Chapter 32 "My wife!"...
Not long after Kokushibo left, Aori opened her eyes groggily. She was really feeling unwell, her head was spinning as if a lump of paste had been squeezed into it.
My throat felt like it had swallowed a knife; even the slightest swallow caused excruciating pain.
She straightened up, lifted the clothes covering her, and squinted as she looked around. She didn't see Shangxian's figure, and the candle was almost burned out, leaving a trail of candle wax on the floor.
With a very weak voice and a heavy head, A-Zhi asked about the missing ghost: "Where...where did he go?"
000: [He has left temporarily.]
000 could roughly guess what Kokushibo had gone to do. Aori was still sick, so he wouldn't be out there for too long and should be back soon.
What I didn't expect was that Azhi would wake up at this time.
The girl's forehead was covered in sweat. She stared blankly for a while with her eyes downcast, seemingly lost in thought. Her slender white fingers clenched tighter and tighter. Then she sniffed and struggled to stand up.
Her bare feet touched the ground, the cold touch just right to make her feel comfortable despite her fever. Azhi had no strength in her body and moved as slowly as a drunkard.
Her swaying motion made one worry that she might slip and fall. Although there weren't many things in the room, even a fall would be a significant disaster for Azhi.
000 was somewhat worried. It knew what Azhi wanted to do, but her condition didn't look good at all. [Rest for a while, Azhi, you're very sick right now...]
The girl rarely got sick, and the few times she did, she recovered quickly thanks to the thoughtful care of her companions. Whenever this happened, she would become unusually vulnerable and sometimes even throw a tantrum without realizing it.
At the Tokitoya, Koika comforted her; at the Butterfly Mansion, Giyu Tomioka and Sabito were there to support her; and long ago there was also…
Azhi slowly moved behind the door. She pushed it but couldn't open it. It only opened a crack, and the howling wind immediately rushed in, cutting into her body like a knife.
Azhi shuddered as the door was locked from the outside.
She pushed it a few more times, but it had no effect whatsoever. Instead, her movements caused the wooden door to make a screeching sound that carried far in the quiet night, startling birds into flight.
Something was off, and Azhi's fingertips immediately stopped.
000 called out again: "[A-Zhi...]"
The outside world is more dangerous for Azhi. First, her weak body is not suitable for walking in such harsh weather. Second, this is a remote mountain forest, and even if Azhi were healthy now, it would be difficult for her to go down the mountain.
Actually, the door wasn't really locked. Rather than restricting the girl's movements inside, it was more like preventing the wind from blowing the door open. Of course, 000 could easily open the door for Aori.
But such help is meaningless and will only make her situation more difficult. Of course, it has the ability to get Azhi out of danger, but that can only be used when her life is in danger.
So why bring a newbie like Azhi into this dangerous world?
000 has lost count of how many times she has thought this way.
"I don't want to hear it." Azhi felt extremely wronged. The torment of her illness had almost doubled all the sadness that had accumulated in her heart. Her nose stung with tears. "Just now, you didn't even help me."
She was referring to the irresponsible words 000 had left behind, which she considered extremely irresponsible. In a fit of whimsy, Azhi vented her panic and helplessness on 000, whom she trusted most.
But instead of venting, it sounds more like a desperate accusation and complaint.
[Sigh, don't cry...] 000 is terrible at dealing with girls in these situations; her entire system is practically scrambling to function. [I'll definitely protect you.]
Actually, from the very beginning, 000 had a feeling of being unable to express itself. It couldn't explain to Aori why Kokushibo wouldn't hurt her, nor could it explain it, since the memory erasure back then was very thorough.
Yes, "Tomioka Giyuu" was not Ori's first mission target, which means that this world was not Ori's first mission, and it also means that her first mission ended in failure.
If you want to restart the mission after a failure, you can only erase the host's memory and re-deploy it.
Recalling that defeat during the Warring States period, 000 is still furious. Specific details cannot be disclosed, but it swallowed its anger.
To be fair, it didn't want Aori to be with Kokushibo either. It was these people messing around with the plot that caused Aori's first mission to fail, leaving her stuck here for so many years!
Aori realized she couldn't escape, and the Upper Moon demon would be back soon, so even with 000's assurance, she still couldn't calm down.
A deep-seated obsession within her made her unwilling to sit idly by and wait for death. She, who had previously struggled to even stand, now felt a force supporting her as she walked toward the wardrobe standing in the corner.
Aori's mind was clouded by fever, and she even fantasized that this would allow her to evade Upper Moon One's pursuit. Or perhaps, subconsciously, she simply didn't want to spend any more time with Kokushibo, even if it was just for a short while...
This is a very tall cabinet, which only contains some of the Upper Moon demon's clothes, leaving plenty of extra space.
The girl hurriedly pushed the clothes aside, then awkwardly climbed inside, almost bumping her head in the process. Finally, she closed the closet door and, breathing heavily, huddled in the corner of the closet.
As if only in this way could she gain a little sense of security, her face was unconsciously wet with tears again, and she cried very quietly.
My heart is breaking, and the words of protest stuck in my throat.
********
With a creak, the wooden door was pushed open, and the unhurried footsteps grew clearer and clearer, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
The candle had gone out, and Kokushibo lit a new one. He put down the package he had brought, and its bulging appearance and weight indicated that it contained quite a lot of things.
The room was empty. The girl who should have been lying on his spread-out coat was nowhere to be seen. Kokushibo touched her and could still feel her warmth. He took a deep breath and looked in the direction of the cabinet.
Aori's concealment skills were actually quite poor; Kokushibo didn't even need to search for her to find her obvious flaws.
There was no sign that the closed door had been opened. Given Kokushibo's strength, he could have known whether anyone was inside the house from a distance.
Moreover, there was the rapid breathing, the occasional weak sob that could not be suppressed, and the faint sound of tears that must have been unwiped and dripped from between the fingers, hitting the wooden board.
These commotions, which were not exactly minor, naturally did not escape Kokushibo's ears.
He walked over and stood quietly in front of the cabinet, like a hunter hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce on his prey, his golden irises seemingly brewing an impending storm.
Because the person who came did not try to conceal the sound, Aori was able to discover Kokushibo's return immediately.
Not only that, she also heard the steady footsteps getting closer and closer, each step shaking her heart and making Azhi, who was already on the edge of a cliff, even more precarious.
After Ah Zhi crawled into the wardrobe where the wound-up clothes were kept, she realized that she was truly in a dilemma. However, she stubbornly stayed in the dark wardrobe, ignoring her dizziness.
Until the footsteps, like a death knell, stopped.
—We've been discovered?
—Not discovered.
Time passed second by second, and Azhi's thoughts changed rapidly with time. She felt that she had been waiting for a long time. Under excessive tension, every second was extended more than tenfold.
It was so quiet that it made one feel disoriented and dulled one's senses. Azhi couldn't even tell whether the footsteps were coming or going, nor could she tell whether Kokushibo had gone out.
The door made another sound.
Azhi finally relaxed a little. The breath on her palm had a sickly heat. Her face was flushed and her vision was blurry. She adjusted her posture and moved forward, stretching out her hand.
The closed cabinet door slowly opened a crack, paused for a moment, and then Kokushibo saw a small, snow-white hand tentatively reach out, its dusty fingertips trembling as it grasped the cabinet frame.
Just as Kokushibo had predicted, he didn't have to do anything; Aori would just walk right into his trap like a silly rabbit, and all he had to do was wait patiently.
Still undecided about coming out, a short while later, a rustling sound came from inside the cabinet.
Ah Zhi was very cautious. She kept encouraging herself until she had gathered enough courage to get out. Then she wiped away her tears, slowly propped herself up, and carefully crawled forward.
It's alright, it's alright. This ghost has been fooled. He must have gone out to look for her. Ah Zhi took a deep breath and pushed the gap open even wider.
I only glanced at it, and my heart stopped.
Back to square one, Upper Moon's expression was obscure, his eyes dark, as he quietly watched her every move, observing how she foolishly made herself even more passive.
Azhi practically scrambled to shrink into the cabinet, but no matter how far she retreated, all she felt was a suffocating feeling of being trapped in a cage from all sides, until her back pressed against the depths of the wooden cabinet, leaving her with no room to retreat any further.
A large hand pressed against the cabinet door with great presence, immediately leaving the girl inside with nowhere to hide. Kokushibo only slightly bent his back and squeezed in a little, as if he had occupied all of Aori's living space.
"Get away from me!"
Ah Zhi cried so hard she could barely breathe. She screamed like a kitten with its fur standing on end, and her slender ankle was grabbed by another cold, rough hand. Then she was dragged out of the closet.
She wasn't dragged to the ground, but instead wedged against the edge of the cabinet, her arm resting on her neck—another restrained position.
Even the most good-tempered person can't stand being treated like a joke again and again. Azhi felt like prey caught by a ferocious beast, and Kokushibo was clearly that vicious beast.
Perhaps they wanted to see what kind of more interesting reaction she would have.
The confusion gave Aori unprecedented courage. She also loathed her inability to resist. With trembling eyelashes, she uttered the harshest words she had ever heard before to Kokushibo, "I hate you!"
Her short sentence was resounding, making it impossible not to clearly perceive her emotions.
If it weren't for her current illness, and if it weren't for her inability to escape this place, Kokushibo believed that Aori would have clung to any sliver of hope of escaping him.
The world is so big, once she leaves, as long as she is careful to hide her whereabouts, Kokushibo may never be able to find her again.
This attitude of avoiding him like the plague deeply stung Kokushibo's heart.
“Clearly, I have done everything you expected…” Kokushibo gritted his teeth, revealing an expression of extreme restraint, deliberately emphasizing the last two syllables, “My, wife, child!”
-----------------------
Author's note: 000: I'm not kidding, if you keep talking nonsense I'll smash your dog head in!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com