Chapter 201 Part 2

Chapter 201 Part 2: The Blessing Given by Tenno-Gochu (2)

This old movie, which is even older than she is, tells a classic love story about two strangers who meet in a train compartment. They have a pleasant conversation all the way until the train reaches Vienna, and they do not want to part ways.

So, they decided to stay in the city for one night and confirmed their relationship as they talked until dawn. At the end of the movie, just before they go their separate ways, they agree to meet again in six months at the train station.

Chu Wang Shu felt that her dad really lacked this romantic element. After thinking for a moment, she also bought a souvenir canvas bag from the movie, put the cleaned record inside, and walked out of the shop to choose a gift for Little Qing.

An hour later, when everyone gathered in the street, almost everyone was carrying multiple shopping bags.

Before Chu Yuanqing could ask, the lovely daughter handed her a gift bag.

The green-eyed cat followed closely behind and presented beautifully packaged jewelry.

Kirimi Miyuki saw this and felt pulled in. She was no longer shy and gave away the gift.

Xie Qingxuan was watching nearby, holding Exquisite’s shopping bag, showing no intention of giving it away at all.

—Because inside was just the gift’s outer packaging.

Chu Yuanqing seldom received gifts, or rather, she never thought she would receive any. She was confused for a few seconds and quickly hugged the bag that was about to fall to the ground, letting a few little idols help her hold the gift. She decided to return to the hotel first to lighten the load.

On the way back, Pure White Witch was worried about how to give a return gift. She was not good at giving things to others. Most of the time, when she gave gifts to her daughter, they were something the other person did not like. She was a true disaster in this area.

After Chu Yuanqing returned to the room, she began to unwrap the gifts.

Her lovely daughter had given her a snow globe, which looked very festive for Christmas.

The green-eyed cat gave her a crystal necklace in the shape of a swan, which she felt must be worth more than 100 euros.

Finally, there was Miyuki. She gifted some thoughtful items that had a strong local cultural flavor, perfect for displaying at home as collectibles.

Chu Yuanqing thought for a moment and put all the gifts they gave her into her little backpack.

Although she did not have a home to put these in and was not interested in the girls’ accessories, she was very happy about their thoughtful gifts.

It takes only four minutes by taxi from the hotel to the Summer Palace.

Since everyone had other plans for the afternoon, they went directly by taxi after leaving the hotel.

Chu Yuanqing quickly arrived at this famous landmark, known as the summer palace for the Habsburg Empress, where everywhere she looked there were magnificent palaces and Baroque gardens.

Only 45 rooms of the palace are open to the public, so after a quick tour, the little idols went to see the Sea God Fountain and the Roman ruins before heading to a highly-rated restaurant they found online.

Chu Yuanqing scooped a piece of apple strudel with her spoon; she still had not gotten used to the rich flavors of her new body, so she only took a small taste and tried it with her pink tongue.

Mmm, it perfectly mixed the sweet taste of the apple with the unique aroma of cinnamon, plus the crispy outer layer and the sprinkle of powdered sugar, making it deliciously sweet and sour with many layers of flavor. It should be something Little Shu would love to eat.

Sure enough,

The girl looked up and saw her adorable daughter happily squinting her eyes. She showed a gentle expression and suddenly remembered something. Imitating Charlotte, she used her phone to capture this moment, and her smile grew even brighter.

"Little Qing Little Qing, I want to take a picture too!"

Tang Liuli noticed Chu Yuanqing’s little actions with her sharp eyes. Her bright green eyes sparkled, and she whimsically clung to Pure White Witch, who felt like a mother.

Kirimi Miyuki had earlier placed the camera on a nearby empty table, facing this way to record. After hearing this, she couldn’t help but look at Chu Yuanqing, her pink eyes gazing intently, making her look especially charming.

Xie Qingxuan took a different approach; she used her phone to take a picture of the girl’s gentle profile in the sunlight. Then, she playfully tugged at the corner of the other person’s shirt, her pretty face showing a pure expression as she seriously looked at the other person and said:

"I want to stay in Little Qing’s album."

In the end, even Chu Wang Shu felt the urge to join in. The food made her cheeks puff up, but she quickly adjusted her expression, hoping she would look good in the pictures.

For a moment, Chu Yuanqing felt like she was the principal of a kindergarten. However, she didn’t refuse and seriously used her rather poor skills to satisfy all the little idols, adding a bunch of poorly composed photos of teammates that relied solely on their looks to the album.

The meal ended in playful banter, and everyone hung out for a while longer, taking a group photo at a scenic spot to wrap things up perfectly.

It was three in the afternoon. They had visited two attractions and completed one-fifth of their task. Without a break, they quickly arrived at a dance studio in the old town of Vienna, led by Chen Xiaoxiao.

Kirimi Miyuki looked around. The dance studio was about 100 square meters. The basic facilities were good, much better than the studio her previous company assigned. However, compared to the high-standard treatment at "Dazzling Stage," which mixed in various advanced technologies, it felt a bit simple.

There were no AI lights to correct movements, no AI Mentor to help learn dance, no equipment to strengthen muscle memory, no sleep pods to improve sleep quality, and no massage pods to relieve muscle soreness…

Even for Kirimi Miyuki, who had faced difficulties in this area, the difference felt quite large.

But Little Sakura did not dwell on this feeling. She quickly made a training schedule and assigned tasks. The first things to do were the warm-up stretches and learning dance steps on their own, followed by assigning parts.

As their initial training session came to an end, it was already close to evening.

The young idols all went to take showers, leaving only Chu Yuanqing and Kirimi Miyuki in the dance studio.

"Aren’t you going to take a break?"

"No, I feel great."

Kirimi Miyuki’s lips curled into a bright smile as she adjusted her breathing rhythm, ignoring the pounding of her heart, ready to practice the new dance once more.

The "Cocoon of the Heart" within her also moved forward with intention, gathering strength to go ahead.

Now, just as she imagined, she was constantly getting closer to the form of a magical girl, even the shining bursts from the past stage began to solidify into a swirling feeling.

Chu Yuanqing watched this scene, thinking that a pace as fast as Miyuki’s would be hard to find in other regions; perhaps… this child could become one of the main forces against the Disaster Wave in this era.

Kirimi Miyuki wore a fitted dance outfit, freely stretching her graceful body, lightly stepping into the dance, her toes touching the lonely shadow of the curtain, her lowered brows and eyes showing gentle femininity.

At that moment, a gentle evening breeze from the Danube flowed in through the window, and the setting sun cast a warm golden glow.

Kirimi Miyuki instinctively turned to look back, seeing Chu Yuanqing’s face hidden in the afterglow, suddenly feeling that the gaze directed at her was somewhat familiar, a sense of déjà vu slowly rising, causing her heart to race.

In this moment, the shining "Cocoon of the Heart," the radiant light entwining around her, Chu Yuanqing’s familiar yet strange gaze, and a suddenly recalled word—"the time of monsters," all blended together like a rushing current, echoing in her ears.

Gods in the black snow, sacrifices from betrayal, dragging out lonely redemption…

The strange and colorful dreams, amidst the pain of burning fire, swirl chaotically, filling the mind in a disordered way, washing away the tired consciousness into a blank state.

"Ding-ling-ling…"

In the haze, the sweet sound of Kagura Bell intertwines with the clang of steel, shattering all memories, making them melt like iron in a mold, shaping and solidifying with the ringing, yet softening and warping in the heat.

The girl’s expression is dazed, the cherry blossom pink in her eyes burns in the light; her love for the stage, her recognition of being an idol, her devotion to herself, all melt into a grander and more passionate emotion, almost uncontrollable, causing her dance steps to change.

It is still a dance, but different from a girl group, even modern dances, leaning more toward a priestess’s style.

At this moment, the Sakura Idol before her seems to transform into a Dongliushrine maiden, holding the Kagura Bell high to praise in all directions. She steps forward, jumping lightly, with her eyes slightly closed, palms to the sky, and a sincere smile on her lips, expressing the joys and sorrows of the world to the divine.

Chu Yuanqing’s expression is momentarily stunned; the golden light in her eyes breaks through the darkness like lava spilling from a glass bottle, burning fiercely with intense emotion, the lantern in front of her turns a similarly dangerous red-black color, as if being pulled into long-forgotten memories.

How wonderful? How magical?

This ordinary dance without music, without the Kagura Bell, and without the shrine maiden’s outfit, astonishingly touches a special medium deep within the soul, soaking the intense sorrow, the tooth-grinding hatred, and the chilling regret, all in an instant.

That huge memory, like a tsunami, rushed through her awareness like light and shadow.

This soon-to-be empty savior silently looked at the large blank space of her soul, as if she stood in a wasteland filled with black snow, surrounded by chaotic and fragmented memories.

——[Tenno-Gochu].

This is the [Calamity God], the first one she fought against.

But why? Why did the earlier impression show the [King of Salt] as being earlier?

Chu Yuanqing’s memory was confused; unlike the last time when she fought against the [Old Testament], she didn’t remember anything about fighting the [Tenno-Gochu]. This meant that the Sea of Truth made her forget some core logic related to it.

So after taking it away, the memory of [Tenno-Gochu] was like a drifting weed without roots, making it hard to gather any useful information, which led to confusion in the overall memory.

But Miyuki’s dance became a focal point, allowing the scattered information about this [Calamity God] to start coming together, just like broken puzzle pieces colliding in her mind, forcing together a shape that could be seen.

——Tempering of the Heart, Futsunushi no Mikoto, Ame no Habakiri, Kusanagi no Tsurugi…

And every time a keyword sounded, the sound of the sacred bells drew closer.

Chu Yuanqing instinctively resisted seeing that scene; her heart ached, breathing became hard, she could not help but press her lips together and even closed her eyes, but her mind kept piecing together memories of the buried past.

In the dance room, the shrine maiden Dongliu danced lightly, like a butterfly flitting and a bee buzzing, creating gusts of wind; the clear sound of bells fell like raindrops from her flowing sleeves, and with each step she twirled, like a kite in the air, moving gently.

Chu Yuanqing let out a tired sigh and opened her eyes; the once fiery golden light now seemed unexpectedly dim as she gazed at the memories dancing within her soul, remaining silent.

The slender figure of the girl swayed in the fire; her fingers, hidden in her sleeves, gently flicked out, long fingertips striking the Kagura Bell of memories, creating the final beat to shatter the illusions, as flesh and blood crumbled and turned to fine ash.

In the end, the scorching sea of fire boiled the black snow in her memories.

The many weapons born from mythology, bathed in the shrine maiden’s blood and bone, nourished by her pure soul, evaporated and melted away at the cost of the blessing known as "Tempering of the Heart," igniting a great fire that consumed the entire island, forging the sword that ended Norse mythology.

It was Laevatain.