I didn't expect you to be such an onmyoji.

The chill of the winter night slowly soaked into the skin exposed outside the clothes, and then slowly penetrated into the bones. Yuan Dongshi took a breath of hot air between her hands, and the warm air surged up and hit her cheeks again.

The warm orange light of the lantern was still reflected on her body, and the laughter of the women in the house could be vaguely heard, as if they were far away but seemed to be close at hand.

She looked up at the woman sitting on the lantern and asked, "About Onmyoji, and another Onmyoji?"

The woman smiled lightly: "Yes."

"When future generations talk about Onmyoji, they think of Abe Seimei."

Yuan Dongshi lowered his eyes and asked, "Have you been following Qingming and me?"

"Ah, I was discovered by you." The woman said so, but there was no embarrassment on her face. She was still sitting sideways on the lantern with an elegant and charming posture, and her slender fingers were lightly clasped on the hollow carved lantern. handle, "I didn't expect you to be such a keen woman."

"But I didn't feel any evil spirit." Yuan Dongshi said.

The woman smiled and said, "If Abe Seimei hadn't focused all his attention on you, then he might have found me."

The lantern carrying her slowly drifted towards Yuan Dongshi, the blue light overwhelmed the warm light from the eaves, making people feel a little colder, Yuan Dongshi looked at her with some vigilance, and then backed away step.

I only wore socks, and stepped on the floor without any sound, only the sound of the heavy clothes on my body whirling, and I didn't know where a gust of wind blew. The orange lantern shook slightly, and the bell on the eaves was raised. , making a short and crisp sound, and the white tassels hanging on the blue lantern also glanced a little, bringing her white hair.

The woman watched Yuan Dongshi step back, smiled, and said, "Don't you want to hear strange stories?"

Yuan Dongshi shook his head: "I don't want to."

"Oh?" She seemed a little surprised, "I think people are curious."

Yuan Dongshi said sternly: "I heard strange stories from you, so there must be a price to pay."

The cold wind also picked up the fine strands of her temple hair, and she retracted her hands into the wide sleeves to block the cold, but it was precisely because of this cold that her drowsy mind gradually After waking up, she looked at the woman sitting on the lantern, and said, "The price for collecting the Qingxing Lantern of Hundred Stories should be very heavy."

The woman laughed and said, "Sure enough, she is a very sensitive person."

She jumped off the lantern, her body was light and fluttering, without making any sound, the blue lantern was still floating beside her, she held the handle of the lantern sideways, and took a step towards Yuan Dongshi.

Qing Xingdeng tilted his head, looked at Yuan Dongshi with some interest in his green pupils: "Don't worry, this is just the first strange story."

Yuan Dongshi still shook his head: "Since there is the first one, there will be a second one. The story of Qing Xingdeng will definitely not be so boring that I feel boring after hearing the first one."

She felt that what she said was very reasonable.

Qing Xingdeng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "I think you should be a fearless person, but one day, will you still be afraid to pay the price to me?"

When she asked this question, Yuan Dongshi was stunned.

Yes, this is just a magnificent and gorgeous dream, what is she afraid of.

"When people have concerns, they will have fear." Qing Xingdeng said, and walked up to Yuan Dongshi, and she gently pulled Yuan Dongshi's hand out of her sleeve with a hand that was almost strangely pale compared to ordinary people , Yuandong Persimmon only felt the chill far more severe than the cold winter.

She did not withdraw her hand from Qing Xing Deng's palm, but just looked at Qing Xing Deng's blue pupils with a strange smile.

What she is afraid of is waking up from the dream.

Qing Xingdeng seemed to see her fear, and said softly: "I'll give you this strange story, Miss Yuan Dongshi."

Yuan Dongshi was about to ask, but saw that the blue lantern on Qingxing Deng's other hand suddenly shone brightly. The blue light almost pierced people's eyes. She closed her eyes quickly, and then felt that Qingxing Deng was holding her hand, walked forward.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to find that the corridor in front of her eyes was no longer filled with orange lights in Erjou, but a dark forest. The winter chill had disappeared, replaced by the unique scorching heat It was so cool, she raised her head to look at the top of her head, and saw a dark blue sky surrounded by black tree crowns in the night, above which were twinkling stars and faint moonlight.

This...is summer.

Yuan Dongshi opened her eyes slightly, she lowered her head, and looked in front of her again, Qing Xingdeng was holding her hand and walking in front, the other hand was holding on to the blue lantern, the light of that lantern was much weaker at this time, only It can illuminate an inch of land around the body, and after the light, there are layers and layers of faint trees.

Yuan Dongshi asked, "This...here is..."

Qing Xingdeng did not stop, and replied: "Heiye Mountain, Xintai Forest."

Xintai Forest?

Yuan Dongshi opened his eyes wide.

According to legend, a white fox, Kuzuha, in the forest of Shinta, was transformed into a human woman because of his gratitude to the great censor, Abe Masaki, for saving him from Ishikawa’s evil right guard. She married him and gave birth to a son named Abe Seimei. .When Qingming was six years old, he accidentally saw the original form of his mother, so Ge ​​Ye had to leave Heianjing.

This is the Shinta Forest where Seimei's mother, the white fox Kuzuha, lives.

Yuan Dongshi asked: "The ghost story you want to send me is about Seimei?"

At this time, Qing Xingdeng suddenly stopped, and Yuan Dongshi also stopped immediately, and looked forward, but saw that the front was pitch black. With the lantern in Qing Xingdeng's hand, he could vaguely see an old tree curled up under the roots. with a person.

"That is……"

Yuan Dongshi murmured, took his hand out of Qingxing Deng's hand, and walked forward a few steps, only to see a little boy curled up among the tangled knots, a little boy still wearing a long bun, and he was still wearing a Ruo grass-colored straight clothes, but the clothes were already covered with mud and withered leaves, as if he had been wandering here for a long time, he hugged his knees with his hands, and buried his head between his knees.

Yuan Dongshi knew who this little figure was almost as soon as she saw it. She walked slowly under the tree, and just about to reach out to touch his shoulder, she heard a voice that felt like a tight string. Nervous child voice: "Who is it, come out!"

Although the voice was immature, Yuan Dongshi was sure that this child was Seimei when he was young.

Qingming slowly raised her head from between her knees. It was an immature face that belonged to a child of six or seven years old. From the delicate facial features, one could see the handsome and elegant appearance many years later. The eyes that are always full of a fox-like smile are different, the corners of the eyes are still slightly raised, but there is deep alertness and fear in the pupils.

As he asked, a few lights flickered under another tree. Yuan Dongshi looked there, and then saw the light getting bigger and bigger. When he got closer, he realized that there was a lantern at that time. The one was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, wearing Rikyu tea that was washed a little whitish. Although the light was warm yellow, the girl still looked like a human being, but Yuan Dongshi still recognized that the girl was Qing Xingdeng.

She turned her head to look at Qing Xing Deng, Qing Xing Deng was holding the blue lantern, with no joy or sorrow on her face, she just said: "This is a girl who lives nearby and likes to collect strange stories, you can call her A Deng."

"You... used to be human." Yuan Dongshi said.

Qing Xingdeng laughed, and said: "Many monsters used to be humans, but after becoming monsters, the human part has died."

The girl Ah Deng carried the lantern and walked up to Qingming. She was not as glamorous as she was after being demonized. She was just an ordinary girl with delicate features. There was no embarrassment on her face, she just smiled. Said to Qingming: "Oh, I was discovered by you."

Qingming looked at her for a long while, his eyes still deeply guarded, and suddenly asked, "Are you a monster?"

Ah Deng was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not." She laughed again, "If I were a monster, and I saw a child wandering in the Xintai Forest late at night, I must have chewed it in one bite."

After knowing that she was not a monster, Seimei closed her eyes again, lowered her head, and rested her head on her lap.

Curiosity appeared in Ah Deng's eyes, and he said, "Little brother, are you lost? It is said that there are many monsters living in the Xintai Forest, aren't you afraid?"

Seimei didn't answer.

"A child like you who is carved with jade, monsters like it the most." A Deng sat next to Qingming and said, "The meat is still very fresh and tender, and the bones are crunchy. You can chew it to pieces when you chew it. Swallow it together."

……

Yuan Dongshi turned his head to look at Qing Xingdeng with a cold face.

Qing Xingdeng still had a smile on his face: "Don't worry, Miss Dongshi, I don't like cannibalism."

"Oh." Yuan Dongshi didn't believe it.

Qing Xingdeng said again: "You are born with yang fire, and the taste is even more wonderful. If Miss Dongshi becomes a monster one day, you must taste it."

Yuan Dongshi: "..."

She moved aside.

Qing Xingdeng looked at her and narrowed his eyes with a smile.

On the other side, the young Seimei still ignored the young girl A Deng. After thinking for a while, A Deng said, "Do you like ghost stories? There are also stories about monsters in the Shinta Forest."

Qingming raised his head slightly and looked at her.

"I knew that no one would refuse the strange stories." A Deng said with a smile, "I have collected a lot of strange stories, and I am most interested in 99 of them, but I dare not collect any more. If there are a hundred of them and they become Hundred Monogatari, bad things will happen. Let me tell you which one you like."

Qingming was silent for a long time before saying, "I hate monsters."

"But you are obviously very interested." Ah Deng tilted his head and said.

"I hate monsters." Qingming said, burrowing into his dirt-stained sleeves, "I hate monsters, wouldn't it be good if monsters have always lived in their own place? Why did they come to the human world? In the human world, why do I have to leave again, saying that in order for me to grow up safely, leaving is the best choice..."

His voice became smaller and smaller, and Ah Deng sitting next to him looked puzzled, but Yuan Dongshi understood.

After the demon fox incident, Yuan Dongshi and Qingming were invited by Zuo Minister to visit the Zuo Minister's mansion, and Yuan Dongshi summoned Guhuo Bird to play with Yunjuyan.

At that time, it was approaching ten o'clock in the evening, the sunset was reflected in the sparkling pool water, and the red Zigzag Bridge lay across the water like fluttering red ribbons. Standing on the bridge with Qingming, she asked Gu Huo Niao to suggest to erase the clouds. Will Ju Yan's memory regret it?

At that time, Qingming said with a smile: "If Yun Juyan can grow up in peace and never touch monsters again, this is the best choice. She won't regret it."

She was a little strange and asked, "Don't you know little about Guhuo Bird?"

Qingming tapped the bat fan in his hand, the smile on the corners of his eyes faded slightly, he squinted his eyes, and said, "Maybe all mothers in the world are like this."

At that time, Yuan Dongshi didn't pay much attention to it, she just felt that the truth that only mothers are good in the world existed thousands of years ago, and now she understands after listening to the young Qingming.

When the white fox Ge Ye left, he said, "For you to grow up safely, this is the best choice."