Chapter 802: Chapter 3: Another One?
The festival in the Human World is always lively.
Children are unusually bouncing around, holding snacks or small toys like pinwheels, noisily running across the street. Although they don’t need to work much usually, they do need to attend school, but education is never joyful.
Even with a legendary figure like Kamishirasawa, Teacher Keine’s lectures are far from interesting.
The children rarely have a time to relax today, so naturally, they’re having a blast and adding to the lively atmosphere of the town.
Alice, somewhat absent-mindedly, stepped aside to let a noisy group of little fairies pass across the street. Her usually light steps were uncharacteristically hesitant, slowing down. Generally, after performing her puppet shows, she would quickly leave the Human World and return to her mansion deep in the Magic Forest.
But... but...
But what? She couldn’t say.
The maiden just absent-mindedly wandered around the town for a while, and then, for some unknown reason, as if worried that her behavior might appear peculiar and attract attention, she lightly pressed her lips together, glanced around, and walked into a nearby bookshop with a "Lingnai Hall" sign.
After a while, the blond maiden came out holding several books.
Even the two miniature dolls, Shanghai and Penglai, accompanying her, were carrying comparatively large books in their dainty little bodies, creating a somewhat comical contrast.
Having seriously selected and borrowed some books from the bookshop, Miss Alice seemed to finally let out a slight sigh of relief.
— That’s right, she came to borrow books. Lingnai Hall is a shop she frequently visits.
— It’s like a disguise, a self-deceptive peculiar thought of hiding the truth.
But indeed, she often visits Lingnai Hall. Whenever she performs a puppet show in the Human World and doesn’t leave immediately, she often goes to the bookshop to casually borrow some new books.
Though not as rich in collection as the large library of the Red Demon Mansion, this bookshop in the Human World has its distinct features. Most of its books are "outsider volumes" that have flowed into Fantasy Land from the outside world, and it also collects many "Demon Books" written by demons.
Especially the former—
Its irregular automatic updates, synchronized with the outside world with delay, is its unique competitive edge.
As she flipped through the books in her hands, the blond maiden’s expression remained calm, and she gently exhaled when a familiar serene voice came from the side: "Miss Alice?"
"Teacher Keine."
Turning to look, Alice saw Kamishirasawa Keine standing ahead.
"Have you seen that Mr. Gu Mo?" Asked the temple school teacher calmly, her silver hair cascading over her waist, and her blue dress giving her an elegant and serene demeanor. She surveyed the surroundings of the blond maiden, failing to find her target, and a hint of confusion flashed in her charming eyes.
"No... Has anything happened to him?"
Alice hesitated for a moment and instinctively asked.
Initially, she intended to deal lightly with this matter, suppressing an impulse to inquire about that person from Kamishirasawa Keine. Better to let this matter pass, as she wouldn’t focus on it further, since it indeed felt odd and out of place...
Unexpectedly, Kamishirasawa Keine was the first to bring it up.
"Nothing for now, he simply disappeared early this morning... I thought he’d gone to report to Akyu, but when I visited the Hieda Family, they said no one came by today." Kamishirasawa Keine looked troubled, "I initially thought that since the temple school is off today and I had nothing to do, I’d come over to have a look..."
Primarily because yesterday that person filled in a special skill area with "proficient in calculation"—
Her understanding of this was that this outsider had a talent in arithmetic, which might qualify him as a new teacher for the temple school. Regardless of success, a trial was necessary to find out, so she thought of coming over to assess him today.
Unfortunately, he simply vanished.
In her puzzlement, she happened to see the blond maiden coming out from nearby Lingnai Hall, and casually asked. After all, looking at it, Miss Alice indeed had only met the person yesterday, but she might be overly concerned.
Perhaps it was out of concern that she also came to help and took Mr. Gu Mo away early this morning.
That’s what Kamishirasawa Keine thought, though it apparently wasn’t the case.
"Maybe he went to Boli Shrine..."
Listening to Kamishirasawa Keine’s words, Alice lightly furrowed her brows but responded in a calm tone, thinking that this might be the case.
"He wanted to find Reimu Witch last night, intending to leave Fantasy Land directly, but at that time, Reimu Witch wasn’t there, and the shrine was closed. So I could only bring him back to the Human World... Maybe he went over early this morning."
Honestly, is there such an urgency? Besides, he didn’t even mention it.
She felt a bit annoyed.
"I see, that’s really rather hasty..." Kamishirasawa Keine was also somewhat perplexed. Not all outsiders decide to settle in Fantasy Land, a reality she was prepared for, but most don’t make such rash and decisive decisions.
This kind of sudden disappearance into thin air by evening...
The situation where someone has to leave urgently the next morning is indeed very rare.
It’s almost like finding a temporary place to stay for a night.
......
...
On the other side.
Gu Mo is about to reach near the summit of Demon Mountain.
This once shattered spiritual peak, restored through the persistent efforts of the Divine Spirit Stone Long Princess, has regained its former glory. The mountain that was hacked and shattered by another Goddess has become majestic once more, surpassing even Mount Fuji in height.
Wanting to climb the mountain is neither easy nor difficult.
Gu Mo did not directly project himself there, nor did he climb the trail step by step. Instead, he is sitting in a cable car, slowly moving towards the summit. As the cable car ascends, the clouds greet him, and the scenery along the way is very beautiful. The entire Fantasy Land can be seen from above, offering a grand and magnificent view.
It’s just possibly unfriendly for those with a fear of heights...
Gu Mo crossed his legs in the carriage, holding a copy of the "Wenwen Daily" he picked up on his way past Lingnai Hall, reading leisurely amidst the sound of steel cables rubbing.
His demeanor is so well-captured that someone might think he’s a commuter reading a newspaper on the subway.
Indeed, Human World has cable cars.
Shimotsuki Shrine recently moved into Fantasy Land and built a tramway that directly connects from the Demon Mountain to the nearby village, where the cable car boarding point can be seen just outside.
However, even though this aerial tramway is advanced and convenient, it’s too futuristic for the residents of Human World to accept immediately. After all, it looks dangerous and leads straight to Demon Mountain, supposedly the tengu’s domain, where the demons are quite exclusive...
Moreover, Shimotsuki Shrine has just moved in, and is still in a phase of quiet reputation, not trusted enough by villagers to take risks.
Boarding a seemingly dangerous aerial tramway...
Swaying from above to approach Demon Mountain...
It sounds too thrilling, so the villagers keep their distance from the aerial tramway, and Shimotsuki Shrine has no choice but to continue operations, ready for this outcome. No usage now doesn’t mean no usage later; this initial investment is necessary.
Otherwise, without some kind of convenient facility for ascending the mountain, it’s even less likely the shrine will be able to attract worship.
Demon Mountain is even higher than Mount Fuji, essentially eliminating villagers’ chances of worshipping at the shrine.
In this situation, Gu Mo is possibly the first to officially use the Shimotsuki Shrine’s aerial tramway? He put down the fabricated "Wenwen Daily," sighing at the progress in tabloid journalism over the years, with various tabloid methods and writing styles that fabricate and speculate becoming increasingly skillful.
Also, this is the Human World version of the news; does this mean there are other versions?
And they’re all "Daily"—a newspaper published once a day. This crow tengu runs several newspapers simultaneously; does she really have the time and energy?
Too much vitality isn’t necessarily a good thing...
Speaking of which, being beaten up by the Great Tengu every now and then, why isn’t there any corrective effect?
Gu Mo thought something must be wrong, and at this moment, a few crow tengu flew by outside, curiously looking around the cable car. He waved his hand casually, greeting the few black-winged girls outside: "Good morning..."
"...Good morning."
The few small crow tengu were a bit surprised, glancing at each other, and greeted back.
It’s truly rare for an ordinary person to dare sit in such a thing and not be afraid of them—this is indeed strange... However, they were just making a routine patrol, as Demon Mountain ultimately belongs to the tengu. Shimotsuki Shrine settling here and building a tramway were discussed with them.
Since they were quite immature juniors and didn’t know the young man in the cable car, they subconsciously treated him as a very bold worshipper.
Confirmed no problems, they dispersed after completing their patrol duties.
And at this time, the cable car reached the top station.
Gu Mo stepped out leisurely, his eyes falling on an impressive great shrine. It’s way more imposing than the Boli Shrine he saw last night, nestled beside a large lake, with a larger, more solemn complex, a worship path paved with square bricks, surrounded by fallen maple leaves on vast ground.
On the worship path, a figure holding a broom is sweeping the fallen leaves in the sunlight.
With shoulder-length green hair, wearing a blue-toned witch outfit, appearing to be a female high school student.
She seemed to instantly notice the commotion from the cable car station behind her. The Blue-White Witch turned around to look at him, a surprised expression appearing on her face.
Clearly a witch, yet surprised by worship visitors at her own shrine?
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