Chapter Thirteen

With the full moon overhead, the four hurried along, rushing to their destination.

The entrance to the village is next to a withered cherry blossom tree, its branches covered with faded red ribbons that rustle in the wind, looking like countless hands beckoning souls under the moonlight.

Chinatsu and Genya followed closely behind Sanemi and Obanai Iguro. As they passed the cherry blossom trees, a cool, chilly breeze swept by, instantly raising goosebumps on their skin.

The group entered the village and began their investigation.

At this moment, even though it was a clear night, a thick fog rose up around us, like a pot of boiling corpse oil, sticky and clinging to the surroundings, spreading around us.

Moonlight pierced through the mist, casting dappled, pale gray patches of light on the ground, elongating eerie shadows that looked terrifying no matter how you looked at them.

The first step in the investigation is to knock on the door of the person you're supposed to meet.

Surprisingly, the person who was supposed to meet them was not there.

So they started preparing to knock on other people's doors.

However, no one answered.

Sanemi and Obanai exchanged a glance, then decisively climbed over the collapsed fence, squeezed through the half-open door, climbed onto the roof, and lifted the loose tiles to look inside.

Ultimately, they came to the conclusion that there was no one there at all.

Not to mention any traces of demonic attacks, there isn't even a hint of a living person having ever lived here.

The cold stove, the dried-up water tank, the houses covered with cobwebs—the whole village seemed to have been drained of life, leaving only an empty shell.

"What should we do? Should we continue investigating?" Chika tugged at Sanemi's sleeve, her voice hesitant. "It looks like no one's here. Could it be a false alarm?"

"Let's see. Some evil spirits know we're back and will use blood demon magic to bewitch us," Sanemi said, gripping his sword tightly as he continued deeper into the village.

Chinatsu gave a helpless "Oh," quickened her pace, and kept up with Sanemi and Obanai.

As they ventured deeper into the area, the eerie atmosphere did not dissipate; instead, it grew even stronger.

Sensing something was wrong, Chika subconsciously activated her Nen power, preparing to run away if any danger arose.

The first rule for mercenaries: if you can't win, run.

With that thought in mind, she slowly approached Sanemi.

From initially keeping a distance of one person, it progressed to an arm's length, and finally, it became following closely behind Sanemi, never leaving his side.

until--

Sanemi hissed, stopped in his tracks, and abruptly turned his head to look at Chinatsu.

Chika hummed in response, pursed her lips, looked up at the sky, and then pretended nothing had happened and started whistling.

"Shh~shhhh~~"

The strange tunes, scattered and disjointed, sounded particularly out of place in the deathly silent village.

Obanai, standing to the side, frowned slightly. The small white snake around her neck tilted its head, its scarlet tongue flicking out, seemingly puzzled by this sudden awkward situation.

"Hmph!" Sanemi exhaled a murderous aura from his nose, turned around and continued forward, his boots crunching heavily on the dry branches on the ground with a crisp "crack" sound.

Chika breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed after her.

The next moment—

"hiss--"

Sanemi stopped abruptly again, this time with the veins on the back of his neck bulging.

"you!"

He turned around, glaring angrily, "Try stepping on my heel again! Try it!"

He poked Qianxia's forehead with his index finger, forcing her to push back with "Ugh ah ugh ah ugh ah" sounds, and she bumped into Xuanmi with a "bang".

Xuanmi silently reached out to support her back to prevent her from falling, but he was also frightened by his brother's sudden outburst of anger and shrank his neck.

"You two!" Sanemi roared, pointing straight ahead, "Go first!"

"yes!!"

The two instantly transformed into startled rabbits, darting to the front of the line in a flash.

Sanemi hopped on one foot, lifting his heel, and looked at the wobbly shoe upper. The sound of grinding his teeth startled the little white snake, which darted into Obana's collar, leaving only its two eyes blinking.

The dimly lit mountain village was shrouded in thick fog, obscuring everything. Yet, the moon shone brightly in the sky like a light bulb, casting long shadows of the four people that swayed on the ground.

Chinatsu is actually very brave, yet also very timid. She's the kind of person who likes watching horror movies, knows there are no ghosts in the world, but still can't sleep at night after watching them and ends up singing "Makka Pakka".

Genmi wasn't afraid of these things. In their worldview, the most terrifying thing in this world was nothing more than man-eating demons, and the existence of people after death was more like that of ghosts.

However, at this moment, compared to the various odds and ends, he was more afraid of his dear brother behind him, whose resentment was bubbling up.

Therefore, she and Xuanmi were unsure of which way to go for a moment.

What are you two dawdling about for?!

Mi, arms crossed, roared from behind, "Get in a straight line!"

Chinatsu and Genya straightened their backs with a "whoosh" and mechanically stepped forward like two straight wooden stakes.

The little white snake peeked out from under the collar of the little barnacle, tilting its head to look at the two clowns, its tongue flicking out.

"Hurry up! Run!"

With a roar from Sanemi, Chika followed Genya and began to run wildly through the eerie old village. Behind them, Sanemi was like a small leather whip dipped in chili peppers, lashing their backs furiously.

Xuanmi finally ran out of strength, and his heart pounded wildly in his chest before it stopped.

However, they still found nothing along the way.

"Could it be..." Obanai Iguro pinched her chin, "that the intelligence was truly flawed?"

Sanemi crossed his arms and looked around. "Yeah, but it doesn't feel right."

Chika also felt terrible. She gasped for breath, raised her head, and rolled her eyes angrily.

This flipping revealed something amiss.

but...

She thought for a moment, then muttered softly, "Huh, that's weird~"

Her voice was soft, yet it sounded exceptionally clear amidst the thick fog and her light footsteps.

The words had barely left his mouth when a pair of cold, snake-like eyes suddenly appeared on his face.

"Holy crap!" Qianxia yelled, taking several steps back.

Obanai Iguro looked at her, and the small white snake around her neck poked its head out, revealing its scarlet tongue, staring at her.

Chika touched her neck, imagining the feeling of a small snake coiling around her neck.

Eek~ She couldn't help but shudder.

Iguro Koba looked at her quietly, her snake eyes narrowed slightly, and asked with a scrutinizing tone.

"What's so strange!"

His voice was deep and resonant, with a touch of magnetism, yet also an undeniable air of authority.

Chika looked away from the small snake around his neck and hummed, "It's just strange."

“Don’t you think this…” she stretched out her finger and pointed upwards, “is strange?”

She tilted her head back and squinted, “Even though the fog was so thick you couldn’t see anything, it was still blindingly bright.”

"Doesn't it look like a pair of eyes, staring at us?"

A night breeze stirred, the mist shifted slightly, and the moonlight flickered. In the distance, something seemed to wriggle gently in the shadows and drift by.

"Whoosh—"

A soft sound suddenly rang in her ears, and Qianxia was stunned.

"Huh?"

She stared blankly at the narrow road in front of her, her mind empty.

No, Obanai Iguro was just on her face a moment ago, how could she suddenly disappear?

"Serpent's Breath! First Form - Serpent Slash!"

A deep murmur sounded from above. Qianxia subconsciously looked up and saw dozens of silver-white, winding blade lights suddenly bloom in the night sky.

"Splash—"

A crisp sound, like the sound of cloth being cut by scissors, suddenly rang out beside my ear.

Thick fog spread, and Obanai Iguro's figure disappeared.

"What are you doing?"

A voice tinged with anger came from behind her, and Qianxia turned around to look.

Sanemi, dressed in a wide-sleeved white haori with a tight black team uniform underneath, and Genmi, dressed in a plain black training uniform, were standing not far away watching her.

"Stop dawdling! Keep up!" Sanemi roared, carrying his sword. "If we encounter a demon, you'll be eaten."

Qianxia blinked and scratched her head. "Huh?"

No, she was just talking to...

Suddenly, a cold wind blew by, and she heard the rustling sound of branches rubbing together.

and...

who...?

Oh, right, she came to do the mission with Sanemi and Genya.

"I'm here. I was just spacing out for a second."

Chika replied and quickly chased after him.

......

"Who ate my liver?"

"I didn't eat it, I ate the leg."

"I ate the claws."

This very bustling street has abandoned, overgrown farmland on the left and a row of brightly lit houses on the right, bustling with people. Through the thin paper windows, you can clearly see how happy the people inside are.

Obanai Iguro stood in the middle of the street, lost in thought.

He clearly remembered that just a moment ago, he was talking to Chika.

Chika said the moon was acting strangely.

So he tried to cut everything.

Surprisingly, he actually managed to cut it.

The feel of the blade cutting through something is just like that of an eye, with the crisp, raw texture of skin.

But the instant he sliced ​​through the moon, upon landing, he found himself in a different place, and Chika and the others...

It's gone.

What... exactly is going on?

......