Chapter Twenty-Five
Chinatsu didn't know if Doma was acting strangely, but she knew that the five people following behind him were very suspicious.
Three followed openly and honestly.
A dog followed cautiously, looking around furtively.
A figure wearing a pig's head mask followed, writhing and crawling while making "hehehehehe" noises.
The five people had very different appearances, but their steps were surprisingly synchronized.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! These guys have been following us the whole time." She reached out and poked Doma's shoulder, asking in a low voice.
"Oh my, it seems Chinatsu is quite popular~ Everyone wants to follow you."
Doma's steps were light and quick, and even carrying the constantly wriggling Chika did not affect his speed at all. His voice still carried his usual flippant tone.
"Popular my foot!"
Chika punched him on the shoulder and whispered.
"Didn't you notice? That red-haired kid has a really sharp nose! And that guy with the pig's head, he's obviously not normal! They must have noticed something's wrong with you!"
"Hmm? Is there?"
Doma feigned surprise, but subtly quickened his pace, causing the trees in the forest to rush past him at an even faster speed.
"I think they're just worried that Chinatsu will be kidnapped by bad guys."
"You know you look like a bad guy right now!" Qianxia was so angry that she gritted her teeth, but her awkward posture prevented her from breaking free.
Doma chuckled softly, his breathing perfectly steady. He simply turned his head slightly, glancing behind him with his iridescent eyes, a playful smile curving his lips.
Genmi followed her the whole way. His only thought was to stay with Chika. In his mind, being by Chika's side was the safest place.
As a result, several more people joined me.
Kanao kept her hand on the hilt of her sword, on guard.
The golden-haired boy, clutching a knife and crying incoherently, never slowed down his pace.
The boy in the black and green plaid shirt, with a keen sense of smell, noticed something off about the man.
There was also a wild boar lying on its back, twisted and dark, its nature indistinguishable as either human or beast.
Xuanmi had a headache and was just about to yell at them to leave when he heard a "whoosh" sound, and the people in front of him stopped in their tracks.
The shadows of the trees loomed through the mountains, the sky was as dark as ink, and in the distance came a faint, mournful cry, as if something was being torn apart by the wind.
The person in front carried Qianxia on one arm and lightly tapped her with a fan in the other.
"Whoosh—"
The soft click of the metal plate opening and closing sent a chill through the air, and a thin layer of frost was visible on the surrounding flowers and trees.
Tanjiro keenly sensed something was wrong and retreated rapidly, shouting, "Danger! Back off!"
The others listened to him, stopping and quickly retreating. Only—
"Hehehe—Take this! Pig Thrust! Pig Thrust! Awooo—"
A series of chattering sounds came from above, a blue figure flew overhead, and then was frozen solid into an ice sculpture before falling to the ground with a "plop".
Tanjiro reacted quickly, grabbing the person and dragging them away from the danger.
The pig head mask fell off, revealing a boy with an androgynous beauty. He looked dazed, his eyes rolling back, but only for a few seconds before quickly recovering. He then leaped up, knife in hand, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace.
"Hehehe! I know your tricks now, take this!"
This move even made Genya lose his composure, and he quickly grabbed the person along with Tanjiro.
Genmi: "Calm down, don't hurt Chika."
Tanjiro: "Don't go over there, it's dangerous."
Boy: "Let me go! Watch me, Pig Thrust, Pig Thrust!"
The three of them fell to the ground and began to pull and tug at each other, wrestling and fighting. The only girl tilted her head, her face always maintaining a faint smile.
"Um..." The blond-haired boy, cowering to the side, leaned forward nervously, "They seem to have already left..."
One sentence instantly broke the deadlock, and everyone looked up at the same time.
Just as the blond-haired boy said, there was nothing in front of them.
Just then, something unexpected happened!
"Whoosh—!"
Several sticky, tentacle-like vines shot out from the dense forest on both sides without warning, moving at an astonishing speed, heading straight for Kanao, who was the most conspicuous person in the group!
"Danger!"
Tanjiro shouted, flipped to his feet, and instantly drew his sword, the azure light of Water Breathing already shining brightly.
"Wow!"
The blond-haired boy screamed in fright, turned and ran, crashing into a tree with a thud and passing out.
The androgynous boy let out an excited, strange cry, his twin swords crossed, and he charged forward like a wild boar.
The next moment, however, there was an emergency stop.
In the lush, dark jungle, a pair of scarlet eyes lit up, then a second pair, a third pair, a fourth pair...
Then, countless eyes lit up one after another.
Kanao, who always had a smile on her face, tilted her head and tossed a coin high into the air.
"bite--"
......
Unaware of what Doma had done, Chinatsu watched helplessly as the figures of the group disappeared into the misty forest.
"Brother," she reached out and patted Doumo, who had been carrying her for who knows how many miles, deliberately drawing out the last syllable with a hint of teasing, "Can you put your dear little sister down now? Aren't you tired of carrying her all this way?"
Doma laughed and obediently stopped.
He glanced back at the road he had come from, making sure none of the others had caught up, then bent down and placed Qianxia on a high, protruding rock by the roadside.
"Hey, Chinatsu-chan," his voice was a few decier than usual, like aged mead, with a seductive aroma, "there's no one else here anymore."
The surface of the rock was slightly cool from the night dew. Sitting on the rock, Chika's field of vision suddenly rose, and she had to lower her eyes slightly to meet the pair of bright, radiant eyes that were looking up at her.
At this moment, one of his hands was still firmly on her waist, while the other hand gently supported her chin with just the right amount of force, making it impossible for her to easily look away.
The moonlight struggled to penetrate the thin mist, casting dappled shadows on his pale hair and delicate face.
He looked up at her like that, his seven-colored eyes swirling between light and shadow, as if they contained a vortex that would suck her in.
The surroundings were silent, save for the chirping of unknown insects among the grass. The air was filled with the scents of earth and decaying leaves, and the faint, cool, sweet sandalwood fragrance emanating from him.
A mixture of strange flavors creates a dangerous yet alluring atmosphere.
Chika felt a tickle on the tip of her nose and instinctively reached out to scratch it. Her fingertips twitched, but she put them down again.
A subtle feeling, a mixture of tension and anticipation, crept into my heart like tiny vines.
She met his gaze and slowly approached, just as she had approached countless mission targets before. The distance between their lips was compressed to the limit, their breaths audible, but she suddenly stopped.
She tilted her head, a mocking and playful smile curving her lips, much like a cat teasing its prey before it has succeeded.
She had practiced this expression countless times and knew it perfectly balanced allure and distance.
"And then?" she asked softly, a hint of amusement in her voice that she herself didn't realize. "There's no one else... so..."
Her gaze boldly swept across his face, as if assessing an item for auction or judging the danger level of a prey.
"What are you planning to do to your little sister, brother?"
She enunciated the last few words with exceptional clarity, carrying an almost malicious mockery.
Under a dark and windy night, amidst blooming flowers, a lone man and woman—it seemed like the perfect place for a date, a place where something might happen.
Chinatsu doesn't mind things happening. We're all adults, so it's perfectly normal for things to happen.
In her past experience, emotions have been a powerful tool for achieving her goals, as well as a pleasant pastime outside of work.
She enjoyed the joy of the intertwined emotions and was fascinated by the thrill of being briefly lost yet always remaining clear-headed.
She is skilled at it and enjoys it.
Of course, she also deeply understands the importance of knowing when to stop.
However, perhaps this time, she seems... to be losing interest...
The two were so close, their lips almost touching, yet there was no passionate allure, no lingering desire, not even a trace of human warmth in his eyes.
It's like a biologist observing a peculiar specimen; a gamer examining a novel toy; a puzzle solver analyzing a difficult riddle; or a collector discovering a unique treasure.
She was all too familiar with that look—a burning gaze, yet devoid of love. How similar it was to the way she scrutinized those mission targets.
There was only one thing... pure... interest...
Looking into her eyes, the sense of control she held deep inside seemed to burst like a balloon punctured by a needle, making a soft, audible sound that only she could hear.
She suddenly realized that the net she had carefully woven might not have touched the other party at all from the very beginning.
It turns out that in this round, she seems to be... the one being evaluated and observed...
It seems she failed.
"Ugh, so boring!"
Qianxia seemed to have lost all interest in an instant. With a childlike arrogance, she pushed the man in front of her away and lazily slumped back onto the bluestone, her tone full of boredom.
"You're a heartless, boring person, utterly meaningless. I'm not playing anymore, it's not fun, not fun at all!"
Doma straightened up slightly from her push, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he chuckled softly at her words.
The laughter was crisp and melodious, but devoid of warmth.
"Oh dear, Chinatsu found out~"
He slowly flicked the hem of his shirt that she had just touched with his fingertips, his seven-colored eyes gleaming with an inhuman light under the moonlight, precisely capturing the hint of frustration she was trying to hide.
"However, the word 'also' is used very cleverly."
He tilted his head, his smile sweet, as if stating a simple fact.
"So you knew too, we're the same."
His gaze seemed to pierce through her feigned nonchalance, reaching straight to her core, which had never truly beat for anyone.
“I saw it long ago,” he said softly, as if reciting poetry, but the words were chilling. “In your eyes, I see the same reflection of myself.”
"Empty and desolate, yet filled with... curiosity about this world."
The iron fan unfolded in his palm with a "whoosh," covering the lower half of his face, leaving only a pair of eyes that seemed to see through everything, curved into a pleasant crescent moon.
"So why rush to say you're not playing? This game has only just begun. Besides, I have a feeling..."
He gently tapped the edge of his fan in her direction, his tone drawn out, carrying a certain seductive, decadent rhythm.
"We'll play together for a long, long time. Until the day you... become more like me."
The unspoken meaning in his words, like a spider's web spreading silently in the darkness, hinted at the eternal world of ghosts that she would eventually enter.
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