Chapter 57 Fish Benefit Instrument

Iwakatsu was truly helpless; he doubted Muzan Kibutsuji's ability to gather information.

Perhaps because Kokushibo doesn't refuse him as often, Muzan Kibutsuji is becoming more and more casual. When Kokushibo received the mission to go to the beach to check on the blue spider lilies, he really wanted to rush over and talk to him.

"Have you ever seen any flowers by the sea?"

Helpless, Yan Sheng walked on the beach, watching the waves crashing in the wind, reflecting silver light under the moonlight.

Yan Sheng loves the sea; it's vast and all-encompassing, and it calms his heart. Yan Sheng used to be from Lingnan, so the seaside was quite nearby for him, and he would go there whenever he felt stressed.

This time, I think I'll encounter Yu Hu.

Yan Sheng realized that he would run into trouble wherever he went, so he didn't care anymore.

The fishermen in this sea are very hardworking. Even at night, they gather in twos and threes to fish. They roll up their sleeves and trouser legs and use fishing nets and harpoons to catch the stranded and nearby fish.

Yan Sheng walked along, and many people watched him. Finally, a boy who looked like a dark-skinned monkey ran over. He was carrying a fish that looked as long as his own arm, and he walked up to Yan Sheng.

"Sir, would you like some fish? Our fish is delicious!"

The boy smiled, his innocent and adorable appearance leaving Yan Sheng momentarily stunned. He lowered his eyes, his voice softening unconsciously.

"Thank you, you can have it..."

Seeing the boy's sudden dejected expression, Yan Sheng reached out and ruffled the boy's slightly damp black hair. He quite liked children, especially well-behaved and adorable ones, like…

Who does he look like?

Yan Sheng stopped what he was doing. Who had just flashed through his mind?

Yan Sheng stood there, feeling a chill run down his spine. He was an only child and had grown up with his parents. He was mostly in contact with elders and had never met a child younger than himself when he was a child.

That's so strange, so very strange.

Yan Sheng's pupils contracted sharply. He couldn't remember, and this strange feeling terrified him.

"My lord, are you alright?"

The boy did not leave. Seeing Yan Sheng's drastically changed expression, he couldn't help but ask.

"Ah...it's nothing."

Yan Sheng snapped out of his reverie and shook his head at the boy. He looked at the horizon where the sea and sky were beginning to turn white, then turned to the boy and asked if there was a place to live in the village.

Before dawn, Yan Sheng found a suitable house to stay in. After thanking the kind villagers for their help, he followed the boy to the house where he was staying.

The village was large, and perhaps because it was near the sea, the houses were all quite far apart. But Iwakatsu also noticed that the house that was particularly close to the sea yet also quite far from the village was on the outskirts of the village, as if it had been abandoned.

"Sir, what are you looking at?"

The boy noticed Yan Sheng's increasingly slow pace, turned his head to look in the direction Yan Sheng was looking, and his expression was indescribable. He stiffly turned his head away, not wanting to look in that direction anymore.

"What's wrong?"

Yan Sheng noticed the boy's expression and had a vague guess in his mind. He looked at the boy and asked casually.

“There’s a strange person living over there. My grandpa and the others told me not to have any contact with him, saying he was pitiful, so everyone just helped him secretly.”

"Is that so?"

Yan Sheng answered casually, then turned his head back to listen to the boy's ramblings, his gaze drifting intentionally or unintentionally in that direction.

Yan Shengneng glanced at the dilapidated thatched house and saw a man with an obscured face emerge from it. He was hunched over and carrying a pot. He slowly left the house and walked towards the sea.

Yan Sheng did not investigate further, but followed the boy to the house where he was staying. After waving goodbye to the boy, he closed the door.

The house wasn't in particularly good condition; there were large gaps in the wooden doors and windows, allowing sunlight to filter in. Yan Sheng looked around and, thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the bed. He slowly walked over and sat down on the not-so-soft blankets.

This is a remote fishing village, and in this era, Yan Sheng didn't complain about anything; he even stayed in a dilapidated thatched hut.

Ghosts don't need to sleep, and Yan Sheng's intense drowsiness from before didn't return. He found it very strange; he had always thought it was because he hadn't eaten for too long, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.

Yan Sheng thought for a moment, but still didn't return to the Infinity Castle. He opened the transparent blue panel, where the task of collecting Upper Moons had changed from (1/6) to (2/6).

Great, we just need to wait for the ghosts to come slowly.

Yan Sheng was satisfied; achieving his goal gave him a sense of accomplishment.

—On the other side—

As dawn broke, Yi Yuyi slowly went out. He had noticed before that the beach was least crowded at this time of day. Carrying a bucket and his precious jug, he saw a man following a boy into the village as he left the house.

That splash of purple was strikingly conspicuous. His gaze fell on the wrist that the other person had inadvertently revealed, white and powerful.

What would happen if I killed him?

He quickly shifted his gaze, realizing that his opponent was extremely powerful and that he had no chance of winning.

He looked around as he made his way to the sea and cast his tattered fishing net. He wouldn't have gone out at all if he hadn't run out of materials.

He slowly prepared his fishing nets, patiently sitting on the beach waiting. He disliked the villagers; they simply couldn't understand his art.

Clearly, clearly the limbs look so beautiful when pieced together, yet they call me an anomaly, a monster. Yi Yuyi thought, his hand involuntarily tightening. He carefully picked up the jade pot beside him, inside which lay the fish bones he had painstakingly pieced together.

He held his perfect work, looking at it in the slowly rising sunlight, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Snap—".

A stone swept past quickly, knocking the fishbone from Yi Yuyi's hand to the ground. Yi Yuyi rushed over anxiously, holding her shattered artwork covered in sand, her eyes blazing with barely suppressed anger.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Yiyuyi."

A little boy ran over, dressed in the simplest linen clothes, his fingers nervously gripping his sleeves, his eyes darting away from Yi Yuyi.

"What are you doing! Why are you destroying my art!"

Yi Yuyi stood up and glared angrily at the boy, shouting loudly. His expression was ferocious with rage, and his strange attire made the little boy shrink back involuntarily.

"I'm...I'm sorry...Waaah."

The little boy clutched his clothes, tears welling in his eyes. His voice grew softer and softer, and his whole body trembled violently. A slightly older boy ran up from a distance. Seeing this scene, he rushed forward aggressively and stood in front of the little boy.

"What are you doing, you weirdo? Why are you bullying your brother!"

He stared directly into Yi Yuyi's eyes, refusing to back down. Yi Yuyi looked at him and shouted.

"He ruined my work!"

"He didn't do it on purpose, and he apologized. Did you really have to yell at a child like that?"

He glanced at the remaining scraps on the ground, his eyes filled with disdainful mockery.

"It's just a bunch of broken bones pieced together. You're a grown man, can't you stop relying on others all the time? What's the point of worrying about that thing of yours every day?"

"you…"

Yi Yuyi trembled with rage, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at the mocking boy. But the boy wouldn't have it, and pulled the still tearful little boy away.

Yi Yuyi stood there, his hands clenched tightly, blood flowing from his palms from the fish bones. He stared intently at the boy's departing figure, then bent down and picked up the half-meter-tall pot that lay to the side.