Chapter 68 "Come with me".
Perhaps because he had been slightly shocked today, Yoriichi Tsugikuni only remembered that he had forgotten to take something when he was halfway through his journey.
He stopped and thought for a moment whether he should go back with Azhi to get it, or have her stay where she was and wait for him.
Aori wisely chose the second option. She hadn't expected the mission target's residence to be so far away. She was already out of breath, and Yoriichi would have to accommodate her pace to get back together with her.
Bored, she walked to the rockery in the courtyard, picked up a withered grass and played with it in her hand, when she heard the system, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly speak.
【Take a step forward!】
000 was suddenly forced out of hibernation, for no other reason than that its stupid and pitiful host was about to be in danger.
Logically, this shouldn't be the case, because at this stage she is being supported by the mission target and has no worries about food and clothing, so danger should be far away from her.
As soon as it returned to its host after ending its hibernation, it read the risk report and knew where the danger came from.
Azhi, of course, couldn't read 000's mind. She wasn't quite used to the system suddenly coming online yet. After a while, she pouted and slowly complained, "You scared me to death!"
Although the girl asked this question, her body was already obediently following the system's instructions.
000 was naturally trying to help Azhi avoid danger, since this disaster was entirely caused by something unrelated to the mission objective.
Kokushiro Tsugikatsu, the elder brother of this mission target, is the recognized successor to the Tsugikatsu family and has been rigorously trained as such.
Influenced by the Warring States period, Tsugukuni Iwakatsu's life was destined to be anything but smooth sailing. While enjoying the privileges of an heir, he also had to bear the corresponding risks.
Many people wanted to replace the Tsugikuni family, and targeting him, who was still young, was undoubtedly the best choice. Therefore, assassinations against Tsugikuni Iwakatsu, who was still a single-digit age, followed one after another.
Without 000's macro-control, Azhi would have witnessed his assassination attempt, and because she couldn't run fast enough, she would have faced the risk of being killed by the enraged assassin.
Of course, this can't be blamed on Azhi at all. She didn't actively cause trouble; it was just bad luck.
How could 000 possibly blame her? She was already unlucky enough; it even wanted to pat Azhi's head to ward off bad luck: [There's a gap on the left, yes, right there, I'll hide in there later.]
Azhi looked over and found that it was an inconspicuous hole hidden behind the artificial rock, just big enough for a person to fit in, a good place to hide.
These words were so inexplicable and even frightening that Azhi's heart leaped into her throat. She couldn't help but frown and ask in a low voice, "What's going on?"
This sudden turn of events made her feel like something was really wrong.
000LightlyFloating: [Kenichi Tsugikuni is coming.]
Azhi was immediately deeply moved, her voice brimming with uncontainable joy: "I see, you're so kind!"
Knowing that she was afraid of Jiguo Yansheng, he thoughtfully took her away in advance. Having a system is really great.
Azhi was a little afraid of Jiguo Yansheng.
After their first meeting that day, as he was leaving, Kokushiro lowered his voice and said to her, "No matter what happens in the future, Yoriichi is now the young master of the Kokushiro family. You must always remember your place!"
His voice was cold, like ice and snow. The way he looked down at people was indifferent and aloof, reminiscent of a lonely moon hanging in the sky, high and unattainable.
He has a completely different personality from Yoriichi, which makes people afraid to be presumptuous in front of him.
000 knew the girl had misunderstood. Fearing that Azhi might be too shocked and accidentally make a noise that would cause trouble for her, it revealed the truth to Azhi in a tone devoid of any emotion.
[An assassin is coming to kill him, so don't go out.]
A-Zhi: [—Assassinate?]
It took Ah Zhi a long time to regain her voice. Her heart skipped a beat, and she drew out the last syllable, wondering if she had misheard.
After all, this is an assassination attempt, which involves bloodshed.
000 In short: [Yes.]
Aori doesn't actually dislike Tsugikuni Iwakatsu; rather, her animalistic nature makes her subconsciously feel that this person is somewhat dangerous, which is why she doesn't take the initiative to get close to him.
But this is far from the point of refusing to help someone in distress.
She wrinkled her nose nervously, but the scales in her heart slowly tipped in her favor. She said hesitantly, "But he's Yoriichi's brother."
000 had no room for sentimentality towards the background characters in the mission, coaxing them like children: "Anyway, you won't die, you just injured your leg and will have to spend the winter in bed."
Upon hearing that he was so badly injured and would have to stay in bed all winter to recover, A-Zhi immediately gasped.
As if she felt the same way, her face scrunched up.
How painful must it be? And you can't move at all. There might even be long-term effects... Ah Zhi lowered her head and stared blankly for a while, her mind racing.
********
The boy, dressed the same as last time, walked into the courtyard. He walked rather quickly, which indicated that his heart was not at peace.
Ji Guoyan was reprimanded once again. In fact, his progress in various aspects had far exceeded that of his peers, but he still failed to meet his father's expectations, which made him feel somewhat discouraged.
However, before he could slowly untangle the knot in his heart, he was hit hard by something and staggered backward.
Kokunobu was shocked. He never expected that someone would be so audacious as to offend him like that. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was the ill-mannered little maidservant who was next to Yoriichi.
Just as anger flashed in his eyes, before he could even speak, a small hand covered his mouth, and he was pulled towards the artificial hill, where he and the girl crawled into the dirty hole.
This was so unbelievable that for a moment, Jiguo Yansheng forgot to resist.
Azhi didn't have time to think that much. She only hesitated for a few seconds before 000 urged her that the assassin was about to come in. Just then, Jiguo Yansheng appeared in front of her.
She couldn't just stand by and watch this person get his leg injured, after all, Yoriichi seemed to really like this older brother.
This was the first time in her life that Azhi had done something like this, and her heart was beating a little fast. She put a finger to her lips, tucked her slightly pointed chin, and turned to gently shush Jiguo Yansheng.
She still believed the information 000 provided.
If it says there are assassins, then there must be assassins.
Ji Guoyan was really angry. Before he could lash out, he clearly saw a figure suddenly climb over the wall from a hidden spot.
If you hadn't happened to see it, you probably wouldn't have noticed that someone had entered the courtyard, because the person walked a few steps quietly without making any obvious noise.
He was dressed inconspicuously, not very tall, but very robust. He moved lightly and nimbly, showing signs of systematic training. He arrived here without alerting anyone.
The scarf covered the lower half of his face, but the exposed eyes were cold and ruthless, and a short knife was stuck in his waistband. He didn't look like a good person at all.
Ji Guoyan immediately knew that this was an assassin. He was already used to assassinations, and in just a few breaths, he figured out the key to the organization's assassination attempt—there was a spy among his people.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have timed it so coincidentally, knowing that he had been scolded by his father and hadn't left any servants with him, and then coming to block his way.
He looked at the assassin in front of him, and after a moment's thought, he determined who the spy beside him was.
A dark glint flashed quickly in Ji Guoyansheng's eyes. His gaze moved down to the top of the girl's soft hair, and then to her taut cheeks.
If it weren't for A-Zhi, he might have really been injured, after all, she was a well-trained assassin, and he was clearly distracted at the time.
The assassin glanced around, seemingly surprised that there was no one in the courtyard. He looked around again, then turned and walked towards the artificial hill.
It's likely that it was unwilling to leave just like that, and was thinking of hiding first to see if there would be another chance.
Azhi: "…………"
Jiku Iwakatsu: "…………"
Azhi was filled with anxiety, her breath almost stopped, and her back was instantly soaked with cold sweat. She was only thinking about pulling the person to a hidden place, but she didn't expect that the assassin had the same idea.
Her clear black and white eyes instantly filled with guilt. She felt she had done something very stupid and didn't dare to look at Ji Guoyansheng's expression, afraid of finding accusations on his face.
She began to regret getting involved.
However, Ji Guoyansheng was not very flustered.
Firstly, his servants, whom he had left behind, would likely arrive soon; secondly, the cave was well-hidden, allowing him to catch his enemy off guard with a sudden attack while the enemy was in the open.
While it may not be possible to completely resolve the crisis, it can at least buy some time.
Ji Guoyansheng and Azhi hid in the cramped space.
The cave was large enough for one girl to fit in, but it was a bit of a stretch for two people. Ji Guoyansheng felt as if a protruding rock was pressing against his head, and his arm was rubbed against the cave entrance the moment he entered.
Inevitably, their bodies came into contact with each other.
Ji Guoyan could clearly sense that Azhi was truly terrified. Her petite body was trembling uncontrollably, her fair face was filled with fear, and her eyes were wet.
Its back was pressed tightly against the stone wall, as if it could find some comfort in that, much like a small animal that felt insecure.
The girl even forgot to let go of his fingers; one hand remained in the position of pulling him, her small fingers gripping his sleeve tightly, the tips turning white from the force.
Now it seems that this has lost its original meaning and is more like an unconscious attempt to seek protection out of fear, which is extremely pitiful.
"Where did the young master go?"
"I don't know, it's not here."
"Let's go take a look over there."
"OK……"
Suddenly, the voices of servants came from not far away, followed by slightly chaotic footsteps that grew closer and closer, indicating that they would soon arrive at the courtyard.
This was undoubtedly the most direct deterrent to the assassin who already had something to hide. He immediately abandoned the option of hiding and looking for another opportunity to assassinate Tsugikuni Iwakatsu, and hurriedly climbed over the wall and returned the way he came.
"…………"
Azhi had never experienced such an emergency before. She nearly fainted, stammering, "I'm so scared!"
000: […………]
After another agonizing wait, the assassination attempt, which had been completely disrupted, finally came to an end.
Ji Guoyan Sheng braced himself against the edge of the cave with one hand and gently pushed the girl blocking his way. He felt that she was like a stunned rabbit who needed to be nudged to come back to her senses.
As expected, Azhi hurriedly stepped forward, but when she stared at Tsugikuni Iwakatsu, who had straightened up, she took a half-step back with a serious expression, as if she was very afraid of him.
This caused Ji Guoyan Sheng's expression, which hadn't fully relaxed yet, to freeze instantly. He widened his eyes slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in them, and his face turned somewhat ugly: "Aren't you going to let go?"
In fact, Ji Guoyansheng did not understand why Azhi would react this way. He had never been with a girl of this age before and had almost no experience.
This has led to the current stalemate.
Because they entered the filthy cave, Ji Guoyan's originally clean clothes became stained with gray-black dirt, and A-Zhi had also squeezed many wrinkles into his clothes.
This was completely different from his usual image, and all of this was caused by A-Zhi.
Ji Guoyansheng's tone was not exactly gentle, and the shadow of the almost scolding from last time was still there. Azhi immediately felt that she might have to accept a scolding that was many times more severe than before.
While she was filled with fear, Ji Guoyansheng's attention was drawn to Azhi's other hand.
Due to limited visibility, Ji Guoyan didn't notice that the girl's fair hand was slightly red and swollen, and now it was bleeding a little. He figured she must have bumped into a rock in her haste.
She has thin, delicate skin, so even a small red mark is very noticeable, let alone such a large abrasion. If left untreated, it will probably take a long time to recover to its original state.
Ji Guoyan frowned again, and his expression turned even more unpleasant after thinking about all this. He looked at Azhi, his lips moving but before he could utter a sound, he made her misunderstand even more.
Azhi clenched her fingers timidly, held her breath, and cautiously pointed to Jiguo Yansheng's clothes, her voice filled with obvious grievance: "I was too anxious, I didn't mean to."
"…………"
Ji Guoyan's eyelids twitched, and he wanted to say that he didn't care about this matter at all, but it was too late.
"—Brother! Azhi!"
Two slightly hurried calls rang out, and Yoriichi Tsugikuni quickly ran over. At this moment, he had become the most powerful protector in Aori's heart.
Katsumi Tsugikuni was unaware that Yoriichi could speak. While he was stunned, he heard the girl's cheerful response, which he saw clearly out of the corner of his eye.
Aori stared longingly at Yoriichi Tsugikuni, a slight smile unconsciously curving her lips upwards—an expression of anticipation quite different from when she was facing him earlier.
Kokushiro knew that the next second she would ignore him as before, run towards Yoriichi Tsukikuni without hesitation, and hide behind him.
For no apparent reason, a strange emotion suddenly arose in Kokushiro's heart. He did not respond to Yoriichi, but instead waited until Yoriichi ran up to him and grabbed the girl's shoulder.
He lifted his eyelids, his cold voice carrying an undeniable force: "Come with me."
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