"Did you encounter any problems?"
Huo Ji gradually sank into deep thought mode, and a red light flashed on the communicator, indicating that it was in use. Xiao Wu Wan explained everything clearly from beginning to end, and kept his words as brief as possible to save Huo Ji's effort in recording.
Kokarasuma waited for a while, and when he heard no more sound, he said, "Hyuga found that something was wrong with Hasebe. There is also Mikazuki Munechika of the Honmaru. He should know a lot about the Honmaru, but his attitude is unclear for the time being."
"There's no rush for this." Huo Ji said, "The talisman entrusted to the Onmyoji has not changed, which means that the 098 Judge has not found anything unusual. In this case, it doesn't matter whether the contract is firm or not, but I prefer not to agree to it for now, just in case he has any backup plans later."
"I have re-investigated the background of the 098 Inquisitor and found some undisclosed issues. I also found some things that prove that the government's motives when he entered the country were not pure, but these are not enough to convict him."
Xiao Karasuma's expression was slightly gloomy: "Father and Hinata will find out the secret hidden in this bonmaru as soon as possible, please rest assured."
The windows of the castle tower were tightly closed again, and the wrist of the judge, which had turned pale due to not seeing the light for a long time, was partially exposed from under the wide cuffs. Hasebe lowered his head to report on Kokarasumaru's deployment, and did not notice the large light blue bruise on that wrist.
The judge propped his head with one hand and seemed a little sleepy. He finally processed the documents in the early morning and handed them to Kitsunesuke to send off. The only sound in the room was the unhurried voice of Hasebe, which sounded like a lullaby and made people yawn.
He suddenly interrupted the report: "That's it."
"...Yes." Yakiri Hasebe stopped talking, with no expression on his face. He stood up calmly and left the room.
The sliding door closed, and the dark room imprisoned the judge sitting inside like a cage, but it also blocked the flash of red light in Fu Wangshen's eyes.
The footsteps gradually faded away, and the inquisitor's tired expression could no longer be concealed. He took out the thermos from under the table, opened the lid and took a sip. The faint smell of rust invaded his breath. He frowned as if in disgust, but did not spit it out.
"The Time Travel Army... Tsk."
"It's Hinata, did you sleep well last night?"
Ichigo Ichijin was surrounded by his younger brothers. He looked up and accidentally saw Hinata Masamune about to turn in another direction, hesitating between the two sides.
"It was great last night, thank you for your concern." Hinata Masamune replied, and then said in a distressed tone: "Excuse me, have you seen the little Karasuma-dono?"
After thinking for a moment, Ichiki said apologetically, "I didn't notice. Is there something urgent?"
"…No, nothing. I just didn't see it when I woke up, so I wanted to find out where I went."
Hinata finished speaking and was about to go back to the room, but Ichigo Ichijin suddenly remembered something and said, "Mikazuki asked you before, if you have nothing else to do, why don't you go find him?"
"Thank you." Hinata thanked again and chose the corridor on the right, which led directly to the place where Mikazuki Munechika was drinking tea.
The Manyozakura trees were still in bloom, and Mikazuki Munechika's position and movements while drinking tea had not changed. For a moment, Hinata felt as if time had been crossed, as if he had gone back to the time when he first sat with Mikazuki Munechika yesterday.
Putting aside the confusion for the moment, Hinata Masamune walked over.
098 Honmaru does not have a complete sword account, and the Shinsengumi is not wrong, but the luck is not very good either. The three-day moon was found only after the troops went to the battlefield hundreds or even thousands of times.
Therefore, the tea drinking group only had Mikazuki, and Uguisumaru was not there. On weekdays, other people rarely came to drink tea together, and most of the time, Mikazuki Munechika would sit alone quietly for a few hours. The judge didn't often let him go out, probably because he didn't want anything to happen to the rare sword.
The temperature of the tea was just right. When held in the hand, the warmth was transmitted through the wall of the cup. Hinata closed his eyes and took a small sip. It was a bit bitter, but after tasting it for a while, it had a slight sweet aftertaste. It was a very good tea.
"Behind beauty lies corruption." Mikazuki spoke suddenly, his voice so soft that if Hinata hadn't been paying attention he would have overlooked it.
He glanced sideways and saw Mikazuki Munechika staring at Manyozakura. After a moment, he curled his lips and chuckled. His warm palm paused when it touched Hinata's hair, then he slowed down his strength, rubbed the silver hair, and withdrew his hand.
"Are you scared by my sudden words?" Mikazuki asked. Without waiting for Hinata Masamune to answer, he changed the subject and hinted at something.
"Man'yezakura is in full bloom, but which is more beautiful, the moment before it falls to the ground and rots, or the moment when it blooms?"
The words disappeared into the air, and under the gaze of Hyuga Masamune, Mikazuki Munechika silently opened his mouth and lip-read a few words. Hyuga's expression was normal, but his fingers on his legs suddenly clenched.
——Search team.
This was the word that Mikazuki Munechika uttered.
Time passed by little by little, and it was almost time for dinner. Oshikiri Hasebe brought news that the judges wanted to have dinner together.
Almost at the same time, most people's eyes lit up for a moment.
Since the Judge took office, he has never eaten in the restaurant. Hasebe is responsible for carrying the Judge's portion to the castle tower and taking away the bowl and chopsticks after he finishes eating.
The statue of the Judge of Shinto voluntarily isolates itself from the world. If it weren't for the spiritual power that permeates every corner of the Honmaru and the various orders that are issued on time, the deceased gods would have doubted whether the Judge of Shinto actually exists in this Honmaru.
The news was good news. At least the short swords were very happy and looked forward to arriving earlier at noon so that they could meet the inquisitor who was rarely seen on weekdays.
The lively Honmaru looked very similar to the Honmaru in Nanari, and there was nothing suspicious about it. Without Mikazuki Munechika's warning, Hyuga Masamune would have thought that the report on the 098 Honmaru was a farce.
With the help of others, the meals were brought to the long table one by one. At the main seat in the front, there were some dishes that suited the taste of the judges, which were somewhat different from those for the deceased gods.
The seats were full, and the inquisitor walked into the restaurant at a leisurely pace. In an instant, the noise just now became quiet. The inquisitor, who was being stared at by many pairs of eyes, remained calm and walked to the main seat and sat down.
The appearance of the Inquisitor was not bad, and he was not inferior to the other mourning gods in the room, but he was too pale. To be more specific, there was an indescribable strange feeling about him.
Sensing the gaze, the Judge looked up at Awataguchi and smiled gently, causing Toushirou and the others to gasp, their faces filled with joy.
It is quite inconsistent with the records in the search team's data.
Hinata swallowed a small spoonful of rice and used his brain to compare the data with what the diviner had shown, and concluded that none of them matched.
This is not good, he thought. This time we have to start all over again.
After lunch, the judge did not stay for long. He accepted the persimmons handed by Sayo Samonji and stood up to return to the castle tower. Before leaving, he asked Kokarasumaru and Hyuga Masamune to go with him. Hasebe Oshikiri, who wanted to go with him, was rejected and stayed there silently. Then he helped to clean up the dishes on the table.
The window on the second floor of the castle tower was not open, and the sunlight was blocked outside the window. It could only penetrate a small sliver through the gap, but it could not illuminate the dark room.
"Won't you be unable to see clearly?"
"My night vision is pretty good," the Inquisitor answered quickly. "I close the windows because I don't like sunlight, nothing else."
The judge's desk was empty, and he didn't even put down his pen. "Don't worry about my little habit, but would you two mind talking about what happened in Honmaru?"
"If you are curious about this." Kokarasuma took over the conversation, calmly changing the story of life in Nanazato Honmaru and briefly telling it again.
In the final analysis, there is no real fall of the wandering dead gods. Whether it is the indelible foul aura or the bone spurs that grow, they all have their own special degree - this is the conclusion reached by the government of time after many years of investigation.
Dark fall is caused by the torture or various kinds of abuse that the god of death suffers, causing him to develop the intention to kill his master, and the filthy aura invades his body, causing wild bone spurs to grow on his body.
Once this process begins, it will not end until the God of Death truly kills his master and becomes completely corrupted, or becomes a monster like the Time Travel Army, or is finally unable to withstand the filthy spiritual energy that shatters the sword.
Often, divine swords have a certain ability to suppress filth, but if they cannot suppress it, these divine swords will enter the end of shattering faster than other swords.
The downfall of the Wandering God of Death was caused by the sudden awakening from a deep sleep, and the lack of pure spiritual power from the Judges, which forced him to absorb impure spiritual power. The most in-depth record of the current political affairs is that it is just like the disguise of Xiao Karasuma and the others now, with a little unnoticeable bone spur, and can rely on the political affairs instruments to clean up the impure spiritual power and restore the original appearance.
As Karasuma continued to tell his story, the censor listened attentively from beginning to end without showing any impatience. At the end, he habitually put on the same smile as before.
——It’s very fake.
This was the first word that popped into Hinata's mind when he saw that smile.
The corners of his mouth were raised in an exact curve, just like the rag doll in the counter of the Wanwu store that Qili took him to. A simple smile was drawn with a few strokes of solid color lines. Although it looked stiff on the doll's face, it was still harmonious.
But when it came to the Inquisitor, the smile became so fake that there was no pretense at all. Perhaps he used this expression to treat people so often that he didn't even realize that it was so fake on his face.
"That sounds like a good thing." He sighed strangely and didn't continue the topic.
"In the next few days, the main camp will be relatively idle, with no missions to go out on. You two can walk around and get used to the new environment."
Xiao Karasuma nodded in thanks and left the castle tower with Hinata.
On the way back to the room, he passed by the place where Mikazuki Munechika often drank tea. It was empty. Hinata touched a small cloth bag on his waist, which contained a small bag of konpeito. Mikazuki had tied it on him directly during the previous chat. Hinata's words of refusal were no match for Mikazuki pretending not to understand, so he had to carry it like this.
Xiao Wu Wan noticed that he was absent-minded and asked directly: "What's wrong?"
Hinata Masamune replied: "I just remembered something."