As the sun fully ascended, that strange and beautiful spectacle vanished. At this moment, the two lolis finally snapped out of it, realizing that this was the sight Lin Luo had called unmissable, and they immediately asked, puzzled, "Master, isn't this your first time here? How do you know everything so clearly?"

They had never before imagined seeing scenery like this, let alone dreaming of it, yet Lin Luo spoke as if he had known it all along, which struck them as very odd. Lin Luo smiled and said, "Actually, I don't truly know. It was just a guess."

When he stood by the shore moments ago, Lin Luo watched the mist over the lake, noticing several faint glimmers flashing among it. For some reason, this reminded him of things Yakumo Yukari had once said, so he had rushed them over here. The result was a lucky shot in the dark, perfectly resolving a lingering question in his mind.

Yet, this resolution brought forth new doubts.

From his first experience in Gensokyo, neither Yakumo Yukari nor Kazami Yuuka seemed to recognize him. However, upon his second return to Gensokyo, their words clearly indicated they did know him... not as the Traveler, but as their Master!

There was only one explanation Lin Luo could conceive for this: someone had sealed their memories. As for who that person was, he felt it was no longer necessary to guess.

The real question was: when did they recover their memories?

On the surface, this question might seem trivial, but in reality, it was the most crucial piece. Because if the memory seal conflicted with events that had already transpired—say, if the seal was too weak, allowing them to recover their memories quickly—then they would have recognized him during his first visit to Gensokyo. Or if the seal was too strong, preventing them from ever recalling him... either scenario would conflict with his own experiences, thoroughly scrambling the threads of causality, possibly even triggering a causal reversal again!

Of course, he still had several months before he needed to leave this era, so contemplating this now was premature. Lin Luo pushed the problem aside for the time being, deciding it was not too late to ponder it later.

The trio spent the entire morning cruising the lake, even taking time to fish, and they ate lunch right there on the boat.

What surprised Lin Luo, though, was the drastic shift in weather. The morning had been fresh and cool, but by noon, with the sun directly overhead, the scorching sunlight made one yearn to hide in the water.

Lin Luo’s cultivation had regressed, naturally limiting what he could do. He could no longer insulate himself from this harsh sunlight, so he had to lead the two lolis to the shade of the trees to cool off.

"What is with this terrible weather? Such a huge difference in just a few hours?" Lin Luo muttered, slightly vexed as they settled under the canopy. While some desert regions on Earth experienced extreme hot days and cold nights, this place was certainly no desert.

"Master, it's always like this here. There are huge temperature swings between morning, noon, and evening," Yuuka stated matter-of-factly.

"Always like this? How did I never notice?" Lin Luo was instantly puzzled. In the dozen or so days he had stayed in this era, this was the first time he encountered such erratic weather. "Perhaps the place we lived before had a better environment, so we didn't notice such temperature variations," Yukari explained.

Lin Luo considered it and realized she was right. Their previous dwelling was backed by the lake, surrounded by greenery, and hidden deep within the forest—certainly cooler than other areas. He then asked suspiciously, "But speaking of which, why does this world have such extreme temperature differences?"

"We don't know," both Yukari and Yuuka shook their heads, equally ignorant on the matter.

Their lack of knowledge didn't matter much. After some thought, Lin Luo began to understand a little... This world prioritized balance above all else, especially the balance between youkai and humans. In the future era, Yakumo Yukari, as the Youkai Sage, feared that if the balance between them broke, it would lead to irreversible consequences, which is why she concealed Gensokyo and worked to maintain balance within it.

This era, however, was different. The entire world was dominated by youkai. Humans held no sway whether it was day or night, nor did they dare provoke the youkai. This was entirely unlike the balance in the future, where humans held the dominant position, yet youkai could incite panic at any moment. It was also different from Gensokyo, where youkai could eat humans, and humans could exorcise youkai.

It was precisely this lack of necessary equilibrium that caused various strange occurrences.

"Gensokyo really is better," Lin Luo sighed, realizing this.

During this time, Lin Luo occasionally brought up Gensokyo, just as he was doing now. At first, the listeners paid it no mind, but as they heard it more frequently, Yukari grew curious and finally couldn't resist asking, "Master, what is this Gensokyo you speak of?"

"Uh, that..." Lin Luo was taken aback, unsure if he should tell her. Although Kaguya had relayed Yakumo Yukari's words suggesting he had nothing to do with Gensokyo's creation, now that he had saved Yukari herself, how could he possibly have no connection? At most, the connection wasn't direct.

So, Lin Luo decided to reveal a little, saying, "Gensokyo is a place where humans, youkai, gods, and various other races live mixed together..."

"Won't that be chaotic?" Yuuka interrupted before he could finish. Just having different kinds of youkai together could spark unending wars; so many races living together—the potential outcome was unimaginable.

Lin Luo smiled calmly at her extrapolation. "Of course it won't be chaotic, because Gensokyo is a balanced society. There, both humans and youkai advocate for peaceful coexistence. Even if some youkai act spoiled initially, over time, they are influenced by the atmosphere of Gensokyo and integrate completely. In that place, no matter what race your youkai belongs to, whether strong or weak, as long as you don't actively cause trouble, you can live happily. Moreover, youkai and some humans often gather for drinking, flower viewing, and feasts... such as the shameless shrine maiden, the magician with someone on each arm, the disgraced vampire, the incredibly dense fairy, the undead who devour all cuisine, the wobbly drunkard, and of course, the voyeuristic recluse... In short, it’s a very happy place."

Yukari didn't realize she was being subtly mocked by Lin Luo. After hearing his description, her face filled with longing. "What a wonderful place. I wish I could live in Gensokyo too."

"Hmph, dream on," Yuuka countered with dismissive sarcasm. "A place like that, straight out of a fairy tale, could never exist. Only a naive fool like you would believe it."

"But Master clearly said it exists!" Yukari retorted defensively.

"Master just knows you're too naive, so he deliberately said that to tease you," Yuuka declared with an expression that suggested she saw right through everything.

Lin Luo felt speechless internally; no matter the era, the truth was often hard to swallow.

"No, he didn't! Master never lies!" But Yukari remained firm in her conviction.

Lin Luo, however, felt a flush of embarrassment. He thought to himself: I do occasionally lie. Putting me on such a high moral pedestal puts a lot of pressure on me.

"It doesn't exist, you idiot Yukari!"

"It does exist, you fool Yuuka!"

Each holding fast to her perceived truth, they couldn't help but start arguing fiercely. This was the first time Lin Luo had seen them fight. Though he considered stopping them, he paused, thinking that since they were idle anyway, he might as well let them argue... Haven't they heard? Bickering is a sign of affection.

Lin Luo was unaware that by permitting the two young girls to quarrel, he had completely failed in his role as an elder, nor did he know that this spark would soon ignite onto him.

After arguing for over ten minutes and realizing neither could convince the other, they both turned their gaze to Lin Luo. "Master, tell us, does it exist or not?"

"Uh!" Lin Luo froze for a moment. Seeing their determined expressions, he hesitated to speak carelessly. After a brief pause, he said, "Actually, some things exist if you believe they do, and they don't if you don't. Just like miracles—only because we believe miracles exist do they come to pass. Gensokyo is the same. As long as Gensokyo exists in our hearts, then Gensokyo exists."

After saying those words, it wasn't just Yukari and Yuuka who found the meaning profound; Lin Luo himself felt his literary flair had increased by five points.

From this moment on, he was an artistic youth!

"I've decided!" Yukari suddenly declared a moment later.

"What have you decided?" Lin Luo looked at her, feeling a stir in his heart.

"I believe what Master said. Gensokyo exists. Even if I don't know where it is, or if I’ll ever have the chance to go, if it doesn't exist here, I will create one myself! As long as I have the ability, I will definitely create a Gensokyo where everyone, regardless of strength or race, can live together peacefully and happily!" Yukari stated seriously, her eyes filled with determination and hope.

Although Yuuka held a different view, seeing this, she said no more. In truth, she felt the same longing for such a Gensokyo, but she knew its existence was highly improbable. Even if such a place existed, without sufficient power to maintain it, the balance would eventually break.

On the other hand, Lin Luo was almost certain that Yakumo Yukari's obsession with Gensokyo stemmed from this very desire. But if her memories were sealed from him, would she still be so devoted?

Lin Luo suddenly felt that the causal threads had become terribly tangled, lacking any fixed pattern, which gave him a slight headache. Thankfully, he didn't need to find an answer immediately; taking his time was fine.

"Alright, let's put the Gensokyo topic aside for now. We’ve stayed here long enough; let’s check out somewhere else," Lin Luo said, rising from the ground with a smile.

"Eh? But the sun is still so strong, is that okay?" Yuuka pointed to the blazing orb in the sky.

"Don't worry, I'm not that delicate. I just need to adapt. You two have delicate skin; it would be bad if you got tanned, so for that, I've prepared a secret weapon," Lin Luo said, opening his storage space and summoning something with a gesture.

"I do not have delicate skin," Yuuka pouted in protest, but when she saw the two objects in Lin Luo's hands, she gasped in surprise. "Wow, they’re so pretty!"

Yukari also stared intently.

Lin Luo held two umbrellas. Although their general shape resembled common umbrellas, their aesthetic appeal was magnificent. After all, they were products of the Sky City; they couldn't be ordinary goods. The carvings on the handles alone were incredibly intricate, not to mention the patterns on the canopy—breathtakingly beautiful, dazzling the eye... This served as side evidence of just how bored certain individuals in the Sky City must be to put so much effort into a few umbrellas.

Lin Luo unfurled the umbrellas and introduced them to the girls. "These two umbrellas: one is a parasol, the other is a sunshade. Although their purpose is the same, the former is more ornamental, while the latter is slightly superior in performance, blocking more sunlight. I’m giving these to you both now; choose whichever you like."

"I want the parasol!"

"I want the sunshade!"

The two girls spoke almost simultaneously. Then Lin Luo handed the umbrellas over, and they immediately accepted them, their faces alight with excitement.

Watching Yuuka wield the sunshade and Yukari hold the parasol, Lin Luo finally perceived a hint of the unique temperament they would possess in the future. But then again, time is indeed a relentless carver.

Are lolis better, or are mature beauties better? That was a question.

Although both Yuuka and Yukari could be considered children who matured early out of necessity, they were still young. Coupled with having a protector and new toys, their childlike playfulness burst forth. The two girls ran back and forth on the grass, holding their umbrellas, having the time of their lives. Thanks to the umbrellas' superior performance, they didn't feel much heat even under the scorching sun.

"Master, hurry up! If you dally any longer, we'll leave you behind," the two girls called out after running for a while and noticing Lin Luo hadn't followed.

"Alright, coming right now," Lin Luo smiled faintly and walked toward them slowly.

Looking at the innocent and happy smiles on the faces of the two girls opposite him, his heart felt somewhat complicated. It was clear that after these past few days, they had become very reliant on him. But he was not a person of this era; he would eventually have to leave, and this cozy routine probably wouldn't last long.

When that time came, how would they cope?

Indeed, sealing their memories was necessary.

PS: I’ll only update four thousand characters today while I organize the subsequent plot points.

2PS: There are only two days left in this month, and I still need 50 Monthly Tickets. I sincerely ask everyone again to cast a few Monthly Tickets for me; I just need 50 more.

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