The pitch-black night was like a world soaked through with thick ink, or the heavy plumage of a black crow, weighing down over this remote, unpeopled stretch of forest.
Unbroken threads of rain fell from an unseen sky, weaving a hazy curtain through the trees. The droplets pattered against layer upon layer of leaves, creating a fine, ceaseless rustling, as though soothing things hidden in the forest that ordinary people could never see.
Now and then, collected rainwater slipped from weathered branches, splashing across the moss-covered ground in fleeting bursts. The damp air was thick with the mingled scent of earth and rotting leaves, and every breath carried a chill that seemed to sink straight into the bones.
In this dim world drenched through with rain, even time itself seemed to slow, turning thick and sluggish.
"Heave-ho... heave-ho..."
The sound of footsteps splashing through mud and puddles rang out, and just like that, Xu Fu made her dazzling entrance in a pure white summer outfit! Though she looked anything but energetic, dragging out her weak little cries with a thoroughly dispirited face.
"Ahhh, ahhh! So this is what people mean by 'the heavens refuse to cooperate,' huh? Nighttime and pouring rain at the same time—what's the world's cutest Xu Fu supposed to do about her grand, glittering first appearance like this?! Ughhh... and I even changed into such cute clothes and shoes for this..."
"I hate this... what a pain... I wanna go home... I wanna quit... Xu Fu has absolutely no motivation right now..."
The current Xu Fu was no ordinary Xu Fu, but the super-duper cute Summer Xu Fu! She had already been the cutest in the world to begin with, but now her cuteness level had more than doubled! Her white heels were cute, her white jacket was cute, the soft little hat on her head was cute too, and the inside of her jacket, jingling with Yu's button badges, was so cute it was practically explosive! From head to toe, every possible cute element had been maxed out!
My, my! If being cute were a sin, then Xu Fu would be irredeemably guilty, guhihihi~!
Though Xu Fu was walking alone through the downpour, it was as if an invisible wall surrounded her. Every drop of rain naturally veered aside before it could touch her, so even after all this time, her clothes were still dry, and not even the mud soaked by rain had stained her beloved shoes.
It was just a simple application of Taoism Arts. Xu Fu was an extremely famous Taoist in both China and Japan... even if the rare occasion she finally got to make an appearance had ended with her being utterly crushed by a "junior" like Zhang Jue, there was no denying that she was still a remarkably skilled Taoist.
It was just that the Saint Graph Xu Fu possessed here was not Alter Ego, but Avenger. Her original skill [Taoism Arts (External) A] had been modified into [Taoism Arts (Doll Manipulation) A+], specializing in puppet control. Fortunately, the most basic Taoism Arts, like keeping off rain and water, still worked just fine. A happy occasion indeed, a happy occasion indeed.
"I hate it, hate it, hate it... I hate everything about this place~! A world without Lady Yu in it ought to hurry up and be destroyed already... Ahhh~! I miss Lady Yu so much... Lady Yu, Lady Yu, Lady Yu, Lady Yu..."
Though she kept muttering gloomy complaints like "I hate this" and "what a pain," the truth was that Xu Fu was secretly delighted by one fact—
Fenghuang Yu needed her strength.
Xu Fu was happy that even from so far away, her power could still help her Master.
Of course, it was equally true that she was bottling up a stomachful of resentment because she couldn't see Lady Yu. Only the Lady Yu doll in her arms could ease her loneliness a little.
She had been walking for quite a while now, but the rain showed no sign of letting up. If anything, it was getting heavier. It felt like it might keep going for a long, long time.
"Just how remote a place did they dump me in? I've been walking this long and still haven't seen a single sign of people... ah, I'm getting sleepy... and it's not like I can just flop down on the ground and go to sleep... I suddenly really want Master to rub my shoulders... Can you hear me~! Master~! Cute little Xu Fu gave up precious time she could've spent with Lady Yu to come help you, so as repayment, you'd better remember to massage my shoulders and knead my legs for me~~!"
What Xu Fu hated most was hard labor. Black-hearted bosses and black-hearted companies that forced people to work overtime even during vacation were the absolute worst! If the one who needed help hadn't been Master, she wouldn't have wanted to come to this dump at all. She wouldn't even have bothered to care.
Xu Fu had no idea what kind of world she had arrived in. She had no one to ask for information, and no way to gather it either, so all she could do was wander aimlessly through the dark, damp little forest by herself.
Still, she had picked up on a few clues.
"This makes the seventh one, right?"
Watching a deathly pale figure drift past her, Xu Fu's expression turned strange.
"What is wrong with this world? I haven't even gone that far, and I've already run into seven lost, Wandering Ghosts. It's not like this place is some major spiritual hotspot that attracts the dead. Are the judges of the underworld all slacking off on the job? Or does an underworld not exist here at all?"
She didn't know. With so little information to go on, all of it could only remain speculation.
Continuing onward, after encountering a total of seventeen drifting spirits, Xu Fu came upon a Buddhist temple that looked as though it had been abandoned for quite some time.
The place was run-down, but it still seemed sturdy enough. At the very least, it could serve as a passable shelter from the wind and rain. Seeing that the downpour was unlikely to stop anytime soon, Xu Fu decided to stay there for the time being and use it as a temporary resting place.
She had not even stepped through the temple gate before noticing something unusual.
The drifting spirits that had been appearing fairly often before were nowhere to be found near this temple, as if they were deliberately avoiding the place.
Before it was abandoned, this had probably been one of those small temples with barely any worshippers. The grounds were not large, half the gate had collapsed, and the damp air carried the acrid scent of wood and dust.
A small clay Buddha statue sat on the crooked offering table, but it had only a body and no head; who knew where the head had gone.
The curtain beside one of the support pillars had rotted into strips of cloth, hanging down from above and swaying in the wind.
In any case, no one was likely to come to this dilapidated place anymore, so Xu Fu pulled apart some wood, stacked it in the middle of the temple, and casually used a talisman to light it on fire, driving away at least a little of the unpleasant chill.
The crackling of the burning wood and the sound of rain falling outside the temple intertwined, creating a strange kind of silence that was hard to put into words.
"I'll leave once the rain stops."
In truth, with Xu Fu's abilities, she could have cleared the sky on the spot.
But she felt there was no need. She also disliked violating the natural order just to satisfy her own desires. If she acted too willfully, it would only bring misfortune down on herself sooner or later. Better to let things take their natural course.
"This place doesn't even have any rice crackers... nghhh~! Xu Fu wants rice crackers! I really, really want Master to feed cute little Xu Fu some rice crackers~!"
Xu Fu grumbled like that for quite a while.
Then, all at once, she sensed someone approaching.
Not one of those drifting spirits that were already dead, but living people.
And not just one.
"Whoa, we're saved!"
"Why did the rain suddenly get this heavy? The forecast didn't say anything about this..."
"I can't even see the road..."
Four people came rushing into the temple—two boys and two girls, all around high school or college age.
"Wow! We saw the firelight from outside and got scared for a second, but there really is someone here!" One of the girls spotted Xu Fu sitting by the fire and let out a small gasp, covering her mouth.
"See? I told you ghosts and monsters don't actually exist," one of the boys said. But the obvious relief on his face did not escape Xu Fu's notice. He clearly was not as confident as he sounded.
The other boy said nothing at all. He just stared blankly at Xu Fu, utterly transfixed—probably his first time seeing such a pretty girl.
The girl who had spoken first shook the rainwater from her umbrella, then jogged over to the fire with a smile and asked Xu Fu, "Why are you here all by yourself, little girl?"
"I'm not some little girl~! I'm Xu Fu!" Xu Fu frowned in displeasure. "I'm not younger than any of you, you know!"
Not "not younger" at all—these kids' ages combined would not even amount to a fraction of hers.
"Huh? Really?" The girl froze for a moment, gave Xu Fu a once-over, then added, "Lying isn't good, little girl."
Sigh... nobody believes the truth these days...
"But your name is... Xu Fu?" The girl fell into thought. The name reminded her of Xu Fu, who was revered in Japan as a god of agriculture, medicine, and navigation.
In Japan, there was probably no one who did not know the name Xu Fu. Teachers emphasized him in class, and shrines and sanctuaries dedicated to Xu Fu could be found all across the country.
There was even a widely circulated claim that Xu Fu had actually been Japan's founding emperor, making him an ancestor of all Japanese people... though that theory seemed to lack any documentary basis. Some insisted instead that Xu Fu had only arrived in Japan during the reign of Emperor Kōrei, the seventh emperor of Japan.
But whichever version one believed, both held that Xu Fu and the three thousand boys and girls he brought from China had settled in Japan and left descendants behind. There were indeed Japanese people who claimed their ancestors had been among those three thousand children.
Naturally, the girl did not think the doll-like little girl in front of her could possibly be that famous historical Xu Fu himself. At most, she assumed the pronunciation of the name was similar.
After all, how many years ago had that figure lived? And historical records clearly stated that the original Xu Fu had been male. There was no way their ancient ancestor had come back to life after more than a thousand years and also changed sex, right? That would be way too ridiculous... fans of Artoria in Britain might have had a lot to say about that.
"Then I'll just call you Xu-chan!"
"What's with that condescending nickname? How irritating! Hmph, hmph!" Xu Fu puffed out her cheeks like a blowfish to show how unhappy she was inside.
Annoying, annoying... so annoying! Her seniority in Chaldea was not even all that low, and yet everyone kept treating her like a child... especially that lecherous nun! Everything about her, from head to toe, was irritating!
"There are humans in Japan who ate mermaid flesh and became ageless and undying, yet for some reason Miss Xu Fu seems to have overlooked that fact... I wonder what would happen if I were to report this matter to His Majesty the First Emperor..."
A certain dangerously, visibly lecherous nun had once used words like that to threaten Xu Fu.
So awful! Cute little Xu Fu has it hard enough as it is, okay? Couldn't people show her a little more understanding? If she was Japanese too, then they ought to give her some more respect!
Inside the old temple, Xu Fu also learned who the four students in front of her were.
The lively girl who had spoken first was named Yoshida Saori.
The boy who spoke next was Nagata Takaya.
The boy who had gone blank with astonishment at Xu Fu's beauty was Morita Taku.
The girl who had hardly spoken at all was Yasukawa Nagisa.
As for how they were related to one another, they seemed to be two couples.
Yoshida Saori and Nagata Takaya had no sense of distance between them at all, and when Nagata Takaya introduced Yoshida Saori, he had bluntly stated, "She's my girlfriend."
As for Morita Taku and Yasukawa Nagisa, after Nagisa noticed Taku staring at Xu Fu for so long, there was a clear trace of resentment in her eyes. And when Taku finally snapped out of it, he also cast Nagisa a guilty glance.
According to them, they were traveling together and just happened to be passing through this area.
They had heard people online say that, in the past, someone had run into something unclean on this mountain—in other words, they'd "seen a ghost"—and the four of them had come up the mountain out of curiosity to take a look.
As for the others, Xu Fu couldn't say, but Nagata Takaya definitely looked like the type who was afraid of ghosts. Even so, to show the bravest side of himself in front of his girlfriend, he had still forced himself to come along.
Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, they had not encountered any so-called ghosts. Instead, they got caught in this downpour. It was only because Yasukawa Nagisa had a habit of carrying two umbrellas with her whenever she went out that their group had avoided ending up completely soaked.
The existence of the internet gave Xu Fu a rough idea of what era she was in.
There were clearly plenty of drifting spirits in the mountains, but these students apparently could not see them. They did not possess the ability of "spiritual sight." They were just ordinary people.
...Well, ordinary people whose courage far exceeded their actual ability, and who really seemed to enjoy flirting with death. In ghost stories and horror stories, those were usually the ones who got killed off first.
"Hey, hey! Why are you here all alone, Xu-chan?" Yoshida Saori seemed like the sort who was instantly familiar with everyone, the kind of person who had no idea what personal boundaries even were and just closed the distance on her own.
Then again, maybe it was because Xu Fu was so cute? Especially that face of hers—it made people want to pinch her cheeks without thinking.
"Hah? You woman, how can you just come right up to a stranger without any reservations at all?! Even being overly friendly should have its limits!"
"Because Xu Fu is cute, of course~! Are you embarrassed, Xu Fu?"
"No! Though you're right about one thing—cute little Xu Fu really is adorable. Hmph, hmph! I'll give you credit for having a bit of taste~."
...
[Xu Fu (Avenger)]
CLASS: Avenger
LEVEL: 80
PERSONAL SKILLS:
Taoism Arts (Doll Manipulation) A+
Territory Evolution (Settlement) B++
Collection of Deaths A
CLASS SKILLS:
Avenger (Token) B+
Oblivion Correction EX
Weakness (Yu Mei-ren) EX
PARAMETERS:
Strength C | Endurance B | Agility E
Mana A+ | Luck A | Noble Phantasm B
NOBLE PHANTASM:
Expiring at Evening, Chainsawing at Twilight B+
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T/N: hi so this is dark gathering uhhh i have no idea what dark gathering is, Xu Fu seems cute though :D