Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 161

But......

Xiangzi rubbed his eyes.

Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, she had just seen what appeared to be a flower, a crystal-like flower, replacing the Seed of Lamentation in its place.

Now I can't see it at all.

Xiangzi's heart jumped into his throat.

It couldn't be an illusion; she must have just caught a glimpse of a flower at the location of the Seed of Lamentation.

The flower itself may not matter, or perhaps the turbidity within the gem just happens to form the shape of the flower, but what if it replaces the original position of the Seed of Lamentation, and the Seed of Lamentation disappears without a trace?

That would be a very serious problem.

When did this change happen? What does it represent? What will happen to me? Is it related to the Sea Witch? Or is it simply her own problem?

Suddenly, some problems that had been far away from me came back.

In an instant, cold sweat covered Liu Yi's (seven) back and even soaked his clothes.

She thought the Nirvana matter was over, that it should be finished, and that there wouldn't be anything afterward.

Is it not?

—“Xiang?”

Just then, Mu Wen's gentle voice relaxed Xiangzi's extremely tense nerves.

Mu placed his hand on Xiangzi's head and gently stroked Xiangzi's hair.

As his dilated pupils returned to normal, Xiangzi realized that everyone in the room was looking at him.

"Are you alright? You look very scared," Mu said softly.

"What happened? I saw you holding your Soul Gem and suddenly stop moving." Hai Ling crossed her arms and leaned against the sofa.

"...It's nothing, I just scared myself." Xiangzi shook his head, throwing away anything related to the flower that had appeared out of nowhere.

Whether I misread it or not, it hasn't affected me yet, so the current problem is more important.

"I'm wondering if I've consumed enough energy."

Xiangzi raised his head and looked at them.

"Have you brought enough Seeds of Lamentation? My ominous feeling is growing stronger; something really troublesome might happen later," Xiangzi said. "How much Seed of Lamentation do we have left?"

“After killing the money, it still had quite a lot of assets left, but I left most of them at home.” Miao Meng shrugged and sighed. “I thought I was just here for a trip, so I didn’t bring much. I only brought about five at most.”

"I still have three left," Mu said softly.

Two were used in yesterday's battle.

"Not quite enough. I only have six left, but actually, I only have two for myself." Xiangzi spread his hands, revealing several Seeds of Sorrow lying quietly in them. "I wasn't prepared enough."

“Don’t worry,” Hailing said. “I brought enough.”

"Even if we bring enough for one person, there won't be enough to go around." Miao Meng pouted. "This time, it'll probably be the same as when we dealt with Nirvana. Most of the people we kill are familiars, so there's no profit at all. If I hadn't gotten involved, I wouldn't have bothered with this kind of losing business. Humph."

“I mean, I brought all the Lament Seeds I’ve saved up.” Hailing lifted the small pouch at her waist, shook it, and the Lament Seeds inside jingled together. “It’s enough for all of us.”

"Huh?!" Miao Meng's eyes widened. "You brought them all?!"

"Better safe than sorry." Hai Ling casually tucked the small bag back into her waistband. "I always keep one on hand."

"That's good then." Xiangzi nodded in relief.

Having made thorough preparations, they suddenly ran out of things to talk about.

The reception room fell silent again.

Tick, tick, tick.

The clock hanging on the wall ticked.

"I'm saying, if there are some things you won't say, then I won't be polite."

Miaomeng walked to the window, opened it, and poked her head out, squinting as she looked at the setting sun, which was gradually turning blood red and exuding a strong sense of foreboding.

In the end, it was she who brought the topic up.

She pulled her head back, her voice returning to its deep, natural tone.

"Has Auntie been out for too long?"

......

squeak-

The door to the waiting room was pushed open from the inside.

Xiangzi was the first to come out from inside.

Sure enough, Lin was not seen outside the door. Almost an hour had passed since she said she was going to get some fruit, and the sun had already set, but she still hadn't returned.

There's no need for further speculation; the matter is now settled.

After it got dark, no more light came in from outside.

No, there are still some.

Blood-red sunlight streamed in through gaps in the dome, casting an ominous aura over the dim interior.

Tick, tick, tick.

That was the sound of dripping water.

Something seems to be dripping water in the planetarium.

Xiangzi sniffed, and beneath the scents of flowers, grass, and soil, a familiar fishy smell finally surfaced.

Deep inside the planetarium, there seemed to be a rustling sound coming from somewhere.

"In ancient times, the time of sunset was called the 'twilight hour,' a moment when the world of yokai and the world of humans overlapped."

Hailing, holding the katana at her waist, walked in front of Xiangzi and looked back at them.

The sunlight shone from the side, casting a triangular patch of light on her face, while the rest of her face was shrouded in darkness except for her eyes.

"This very moment is the moment of descent into demonhood."

====

P.S.: There will be another chapter later.

The Tale of the Lost: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 197 The Day of Breaking Free

The planetarium seems to have become very large.

Following the original path back led not to the exit, but to an even longer corridor, stretching endlessly into the distance. Even going back to find the way to the reception room resulted in a different route than before.

The space became chaotic; no matter which window you looked out of, you could see the exact same blood-red sunset.

They strolled around the planetarium, stopping and starting, with constant rustling sounds and an increasingly strong fishy smell.

Xiangzi frowned and looked up at the astronomical telescope in the center of the planetarium, which was covered with various plants.

No matter which way you go, you'll eventually come back here.

"We're trapped inside the witch's barrier," Xiangzi said.

"Sigh, I already knew this," Miaomeng waved her hand. "The key is how to get out of here."

"To leave the barrier, we need to kill the witch," Xiangzi said, deep in thought. "Otherwise, we need to find the 'door,' which is the entrance."

"Everyone knows this, isn't it obvious?" Meow Dream rolled her eyes. "The problem is how to find the door."

“What Xiang said isn’t nonsense,” Mu said in a low voice. “The key is the door.”

"When did it start, and where is the node to enter the barrier?" Hailing said. "The place where we enter the barrier is the door."

"From the moment we first stepped into the planetarium?" Meow Dream shrugged. "Aren't we just looking for that door we came through in the first place?"

"No, it's because we've been looking for the door we came in through that we can't find it."

Xiangzi rejected Miaomeng's guess, walked to the window, and pushed it out forcefully.

The window didn't move.

The sun was still setting outside.

"The windows here are fake; every window offers the same view, and they can't be opened."

As Xiangzi spoke, he recreated the M1911 and fired a shot at the window.

boom!

The bullet left a mark on the window, but it did not shatter the window.

"They are nothing more than the boundaries of a barrier that look like windows."

Xiangzi turned around and looked at Miaomeng.

"When you were in the reception room just now, were you able to open the window?"

Miao Meng blinked and thought about it carefully.

"It seems...it really is true?"

She suddenly felt as if she had been enlightened.

"Ah, since I was still able to open the window and look out at that time, it means that we hadn't been dragged into the witch's barrier when we were in the reception room. So the 'door' of the barrier must have been the wooden door of the reception room. Is that what you're trying to say, Xiangzi?"

"Hmm." Xiangzi sighed, "But the problem is, we can't find the door to the reception room either."

The route here keeps changing, and Xiangzi can't find any pattern. Even though she knows that the door to leave the barrier is the door to the reception room, she still can't find it.

Why didn't you say so earlier?

Miaomeng snapped her fingers, looking completely relaxed.

"That makes things much simpler. I remember where the door to the reception room is."

"You knew?" Xiangzi raised an eyebrow. "If you knew, why didn't you say so sooner?"

Miaomeng stuck out her tongue and scratched her hair.

“You didn’t ask, did you? I always thought the exit was the wooden door we came in through, so I didn’t pay any attention to the door to the reception room.”

"stare......"

Xiangzi's resentful gaze swept over Miaomeng.

Her complaining, petulant appearance didn't seem intimidating at all; instead, it made Miaomeng feel like she was teasing a cat.

"Hey, you didn't tell me the door to the reception room was the exit of the barrier!" Meow Dream turned her head away in exasperation. "I'll lead the way now, okay?"

Xiangzi crossed his arms and snorted.

"Lead the way."

she says.

......

Following Meow Dream through the intricate planetarium, we still encountered nothing along the way—no familiars, no witches. It seemed as if the witches created this barrier simply to trap them.

Xiangzi thought so too.

The barrier will be broken sooner or later; Lin's goal is probably just to buy some time.

But what's the point of dragging this out?

Is the target Chu Hua's side? Is the delay meant to prevent them from providing support?

This is also possible.

Xiangzi nodded, turning his attention back to the road.

She discovered that since following Miaomeng, they had indeed never gone back the way they came.

"Miao Mengzi, how did you remember the way?" Hailing suddenly asked.

That's exactly what Xiangzi wanted to ask.

Miaomeng walked ahead, shrugged, and said in a casual tone: