Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Karuizawa
After exchanging information, Reiji Munakata readily asked Fushimi Saruhiko to drive Tamane to her club dinner place.
"Your current status, Yuyin, is complex, so it's probably not appropriate for you to appear in public. Just continue studying at school."
When Reiji Munakata said this, he suddenly remembered that when he invited Yuyin to join the Ao Clan, she was only one year older than she is now.
At that time, he had just become the Blue King, and Scepter4 had been in disarray for a long time since the Kagudu crater incident, having lost the previous Blue King Yu Zhangxun. Many old members were very dissatisfied with his appointment. If he wanted to manage and command such a large organization well, it was particularly important to promote his confidants at the right time.
So he decisively invited two outstanding women he met during the plane incident - Awashima Seri and Saionji Gyoon to join.
The current situation is different from what it was then, so there's no reason to allow Tamane, still a junior high student, to join. If it weren't for the unique circumstances of the world fusion, where her unique experience would be of immense benefit to Scepter4, Reiji Munakata wouldn't necessarily have chosen to meet her today and disrupt her current life.
"If necessary, I will send Fushimi to contact you."
Fushimi waved back from the driver's seat, then said straight to the point, "Remember my secret email address? Use it for normal communication. If anything needs to happen, I'll drive directly to you. If you encounter an emergency, please consider the consequences and contact me if you need to clean up or cover up."
"I know, I know." Yuyin waved her hand. She was the same age as Fushimi. Although she was younger now, people of the same age always had some "competition" with each other. However, in terms of ability alone, Fushimi was still very reliable.
After saluting the director and Awashima-san, who nodded in return, Yuyin picked up her kyudo bag and got out of the car and left.
After Yuyin's figure faded into the distance, Munakata Reiji rolled up the car window and turned to give instructions, "Awashima, Fushimi, carefully sort out the intelligence we obtained today. Those that require a higher level of confidentiality must be classified as highly confidential. Once the rest is organized, have all members of the Kenji Corps memorize it as additional precautions."
Awashima and Fushimi: "Yes!"
Munakata Reiji paused briefly and continued, "Also, Awashima, please help me schedule a meeting with the head of the Tokugawa family, and then write a visiting card and send it to the Jujutsu Association."
"Understood." Awashima agreed.
The vehicle started moving again.
Reiji Munakata's eyes swept across the non-human creatures that occasionally appeared on the roadside, and he sighed slightly.
The need to maintain order and stability in this world, even if it is only superficial, is no less than when the king was still in power. Apart from the reduced risk of losing the sword, the burden of this responsibility is no less than before, and may even be greater, making people dare not relax at all.
*
"Hey, brother, what's up?"
When Yuyin received the call from Shizuka Chang, she was packing her luggage at home. After school tomorrow afternoon, all the members of the club would gather directly at the school and take a bus to Karuizawa for training, so the preparations had to be made in advance tonight, and they had to go directly to school with their luggage tomorrow morning.
A faint laugh came from the other end of the phone: "If nothing happens, can't I come to you?"
Yuyin pressed the suitcase and replied, "No one comes to me for no reason, especially you, Senior Brother. Let me guess, you're not going to assign me a new commission, are you? Last time we agreed, the commission in the Kagudu Crater is the highest S-level difficulty, one for three. I've completed all the tasks this week."
"I never regret what I promised you," Deba Shizuka said without denying it. "Did you meet the director of Scepter 4 today?"
"Brother, how did you know?" Yuyin paused. She was very sure that she was not followed by a monster today.
"Don't worry, I didn't send any shikigami to follow you," Shizuka Deba said, as if he had guessed her thoughts and directly announced the answer. "Nanase told me today that the head of Scepter 4, Mr. Munakata Reiji, sent someone to arrange a meeting with me, so I assumed you two must have met."
"Okay, Senior Brother, you're incredibly insightful," Yuyin said, switching hands to hold her phone. "I did meet with the director and the others today and chatted for a while. I also suggested that they contact a demon exorcist if they encounter demonic activity. That's probably why the director contacted you. Do you agree?"
"Oh, I refuse for now."
Yuyin's eyes widened slightly, not expecting this answer. "Why?"
"The Ba family is holding a gathering of demon hunters in the next few days. I can't spare the time for now, so I can only reply to Mr. Munakata. The appointment time can only be made in three days."
It turned out that it was only postponed for a few days. Yuyin breathed a sigh of relief. She almost thought that her senior brother was going to directly reject the cooperation, which was obviously a mutually beneficial thing.
"I'm calling to ask you, Yuyin, if you're coming to the rally?"
"It's too late for you to ask this, Senior Brother. Starting tomorrow, I'll be attending club training in Karuizawa."
The senior brother on the other end of the phone chuckled and said, "What a coincidence! The location I chose for this demon hunter gathering is also in the Karuizawa villa area."
Yuyin was speechless for a moment. She would never believe that this was just a coincidence. "You don't want me to show up at the rally, do you?"
Shizuka Deba suggested, "If you don't like it, you can wear a mask."
In addition to famous families like the Deba family, there are also many independent demon hunters. In order to keep secrets, many of them will not show their true faces in gatherings and other occasions, but will cover their faces with special masks. However, the Deba family has always been domineering and intimidating. In the past, neither her senior brother, nor she, nor Nanase had the habit of wearing masks. Yuyin thought that if she went with a mask, she would probably attract more attention than without it.
"I also invited Natsume-kun, are you sure you don't want to come?"
Yuyin hesitated for a long time before finally agreeing, "I can go over there at night. But you don't have to announce that I'm from the Chang family. I can just go in as a casual person and wear a mask."
Deba Jingsi's tone was relaxed, as if he had already expected her to agree, "Then it's settled."
*
Early in the morning, after arriving at school, Yuyin placed her luggage at the club's dojo before returning to the classroom.
"Saionji, congratulations."
As soon as she sat down, Keigo Atobe, who looked in a good mood, immediately congratulated her.
"Congratulations to your Kyudo Club for defeating Kirimeng Junior High School and winning the Kanto Tournament championship."
"Uh, thank you." Yuyin was slightly stunned. She didn't expect that the news about Atobe came so quickly. Did the Kyudo Club's victory make him so happy?
"Does your Kyudo Club have any rewards in mind? For achieving a breakthrough for the first time and winning the Kanto Tournament championship, the Student Council and the Board of Directors will commend and reward the corresponding club. Whether it's club funding, new facilities, travel arrangements, etc., they can all be considered." Student Council President Keigo Atobe said proudly.
"As for this... no one in the club has decided yet," Yuyin smoothed her hair and thought, "After all, the competition isn't over yet. There's still the national competition to come, and we still have to go to Karuizawa for training this week."
Upon hearing this, Atobe raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you going to Karuizawa too?"
"Eh, too?" Yuyin was puzzled. Could it be...
Atobe nodded modestly: "Our tennis club has been training in Karuizawa these days."
The reason why Atobe was in such a happy mood today was certainly not only because the Kyudo Club won the Kanto Championship, adding glory to Hyotei Academy and making him, the student council president, proud, but also because the national tournament organizing committee had received definite news, confirming that Hyotei would participate in the competition as an additional quota for the host Tokyo region.
Ever since hearing the news yesterday, the curve on Atobe's mouth has never subsided.
What's more, he received a call from Tezuka Kunimitsu yesterday. The other party first thanked him for the information he gave about the rehabilitation institutions for treating sports injuries of the arm. In the subsequent conversation, Tezuka rarely asked him, as a senior, to "educate" the heir of his family's Seigaku.
Considering that Seigaku was training in Karuizawa these days to compete against Rikkai University, Atobe waved his hand and planned to take all the regular team members to his Karuizawa villa today to start a practice match with Seigaku.
Seeing Atobe's eyes filled with joy, although Yuyin didn't know the exact situation, she guessed that the situation in the tennis club must have changed, and it was changing for the better. Only things related to tennis could make Atobe so happy.
*
That's why, after school, there are two buses blocking the entrance of Hyotei Academy at the same time.
"Hey, I haven't heard of any club or class organizing any group activities?" Curious baby Xingzi looked around and saw that the car opposite was still empty, so she asked.
Yuyin answered smoothly, "Oh, that's the tennis club's car. They're also going to Karuizawa for training."
Xingzi's eyes lit up when she heard that. "Is it the tennis club? A tennis club full of handsome men? Are they going to Karuizawa too?" She paused, "Wait, Yuyin-senpai, how did you know?"
"Have you forgotten that I'm in the same class with Atobe?"
"Oh, I see." Xingzi clapped her hands and said happily, "Doesn't this mean that we can look at handsome guys besides training?"
"Don't be too happy too soon. Karuizawa is such a big place. Considering what Atobe has always done, they definitely won't be near where we live."
Xingzi immediately became depressed. "That's right...but this time, our accommodation was found by Goto-senpai. I heard it's the house of one of her elders, so it should be better than the place I found last time."
After a while, members of the tennis club also came out of the school one after another.
Atobe Keigo led the way in front without any hesitation. Behind him was the big guy that Tamane had seen before. Now she knew that the other person was the second-year student, Karaji Takahiro. Karaji was carrying an orange-haired boy who was still sleeping soundly, and walked closely beside Atobe, without being affected at all in his movements.
"Why are there two cars?" Xiangri Yueren came running over with a suitcase in his hand. "Which car are we in?"
Oshitari Yuushi followed his direction and soon saw Saionji Tamon and the others standing at the school gate. He pushed his glasses and turned to Yueren and said, "They're from the women's archery club. If I remember correctly, they just won the Kanto tournament championship. They should be going somewhere for an event."
According to the original schedule, the Kanto Tournament for junior high school tennis was supposed to end this week, but due to weather conditions, it was postponed for a week due to heavy rain. Kyudo is an indoor competition, and it didn't rain on the day of the competition, so it ended smoothly.
"Yeah, that's right. The Kyudo Club members are going to Karuizawa too, but they're not going on vacation. They're also going to train for the upcoming competition." Atobe snapped his fingers. "Other clubs are working so hard to win the Kanto Tournament, so you can't relax either."
Just now, Atobe announced the good news to everyone in the tennis club that they could participate in the national conference. Except for Akutagawa Jiro who fell asleep and didn't hear it, everyone was excited to hear the news.
"yes!"
Only Oshitari Yuushi calmly pushed up his glasses. So how did Atobe know the archery club's training location? As with other club activities, the specific address wouldn't be reported to the student council. In other words, as the student council president, Atobe shouldn't have known about it unless he had another source, which was probably...
His eyes fell on Saionji Tamon, who was extremely tall and eye-catching even among the members of the Kyudo Club. Only she, who was in the same class as Atobe, could have told Atobe about this.
This is quite interesting.
Remembering Atobe's strange reaction when Taketo mentioned that Saionji had a boyfriend last time, Obito Yuushi raised his eyebrows and thought he could observe it more carefully.
*
The two cars drove one after the other on the road to Karuizawa for a long time.
It was not until they arrived in the Karuizawa area that the tennis club's car drove towards the wealthy area and the two cars parted ways.
Finally, the Kyudo Club's car stopped in front of a large Japanese-style courtyard, which was much better than the shabby house in the suburbs of Tokyo where they had last trained.
Xingzi tilted her head back and couldn't help but sigh, "Wow! It's just as spacious as I imagined!"
Yuyin nodded. The biggest advantage was that they finally didn’t have to clean up themselves.
As Goto Rika opened the door with her key, she said, "This is my uncle's house. He's a highly-ranked Kyudo master, and he even built a Kyudo dojo near the Karuizawa villa." Her love for Kyudo stemmed from the influence of this elder from her childhood. "When my uncle heard I wanted to borrow it, he already had it cleaned, so we can just move in with our bags. We just need to tidy up the dojo and the room when we leave."
Unlike Xingzi who sighed, "I also want an uncle like this," Yuyin silently looked back at the woods behind her.
As a resort town, Karuizawa boasts beautiful scenery, abundant greenery, and dense vegetation. This pristine environment carries a special significance for demon hunters: the abundance of wild and mountain demons that inhabit it is undeniably high.
Because it's a resort town, Karuizawa's houses are usually mostly empty. The busiest times are summer and certain holidays. Back when Yuyin was in the world of monsters, she often received requests for exorcisms in Karuizawa. Most of these were villas that had been resold for some reason, and strange things kept happening after the new owners moved in, prompting the exorcists to come in. These houses were often occupied by monsters because of the previous owner's misdeeds, or because they had been vacant for too long.
Yuyin had just felt the prying gaze of the monsters, and after hearing what Goto Rika said, she realized that her uncle's house had been uninhabited for a long time, and immediately knew why those little monsters were here.
She deliberately released a trace of spiritual pressure, and sure enough, the little monsters were scared and ran away immediately.
I just hope they will be more sensible and not come back to cause trouble while the club is training here.
*
Yuyin didn't know that her unintentional action caused a little trouble to the residents of another house in the same area.
Those little monsters originally had two common habitats. Many people moved into one house a few days ago, so they had to move here. Unexpectedly, within two days, there were also residents in this house, and there was a big man with a terrifying aura inside, which scared them so much that they ran away immediately.
Finally, a group of little monsters could only squeeze pitifully into the warehouse of the next door house and entertain themselves.
However, the good times did not last long. Not long after they started playing in the warehouse, a man wearing a bear skin suddenly came, followed by several children.
Not long after, those teenagers holding strange props appeared and shot yellow balls into the warehouse one by one.
The thing is, those little yellow balls have spiritual power!
The breath is also very scary!
A group of little monsters avoided the trajectory of the little yellow ball, hugged each other and trembled.
If they get hit by just one bullet, their lives will be over!
Now that you have caught the food thief, please stop shooting the balls. It's so scary. QAQ
*
"Wait, where are those little animals in the warehouse?"
After watching the police chase away the thief who disguised himself as a bear to steal things, Echizen Ryoma belatedly remembered the small animals in the corner of the warehouse and ran back with a racket to check.
"Well, I guess he ran away while we weren't paying attention just now."
Inui Sadaharu was writing something in his notebook with a pen. "After all, the wild animals in these mountains are quite shy. We scared them when so many of them came in just now."
Fuji also nodded in agreement with Kan Sadaharu's statement.
"that……"
But the first-year students who had been locked up in the warehouse earlier heard this and asked curiously, "Ryoma-kun, seniors, what are you talking about?"
"Well, those little animals were here just now." Echizen Ryoma pointed to an empty space in the corner of the warehouse and said, "They probably came here to steal food, but ended up being locked up in the warehouse by that thief."
"But, but..." Katsuro mustered up his courage and said tremblingly, "Just now, there was no one here except us and that thief pretending to be a bear."
All the candidates from Qingxue were stunned.
Kikumaru said immediately, "You guys are kidding, right? We all saw it, it's right there. When I was serving the ball earlier, I even tried to avoid hitting the small animals."
Horio Satoshi, who was hit by the tennis balls of his seniors one after another by accident, raised his hands in a helpless smile: "So, seniors, you hit me, right?"
After all this time, Horio's status is not even as high as that of small animals...
"Sorry, sorry, I just didn't see you because of my blind spot." Kikumaru Eiji said with an apologetic smile.
"That's not the point. The point is that we didn't see any small animals, right Horio?" Katsuo Mizuno brought the topic back to where it had gone off track.
"Yeah, that's right." Horio said, touching his head with his only intact hand.
There was a sudden silence in the warehouse, as if a cold wind was blowing past.
"Haha, maybe it's a monster in this mountain." Bu Er said with a faint smile.
Upon hearing this, Kaidou Xun was so frightened that his whole body froze and his eyes became dull.
Taocheng tried to save his dignity and laughed dryly, "Ha, ha, Fuji-senpai, you must be joking. How could we possibly see a monster? No, no way."
"Eh——" Kikumaru shuddered when he heard it and hugged himself tightly.
Inui Sadaharu, who was standing by, nodded repeatedly as he listened, writing quickly: "A monster? This is something worth writing down."
How could there be monsters in this world? Longma pressed his hat, what a senior with a bad taste.
*
The second day.
While Saionji Gyoen was running with the team for training, she happened to see a group of people from the Seigaku Tennis Club who were said to live in the house next door.
The other party was obviously also undergoing training. According to Xingzi, they had been here for some time.
What caught Yuyin's attention was that the aura of those young men was not weak. The spiritual pressure fluctuations of two or three of them when they held the rackets were comparable to that of Atobe's normal swing of the racket.
Yuyin could basically judge that the state they entered when holding the tennis rackets was similar to the spiritual power fluctuations of ordinary demon hunters when holding magic tools, so it was easy to deal with some small monsters.
She had never expected that the group of regular students from Qingxue would scare away the group of little monsters that she had driven away yesterday.
"Saionji-senpai, you have no idea what I saw!"
During the intermission, Kyoko ran over and said happily, "I saw the tennis club car!"
Yuyin nodded and sorted out the arrows: "Next door is the Youth Academy Tennis Club, you have already told me about it." With Xingzi, who knows a lot, she didn't need to go out of her way to find out.
"No, no, that's certainly not what I'm talking about," Anzi said excitedly, "It's our tennis club. I saw the Hyotei Tennis Club's car. They're going to have a practice match with Seigaku! Senior, come with me and see it."
It wasn't surprising at Hyotei that Kyoko Morimoto, a key member of the women's archery club, was a fangirl of the tennis club. Normally, she was busy with tennis club practice or matches, rarely attending them. But today, with this opportunity to watch the tennis club's matches up close and admire the handsome men, how could Kyoko miss it? After all, at school, the tennis courts were usually packed with fans, making it impossible to get a front-row seat.
Yuyin said helplessly, "The intermission is only twenty minutes, take it easy."
She is a special case in the Kyudo Club and can skip training whenever she wants, but Anzi is different. As the most likely candidate for the next club leader, she needs to pay attention to the rules in her every move.
"Yes, don't worry, senior. I will definitely be back before the training starts!"
*
When Yuyin was pulled to the edge of the tennis court by Xingzi, two matches were taking place on the court.
One match was between Yuushi Oshitari and the other was between Ryo Shishido.
"Ah, although Senior Oshitari is very handsome, his rival at Seigaku looks pretty good too." Anzi said to Tamane in a troubled tone.
Yuyin suppressed a smile: "Then which side do you hope will win."
"Of course it's Senior Oshitari!" Anzi said without hesitation.
"Then why don't you just look at the other person with pure appreciation of beauty?"
Yuyin thought about it and decided not to tell Anzi that judging from the aura, it was very likely that Oshitari would lose this round and the opponent would win.
"Ms. Saionji."
She was discussing the situation on the field with Anzi when she suddenly heard someone calling her. She turned sideways and saw the butler of the Atobe family, whom she had met once before (the butler came to pick him up after he was attacked last time), standing in front of her.
Yuyin nodded and said, "Hello, what can I do for you?"
The butler waved his hand, pointing to the door leading to the stadium, and said politely, "Master Atobe saw you coming and sent me to invite you in to watch the game."
Xingzi's eyes widened in shock when she heard this, and she covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her exclamation. So, Senior Yuyin and Master Atobe have such a good relationship? Master Atobe actually asked the butler to invite Senior in!
That's a tennis court!
Although it is not the sacred tennis court in Hyotei School where no outsiders have ever set foot, she has never seen Lord Atobe get even slightly close to any member of the opposite sex since she enrolled. This is already a record!
As expected, she is Senior Yuyin, whom she admires so much. She easily accomplished what others cannot do!
"Sorry, my friend and I are just here to take a look for a while and will be back soon..."
Before Yuyin could finish her polite refusal, she heard Xingzi loudly say, "Senior, don't worry about me. Go ahead! I'm going back to training. I'll ask for leave for you and Goto-senpai!"
When she turned around, Xingzi had already run so fast that only her back was left. She was speechless. Why hadn't she seen her run so fast during training? She only showed off her cleverness at this moment.
"Please lead the way."
Yuyin sighed, she had no more excuses. Since it was Atobe who invited her, she had to give him some face.
*
Yuyin walked over and sat down under the parasol.
Before deciding to invite her in, Keigo Atobe instructed the maid to add appropriate seats and desserts and drinks.
Atobe looked at her and said with a teasing smile: "It's really rare that one day I can actually see you, Saionji, by the tennis court."
Yuyin picked up the juice very naturally and replied, "My juniors like it. You tennis club members are so charming."
Atobe Keigo raised an eyebrow: "Then why didn't she come in?"
"She was scared away," Yuyin took a sip of freshly squeezed orange juice, which was still ice cold. "Besides, the club still has training, so she can't stay outside for too long."
As for why she didn't go back, Keigo Atobe, who had accidentally heard Rika Goto's complaints, knew it very well.
"It looks like Oshitari-kun is going to lose..." Tamane was actually watching the match intently. She tilted her head and asked Atobe, "Is this the Seigaku who defeated you at the Kanto Tournament last time? Which one is Tezuka Kunimitsu?"
Although she didn't pay much attention to the affairs of the tennis club, there were fan clubs everywhere in Hyotei Tennis Club, and the news kept coming to her ears, so she had no choice but to know.
"Tezuka isn't here," Atobe Keigo responded calmly to her question. "He's gone to treat his hand injury. I look forward to fighting him again at the national competition."
Then he complained to her, "Fuji Shusuke is really good when he's serious. When will that guy Oshitari be able to be like the others and take him seriously?"
"This is a practice match for you guys, so it won't be a big deal if you lose. I guess Ozaki-kun is just used to holding back." Yuyin analyzed.
"Ha, you see through him so clearly."
Yuyin sipped the juice and said, "I'm afraid that if I hold back during normal times, I won't be able to quickly get into my best form when I go on stage."
Atobe leaned back in his chair, "Ah well, that's exactly what I was worried about."
*
On the sidelines, Momoshiro Takeshi looked at Atobe Keigo several times.
Seeing this, Kikumaru Eiji couldn't help but tease him: "Momoshiro, you are not envious because the Hyotei Tennis Club has girls, it doesn't matter, we also have Sakurano and Tomoka."
"No, Kikumaru-senpai," Momoshiro immediately rejected it. "I just thought that girl looked familiar, as if I've seen her somewhere..."
Kikumaru waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I won't laugh at you. If you really envy others for having girls, just go and ask Teacher Ryuzaki to hire a manager for the tennis club."
"It's really not like that," Taocheng said helplessly, and suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "I remember now, that girl is not the one I met at the tennis court on the street last time, Atobe's girlfriend!"
A white light flashed in Inui Sadaharu's glasses: "Oh~ Atobe's girlfriend? I collected some interesting data." The next time he meets Renji, he can show this off to him. This must be exclusive information that Renji has not collected yet.
So without Atobe and Tamane knowing, this news from Momoshiro was first passed from Seigaku to Rikkai University, and was further confirmed at the national competition due to some special reasons, which no one could have imagined.
*
Yuyin didn't expect that the final match would be between Keigo Atobe and a first-year student from the opposite Qingxue school.
But she changed her mind and, judging from the aura, she felt that this match arrangement was very reasonable, because that first-year student might be the strongest on the opposite side.
But unfortunately, she couldn't continue watching.
Yuyin looked at her watch and said goodbye to Atobe.
"Then you will suffer a great loss, as you won't be able to appreciate my magnificent heroic figure." Atobe Keigo proudly expressed his opinion on Yuyin's departure at this time.
Yuyin shrugged, "It can't be helped. It's a special situation."
The only thing that would be called a special case by Saionji Gyoon was probably the matter over there. Atobe Keigo thought about it and felt that, okay, this reason was acceptable.
"Before you leave, I have a piece of advice for Atobe. If you stay in Karuizawa at night, manage your team members well and don't let them run around." After thinking about it, Yuyin gave a warning.
The nights in the deep forests of summer are the time when monsters like to gather. Although it is not as grand as the ancient times when hundreds of demons paraded at night, the scene is still very grand. If someone accidentally enters the scene of a monster gathering, they will be eaten by them.
She didn't want to turn around and go back to school, only to hear that a member of the tennis club had disappeared.
Hearing this, Atobe Keigo's expression froze, and he nodded in response, "I understand. I will restrain those guys and tell them not to run around at night."
*
Yuyin directly sent a text message asking for leave to Rika Goto, then walked to the nearby highway entrance and got on the special car that came to pick her up.
After changing into a set of ordinary clothes with no distinctive features and putting on a mask in the car, Yuyin got off the car from a distance outside the rally venue.
"Excuse me, are you the distinguished guest attending the rally?"
The gathering of demon hunters always has little demons who have become Shikigami waiting on the road to receive visitors. Only demon hunters can see the demons, which minimizes the possibility of outsiders accidentally entering.
"yes."
Feeling the immense spiritual pressure, the little demon shikigami bowed respectfully to her and said, "Please follow me, my lord."
Following the leading Shikigami for a long distance, Yuyinfang arrived at the gathering site, which was a three-story old Japanese-style house covering a large area. There were certain barriers set up around the house. Without a Shikigami who was familiar with the route to lead the way, it was very likely that they would keep going around when approaching the area.
Inside the house, many demon hunters walked together in groups of three or four according to certain interpersonal relationships, discussing the latest information.
There are also some independent people like Yuyin who stay alone.
The most obvious one was a young man with light brown hair and a lucky cat. Yuyin recognized the other party's identity at a glance. Not to mention the physical characteristics, the lucky cat alone was enough to reveal him.
"Natsume-kun," Yuyin said as he walked closer to Natsume Takashi and greeted him, "I didn't expect you to accept my senior brother's invitation to come here."
After all, this is a gathering led by the Toba family, and because of the bad impression left by the first gathering, Natsume-kun has always been resistant to the Toba family's affairs and rarely accepts invitations.
Natsume was startled by the sudden call, then turned around and saw it was Tamane, and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's you, Saionji-san. Uh, if you invited me... Mr. Deba said you would come too."
As a result, when Mr. Deba entered the room just now, Miss Saionji was not there, which made Natsume Takashi think that this was another of Mr. Deba's old tricks to deceive him, and he felt a little unhappy.
"Yes, Senior Brother specially invited me here, but my current situation is special, as you know. For the time being, I can't follow Senior Brother and make an open appearance like I did in the past."
Yuyin sighed in her heart, look at what you did, senior brother, you left such a bad impression on young Natsume, and you still need me to save your face and say good things for you.
Natsume Takashi thought about it and realized that it was true. Miss Saionji had never worn a mask when she appeared before. She always showed her face openly and was not afraid of anyone. Only people like him who did not want to reveal their identity often wore masks.
"Saionji-san, do you know the purpose of Mr. Ba's gathering?" Natsume Takashi asked. "He told me before that this gathering is very important and he hopes I can be there."
The reason he agreed to come wasn't entirely because Mr. Deba said Miss Saionji was there too.
Yuyin thought for a moment and said, "Brother, he's probably going to talk about something related to the cursed spirit."
For a skilled demon exorcist, exorcising cursed spirits is not much different from exorcising demons in the past, but for an ordinary demon exorcist, the difference is huge.
In previous demon-hunting missions, powerful demon-hunters handled high-level commissions, while low-level demon-hunters dealt with troubles caused by weak monsters. This is common sense and can minimize unnecessary casualties. Most low-level demon-hunters will not overestimate their abilities to deal with powerful monsters. Even if they encounter one and cannot beat it, at least they can run away.
However, this situation has changed greatly after the worlds merged and the curse spirits came online. Facing curse spirits, even if they are not as powerful as special-grade curse spirits, low-level demon hunters can easily be injured, and in serious cases, they may even lose their lives.
However, these demon hunters have no awareness of the world fusion, so they will not take any defensive measures. They have suffered a lot of damage during this period of time.
Yuyin knew very well that his senior brother must have discovered this matter. He said that he had contacted Senior Gojo before and obtained from him information and methods of dealing with cursed spirits in the curse world. The reason why he contacted the other party was to sort out appropriate methods for ordinary demon hunters to act when encountering cursed spirits.
"Cursed spirit?" Natsume Takashi was slightly startled. "Is it the thing that Teacher Nekomi destroyed the last time we met?"
"That's right," Yuyin and Natsume explained. "Your home and school are located in a small population area, so you might not know that the number and strength of cursed spirits are positively correlated with population and emotional stress. The larger the city, the more powerful the cursed spirits there are. Senior Brother also wants to find better ways for ordinary demon hunters to deal with cursed spirits. If nothing unexpected happens, he will talk about this matter at this gathering."
Natsume Takashi's eyes lit up when he heard this: "If that's the case, then Mr. Chang is really amazing." At the same time, he felt a little guilty for slandering Mr. Chang in his heart, for not having thought that he would do such a good thing.
"Actually..." Yuyin thought about it, but decided not to continue.
"What?" Natsume Takashi was puzzled.
In fact, senior brother did all this not just for the public interest, Yuyin thought. Although saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, this matter can indeed be of great help to the general demon hunters, especially the low-level demon hunters who have no connections. But by doing this, he can undoubtedly gain a lot of reputation among the demon hunters, and then make the Chang family's position in the demon hunting world more stable. How could senior brother let go of such a win-win opportunity?
However, there is no need to tell Natsume-kun about this adult's dirty plan and pollute the pure mind of a young man, Yuyin thought.
Well, the most important thing is that I have worked so hard to improve my senior brother's favorability, and I must not let it drop to the bottom again.
*
Shortly afterwards, before night fell, Shizue Dechang officially appeared at the venue.
As usual, he was the only person in the venue who openly did not wear anything to conceal his identity.
If he had taken over the Chang family, a large and famous demon-hunting family, at the age of twenty, and there were many demon-hunters waiting to laugh at him, the Chang family would have been dejected.
Today, several years later, no one dares to say similar words or show any disrespect in front of Shizuka Deiba.
The name Shizuka Deiba has become synonymous with the Deiba family. It is because of his existence that the Deiba family's reputation has been able to flourish.
And today's Chang Jingsi is destined to shock the people in the demon-hunting world once again.
After Deba Shizuka finished his customary opening remarks, he immediately dropped a bombshell, "I believe many people are wondering what the purpose of the Deba family's widespread invitations is. It's actually very simple—"
Regarding the frequent encounters with cursed spirits during commissions, our family has negotiated with the Spellcasters' Association and obtained some intelligence. We will freely share all the effective methods we've learned from the Spellcasters' Association for dealing with cursed spirits with all other exorcists, without reservation.
After a moment of silence, the crowd, shocked by the news, began to discuss the matter.
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The author has something to say: I am crying, I was three seconds late by accident, my perfect attendance and my daily 10,000 are all gone QAQ
*
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2021-12-03 23:59:11 and 2021-12-05 00:00:03~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: 1 sure win;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Zhang Xiaomo 100 bottles; Yayoi 6 bottles; Wu Baitianqing and Su Qianxin 2 bottles; Yan Mo 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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