The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

After a slight pause, Shen Qi also stood up from the table. Looking at Shi Bai, who had already turned around and walked straight towards the door, she couldn't help but point at Xiao Xi on the bed and ask him a question.

“It’s safe here. I’ve even taken precautions around the area. Xiaoxi will need at least another day to wake up… I need to resolve this within a day.”

Turning his head, Shi Bai smiled at Shen Qi.

"So I'm leaving everything to you."

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

This was the first time that Shinki had experienced such extreme speed, as if she were pushing her limits.

Originally, the round trip was estimated to take at least three days at her normal pace, but under someone's guidance, she arrived in less than half an hour.

So much so that when Bai let go, Shen Qi was still not in the state of shock from the speed she had just experienced. It wasn't until someone chuckled and waved their hand in front of her eyes that she suddenly snapped out of it.

"This speed... just how much of your true strength are you hiding?"

Her face flushed slightly, and Shen Qi immediately became even more curious.

"Even the Roc, known for its speed and being the fastest in the Heavenly Realm, probably couldn't keep up with your speed, right?"

"Of course! That defeated opponent thinks he can keep up with my speed? This is the top-tier [Wind God]... Alright, where's the entrance?"

Shi Bai turned his head and looked around, discovering that he was in a desolate hilly area.

"Come with me."

She waved to Shi Bai, then decisively found a large rock, pushed it aside, and jumped straight into the cave below.

"Hiding in a place like this..."

Nodding thoughtfully, Shi Bai jumped in after him.

Inside this not-so-large underground cave, the succubus was boiling water in a kettle, with a whole box of instant noodles and dozens of empty instant noodle boxes next to her.

The succubus was initially puzzled by Shen Qi's early return, but when she saw Shi Bai following behind Shen Qi, her surprise turned into delight.

"teacher!?"

"Ahem... Thank you for your hard work."

Feeling a little uncomfortable under the succubus's surprised gaze, Shi Bai coughed a few times, slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, hey, hey, succubus, do you know how disheartening this differential treatment of yours is?"

Looking at the hot tea that the succubus respectfully offered to Shi Bai, and then glancing at her own empty cup, Shen Qi couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"That guy's so hungry he's started eating the table. Are you still planning to get him something to eat?"

"Cough cough cough!!!"

Because of Shen Qi's words, Shi Bai coughed even louder.

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

"Has Xiaoye always been like this since that time?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at Xiaoye with her eyes closed, Shi Bai frowned slightly and asked the succubus standing beside him.

"...That's right, ever since she rescued us and brought us here, she suddenly fainted and hasn't been here since."

After a moment of silence, the succubus nodded.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine once I get here."

Seemingly sensing what the succubus was thinking, Shi Bai smiled and gently placed his hand on the girl's forehead on the bed.

"...Because this matter that happened in the Heavenly Realm will be resolved soon."

The moment his hand touched the other's forehead, in an instant, Shi Bai felt as if his consciousness had fallen into a bottomless abyss...

When he finally regained consciousness, he found himself in a rather strange place.

—This is an endless corridor stretching across the void.

The material of this long corridor is unknown, but it vaguely reveals a crystal-like transparent texture and emits a faint, transparent fluorescence.

The corridor has no beginning and no end; its crystal-clear ceiling and railings shimmer and shift, seemingly existing there yet also as if they never existed at all.

Looking down, through the barely visible corridor floor, one can see the unfathomable darkness beneath, as if one might fall at any moment.

Just as Shi Bai was wondering about where he was, he suddenly heard a faint sigh.

"Brother, you shouldn't have come here."

P.S.: Good morning!

Chapter Fifteen: Dragon God

At that time, everything was uncertain.

Standing on this endless, empty corridor, illusory and dreamlike, boundless and ethereal, like a speck of dust in the vast night sky.

"Xiaoye? Where are you now!?"

Suddenly hearing this voice, which seemed to be right next to his ear yet also seemed to come from all directions, Shi Bai's expression changed slightly, and he quickly turned his head to search for the other party's whereabouts.

But all that met his eyes was a dark and boundless void. On this endless corridor, apart from the fireflies scattered all over the sky, there was no other person besides him.

"……I'm here."

A faint sigh seemed to drift over, and Xiaoye's voice came from the ethereal void. At the same time, her figure slowly appeared not far in front of Shi Bai. However, her figure was transparent and shimmering, like the endless corridor, seemingly neither there nor there, as if she were just a virtual projection cast into the corridor.

"Your condition..."

Seeing the strange condition on the girl in front of him, Shi Bai's face immediately turned extremely ugly.

"Stop your dangerous actions and come with me out of here."

"...No, this is my mission."

She looked down at her hands, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly looked up and laughed.

"Don't worry, once my consciousness takes over the world, you won't have to worry about being targeted by the world anymore. All the constraints imposed on you will disappear."

"Stop joking!! Do you even know what you're doing right now!?"

Shi Bai's expression gradually turned cold.

"Abandon everything, abandon yourself, and transform yourself into the embodiment of the world's will, becoming a cold, symbolic representation... Do you think I would allow such a thing to happen? Did you even consider my feelings when you said such a thing?"

"Brother, we are no longer children."

Xiao Ye clearly noticed the change in Shi Bai's emotions and sighed softly.

“Sometimes, some sacrifices are inevitable. Brother, didn’t you also secretly shoulder so much? Actually, all these years, I’ve always been by your side watching you. All that you’ve been through, all that you’ve encountered, all that you’ve faced… There were many times I wanted to go out and help you, but I could only watch silently from the sidelines. Do you know how I felt then? I don’t need white lies…”

"...Is it the system?"

After a long silence, Shi Bai finally spoke.

"You said you've been watching me the whole time, so you actually knew a lot of things from the beginning, right?"

“That’s right, I’ve been waiting for you to come… I didn’t want you to come here, but I’ve been hoping that you would come to me. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?”

Xiaoye's expression was rather complicated.

"But after lying to you for so long, I want to tell you all the things I've kept from you in person."

"None of those things matter."

Shi Bai reached out his hand to the girl in front of him and spoke calmly.

"Just come back with me obediently. Since you know about the system, you should trust me that I can do anything."

“You don’t understand. A mission isn’t something that can be taken over by someone else… Because I am the greatest creation left behind by the Eastern God Clan, made with the combined power of the entire clan…”

Xiaoye gave a slightly sad smile.

"I only came into existence after the Eastern God Clan sacrificed their entire race to the heavens and earth. The annihilation of the entire race was exchanged for my birth... This was a plan to steal the heavens and change the world, a plan initiated by the strongest race in history, using the full power of the entire clan. Do you know what this represents? This is the last act of resistance against the world..."

"...Is that so? That's why your strength is so unfathomable."

Shi Bai closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"That's right, no wonder they couldn't beat you even when they were all combined back then... So what is the relationship between you and the system? Have you been by my side all these years since I left the Celestial Realm?"

"The system... its real name is actually the Heart of Inheritance, and it was the place where I first resided."

Xiaoye spoke quietly.

"But perhaps it was an accident, or perhaps it was an inevitability within chance, but you suddenly appeared, brother, and even gained the recognition of the Heart of Inheritance. At that time, I was very curious because there were no more members of the Eastern God Clan in the world. Theoretically, no one other than the Eastern God Clan could gain the recognition of the Heart of Inheritance. So at the beginning, I was actually planning to come out and see who stole my things, and then kill them and take my things back..."

At this point, Xiaoye suddenly laughed.

“However, because I stayed inside the Heart of Inheritance for so long, I’m terrified of the dark, and besides, you can’t die… You know everything that happened afterward, brother. Although the Heart of Inheritance acknowledges you as its master, there’s still some kind of connection between us, so you haven’t actually been alone all these years…”

Suddenly, she took a few steps forward, reached out and hugged Shi Bai, burying her head in his chest, and spoke softly.

"I'm so sorry for hiding so much from you, brother. You must have been very tired, right? You must have been in a lot of pain at times, right? You must have been looking for a way to kill yourself completely, right?... You've been through so much alone, and I couldn't even share your pain. I could only watch silently from the sidelines... I'm so sorry..."

"...We can say sorry later. Now just come back with me obediently."

After a moment of silence, Shi Bai lowered his head and looked at the illusory girl in his arms.

"You don't want to become a cold symbol, do you? You don't want to exist merely as a symbolic meaning, do you? If you don't want to do it, that's fine. Forget about missions and all that, come back with me."

“I was born from the desolation of the Eastern God Clan, and I exist to carry the hopes of their entire race. I cannot betray them.”

The girl in his arms gently shook her head.

“At the beginning, I was really scared to death, and sometimes I felt confused. After all, after becoming the spokesperson for the world’s will, I didn’t know if I could still be considered myself at that time… But you gave me the courage to face those things.”

She raised her head and looked directly into Shi Bai's eyes, speaking earnestly.

"Thank you."

"...You know that's not the answer I wanted to hear."

"But this is the only answer I could give... Having watched you grow up for so long, I know you too well. There are some things we can't simply avoid doing just because we don't want to, right?"

Xiaoye's voice gradually became faint and ethereal.

"Although I didn't want you to come here, I knew you would. But as you said, there are gains and losses. In this world, you often have to give something to gain something..."

A slightly nostalgic smile appeared on Xiaoye's face.

"Don't worry, I haven't disappeared. As long as you're here, brother, my heart will never be lost... We will definitely meet again someday in the future."

The figure in his arms began to dissipate, turning into countless brilliant golden rays, and the girl's words gradually faded away with the disappearance of the golden light.

"So until then, please, brother, you must live on..."

"........."

After standing there in silence for a long time, Shi Bai slowly opened his eyes.

The underground cave was still there, but the figure that had been lying on the bed had vanished without a trace.

"……teacher?"

The succubus's slightly puzzled voice came from the side.

"It's nothing, let's go out."

Turning his head, Shi Bai smiled at the succubus and Shen Qi, who both looked puzzled, and stood up.

"What about the situation in the outer heavens..."

After a slight pause, Shen Qi quickly followed behind Shi Bai and couldn't help but ask him a question.

"already solved."

Before Shen Qi could finish speaking, Shi Bai gave a curt reply and went straight out of the cave.

When Shenqi and the succubus, who were also confused, followed, they found that someone's figure had already disappeared into the hilly wilderness, leaving only a faint sentence in the air.

"I'll be waiting for you over in the ruined city."

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

This was probably the first time the Dragon God had revealed his form to all living beings.

At that time, the world changed drastically. It was as if there were raging waves between heaven and earth. Amidst the churning clouds, torrential rain continued for seven days and seven nights before it finally stopped.