"So, there's a demon inside this pretty crystal, is that right?" Hinagiku glanced at the Mystic Crystal in Wu Yan's hand. When Isumi's mother nodded, she quickly shuffled to the side.
"..." Seeing Hinagiku's reaction, Wu Yan could not help rolling his eyes, earning an angry glare from her.
Pinching the Mystic Crystal fragment in his hand, Wu Yan pondered. He did not understand why the system had issued a quest to collect crystals that sealed demons.
Although he did not know why, Wu Yan decided not to dwell on it. After all, anyone might harm him, but this system definitely would not. It was not as if Wu Yan had never considered that someone might be controlling the system from behind the scenes, but after feeling things out for a while, he had let the matter go.
If it had wanted to harm him, it could have done so when he first transmigrated. Why wait until now?
Therefore, whether the system's quests were good or bad, at the very least, they could not be dangerous to him. Otherwise, the system would not issue such quests.
Well... although the system had already issued quite a few quests that put Wu Yan in danger...
Looking at the crystal fragment in his hand, Wu Yan sighed. "I really never expected there to be a demon inside this..."
"That's right. Back then, because of it, both demons and humans suffered devastating losses. But because it killed the Demon King and the Demon King's subordinates, humans were able to maintain the advantage over demons that they have today."
At this point, Isumi's mother seemed a little uneasy. "Even now, this demon has a tremendous influence. Countless demons, just like the Demon King back then, covet its flesh and blood. If they sense the crystal's aura, those demons will definitely come looking for it."
Wu Yan froze at her words, then clenched his teeth.
No wonder... no wonder those ghosts and monsters had attacked one after another since yesterday. So this was the reason. Damn it, he really wanted to hit someone...
It was no wonder Wu Yan harbored such deep resentment. Anyone who got attacked dozens of times in one night, forced to crawl back up and kill demons whenever they were just about to fall asleep, would be annoyed.
Shaking his head, Wu Yan looked at Isumi's mother and said seriously, "Then, Lady Luzhinomiya, do you know where the other crystal is?"
"Wait..." Hinagiku was startled and hurriedly grabbed Wu Yan. "You really want to assemble that crystal? There's a demon inside it!"
Wu Yan scratched his head and spread his hands. "A demon? I know. It's not like this is my first time encountering one..."
"Then why do you still want to put it together? It may look beautiful, but it sounds incredibly dangerous. You should just throw it away." Looking at the crystal in Wu Yan's hand, what had once seemed like a beautiful crystal now looked no less terrifying than a flood beast to Hinagiku. She spoke with concern.
Wu Yan's eyes shifted, and he chuckled before suddenly tossing the crystal at Hinagiku. "What? Scared?"
Hinagiku was greatly startled and cried out. In a fluster, she threw the crystal back at him, then glared at him furiously.
That bastard, didn't he know she was scared...
"Relax, I'm here..." Seeing that Hinagiku was genuinely afraid, Wu Yan softened and stopped teasing her, offering a word of comfort.
The anger gradually faded from Hinagiku's face. She rolled her eyes at Wu Yan, snorted, and turned away.
Taking Hinagiku's hand, Wu Yan said helplessly, "All right, don't be angry. I have a reason why I absolutely must collect it all. You'll understand later. Be good, okay?"...
Hearing Wu Yan soothe her as though he were coaxing his girlfriend, the anger in Hinagiku's heart dissipated. Blushing slightly, she squeezed the hand holding hers before finally pulling free.
This tsundere...
Ever since the little commotion began, Isumi's mother had been watching from the side with great interest. She looked at Wu Yan, then at Hinagiku, her gaze shifting back and forth between them.
Seeing her mother's behavior, Isumi, who usually hated getting lost, now sincerely complained in her heart. Why had she not gotten lost at a time like this? If she had, she would not have brought Mr. Wu Yan and Miss Hinagiku here, and it would not be so embarrassing. Mother, honestly...
Once Wu Yan and Hinagiku finished their little exchange, Isumi's mother smiled and said, "You two are a couple, aren't you? You have such a good relationship. It's so enviable. Back then, Isumi's father and I..."
Hearing Isumi's mother start to go off on a tangent, and on such an embarrassing topic at that, Hinagiku turned red all the way to her neck and shouted, "No, ma'am, we... we're not a couple, not a couple! I'm just... just... just his older sister, that's all! Yes, that's right!..."
Ah~~~ this tsundere. Well, he had already said that once, so he would not complain again.
Perhaps Isumi's mother was simply used to going off on tangents. They had clearly been discussing demons just moments ago, yet now she was enthusiastically recounting her love story. She even forgot things midway through saying them and had to repeat herself, leaving even the blushing Hinagiku at a loss.
Helplessly, Wu Yan said, "Then, Lady Luzhinomiya, do you know where the other piece of this crystal is?"
"Oh my, you don't know this, but Isumi's father was actually very cute too. He..."
"..."
He raised his head to look at the sky, only to see a massive ceiling. Hinagiku beside him did the same, though when the Student Council President made that gesture, she looked far cuter than Wu Yan did.
"Mother!" Isumi reached out with both hands, grabbed her mother's hand, and gave it a hard tug. Only then did she pull Isumi's mother out of her trip down memory lane. Wu Yan and Hinagiku looked at Isumi gratefully, feeling that they were the ones who needed saving more.
Afraid that Isumi's mother would go off on another tangent, Wu Yan quickly clapped his hands hard to draw her attention. Wearing an expression barely better than crying, he softly said, "Um... Lady Luzhinomiya, do you know where the other crystal is?"
"I do..."
All right, that was direct enough...
The sudden turn of events left everyone present except Isumi's mother unable to react. Even Wu Yan, who usually only annoyed others, felt no joy at hearing the answer he wanted. Instead, his chest felt blocked, and the discomfort was indescribable.
Wu Yan let out a long breath. As he did, he heard someone else exhale as well. Turning to Hinagiku, he saw her looking back at him, and both their eyes were filled with tragedy.
"Please tell me, Lady Luzhinomiya. Where is the other crystal?"
Wu Yan spoke each word slowly and seriously. If the other party had not been an elder, he would have kicked her into outer space long ago, then dragged her back and gotten the answer he wanted his own way—through torture, for example...
"The sealing crystal, also known as the Mystic Crystal, was split into two pieces by the head of the Exorcist Clan who presided over the sealing ritual back then, in order to prevent that powerful demon from ever escaping and harming people. One piece was placed in the family's collection, while the other was used as the core of another sealing ritual."
Isumi's mother stopped there and smiled at Wu Yan.
Wu Yan froze, then said uncertainly, "The core of another sealing ritual? Could it be...?"...
"That's right. It was the seal of the Heavy Yin Land—the underground hall beneath the Old School Building of Hakuhou Academy!"
Wu Yan suddenly understood.
So that was it. No wonder there had been so many monsters in the underground hall beneath the Old School Building. It turned out that place was a Heavy Yin Land.
A Heavy Yin Land was a place with the densest yin energy. It was only natural for it to attract so many ghosts and monsters, even ghosts at the level of a Ghost Leader.
No wonder so many monsters had remained inside Hakuhou Academy without anyone noticing—not even Isumi. Those monsters had not emerged to attack humans either. It turned out it was all because of this crystal's seal.
Although some details remained unexplained, such as why a Mystic Crystal fragment had appeared in his hand after he killed the Ghost Leader, Wu Yan did not intend to investigate further. He would just assume the system had stored the Mystic Crystal fragment as monster loot.
After coming to that realization, Wu Yan's expression turned serious again. "Then the other Mystic Crystal is in the possession of this Exorcist Clan, or one of its descendants?"
"That's right..."
"Then where exactly is it?" Wu Yan hurriedly asked.
"It's right here with me!"
"Could you say that again?"
"I'm saying it's right here with me..."
As Isumi's mother finished speaking, she took a crystal identical to the one in Wu Yan's hand from her pocket and held it out before him.
"..." Wu Yan rubbed his aching brow.
For some reason, instead of feeling happy at finding this crystal, Wu Yan felt thoroughly cheated. Utterly cheated!
How should he put it? It just felt like such an anticlimax.
Patting his face, Wu Yan walked over to Isumi's mother and sincerely said, "Lady Luzhinomiya, could you please give me this crystal? It is very important to me."
"Sure..."
"..."
All right, Wu Yan admitted that although he had developed a little resistance, he was still inevitably stunned by that answer.
"In that case, thank you very much, ma'am!" Even as he sighed to the heavens in his heart, Wu Yan sincerely thanked Isumi's mother. After all, she had helped him tremendously and had not made things difficult for him.
Just as Wu Yan was about to take the crystal, a delicate shout suddenly rang out. Though it was not loud, it startled everyone present—well, only Wu Yan and Hinagiku were startled. Isumi merely looked toward the source with her usual airheaded expression, while Isumi's mother continued absentmindedly trying to place the crystal in Wu Yan's hand.
A figure flashed past at high speed. Before Wu Yan could react, the crystal that had been handed to him vanished.
Wu Yan hurriedly looked over, and his expression immediately became awkward.
"Grandmother, why did you come out?" Isumi asked the newcomer with a puzzled expression.
"Grand... Grandmother..." Hinagiku stared at the newcomer in astonishment, the corner of her mouth twitching.
It was no wonder Wu Yan and Hinagiku reacted that way. The newcomer had snow-white hair, stood less than one meter forty tall, and possessed an incomparably delicate face. She looked like a little girl in her teens.
Yet Isumi had called this little girl Grandmother. How could Hinagiku possibly remain calm? Wu Yan had known already, of course, but he had not expected her to jump out now.
"Isumi's mother, how can you give something so dangerous to an outsider? What if a demon breaks the seal? What then..." The little girl jumped up and down as she spoke.
"Oh my." Isumi's mother smiled faintly. "Wu Yan is a good child. He won't do anything reckless."
The little girl called Grandmother looked at Isumi's mother with an expression of exasperation. "Who knows whether he's pretending? What if you get fooled?"
"He won't."
"No, I absolutely refuse to agree! Not unless I'm dead!" The little girl angrily turned her head away.
Wu Yan could not help getting a headache. After all, he could not just snatch it by force...
However, Isumi's mother merely smiled and said to her, "Would you still refuse if we asked him to help us with that matter?"
Wu Yan clearly saw Grandmother's eyes light up the moment Isumi's mother mentioned "help us with that matter." She looked at Wu Yan and cried out in delight, "Fine! It's a deal!"
"..."
Hadn't she said she absolutely refused?... Hadn't she said not unless she was dead?
Before you continue