"I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" mixed with the uneasiness of potentially being discovered and the self-blame of failing her guard duties, Miyamoto Yayako's breathing became involuntarily rapid. Her eyes shone in the darkness with a strong light resembling flashlights. At this moment, she was but a single step away from the tightly closed door of the Branch Hall entrance; she only needed to reach out to touch the door handle.
It was precisely at the moment she extended her hand that Miyamoto Yayako suddenly felt a sharp gust of foul wind attacking from behind.
"?!!"
Her unsightly state of peculiar excitement faded, and her martial artist's instincts awakened instantly. Miyamoto Yayako's gaze returned to sharpness.
She swiftly turned around, reaching out to grab the attacker's wrist. However, she had not anticipated that the attacker would see through her intentions the instant they engaged. With a flip of the palm, the attacker evaded her grappling move and printed a palm strike straight onto her chest—her empty door that was wide open.
"Wu!" Too late to even let out a cry of surprise, Miyamoto Yayako immediately felt a massive force transmit from her chest, followed by a weightless sensation as the world spun around her.
After adjusting her posture in mid-air and landing steadily, Miyamoto Yayako felt no sense of relief; instead, her heart was filled with shock.
In a single exchange, she had been directly defeated and thrown through the air!
Cold sweat dripped down her face. Miyamoto Yayako looked with full alertness toward Bai Zishu, who had suddenly attacked her from behind.
Although she didn't quite understand what had happened in the few short minutes she led the team to hug the wall, Miyamoto Yayako knew that the Bai Zishu standing before them was now a completely different person.
"Do not take another step forward."
The black pupils in those naturally seductive peach-blossom eyes had been replaced by bright silver. With a beckon of her pale hand, a white silk ribbon hung with silver bells hovered in the air like a snake.
"Bai... Vixen?" Luo Ziyan stared blankly at Bai Zishu, who seemed like a stranger in an instant, her tone carrying a tremble of disbelief.
"Trespassers will be killed." Mechanically repeating her previous words, a killing intent so sharp it stung the skin surged out from the frost-covered beauty's body.
"Bai Zishu! What are you doing?!" Seeing that the hard-headed Luo Ziyan was about to charge forward, Yukikawa Yukie, who seemed to have realized something from the side, hurriedly hugged Luo Ziyan, hoisted her onto her shoulder, and ran like mad.
"Sister Miyamoto, retreat first!"
"...Okay." Miyamoto Yayako nodded hesitantly, maintaining a posture facing Bai Zishu as she slowly retreated.
It wasn't until they retreated around the corner, where Bai Zishu's gaze could no longer be felt, that Miyamoto Yayako's tense muscles relaxed. Immediately, cold sweat poured down her back.
"Yukie, what on earth is going on with Miss Bai?" Those silver-white eyes void of any emotion, and the oppression that felt tangible when being stared at—Miyamoto Yayako even felt that it was not the existence of a 'human'.
Yukikawa Yukie put down Luo Ziyan, who was no longer impulsive after being carried away, and let out a long breath. "I once followed the Great Miko of the shrine to Nasuno Shrine and had the fortune to see someone in the same condition as Miss Bai."
"That person known as the [Miko of Heaven's Gift], Tennyo Hagoromo."
"I've heard of her. There are rumors within the IGO that she is a top talent secretly cultivated and hidden by your five great shrines. She not only possesses Qilin-level culinary arts but also possesses combat abilities comparable to a Gold Medal Gourmet Hunter." Miyamoto Yayako quickly recalled the information that had spread like wildfire within the IGO shortly after she became an investigator.
"No, Sister Miyamoto, you've misunderstood one thing."
"Nasuno Shrine exists independently of the five great shrines. Moreover, it is impossible for our five great shrines to join forces to cultivate a single successor."
"Lady Tennyo Hagoromo's achievements rely entirely on her talents."
"From the moment she was born, she could converse with people. As her body grew, this ability began to extend beyond humans to animals, plants, and even ingredients."
"Communicate with ingredients?!" Miyamoto Yayako suddenly remembered that when she tasted Mo Bai's roasted quail at noon, there seemed to be a voice constantly talking to itself beside her.
Thinking about it now, wasn't that precisely Bai Zishu's voice?
"Are you saying..." The look of disbelief on Miyamoto Yayako's face was palpable.
"Yes, I'm afraid that isn't God's Ear. What Miss Bai possesses is the same ability as the [Miko of Heaven's Gift], Tennyo Hagoromo."
"[Divine Favor]: able to communicate with everything in the world. [Divine Possession]: a god resides within their bodies."
"Miss Bai's current state... I'm afraid this is the only explanation."
"A god? Does that kind of thing really exist?" Miyamoto Yayako felt her worldview was on the verge of shattering. She didn't believe in things like gods, but her martial artist's intuition reminded her that the Bai Zishu standing over there at this moment truly could not be defined as human.
"Can we drive it out?" Luo Ziyan, who had been silent, opened her mouth only to suggest starting a fight.
"!" Miyamoto Yayako shifted her gaze to Luo Ziyan.
Thinking about it carefully, just because she couldn't win alone didn't mean the three of them together couldn't win.
"God-slaying?" Miyamoto Yayako felt a faint stirring of temptation. She still remembered the encounter of being disarmed at noon and being thrown with a single move just now. "Can we do it?"
Facing the eager, questioning eyes of the two, Yukikawa Yukie's heart couldn't help but tremble.
Mommy, what kind of people are these! Their heads are too iron (stubborn)!
"Uh... that was just a metaphor! A metaphor!" Yukikawa Yukie said hurriedly. "It's not that there really is a god residing in their bodies, it's just saying they enter a state that transcends the human form."
To prevent the two reckless blockheads from charging in, Yukikawa Yukie hastily voiced her conjecture.
"I'm afraid Miss Bai is revealing such a state because Senior Mo Bai is currently conducting a Divine Festival."
"Divine Festival?"
"Yes, Tennyo Hagoromo takes on this form during the Divine Festival. I remember it very clearly." Yukikawa Yukie nodded vigorously to increase her persuasiveness.
"After Senior finishes, Miss Bai will return to normal."
"So now, we wait?" Luo Ziyan poked her head out to glance at Bai Zishu, who stood quietly at the door without moving.
"Mn."
"..." Luo Ziyan nodded, sat down leaning against the wall, and closed her eyes.
Pine Crane Hall.
Ryougi Shiki, who was petting the little cutie Dagenzi, raised her eyebrows slightly, casting her gaze toward the tightly closed main doors.
"Dessert: Green Crown. Completed!" Mo Bai served the final dessert of the Forgiveness Set.
The three little ones sitting in a row around Ryougi Shiki let out cries of surprise, and then, in the blink of an eye, the syrup cupcakes on the plates were swept clean.
After Huaouzi, Dagenzi, and Hotarugusa finished the set meal, the sparkling big eyes of the three were still fixed tightly on Mo Bai.
Mo Bai profoundly felt what it meant to have half-grown lolis eating a chef out of house and home. Five dishes with increased portions went down into the three little ones' flat bellies without causing the slightest bulge.
"Are you guys still not full?"
The three lolis shook their heads in unison, creating afterimages.
Employees abducted to farm the fields ultimately had to be fed by himself.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Sauerkraut Fish! Three big portions!" The flames of hunger burned furiously in the eyes of the three little ones.
"...Should I praise the attraction of Hua nation cuisine, or should I praise your appetites?" Mo Bai held his forehead, his gaze drifting toward Ryougi Shiki.
"Shiki-san? Is there something at the door?" Mo Bai felt Ryougi Shiki's distraction was quite strange.
"It's nothing, I just feel that magical events always happen around Mo Bai-kun~" Ryougi Shiki gently tucked her beautiful hair behind her ear, her eyes twinkling.
"?" Mo Bai, whose heartbeat had accelerated somewhat, didn't understand why.
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