The afterlife blew up Gensokyo

After a moment of hesitation, Heca looked at someone beside her.

"By the way, who are you planning to give this place to?"

"For a little girl."

Shi Bai had a righteous and awe-inspiring expression on his face.

"This place is only good for reminiscing anyway. Rather than letting it gather dust, I'd rather give it to a little girl. Little girls are the most perfect beings in the world. They have three wonderful qualities: a gentle voice, a soft body, and are easy to get along with... plus they're obedient. I'm willing to offer my heart to a little girl!!"

"...a hopeless case."

Heka's lips twitched involuntarily, and he turned his head away expressionlessly.

"Perverts should obediently go where perverts should go."

"There's no way around it, the prison is full. Do you think I don't want to go and hang out with my fellow inmates and exchange ideas? But there's a shogi player, a pilot, a tailor, a tennis player... Do you think I don't want to go?"

With a slight pout, Shi Bai walked towards the nascent Earth Spirit Palace in front of him.

"There are some things you'll never understand. Even if someone's a pervert, they're just a gentleman in the name of perversion... This is the faith of us Touhou fans!!"

Heca: "..."

...So what kind of mind-altering potion did this extremely wicked guy give to Lord Dragon God?

With Heca's help, the construction of the Old Hell was quite successful, and as for what happened after the final step, that was no longer his concern.

...Because in the latter half of the project, he basically slacked off the entire time, leaving everything else to Heca. He, on the other hand, devoted all his attention to building the Earth Spirit Temple.

Anyway, I built the Hakugyokurou myself, so what difference does it make if I build the Earth Spirit Palace? When Gensokyo is established, I'll be the biggest landowner in all of Gensokyo...

"A mind-blocking artifact or spell? What do you need that for?"

Faced with the request made by Shiro, Heca, who was sitting next to the hot spring in the Earth Spirit Palace eating grilled fish, looked completely bewildered.

"It's just that I don't want others to be able to probe my inner thoughts so easily, you should know that, right?"

While sprinkling cumin on the grilled fish on the fire grill, Shi Bai looked completely nonchalant.

"As you know, I have too many secrets I can't tell anyone. If others find out, some very bad things will happen. Just like that stubborn angel before, if she didn't have someone backing her, she would probably have been completely wiped out long ago... I want to make some insurance for myself."

"That angel was able to probe your heart with the help of that so-called God's power. Anyone with that level of power isn't stupid. No idiot would think of trying to probe your heart, right? And those with lower power can't see anything anyway. I think you have absolutely no need to worry about this."

While eating the grilled fish in her hand, Heca answered casually.

"To paraphrase one of your idioms, you're a worrier. And if I had something that could completely shield my mind, do you think I'd need to hide from your lecturing sister all the time?"

"That ability to judge the sins of all beings is unavoidable, of course. I'm referring to methods to prevent the ability to read other people's minds and even their deeper secrets... Do you have a way?"

Shi Bai continued to sprinkle cumin on the grilled fish.

"The Jue Clan...you really are eyeing those sisters!!"

Heca quickly realized what was happening and was furious.

"Their entire clan is down to just the two of them, and you're still thinking of harming those sisters? Are you a beast?! This Earth Spirit Palace was prepared for them by you, wasn't it? Are you planning to keep them as mistresses?!"

“You need to provide evidence to support your claims, sir. I’m a model student, a model youth, and I’ve won the title of ‘King of Garbage Sorting’ in my neighborhood multiple times. Do you think I’m that kind of person?”

With his eyes half-closed, Shi Bai began sprinkling chili powder onto the grilled fish.

"If I really wanted to take action, I would have done it already. My affection for them is nothing more than a brother's protectiveness towards his sister. Why does it all sound so different in your mouth?"

"Ha, you're worse than a beast. Who knows what you're really up to?"

Holding the half-eaten grilled fish in her hand, Heca crossed her arms and sneered.

"Is that what you call liking? You're just lusting after her body, you're despicable!!"

"...I can choose to charge royalties for any dialogue used in my book."

With his eyes half-closed, Shi Bai continued to sprinkle chili powder onto the grilled fish.

"Heaven and earth can bear witness that I am of pure and kind nature. I have always been eager to help old ladies cross the road since I was a child, and I have a heart full of enthusiasm."

"If you weren't lusting after her body, what reason would you have to help a complete stranger? Just because she's a loli?"

Heca looked at her with disdain.

"It was one thing to take care of them quietly before, but now you're offering them this prime location that even I'm envious of, without saying a word. Can you honestly say you don't have any ulterior motives?"

"These are some cards I've already made. Take a look."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Bai took out several exquisitely crafted jade tokens from his storage ring and handed them over before starting to sprinkle chili oil on the grilled fish.

"This is just a preliminary prototype; the final version hasn't even started production yet... If it were you, I could give you a little hint about my plans."

"This is... wait, you used such a precious treasure to make this kind of thing!?"

Heka first looked at the jade tokens handed to her with some confusion, then her face instantly turned extremely frantic.

"Do you know that I've been collecting this material in the underworld for thousands of years and I've barely managed to gather a tiny bit of it?! And you're using this to make this little gadget?!"

"Yes, it is indeed quite precious. After all, the Yin-Yang Jade made by Shenqi only had a tiny bit of this material added. I only got one box of these from Xiaoye. I used some of it when making the Scarlet Sword. I plan to get some more later."

While continuing to brush chili oil onto the grilled fish, Shi Bai nodded in agreement.

"Don't rush to regret it. Take a look at what's above first. This is the first element in my plan."

"……spendthrift."

Heka glanced at Shi Bai, who was calm and composed, with envy and jealousy, muttered something under his breath, and then looked at the surface of the jade pendant in his hand.

"This is... Ibuki Suika? What does SSR mean?"

"Card tiers range from UR to SSR, SR, R, and N."

Shi Bai gave a brief introduction.

"Keep looking at the rest. In the hundreds of years in the underworld, I've only made about a dozen of them. The current layout is still very simple, and it will need to be revised later."

"Hmm... Shinki, Shiki Eiki, Yagokoro Eirin, Sugami Tanjo... wait, why am I only at SSR level!?"

Heka quickly found her jade token and cried out in dissatisfaction.

"Well... card levels are divided according to strength and rarity. R cards are the easiest to obtain, SSR cards are very difficult to get, and even the Dragon God is only UR."

Holding up the grilled fish in his hand, Shi Bai's face was serious.

"Do you think there are many SSR cards?"

"I can understand that the Dragon God is a UR, but!!"

Heca pulled out a card, held it in his hand, and showed it to the other person before speaking menacingly.

"Why is this card named Aya Shameimaru also a UR card!? Is she stronger than me!?"

"Ahem... As for the Peerless Wind God, rarity must be considered when judging its card level. This is just normal practice."

After coughing a few times, Shi Bai answered with a vacant look in his eyes.

"Besides, you're not as cute as Wenwen. Wenwen is my ultimate favorite..."

"...So Komeiji Komeiji is also your ultimate bias?"

Heca silently drew out another UR card.

"Because Lianlian is the cutest in the world."

Someone answered without hesitation.

"...You really, really deserve a beating."

"Thank you, many people have complimented me like that."

"........."

"Want a bite? This is a grilled fish I just made, it's absolutely delicious."

"...Speak, what exactly do you want?"

After staring at the other person's sincere eyes for a while, Heca sighed helplessly... and then snatched all the grilled fish from the other person's hands.

"What exactly is your plan? I don't think you're just playing around."

"Although it's just a concept right now, I can give you a general overview."

He clapped his hands dismissively and then spoke seriously.

"You know that the capacity of a world to bear weight is limited, right? The beginning of a new era must end with the end of the old era. If the Dragon God had not appeared, at least 99% of all beings from the previous era would have died, because the Dragon God changed the rules of the world."

"Of course I know that, which is why I respect the Dragon God."

Heca nodded.

"But what does all this have to do with the things you just took out?"

"I come from the ancient mythological era, and I have witnessed the destruction of a world..."

After glancing at Heca, Shi Bai slowly began to speak, recounting all the secrets of those ancient times.

He made no secrets about things that didn't need to be hidden.

"So you still have the nerve to say you're only eighteen?! You're clearly an ancient being who's lived for who knows how many years?!"

After he finished speaking, Heca blurted out a sentence immediately.

"...You only paid attention to this?"

Shi Bai's face turned dark.

"I said I kill without blinking an eye, and you ask me if my eyes are dry? Where did you come from, Tang Sanzang???"

"You keep insisting you're only eighteen, when you're clearly an old...old man who's lived from that ancient era to the present. No wonder you're such a spendthrift...cough cough, please continue."

Heca coughed a few times.

"The energy of a world has its limits. After the appearance of the Dragon God, the rules of the world became much milder, but this is only a temporary solution."

Shi Bai's face remained expressionless.

"Energy, or spiritual energy, there are too many general terms for these things. With the development of human technology, pollution will spread all over the earth, and things like these that we depend on for survival will also be polluted."

"You want to sever the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

As if she had just thought of something, Heca's expression changed.

"Humans can cultivate themselves into immortals and ascend to the celestial realm, but how big is the celestial realm in total? With such a huge population, even if the number of people who cultivate themselves into immortals and attain enlightenment is very small, the celestial realm will eventually be filled. Do you think I would allow such a thing to happen?"

Shi Bai's face remained noncommittal.

“Severing the connection between heaven and earth, cutting off the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and causing the number of cultivators in the world to gradually decrease is hard to understand. Moreover, without the nourishment of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the number of monsters will gradually decrease until they disappear completely. This is a win-win situation.”

"What you're doing is called stealing."

Heca frowned.

“You are only on the first or second floor, while I am already on the seventh floor.”

Shi Bai glanced at Heca in front of him and shook his head.

"If I said we didn't do this, as more and more people attain immortality, the heavens will become increasingly overcrowded, and eventually even the Dragon God, who represents the will of the world, will be overwhelmed, and the world will be destroyed, do you believe me? Of course, we are far from that point yet, but it's always good to be prepared. The Dragon God is gentle enough, but that doesn't mean I am gentle enough."

"No, what you're doing is still too crazy."

After thinking for a moment, Heca shook his head firmly.

"Existence is its own justification; you have no right to deprive those..."

"I didn't say it would be completely cut off, it's just a matter of limiting the flow. You still don't understand what I'm saying. Besides, this is just a concept, the first step of the plan hasn't even been implemented yet. And even if I don't do it, do you think others won't do it in the future? Maybe they will do something even more outrageous than me."

Shi Bai pursed his lips.

"Since it is the end of the Dharma era, there will definitely be a revival of spiritual energy in the future, but that will involve my second plan."

"...A plan to make the whole world stronger and gain more energy!!"

ps:t

Chapter Twenty-Five: Lolita, Cute, BBA!!

The Temple of the Earth Spirits.

After listening to what someone said, Heka silently put the grilled fish that the person had just grilled into her mouth and began to eat the fish quietly.