juvenile onmyoji

"Master Seimei, I heard that voice again." Lizi ran to Seimei's room and said.

Qingming didn't have time to put away the sachet, and still kept holding the white hair bundle, "What?" He didn't react for a while.

"It's the voice I mentioned to you last time. I accidentally answered her. I just finished chanting and heard it again. She said, I know you can hear it, come to Cat Island."

Seimei suddenly took a breath, and slightly tightened her hand holding the white hair bundle, "Cat Island?" she repeated very softly.

"Yes, it's the cat island on the sachet." Lizi pointed to the sachet in his hand.

Seimei continued to remain silent, and it took a while before he said, "I might have to go on a long trip. I'll leave you a shikigami..."

"Is it Cat Island? I'm going too." Seeing Qingming's refusal expression, she immediately added, "Although I don't know what you are going to Cat Island, I have a feeling that my ability to hear voices may help Here you go."

Seimei didn't speak, and after a while he frowned, "It's a little strange, why did this voice tell you to go to Cat Island? My instinct feels that something is wrong, so you should stay at home."

"But……"

"Let's put this matter aside, I'm not going right away." Qingming comforted him, and he glanced out the window, "It's too late, go and rest. I have to go to Ise Shrine tomorrow."

"Okay then." Riko nodded, "You can't sneak away." A place without Seimei would make her feel unsafe, even if there was a shikigami around her.

After Lizi left, Qingming immediately got up and went to the front yard to find her father.

"You mean, you found the hair of your mother's body on Yu Nu?"

"Yes." Qingming poured out the contents of the sachet, and a small bunch of white hairs shone silvery under the hazy yellow light. "This sachet has the logo of Nekojima Inari Shrine embroidered on it." He handed the sachet over.

Abe Masaki immediately raised his eyes.Next to the words Cat Island embroidered, there is indeed a fox outline embroidered with dark thread.

"Although I can't feel it, I have seen your mother's real body, a fox with snow-white fluff." He gently stroked the white fur with nostalgia, "Are you going tomorrow?"

Qingming nodded, he hesitated and said, "I might take Xiaoli with me."

"Hey, why?" Abe Masaki was a little surprised, "Isn't it good to let that child stay at home? It might be dangerous because of the long journey..."

"That's what I said, but I'm worried that if I don't take her with me, she will go secretly."

"Will it be like this?" Abe Masaki laughed, "It reminds me of your mother, she is such a person. She will follow me wherever I go."

Qingming was a little embarrassed immediately, "It's not like that, Xiaoli and I are not in the kind of relationship that father thinks."

"Huh, I didn't think about it, what kind of relationship? I just said that Xiaoli is a bit like your mother."

"Go to bed earlier." Qingming hurriedly stood up.

When he opened the door, Abe Masaki's voice came from behind him, "Don't tell others where you are going. Be careful on the road. The Inari Shrine was destroyed overnight, which is a weird thing in itself."

Qingming paused slightly, "Yes."

Pear got up early in the morning.She lingered on Banqiao for a while, but in the end she still didn't pass.Only a small paper man was sent to check.After the little paper man came back, he put his palms together and put his hands on the side of his face.Only then did she feel relieved, and obediently sat under the cherry tree and waited.

The morning sun was very good, through Kazuki's cherry blossoms, sprinkled on her face and body like broken gold.She squinted her eyes, raised her chin slightly, and let the sun dance on her face.

When Qingming got up and saw her guarding the courtyard, she felt a little funny, "I won't break my promise to you."

Lizi looked him up and down, "Although Master Seimei's words touched me, why didn't you wear the onmyoji's hunting clothes?"

Qingming's white hunting coat was now replaced by a dark blue coat with Liuyun's coat embroidered on the sleeves.

"It was discovered by you."

"Aren't you going to learn Yin-Yang Dao today?"

"Well, no." Qingming said with a smile.

"Then where are you going?" She immediately became alert.

Qingming smiled slightly, "Okay, I won't hide it from you. You go and change into some ordinary clothes, and I'll take you on a long trip. As for the Ise Shrine, don't worry, my father will take care of it."

"Take me...to Cat Island?"

"Yes."

An hour later, they quietly left Heianjing in a carriage.

"When someone asks, they say that we are brother and sister, and go to Hitachi to join relatives. Don't talk about going to Cat Island at the foot of Mount Tsukuba." Seimei said casually leaning against the wall of the box.The curtains were pulled down so tightly that it was impossible to see what was inside the car from the outside.

"why?"

"Because this place is very special. It was originally the territory of the Takamatsu family. But overnight, the entire island, including the creatures on the island, lost its color. Since then, the island has been closed. The Takamatsu family does not let anyone get close to the cat. Island, claiming to be polluted by evil spirits if approached there."

He hesitated at this point, "The legendary evil spirit is God Inari."

"Hey, is that the owner of the torii we saw in Harima?" Riko asked in surprise.

"Yes." Seimei said briefly, "All in all, it will be a little troublesome for us to go to the island."

"What happens if we lose our color? Will we lose our color too?" Pear asked a little worried.

"I once heard a mage who likes to travel say that he went to the island quietly once. Like the people outside, the people inside are still working hard even if they lose their colors. But the people inside don't welcome him very much. He quickly I just left the island. I didn’t lose my color when I came back.”

"It's so strange." Pear sighed.

The carriage was equipped with a short-track talisman, but the coachman only sent them to the vicinity of Sanhe Kingdom and left.

It was dusk at this time, Qingming took out a short whistle and put it on his lips and blew lightly, a sail slowly rose from the calm sea under the setting sun.As the hull appeared, a monster who was fatter than the sea seated one last time stood on the boat and looked at them.Obviously, this monster doesn't know Seimei.

"Ten copper coins." Hai Zuotou stretched out his hand silently.

Qingming put the money in his palm whose fingers were longer than his palm.

"Thank you for your patronage. There are grilled octopuses and sweet water in the cabin. The price is marked on it. If you need it, you can put the money in the bowl next to it." Sea Zuotou said and went to the helm .

This service attitude is much better than last time.Professional and no nonsense.

Once they were in the cabin, the Sea Blocker sank the octopus boat to the bottom.

By the time they arrived at Hitachi, it was already the evening of the second day.Hitachi is at the easternmost part of the territory, and Heian-kyo in the middle is too far away from it.Because of the extremely long coastline, there are many mainlanders engaged in fishing.Everyone is worshiping the catfish god.

"It's the god our family has worshiped." Lizi whispered while looking at the big fish head enshrined in the dorm.

This time the house is not a house for monsters, and there are a lot of people staying there.There are even more people in the female soup.The pear felt as awkward as dumpling, and it came out after barely washing it.

"Too many people." She couldn't help complaining.

Qingming stood in the middle of the room and pulled up a hemp rope. He was a little hot after taking a bath, and his neckline was slightly opened, revealing his extremely beautiful collarbone.It was obviously a dark blue bathrobe for the public, but it made him wear it like a custom-made one.

"Master Seimei, what are you doing?" Lizi asked puzzled.

"I asked the shopkeeper for a piece of cloth so that it can be hung on a rope to divide the room into two parts."

Only then did Lizi realize that because of the large number of people, they only booked one room.Looking at the cloth hanging on the ground, she wondered if it was okay?

When the lights were turned off at night, she lay on the mattress and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.Seimei is at the other end through the thin curtain.As long as she listened carefully, she could hear the other person's shallow and even breathing.

It seems surprisingly smooth.Then why is she a little abnormally excited?

"Is fish being fried next to me?" The boy's voice with a smile came from behind the curtain.

Eh?Lizi stopped suddenly, really, isn't it like a fried fish tossing and turning like this?

"Can't sleep?" The other side seemed to turn over and face her direction.

"Well, a little bit. Suddenly changed the place." She justified herself in a low voice, and she must not let the other party notice her excitement.

"I can't sleep at all," Qingming said. "Except for my mother, I seem to have only lived in the same room as you. I don't think there was even a single female mosquito in my room. After I was four years old, I I slept alone. Because I was afraid of the dark, I always lit a candle. There lived a fire extinguisher across the alley, who would sneak over to blow out the candle every night. After the candle went out, I lay alone in the dark, Listening to the chirping of insects outside the house, I was in a daze."

"I always thought it would be nice to have another person. We can hold hands when we are afraid. Although I have grown up with shikigami, I still live in that yard alone. For some reason, since you moved here, although Across a Banqiao, I feel that the night suddenly brightens."

"Is Master Qingming also afraid of the dark?" She asked softly.Inexplicably, I feel that Seimei is a little cute.

"Kids are afraid of the dark, and I'm no exception." The boy's bright laughter came from the other side of the curtain.

"So are you still afraid now?"

"I'm not afraid now." The boy muttered, with a trace of sleepiness in his voice.After a day of exhaustion, he couldn't hold back and lost his voice while talking.

The room was quiet again, and Lizi's heart gradually calmed down. Listening to the even breathing beside her, she also felt drowsy, and fell asleep after a while.

When the dawn light shines in through the windows, the footsteps of the residents come and go from the corridor.

Li Zi slowly opened her eyes, and just about to sit up, she felt something was wrong.

She turned her face and found that her hand was firmly held.The boy's clean and slender fingers crossed hers.

She wanted to let go but felt that her hands were numb, and she couldn't use any strength.

Is this... a night of holding it?

Qingming: Hey, how do you know?In fact, I just want to fulfill my childhood wish.Definitely not afraid of the dark.