Chapter 36 Sadness

Thank you for your help.

Akashi Kuniyuki thanked Hanshu with a serious expression.

"thank you"

Aishiki Kunitoshi and Hotarumaru also expressed their gratitude to Hanshu.

Ran Toushirou returned to Hanshu's side, having now completely severed ties with his unpleasant past. His azure eyes gazed expectantly at the red-haired man with his short sword.

"Guojun! Are you coming to our citadel?"

"Huh?! Is that okay?!"

Ai Qi Kunitoshi looked at Ran Toushirou with delight, but then hesitated as he glanced at Han Zhou. He seemed worried that she might not accept.

Noticing Ai Qi Guojun's gaze, Han Zhou looked at him. His light golden eyes held a hint of comfort.

"I respect your wishes. If you do not wish to remain in my citadel, you may stay temporarily until you have decided on your future destination."

Seeing the shocked expression on Lai Pai's face, Qing Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“You may not trust humans, but Lord Hanzhou is not human, and I believe you will want to stay there.”

"Tsurumaru, Ran. I'll teleport you back to the citadel first. You can show the place around."

"Leave it to me!"

"Alright then, my lord, you must return soon."

Watching them disappear before his eyes, Qingye couldn't help but marvel at Hanzhou's power. Hanzhou then teleported Qingye and the others back to their respective Honmaru.

Destroying the venue would be simple; she wasn't left behind solely to destroy the auction house, but rather... to root out the rats in the gutter.

The powerful waves whipped her hair wildly, turning her pale gold eyes into vertical pupils. Her fox ears and tail were faintly visible.

The canine teeth in his mouth appeared and disappeared as he spoke.

Did you really think I couldn't find you?

Suddenly grown, sharp fingernails easily ripped through space and time. From them, they revealed the one who had been spying, its body covered in black cracks. Its entire eye sockets were covered in black, making it appear humanoid.

But no one understands better than Han Zhou the substance that constitutes this thing: human resentment.

"Ignorant scoundrels, unaware of their own mortality."

Han Zhou clenched his right hand in the air, and the person he had captured exploded like a balloon suddenly bursting! Along with them, a disgusting black slime scattered in all directions.

On the floor

The resentment is so thick and sticky; it seems we need to head to the source of the River of Time as soon as possible to investigate.

Click—

As the sound of space shattering rang out, the independent auction venue was about to cease to exist. There was no possibility of restarting it.

There are five auction venues in total, and Han Zhou has already destroyed two of them.

——

Mikazuki, who was drinking tea in the citadel, noticed the returning Tsurumaru and his group, and naturally also saw the newly arrived swordsmen.

"Oh, are you a newcomer? Welcome, welcome!"

Tsurumaru Kuninaga was still wearing his battle uniform and knew he couldn't hide the fact that he had gone out with his lord, so he didn't intend to conceal it.

"Mikazuki, you're drinking tea here again. How leisurely," Tsurumaru Kuninaga couldn't help but chuckle at his relaxed demeanor.

"Haha, would you like a drink?"

As Mikazuki spoke, he actually intended to pour Tsurumaru Kuninaga a cup of tea.

"Spare me, this isn't the time for tea," the white crane said, one hand on his hip, looking helpless. He had things to do; he had no time for tea.

Kogitsunemaru, holding freshly made sweet potato chips, had just turned the corner when he saw the unfamiliar tsukumogami. He quickened his pace and placed the snacks beside Mikazuki.

What's going on?

"Haha, maybe it's a new companion, who knows?" Mikazuki said, picking up a piece of dried sweet potato.

"I won't bother you any longer," Tsurumaru Kuninaga said goodbye to the swords of the Sanjo school, now he should hurry up and settle the swords of the other school.

Kogitsunemaru and Mikazuki watched them leave, the former carrying a different kind of worry than the latter. Mikazuki noticed this, took a sip of his tea, and asked...

"Kogitsunemaru, what are you worried about?"

"I have no problem with the new swords... but I feel something's strange." Kogitsunemaru frowned, struggling to articulate his feelings.

"Don't worry, if anything seems amiss, someone else will definitely notice."

Mikazuki laughed.

Recalling that famous demon-slaying sword, Kogitsunemaru breathed a sigh of relief. That's true; if it were Higekiri-dono, he would definitely have noticed something was wrong.

Meanwhile, the demon-slaying swordsman they trusted was being nagged by his younger brother, "Anija, we've just returned from an expedition, and we still have our internal duties to perform later, Anija!"

Just as Hizamaru was about to tell his older brother about the work he was about to do, he turned around and found that the other man seemed not to have heard him at all and had already walked quite a distance away.

Seeing this, Hizamaru, though not understanding what had happened, quickly followed.

"What happened, brother?"

"Hmm... I just sensed something strange. Where's my younger brother, Maru?"

Hizamaru, startled by Higekiri's reminder, paused, then focused on sensing his surroundings. If the citadel were a blank sheet of paper, a tiny black dot had now appeared on it.

"His breathing was very weak."

Hizamaru nodded, and couldn't help but admire his older brother's keen perception. If it weren't for his brother's reminder, he didn't know when he would have noticed the anomaly.

As demon-slaying swords, they could sense that this aura was far from harmless. Since the head of the family was not currently at the citadel, they, as the spirits remaining there, naturally had to investigate the source of the anomaly.

"Eh? Higekiri, Hizamaru!" Tsurumaru Kuninaga, who had just stepped halfway out from around the corner, saw the two Genji brothers.

They had all once been swordsmen of Kanshu, and their relationship was fairly good. Normally, Higekiri and Hizamaru would respond to Tsurumaru and greet him.

But now they discovered that the strange aura was very close to Tsurumaru Kuninaga. Sure enough, behind Tsurumaru Kuninaga, besides Ran Toushirou, were three very unfamiliar tsukumogami.

"What have you noticed?"

Tsurumaru Kuninaga stepped aside, revealing the sword spirits that had been sent behind him. He naturally noticed Higekiri's serious expression.

“They’re tainted with a strange aura.” Higekiri locked his gaze on the source of that aura, which was Hotarumaru. This greatsword was unusually large, shaped like a child.

Before Higekiri could make a further move, the thing attached to Hotarumaru couldn't hold back any longer. A wisp of black smoke detached from Hotarumaru's body and fled at an extremely fast speed.

Clang—!

Higekiri and Hizamaru instantly drew their swords, simultaneously slashing their blades at the wisp of smoke. The thing twisted its body strangely, dodging their blades, but even so, the smoke dissipated slightly.

"Oh no!"

"I never expected that something like this would happen at the citadel as soon as I returned."

Before Higekiri and Hizamaru could sheathe their swords, they saw the wisp of black mist being trapped by Hansho's protective shield. Seeing this, the two brothers also sheathed their swords.

"I apologize, Master. We were unable to kill it."

"Oh dear, my little brother is just too rigid. The head of the family won't mind."

"That's true. In fact, it's quite surprising that you even noticed me."

It's important to understand that this thing doesn't fall into the category of monsters or ghosts. The fact that it was discovered by Higekiri and Hizamaru, and that they even possessed the ability to kill it, is remarkable.

"This is Mizutani's last remaining regret."