last thing. After this, I will absolutely never bother you again."

"...Go ahead and say it. But I won't agree to anything too outrageous."

"Help me contact your brother."

P.S.: BV1o4411m7Zy, I recommend watching the original video for comparison.

Chapter Thirty-Four concludes the story, and I'm too lazy to think of a title.

Everything was like the same old story: the old story ended, and the new story began.

Few people know what exactly happened that night. Overnight, Saigyouji Yuyuko disappeared, Konpaku Youki left Gensokyo, Morichika Rinnosuke vanished, Saigyou Sakura withered and disappeared, and the followers of the Saigyouji family went their separate ways...

After a brief period of glory, the Saigyouji family fell apart, leaving only a few scattered records in later generations.

Hieda Ami was the son of the third generation of Miyako and the third compiler of Gensokyo Origins. She recorded all of this in detail in the history book and then put it in the darkest corner.

Everything seemed unchanged, yet everything also seemed to have undergone a subtle and inexplicable transformation.

Shi Bai brought the Western Journey Demon to the Underworld and then placed it in the White Jade Tower.

Although the Saigyou Ayakashi has been sealed, the present world is a realm of life. If a large amount of life force is injected into it, the Saigyou Ayakashi, which had withered away, will be resurrected... There is no place more suitable for storing this demonic cherry blossom than the underworld, a realm of death.

Besides that, he also had to take care of matters concerning Saigyouji Yuyuko.

The other party's current situation is similar to that of a dormant earthbound spirit sealed within a Saigyou Ayakashi. Although awakening her from the Saigyou Ayakashi would be simple, Shi Bai doesn't want her future life to be solely about sealing Saigyou Ayakashi. Before that, he must make the necessary preparations and arrangements.

He wanted to help the other party completely control the Saigyou Ayakashi, completely control the pure death power that had separated from him... This was something he had never done before, because he didn't have that kind of talent.

【Mourning for Death】This is a power that purely represents death. This level of power was stripped from him in a high-level apocalypse. At that time, that apocalypse had destroyed countless worlds, plunging everything into absolute silence and turning all living beings into members of the apocalypse.

He actually hated dealing with these unreasonable apocalyptic entities, because they only brought destruction. And often, along with those apocalyptic entities, a whole bunch of "Spark Worlds" would appear in the same world, attracted by the delicious food scraps. They would disguise themselves as various systems or cheat codes to find their hosts and then go together to divide up the origin of the world destroyed by the apocalypse.

—Just like flies drawn to a smell, buzzing incessantly in front of him, it was incredibly annoying.

The reason there are so many time-travel incidents is because of the "Fire Seed Worlds" that are constantly seeking the origin. They spontaneously seek out tools to work for them, establishing various interest relationships with each other.

Those who possess a system or a cheat code often believe they are the protagonist and actively try to save the world with the system's help. However, in the end, the world itself is either completely devoured or it is transformed into a "spark world" to repeat the next cycle, seeking that tiny chance of world revival.

If the world itself is not strong enough and is unlucky enough, this is often the final result. Therefore, when a world encounters a fatal crisis, it will generally consciously and actively cultivate a chosen one, also known as the protagonist, to save the world.

Of course, while such struggles are mostly futile, there are occasionally successful examples, which have become the various successful film and animation works that we are familiar with.

All imaginative works created throughout human history are projections of other worlds onto Earth. In this vast universe, we coexist, compete, infiltrate, and interfere with countless other civilizations.

The world is infinite.

Of all the worlds Shi Bai had visited, the ones he hated most were those ravaged by the apocalypse.

As soon as he arrived in that world, countless notifications of system logins would ring in his ears. In addition to potential and compatibility in various aspects, the systems also examined the host's own strength when choosing a host. Listening to the systems vying to introduce their functions one by one, hoping that he could bind with them, was simply torture for him.

At first, he was able to calmly refuse them one by one, but later, when he became impatient, he simply went on a killing spree. Even though those systems formed from the [Fire Seed World] were difficult to kill, he still managed to dismantle thousands of systems in bits and pieces... although they were completely useless.

There were still so many systems eagerly volunteering themselves, determined to acknowledge him as their master. In the end, to get rid of this trouble completely, he simply started plotting the end of the world.

Because the apocalypse, representing destruction, is absolutely incompatible with the world itself, as long as he can obtain the power of the apocalypse, he will no longer have the trouble of countless systems coming to his door... It has to be said that at that time, his way of thinking was quite deviated from the right path, and insiders would definitely call him an amateur.

In the end, he succeeded. His troubles were resolved, and he successfully killed a high-level doomsday being and gained the power of the doomsday. However, he overestimated himself. He was not able to completely subdue this terrifying power, and was even almost controlled by it.

Therefore, he had to spend a lot of time gradually erasing the doomsday mark attached to this power; otherwise, if this continued, he would be completely assimilated by the doomsday and become a new advanced doomsday.

【Death Mourning】is the power of the rules of death for all living beings after he completely eroded the mark of the apocalypse. However, 【Death Mourning】 is not the same as the apocalypse. The true apocalypse is still locked within his heart, and that is an extremely dangerous existence ranked among the top five.

Saigyouji Yuyuko possesses the potential and talent to fully control this power, but she lacks the ability to actually control it. What Shibai needs to do is fill that gap for her.

He used to have no attachments and could roam the world freely, but now he does. He absolutely cannot abandon this world, so he must strengthen the power of this world itself.

He never imagined that the world he now inhabited would ultimately end in destruction.

"What do you need me for? Nine thousand."

Looking up at Yakumo Yukari, who appeared at the summit of Youkai Mountain, with a puzzled expression, Shi Bai threw out the mahjong tile in his hand.

At the summit of the Mountain of Yokai, a mahjong table, a set of mahjong tiles, four chairs, plus Ibuki Suika, the Great Tengu, and the Tenma, perfectly constitute this mahjong game.

"If you want to join the game, you'll have to see if anyone wants to leave the table later."

"...Can we talk alone?"

After a moment of silence, Yukari Yakumo spoke.

"I need to ask you for help with something... I'd appreciate your assistance, it won't take up too much of your time."

"In the guise of a sage of monsters?"

Shi Bai raised an eyebrow.

"...No, in the identity of Yakumo Yukari."

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

"Speak, what's the matter? I need to hurry back, otherwise those guys will definitely be secretly looking at my cards."

On a shady side of the summit of Youkai Mountain, after expertly peeling a lollipop for himself and popping it into his mouth, Shi Bai casually tossed one to Yakumo Yukari as well.

"Try it, it tastes like bitter melon, it's cooling and relieves internal heat."

"........."

Yukari Yakumo silently peeled off the candy wrapper and put the lollipop in her mouth.

"...I would like to ask you to help me save someone."

"Uh...human?"

Shi Bai blinked in confusion.

Is that human important to you?

"Very important."

"But if she was someone very important to you, how could she have died?"

"……I have no idea."

"do not know?"

“She committed suicide in front of me with the knife I gave her. I don’t know why she did it, and I can’t understand it at all… I have no idea where I went wrong.”

"If you yourself think you're not wrong, then you must be right. That human is dead, so why do you care so much? Maybe in another ten or twenty years, you'll forget about him completely."

"...I can't forget it."