"Kitsune Saiguu's letter?"
Lin Mo couldn't help but voice his confusion. "Didn't she fall in the war back then? How could she still have time to leave a letter behind?"
Yae Miko didn't answer right away.
After a long while, her heavy voice drifted on the wind once more and reached Lin Mo's ears.
"That war back then…
Kitsune Saiguu-sama's will was also eroded by the pitch-black influence.
Fortunately, she discovered it early enough and was still able to maintain her sanity. She did not end up like Lady Chiyo, becoming a monster completely controlled by that dark will.
"Before Kitsune Saiguu-sama's final battle arrived, she left this letter behind, along with her favorite white fox mask."
As Lin Mo listened to Yae Miko's account, he couldn't help but picture the emotions Kitsune Saiguu must have felt when she realized she was being corroded by abyssal power.
She must have been utterly despairing.
In order to keep her will from being consumed, she poured every last bit of her strength into the battlefield and returned her soul to the earth.
Such a tragic ending made Lin Mo recall, unwillingly, the days they had once spent together on Mt. Yougou—every fleeting moment, every shared memory.
"Her farewell letter…"
Lin Mo hesitated, almost afraid to open it.
He knew Kitsune Saiguu too well.
The words within were bound to be heartbreaking.
But no—he had to read it.
Any clues about her might be written inside.
Thinking this, Lin Mo no longer hesitated and opened the letter.
Delicate, elegant handwriting immediately came into view.
"Meetings and partings come too swiftly;
Night together, dawn apart—like a fleeting dream.
This shallow, ordinary life of mine—I believe I lived it fully."
"Once, as a Hakushin fox, I wandered drunkenly across the grasslands and mountains of Narukami, together with my clever and adorable companions.
I hope that after everything is over, they can once again run freely and joyfully…"
"I once performed tilt-and-god dances before the throne alongside a moon-faced oni maiden, and I could not stop applauding her sword dance.
I hope her beauty, valor, and bearing will be praised and remembered for a thousand years to come.
Whenever I think of that girl's beauty—so far beyond my own—I can't help but wish to hide my current appearance behind a mask…"
"A moon-faced oni maiden…"
Seeing this passage, Lin Mo was transported back to those distant days.
In Kitsune Saiguu's eyes, the most beautiful woman on Narukami Island had never been Makoto or Ei—nor herself.
It had been Chiyo, the petite yet immensely powerful oni chieftain.
Lin Mo continued reading.
"I once traveled the inner and outer ascetic paths of the sacred mountains with the great general of the Tengu of Mt. Yougou, competing in speed and strength.
In the end, it was I of the Hakushin clan who emerged victorious.
Looking back now, perhaps he held back.
Thinking of it that way leaves me a little dissatisfied…"
"After all, we had agreed that the loser would apologize sincerely to the victor, admitting their mistake face to face.
That kind of yielding apology was never something I truly approved of…
But still… perhaps that, too, was his way of indulging me."
"If he were still by my side… this calamity might not have forced Narukami Island to pay such a terrible price…"
At this point, Lin Mo lowered his gaze.
The great Tengu general of Mt. Yougou she spoke of was none other than himself.
Though these lines didn't openly describe the depth of their bond, only this passage in the entire letter bore ink that had bled and spread.
Tears had fallen onto the page before the ink had dried, leaving their unmistakable marks.
"I'm sorry…"
Lin Mo whispered softly.
"In the past… I did too many things that made you sad…"
He knew that apologizing to a letter was meaningless.
If only he could—if only he could stand before her again and pull her into his arms.
But to learn the truth about her fate, Lin Mo forced down the bitterness in his heart and continued reading.
"I once schemed against the tanuki who stubbornly challenged me to duels, leading him to sincerely submit to the Shogun.
At the same time, I shamelessly schemed against Her Excellency as well, allowing that unruly great tanuki king to be taken under her banner."
"That night, moonlight filtered through branches and petals, spilling across the garden like countless pearls. Even now, it still glimmers in my shallow heart."
"I hope she remembers, before our parting, the long admonition I gave her:
'Do not be blinded, do not waver—always walk the path you truly believe in.'
I hope my words might shield her, even a little, from slander and malice."
"And I hope that mischievous yet pure-hearted tanuki will not resent my final deception."
Lin Mo knew this passage well.
It spoke of how Kitsune Saiguu subdued the great tanuki, Ioroi, and turned him into one of the Shogunate's yokai generals.
But… in that war, Ioroi's meager strength could make no difference.
So she softened her heart.
She deceived him, letting him hide deep within the mountains, safely escaping the ravages of war.
Lin Mo understood.
What followed would surely concern the war itself—and her final resolve.
He steadied his fragile heart and continued.
"Even now, in the darkest depths, I will clutch these scenes tightly, letting them shine like the moon breaking through clouds, illuminating the way and becoming cherished companions to many…"
"In this life, I also took on human form and walked alongside these short-lived yet beautiful little beings, under many different identities—
as a shrine maiden who came to Narukami to train for the sake of her hometown shrine;
as a child who got separated from the procession during the summer festival;
as a gentle youth who eventually traveled to Liyue to cultivate the arts of the adepti."
"As well as the official who exhausted himself to bring prosperity to the city;
the craftsman obsessed with forging peerlessly sharp blades;
and the clan who used ingenious techniques to make artificial meteors bloom in the night sky."
"All of them were friends I never imagined I would be fortunate enough to meet.
May the barrier that protects them never be corroded by any darkness.
All of it—every last thing—is what I now cherish most."
"And so, gnawing black will—
now that I have lost all my strength,
my Hakushin blood is yours to spill."
"But even from this lowly position,
I still wish to make one request…
If you can see the things I hold dear,
then please, spare those lives."
"And if you would grant me one wish,
then please return my eternally bright memories
to the land I so dearly love."
"So that after your devastation has passed,
something beautiful may still remain."
Lin Mo understood.
By this point, Kitsune Saiguu had already resolved to give everything she had—sacrificing herself to protect Inazuma from the ravages of war.
Lin Mo's quiet murmur let Yae Miko know that he had finished reading the letter.
She spoke again.
"When I read those words back then, I realized…
Kitsune Saiguu-sama left behind a fragment of her will, sealed within the white fox mask that was left with the letter."
"But not long ago, I discovered… the mask was gone."
"A shrine maiden wearing a white fox mask appeared in Hakushin Forest.
When I tried to approach her and ask who she was… she vanished."
"But I'm certain—
that was Kitsune Saiguu-sama's aura."
"Hakushin Forest…
A shrine maiden wearing a white fox mask…"
At that moment, a memory long buried deep within Lin Mo's mind suddenly stirred awake.
A story from another world.
From the game Genshin Impact.
The shrine maiden who waited in Hakushin Forest for the destined one, guarding the Sacred Sakura and cleansing its corruption—
Hanachirusato.
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T/N:
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