"Are you ready?"
"I'm ready!"
"Are you really ready?"
"I'm really ready!"
"Are you..."
"Mei, are you sure you're not deliberately getting back at me for saying your hair felt nice when I touched it?"
"...Just call me Acheron."
"Okay, Mei. Got it, Mei." Chen Li gave Acheron a reassuring gesture.
"..."
Acheron was starting to have some regrets. Why did she just reveal her real name? Perhaps it was because Chen Li had fictionalized the state of her entire head back to what it once was, stirring up some unnecessary sentimentality.
"It's come to this. There are no other options. Let's get ready," Chen Li said to her.
"Alright. I hope you find what you're looking for." Acheron nodded, then took the Longbow of Peace and poked herself with it.
That's right, Acheron poked Acheron with the Longbow of Peace.
The real Longbow of Peace was hanging at the entrance of the Underworld; taking it down from the doorframe would make the Underworld disappear. The one in Acheron's hand was a projection.
After poking herself, Acheron successfully triggered the longbow's "Eradicate Root and Stem" effect. Through this, she could see her list of contacts.
The bad news was that Acheron had very few contacts. The good news was that among them was indeed the Aeon of Nihility that Chen Li was looking for.
"..." by Acheron.
Acheron offered no comment on the matter. Although she had never admitted to being an Emanator of Nihility—because the Path of Nihility shouldn't even have Emanators—having walked so far down its road, Acheron had already formed a deep connection with that great black egg in the sky.
Or rather, all Self-Anniliators and Chaos Doctors had set upon this path because they were influenced by the Aeon of Nihility; they all shared a connection with it. The Path of Nihility was the most unique of all Paths.
---o---
"Alright, come on. Don't hold back just because I'm a delicate flower." Chen Li walked up to Acheron, spread his arms, closed his eyes, and assumed the posture of one bravely facing death.
"Are you sure this bow can shoot you out?" Even with the final step right before them, Acheron was still a little skeptical. Could this thing really shoot anything?
"Relax, this Curio can shoot anything. It can even shoot other Curios, let alone a Curio Forger," Chen Li nodded. If you happened to have a spare ancestor lying around at home, you could probably launch them with this bow too.
Acheron nodded, half-convinced. She held the bow in her left hand, reached out with her right, and gently tapped her fingers on Chen Li's chest.
Just as Chen Li had described beforehand, the power of the Longbow of Peace began to warp his body. Although the effect was minimal—since a Curio Forger is nearly immune to the negative effects of Curios wielded by others—it was no problem as long as Chen Li actively cooperated.
Two seconds later, Acheron stared at the glittering golden "arrow" in her hand and fell into a deep thought.
"Does this really count as being warped?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry about that. As long as you can nock this arrow on the bowstring and let it fly, I'll successfully take that step toward Nihility. Just wait for my good news," Chen Li, now shrunk to the size of a fist and tied to a shimmering golden arrow, still found a moment to give Acheron a thumbs-up.
The Longbow of Peace hadn't warped Chen Li into an arrow; it had warped him into a tiny person and tied him to an arrow.
Looking at Chen Li's current state, Acheron suddenly felt like she was tying her pet to a sky-rocket firecracker, personally lighting the fuse, and watching it fly freely. She wasn't sure if it would work, but it certainly had entertainment value.
"Well then... I hope you return safely." With that, Acheron looked up at the black sun in the sky, drew the bow, and nocked the arrow.
Then, she let go.
"Wooohooo, takeoff!"
The arrow transformed into a streak of golden light and shot toward the heavens.
This was the second time Acheron had watched a friend attempt to venture deeper into IX. And this time, she was the one who had sent him.
Yet, she couldn't feel the slightest bit of sorrow. She just had a feeling that Chen Li wouldn't get into trouble that easily.
---o---
"He's gone?" Tielnan asked as he walked over, having just guided a companion who had emerged from the Pond of Rebirth into the Human Emperor Banner.
"He's gone," Acheron nodded.
"You're worried?"
"Yes. He's a good person." Acheron felt that both she and Tielnan should have realized it by now. This Curio Forger, who could summon an Underworld with a wave of his hand, casually forge a Human Emperor Banner to house countless souls, and even dared to fly into Nihility, probably didn't need to seek help a hundred years in the past to deal with a Lord Ravager.
Setting aside the fact that traveling a hundred years into the past was far more difficult than fighting a Lord Ravager, even if a time machine were developed in the future, one shouldn't ask for help from a group of puppets in Nihility, a band of Bloodsin Wraiths... That precious opportunity should be saved for people more worthy of the call.
How bad could a person be, who would go out of their way to forge a Human Emperor Banner just for these "lingering obsessions of Pathstriders" (Bloodsin Wraiths)?
From her observations of Chen Li over the past three days, Acheron could hear the sincerity in his every word... alright, maybe not completely sincere, like when he claimed he and that Masked Fool, Sparkle, were the dearest of friends, his beloved family.
And Acheron had indeed noticed that Chen Li would often look directly into her eyes, and after she felt too awkward and looked away, his gaze would drift down to her legs. He seemed genuinely curious about the decorations on her left leg.
"Whether someone is a good person can't be judged from a personal perspective. For example, from the viewpoint of the entire universe, can someone who recklessly resurrects the dead truly be considered a good person?" Tielnan countered.
"An interesting point of view. And?"
"There is an old Xianzhou saying: Good people don't live long, but a scourge lasts for a millennium. Someone like him will live for a very long time. So there's no need to worry at all," Tielnan said with a smile. "Besides, if you're really that worried about him, you should watch more of those ads. Didn't he leave you with a審-free seal for the Revival Card? Once you piece together a full card, you can nominate Chen Li for revival."
Although Tielnan doubted Chen Li would be foolish enough not to prepare a Revival Card for himself, some things, even if meaningless, simply had to be done. Just like how he wanted to guide these Bloodsin Wraiths—who weren't his real companions, but merely their obsessions—to peace.
"I think he left this seal to help me or you revive someone we want to bring back, to prove the effectiveness of the Revival Card and give us the conviction to watch ads for 100 years. Not to revive himself," Acheron said, looking at the bright red seal on the back of her hand that refused to fade even under the influence of Nihility's power. It was the avatar of a cartoon doll that Chen Li called the Homu King.
"Heh, I remember Chen Li saying that winning the Revival Games is no simple matter; it all comes down to luck. And this Sea of Death is no paradise. Rather than dragging a friend into this place, it's better to secure peace of mind for the two of us." After speaking, Tielnan slowly stood up, picked up his loudspeaker, and walked off into the distance again.
Although the queue of Bloodsin Wraiths was already very long, Tielnan enjoyed the feeling of gathering his companions together.
"Lose some skin, lose some flesh, but don't you dare fall behind! No guts, no glory! Let's go!"
"This Weilong... he's quite a character." Recalling that Chen Li had said this was the catchphrase of a warrior named Weilong, Tielnan couldn't help but praise him. This character, he definitely wouldn't throw a magnetic bomb at the start of a match just to fight a teammate for a guaranteed item, exposing his teammate's position, right?
Tielnan's words made sense to Acheron, so she started watching the advertisement she had already seen countless times.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."
---o---
Meanwhile, Chen Li, who had been launched while tied to an arrow, was experiencing a series of chaotic teleports for the first time.
The Longbow of Peace had a special mechanism: if the targeted enemy was too far away, the arrow wouldn't just stupidly fly the entire distance. Instead, it would fly for a while before teleporting, appearing within a few meters or tens of kilometers of the target, and then continue its pursuit.
But only by experiencing it firsthand did Chen Li realize just how nauseating this kind of teleportation was. It felt like riding a roller coaster while simultaneously eating peanuts with your eyes.
Moreover, the arrow only took you to the target; it didn't provide any protection. Chen Li had to rely entirely on the Friends Circle's shield to ensure he didn't lose any body parts.
Chen Li had actually considered having Kaguya use the Friends Circle and the Longbow of Peace's effect to return to Gensokyo. But ever since Kaguya heard from Eirin Yagokoro that upon her return, she would be forced to go to bed early, wake up early, get plenty of sleep, and eat nutritious and healthy food, she absolutely refused to go home.
"Wooohooo! IX, here I come! Blegh! Oh crap, I'm getting teleport-sick."
Despite the dizziness from the overly crude teleportation, Chen Li couldn't stop drooling as he looked at the black hole right in front of him and smelled its incredibly fragrant aroma.
"Bro, you smell so good... let me have a bite, okay? Just one bite."
Sensing the power of the arrow binding him gradually dissipate, Chen Li, now able to move his hands, brought his index finger and thumb together before his eyes.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed before him. The Friends Circle, which hadn't lost any "Friendship and Bonds" even under the relentless assault of the black rain, instantly consumed a layer, and Chen Li's body began to shimmer with a golden light.
Merely approaching the Aeon of Nihility had triggered his golden body effect.
Now free from the arrow's restraints, Chen Li opened his mouth, and his entire being plunged into the boundless black hole.
"BZZZZ!"
A great existence from an endlessly distant shore cast its gaze upon him.
It was like a vast, endless red ocean. From its depths came an alluring song, creating a desire to be swallowed whole.
The twisted yet tempting figure of a Dusk Ancient Beast remained silent, merely staring intently at Chen Li as he bit into the immeasurably vast black hole.
Ouroboros, the Aeon of Voracity, felt like a complete newbie soldier in front of Chen Li...
Maybe you should be the Aeon of Voracity instead?
---o---