Chapter 135

A dilapidated wooden house stands on a flat hillside in Jingxin Mountain.

The wooden house looks quite old. If you walk around it, you can see many places that are leaking wind and rain, but those places have been repaired by people using materials.

Crunch——

The wooden door was opened from the inside, and then the boy's bad voice sounded, "Wuyilang, are you okay?"

"Ah, okay, okay." Another boy's voice sounded, but compared with the previous boy's voice, this time it sounded much weaker.

Following the sound of footsteps, the wooden door was creaked shut.

"I'm going to go step on the mushrooms later. Muichiro, you just look for some big leaves nearby." The little boy said expressionlessly to his brother, who was walking beside him, as he walked outside the simple wooden fence. "We'll be back at noon and repair the house in the afternoon."

"I understand, brother." The boy who was being instructed responded obediently with a small backpack on his back.

The fence gate was just opened, and the two boys in animal skin clothes with exposed arms stopped.

"Ah, Sister Aki?" Tokito Muichiro called out to Qingxi, the girl in front of him, with some disbelief. She was in a disheveled state. Compared to last year's look of a girl who could only be raised in a well-fed family, she was now so thin that she looked like a girl from a poor family.

Qingxi let out a long breath, "Yes, it's me."

She pointed at the house, looking tired but still smiling at them, "Wouldn't you like me to come in and sit down?"

Tokito Ichiro finally realized what was happening. He turned his head away and said coldly, "The house is full of water because of the leaks. As long as you don't mind."

"It's okay." Qingxi smiled at the boy who said, "You'd better not come in," but actually made way for them. "Anyway, I'm in a pretty bad state right now. Well, I might even need to borrow your stove to boil some water."

"Sister Aki, why did you become like this?" Compared to his brother's aloof attitude, the younger brother Tokito Muichiro was much more enthusiastic.

There were signs of leaking rain in many places in the house, so he asked the three of them to sit where he and his brother slept. When Tokito Ichiro went to the kitchen to boil water, he asked.

"We chose the wrong time to come here. We encountered rain on the way, and we ended up like this because of walking and hiding." Qingxi said to him while taking off her wet haori.

After placing the firewood under the stove and making sure the flame would not go out for a while, Shi Tou Youlang came out and said coldly, "It was Granny Su who told you about my family's situation and asked you to come and persuade us.

No need. Muichiro and I can live well on our own. You..." He looked at the girl who had taken off her haori and then her clothes. Like the others, he turned his back and turned his head away. "You can go down the mountain after you've rested. Muichiro and I have to go to the mountains to find some materials to repair the house later. We don't have time to entertain you."

"Probably not."

The girl's voice that sounded like a protest sounded, and Tokito Ichiro turned around angrily. Then, he saw that the quilt he and his brother were covering with had been turned out by her and wrapped around her body at some point.

Ignoring the boy's expression as if he wanted to hit someone, Qingxi continued, "You also said that I was asked by Granny Su to come here. Since I'm here, I have to settle your affairs with Wuyilang before I leave."

"We don't need it." Tokito Ichiro's face was still full of resistance. He walked in front of Qingxi and said, "Muichiro and I will live well together. Even without help from others, we can survive. You go back. This place is not..."

The boy's words became sharper and sharper, and the more he spoke, the more he sounded like a young beast that was extremely scared but had to become stronger because there were people around him who needed him to protect, and was about to launch an indiscriminate attack on the outside world.

Even so, he knew in his heart that those people had good intentions.

"Brother, brother, A, Sister Axi." Tokito Muichiro looked at the girl who was hugging her brother and crying, and was at a loss for a moment.

He didn't know what had happened to Sister Axi, but such a cheerful person actually hugged her brother and cried, so she must have encountered something very difficult.

He didn't know what to do, so he could only look for help at the two adults who came with Kiyoki. Higekiri and Horikawa Kunihiro looked at each other, both with an expression of "Don't ask me, go ask her". Finally, the two seemed to be worried that Tokito Muichiro would chase them and ask them questions, so they each took the clothes that their brothers were preparing to go out.

Kunihiro Horikawa glanced at the sobbing girl holding Tokito Ichiro, and whispered to him, "Originally, she should have come right after receiving Granny Su's letter, but her sister had an accident before that... She hasn't cried since it happened, so it's better to let her vent a little now."

Horikawa Kunihiro's words were ambiguous, but they gave Tokito Muichiro enough room to imagine, and in an instant, a look of realization and guilt appeared on his face.

Sister Axi's sister has passed away, and she has not yet recovered from her grief, but she hurried here and forced herself to be a lobbyist for Grandma Su.

Higekiri rubbed the top of the boy's head. "You stay here, and we'll take care of the house and the roof."

Tokito Muichiro felt that this was not acceptable. The other party was a guest, and he should not let the guest who had just arrived today to repair his house without even having a rest. But looking at his brother and sister... he felt that he was in a difficult position.

But before he could think of a good solution, Higekiri and Horikawa Kunihiro had already left the cabin.

After they were a distance away, the black-haired boy, who had been forcing himself to keep a serious face, let out a long breath. He looked back to make sure there was no one behind him. Then he asked the person next to him a little embarrassedly, "Higikiri-dono, how was my performance just now? Did I reveal any flaws?"

Higekiri's face returned to its usual smiling expression. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it. Horikawa, you have the potential to be an actor."

"Ah, no, it's not that good." The black-haired boy raised his hand and scratched his hair embarrassedly. "But, if we really want to talk about acting, it's the master. She cries and sheds tears... I was worried that the master wouldn't be able to cry."

Yes, that's right, from the moment I met the Tokito brothers just now, all three of them were acting.

Of course, the main character is Qingxi, and the supporting roles are the two swordsmen who accompany her up the mountain.

In fact, until now, Kunihiro Horikawa is still a little disillusioned.

After all, the first military meeting, well, it should also be considered a military meeting.

They were actually discussing with the owner and two elderly people how to play the emotional card with the two ten-year-old brothers.

The ultimate goal is to have them move down from the mountain and live with the two elderly people...

Higekiri seemed to be lost in thought, then suddenly asked, "But what if that's the master venting his feelings?"

"Huh?" Horikawa Kunihiro was startled, his blue pupils slightly dilated. Following the words of the flax-haired young man, he thought it was not impossible, "So the master..."

Higekiri's gaze was fixed on a patch of bushes ahead. Behind it, he spotted a pheasant. He paused, "Didn't Tsurumaru say that our master is very conflicted inside... well, the type of person who would never admit it, even if beaten to death. So, it's quite possible that he'd actually cry during a performance like this."

.

Qingxi, who didn't know that she was being talked about by the two knives, hugged Tokito Yuichiro and cried. In order to make the other person's memory more "deep", she aimed at the other person's neck.

As the tears fell, they landed on his neck and then flowed along his neck into his collar.

Feeling tiny drops of water sliding down his skin and then being absorbed by his clothes, Tokito Ichiro, who was originally ready to drive the person away with a bad temper, suddenly froze. Then he felt a little helpless and wanted to hide something, so he wanted to pull the person who was hugging him away.

The girl hugged his neck tighter as if she was grasping at a life-saving straw. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Ichiro rolled his eyes and pulled her with more strength. In the end, they both fell on the wooden board.

Tokito Ichiro had a gloomy face and was lying flat on his back looking at the roof. He heard everything that Muichiro and the black-haired boy had just said. He was breathing heavily and his mind was in a mess.

I don't know how long it took before the girl's sobbing voice sounded, "Youyilang, let me help you."

"No need." One of his arms was pinned under the girl's body and he couldn't pull it out, but he still insisted.

"Why?"

"Because the person who helps others always has the shortest life." Tokito Ichiro said with a slightly cold voice.

In order to collect herbs for his sick mother who had a fever, his father went up the mountain in the rain and fell off a cliff. In order to save more money, his mother continued to work despite her tired body... What's the use of being kind? In the end, all you get is death.

Therefore, my brother and I do not need help from others, and we do not need kindness.

Because it will make people die faster.

"But we all still want to help you." Qingxi looked up and most of the weight of the people was on him.

Because she was crying so hard, she actually looked quite unpleasant at the moment. "Look, we don't mind helping you, so why are you refusing?"

"Go away." Tokito Yuichiro wanted to push away the person who was pressing on him, but who would have thought that the other person was faster than him and sat on him, pressing him down from a superior position.

Qingxi continued, "You are afraid, aren't you, Ichiro? Afraid that you will gain something and then lose it at any time.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it, because I’m scared too.”

"I am not from this world. I came here by mistake. Everything around me is very unfamiliar to me. Every person makes me feel scared, even if they are smiling at me or being mean to me.

But as time went by, I met Xingming who took me in, and then I went to the Demon Slayer Corps with Xingming and everyone else, and I worked in the clinic.

Because I always thought that I would go back in the future, I tried to keep a distance from everyone, but... they were really good people and tolerated me. I didn't even know when my relationship with everyone got better.

But one day, I received a relic, a relic that someone entrusted to me..."

It is always the sincerity in exchange for sincerity that can move people's hearts the most. Since she has already come here, it is naturally impossible for her to just say a few words of concern and then go back to him with such a result.

Just as Grandpa Qin and Grandma Su said, the good kids before have become crazy and unruly now. In order to prevent the world from having another unruly kid in the future, since they are not suitable, she has to do it herself.

However, it was equally painful for her to reveal her past painful feelings to others.

"Those were a pair of Hinami Matsuri dolls. I was nine years old back then. Then, this year, just a few months ago, a sister I cared about encountered a cannibal. The battle dragged on until sunrise, and she was saved from being devoured. I struggled mightily to pull her back from that hellish situation, but her injuries were so severe that she lay bedridden for over three months, only regaining consciousness the day I set out for this place... And, her body will always be weaker than a normal person..."

Qingxi's voice was low and weak, and occasionally she could hear sobs from crying so hard. "One is dead and one is injured... So, Ichiro, don't have any more trouble with you and Muichiro, otherwise I will be very sad."

Perhaps it was because the girl's voice sounded too helpless and broken, or perhaps it was because the tears began to fall again, hitting his face, making Tokio Ichiro feel that he was a little bit unable to bear the weight of them. Finally, he put away all the childish expressions on his face that wanted to tell everyone "I'm fine", propped himself up with his hands, sat up, and hugged the girl who was sitting on him and crying loudly in his arms.

"Don't cry." He raised his hand awkwardly and patted her back, imitating the way his mother did when she was still alive. "If you want to stay, then stay."

"But once you've calmed down, you should go back." As if afraid of being blamed, Shi Tou Ichiro added unhappily, "As for Grandpa Qin and Grandma Su... I still want to live in my parents' house with Muichiro."

"It's okay, I know." Qingxi wiped her tears hastily, "Grandma Su didn't mean to force you and Wuyilang.

But it is dangerous in the mountains at night, and I am very worried about you and Wuyilang, two little kids, staying here, so I brought you two here.

The tall one is Higekiri, and the black-haired boy is Horikawa Kunihiro.

They are all warriors with great swordsmanship... So, during this period, Ichiro and Muichiro, you should learn from them well.

I don't ask for you to kill a hundred people with one sword, I just ask that when danger comes, you two have the ability to protect yourselves."

Tokito Yuichiro looked down at the wet spot on his clothes with disgust. He seemed to see faintly shiny snot on it. Just when he was about to get angry at the girl who was still sitting on him, his eyes met her expression of expectation as she smiled through her tears, and all his anger disappeared.

"I see."

Instead of refusing, she said "I understand", which was equivalent to Tokito Ichiro accepting her help.

"That's great." Qingxi breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but exclaimed excitedly.

She didn't blind herself from feeling and shedding tears for so long.

However, Tokito Ichiro misunderstood, "Are you so happy that Muichiro and I are learning swordsmanship?"

"Of course." Qingxi said crisply. She asked Shitou Muichiro, who had quietly come over to them, to sit down with them. "If you two don't accept the kindness of Grandpa Qin and Grandma Su, then you will naturally have to stand up on your own feet. The first step to standing up on your own feet is to learn to protect yourself.

This way, Grandpa Qin, Grandma Su, and I can all feel at ease."

"Sister Axi, can you tell me about the man-eating ghost?" Tokito Ichiro finally found the opportunity to speak.

He and Tokito Ichirō sandwiched Kiyoki on either side, and Kiyoki spent the entire morning talking to the two of them about demons and the Demon Slayer Corps.

Of course, don’t think about the core, but even the outermost part is enough for Qingxi to tell the two brothers as a story.

"Sister Axi, will you go back in the future?"

The two brothers listened to a lot of what the girl said, but Tokito Muichiro was most concerned about this one thing.

"Well, I don't know either." Qingxi held her chin with both hands. "But if there is a chance, I think I will take Sister Kanae with me. The medical technology there should be able to cure her illness."

Tomuichiro was a little dissatisfied with the answer, but he also knew that the other party had not figured it out yet, so he kept it in his heart and didn't say anything for the time being.

Just as the people in the house fell silent, the wooden door was pulled open from the outside, and Kunihiro Horikawa poked his head in. "Well, we're going to start repairing the house, so it might be a little noisy. There might also be debris floating around, so maybe we should cover the things inside with some cloth."

Tokito Ichiro lowered his head, tutted, and stood up. "We don't have a cloth that big at home, so let's just do it this way. We can just wash everything later."

As he spoke, he looked down at the girl who was only wearing a thin undershirt. He took the blankets that he and Wuyilang were covering, folded them, and put them in the box. Then, he said to her, "Did you bring any clothes? If not, you can only wear your mother's clothes."

"It doesn't matter, I brought it." Qingxi said as she took out a dry haori from her gourmet backpack and put it on.

"There's also cloth." She took out a piece of linen. "Use this to cover it first. If it gets dirty later, just cleaning this will save you a lot of trouble instead of cleaning everything in the house."

"Oh, right." Horikawa Kunihiro glanced at the two brothers who had been persuaded by the girl, and while sighing in his heart, he continued, "Higikiri-dono just caught a pheasant, and we also found a nest of wild duck eggs by the river. I also stepped on a lot of mushrooms. Do you want to cook these together for lunch?"

"I can't help you with repairing the house, but leave the cooking to me," Qingxi responded.

"But, Master, can you really do it alone?" Horikawa Kunihiro was a little worried.

"Why not?" Qingxi said as he was about to stand up, but he sat back down halfway.

Tokito Muichiro supported the person and asked worriedly, "Aki-sister, are you okay?"

Qingxi blushed and shook her head, "It's okay, I just don't have the energy to cry anymore. I'll take it easy and drink some water."