Remnant bones

(It's still a memory. The description before the segmented lace appears is the memory of Mai Jun Mai. It can be regarded as a rough account of the background of the characters.)

It was an accident.

As usual, after a morning of training in the mountains, I carried a bamboo basket full of medicinal herbs on my back, and instead of running, I went down the mountain step by step like a walk, and walked to my residence.

When I was halfway up the mountain, I, who had excellent hearing, faintly heard roars of black bears and extremely faint cries in the distance.This is not the first time I have encountered such an accident. I have come and gone on the mountain for so many years, not to mention others, even I have encountered no less than ten times when I was attacked by wild animals.And every time someone else encounters this situation, my usual choice is to just walk away.Call me cold-blooded or ruthless, anyway, I don't have the habit of meddling in other people's business.What's more, if those foolish people in the village are really saved by me, don't say thank you, I'm afraid all I'll be left with is a disgusted look in their eyes.I'm not interested in doing stupid, thankless things.

However, things are a little different this time.If I'm not mistaken, that voice...was a child.

Although members of the Kaguya clan are warlike, they are not so careless about their children's education.Because the village is located in a remote place, the surrounding mountains are full of all kinds of ferocious beasts, large and small.As long as it is not my special situation, basically before adulthood (people in the village can go out of the village with the brigade to perform tasks at the age of 12, and only after the coming-of-age ceremony at the age of 20 can they go out of the village alone, so I am a special case .), the adults in the village will not easily let any child leave the village alone.And what I can be sure of is that there was only one child among those killed.

The steps I was about to take were finally taken back, and an inexplicable feeling forced my steps to stay.There is always a voice that seems to tell me that if I leave, I will regret...regret...maybe.I cannot deny that it piqued my meager curiosity.Seeing that I'm in a good mood, let's take part this time.

I found a safe branch and hung the bamboo basket full of hard-picked herbs on it.I checked my physical condition, and after confirming that it was not bad, I took a deep breath and ran towards the source of the sound.

The situation in the place where the sound originated was not as one-sided as I imagined. Although it was inevitable to panic when facing an adult black bear, the child who was at most less than five years old instinctively avoided being directly hurt to the greatest extent.The black bear's paw was not something a child could bear, even though he was chased down by it, he didn't suffer any fatal injuries.

Skill is not bad.I secretly commented in my heart, when I found out that he was about to reach the limit, I took it slowly.He didn't intend to kill the black bear, he would have run away so violently, nine times out of ten it was because the child accidentally broke into its territory.Besides, I don't eat much meat, so killing it is a waste.I have no habit of wasting food.

A pack of homemade medicinal powder was sprinkled, and the three-meter-tall body of the black bear crashed to the ground.It wasn't until I had time to carefully look at the little unconscious figure that I noticed that his long snow-white hair was almost the same as mine.If I remember correctly, there seems to be only one person in the village with this hair color besides me.That is Kaguya-kun Maro... my younger brother.

I planned to send him directly back to the gate of the village, and then have nothing to do with me.In my opinion, everyone in the village sees me in the same way. Although I don't care, seeing the familiar cold eyes on the face of my younger brother who has the same blood as mine will always make me feel happy. A trace of unnatural embarrassment.

However, my plan did not materialize in the end.Because... the little guy woke up.

No disgust, no contempt, no self-esteemed indifference.In those grass-green beautiful eyes, there are only simple gratitude and curiosity, and there is also a trace of doubt that I can't confirm.

"...Brother?!" In the soft and immature voice of a child, there was clearly discernible surprise and joy, which made me, who had ignored everything for many years, shaken for the first time.This is... my brother, my closest blood relative.

I think... I found a reason to live.

I took Junmalu back to the residence, treated his wounds, and listened quietly to him talking about himself.

Only then did I know that during a mission half a year ago, my parents in name fell forever on the battlefield they had longed for all their lives.Jun Ma Lu, who was alone, was adopted by the patriarch as his master. It was by chance that he knew my existence from the chat of a pair of clansmen.That's why he sneaked out of the village to look for me while others weren't paying attention, and ended up rushing into the black bear's territory, and was rescued by me by mistake.

Speaking of the death of his parents, Junma Luwo let out a thin choked sound in my arms.I could only reach out and stroke his head gently without making any other gestures.Those parents, who were like strangers to me, couldn't stir up even the slightest fluctuation in my emotions.All I care about is him, my kind and simple brother.

From a certain point of view, Junmaro is a different kind of Kaguya clan like me.He is pure, kind, and innocent. Apart from the love for physical arts that radiates from his bones, there is no trace of paranoia and madness inherited from generation to generation in his whole body.His gentleness and politeness are regarded as a symbol of cowardice in the village. Even though his physical skills are excellent, he is still ridiculed by his tribe.Even the patriarch who used to be extremely fond of him seemed to regard him as a blemish of training failure because of his parents' departure.

Gradually, Jun Malu, who was isolated and rejected in the village, took me, my indifferent elder brother who had never shown him contempt, as his only support.Almost every few days, he would sneak out of the village while no one was paying attention, and although I didn’t say anything, I would wait for an hour quietly behind the big tree closest to the entrance of the village every day when I went down the mountain. .

Sitting on the wooden corridor, holding a cup of homemade herbal tea, I watched Junma Lu in the yard skillfully and smoothly display the physical skills I had learned.Whenever he finished beating, those big eyes looking at me full of expectation and nervousness always made my cold eyes soften involuntarily.There seems to be another faint warmth flowing through my heart, this...is the feeling of "home"...

A happy life cannot last long, and it is because it is short that it is especially precious.

On the day of Junmalu's sixth birthday, I made an appointment to meet him at the old place.With the present in my arms that I had been preparing for three whole months, I actually had an imperceptible look forward to his surprise smile when he saw the gift.Time flies, and Jun Ma Lu, who is always on time, has not arrived, which makes me feel uneasy inexplicably.

It seemed to follow my premonition, and an inexplicable cramping pain spread from my heart.My heartbeat began to accelerate abnormally, and the strength in my whole body seemed to be drained by someone. My limbs went limp, and I completely lost the strength to stand, and I slipped and fell to the ground along the tree trunk I was leaning against.Compared with the suffocation-like pain of a heart attack, this pain is a torture that goes deep into the bone marrow.Just a few tens of seconds, to me at this time, seems to be as long as centuries.The black-purple blood that was uncontrollably vomited was abnormally dazzling on the pure white kimono.

The eye-catching blood seems to be mocking my insignificance, any gain of power always has to pay a corresponding price.The "Bone Vein", known as the strongest blood successor, also bears the name of "cursed blood successor".

And fate always likes to play tricks on people, doesn't it?

The ice-blue pupils shrank subconsciously, and I suddenly looked up at the noisy village.Some words like "monster", "bone", "kill him" can be vaguely heard, as well as that vaguely familiar shout...

"...Brother... Jun Ma Lu is not... not a 'monster'!!!" The hoarse child's voice made my heart feel like a knife.

The bone... is the limit of the blood succession! ?The severe pain has not completely receded, but I can no longer feel it.Holding on to my extremely weak body, I staggered towards the village.

When I arrived at the scene, what I saw was a tribe full of disgust and fear, mercilessly throwing the weapon in its hand down on the small pale figure who was imprisoned in place by several iron rods in the middle of the open ground. .

The metal collided with the strange pale bones, making a "clang clang" sound.Even though it didn't directly land on that thin body, the huge impact still caused bright red blood to overflow from the corners of the plain lips.

The grass-green eyes shrouded in thick death gray burst into a strange brilliance the moment they saw me.However, after a while, the hope in his eyes was covered by timidity and despair, and he repeated in a low voice over and over again: "Brother... don't look, don't look... Jun Malu is not a 'monster'...not' Monsters'...not..."

I leaned against the corner of the wall, looking so heartbroken.I'm afraid no one is more familiar with the weird bone spurs on Jun Malu's body that are hated and feared by others!That is the limit of blood successors of the Hui Ye clan - the bone vein.

And at this moment, I know that even if every clansman uses the blood that may be awakened, for them, we awakened people who have more pure Kaguya clan blood than them are - "monsters".