It was nine o'clock in the morning, the second day after Zonggu and others left home.
Tsukuyomi opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before his consciousness gradually returned.
"ha--"
After a long yawn, he sat up and stared at the sky outside the window for a while.
"The weather has changed again... I hope it's not a typhoon."
It doesn't matter if there is a typhoon, as long as there is no power outage.
With an empty stomach, Tsukuyomi was going to go downstairs to eat something, and turned on the computer before leaving the room.
When he came to the kitchen and looked at the empty dining table, he remembered that the cook had gone out yesterday morning.
When I opened the refrigerator, there were only ingredients left inside.
"We can have pizza again... Well, let's eat it together for lunch to save a meal."
But before I even left the kitchen, my stomach growled.
"..."
He went back to the refrigerator, opened it and looked at it for a while.
Not all ingredients need to be cooked before eating.
"Fortunately, there are a few cucumbers."
While washing the cucumbers Zonggu brought back, he remembered that there seemed to be cucumbers growing in the vegetable patch in the backyard, but he didn't know if they were ready for picking.
Katsa.
Tsukuyomi took a bite of the cucumber. It was crisp and delicious, but it didn't have much flavor. He didn't taste it carefully. He finished it quickly and took one upstairs.
When he returned to the room and looked at the open computer, he hesitated and struggled, but still did not sit down.
"Where are we going to explore today..."
Holding the five-yuan coin on his chest and connecting it to the five-yuan divine power network covering the earth, he immersed his consciousness in it. Before he decided on the area to explore, he suddenly felt a wave of divine power.
"..."
This is a divine power network built by Yin Zhenami. Apart from him, the only one who can use this network is its original owner.
He could clearly feel the trajectory of another flow of divine power, and carefully avoided it. Qiu did not make any mistakes, and no matter how curious he was, he did not take another look.
This originally belonged to someone else, he was just borrowing it...
"Um?"
Tsukuyomi was suddenly stunned for a moment.
Although he deliberately avoided the area covered by Yin Xie Namei's divine power, he was still able to detect changes in the divine power network itself.
——A certain node in the Shenli Network is missing.
Specifically, several five-yuan coins were disconnected from the network.
Then, more and more coins escaped, and the missing area became larger and larger, like the ground suddenly collapsing, leaving only darkness.
Tsukuyomi can no longer turn a blind eye. Although he still dares not to cover it with divine power, he is paying more and more attention to the changes in the divine power network.
Is she destroying the Divine Power Network?
Or is there another purpose?
Until a certain moment, the "collapse" suddenly stopped.
Tsukuyomi quietly watched the changes. After a while, a new thread suddenly connected in the darkness.
Then, the disconnected nodes returned to their original positions, and more and more networks were reconnected. The missing areas were rewoven, and it did not take long to return to their original appearance.
"What the hell is going on..." Tsukuyomi muttered.
Earlier, Tachibana Emperor, who was in Kyoto, cast his sights on the wild mountains and forests thousands of miles away.
Five-yuan coins gathered from all directions, carrying her divine power, forming a murderous encirclement. In the center of the encirclement was a gap that had just been opened, and the other side was deserted and dead.
"hehe……"
The gap between the two worlds quickly closed, as if it had never appeared. With a thought from Emperor Ju, the five-yuan coins that had gathered from nearby flew away and returned to their original positions.
The moment Tsukuyomi connected to the divine power network, she had already noticed it, but didn't care. She didn't care about him at this time, and turned her attention to a rural place east of Lake Biwa.
It is still cloudy near Kyoto, and heavy rain has been falling in the mountains and fields for a while.
"The rain seems to be getting heavier..."
Kirino Akane sat cross-legged, looking coldly at the heavy rain outside the eaves.
"Isn't it good? You were still shouting about the heat just now." Zonggu said sitting next to him. The heavy rain fell and the rising temperature was stopped. The sweltering heat dissipated and it became much cooler.
The breeze blew a wisp of broken rain. Akane Kirino closed her eyes slightly and raised her face to feel it. The cool mist carried the fragrance of earth, and her dissatisfaction subsided slightly, "But we can't go out either."
"There's nothing to do when you go out. You've been around everywhere." On the second day after coming here, Kirino Akane had already walked around the area.
"So I plan to go somewhere farther away."
"where are you going?"
"Anywhere will do." Akane Kirino pointed in the direction of the backyard. "There are two bicycles in the backyard. Grandma said we could lend them to us. Although they look a bit shabby, I tried them and they can still be ridden. Soya took me
, Hongzi takes the bell with him, it won’t be a problem to go anywhere.”
The arrangement she made on her own made the other two people who had not spoken a word look over.
"I can't carry it..." Hongzi said, looking at Asagiri Suzu again, and added: "I mean, I can't ride for too long, so Akane should ride with Suzu."
Akane Kirino didn't have much opinion, "Okay. Then let's..."
Only then did Zonggu speak again: "It's still raining."
"..."
Akane Kirino, who was in high spirits, was doused with cold water, and started to sigh again and walk back and forth on the edge.
With so many things on her mind, Zonggu thought she couldn't calm down, so he got up and prepared to go back to the room.
"Where are you going?"
"I have a little headache. Go back to the room and lie down for a while."
"Huh?"
Kirino Akane jumped over and reached out to touch his forehead: "It's really a bit hot."
"..."
Zong Gu was stunned for a moment, saying that he had a headache just casually, then he pushed her hand away and said, "That's your psychological effect."
Returning to the room upstairs, he looked out the window for a while.
It is raining heavily, and the sky and earth are dark, but in summer the branches are covered with bright new green. The clouds in the sky are gradually clearing, and the heavy rain will not last long.
Akane Kirino's voice came from below.
"...It's just these two bicycles, doesn't Hongzi know?"
The other voice was naturally Hongzi's, "I didn't pay much attention."
The two figures appeared one after another and ran quickly into the warehouse behind the main house. Zonggu took half a step back.
The rain washed the black tiles and flowed down along the cornices. Hongzi patted the rainwater from her hair and looked up at the window upstairs.
Kirino Akane had already ridden one of the slightly mottled bicycles, pedaling backwards, and the spinning chain made a sound.
"I noticed it yesterday afternoon. I rode it for a short time and didn't find any problem."
"Um……"
Looking away, Hongzi's attention also fell on the bicycle, and suddenly said: "This bicycle belongs to my sister."
Akane Kirino was stunned, "Huh?"
"My sister has been studying here for a year and rides her bike to school every day."
"Why do you go to school here?"
"During high school, my sister was quite rebellious...I can't explain it in a few words. In short, the process was very complicated. The result was that my sister studied in high school in the countryside for a year, and then went to Tokyo without looking back."
"That's it..."
The two only stayed in the warehouse for a while, and soon returned to the main room, where Zonggu also ended his unintentional "eavesdropping".
After a while, there was a crunching sound outside.
The footsteps were approaching.
"..."
The door of the room was slowly opened, and Zonggu was lying on the quilt, with the electric fan beside him moving his head from side to side.
"Looks like he's asleep."
"Then it's better not to disturb him."
"Uh-huh……"
Bang, the door is closed again.
Zonggu opened his eyes and immediately closed them again, but it was already too late.
"I saw it."
"..."
Although the door was closed, Kirino Akane and Anko were in the room. He was unprepared and was deceived by the little trick.
The two came over and sat down on the left and right sides.
"What's your expression?"
Hongzi touched his forehead, "Does your head still hurt?"
There was a thigh on the left side of his head, and a thigh on the right side of his head. Souya could only look at the ceiling.
"I just lay down for a while."
"Ako and I were worried about Soya coming here." Kirino Akane stuck her head forward and blocked his sight.
"There's nothing wrong. I probably just didn't sleep well last night." Zonggu crossed his arms and covered his eyes, "Call me when the rain stops and we go out on a bike."
"OK."
Kirino Akane patted his chest, letting him rest peacefully, and then pulled Anko out of the room with satisfaction.
"Hey, when did the bell come up?"
"I came to see him."
"Sogu is resting..."
"I know."
The door opened and closed, and she lay down next to him.
After a while, the footsteps outside sounded again.
Zong Gu turned over, put his hands on her waist, and the tip of his nose was buried in a clump of short hair.
"I really have a headache now." He whispered.
Chaogiri Suzu just stood up sideways, facing away from him.
Zong Gu lowered his head and smelled the faint fragrance on his short hair, "I don't understand."
"Carpe diem," she said.
He was silent for a while, hugged his thin and petite body tighter, and let out a long breath.
"I don't know now whether it was Ling who made this choice that was abnormal, or whether it was weirder for me to keep refusing..." His voice trailed off, "No, I think I'm right."
"You're not wrong." Chaogiri Ling said, putting her hand on the back of his hand, "I just want you to get more happiness."
"There are many ways to get happiness, do you have to choose this way?"
She leaned back and pressed against his chest, "I mean less pain."
"..."
Zonggu closed his eyes.
Chaogiri Ling didn't take the initiative to speak, listening to his long breathing.
I don't know how many minutes passed before he said, "What Ling did made me feel like I have a terminal illness and my time is running out."
Zong Gu let her go and lay flat on the quilt again, looking at the ceiling above his head.
"Of course, even if I live to be a hundred years old, I will only have more than eighty years left. For Ling, it is indeed 'time is running out'."
Chaogiri Ling also turned over and stared at his side face.
"No matter how many years there are in the future, I will always be by your side."
Souya suddenly had a new idea: "Did Suzu do this just to stay by my side?"
"..."
She just looked at him.
"There is no need to choose this method, really." Zong Gu sat up and looked at her seriously, "No matter whether I choose Kyoko or Anko in the end, I will never let Suzu leave."
"..."
Chaogiri Ling closed her eyes.
"Isn't that right?"
"wrong."
Zonggu took a deep breath and lay down again.
She didn't stay too long, and after a while she got up and left his room.
The heavy rain outside lasted for more than two hours, extinguishing Kirino Akane's enthusiasm and causing Soya's sleepiness. A delicious lunch brought everything back to its original point.
"The rain has stopped!"
Kirino Akane stood under the eaves and turned around excitedly, "The Sunny Baby doll is indeed useful, we can go out!"
Sogu walked to the edge and found four white Sunny dolls hanging on it, two of which looked similar.
"This is Soya's." Kirino Akane pointed at one of them and said.
"Did Kirino do it?"
"Hmm. I made this and this one, and the other two were made by Ling and Hongzi. How about it?"
"good."
Kirino Akane then told him that maybe it was because their hair was added to the Sunny Day doll that it was so effective.
“…added my hair too?”
"Yes. When Zonggu was sleeping, I picked up a hair on your pillow."
He was half asleep at the time, but he vaguely felt someone coming in, but he didn't know who it was.
"It's hair, it's Sunny Baby's, it's like witchcraft."
"This is what we spiritual beings are like." Akane Kirino said pretending to be mysterious.
Zong Gu glanced at her and didn't bother to say anything more.
After going to the backyard to ride his bicycle, Hongzi brought two more large raincoats and stuffed them into the baskets in front of the two bicycles.
"Two pieces are enough. People sitting in the back can also get into the raincoat... although it is a little stuffy." She explained, and asked the other three people for their opinions, "It is better to bring two more umbrellas.
?”
Zonggu stepped on the pedal, "No, that's it."
Hongzi nodded and walked around to the back, only to find that Asagiri Ling was already sitting behind him.
"..."
This seems to be different from the arrangements I made in the morning.
"Anko, this way~" Kirino Akane greeted her from the other side.
"Coming..."
After saying hello to grandma, the four of them left on bicycles.
Riding out of the village along the road that was still filled with water, Zong Gu slowed down slightly and tilted his head slightly: "Where are we going?"
"Whatever -" Kirino Akane shouted very loudly for fear that he wouldn't hear, "You lead the way -"
"Then I'll just lead the way."
Anyway, there is only one way now, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost.
There are farmland on both sides, green fields everywhere, and everything is fresh after the rain. A little further away is the mountain, halfway up the mountain is shrouded in clouds and mist, as if another heavy rain is brewing.
The road was covered with rain, and the bicycle was not particularly reliable. Soya controlled the speed, partly for safety, and partly because he did not want to arouse any of Akane Kirino's competitiveness.
After riding for seven or eight minutes, a wild trail one or two meters wide appeared in front of me. One side connected to the cement road here, and the other side connected to an unknown place.
"Turn!" Kirino Akane shouted from behind.
The journey was smooth without any twists and turns. She was looking forward to meeting something different.
Zong Gu slowed down and said, "The road is not easy to walk."
Faced with any adventure, Kirino Akane will never change her line: "It doesn't matter."
He turned to look at her and said, "Then follow me."
"yes!"
Turning into a path covered with weeds, the wheels rolled over the ground, and the rain-saturated land welcomed several young people who had just arrived with splashes of mud.
"ah!"
There were constant screams behind him, Souya intentionally distanced himself, and Kirino Akane followed closely.
"Stay far away from me so you won't get splashed."
"It's okay, I can hide away."
After riding like this for a while, we turned to another small road with a different direction, and the situation improved a lot.
When the road was no longer muddy, Zonggu stopped on the side of the road.
After staring at another parallel road in the distance for a while, he looked at Hongzi and asked, "Is that the way we came here?"
Hongzi was worried about the mud splattered on her thighs. She raised her head, pushed up her glasses, and nodded quickly.
Soya raised his hand and pointed to the front of the road, and said to Akane Kirino: "Let's go straight along this road. If we want to go back, we can turn to the main road."
She just nodded, "Sogu just decides."
He stepped on the pedal again, "Then let's go."
Weaving through the fields, we continued riding for a while. The road continued forward without too many twists and turns. Across the fields in the middle, the road on the other side was sometimes far away and sometimes close. Zongya often had to worry that the two sides would lead to different directions.
Fortunately, they will always come together in the end.
Asagiri Suzu hugged his waist, and Kirino Akane followed Anko behind her. No matter what mood he held, his eyes would always fall on her.
After more than twenty minutes, Zonggu narrowed his eyes, then motioned to the girl behind him to let go, then stepped on the pedal and stood up.
Not too far away, the road seemed to be interrupted - a pond appeared ahead.
"ah!"
There was a scream from behind, and as soon as Soya turned around, Akane Kirino bumped into her crookedly, while Anko couldn't hold on tightly or let go, so she had no choice but to hold on to the seat cushion.
The front wheel collided with the rear wheel, as if it had been deliberately aimed.
Chao Wu Ling became calm and hugged him tightly.
Both bicycles stopped.
It was Hongzi who screamed just now, "Akane stood up suddenly, which shocked me..."
Kirino Akane said that she was imitating Soya, but she just forgot to remind: "I also want to see what's ahead."
"A pond." Zonggu said, "There is probably no road left. We have to go back to the intersection we just passed and turn to the main road over there."
Akane Kirino had another idea, "Then let's go and have a look."
"Alright."
They started again, and two or three minutes later, the four of them arrived at the pond.
"It looks like a wild pond." Zonggu looked around the pond, and also discovered that the path under his feet did not end here, but turned around and led to the road not far away along the edge of the pond.
"There are fish in the water." Kirino Akane suddenly said.
Zonggu looked at the pond, and suddenly a silver light flashed among the water plants.
"Yeah, I saw it too."
Kirino Akane and Anko both wanted to wash the mud spots on their thighs at the water's edge, but Soya refused because it was not convenient to go down here.
"If your feet slip, you two will have to feed the fish. Go to the front and take a look."
Continuing to ride along the pond, Zonggu saw a simple bridge made of two prefabricated panels in front of him after a minute or two.
There was a bridge, which meant there was a ravine underneath. Getting closer, he saw a channel more than one meter wide beside the road, connecting to the wild pond underneath.
After heavy rains in summer, the turbid water in the canals is turbulent and slightly turbulent.
After crossing the bridge, Sogu took the lead and began to ride back.
The water channel on the roadside seemed to be the stream they were looking for the source of yesterday, or its tributary, and the latter was quickly confirmed - after riding for a while, they came to the place where the stream splits.
There is a small opening on the side of the stream. Through the cement culvert, part of the stream water flows into the canal. The height difference creates a miniature waterfall.
"ah!"
Kirino Akane pressed the brakes quickly, and Anko threw herself on her back.
Zong Gu turned around and pointed at the bottom of the waterfall.