Chapter 404: The Snow Country, Like a Poem

One week later, Dongliu Island.

The train sped along the Joetsu Shinkansen line.

The flowing streaks of light spread across the snowy plain, like clusters of burning flames, shining all the way to the edge of the sky, blending with the clear blue horizon.

The roaring wind grew loud as it passed through the tunnel, sudden and grand, like a changing song. It rose and fell with the distant mountains and fields, as if melting into the winding lines of a painting, showing a sense of airy and free beauty.

“So beautiful.”

The shrine maiden changed into a pretty modern winter outfit, with a down jacket hugging her smooth white neck. Her lovely face was flushed red. She picked up the only phone between them, turned on recording mode, and looked at the person sitting opposite her with a bright smile:

“Little Qing, look here, let’s take a photo!”

The girl’s pure white short hair swayed in the wind. Her left eye was like melted silver, and her right eye a dazzling golden color. Her delicate and perfect face had light makeup, hiding dark cracks like cracked porcelain. Her appearance was so stunning that it made people forget the world. In the vast snowy land, she looked like a natural spirit, standing alone and apart.

In the camera’s view, this person wore the same black winter clothes as the shrine maiden. She turned to look back when called, her calm face like rippling water, with warm smiles spreading from the corners of her eyes and brows, shining like the glowing snow country.

The sound of the camera shutter froze the beautiful and gentle smile in a moment of forever.

The shrine maiden looked happily at the photo on her phone.

In Little Sakura’s memory, there were three small tips for taking photos: first, good lighting; second, hold your hand at a 45-degree angle, and keep a distance about as long as your arm; third, only take pictures of half your face.

But for someone as beautiful as Honey Qing, it was simple—just follow the rule of being naturally pretty and take photos however you liked.

“Looks great! After uploading it to TikTok, it will definitely get lots of likes.”

To save money for the trip and not let Honey Qing sleep under bridges in Hokkaido, Miss Shrine Maiden worked very hard. After a long time, she found a way to pass real-name verification cleverly and got a Donghong universal savings card to withdraw money.

As for the half-finished videos taken casually, the account she named [Last Journey] posted only seven videos this week but already had 200,000 fans.

Even without selling products, ads, or taking commissions, just streaming live for a few hours let her make money by her looks alone, easily covering her food, clothes, and living expenses.

Yes, this was the power of Pure White Succubus.

Now, the comment section on the video was full of crazy messages.

The shrine maiden had not yet told Chu Yuanqing many things about the fan account.

There was no way; not long ago, the fan count was over a hundred million, and soon to be the top idol, but Honey Qing still had little self-awareness. Maybe in her mind, living off her looks had nothing to do with herself.

This deeply rooted idea couldn’t be changed just by shooting a few ads or performing on stage a few times. It was just that she hadn’t been a girl for very long, and needed some time to get used to it.

So, she thought that when the account had more fans, and Honey Qing was recognized offline, the confused look on her face would definitely be very cute.

Hmm, this was not about strange fun; it was just a targeted social lesson.

Chu Yuanqing tilted her head and was quite used to the shrine maiden’s filming. She looked out the window, continuing to enjoy the snowy country view, like blending into the wild mountain wind, quietly savoring the peacefulness that calmed the soul.

A week ago, after finishing up in Sea City, she didn’t stay long and took a plane to Dongliu Island. She originally planned to go to Hokkaido first, to accompany the shrine maiden to see Little Sakura’s family.

But after thinking about many things, she decided to wait until Miyuki officially started her national tour and was too busy to keep in touch with family, then go to Hokkaido.

Since being surrounded by “Void” and forgotten by the stars and the world, now she could only keep the promise made that day with Miyuki in this way.

It was just… she wasn’t sure if visiting without Miyuki leading would make people think she was a bad person.

Also, the Countermeasures Bureau protected magical girls’ families very closely, so if she tried to contact them, she would definitely be noticed.

Chu Yuanqing thought about this before and felt worried for a while, but she soon stopped worrying. One week ago, she could go in and out of Zhelong Town’s underground base freely without being noticed by Dream Weaver Rabbit. She did this because of the “Void” power wrapped around her soul.

This was similar to the situation in the future dream. The more she was eroded by the “Void,” the more she could adapt to, embrace, and utilize this power. Naturally, erasing the consciousness of a “Calamity God” was impossible, but erasing her own traces and presence was very easy.

Speaking of which, the form in which her ability manifested was somewhat similar to Honey Xuan’s blessing.

“Little Qing, where do you want to go to have fun?”

Chu Yuanqing looked at the shrine maiden after hearing this. She hesitated for a moment, tilted her head, and said,

“Skiing, and also hot springs?”

Echigo-yuzawa was the place Little Sakura had mentioned wanting to go to together; it was the destination of this trip. Looking out the window made it clear this was truly a snow country, with large amounts of powdery snow accumulating for a long stretch every year, making it perfect for skiing.

As for the hot springs, due to the geological conditions here, this place was truly a kingdom of hot springs. One could enjoy three different types of hot springs simultaneously. Hot spring spots were everywhere: Komako’s Bath, Rock Bath, Street Bath, Inn Bath… so many that it was hard to choose.

Chu Yuanqing was not very interested in these things.

Or rather, her material desires, and desires in general, were very low.

This was evident from how she was with love and romance. Honey Qing was always forced into those matters. Even if she changed back to her original gender, she would probably be that kind of cool and indifferent young man who was rather sex-repulsed, the type to be ruthlessly night-attacked.

So, for her, whether she soaked in hot springs, skied, saw beautiful scenery, or encountered interesting or fresh things, she maintained an attitude of “It’s good if yes, but it’s also fine if no.”

The shrine maiden was quite different. She had already made her plans, her eyes sparkling, face beaming with a smile, and she said enthusiastically,

“And there’s sake too!”

Echigo-yuzawa was located in Niigata Prefecture, known as the rice land of Dongliu Island. According to online information, there was a sake museum here where for only 500 yen one could drink from a hundred varieties of sake — a paradise for sake lovers.

Chu Yuanqing blinked and asked curiously,

“Can Miyuki drink now? You’re Nostalgia now, right?”

The shrine maiden nodded happily, arms crossed, and cheerfully replied,

“Yes! Nostalgia is more spiritual and much easier to use than my old body. It’s not affected by mythical concepts. As long as I want, I can keep my appetite and sense of touch. I can even accompany Little Qing to soak in hot springs.”

Chu Yuanqing was somewhat enlightened. No wonder she occasionally saw the shrine maiden eating chips and drinking cola. It wasn’t a pose or mimicked things, but she was actually eating real food!

Curiously, Chu Yuanqing asked,

“So, where does the food go after you eat it?”

The shrine maiden thought for a moment before answering,

“Of course, I digest it. Usually, people eat to replenish energy, but when I eat, I need to consume energy to digest it. Otherwise, it just passes through my mouth and falls to the ground.”

“But that’s not very eco-friendly, so I eat very little, only as much as I can fully digest.”

Chu Yuanqing watched the shrine maiden’s careful and frugal expression and thought she was becoming more like Little Sakura lately. With an urge to feed her, she considered and said,

“Then when we soak in the hot springs, I can drink sake with you. That way, you don’t have to digest it; the sake can go straight into the hot spring, and you can have a few more cups.”

The shrine maiden felt a bit tempted but hesitated, saying,

“That does sound nice, but after drinking, watching the sake spill into the hot spring feels a bit strange.”

However, she quickly dropped the hesitation and changed the topic, saying,

“I checked online, and it says there will be a music festival here before summer ends. Many people will camp by the mountains, and there should be fireworks at night. It should be very lively.”

Chu Yuanqing thought for a moment and asked,

“I remember there was the Fuji Rock Festival in July at the Naeba Ski Resort, but that time has long passed. Is this a similar event?”

The shrine maiden replied:

“This is about ‘Dazzling Stage.’ This music festival would have players from the Tokyo division of ‘Dazzling Stage’ performing. They hadn’t announced exactly who would come yet. I guessed it was a way to promote their debut.”

“Now, every division’s little idols were getting ready to debut. Every group was very active. When the official tour started, you might see their shows everywhere you went.”

One could imagine, it was going to be a very lively and exciting event.

If the plan failed, this would be the last big party.

If the plan succeeded, this would be the start of a celebration.

Chu Yuanqing felt a little worried and quietly said:

“I hoped everything would go well.”

The shrine maiden said with clear thinking:

“It definitely would go well. The Sea City battle had used up most of the Disaster group’s power. The Countermeasures Bureau wanted to use this quiet time to quickly push the plan forward, so they were making a big effort to start the debut tour.”

At least…

No matter if there were surprises later or not, Chu Yuanqing had already done her very best. Once at Ideal State and once at Sea City, these two times combined had almost completely destroyed both the light and dark sides of the Church of the Gods.

If it had not been like this, those Apostles, the Supreme Disaster Beast, and other dangerous Disasters ranked Grade A and Grade B, once spread all over the world attacking small idols touring everywhere, the Countermeasures Bureau would have had no way to deal with it. If they were careless, the “Dazzling Stage” plan might have been stopped halfway.

Looking at the situation then, even though the Disaster group knew about Shining Magic and could guess the core of the “Dazzling Stage” plan, they still had not stopped the worldwide fever for tours in those two weeks.

The once loud and noisy “Calamity Seed” attacks had become fewer those days, as if everything had fallen silent.

From this, one could see how big the blow was from the failed sacrifice.

Chu Yuanqing nodded and said:

“There should have been no trouble lately, but as long as the Disaster group did not forget the thirteenth Calamity God, ‘Son of Mankind,’ they would sooner or later cause trouble for Little Shu.”

Even though Little Shu had a deep connection with it, the fact that the “Son of Mankind” dwelled in her body, and that it carried the important event of summoning the other Calamity Gods for sacrifice, were information hard for the Void to reach.

Even if they forgot Chu Wang Shu’s special gift, the Disaster group would still come back to find them to investigate the survival of the Son of Mankind, or the reason for this attack.

It was just that at that moment, they didn’t have enough strength to act.

Of course, Chu Yuanqing, as a mother, was not very worried. A week ago, she had gone to Zhelong Town. Besides saving Liang Xiaoxiao and teaching the child a bit more, she wanted to check on Little Shu’s condition.

At that time, the child’s magic power had reached the Sea level. Her super senses and spiritual awareness had both changed, and she could even catch a glimpse of Chu Yuanqing’s shadow.

This was very comforting.

One should know, she originally just wanted to talk to her daughter and didn’t plan to let her see her, but she still found her trail.

Even though Chu Yuanqing was not as strong as before and didn’t use the Void, it was clear how much the child had improved.

Also…

Little Shu had truly mastered the powers of the Son of Mankind. Her easy control over the Disaster Gene and making them obey Liang Xiaoxiao showed that the Disaster group’s judgment was right — this child could unite the Disaster group and had endless potential.

Having gained the Son of Mankind as nourishment, she was no longer easily harmed by the Disaster group. Even if thirteen complete Supreme Disaster Beasts were sacrificed, it would not work.

Chu Yuanqing guessed that Little Shu’s magical girl skills were far beyond a normal captain-level witch. If she chose to use the power of Son of Mankind, only Charlotte could possibly stop her in the entire Countermeasures Bureau.

This was just the beginning.

Later on, it might take both the mother and stepmother together.

Chu Yuanqing smiled softly. Looking at the snowy land coming closer to the signal station, she felt more excited. When everything was over, if that child carried all of Pure White, maybe she alone could protect this world.

Her thoughts settled as the train came to a stop.

The shrine maiden happily stood up, gazing at the view outside. She glanced back at Honey Qing, then without saying a word took out her phone. She took pictures of the mysterious guitarist, like a snow country elf, carrying her instrument case alone. They talked as they walked to the platform.

“Mm hmm,” Honey Qing looked at the camera. “Yes, so cute!”

The girl showed great dedication as a blogger. She clipped a microphone near her collar and spoke the lines to record for the video:

“Alright, quickly think about where to go to have fun—should we go to the ski resort first, or the hot springs?”

“Are you asking me? Well, I think the House of Light is quite nice, and taking the cable car at Hachiyama Sea is very romantic too.”

“But really, the best thing to do first is to have a drink. I want to see Honey Qing blush.”

Chu Yuanqing was used to the shrine maiden taking pictures and chatting on her phone at the same time. Her golden eyes looked like they were covered in frost. She loosened her blue scarf a little, and her lips breathed out white mist from the cold. She patiently spoke with the shrine maiden, walking slowly forward.

This was Niigata Prefecture, Yuzawa Town, Echigo-yuzawa, a snowy land with fireworks, ski resorts, cable cars, and hot springs. Forgotten people and spirits traveled here, and a lonely phone camera captured pieces of the journey, like a poem that was not yet finished.