It's Auntie Benmaru!

#2

Shiratori house, sunny room.

While listening to Foxosuke's earnest plea, Tianqing looked up at the few feathered fabrics hanging in her room, and the bird-shaped family crest on them pressed down on her like an invisible mountain, symbolizing her uniqueness in this house. All the unreasonable restrictions and oppression suffered by the mansion.

She always wanted to leave.

And the space-time shuttle device that Fox Nosuke mentioned just now must be the key to breaking through the barrier and coming to the interior of the Shiratori's mansion.

She needs this power very much right now, to escape from this cage-like place—to retrieve her "shards".

Her clear eyes were different from the appearance of stability and earnestness, and some determination was settled in her eyes.

[...Okay, I promise you. ]

Her voice is soft.

[Take me directly to the place where Honmaru collapsed right now. ]

Hope appeared on Foxosuke's face, and the corner of his mouth curled up in an arc, just about to agree to Tenharu Shiratori's request and teleport the two of them to Honmaru, but...

It patted the small bell on its neck with its paws, and there was a crisp tinkling sound, but there was no reaction other than that.

The smile on Fox's face was a bit stiff.

Tianqing also sensed something was wrong: [What's wrong? ]

"Because I came here to perform a long-distance jump just now, the shuttle device... seems to have no energy."

"At most, it's enough for us to make a short jump, leave this mountain, but can't return to the enchantment..."

[......]

"But, but! Uh, I know the basis of the political officials in this era, as long as I find him, I can supply them! The other party knows that I am in this era, and the bell that detects me will take the initiative to give me supplies... Let's go again If you rest for a few days..."

Fox's assistant hurriedly explained, but Tianqing didn't care to listen.

Because she heard, at the entrance of her side hall, the voices of the three Yin-Yang enchanters in the family were talking.

"The girl woke up?"

"It's not the time for her to wake up."

"Just in case, let's go and have a look."

"Yes, I heard that she even took the initiative to talk to the servant..."

"The head of the family said that she will be brought quietly to..."

Whispering whispered to Tianqing's ears through the wind, she straightened her waist and hugged Fox, her eyes were calm, but she couldn't help being sarcastic in her heart.

——Those people really deserved to be the top enchanters of the Shiratori family, she was just a little strange, and the other party could tell.

Tianqing lowered her eyes and thought for a while, Foxnosuke in her arms was still explaining that she could rest more before starting, but she interrupted by lightly raising her hand: [No. ]

Fox Noosuke thought that the judge-in-waiting was angry, so he kept crying: "Why not? It's really fine, we'll just wait..."

[No, I mean... we can't wait.We have to leave now, right away. ]

Tianqing hugged Foxnosuke, with a smile on his face.

[Then, after leaving here, I have to recover one thing that belongs to me from you. ]

"On me?" Foxnosuke tilted his head, not knowing why.

Tianqing didn't explain: [Let's set off as soon as possible. ]

The firmness on her face at this moment is a reliability that does not match her young appearance.

……

Bear guards outside the town, bear guards the forest.

It was noon, the sun passed through the dense bushes and fell sparsely on the ground, and the gust of wind blew through, raising the sound of rustling.

After a clear bell sounded, a white light suddenly appeared in the forest, and the figures of a man and a fox appeared out of thin air.

The bell on Fox's neck finally lost its luster.

Being held in Shiratori Tenharu's arms, Foxosuke checked repeatedly with his small paws annoyedly, and said distressedly: "There is not a drop... Really there is not a drop..."

Facing Fox's thoughts, Tianqing didn't care about it, but smiled and stepped on the wooden clogs and walked towards the village along the unobvious path in the forest.

She recognized the words on the road sign at the exit of the forest - Xiongshou Town, this is a small village at least ten miles away from Shiratori's house, and it is farther than Minyi Town, where the house servants usually buy supplies.

It was a bit remote and backward, but she was satisfied because people from Shiratori's family would not usually pass by here.

The foothold here is almost enough, and neither she nor Foxnosuke should be overtaken by the Patriarch.

Because the clogs on her feet are still taken from home, they are not suitable for walking in the rugged forest. Tianqing takes every step carefully.

It was also because she was walking slowly that she, who was keenly inspired, also noticed that this forest was a bit different from what she had imagined.

Tianqing stopped and covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve.

...the resentment here is too strong.

Just going out of this forest, there are many heavy resentments that ordinary people can't see wrapped around her legs, as if they want to keep her here, making her unable to move.

"The smell of Onmyoji..."

"It's an onmyoji..."

"Save us..."

"Evil man-eating ghosts haunting the night..."

She held her breath to feel, and the whispers of those ghosts became clearer.

[Foxosuke, did you hear that? ]

"Hear what?"

Tianqing stretched out her hand and rubbed Foxosuke's ears, and applied a spell to temporarily enhance inspiration on it, and Foxnosuke could hear it all at once——

Those hoarse voices lingered in its ears, making its fur stand on end in fright: "...Inquisitor, God Inquisitor! What are these?"

[Yeah, I am also curious, the number of ghosts here is far beyond normal. ]

Tianqing said with a normal face, looking down at the turbid purple-gray aura that Foxnosuke couldn't see, giving up the idea of ​​helping Foxunosuke "see it", and picked up one of the ghosts casually.

[Why are you entrenched here?What is the evil spirit in your mouth?What happened to Xiongshou Town recently? ]

She grabbed the soul and raised her hand to flick it, absorbing a lot of bad breath from the wronged soul, so that the vague shadow could finally reveal a human appearance.

The position of the mouth opened and closed, extremely weird: "Evil ghosts live in Xiongshou Town, rest day by day and work by night..."

Another strand of ghosts also took advantage of this time to wrap around Tianqing's other arm, and muttered in a voice that seemed to be filled with mud: "The evil ghost has a physical body, feeds on human flesh, and took away the men in Xiongshou Town... "

Foxnosuke was about to cry in fright while listening to the ghost story-like whispers. It seemed that lying on Tianqing's neck was not enough. The four short legs hurriedly got into her sleeve pockets and hugged Tianqing's arms tightly. I can't live or die.

Tianqing calmly listened to the scattered sentences of the wronged souls, building the outline of the matter in her heart.

To put it simply, in Xiongshou Town in front of the forest, there are evil spirits who are not like monsters, eat human flesh, and still cannot see the sun. Just now, the evil spirits seem to have revealed a message, that is, the weakness of the evil spirits is in the back. neck.

Such a description reminded her of a monster like a potter's wheel head.

Because the potter's head also mostly appears at night and feeds on human flesh, its normal appearance is no different from that of a human being, except that the head will be separated from the body at night and approach the valued prey...

At this time, once the body of the potter's head is discovered by humans first and moved to another place, when the potter's head returns to the original place, because the body cannot be found, it will be so angry that it will jump in place, and then die.

As for the monster like the potter's head, there happens to be a red mark on the back of the neck, and the incision of the neck connecting the body is also smooth and flat. There are many differences in the rumors and legends circulating among the people. The characteristics of the evil spirit mentioned are quite similar.

It's just that in the village where so much human flesh was eaten, Tianqing didn't feel such a strong evil spirit, but more sinister spirit of the wronged soul. It was more like an unknown creature lurking in this village, which made people panic.

"God judge, why do you look so energetic? What are you going to do now..."

Foxosuke trembled in Tianqing's arms, feeling that the expression on the little girl's face meant a direction she didn't expect.

And Honosuke's prediction was also correct, seeing Tianqing lowered her eyes, she raised the corners of her mouth at him.

[...Of course, go into Xiongshou Town and ask about the details of the evil spirits in the village. ]

[Whether it is looking for political officials or travel expenses are money, meeting is fate, and I can't just sit idly by and ignore the situation faced by the villagers here! ]

She spoke so grandiosely that Foxnosuke really couldn't find a way to refute it, but he didn't expect this wealthy girl to be so careful (hui) and (gao) (shi) when she left home for the first time.

Fox Nosuke: Fox Life Is Difficult.jpg

In this way, Tianqing walked into the town with the reluctant Foxnosuke.

It was afternoon, and the soft sunlight was shining on the criss-crossed field roads in Xiongshou Town, which is a farming town. The houses built of mudstone and straw were simple and simple. The big houses made of fine wood carvings are very different.

Leaving the forest full of ghosts just now, the air of this small town filled with the smell of green grass and moist soil is refreshing.

She had just set foot in the field when an old man with a long beard came staggeringly and supported Tianqing with his hands: "My God, is the new Ghost Slayer finally here? I'm Xiong Shouzhen village head……"

[Ghost killer? ] Tianqing covered half of her face with her sleeve and asked.

"Yes, you are a ghost slayer who specializes in killing ghosts, aren't you?"

"Ah, take a closer look, miss, you really don't have a knife." The old man's old eyes were tinged with despair: "Since you are not, you should leave this village quickly. About a month ago, evil spirits lurked in our bear. Guarding the town, taking away the middle-aged men in the town every night..."

"I'm sorry, I was supposed to entertain passing travelers, but the village doesn't have the leeway now, you'd better leave before it gets dark, I don't want miss you to leave bad memories..."

The old man trembled when he spoke, probably because he saw that the Furisode kimono she was wearing was of high quality, whether it was made of high quality, dyed or embroidered, and felt that her status was either rich or expensive, so there should be no delay.

Tianqing took the village behind the old man into his eyes. Some women with babies in their arms bent over and poked their heads out of the house cautiously. The eyes of the people in the village were filled with anticipation and exhaustion, and even the fields next to them were not well maintained. Take care of it, it should be troubled by evil spirits.

Tianqing thought for a while, then suddenly smiled, and her eyes lit up.

[Village Chief, you can tell the villagers to rest assured. ]

"what?"

The old man raised his head and looked at the little girl in front of him with blurred vision, only to see a slight smile on her fair melon-seeded face, melting warmly in the sunlight.

[Although I am not a ghost killer, I am the most reliable onmyoji. ]

"God judge, do you have any plans?"

After Tianqing asked, the village chief immediately and respectfully arranged a space for her according to her request.

It was a dry storage room. Foxnosuke jumped out of Tianqing's clothes and came to this place where there were no wronged souls. It finally felt better.

It is the weird incident in Xiongshou Town, it is still hesitating, does the God Judge really want to participate in it?

"God judge, don't you think the incident just now sounds dangerous?"

[It's dangerous for us, but it's even more dangerous for those villagers who are powerless. ]

"Then do you know what those evil spirits are? Are they monsters?"

[Probably not a monster. ]

Tianqing squatted in front of Foxnosuke, beckoning, and Foxnosuke obediently approached.

"It's not a monster, so are you sure? You just escaped from that mansion, and you look... quite weak."

Fox's help is also telling the truth.

Although she is wearing a high-quality kimono at the moment, she has nothing else. There is no magic weapon that an onmyoji should have, and there is no blade that an onmyoji should have. Foxnosuke knew about onmyoji before. Onmyoji must have the ability to summon shikigami anyway, right?

But on the way here, Tianqing told it that because of the family's restrictions on her, she never had any shikigami.

"...What can we fight with?"

Foxnosuke looked confused, if they go back to Honmaru first to get in touch with the Honmaru Swordsman, it would be possible to come back and fight the evil spirits, but what can Tianqing, a pretty little girl with thin arms and legs, do? What?

Compared with Foxanosuke's worried and troubled look, Tianqing was calm.

She stared straight at Foxosuke, looking at it from head to toe, that gaze made Foxosuke feel cold all over, and his hair stood on end.

"God judge, aren't you trying to get my attention..."

[Well, wondering how much your fur is worth...]

"Wait, wait! I, Fox Nosuke, worked hard for the government of the time, but I didn't sell myself!"

[Hey, but this is a way of making money. Anyway, your fur will grow back when it’s gone, and you know you’ll come back to me after sending you away...]

"You, are you a devil?!!"

Foxnosuke cried out loudly, and was about to run away, but Tianqing precisely grabbed the little hind leg and held it in his arms like a swaddling baby.

And Foxnosuke was lying on her lap with all fours in the air, thinking that she was really going to take off its fur, but Tianqing just raised her hand and took off the small bell on Foxnosuke's neck.

"God judge?"

Foxnosuke was a little strange, but saw that Tianqing was looking at his tarnished bell seriously, and then made a motion of picking something with her slender fingertips, and slowly... she actually took out a small piece from the ordinary bell. Glowing objects like fluffy snow.

"Ah, this is!"

Foxnosuke recognized it at a glance, it stared round in Tianqing's arms, and almost forgot about it.

Looking at the fluffy snow-like luminous body floating in Tianqing's palm at this moment, it recalled the wonderful things that happened before it found Tianqing.

A wonderful experience before it found Shiratori's house.

[... Fox Nosuke. ]

"Yes, it is!"

[Tell me, how did you find 'it'? ]

"Ah, that's... I made a wish with the device when I set off from Honmaru, to find you who has a similar aura to Master Shiratori. After that, the space-time shuttle device started to operate, but, but it sent me to an abandoned temple. before."

"I walked in alone, there was a big rusty bronze bell, and then in the deserted temple, the big bell suddenly rang, and this ball of light floated out of it..."

"At that time, I was really scared to death. The time government's shuttle device seldom made mistakes, and I didn't know why it would send me to that weird place. At that time, I didn't know that the ball of light followed me. Then leave again, and then teleport again... I will come to your door."

"Speaking of which, if it wasn't for this mistake, we wouldn't have the energy to return to Honmaru now..."

Foxosuke approached Tianqing with his small head, and suddenly felt that the little ball of light was not as weird as it first saw.

After seeing the sky, the ball of light seemed to be alive with excitement, and it was brighter than before.

"What the hell is this?" Honosuke asked curiously, beginning to forget the horror he had experienced.

[This is my fragment. ]

"Shards?"

[Yes, when I was eight years old, the Shiratori family deliberately scattered my soul fragments because they were afraid of my spiritual growth and worried that I would fall into evil ways... Thanks to this, I have never been able to Signed a contract with Shikigami, but since you found this piece before you found me, the situation is different again. ]

[If you think about it, it may be this fragment that leads you to correctly travel to the mansion of the Shiratori family. ]

[So... this is not a mistake, but an inevitability. ]

After Tianqing finished speaking, she raised her hand and swallowed the ball of light without hesitation, and it was too late for Foxnosuke to stop it.

...Just, don't eat indiscriminately! !

I saw that light was eaten by the little girl. After that, her beautiful long hair seemed to be a little brighter, and her big round eyes were also clearer and more transparent.

Although it was not obvious, there was a feeling that Tianqing had become more "complete" just now.

Fox's help was dumbfounded, and he didn't know how to explain this wonderful thing.

After all, Tianqing also seemed to be nonchalant, and even slowly took out a yellowed charm from his pocket.

That talisman looked too dated, and a few words it couldn't understand were scrawled on the yellowed paper with vermilion paint.

Intuition tells Fox that it is not a text that humans can understand.

"God judge, this is..."

[Shh. ]

She motioned for Foxosuke to be quiet, and the next second, Tianqing slammed the fragile-looking talisman on the ground, bit her fingertips and wrote her name on the talisman, covering the red words.

--clear.

"Respond to my call and help me, Yukiko!"

She opened her mouth suddenly, and the moment she pronounced the strange name with a clean and clear voice, the two bloody characters on the spell also changed.

The crimson name and the vermilion color were wonderfully mixed on the talisman paper. In the blink of an eye, a biting cold wind blew in the room, distorting the whole space!

"...F-what happened? What's wrong?!"

Foxosuke hid back into Tianqing's arms in fear, his little paws humblely grasped Tianqing's clothes, and then looked at the snow-white figure that gradually condensed in the wind and snow.

A boy with closed eyes and short hair in a white safari appeared in the snow, then slowly woke up, and met Tianqing's gaze.

The boy's immature voice was gentle and clear.

"Master Tianqing, you will not be alone from now on, I, Xuetongzi, will be with you."

……

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The author has something to say:

This chapter illustrates one of the important threads of this paper.

I don’t know if you guys have read the Tsubasa Chronicle, anyway, we Tianqing are going to look for our own fragments everywhere!

Fragments are generally attached to monsters or monsters, so in the process of searching, you will encounter many strange events

Later, I will combine the rumors of Hanako-kun with the weird setting, as well as the setting of Demon Slayer... because I haven't written it yet, I will explain it later!