Meanwhile, Fu could not feel happy at all. After taking that slash, her entire back felt as if it were burning, as though a layer of skin had been peeled off. Even worse, what came into view now was an expanse of vermilion architecture and cherry blossoms filling the sky. The Narukami Shrine?
"Who's there? This is the backstage area, unauthorized personnel keep out."
A shrine maiden noticed the commotion here. Hearing approaching footsteps, Fu panicked, hurriedly trying to sheath the Musou Isshin, but no matter how many times she tried, it simply wouldn't go in.
"Hmm?"
After the footsteps stopped, a shrine maiden followed the sound around the corner of the building, only to see a maiden in red with black hair, white sleeves, and crimson eyes, wearing a large bow on her head, diligently sweeping the floor with a large broom.
"Hello, are you a new shrine maiden? I don't think I've ever seen you before!"
"Ah... yes, I'm a new shrine maiden. My name is... Hakurei Reimu!"
"What a pretty name. Nice to meet you, I'm Yumimura. By the way, did you hear any strange noises around here just now?"
"Strange noises? I didn't hear anything just now."
"Then I must have heard wrong... Oh, do you need any help?"
"No, no, I'm almost done!"
After sending the shrine maiden away, Fu hurriedly threw away the broom, plucked the Musou Isshin out of the dirt nearby, and wiped it with her clothes.
"Let's get out of here first..."
Fu lowered her head to look at the wound on her body. It seemed to have healed, but the location of the wound still ached intensely.
Beneath the Sacred Sakura, Yae Miko stood quietly bathed in the falling cherry blossoms, gazing at the Sacred Sakura with melancholy, as though remembering some painful memory.
Thinking about how she had wanted to deal with the impostor today, only to be beaten back and thrown into the shrine, made her immensely displeased. She turned and walked toward the outside of the shrine.
But upon second thought, she seemed to have had a narrow escape, having encountered a good-tempered God. At least for an ordinary God, encountering such provocation would definitely have resulted in a fatal blow.
Fate is full of such coincidences. At a fork in the road, Yae Miko happened to cross paths head-on with Fu, who had transformed into Hakurei Reimu. Their eyes met, and both panicked.
Fu: "Oh no, I'm at low HP! She surely didn't come to camp out for me!"
Miko: "Oh no, I've been tracked all the way home! She surely didn't come to settle accounts with me!"
The two cautiously probed each other while simultaneously heading toward the exit.
Fu: "Damn it, she's blocking my escape route. What should I do? It's time to fight to the death."
Miko: "A troublesome fellow, she actually predicted my escape route! Fight to the death!"
A burst of lightning gathered in the palms hidden behind both of their backs, and they simultaneously lunged fiercely at each other's necks. By sheer coincidence—or perhaps fate—their fingers intertwined, locking right together.
The scene instantly plunged into awkwardness. Neither of them expected the other to attack, and neither dared to move.
"This... What did you do to Ei? Why do you have the Musou Isshin?!"
Seeing the Musou Isshin wrapped in cloth, Yae Miko lost her composure first. Forgetting even the gap in their actual strength, she glared at Fu with a threatening expression.
"Are you done yet...? She is fine, I... Why did you hit me? Is it my fault I was born looking like this?"
"Uh... So it was just a misunderstanding all along. But this is the era of the Sakoku Decree, you couldn't just appear out of thin air, could you?"
Fu helplessly covered her face. She was tired, truly tired. She might as well use the trick she used on Ei to fool Yae Miko.
"You remember Kitsune Saiguu, Oni Chiyo, Sasayuri, and Raiden Makoto, right?"
"???... How do you know them?!"
Simply uttering these few names was enough to prove that Fu's identity was extraordinary. A look of wariness appeared in Yae Miko's eyes, and her emotions calmed down.
"Because I am a part of Raiden Ei's personality that split off..."
"...Oh, so that's how it is."
Yae Miko put on an expression of sudden realization, but the crafty gleam at the corner of her eyes could still not be concealed, as though she already knew a thing or two.
Suddenly, an untimely cry of surprise rang out. The previous commotion had attracted a group of gossip-loving shrine maidens from nearby, who happened to witness this indescribable scene: the 1.7-meter-tall Yae Miko and the 1.5-meter-tall Hakurei Reimu with their fingers intertwined.
"So explosive! Lady Kitsune Guuji must have some profound meaning behind doing this!"
"Is that a new shrine maiden? She's so small..."
"I never would have thought Lady Guuji's tastes ran like this..."
"Look! The big bow on her head moves! Just like ears..."
From corners, behind doors, and even on rooftops, countless gossiping shrine maidens popped out. Fu felt needles pricking her back and cast a resentful glance at Yae Miko. No wonder Kuki Shinobu refused to become a shrine maiden no matter what—so this was why.
"Lady Yae Guuji truly lives up to her reputation. The shrine maidens she brings up are all exceptionally talented..."
Yae Miko shrugged with a seemingly helpless air, the corners of her mouth quietly curling into a playful smile. Suddenly, she took a step back, pushing Raiden Fu to the front.
"Everyone, look over here! This is our Narukami Shrine's new member... You can call her..." (Glancing at Fu)
"Hakurei Reimu..." (Covering her mouth)
"Yes, Hakurei Reimu! From today onward, she is our Narukami Shrine's newly appointed Right Guuji!" (Suddenly lowering her voice mysteriously) "And also the greenest one in history, oh."
(The crowd jeered)
Fu's eyes widened in shock. What kind of wild talk was this?!
Seeing Fu's blushing face, looking like she couldn't take a joke, Yae Miko couldn't help smiling slyly, tugged on her sleeve, and led her out of the crowd's sight.
Seeing this scene, the other shrine members couldn't help letting out sighs. What a pitiful little shrine maiden; she was about to suffer a tragic fate.
"Oh my! You actually didn't painstakingly plot revenge against me for hitting you? That doesn't sound like Lady Yae Guuji's style at all. I'm afraid that when things are abnormal, demons are at work, right?"
Fu's crimson eyes sparkled, trying her best to put on the scummiest expression possible, but clearly, she couldn't even reach half the level of the scummy fox.
"Oh my~ So that's how you view me. I'm just a lowly little demon who only recently gained human form; I wouldn't dare match wits with you..."
In Yae Miko's eyes, Fu's illusions were completely useless. Those crimson eyes, in her view, were still a pair of amethysts.
"No, no! Sister Yae, I can't possibly live up to that..."
Yae Miko crossed her arms with an aggrieved look, yet the corners of her mouth tilted upward a fraction more without anyone noticing. The next second, she suddenly thought of something, her eyes widening, and a finger instinctively pointed toward the sky.
"Hey! Fu, I'll teach you something good. Take out your Musou Isshin."
"You... don't harbor any bad intentions toward me! I managed to snatch this thing with great difficulty. No!"
"Oh my... We are on the same side now, you know. I want to wake up my friend, and you want to change this decadent Inazuma. Why not..."
Yae Miko leaned slightly forward, close to Fu's ear, and gently blew a breath. That fair, plump pair was swaying right in front of her eyes. For a otaku who had lived half a lifetime in his previous life without ever being loved, this possessed maximum lethality... While Fu's face burned hot, the large bow on her head involuntarily sprang straight up with a "swish."
"Trust your big sister, won't you?"
"Fine..."
Fu dug the Musou Isshin out from the cloth. Due to the emergency earlier, she never had the chance to appreciate this exquisite divine artifact, but now she finally had the chance.
Even after a thousand years, the slender blade of the Musou Isshin still flashed with mournful lightning. At the junction of the blade and the tsuba, a triple-comma Tomoe emblem pulsed with regular rhythm. The only difference was that the blade, previously surrounded by killing intent, now seemed much softer in its glow, and one could vaguely tell that this blade had not been sharpened.
Yae Miko suddenly reached out and grabbed Fu's right hand holding the blade.
"Hmm!?"
"Come on, do as I say. Close your eyes, relax your body, and carefully feel the blade in your hand..."
Amidst a sense of trance, when Fu opened her eyes, she found herself inside the Plane of Euthymia.
"Ah?!"
Fu was startled awake, looking around in all directions, terrified that Ei would suddenly appear and skewer her through. Fortunately, it seemed Ei was not here. She felt her chest growing heavier and looked down to find that she had reverted to the appearance of Raiden Fu instead of the disguised Hakurei Reimu.
"You! How dare you deceive this body!"
A tear opened in space. Seeing the figure emerge, Fu's expression turned as foul as if she had eaten a botched mystery burger. Talk about the "Raiden Ei" and the "Raiden Ei" arrives; her heart was running wild with ten thousand galloping horses.
Heaven is truly trying to destroy me!
"Yae Miko informed this body that you are an outsider, not an aspect of this body! Not even Miko's Hakushin bloodline can see through your soul. Just who are you?!"
Good grief, you scummy fox! So you had already colluded with Ei and set a trap for me.
Fu Li was burning with anger inside, but she couldn't beat the opponent. Her face turned green with frustration, and finally, it stiffened into a smile even uglier than crying:
"Fine, fine, fine, I admit I'm an outsider, but we have no grievances between us. If you push me to extremes and I destroy this thing, you wouldn't want that either, would you?"
Laofu put one hand on her hips and spun the Musou Isshin around a few times in her hand. If Raiden Ei really pushed her luck, at worst she would destroy this thing and make her miserable for life.
"Let's each take a step back and make a contract. From now on, I will no longer be your enemy."
...
I just love that Liyue saying.
"Ah?"
"No... It's really that simple?"
I was all ready to unleash my power for a fierce battle, and you just surrendered like that?
Without wasting words, "Raiden Ei" casually tossed over a piece of paper and dropped a Mora coin onto the ground. Fu suspiciously caught the paper, and the Teyvat characters on it gradually transformed in her eyes into shapes she recognized as memory returned.
"From now on, I only need to move freely in Inazuma?"
If I sign this, how is it any different from not signing?
"I, Fu Li, from today onward, will fulfill all the terms of this contract."
"I, Yae Miko, in the name of the Guuji of Narukami Shrine, grant Fu Li the title of Right Guuji of Narukami Shrine, and from now on, we shall no longer be enemies."
As the Mora on the ground gradually turned into points of light, finally forming a Geo element pattern and dissipating, a hazy male voice that sounded as though it came from a thousand miles away echoed in their minds:
"The contract is forged. Those who break the contract shall suffer the wrath of the rock."
Fu froze for a moment and found that an extra slip of paper seemed to have been pasted onto this contract. Tearing it off, she realized it had been blocking a portion of the text!
Join Narukami Shrine and fulfill duties? As long as it doesn't threaten Inazuma and Narukami Shrine? And also... strictly forbidden from harming Yae Miko, and must obey her orders.
Her face darkened as she glared at the "Raiden Ei" before her who wore a scummy expression. The pink true form slowly materialized beneath the purple avatar—it was actually Yae Miko in disguise!
The most important thing was, what kind of contract was that just now? It was clearly a deceitful deed of indentured servitude she had been tricked into signing.
It was as though the tune of "Never Gonna Give You Up" was playing in the air.
Yae Miko ignored Fu's enraged, red-faced state, covering her mouth with a chuckle as she stepped out through the spatial rift, leaving behind a parting remark:
"Oh ho ho~ How should I put it? To be able to grasp the knack of using the Plane of Euthymia in an instant—it seems your talent is on par with Ei's, but you're just as easily fooled~"
You can't let her get away with this! Chase her!
Speaking of which, the game didn't seem to describe how Raiden Ei entered and exited the Plane of Euthymia, so she could only try the method from fanfiction: concentrate her mind and carefully feel the existence of her own body.
In a secluded courtyard of the Narukami Shrine, a black-haired, red-clad shrine maiden lay half-reclined and unconscious, the big bow on her head sagging limply as if it had lost all support.
The next second, the withered bow snapped upright, and those ruby-like eyes flew wide open, flashing with a crimson luster as they locked a murderous gaze onto Yae Miko not far away.
"Ah Minos, oh she black no sute ima wa hairen ah Minos!"
Accompanied by a roar, Fu missed her footing, kicking Newton's coffin lid into smithereens. With a flying dragon strike, she raised an '82-vintage backhand slap, preparing to ruthlessly reward Yae Miko.
"Mighty and..."
The clouds in the distance suddenly turned golden, and a falling star could faintly be seen forming among them.
"You old bastard Zhongli, what business do you have sticking your nose into Inazuma?!"
Fu's expression instantly turned as colorful as if she had eaten Skittles. She dropped straight to her knees before Yae Miko, incidentally pinning Newton's coffin lid down tightly.
The golden light in the sky instantly vanished, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Oh my my~ Go on, be fierce. I actually prefer how unyielding you looked just now~"
Yae Miko triumphantly hooked Fu's chin, entirely unconcerned by the mask of agony on the other's face. She was not the type to let a grudge go unpunished; having finally seized this opportunity, how could she let her off so easily?
"Disgusting!"
Fu Li leaped up with a flying dragon kick, planting her foot right on Yae Miko's backside and sending her flying a hundred meters—nearly giving the poor fox hemorrhoids.
"I will have order~"
"Ahhhhh... Morax, you just wait for me~"
Hmph, blindly accepting a contract where information is asymmetric—what kind of fairness is that?!