(Opening my eyes, Ore! LetsGo! Resolve! gogogoghost!)
Sagara opened her eyes.
She found herself standing outside a thatched cottage.
Before her stood the storyteller, "Mr. Boiled Umbrella."
Without any surprise or wild joy on her face, Sagara merely pressed her palms together and said:
"Sir! Forgive this humble monk for disturbing you!"
"The great dream has finally ended... How long has it been?" the storyteller asked Sagara gently.
"This humble monk saw the plum blossoms bloom ten times, then wither ten times. To be honest, ever since entering that Heavenly Peak Painting, this humble monk had been counting the days. It should truly have been about that long," Sagara said slowly.
Sagara had spent ten years within the painting.
Fortunately, it had been like a dream. Not much time had actually passed in reality.
"You realized your situation while in Heavenly Peak. Knowing full well that it was all a painting, why waste your time?" The storyteller looked at Sagara in puzzlement.
Countless people had lost themselves in his paintings. Yet among those who knew their circumstances and still chose to remain in the painting, Sagara was the only one.
"Because this humble monk witnessed the truth behind Xi'e's flight to the moon and could not let it go for a long time... There truly was a madman who tried to reclaim his beloved from the sky through his own strength alone. Such obsession and madness somehow made him all the less pitiful..." Sagara answered honestly.
"Oh... What if I told you that even Xi'e's divine will was deliberately painted by me—false as well?" the storyteller asked with a smile.
"How many legends, classics, ancient texts, and myths from every nation are false? How many have nothing to do with plain, ordinary life? Must we deny their meaning simply because