Deity of Yae Rin Village

"Second meeting, little girl."

The man who had been seen by Yae Rin earlier now stood up from the hillside.

"You-you-you-you-you—"

Yae Rin was now having trouble speaking coherently.

"Hm?"

The man's eyelids twitched. "What? Didn't we just meet today during the day? Have you already forgotten me?"

"Uncle..."

Yae Rin was on the verge of tears, feeling wronged in the giant hand the man had conjured.

"Can you put me down? It's so high up here, I'm scared..."

"..."

The man looked at Yae Rin, who was only a little over two meters from the ground, and after a moment of silence, said, "Actually, compared to the height you were floating at just now, this isn't high at all."

"Wuwu..."

Seeing Yae Rin's expression that clearly said, If you don't put me down, I'll cry, the man said, "Alright, I'll put you down."

With a wave of his hand, the giant hand holding Yae Rin dissipated into the air, and Yae Rin slowly floated to the ground.

"Since you've entered my domain, I'll introduce myself briefly."

The man nodded at Yae Rin. "First, I should be the deity your village worships."

"Second, my name is Xu Yanwu, and I come from the Land of Shenzhou."

Xu Yanwu paused, looking directly at Yae Rin. "Lastly, your mother, the previous Miko, asked me to cure your illness."

"Now it's your turn. Your name is..."

After a lengthy, tearful self-introduction from the little girl

"Yae Rin?"

Xu Yanwu frowned. He felt like he had heard this name somewhere before.

Although he was curious, Xu Yanwu's current condition was that his body was still in a dormant state. Without a heart, appearing in this current state, akin to a spiritual essence, was already his limit.

He was in no condition to use his abilities to sort through his memories.

Even though Xu Zifu spent most of his time in this world dormant, his consciousness had remained clear for the past four thousand five hundred years since Chi You.

Hmm... like that girl Jianzhen who crossed the eastern sea...

The world of Honkai is indeed quite chaotic...

Precisely because of this, Xu Yanwu's memories were a bit complicated.

"Uncle, do you know me?" Yae Rin asked, her eyes still slightly teary.

"I've always known you. I've tried to condition your body over the years, but due to your body's dormancy, there hasn't been much improvement."

Xu Yanwu looked down at Yae Rin. "I feel like... I've heard the name Yae Rin somewhere else... It was like..."

"...a sister of an Eastern fox who was good at green and yellow-haired boys?"

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "Never mind, I really can't remember clearly."

"However..."

Xu Yanwu squatted down and pulled Yae Rin's cheeks to the sides. "Although my current emotions aren't enough to make me angry, my memory tells me that you calling me 'Uncle' is a very bad thing..."

"It hurts—" Yae Rin covered her face, looking wronged. "B-but, for uncles your age, my sister and I always call them Uncle..."

"Your sister?"

Xu Yanwu thought for a moment, confirming, "Are you talking about the little girl who looks very much like you and who saw my Spiritual Clone practicing swordsmanship today?"

"Yes!" Yae Rin proudly lifted her little face, proud of her sister. "My sister saw the same swordsmanship as our mother! Father said so!"

"..."

Xu Yanwu looked a bit confused. "Your mother saw swordsmanship?"

"Although it's true that I taught your mother swordsmanship, that crazy girl actually saw a Hammer at the time..."

"Eh?"

Yae Rin was stunned.

"...It seems the crazy girl's swordsmanship practice went quite well, to the point of not being exposed."

Xu Yanwu retracted his confused expression.

"But... her other daughter..."

"Rin, want to go see how your sister practices her swordsmanship?"

"Huh?"

———Inside the courtyard of Yae Shrine———

A Xu Yanwu, who exuded even less of a presence than the Xu Yanwu currently with Yae Rin, stood in the center of the courtyard. A long sword hung from his left hip, and his right hand rested on the hilt of the blade.

"This is the clone I use for practicing my swordsmanship."

On the courtyard wall, Xu Yanwu sat with Yae Rin, watching the Xu Yanwu clone in the courtyard, which was as still as a wooden post.

"Huh? Lord Deity, has your clone always been in our courtyard?" Yae Rin asked curiously.

"Mhm, it's always been here, but you just couldn't see it. In your village, my clones are everywhere, all of them studying various combat styles."

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "But no matter how much I study, I still don't make much progress. After all, my current situation prevents me from verifying them through actual combat. I can only make slow progress through tens of thousands of repetitions..."

"On the contrary, your mother's talent is far greater than mine. She was clearly more suited to using a hammer... yet she insisted on learning swordsmanship from me..."

Xu Yanwu muttered to himself, and Yae Rin didn't quite catch what he said later.

"Lord Deity, you said we were coming to watch my sister practice sword fighting, but where is my sister?"

"Your sister doesn't have your strong... um, let's call it spiritual sense. Although my body has absorbed her blood, it will still take a long time for her to voluntarily enter a projected state like that."

Xu Yanwu explained to Yae Rin.

Yae Rin tilted her small head and thought for a while before understanding Xu Yanwu's meaning.

"So, my sister will only appear after a while longer?"

"Mhm..." Xu Yanwu nodded. "It should be soon..."

Before Xu Yanwu could finish speaking, figures of Honkai Beasts slowly materialized in the courtyard of Yae Shrine before Xu Yanwu's clone.

"...The Honkai Beasts I summoned have appeared."

"Eh?"

"Your sister picked a really bad time to arrive... She landed right in the middle of those Honkai Beasts... It seems neither of you sisters has very good luck..."

"Eek eek!"

A little girl with messy pink hair fell from a height of about one meter to the ground.

Surrounding the little girl were over a dozen Knight-type Honkai Beasts that had just coalesced.

Yae Rin, with her sharp eyes, immediately spotted her sister who had fallen among the Honkai Beasts and screamed, "Sister!"

"It's no use, she can't hear you. She's only half-entered right now... She won't be able to hear until her invincibility period wears off later."