Legend Management Bureau Chapter 466

[ … words ]

Tsukimizake’s words seemed to have broken through Jin Jianglang’s defenses.

‘Right, if one day Little Xiang met someone she loved, would I cut her thread and turn her into a loveless puppet?’

“How could I…” Jin Jianglang slowly stood up and shook his head. “When the threads of you two were severed, I was still young and completely unable to protect you. That remains the most painful event of my life. If Little Xiang meets the right person one day, I will absolutely protect her. After all, he might be our only brother-in-law.”

This family was already filled with broken-hearted people. Only the innocent and vibrant Little Xiang remained the hope of them all.

Whenever despair took hold, they only needed one look at the energetic Little Xiang to unconsciously break into a smile.

Yes, although the past was filled with despair, the future still held promise.

If one day even Little Xiang was turned into a puppet, then this dark, cold, and emotionless family would truly become a massive grave.

It would trap everyone inside, with no hope of ever escaping.

Shiranui, the elixir of immortality, and Xu Fu.

Yet these three ethereal, illusory concepts had imprisoned the Shiranui family for over a thousand years.

Tsukimizake gave a faint nod, a trace of joy crossing his face, mingled with a hint of helplessness.

“Brother, the person we love is the you of right now, not a you devoid of emotion.”

Jin Jianglang smiled bitterly and replied, “Be that as it may, with the weight of the family pressing down on me, I…”

“Do not worry,” Hanamizuki and Tsukimizake said in unison. “If that day really comes, even if we have to risk our lives, we will bring our brother-in-law home together.”

Jin Jianglang’s expression wavered, his eyes swirling with complex emotions.

That non-existent brother-in-law represented not only Little Xiang’s love but also the hope of all the youth in the family.

Although the Shiranui family was renowned throughout Fusang, their hopes were painfully minuscule compared to ordinary people. They simply wanted to witness true love within the Shiranui family, nothing more.

The figure of the Blind Maiden surfaced in Jin Jianglang’s mind.

‘Feelings…?’

‘She is just a Yokai. Is it not perfectly normal for her to lie and deceive people?’

‘Why do I care so much?’

‘Why is there this feeling of being deceived and played with in my heart?’

‘Was she lying when she ran shouting through the forest to save me?’

‘Was she also lying when she defended me in front of the Ootengu?’

‘She starved for so many days, yet she dropped that roasted fish and rushed out without hesitation. Was all of that really a lie?’

At this moment, another slender figure walked in from outside. His face was covered in bloody scabs. It was the Fire God.

“Brother, go take a look,” the Fire God said. “No matter what doubts you have in your heart, do not leave yourself with any regrets.”

“Fire God, you…”

The Fire God waved his hand. “I heard everything you all said. Brother, every senior in the family who has participated in the Assessment Trial eventually undergoes a drastic change in temperament. I don’t want you to be left with any regrets.”

…

Jin Jianglang set off with a restless heart.

He attached a Sky-Flying Talisman to himself and raced toward Hiezu Village at an incredible speed.

In his memory, it was a small village with at most a hundred people. Because it was so close to the Town of Tottori, no one would have ever expected a Yokai to appear there.

‘Did this Yokai really live there before?’

‘Could the people there have been completely oblivious to her abnormalities?’

After a four-hour journey, Jin Jianglang arrived at Hiezu Village.

Smoke curled from the chimneys of every neat house, and quite a few people were bustling about. It looked like nothing more than an ordinary village.

If there was anything setting it apart from other villages, it was the beautiful floral wreath hanging on every family’s door.

Woven from pink and yellow flowers, the craftsmanship of the wreaths was superb.

Furthermore, regardless of gender, all the villagers seemed to have tobacco pouches tucked into their waists. It appeared to be a village that thoroughly enjoyed smoking.

After landing, Jin Jianglang slowly walked forward. He noticed that the homeowner’s name was carved into every doorframe with a small knife, and the dirt roads were paved extremely smoothly.

He knew that if the Blind Maiden had truly departed from here, it was impossible for the villagers not to have seen her.

But where should he even begin asking?

Jin Jianglang walked along the rustic village paths. His attire caused quite a few people to stop and look back at him, but no one stepped forward to strike up a conversation.

“Cough, cough.” A middle-aged man sitting by the roadside puffing on a pipe coughed a few times and asked, “Are you a Lord Onmyoji?”

Jin Jianglang paused in surprise. He looked back at the villager and slowly offered a polite bow. “Old sir, I am indeed an Onmyoji. I have come here to get to the bottom of a certain matter.”

“What matter?” The old man raised his eyes and gave Jin Jianglang a cold look.

“Our intelligence network picked up a female Yokai leaving your village a few days ago. I want to know if she lived here.”

“A female Yokai?” The old man took a drag from his pipe and shook his head. “How is that possible? This is a human village. Why would a Yokai live here?”

This answer was no different from what Jin Jianglang had anticipated.

However, Jizo statues did not lie. They would form Talismans based on the scenes they captured, transmitting them back to the Shiranui family via red threads.

If the old man and the Jizo Bodhisattva statues were not lying, it was even less likely for Tsukimizake to lie.

The root of all these problems still lay with the Blind Maiden.

‘Could it be that she did not live here, but was merely passing through?’

‘But she had a bizarre appearance and was blind. Even if she was just passing through, it is impossible for her to go completely unnoticed.’

Jin Jianglang suddenly sensed something amiss. He turned his head and realized that all the surrounding villagers were staring intently at him right now, expressions of tension written on their faces.

Yet the moment he looked back, they all pretended nothing was wrong and went back to their own business.

“How bizarre,” Jin Jianglang muttered to himself.

“Lord Onmyoji, if you found that a Yokai passed through this village, shouldn’t you search in the direction she headed? Why come here?” the old man asked again.

“I…” Jin Jianglang paused. He really didn’t know how to explain it, so he could only say, “I am very curious about that Yokai, so I want to know what kind of person she was.”

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly, sizing up the young man before him with suspicion. He then said, “Please go back and tell your Patriarch that there really are no Yokai here. Tell him to stop coming here to investigate using a different excuse every time.”

‘Patriarch?’

Jin Jianglang shook his head. “Old sir, you misunderstand. This is not the Patriarch’s will. I am here on my own behalf.”

“On your own behalf?” The old man exhaled a puff of smoke. “No matter whose behalf you are on, if you want to find a Yokai, then go find one. Continually coming in and out of our village just for some blind female Yokai is rather inappropriate, isn’t it?”

Jin Jianglang did not know why the other party was so repulsed by him. All he could say was, “I am incredibly sorry. This is my first time coming here. If I have caused a disturbance, please forgive me.”

The old man nodded and added, “It is indeed a disturbance. I hope you people will not return.”

Jin Jianglang turned and walked three steps away before he thought of something, slowly coming to a halt.

He looked back, fixing his gaze on the old man, and enunciated every word clearly, “There is still one thing I do not understand. When did I ever say this female Yokai was blind?”