The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

But no matter what the final outcome will be, Shi Bai is certain that Yakumo Yukari will definitely suffer a loss.

The reason he made this judgment was not only because Yakumo Yukari was in the wrong, but also because... Saigyou is Yuyuko and the pink-haired girl.

As is widely known, pink-haired animals are actually black inside.

"At this point in time, it's almost here..."

After returning from the underworld, Shi Bai looked up at the sky and silently pondered in his heart.

At this point in time, roughly estimated to be between the 13th and 14th centuries, or perhaps the early or mid-14th century, a major event is planned to occur in the world.

—The dragon vein was severed, severing the connection between heaven and earth and cutting off the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

After this, the demons will gradually decline due to the gradual depletion of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while the forces belonging to humanity will begin to rise strongly.

After several hundred years, once the influence of mystery has completely faded from the world, and without the interference of mystery, the power of human science will rise in the world and develop to an extremely high level in just a few hundred years.

That's the essence of human social history.

The real upheavals in human life occurred in the hundred years following the 19th century. Several industrial revolutions and the rise of science and technology brought about rapid changes in human life, and these changes took place in just over 100 years.

Just as people living more than 100 years ago could not imagine the lives of modern humans more than 100 years later, they simply could not imagine that technology could develop to such a terrifying and unimaginable level in just 100 years, because previous history has proven that changes over a century do not produce much change.

For over 1800 years, from the 1st century AD to the 19th century, there was very little progress in human technology. It wasn't until after the 19th century, when the influence of mystery completely disappeared from the world, that technology truly began to flourish.

—The existence that hinders the rise of technology is precisely mysterious.

This is not a joke, but an actual fact.

If humanity is to rise and develop its technological power, severing the connection between heaven and earth and cutting off the mystical path... is imperative!

P.S.: There will be another update shortly...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Reunion with Yuuka

Some things don't need to be said too much.

Just like what he said to Soulful Demon before, so-called rules are tools set up by the strong to protect the weak. Those who are strong enough can set up their own rules.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was severed, the connection between heaven and earth was cut off, the bridge between heaven and earth was severed, and monsters withdrew from the stage of history, making humans the protagonists of a new era.

—This is the script that Shi Bai had prepared a long time ago.

After the dragon vein is severed, the disappearance and severance of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth will be like a frog being slowly boiled in water. As time goes by, the mysterious power will slowly fade away in this world and will only exist in certain specific places.

Ultimately, the stage of this world belongs to humankind.

Since Tsukiyomi returned to Luna, several hundred years have quietly passed. Although the forces belonging to Luna have withdrawn from the ground and the war is over, Luna's pursuit of Yagokoro Eirin has never ceased, only it has shifted from being overt to covert.

Originally, Shi Bai wanted to visit Hong Meiling at Huo Qing'e's place, but when he arrived at the temple where the goddess and Budu were once sealed, he was quite surprised to find that it was a long-abandoned ruin.

"Did Qing'e move the Temple of the Gods? It seems her strength has increased again..."

After standing in the center of the ruins and looking around for a while, Shi Bai exhaled and then took out a light gold card from his storage ring, holding it between two fingers.

"...Never mind, let's get down to business now."

Previously, he had exchanged an ability with the ancient god known as "The World"—"Uninvited Guest."

Strictly speaking, this ability isn't particularly powerful, and its practical use is quite limited. However, for him now, he needs a byproduct derived from this ability.

In Shi Bai's heart, he had always been troubled by the fact that he had spent so much time but still couldn't find Kazami Yuuka, so he desperately needed the ability to find people.

Although there are all sorts of strange and wonderful abilities in the void, the Ancient God ability [Uninvited Guest] is the most suitable ability he can find so far if he wants to obtain one that can help him without revealing himself.

His original plan was to find those merchants to trade and exchange abilities, but since he happened to encounter that kind of world along the way, there was naturally no need to deal with those unscrupulous merchants. Who knows if those unscrupulous merchants would sell his information in the blink of an eye?

—The managers of those mystery shops are absolutely capable of doing something like this.

The reason he was able to find the reclusive spirit Yoki so quickly was because of the guidance of this ability. Now that he has finished dealing with the matters at Hakugyokurou, it is time to set off to find Kazami Yuuka.

Three months later, a weary traveler arrived in a quiet village at the foot of the mountain.

Due to the surge in spiritual energy in the world, the number of monsters born in the world is increasing. Under these circumstances, most humans live in groups, and the existence of such a lonely little village far from human habitation is simply a miracle.

It didn't take long for Shi Bai to find the village chief of this quiet village in a rather grand but ordinary house in the northeast corner of the village.

"Tribute?"

After explaining his purpose, Shi Bai raised an eyebrow upon receiving a rather unexpected piece of news from the village chief.

"Ahem... That's right, there's a very powerful demon living near this village, and she protects the peace of our village."

The village chief was an old man over fifty years old, a rare sight in this era. Leaning on a cane, he squinted slightly as he faced the sunlight outside.

"About every six months, the residents of our village set off to the place where that monster lives to offer sacrifices in exchange for the monster's protection of our village... Young man, leave here as soon as possible. Our village is peaceful, and we only hope that this peace can continue. We don't need those Onmyoji or shrine maidens to drive away the monster."

"Of course, I'm just an adventurer who does it out of interest."

With a smile, Shi Bai stood up, leaving a square black box on the table.

"Old man, please accept this box as a gift from me. It's still early, so I must continue on my way. Farewell."

"let's go……"

Leaning on his cane, the village chief let out a soft sigh.

Seeing this, Shi Bai didn't linger and turned to walk out the door.

About ten minutes later, after confirming that the dangerous visitor had left, the village chief, who had been sitting on the floor, visibly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to shout towards the inner room.

"Come out, that human is gone."

"Old man, is he really gone?"

An old woman peeked out from the inner room, trembling. Perhaps due to extreme nervousness, her head fell off her neck and rolled to the village chief's side.

"They're gone, they're really gone. That was absolutely terrifying!"

The village chief replied rather irritably, using his cane to nudge the old woman's head back onto the ground.

"Keep your head under control and don't let it fall off again. Fortunately, our race is hard to distinguish from humans unless they intentionally remove their heads, otherwise I would have been in trouble just now. You have no idea how terrifying that guy's aura was."

"Yes, it is indeed terrifying."

The old woman put her head back on her neck and nodded with a sorrowful expression.

"Hey old man, how could such a powerful guy come to a godforsaken place like ours? Could it be that he's planning to...?"

As she said this, the old woman pointed upwards with a cautious expression.

"...Is that person troublesome?"

"Who knows? Anyway, for little monsters like us, all we need is to live a peaceful and tranquil life."

The village chief glanced at the square box on the table and snorted coldly.

"Also, why don't we call a meeting of all the clansmen another day and direct that guy to my house? Do you want me to die already?! What if he happens to see us like that..."

"You audacious monster, I can tell you're not human at first glance!!"

Before the old village chief could finish speaking, a sharp shout suddenly rang out from inside the house.

"!!!"

Upon hearing the sudden sound coming from inside the house, the old village chief and his wife turned pale with fright. Their terrified gazes turned simultaneously to the box on the table that had suddenly made the sound, and the sound coming from the box continued.

"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon! World-Honored Ksitigarbha! Great Luo Dharma Mantra! Prajna Buddhas! Prajna Paramita! Flying Dragon in the Sky!!"

"boom--!!!"

With a soft rumble, the square box on the table slowly opened automatically, revealing the contents inside.

—It was a small radio.

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

"Are all these yokai villages made up of the same race? I think the yokai of this race is called Akabanki... no, Akabanki is a name, the race name is either Rokurokubi or Hitokuban?"

As he walked up the mountain along the path trodden by wild animals, Shi Bai pondered to himself.

The Flying Head Demon, as the name suggests, is a monster that can detach its head from its body, allowing it to fly off and thus split up to act independently.

In the Gensokyo of later generations, there is also a reclusive, aloof, and chuunibyou-ish Rokurokubi named Akabane. I wonder if Akabane is in the village we just talked about...

In any case, Shi Bai never expected that in such a remote place, these weak monsters would spontaneously gather and imitate the way humans live, and even form a small human village.

It's important to know that even the tanuki that had once asked him for help were from a group of yokai (supernatural tanuki) who lived according to the habits of yokai, not humans.

...Perhaps it's because the Rokurokubi race of yokai doesn't look much different from humans, allowing them to blend into crowds easily? After all, all they need to do is cover up the cut on their necks...

The road up the mountain was difficult to travel because no one had traveled there for a long time. However, just as Zhou Xun famously said, "There was no road in the world, but as more people walked on it, it became a road." Shi Bai felt that Zhou Xun's words made a lot of sense.

However, after climbing for about an hour and just as he was about to reach the summit, Shi Bai's gaze inadvertently fell upon a pigeon flying merrily overhead. Suddenly realizing something, he fell into silence.

(Seriously, I could have flown up there... so why did I leave?)

Because of this discovery, someone fell into deep doubt about his own intelligence... and then, in a fit of rage, he picked up a stone and knocked the pigeon down to prepare it as a midday snack.

However, when he finally reached the top of the mountain, he was quite surprised to find that the view was slightly different from what he had imagined.

At the very center of the mountaintop lies a vast lake, and beside the lake stands a rather beautiful and expansive Western-style mansion.

"Wait, is this the Dream Pavilion? Then this lake must be the Lake of Blood..."

His lips twitched slightly, and then he suddenly realized something, discovering that he had made a rather significant, common-sense mistake in the past.

"But that's not right. The Dream World should have already broken free from its fusion with the Underworld, so how could it be..."

Still puzzled, Shi Bai reached out and pressed his forehead hard.

"...Never mind, let's just go in and see. The card points to this location, which means Yuuka must be here too."

Letting out a breath, Shi Bai glanced down at the trembling pigeon he had been holding in his hand, which he had originally intended to use as a lunch snack, and then casually let go of it and released it back into the wild.

"Hmm... since the lunch snack is pigeon, then it's perfectly normal for the pigeon to fail to appear..."

After muttering this to himself, Shi Bai took the folding fan that Saigyouji Yuyuko had given him, which he had always kept tucked behind his neck, and walked towards the Dream Pavilion on the other side of the lake, intending to go around it from this side of the lake.

He had only taken two steps when, somewhat speechless, he slapped his head with his folding fan and flew directly toward the mansion.

"Tsk, empiricism can sometimes really kill you..."

From a distance, the mansion didn't seem like much, but when Shi Bai flew closer, he realized that its grandeur far exceeded his expectations.

"Is this the real Dreamland...?"

After muttering a few words of reflection in front of the Dream Pavilion, Shi Bai lifted his foot to enter. However, he had only taken half a step when a paving stone flew straight from a distance and landed precisely in front of him.

Wait... why are they floor tiles?

Seeing the floor tile that had fallen from the sky and landed in front of him, which looked like a tile that had just been lifted from the floor, Shi Bai's expression became rather strange.

"The Dream Pavilion is a forbidden area, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. You would be best to leave now, or I will have to be very rude."

Looking up and following the sound, Shi Bai saw a girl with yellow pupils and curly yellow hair, wearing a white wide-brimmed hat with a bright red ribbon, a dark red dress with a white collar, and brown boots staring at him warily in front of the main entrance of the Dream Pavilion not far away.

In stark contrast to the girl's petite figure was a massive scythe with an outer blade and a bright red handle, which she carried on her back.

Of course, none of these things are the main point. The main point is that the girl wasn't holding a sickle, but rather a paving stone in each hand...

"Hmm, it looks like the floor tiles were definitely taken from inside the Dream Pavilion."

Shi Bai nodded in agreement.

"This child has a bright future."

Girl: "..."

P.S.: Good morning.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Yuuka Kazami (End of Volume)

In front of the magnificent mansion, Shi Bai's soliloquy caused the originally tense atmosphere to fall into an eerie silence.

After a long silence, the girl guarding the Dream Pavilion silently placed the floor tile in her hand on the ground, then silently picked up the huge scythe hidden behind her back and pointed it at him.

"This is a forbidden place. No matter who you are, please leave here immediately."

"Hmm... that's not important. What I'm really curious about is why you used the floor tile attack. Could you please answer my question?"