juvenile onmyoji

In the alternate season of autumn and winter, the first frost will fall at any time.

Riko tidied her satchel in the room and put the newly cut paper in it.Seimei and Shuten sat on the porch drinking.A brazier was placed between the two, barely bringing a little heat.

"Has Ibaraki-douji left yet?" Seimei asked.

"No." Mentioning this Shuten was also a bit annoyed, "This kid is really too persistent."

"But I can't let Xiaoli let go by blocking the door all the time." Qingming said with a smile.

"He said yesterday that he was going to change the method."

"I'm going to the shrine." Riko walked around behind Sake Tun, and sat on the porch to put on her shoes.

"I'm leaving too." Jiu Tun put down his glass.

"You don't want to go today," Lizi remembered Suzaku's request at the door yesterday, turned to Jiuten and said, "Suzaku would like to ask you to help carry the things for the New Year."

"Lifting things? Is there anything she, as a god general, can't lift?" Jiu Tun frowned slightly, feeling weird, "Is it okay if you go alone? I heard that the tombs in the suburbs are always being opened recently. It's not reassuring for you to go alone."

"Speaking of this corpse-stealing monster, someone has already reported it to Yinyang Liao," Qingming said, "Everyone classifies it as a monster incident, and there is no need to worry about Yinyang Liao getting involved."

"That's right, I'm not going to the suburbs when I go to the shrine. Besides, how could the person who stole the corpse attract the attention of the living? It doesn't matter." Lizi put on her shoes and walked out of the courtyard.

I was startled when I got to the gate.Because it was cloudy, the sky was dark like evening.There are a lot of things piled up on the ground at the entrance of the mansion.When she was far away, she thought someone had thrown the tip of the rockery here.When I got closer, I saw that there were more than a dozen skulls piled up together.

Seeing her coming, the skull turned to her in unison.A dim light shone from empty eye holes.

"Ah." She let out a low cry, subconsciously turned her head to the side, and a skeleton had already come to bite at the corner of her skirt.She kicked it away and reached for the charm.

"This is Mujing." A voice came from the side, and Ibaraki Doji looked at the skeleton monster on the ground with great interest, "When you encounter this kind of monster, you must not look away. You will feel guilty if you look at it. But If you dare not look at it, it will have the guts to eat you."

"Really?" She shifted her gaze to Mu Jing in doubt.The skulls that had piled up together were all frightened and their upper and lower teeth collided with each other because they looked at her.Before Lizi could take another look at them, they disappeared into the air.

"It's gone." Lizi slightly opened her eyes.

"Well, because I'm afraid of you." Ibaraki Doji said with a smile.

Riko took a look at him, and found that Ibaraki Doji took care of himself very neatly.The knots on the hair were also well tied, "Are you going out?"

Ibaraki Doji hesitated, "I want to go to the shrine with you."

"What are you doing at the shrine?"

"Work for you like Shuten. I've thought about it. If you don't show your personal strength, you won't accept me as a shikigami at all."

"Even if that's the case, I won't accept you." Lizi jumped into the ox cart and told the driver to drive.She glanced at Ibaraki Doji, and saw him standing there watching her with a lonely expression.

"Did I refuse too bluntly?" She whispered.

When she arrived at the shrine, the god gave her the job of stamping the believers.This is to prove that believers have been to the shrine, which is equivalent to punching in.Every believer who is about to leave after worshiping the gods will take out a small book and ask Li Zi to stamp it.It is very labor-saving.

She sat on the grass mat in the porch, occasionally stamping a seal, and most of the time she was idle and bored watching the people coming and going.

A woman was paid special attention to her.She's been here for a while.At first, I paid attention to her because the woman had long black and smooth hair.Lizi has never seen such beautiful hair, it has a halo.Every time she meets this woman, she will stand not far away to appreciate it before working.

But later she discovered that every time the woman came to the shrine, she looked terrified, and she could only keep calm by kneeling in front of the statue.But this is not the case.Everyone worships God for spiritual comfort.

After admiring the hair, she continued to stamp believers.

After a while, a small book was handed tremblingly to her eyes.She picked up the chapter and put it on top.But Ben's trembling trembled like an earthquake, and there was no way to cover it.

She raised her eyes and was slightly taken aback. It was that beautiful hair.She smiled and held one end of the small book with her hand, and stamped it.

The woman did not leave after finishing the seal.Instead, he stood in front of Lizi and looked at her, his face was full of hesitation, his lips kept moving, as if he wanted to say something.

"Is there anything else you can do?" Lizi asked softly.

Seeing her smile, the woman seemed to be encouraged, "My lord, I saw a monster."

Lizi's eyes froze for a moment, it turned out to be like this.No wonder every time she sees her, she looks terrified.But this is actually quite common in Heian-kyo.Because this is an era where humans and ghosts co-exist, many people will blame monsters for anything they encounter.In fact, sometimes it is not a monster.

"What kind of monster is it?" she asked softly.

"Yes, it's my husband." The woman lowered her eyes, her teeth were chattering, and her body was shaking.

Lizi quickly patted her on the shoulder to comfort her, "How do you know your husband is a monster?" The moment she got close to her, a bloody smell rushed to the tip of her nose, and she blinked slightly.

"I saw that there were always blood stains in the corners of the house, and there was a strong smell of blood on his body. Sometimes, when it was almost dawn, I woke up and found that he was gone. When I opened the window, he was buried in the backyard. Corpse. When he was not around, I dug up the soil and saw that there were pieces of corpses that had been bitten inside." The woman's eyes were staring straight, and her lips were also bitten and turned purple.

Lizi knew it well, and couldn't blame her for having a strong smell of blood on her body.It turned out to be from her husband.Just as she was about to ask another question, a believer happened to come to stamp it, so she hurriedly took over the small book and stamped it.After stamping the seal, I raised my face, and the woman had already left.

She quickly handed over the seal to another witch, and chased it out.But there are people coming and going on the street, and the woman has long since disappeared.

Lizi was a little regretful, and if she knew about it, she would have asked where the other party lived.There was blood every day, and it sounded like it killed a lot of people.If the woman's husband is really a monster, he can just receive it in her bell.If not, then arrest the reporter.

Seeing that the woman could not be found, she turned around and prepared to go back to the shrine.Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Suzaku coming out of the shop next door, holding a basket of food in his hand.

"Hey, why are you alone? Where's Shuten?" She asked strangely.

"Juten? Isn't Jiuten your shikigami, Xiaoli?" Suzaku acted even more strangely than she did, "Didn't he follow you to the shrine all the time?"

"Yesterday you asked me to borrow him. You said that you went shopping a lot today and couldn't carry it. You need Jiu Tun's help."

"Can't carry anything?" Suzaku waved his arm, and the basket in his hand disappeared. "Look, Xiaoli, I can shrink them down and fit them into my sleeves. There is no such thing as being unable to carry them, even a ox cart, I can take them back by myself. How can I ask Jiu Tun to help?"

Lizi blinked slightly, and seemed to understand a little bit.She raised her head and looked across the street, and as expected, she saw Ibaraki Doji standing there, leaning against a tree with his arms folded, looking like he was doing nothing.Seeing her walking over, he immediately raised a harmless smile, "What does Lord Qing Shui want me to do?"

Li Zi gestured at his height, "Ah, no, you are too tall. I need someone who is about my height."

Ibaraki Doji smiled slightly, "If Shimizu-sama needs it, I can shrink my bones. I can become anyone."

Lizi's eyes darkened slightly, "The one I saw at the door yesterday was not the real Suzaku at all, you turned into her, right? You swallowed the wine on purpose just to come to the shrine with me today?"

"Yes," Ibaraki Doji admitted frankly, "If not, I wouldn't have the chance to be alone with Shimizu-sama."

Seeing that Li Zi didn't speak, his expression changed slightly, "I didn't mean to lie to you. I saw that you refused to agree to me. In fact, it's been very cold these days. It's still cold in the blanket that Jiu Tun gave me at night. I’m shivering. I’m not a fire monster like Shuten. I feel the same as human beings about heat and cold. In a few days it will be winter. I’m afraid that I’ll freeze to death at your doorstep this winter, and I’ll trouble you to collect the body.”

Lizi smiled, "Then you can go back to Dajiangshan."

"It's impossible to come back," Ibaraki Doji paused for a moment, "I saw Master Shimizu running out in a hurry. He seemed to be looking for someone. I have been standing opposite the shrine. Who is the Lord looking for? Maybe I will Impressed."

After thinking about it for a while, Lizi decided to tell him, "I'm looking for a woman with beautiful hair."

"A woman with beautiful hair?" Ibaraki Doji shook his head, "We monsters never pay attention to human appearance."

"Then what are you paying attention to?"

"We pay attention to whether the other party is fat or not."

Lizi was slightly taken aback, "Don't tell me you have eaten people."

Ibaraki Doji couldn't help laughing, "Big monsters like me and Shuten don't eat humans. Only low-level monsters will eat them, such as small monsters like mountain spirits."

Hearing the name of the mountain spirit, Lizi's face immediately sank.

Ibaraki Doji didn't notice and continued to say, "The big monster usually eats the little monster to gain strength. But Shuten and I were raised by humans. We still like to eat whole grains."

"My grandma was eaten by the mountain spirit. I was almost eaten too. Master Qingming saved me." Lizi said softly.

"Ah, sorry," Ibaraki Doji was slightly taken aback, "I don't know."

"It's okay, it's been a long time, although now I hear the mountain spirit occasionally, I'm still very angry."

"Why don't I go up the mountain and poke a den of goblins." Ibaraki Doji said, "I'll catch them and string them up for you."

"No need, no matter how many mountain spirits you kill, it's not the one at that time." Lizi said.

Ibaraki Doji thought for a while, "Master Shimizu, let's talk about the woman with the beautiful hair. Have you had any contact with her today?"

"I've been in touch."

"That's great," Ibaraki said with a hearty smile, "I can find her by the smell on your body. I'm the best at tracking and disguising. In the past, there were monsters who tried to attack us, and I pretended to be the other party. I'm looking for information. Even if it's a female monster, I still pretend to be flawless."

No wonder I didn't recognize him pretending to be Suzaku, Li Zi thought.

Ibaraki Doji approached Riko, lowered his head slightly and sniffed near her shoulder, raised his face and said with a smile, "I basically know the direction, Shimizu-sama, please follow me."

pear:"……"

Why is there a dog's sense of déjà vu?

Follow Ibaraki Doji around the alley.This is still a commercial street, but it is only half narrower than the main street in front of Yebisu Shrine.Open-air stalls selling all kinds of goods are lined up on this narrow street.Riko followed Ibaraki Doji and turned in from an alley that sold wooden combs.

The back is full of old houses, all crowded together in a cramped state.All kinds of smells were mixed together, and Riko followed closely behind Ibaraki Doji, covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve.Until it stopped at the door of a small courtyard whose walls had collapsed.

Lizi saw a pool of clear water at the place where the earth wall collapsed, and the woman was squatting by the pool to scoop water into a bamboo tube.She raised her head when she heard footsteps, and shook her head frantically the moment she saw Li Zi, realizing that they were leaving.

Ibaraki-douji frowned slightly.

Just as Lizi was about to speak, she heard voices coming from the cabin in the yard, "Qianzuru, what are you doing? Are you uncomfortable?"

The strange behavior of the woman shaking her head frantically was finally discovered.With the voice of questioning, the sliding door of the wooden house was pulled open, and a middle-aged man came out from inside.

The woman called Chizuru has snow-white skin and black hair, so she can be called a beauty.But this middle-aged man is short and fat, with a square face, rough skin, and his facial features are not harmonious.Together, this pair is a real-life Beauty and the Beast.

Riko knew that the other party was probably Chizuru's husband.Thinking of Qianhe's fear of him, she took a slight step back.

Is it a monster?

Seeing the beautiful boys and girls with red lips and white teeth, the man scowled, "Get lost, don't stand in front of my house. And don't talk to my Qianzuru."

Lizi had never seen such a rude man since she came to Heianjing, so she couldn't help being slightly taken aback.She looked at Qianhe, who stood there crying non-stop, with a very pitiful expression.

The man continued to yell, and the yelling attracted the surrounding neighbors.Everyone gathered together, pointing at Riko and Ibaraki Doji.In their eyes, pears dressed in luxury are nobles who came to make things difficult for the poor.

"Master Shimizu, let's leave first." Ibaraki Doji said, "I have a little guess, but it's not convenient to talk here."

Riko nodded, at this moment she couldn't tell whether Qianzuru's husband was a monster or not.She was supposed to come over to take a look first.

Seeing that they were about to leave, Qianhe knelt on the ground with a whimper, lowering his head in despair.In her eyes, it was Yebisu Shrine, whom she had always trusted, who had given up on her.

Riko looked at Ibaraki Doji walking out of the alley, pursed her lips and followed.

Walking to the street, Lizi asked, "Have you already seen that man is a monster?"

"I didn't see it," said Ibaraki Doji. "The smell in the alley is too strong, and the evil spirit is dispersed, so I can't smell it at all. But I am very sensitive to blood. As soon as I approached that yard, I smelled blood. Not only So, I also smell hunger."

"The taste of hunger?" Lizi repeated in confusion.

"That's the omen before the monster is going to prey. If I guess correctly, that monster should have been hungry for a few days. It will definitely come out to hunt today. If Lord Shimizu trusts me, we can come again at night. I promise, no It will hurt Shimizu-sama a little bit. You know, I am also one of the best monsters in Dajiangshan. Even if I am as strong as Shuten, I am not afraid to fight him."

Riko hesitated for a moment, when it came to catching monsters, she actually wanted to come with Master Seimei.But it was very cold at night, Qingming was very afraid of the cold now.

Looking at Ibaraki-douji with a little expectation, she nodded, "Okay." But she frowned again in the next moment, "But no matter where I go, Shuten-douji and Seimei-sama will notice."

"It's simple, leave it to me." Ibaraki Doji said.

In the evening, there was thunder and lightning flashed in the sky.The rain slanted down like a waterfall.Riko asked Shuten to bring Ibaraki Doji in.Otherwise, with such a heavy rain, he would have no place to shelter from the rain.

Down the corridor, Ibaraki Doji earnestly persuaded Seimei and Shuten to drink.Qingming smiled slightly, picked up the wine glass, and folded it all into the sleeve in a subtle way.Only Shuten is actually drinking.

Lizi looked at the heavy rain and was a little worried about whether she could go at night.But before falling asleep, the rain suddenly stopped.After a while, the clouds dispersed to the east, revealing the bright stars in the sky, as bright as washed by rain.The garden is full of Qinghui.

Ibaraki Doji looked at the starry sky and murmured softly, "It seems that there is no need to light up the lantern."

Lizi didn't change her pajamas, she was still sitting in the room wearing her daytime clothes.After a long time, when I was about to fall asleep, there was a knocking sound on the window.She opened her eyes suddenly, walked quickly to the window and pushed it open.Ibaraki Doji stood outside and made a booing gesture at her.

She pushed open the side door, and Shuten-douji leaned on the bridge and fell asleep.She pursed her lips and walked around him with a smile.

Ibaraki Doji dragged her to the backyard, not paying attention to the boy in the dark blue safari sitting on the roof watching them.

Because it had just rained, the road was very slippery.Especially in the alley near the common people's residence, it was more like flooding inside.The water is all along the calf.

Ibaraki-douji picked up a few big stones and paved them all the way, and then reached out to help Pear.Lizi waved her hand to signal for herself to go.At the same time, I feel like laughing, Ibaraki-douji really did a good job in serving as a shikigami.

Ibaraki frowned lightly, "Master Shimizu, I smell blood."

Lizi withdrew her foot towards the stone, "Really, I smelled it too."

After being washed by the rain, the alley no longer had the smell of the day.Only a bloody smell wafted in the air.Since the smell of blood was not washed away by the rain along with the stench, it just appeared.

The closer to the yard during the day, the stronger the smell of blood.Ibaraki easily removed the gate like breaking mud.Li Zi quickly walked in with him.

The door of the wooden house was half open, and there was a long line of blood at the door, which was very scary under the moonlight.It can be seen that something was dragged in just now.There was the sound of "clicking" chewing things in the house, coupled with the smell of blood, it was creepy.

Looking in through the open door, even though she was prepared in her heart, Lizi couldn't help but be surprised.

In the middle of the room, Qianhe was crouching next to a man who couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead, and was lowering his head to bite the man's face.Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth, and her hair stood on top of her head like a hedgehog.Not far away, her husband was sleeping with his clothes on, but his eyelids kept shaking, and it could be seen that he was not asleep at all.

"It's the needle girl." Ibaraki said softly.

At that moment, the gnawing sound stopped.Chizuru slowly raised his face to look at them.The corners of her mouth slowly grinned to the base of her ears, "Ah, there's food again, it's so good."

The sleeping man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Run."

For a moment, Lizi didn't know who he was telling him to run away.

Chizuru's hair spread out in all directions, and each strand was straight and straight, as sharp as a needle.Wrapping her whole body is like getting into a cactus.She rushed towards Lizi suddenly, and Lizi quickly closed and pushed the door. With a sound of "shua", tens of thousands of hairs as thin as long needles came out of the wooden door.

Ibaraki kicked the wooden door and Chizuru in together, his left hand turned into a ghost hand that was several times the size, grabbing Chizuru's neck would break it.

The huge evil spirit continued to emanate, and Ibaraki Doji seemed to be a different person in an instant.There was a cold light in his eyes, he raised his chin slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Should I eat you up, or just crush it into pieces?"

Qianhe trembled, and the door panel tied with her hair trembled along with her.

Her husband rolled down from the bed and kowtowed, "Please don't hurt her, kill me. If someone must die, please kill me. It's all my fault."

"It's all your fault?" Lizi glanced at the man who was bitten beyond recognition on the ground, "Isn't this man killed by Qianhe?"

"No, Qianhe didn't bite him to death. That man was a corpse in the first place, and he died not long ago. I saw him buried, so I dug it back."

Lizi thought of the corpse-stealing monster that has been circulating recently, her eyes moved slightly, "Why did you dig up the corpse?"

The man said with tears, "I knew she was a monster from the first day I was with Qianzuru. She always sneaked out in the middle of the night and came back almost at dawn. I thought it was strange to follow her. I found her They impaled people by their hair, dragged them into the woods, and ate them."

"I was very scared. I was worried that one day she would come to eat me, but she has always been very kind to me. She took care of the family during the day and went out to hunt secretly at night. Although I knew it was not good, Qianzuru killed many people, but I There is nothing I can do. But what can I do? From the moment Qianzuru stood on the side of the road and smiled at me, I knew that even if I gave her my life, it didn’t matter.”

"The way a needle girl hunts is to smile at a man," said Ibaraki Doji, "after seducing him, then pierce him with his hair."

The man nodded, "I understand, I am very clear. But so what? I was born ugly, and I have never been favored by the opposite sex. Even my family will ridicule me. Only Qianzuru, she will I smile. Just that is enough. Enough for me to do anything for her."

"I thought we would live like this until the day we were discovered by Yin Yang Liao. But one day, Qianhe went hunting and met a very powerful guy. Although he didn't completely kill her, he severely injured her. I put She took her home, and when she woke up, she found that her memory had started to become confused."

"During the day, she would think she was a human like me. When she was hungry, she would forget everything and only think about killing. In order not to let her kill, I began to dig graves in the middle of the night and put the corpses on the bed Chizuru is hungry. She will find something to eat by herself at night. But she will forget all about it during the day. I drag her leftover body out and bury it.”

"No wonder she came to me and said you were a monster," Lizi said. "It turned out that she found the blood at home and dug up the corpse buried in your backyard, thinking you ate it."

The man smiled wryly, "Yes, that's it. Qianhe has been afraid of me since she lost her memory, she must have thought I was a monster."

It's so ridiculous that youkai go to the shrine to pray for the protection of the gods.The monster also went to her to pray for help.It turned out that this is a monster who has lost his memory.

Lizi looked at Qianhe with complicated eyes, "Will she never remember what she has done? This kind of amnesia is too easy. Eat so many innocent humans at night, but clean up as a human during the day Life. I will never live in guilt, and I will never remember what I have done. But even if she thinks about it, it probably doesn't matter, after all, she is a monster who eats people to survive."

The man raised his head, "It's all because of my connivance. If I hadn't brought her back to Heianjing, so many innocent people wouldn't have died. Chizuru, Qianzuru." He crawled towards Qianzuru and hugged her. leg.Ibaraki let go of his hand coldly, letting Chizuru fall to the ground.Pulling the pear back a step.

In the next second, Qianhe jumped at the man, grabbed his face and bit down hard.

The man gave a low cry, but he didn't even dodge, tremblingly accepting Qianzuru's bite.

Ibaraki pressed down on Riko and pulled out the spelled hand, "This is evil and the devouring of evil. Didn't your lord say that Needle girl can't remember her memory, and it's too easy to live as an innocent human being? This last evil will remind her. "

The man's face was covered with blood from being bitten, but his eyes still showed tenderness, and he gently stroked the needle girl's back,

The needle girl was slightly taken aback, and raised her face.

"Qianhe, are you still hungry? Sorry, I am an incompetent person. I can neither stop you nor help you relieve your pain." The man said hoarsely, "Let's end it like this, let me be your last A dinner."

The needle girl stopped chewing and stared blankly at him.Her eyes became more and more clear, and her husband's flesh and blood brought back her memory.

She screamed terribly, hugged the man and spat out the meat in her mouth, and tried to put the man back with trembling hands.But the man's breath became weaker and weaker, and he slowly closed his eyes.

"It's not your fault, you're so nice," Qianhe shed tears in pain, "You clearly know that I'm a monster, but you still take good care of me. You're so nice, it's my fault." She hugged her husband's body Climbing up to Lizi, she begged, "Master Miko, it's all my fault and has nothing to do with my husband. Kill me and replace him, okay?"

"He's dead." Lizi said softly.

"Yes, he is dead." Qianhe looked down at the man's face, "I was eaten. No one has ever been so kind to me, but this person was eaten by me."

"In fact, I have always wanted to find a way to get rid of it, so that Aji would not be so tired for me. But no matter how I searched, it seemed that the instinct of cannibalism has always dominated me. Even if I lose my memory, I can't forget it. Sometimes, I really hate myself It's a monster."

The Benping bell on Lizi's waist made a pleasant sound, she was slightly startled, and looked down at the bell.

"I understand. I heard the voice urging me. It seems that meeting Miko-sama is the relief I've been looking for."

Chizuru murmured so, hugging the man's body with tears in her eyes.Her hair stood up one by one again, she bent down slowly, and her hair stuck into her body, binding her and the man together.

The needle girl turned into a gleam of light and floated into Lizi's bell.The dim light slowly dissipated, leaving only the man's body on the ground.The corpse stealer and the believer calling for help ended in such a strange connection.

On the way home, Ibaraki said to Riko, "Last time you said that you didn't accept me because I became a shikigami just to be with Shuten. I thought about it, and I can't deny that it was because of this reason. I want to be with Shuten Living together, I can actually choose to be Abe Seimei's shikigami."

"But I don't have this idea at all. I have been with you for a long time. Although I can't enter the mansion at night, I have been observing you during the day. I think I can trust you for decades. You don't need to worry about it. Since I chose this path, I have already figured out what it looks like."

While talking, they walked to Abe's residence.Ibaraki stopped and turned to the corner where he usually slept.It was completely submerged there and could not curl up.

He sighed, and chose a place with little water to stand there.It seems that there is no mother.Otherwise, tomorrow he will try pretending to be his mother?

Lizi stepped into the threshold and looked back at him, "Why are you standing there, aren't you my shikigami?"

Ibaraki was slightly taken aback, for a moment he didn't understand what Riko was talking about.

"Come in quickly, you will wake up after a while, you should know that you have tampered with the wine." Li Zi said with a smile.

"But I haven't written the contract yet." Ibaraki burst into ecstasy, and hurriedly found the small book, only to realize that he couldn't write.

"Got it, let's write it tomorrow." Lizi said with a smile.

Sunny never showed up.He stayed far behind, watched Lizi walk back to the room, and then went back to sleep in peace.

The next day Riko announced to him that she was accepting Shikigami again.

Seimei smiled and said, "Then congratulations Shimizu-sama. Very good, a good shikigami."

Sorry for being late today.