I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

Is there really no other way?

Why... Rin...

Unlike the despairing Yae Sakura, Yae Guji was overjoyed. A smile played on his lips beneath his mask as he walked towards the girl, extending his hand and saying, "Rin, you came here by yourself? It seems you're ready to sacrifice yourself for the Fox God. Then let's not delay..."

"No... I'm not here to be a sacrifice."

The voice, though not loud, stunned Yae Guji on the spot.

He thought he had misheard or misjudged. The girl in front of him, whom he had instilled in her since birth the idea of sacrificing everything for Yae Village and the Fox God, could not possibly resist him. Given her physical condition, she shouldn't have any other thoughts...

"What are you saying, Rin..."

"I'm saying, I'm not here to be a sacrifice!"

The girl's weak, slightly hoarse voice silenced everyone present. They stared blankly at the petite girl, unable to understand why she dared to say such a thing; in their limited understanding, it was utterly impossible.

The girl raised her head and looked directly at her father for the first time. Her clear, sky-blue eyes seemed to pierce through the true face of Yae Guji beneath his hypocritical fox mask, making him unconsciously feel guilty.

"The Fox God doesn't exist at all."

These words struck like a heavy hammer into the hearts of everyone, including Yae Sakura.

"If it cares about Yae Village, why does it need our worship? We respect and love it, so why does it still allow drought to befall Yae Village!"

"Why do you torture us! Why do you enjoy our respect while taking everything away from us!"

"Why should I continue to love a god like that!"

"Shut up!" Veins bulged on Yae Guji's forehead. His eyes were bloodshot, and he glared at the defiant girl who met his gaze with great panting. He placed his hand on the Sacrificial Sword at his waist and said to Yae Sakura, who was standing there dumbfounded, "Sakura, go and bring the offering over!"

Yae Sakura trembled. She looked at the determined-looking girl, then at Yae Guji, but made no move.

She didn't know what to do.

Yes, why should we love a god like that?

"Snort!"

Seeing that Yae Guji Yae Sakura didn't move, Yae Kyoji snorted coldly and walked forward to try to grab the gray-haired girl.

But at that moment, a figure walked out from the side. No one saw how he made his move. In a flash, everyone's eyes were blurred and Yae Guji was sent flying and crashed to the ground.

"Ah!" Yae Guji cried out in pain.

"Yae Rin can no longer be used as a sacrifice." Lin crossed his arms and looked at everyone coldly, then glanced at Bella.

Bella, noticing his gaze, quickly blushed.

She knew what Lin was going to say next, but it was really...

"What... what are you planning to do now?!"

Yae Guji lay on the ground, clutching his waist, and exclaimed in shock and anger.

"I'm just here to tell you that Yae Rin can no longer be used as a sacrifice." Lin repeated his words, then snorted—

"Because she's no longer a virgin."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Time stood still.

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Sixty - Who Will Save Us?

Although jokes like "I like mothers this tall" often appear in modern online communities, most people don't really want to be erased from the human genus, then eat their fill of metal peanuts, and be infamous for eternity through word of mouth among countless cyberloli enthusiasts.

... So what Lin said wasn't true, of course. He was just trying to deal with the inexplicable notion that "virgins are the purest sacrifices," a notion that was universally accepted worldwide. In an era where purity could be torn off and patched up for a few dollars, he would never strongly associate virginity with purity. Besides, human excrement should be the most filthy thing, right? Why not just find someone who can't excrete as a sacrifice?

However, neither the villagers of Yae Village, nor Yae Guji, nor Yae Sakura knew any of this. They all looked at the composed Lin and the gray-haired girl beside him with strange eyes, whose pretty face had been completely replaced by a blush.

"That's it." Lin looked at Yae Guji, who was completely at a loss for what to do next, and continued, "So now Yae Rin can no longer be used as a sacrifice, and there's not enough time. What do you plan to do?"

"You... you... Rin! How dare you do this! You two have betrayed the Fox God..."

"So, what has the Fox God brought you?"

Lin coldly interrupted Yae Guji's words. He looked down at the furious man and then, in front of everyone, walked to the statue of the Fox God next to him.

Yae Guji sensed something was wrong and urgently said, "What you need to do..."

"Smack!"

Lin Yi slammed his fist into the statue, smashing it to pieces in full view of everyone. He then withdrew his hand, crossed his arms, and silently watched the crowd.

"..."

"..."

Beside the cherry blossom tree where so many people were gathered, it was as silent as a cemetery.

"The suffering this world inflicts on you is indeed not necessarily man-made. Droughts and floods are not things you can control subjectively. But you actually think of attributing these sufferings to a vague and ethereal 'good'."

"Because it is kind, it causes you drought, it causes you to have no harvest, it causes you to suffer and toil."

"Because it is benevolent, it needs living sacrifices; it makes you kill innocent people; it devours life."

"I don't want to be too rude, but there's a limit to how stupid a person can be. When fanaticism drives out reason, then their thinking is no longer of any value."

Lin Bingleng's words were piercing to the heart. Perhaps most of the people present still deeply believed in the so-called Fox God. Their limited worldview, restricted by their era and knowledge, prevented them from imagining the world outside their understanding. However, the black-haired man in front of them, whose speech was different from ordinary people, had an absolute sense of oppression just from his eyes.

After he finished speaking, a light drizzle began to fall from the spring breeze, causing them to look up in surprise and confusion, welcoming this belated "gift."

"It's raining... but the ritual wasn't finished..."

"Could it be that there really is no Fox God, and it was all made up by Lord Gongji...?"

"The person who was worshipped before..."

Are the villagers questioning God? Lin thinks no. It's just that their beliefs have been swayed by Lin in a short period of time. It's hard for people to overturn the beliefs they've built up over decades. Lin is simply using facts to expose the dream they've collectively constructed. It's like walking on a flock of pigeons; if one flies to the right, they will all fly to the right.

Even after a person wakes up from a dream, they can still daydream.

But that's enough. Eliminating the redundancy and dross of the times is not something that can be done overnight. For the villagers of Yae Village, this is just the beginning. In the distant future, the ignorant traditions of this village will only be recorded in a few lines on yellowed pages.

"Wrong..."

At that moment, a murmured voice entered his ears. Lin stared at Yae Guji, who had stood up from the ground. He was muttering to himself, his face covered by his mask as if he were possessed. Deep in his eyes, some crimson flames were gradually taking shape.

"God exists..."

Lin stood still, looking at Yae Guji seemed about to burst forth, and said coldly, "You question God, yet you believe in God?"

"You... are not a god."

"God exists..."

These two seemingly unrelated sentences both came from Yae Guji's mouth—or rather, from the "person" within him.

On one hand, they questioned it, and on the other hand, they believed in it.

"Yae Guji" raised his head, and the hatred and resentment in his eyes behind the mask almost burst forth as a tangible flame. His distorted words rang out from behind the mask. "Who exactly are you? Why are you here to stop me!"

"..."

Lin took a deep breath and looked around.

Bella, Yae Sakura, and the villagers of Yae Village had all disappeared without a trace. Now, only Lin and "Yae Guji" remained face to face.

He withdrew his gaze and calmly focused his attention on the already distorted figure of "Yae Guji".

"Because it was you who called me here."

How much longer... do we have to wait...?

"You hate the villagers who took your life, yet you hope that your sacrifice will make their lives better. So you convince yourself to believe in the existence of God and offer yourself as a sacrifice, yet you also hope that someone will come to save you, deny God, and rescue you from the sacrifice."

Rainwater slid down the man's face, soaking his black hair. The downpour engulfed the two of them.

After the rain and mist dissipated, the enormous Kitsune reappeared. Its bloodshot eyes, burning with hatred, stared at the motionless man, but in the depths it could not see, it seemed as if someone was weeping.

It roared to the sky, enraged and mad. The heavy rain could not extinguish its flames, but could only stain its eyes blood red, which dripped onto the ground.

Then it charged at Lin, opened its blood-red maw, and swallowed Lin whole, who offered no resistance.

Lin opened his eyes in the darkness. His consciousness was calm and distant, and he quickly assessed his current situation.

That Kitsune was not the product of a single consciousness; when it was swallowed, it sensed the complexities and contradictions deep within its own heart.

So Lin walked forward in this empty space.

There were no footsteps, and no senses. Lin only "felt" that he was walking, but he had been used to this world where he could not feel anything for 50,000 years.

Perhaps he walked for a long time, or perhaps only for a short while, he "saw" the light, and the "crying" emitted by the light.

"Your Majesty... how much longer must I wait..."

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Sixty-One - Another Possibility Granted to You

"How much longer... do we have to wait..."

Lin stood in the snow-covered landscape, the snow falling heavily, the world blanketed in white, and before him stood a giant ice sculpture.

The gray-haired, Dragon-winged Girl was curled up in the ice, her hands clasped together as if in prayer.

On her fair cheeks, glistening teardrops, like pearls, lingered, as if Amber were frozen in ice.

Bella?

Lin looked at the girl, whose skin was as clean as a feather, and reached out to place his palm on the ice.

Is this... her memory?

Lin's mind was filled with many memories that did not belong to him, a chaotic memory of the brief time he spent with the girl in front of him and her queen.

That can't be considered a particularly virtuous past. Lin saw Bella loyally helping the Herrscher of the Void, regardless of good or evil, simply to protect the Herrscher who gave her life and a name.

He would live for her, and die for her.

Ultimately, the dragon lost her core ability to transform into human form during the battle and was frozen in a desolate place, unable to return to the queen's side, and unsure if she would ever see the light of day again.

But she did not grieve for herself.

"Your Majesty, we hope you can let go of your hatred and live happily ever after..."

In her final moments, she was praying for the girl who had been hurt by humans and then turned around and hurt humans in return.

Perhaps because she was given the ability to think, the dragon is different from other Honkai Beast. She was not driven by instinct to obey the Herrscher's orders, but instead followed her own heart to be loyal to the Herrscher of the Void.

In the long period of freezing, she cried out in solitude and silence.

"How much longer... do we have to wait..."

"My Lady Queen..."

For the dragon girl, what does the queen who saved her and gave her the name of her former friend really mean?

A master to whom one must obey, or a friend born for her?

Lin swam in the sea of memories and learned why Bella hadn't shown any disgust for humans back then. She didn't hate the humans who shattered her core and then froze her. She knew that deep down, the Queen yearned for another possibility.

And so she waited... Even if the Queen, after finding happiness, might never awaken her again, she would still offer her sincere blessings, and then endure the torment of loneliness, waiting in solitude... even if the wait was forever...

May you meet the person who will save you.

Just like you who saved me back then.

The prayers that vanished into the ice sculptures dissipated in the cold wind. The black-haired man was the only anomaly in this endless ice field, gazing at the girl sobbing in the ice.

This monster has harmed humans.

This lonely girl is waiting.

"..."

Thinking doesn't take long.

Lin exhaled a breath of hot air, melting the ice crystals on his lips, which turned into cool liquid that flowed into his mouth.

Another possibility...

He recalled the white-haired girl who never gave up easily, exhaled the cold air from his lungs, and gradually increased the pressure on the ice, causing the hard ice to creak softly.