The road of the house owner of the pig in the Chanyuan

In the early morning, when the warm orange sunlight had just penetrated the clouds and the air was still a little cool, Naoya woke up early. He sat quietly in front of the porch, looking at the courtyard under the morning glow, and the distant Zhaohui, who became more and more golden, silently gave himself a cup of hot water.

Since returning to the monastery, his sleeping condition has not been very good. It is often difficult to fall asleep at night, and sometimes he even keeps his eyes open and stares at the ceiling for a whole night. If you are bored lying down, it is better to find something to do for yourself, maybe it will be easier to fall asleep after you are tired.

But even if Naoya can occasionally fall asleep earlier at night, he will probably wake up at four or five o'clock in the morning the next day. He doesn't know why, or he rejects everything here, or hates this status quo. It was as if the biological clock had been forcibly changed, waking up in the silence of the early morning, looking at the empty room, without any drowsiness.

Naoya didn't tell Gojo Satoru about this, he didn't want them to worry about his little things, not to mention that it was just a little bit of poor sleep quality, after half a year, he was almost used to it.

Because he was going to meet Zhipiren, he specifically asked Gojo Satoru not to come here today, otherwise at this time as usual, the other party would almost teleport over and urge him to eat breakfast as soon as possible, how could he be so peaceful and comfortable? Enjoy the courtyard view.

Thinking of this, Naoya couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, and a little bit of warmth surged in his heart.

However, before he could maintain this good mood for too long, at the corner at the end of the corridor, there was suddenly a creaking sound of wooden planks from far to near. He turned his head to follow the sound, and saw The Zhipi people led the attendants who were holding something in their hands, and came to his small courtyard early in the morning.

This was a bit beyond his expectation, Naoya raised his brows slightly, thinking in his heart, he thought that most of the people from Naobi would come after lunch, but he didn't want to come so early.

But it's okay for him.

"I didn't expect you to wake up so early." Naobi smiled lightly, waved casually, and signaled the attendant behind him to put the things in his hands in front of Naoya, and asked with a bit of concern, "Why don't you sleep a little longer? .”

"I went to bed early last night," Naoya casually said, "You also woke up very early."

"After all, I'm getting old, so I don't sleep as much as you young people do."

While the two were chatting for nothing to say, the attendant respectfully placed the wooden tray in front of Naoya, and on the tray was a simple breakfast, steaming miso soup, sprinkled with sea salt The fried fish should be fried in butter, with a little milky burnt aroma. There is also a peeled boiled egg and some sliced ​​apples on the small plate next to it.

"Thinking that you haven't had breakfast yet, I prepared a little for you. If it's not enough, I'll ask the kitchen to make it for you." As he said that, the Zhibiren waved away the attendant, and just like Naoya, he went straight to the one that the attendant had prepared earlier. Sitting on the soft cushion, sitting in front of the porch, looking at the courtyard that has been swayed by the rising sun, as if he was really admiring the scenery, he said straightforwardly without looking at it, "If you have anything to say, you can eat it Tell me slowly after breakfast, or if you can't wait, you can talk while eating."

Naoya didn't say a word, just picked up the chopsticks and small bowl, and started to have breakfast.

Now that everyone in Zhibi said so, he naturally wouldn't wrong himself. Besides, he also promised Gojo Satoru yesterday that even if the other party was away and there was no supervision, he would promise to eat three meals a day.

Therefore, under the cool morning light in autumn, with the slightly yellowed leaves in the courtyard, Naobi and Naoya, a father and son who were unfamiliar with each other, spent a rare time together. After a quiet morning, the only sound was Naoya’s light touch of bowls and chopsticks when he was eating breakfast, the crisp and light sound like a light bell, and the chewing of food moving between his lips and teeth Voice.

After Naoya finished his breakfast, the attendant cleaned up all the used tableware and food residues, looked at Naoya who was drinking tea calmly, and asked with a smile, "How, are you full? Is it?"

"There is no need to say more about these boring polite words," but Naoya said directly after drinking the tea, his face was cold, there was no fluctuation in his eyes, and there was almost no superfluous emotion for Zhibiren, the so-called father, "Since you will come, you should know what I want to say."

"Oh? I really don't know about that." Zhipiren was not annoyed at all by this, but smiled lightly with his lips curled up like a tease, "You might as well tell me first."

"I want to be the patriarch of the Buddhist monastery." With a sideways glance at the Zhibiren beside him, Naoya said bluntly, with a composure on his brows, as if what he just said was just an ordinary sentence.

"You have already said this when you just came back," Zhibi still smiled indifferently, unmoved by Naoya's words, "Now that you have recovered your spell power, as my son, the future Patriarch's The position can be yours, of course."

"No," but Naoya immediately turned his head and looked straight into Naobi's eyes. The seriousness and stubbornness in the eyes, as well as a touch of madness hidden in the depths, all crashed into him. Looking directly into the eyes of Zhibiren, he said in a deep voice, "What I want is not the future, but the present."

As Naoya's voice fell, his shadow elongated by Chen Hui seemed to respond, becoming more and more solid. After that, he saw the huge caramel and milk tea, one after the other, from the shadow Leaping out from the center, with a hint of coldness, appeared in the courtyard at the same time for the first time, with their backs facing the sun, almost completely blocking the sun, casting a large shadow, and making Naobi and Naoya, who were looking at each other in front of the corridor, Totally shrouded.

"A long time ago, I heard a report from my servant that there was a strange noise in the house you stayed in before." Even in the face of such a huge monster, Zhipiren's face was still as calm as usual, without any fluctuations, It's just that the corners of his mouth curled up a little bit in satisfaction, and he said in a very good mood, "At first, I was still guessing whether this had something to do with your shadow, but now it seems that it is indeed the case."

"Since you already know, now, am I qualified to be the Patriarch of the Chanyuan?"

Still staring at Zhibiren's eyes firmly, Naoya's eyebrows and eyes narrowed slightly, refusing to relax at the same time, and at the same time, the caramel and milk tea in the courtyard also seemed to respond, grinning at the same time, with fierce eyes Staring at the Zhibiren in front of the corridor, with his head lowered and his hind legs accumulating strength, he was stationed in the courtyard in a crawling posture ready to jump up and bite the enemy's throat at any time, and issued bursts of threats from between the sharp teeth The low barking, the invisible coercion, almost all swarmed towards the Zhibi people.

If an ordinary conjurer sees such a posture, no matter how hard he pretends to be calm on the surface, he will definitely feel scared in his heart.

But Zhipiren didn't move at all, as if the two jade dogs didn't exist at all, he sat firmly on the cushion in front of the porch, even took the wine gourd pinned to his waist, took a sip of the rich and mellow wine, smashed it He smacked his mouth twice.

"Young man, it's not good to be too impatient," Zhipi said leisurely, shaking the wine gourd in his hand, and the wine rubbed against the inner wall of the gourd, causing a slight tumbling sound, "What's more, the position of the patriarch of the Buddhist monastery is not a good one. Things, are you so impatient?"

"...I can't bear it even for a minute or a second longer." After a long silence, Naoya lowered his eyes and said what he had said to Gojo Satoru at the beginning, and the hands hidden in the cuffs were unconsciously squeezed The fist and even the knuckles were a little white, of course he understood what the direct neighbor said, but...

"I can bear it until now, my patience is good enough." Naoya said hoarsely.

"Really?" Zhibi put down the wine gourd, glanced at the two jade dogs in the courtyard, and squinted his eyes, "In this case, the position of the head of the family is entrusted to you, and I, an old man, can finally have a good rest gone."

"Just," Immediately afterwards, Zhipiren's words changed, and a sharp look flashed in his eyes, "You must also be clear that it is not something that can be decided by me alone, as it is related to the position of the Patriarch of the Chanyuan. .”

"Heh," Naoya let out a cold snort when he heard this, "Who can interfere with the decision of your current patriarch."

"Originally, that's right." Zhibiren was not annoyed at all, but instead stroked his beard and explained patiently, "But who made you 'disappear' for nearly a year, and you have been shutting yourself out since you came back? As your father, wouldn't it be too selfish to push you as the head of the family right now, and the elders in the clan would not agree."

"...Then what do you want to do?" Naoya pursed his lips, he naturally understood these reasons, but he had enough time to prove his strength, and he didn't have the patience at all right now.

"Do you have any other shikigami?" Zhibi asked suddenly.

"...and Nue," Naoya said after hesitating for a while, "but I haven't been able to fully 'tune' it yet."

He changed the term of engraving. In fact, if he had to say it, he was right. After all, only a fully engraved shadow can show its true appearance and exert more strength, otherwise it will only be like a little bit, But it's just a mass of shadows that have outlines and can move.

"Speaking of which, it will be your birthday in a short time," Zhibi said with a smile, "At that time, if you can successfully subdue Nue, you can take this opportunity to show yourself in front of all the clansmen." Strength, I will also announce later that you are the new patriarch of the monastery, and I have the right to send you a birthday gift."

"As for the succession ceremony of the head of the family, if there is no objection, it will be held in the new year for the time being... well, it will be held together with Sanhe Day at that time, what do you think?" Zhibiren looked at Naoya smiled meaningfully, "If you want to set a date like Sanhe Day, you won't feel that there is anything strange and uncomfortable."

Sure enough, he already knew, Naoya secretly thought in his heart, but he was not very surprised. On the surface, he didn't respond to Naobi's words, but just looked at him quietly, without saying a word.

"Don't let me down, Naoya."

However, the Zhibi people didn't care too much, just left such a sentence lightly, picked up the wine gourd at the side, got up and left, leaving only the back, along the deep corridor, where the sun can't reach In the shadows, gradually go away.