"I heard that all the shrines outside Heian-kyo have turned to dust! I heard that there was a powerful deity in the shrine, whom even the Emperor himself visited. When Lord Seimei was still in Kyoto, that deity inexplicably caused many disappearances, but now..."
"It collapsed?"
The crowd exclaimed in disbelief.
"Perhaps some great demon has appeared, which is why the officials in the Yin-Yang Bureau are in a panic. That's why the Eighteenth Lady concealed her identity and came here."
The maid who spoke boldly guessed.
These words were heard without missing a single one by the people who were hiding nearby.
The pitchfork left deep and shallow marks on the ground before finally leaving Xiaotian's house.
He wanted to go and see for himself whether it was as they described.
evening
After dinner, Izumi looked at the Yuki-onna and the Great Tengu sitting on opposite sides and was in a dilemma. She couldn't help either of them, as they were arguing about the method of frying this year's new tea.
"Quan, do you think what I said is right?"
The snow woman pouted unhappily.
“Tea tasting is an elegant affair, and the processing of tea leaves is something I should put my effort into. Don’t argue with me.”
The Great Tengu spoke earnestly and patiently.
"What's wrong with appreciating the original flavor of tea? What do you say, young monk?"
The snow woman looked at the one-eyed monk.
The one-eyed monk chuckled sheepishly, "I think all your ideas are good."
"There's no such thing as having it all, Aoandon, what do you think?" Yuki-onna continued to ask.
"Don't you guys get bored? Where did that Yaksha guy go?" Aoandon sat on the lantern and looked down, taking in the entire courtyard scene.
"...It seems I haven't seen Yasha all day. Does Izumi know where he went?" Ōtengu asked.
"have no idea."
...
The night was endless. A silver fork was stuck into the ground with a sound. The yaksha leaned against the fork, looked at the dim night, and sighed.
Why do you look so worried? Where did you go today?
The voice of the Great Tengu came from above. Yasha looked up and found that the Great Tengu was still awake and was obviously waiting for him.
"If you're so worried about me, why don't you come out with me tomorrow?"
Yaksha casually chimed in.
The Great Tengu looked down at him and sensed that he was acting strangely today.
"Did you see something?"
Could it be a homicidal episode? Or did he go out and cause trouble?
Yaksha didn't grasp the deeper meaning in his words. She glanced at him absentmindedly, remained silent for a long time, and then asked:
"Great Tengu, although neither you nor Izumi have explicitly stated it, it seems that you have an agreement that once you escort Izumi safely back to Kyoto, you can leave, is that right?"
The Great Tengu snorted coldly, "Don't listen to your nonsense, sir. She signed a contract with me, and I became her shikigami. It's not as simple as just saying it."
"So……"
Yasha guessed, "You're doing this for the Snow Woman?"
The Great Tengu paused for a moment, "The Snow Woman is naive and easily deceived. Compared to you and me, she is merely a Snow Princess who has just managed to maintain her adult form."
"yes……"
Yaksha seemed to be deep in thought.
"You've been talking a lot tonight, is something wrong?"
The Great Tengu leaped up and stood beside him, his handsome and reliable face inspiring a unique sense of awe in the moonlight.
As expected of the Great Tengu!
Yaksha thought silently.
"I'm talking to you."
"No, I was just thinking about some things, about the reasons why Izumi married into this family. But no matter how I think about it, it's not enough, it's like I've jumped into a fire pit."
Own?
Does "self" refer to Izumi or to himself?
The Great Tengu sighed inwardly and patted his shoulder. "Don't overthink it. We're both demons, so we should know that human lifespan is limited. Even if you don't want to stay here, waiting for Izumi to die peacefully isn't difficult."
A hundred years is a lifetime for a person, a period of time for us, and a fleeting moment for the universe. Don't worry about it.
Wait until that woman dies?
Yaksha stared ahead at the woman sitting in the courtyard, also waiting for him, and suddenly didn't want to think about it anymore.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
"Hey! Woman, I'm home!"
The courtyard became lively—
"The Yaksha is back? What kind of tea do you like? What do you like to drink...?"
"Lord Yaksha is back!"
“He doesn’t deserve the title of ‘adult.’ Let me tell you about his past…”
-
"Miss, this is tea that was delivered from the Tian family's estate this year. The materials have already been prepared, and you can drink it directly."
In the morning, Xiao Jia carried a full jar of tea into the courtyard, and Quan went out to meet her.
"So much? Thank you."
The spring water felt like it weighed over ten pounds, that's quite a lot.
"Look, the tea leaves are already processed and sent back. What were we arguing about these past few days? It's so annoying!"
The Yaksha sat on the roof, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, a fork beside him.
"How could this happen..."
The Snow Woman looked at the pickled tea leaves and found it unbelievable.
"This new tea must be delicious. Let's go make some," thought the Great Tengu.
Under the roof
Xiao Jia helped Quan carry the tea leaves into the house, but suddenly started to stammer.
"What's wrong?" Quan asked, puzzled.
“Miss… no, sir. A few days ago, I received a message from the master asking me to return home early, so I might not be able to serve you anymore.”
Xiao Jia said helplessly.
Here, the young lady only has one maid she knows well. If she leaves, what will the young lady do here?
I was worried about her.
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