Chapter 79 What is the bond? Shrine Fox and Violinist
"What's the difference between trapping people in an illusion and locking them up?" Ye Wan said.
"Your actions have already constituted a violation of civil liberties." You An took out his sword and said, "Please break the illusion in time."
Kiara had no weapons with her, so she searched around and picked up a thick wooden stick: "I'll help you."
They confronted Feiying, who looked offended and angry, and even her fluffy fox tail stood up sharply like a steel needle.
She raised her hand, and the wind blades cut the branches in half.
Youan rushed forward first and slashed the barrier in front of her with a sword. The wind blades rushed towards Youan, forcing him to retreat. He had no choice but to take her attack head-on. Youan's arm was numb from the shock, and he had to use the reaction force to roll to the side.
Kiara took the opportunity to come around from behind, holding a wooden stick and cooperating with Youan. Feiying soon realized that there was someone behind her, and lashed out with her tail. Kiara hurriedly dodged, but the tail was very hard and smashed the wooden floor into pieces, and wood chips flew everywhere.
Kiara took a deep breath, "This is really amazing."
Ye Wan hid behind a tree and watched the three of them fighting. She felt that this was not a solution. She had no martial arts or magic points, so she could only think of a quick solution and try to use her mouth to persuade them:
"Have you asked Mr. Leo for his opinion on trapping him in this illusion? Do you think he'll be happy? If I stay here forever, I won't be able to create new music for people to enjoy. As a musician, there's nothing more painful than this."
Feiying's movements were delayed for a moment, and Youan seized this fleeting flaw, quickly jumped up and slashed the sword in his hand at Feiying. She reacted quickly, and the wind blade in her hand collided with Youan's sword, making a harsh, metallic collision sound.
Ye Wan felt that the vermilion torii, the clear sky, and even the shrine itself were distorted.
It's the illusion that is distorting.
She had no choice but to continue talking to distract Feiying: "Mr. Leo's most precious thing is his music, isn't it? You should understand that."
Kiara took the opportunity to sneak around behind her over the corridor railing, and the thick wooden stick hit Feiying's back with the force of breaking the wind.
A dull thud and a suppressed groan of pain were heard.
The force of the wooden stick did not fall on Feiying's back, but on a thin, old back.
He stood behind Feiying and took the full force of the attack from the brave Kiara.
Kiara dropped the stick in horror: "Mr. Leo!"
His gray hair plastered to his sweaty forehead, and even his breathing was shallow. Kiara burst into tears. "I'm sorry... It's all my fault." He turned his head with difficulty, his face still gentle. He seemed to want to pat Kiara's shoulder, but his arm was too painful, so he could only let it fall. "It's not your fault at all. Please don't blame yourself."
He turned to Feiying again and said, "After so many years, I see you again. I am now gray-haired, but you seem to never age."
The girl's fox tail wrapped around him tightly.
"I stayed in your fantasy world of my own accord. I know everything that happened here. In fact, every time I came to the shrine over the years, even though you didn't want to see me, I could always feel your presence. You liked to sit on the tallest cherry tree, sometimes summoning a gust of wind to blow away the music sheet in my hand, and sometimes giving me delicious cherry cakes."
Mr. Leo coughed violently twice. "I know you've spent many years here alone. It's truly boundlessly lonely, just like the cherry blossoms that fill the sky at the shrine. They're so lively when they bloom, but only the wind knows when the flowers fall."
"I sincerely think it would be nice to stay here with you and watch the people passing by and the cherry blossoms filling the steps..."
He said with a relieved gentleness: "It's really good."
Ye Wan jumped up and down beside him: "It's still not too late to go to the healing center now. Hurry up and break the illusion so that we can send him over."
Kiara's tears rolled down her cheeks. "This place is far from the healing center, and there's no direct carriage. We have to carry him a long way."
You An said calmly, "First, we need to break the illusion, and then we can find a way to take turns carrying him."
"No need." It was Feiying who spoke.
Her arm became transparent again. As a deity whose existence depended on human faith, she could clearly feel the life of her last believer rapidly ebbing.
"I won't let anything happen to you," she said firmly.
The barrier collapsed like glass, and the magnificent torii gates and the noisy crowds all distorted and disappeared as the barrier collapsed.
The barrier disappeared and they returned to reality. It was still a bright spring day, the mountains were covered with green, and the main hall and torii of the shrine were in ruins.
Feiying stood quietly in the sunlight, appearing almost transparent in the thin spring sunlight. She exuded a faint light that seemed to be extinguished soon.
She looked again at Mr. Leo, who was lying unconscious, and saw his silver hair, sunken eye sockets, and the fire of life that was about to burn out.
Then she gently touched the center of Leo's forehead with her fingertips, and a visible golden light came out from her fingertips and entered Mr. Leo's body.
Kiara was shocked: "What is that?"
"What is it?" Ye Wan asked quickly.
"She is transferring the fire of her life into his body." You An explained: "But in this way..."
Her body became thinner and more transparent.
Several people watched silently at this reunion after such a long time.
"Thank you for staying with me during this lonely time when weeds are everywhere." She looked at Leo tenderly, then raised her head to look at Ye Wan.
Youan quickly took a step forward.
"I met you many years ago, the little girl from the East. The food you cooked was delicious, as always."
Ye Wan raised his finger and pointed at himself: "Me?"
She quickly realized: "The person you saw should be my mother. She looks very similar to me, but she is a head taller than me..."
Feiying shook her head: "We foxes can distinguish the scent of humans. It was you I saw back then."
She paused. "Please take Mr. Tanuki in, okay? He sensed I was about to disappear, so he wanted to go to the capital to make money, rebuild the shrine, and bring believers back. This silly child..."
Her body glowed with pure white light, warm but not dazzling, like the gentle warm sunshine in spring.
"If possible, I would also like to sit on the stone steps with you again, counting the cherry blossoms on the ground; listening to the beautiful music you play in the tree... Can you understand this feeling?"
In the light, the scarlet cherry blossoms transformed into thousands of crystal-clear, shimmering cherry blossom petals. It was a silent, beautiful cherry blossom storm that rolled up in the dilapidated shrine courtyard, dancing lightly and dreamily, rising, gently sweeping over every inch of the barren land, covering the mottled torii gates, drowning the broken stone lanterns, gently brushing against Leo's old cheek, and then disappearing under the clear blue sky.
Ye Wan murmured, "She disappeared."
Silence returned to the shrine.
......
After knowing that Feiying had disappeared, Mr. Civet Cat continued to work silently in the kitchen, and sometimes pushed his small food cart out to earn some extra money. But Ye Wan still noticed that when the pub closed and everything was quiet, his figure would appear on the corridor in the backyard, sitting upright with his two front paws together in front of him, his eyes fixed on the wisteria in full bloom.
It didn't cry or bark, it just stared quietly. Ye Wan knew that it missed the spring cherry blossoms and the god Feiying.
Kiara sent a letter saying that Mr. Leo had regained consciousness and was fine, so Ye Wan wanted to find a time to visit him.
There was a jar of salted cherry blossoms in the kitchen, but she didn't dare to make cherry cakes anymore, for fear that Mr. Leo would be saddened by the sight. So she just took a portion of wisteria cake and went to St. Mary's Healing Home with Youan and the raccoon cat.
Mr. Leo was sitting in a wheelchair, but he was in good spirits, struggling to write something on the sheet music. When Ye Wan handed him the box of purple wisteria cakes, he was very happy and said cheerfully, "I thought you were going to bring me some cherry cakes."
Ye Wan stuttered and tried to explain, but he interrupted her: "I know you're worried that I'm sad, but I'm not sad. I'm currently composing 'The God's Reply When the Cherry Blossoms Fall'. I guarantee this musical will take the kingdom by storm!"
He said happily, but a trace of loneliness appeared on his face again: "Then the believers will come back, and she will come back too, right?"
Ye Wan and You An quickly promised that at Mr. Civet Cat's strong request, Ye Wan would leave it here with Mr. Leo for a few days.
The two of them walked back. It was early summer. The June wind rolled over the grass tips in the wasteland. The grass was new and shone with fine golden light in the sunlight. A stream meandered by in the distance, so clear that you could see the fish swimming leisurely below.
The sky was a cornflower blue, the clear blue unique to early summer, with a few white clouds floating lazily.
Ye Wan was too lazy to walk anymore, so he picked a clean big rock to sit on, and then sighed.
"You don't look very happy these days." Youan asked as he sat next to her.
"Is it because of Feiying?"
She shook her head. "I met her by chance. Although I feel some regret for the loss of life, I'm not this sad. I think what makes me sad is probably seeing two people who have been close to each other for years, and their direct bond being severed like this. I feel very sad."
Ye Wan glanced at You An quietly: "As you can see, I come from another world. If, I mean if, one day I..."
He took her hand and looked into her eyes. Her beautiful smoky crystal eyes were particularly clear in the dim sunlight.
"If you want to leave," he said in a low but remarkably firm voice, "I'll go with you, or I'll wait for you at Honey Lane."
He looked sincere: "There is no possibility of breaking the bond between us."
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