[Comprehensive] living to death

Chapter 85 Extra Story 1 The River Has Water and the Moon

For the first time in his life, there was a human being: a human being—not a monster or an enemy—appeared in his life with an unbelievable calm and randomness.He found it very novel.As she said when she signed the contract, ten years is nothing to a big monster like him, and it is barely acceptable to condescend to accept a human being as an onmyoji.Although……

Ibaraki, go and get rid of that ghost.

Ibaraki, pour me a glass of water.

Ibaraki, help me build a set of furniture according to the drawings...Huh?Why did you do it?Because your paws look so handy.

Ibaraki...

Although, this human being is much more noisy than he imagined.

Ibaraki has never heard her own name so frequently in a short period of time, it is only half, and she also likes to add a strange ending sound "ちゃん" from time to time, just like human women call children.At first he tried to get her to change her words by getting angry, so as to establish her own authority, but every time she laughed, she laughed so hard that she didn't even care about it.He was angry and helpless, but inexplicably, every time he saw her smiling so happily, relaxed and lively, he would suddenly stop being angry again.

It must be because she is the most powerful onmyoji he has ever seen.It must be because she was the first human not to be afraid of him.It must be because her strength reminded him of his close friend Shuten Doji.It must be because of his pride as a big monster that made him unwilling to break his promise. Since he signed a ten-year contract with her, he will definitely abide by it. That's why he will do what she says...

There is only a little, insignificant reason, maybe because... she does look good when she smiles.She is the best-looking human being he has ever seen. When she smiles, her eyes shine, showing a kind of free-spirited and free-spirited.He'd never met anyone like it—human or monster, neither.Like all other creatures with emotions, maybe he just pays more attention to every thing he encounters for the first time, just like he watched the sunrise in silence for a long time when he saw the sea of ​​clouds and sunrise for the first time.

Subconsciously, he was very resistant to thinking about some problems.For example, his injury has healed long ago, and his best friend Shuten Doji has already been found, why does he still stay by her side and be driven by her?In the morning, she would often lie in bed, pulling the quilt to cover her head, only stretching out one hand to shake it back and forth, ordering him to do this and that in a vague voice.When the weather was cold, she even had to wrap a quilt to draw amulets or write letters, so she urged him to rub the ink with warm water, and she also disliked that the ghost claws he was proud of were too rough and the ink was rubbed into a mess.He always chokes because of her domineering, but intentionally or unintentionally, he forgets that if he really hates these trivial daily routines, he can leave everything to those little monsters, or even ignore it at all. How much shikigami does she want to accept?He can clearly ignore everything and only perform his duties when she is really in danger, so that the requirements of the contract can be met.He knew she wouldn't care.

She was just having fun.He knows it.If he really wanted to walk away, she wouldn't be bothered.Ibaraki could almost imagine her possible reaction: she blinked in surprise, shrugged her shoulders, said "Oh" lightly, smiled indifferently, said okay, then you can go, I will call you again if there is something to do.She is such a character who doesn't care about anything, anyway, she can find enough fun from any little thing.

He will never let such a thing happen, because... because she is one of the rare powerful and intelligent humans, and she doesn't mind showing him the books that humans treasure, and she will unsuspectingly reveal the inner parts of humans. Business told him.If he can grasp this information and dedicate it to Shuten-douji, he will definitely be able to pull Shuten-douji out of the abyss of depression, and he will surely be able to realize his long-cherished wish for many years...

He firmly remembered what Shuten-douji had said.In the deep mountains north of Heian-kyo, the sky was dark and moonless, and the big red-haired monster who was depressed because of a woman raised his head and drank fine wine, warning him half-drunk and half-awake: "Ibaraki Doji, don't follow in my footsteps. "

Absolutely not.He will never go the same way as Shuten-douji.He firmly believes that he will never fall in love with despicable human beings like Shuten Doji, and even deviates from the glorious ideal path because of this.But he ignored it intentionally or unintentionally, there was another reason why he was so relieved: his onmyoji was so different from the person Shuten-douji fell in love with.His onmyoji is named after the moon, and it is as clean and flawless as the full moon in the heart of the sky, and there is a sense of coldness and remoteness in the brightness.He won't say it in front of Shuten-douji, but he has long made a conclusion in his heart, without even thinking about it, that is, his onmyoji is so outstanding, the woman buried under the maple tree is not worthy to be compared with him at all.

She was such a powerful person, and he was always looking for a powerful youkai, so it was only natural that he would keep his eyes on her.

So of course, he could keep his eyes on her.

He could stay by her side with peace of mind, because there was a reason for all of this.

He also often went to the mountains outside the city to find Shuten-douji, and reported to him what knowledge and secrets he had recently learned about human beings.He relished talking about these "beneficial to the future of the monster race", but the topic always unconsciously became "Mingyue said..." "Mingyue today..." "Mingyue she..." etc. .Jiu Tun just drank wine every time, didn't say a word, didn't look at him with dim drunk eyes, and listened to him.Shuten doesn't talk if he doesn't talk, but Ibaraki can talk very happily by himself, and the more he talks, the happier he is.

He will stay in Chuangang Mountain for a long time, as short as half a day and as long as a whole day.But when the sun sets at the latest, he will definitely say goodbye to his best friend and go back before the last ray of the setting sun disappears.He would feel a little bit reluctant when he left Jiu Tun, but it was more about the joy after talking about it.Facing his departure, the big red-haired demon would sometimes respond, sometimes he would simply ignore him when he was in a bad mood, and sometimes he would not respond when he was too drunk.There was only one time when Shuten-douji was sober and not in a bad mood.They sat under the maple tree and talked, and when Ibaraki talked for a long time, and finally planned to return to the city contentedly, Shuten suddenly asked: "Ibaraki Doji, don't you think you mentioned that onmyoji too many times?"

He was stunned and reflexively wanted to explain the reason.He had already prepared many reasons, which he had repeatedly said to himself before, which were sufficient and powerful, and would definitely be able to convince the questioner.But Shuten-douji didn't seem to intend to listen to his explanation at all. "You never spend the night outside the city, why?" He examined him with obvious suspicion and sarcasm.

"Except for me, Mingyue has no decent shikigami around me." He didn't hesitate at all, and was even surprised that Shuten-douji would ask such an obvious question, "Ghosts are rampant in Heian-kyo at night, although most of them are pitifully weak, She is very strong, but she is only a human being after all, without me by my side, maybe something unexpected will happen..."

He himself said it confidently, but Shuten-douji laughed strangely for a long time, and finally laughed until he felt a little guilty.He reflected on what he said was wrong, but felt at a loss that everything he said was right-what's so funny?If she had an accident because of his mistake, where would his dignity be?Does Shuten-douji not understand?

That day he returned to the mansion in Heianjing full of doubts, and he was still wondering when he entered the door.There is an enchantment at the entrance of her mansion, which will keep the filth out. When he stepped into the enchantment, a burst of light invisible to ordinary people fluctuated slightly, accepting his entry smoothly.He was absent-minded at first, but he was attracted by the sweet smell of chestnuts.

"Mingyue, what are you doing?"

"Boil chestnuts in syrup. Don't let them down the gift of the mountain god in autumn."

In the courtyard, the green bamboos are slightly yellow, and a young maple tree hangs red and yellow leaves.The door on the side of the corridor in the courtyard was open, and she sat on a chair crookedly, with a steaming pot of chestnuts in syrup on the table in front of her. "Come to eat?" She beckoned to him lazily, "If you don't want to eat, come and peel the shell for me. It won't taste good when it's cold."

He has long been used to this kind of trivial work so that he won't get angry about it. If she wants to make him angry and have fun, then she is wrong.Thinking of this, he gave her a disdainful look, and walked over with his head held high, thinking that with his experienced and powerful aura, wouldn't it be easy to peel a chestnut?It's a pity that when he crushed a chestnut with one paw for the 20th time, he stared at the sticky chestnut paste on the ghost claw, always feeling a little discouraged.She laughed beside her, telling him not to waste her precious chestnuts in syrup.He was even more discouraged, staring at her not knowing what to say, and for the first time in his life, he began to think about whether he should improve his transfiguration so that his appearance could be closer to human when needed...

closer to humans?How could he think so?Vague surprise flashed in his heart, but when he was about to think, she stopped laughing and waved at him. "Ibaraki-chan, stretch out your hand." When she spoke, there was still a smile on her lips and eyes, as if the sweet scent of chestnuts filled all the air around her, making it hard for him to ignore.He immediately forgot the strange flash of thought just now, and while complaining "what are you going to do again", he stretched out both paws obediently.

"It feels like you are a child, the kind of child who is very naughty and tosses around."

She picked up a handkerchief and wiped away the chestnut seedlings on his hands bit by bit.She was considered tall among human women, but she still looked short in front of him. When she lowered her head to wipe his hands, he could only see her long black hair and the curls on the top of her head.There are a few strands of hair standing up in disobedience beside the hairpin, shaking it from time to time, a bit like new grass growing on the field in spring.

Although he couldn't see her expression, he knew she must be smiling.She was always smiling, as if nothing bothered her.The air at that moment was all quiet.He looked at her and heard her soft breathing rising and falling in a very close distance.He held his breath and listened for a long time before remembering to show the majesty of his big monster, and muttered, "How can a human little devil be compared to me..."

"Yes, yes, you are a little princess, and you are right in everything you say~" She laughed like that again, and suddenly stuffed a peeled chestnut on the table into his mouth, and asked him if it was sweet.He could easily dodge such a casual action, but maybe the aroma of the chestnut was too sweet at that moment, which made him lose his mind. In the end, he just watched her put the chestnut into his mouth.

"I'm not a human brat..."

The steaming chestnuts melted in his mouth, so sweet that he was almost dizzy.

Very sweet.

He spoke so vaguely that she didn't seem to hear him at all.No, he wasn't even sure if he answered her question or not.He just saw her walking to the corridor, looking up at the long Milky Way in the autumn night sky, stretching comfortably, and saying, "It's such a clear night, Ibaraki."

"...Hmph, it was indeed a very peaceful night."

It must be that the taste of chestnuts is too sweet and greasy, which aroused those strange emotions in his heart.He refused to think, he refused to feel, he refused to understand that what he had been denying had finally happened to him, in an inevitable, predestined way.He must resist, no matter whether some things are inevitable or not, it only takes the last straw to overwhelm all his seemingly solid lines of defense.

He will never forget what Shuten-douji warned him, and what he also promised - he will never go the same wrong way as Shuten-douji.

But some things may really be doomed long ago, as she said, the fate of all living beings has long been written on the star track.He finally saw what the last straw looked like.In the Tianman Palace where the white plum blossoms were in full bloom, she quietly performed a dance to worship the gods. Between raising her hand and turning around, the expression bathed in the moonlight was a serenity and sacredness that he had never seen before.She has always been beautiful, with black hair and snow-skinned, clear eyebrows and eyes, but her usual laughter has weakened the moonlight-like but distant beauty.Once she is as silent as she is now, the sense of distance that makes people feel sad will quietly rise again.

He finally couldn't continue to deny it.Even though he was still struggling in vain on the surface, the embankment in his heart had already collapsed and he was completely defeated.He had promised solemnly that he would never let the story of Shuten-doji repeat itself, but they finally had a similar story, the same absurdity, and the same powerlessness.Even the context of the story is similar. The same person who met by the mountain stream of Dajiang Mountain was also defeated by a weak dance. What's even more sad is that, as the loser, they couldn't restrain their joy.

It was like... In the long years since his birth, he finally saw the only flower that belonged to him bloom.The moment I witnessed was lucky enough, no matter what the outcome would be afterwards.

No.

No, he won't have the same ending as Shuten-douji.He won't let her go to Hongye's ending.

In the summer morning light, she sat by the window and read a book, the wind chimes swayed gently, and the flowers in the courtyard swayed slightly.Everything is smooth, peaceful and familiar, as if copying every peaceful and good day in the past into the present and every day in the future.She will always be there, within his sight, and will not change.

She hummed the song softly.

"Flowers are blooming and fragrant, and when they wither..."

He looked at her quietly.The sunlight slanted into the study, and the light and shadow of the morning filled them.All other things in his eyes are her setting, and they have the meaning of existence in order to constitute her foil.

"Moon."

"Ok?"

"Change it to another one." He said, "I'm tired of hearing this word learning song."

He didn't want her to sing this kind of ominous, moaning for nothing.

She blinked her eyelashes slightly, and there was a tolerant smile on her lips.He didn't know if she saw the weak emotions in his heart related to her; she was always like that, with a little mystery hidden in her free and easy way.

"I don't know how to sing other songs." She looked at him with her chin on her shoulders. "I can remember very limited and elegant sentences. However, I still remember some of them. Then let's just do this."

Of course he remembered her smile at that time.Even if she looks against the light and her face is hidden in the shadows, after all, he can use the memory of the past to carve out her smile at that time stroke by stroke in the days to come.

"Thousands of rivers have water, thousands of rivers and moons, and thousands of miles of sky without clouds."

She tilted her head, her voice soft and warm.

"Ibaraki, you must also think this way." She said, "When you can't see me, you must think this way. As long as you remember me, I will still be here."

She seemed to be implying something, but she didn't seem to.

"You have to remember me." She turned her head and stopped looking at him. "Or, you can forget me. Even if you don't have the memory, the things you got still exist in the past and will not disappear."

"...It's nonsense." He categorically denied it, with an almost fierce tone, "Did you dare to disappear from my eyes, are you looking down on my Ibaraki-douji's strength?"

Anger and fierce rebuttals are often lurking with anxiety and hesitation.But he is really not good at feeling emotions, other people's or his own; he is a monster who responds to instinct, possesses great power, but has no idea of ​​the cause of emotions-such illusory things.He didn't know that it was a subconscious warning to him, telling him that he should pay more attention to her, and find a way to figure out what she was thinking.

He really doesn't know.

"Hahahahaha... Ibaraki-chan, you're still a sophomore. I'm relieved." She happily hooked him, "Come here."

So he walked through the lights and shadows that lay between them.When he stood beside her, looking down at her, and wanted to ask her what to say, she suddenly hugged him.She hugged his waist, buried her head in his waist, and hugged him tightly.

In my impression, that seemed to be the only time she took the initiative to do such an intimate act.His heart suddenly swelled to the extreme, and suddenly became softer than a cloud, so fluttering that he didn't know where to put it.

He was happy and a little shy, he was only concerned about touching her hair and back carefully, and didn't even notice how strange her tone was at that time.

"...It won't disappear, Ibaraki." She said, "It really won't disappear."

What kind of solemn things did that low and soft voice want to convey to him...he will never know again.

— Yes, I've been planning this all along.

well.

- This is what I must do.Ibaraki, you don't understand.

well.

——I originally thought that feelings could tame you, but it seems that I misunderstood.

well.

He was as angry as he was heartbroken.He remembered how he angrily cut off the contract with only three years left, how he wanted to kill her but just knocked off the hairpin he had ground with his own hands.He hated himself for wishing to re-sign a more solemn contract with her, and set aside half of his long life to hold her in front of her.He felt his own stupidity and delusion so deeply, but when she seemed to gently wipe the blood off his face, he still felt nostalgic for her.

He felt stupid and ridiculous.This is real.Otherwise, he wouldn't have left her so easily, with self-righteous anger and determination to revenge.After leaving her, he said every day that he must let her know how beautiful he is, and let her know how terrible punishment would be for playing with a big monster like him.

Really... stupid and ridiculous.

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