Han Zhiqi thought, Sure enough, that old man told her everything.
It would have been fine if she had not mentioned it, but the moment she did, Han Zhiqi grew even more annoyed. Still, he knew he could not blame Shinobu Kocho. In the end, he had simply overthought things.
"Turn around. I need to change."
Han Zhiqi bent down to pick up the coarse linen clothes from the bluestone slab, then looked up at Shinobu Kocho. His tone was no longer quite as cold.
The faint scent of wisteria drifting from Shinobu Kocho seemed to possess some magical power that bewitched him.
"Here, I brought these for you."
Shinobu Kocho took a bag from behind her and held it out to Han Zhiqi. Inside were the clothes he had worn when he first came up the mountain, including that white haori, now freshly washed.
Han Zhiqi froze for a moment. He looked at the coarse linen clothes in his hands, then at the bag Shinobu Kocho held out, but did not take it. Casually, he said, "You went up the mountain? Why did you bring these down?" Lowering his head, he continued pulling on the coarse linen outfit.
"Why are you still wearing those rough clothes?"
"I still have training tonight. That outfit is inconvenient. What exactly did you come for? You did not come all this way just to deliver clothes, did you?"
As Han Zhiqi tied a rope around his waist and chatted with Shinobu Kocho, he changed into the coarse linen clothes, looking every bit like a mountain farmer.
Seeing how Han Zhiqi looked, Shinobu Kocho could not help herself. Covering her mouth, she giggled sweetly.
"I have to say, it suits you quite well. As expected of Mr. Aoyanagi's disciple—you are becoming more and more like him. The Mount Fujikasane selection is the day after tomorrow. I have already spoken with Mr. Aoyanagi, so I will take you back to the Butterfly Mansion tonight. You can rest tomorrow, prepare the things you need for the selection, and I can remove the stitches from your wounds while I am at it."
So that was it. Han Zhiqi raised his head and looked toward the mountaintop.
During his time training on White Dragon Mountain, the old man had taken great care of him. Especially during the first two weeks, when his body had been weak, the old man had helped him with everything from food and drink to his daily needs.
Now that it was finally time to part ways, he actually felt a little reluctant. Even if he had to leave, he should at least say goodbye. Leaving without a word made him feel truly guilty, though he knew the old man would not care about such things.
"You go back first. I will head to the Butterfly Mansion on my own in a while." With that, Han Zhiqi started walking toward the mountaintop.
Shinobu Kocho called out from behind him in time.
"If you are going up the mountain to say goodbye to Mr. Aoyanagi, there is no need. Mr. Aoyanagi asked me to pass along a message."
Han Zhiqi stopped. "What message?"
Shinobu Kocho cleared her throat, pinched her throat, lifted her chin, and imitated Lang Beiwei's way of speaking. With an arrogant expression, she pointed at the ground with faint disdain and said gruffly, "Little Butterfly, tell that rude brat there is no rice left on the mountain. After he passes, remember to buy a sack of rice and bring it up. If he fails, then do not come up and waste food."
"Pfft—haha!" Before she could even finish, Shinobu Kocho amused herself. She laughed so hard that she swayed back and forth, nearly crying, then hurriedly waved her hand.
"Oh my, you men really are strange. Even a few words of concern have to be said in such obscure, roundabout ways. I simply cannot understand you."
Shinobu Kocho was having a grand time, but Han Zhiqi was embarrassed beyond belief, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
That damn old man! What utter nonsense!
"Stop talking nonsense. Who said I was going up there to say goodbye to him? I was... I was..."
Han Zhiqi stammered for a long time, unable to explain himself.
Yet Shinobu Kocho refused to let him off. She circled around him and kept asking, seemingly determined to watch him lose his temper and make a fool of himself.
"What was it? What was it? Who would have thought our Xiao Qi was the cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside type?"
"Who... who is cold on the outside and warm on the inside? There is no talking sense with you."
Han Zhiqi hurried down the mountain, wanting only to get as far away from this strange woman as possible.
"Oh my, he is embarrassed now."
The sounds of their laughter and playful bickering drifted through the forest.
At the mountaintop, Lang Beiwei stood alone in the cold wind with his hands behind his back. Darkness slowly crawled across the sky before finally shrouding the land below.
Darkness needed a light to guide the way, and to Han Zhiqi, he was that light.
A trainer was the light for every newcomer.
By the time Han Zhiqi returned to the Butterfly Mansion, it was already midnight. Everyone else had gone to sleep, which suited him just fine and spared them all the awkwardness of meeting face-to-face.
Those chattering women did not like him, and he did not like them either. But there was one exception: Kanao Tsuyuri.
Han Zhiqi rather wanted to know how Kanao Tsuyuri had been doing lately. While he had been away, had she found some other interesting toy?
To avoid the inconvenience of having him live with the other girls, Shinobu Kocho deliberately brought Han Zhiqi to the rear courtyard.
The rear courtyard was where she usually conducted her experiments. Only she lived there, so it was comparatively quiet.
Han Zhiqi's room was next door to Shinobu Kocho's. It appeared to have been cleaned earlier that day, with a few simple pieces of furniture neatly arranged inside, along with a brand-new set of toiletries.
Shinobu Kocho set the bag of clothes by the bedside, told him to rest early, then turned and left the room.
Taking in everything around him, Han Zhiqi felt an inexplicable wave of emotion. He did not know whether this woman treated only him this way, or whether she treated every Demon Slayer Corps member this way.
Without the fierce mountain winds or the old man's thunderous snoring, Han Zhiqi actually felt a little unaccustomed to it. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a while, then adjusted his breathing and continued practicing "Total Concentration: Constant." Before long, he drifted into sleep.
The next morning, Han Zhiqi continued the routine he had kept on the mountaintop.
He got up at five in the morning, put on his coarse linen clothes, and went out for a run. Without any weights to carry, he casually found a stone of roughly the right weight in the courtyard and strapped it to his back.
Fortunately, it was still early and there were not many pedestrians on the road. Even so, he drew plenty of pointing and whispering, as though some lunatic from a village had escaped.
It was not until six thirty that Han Zhiqi returned to the Butterfly Mansion. As he pushed open the courtyard gate, he happened to run into Xiao Qing, who was sweeping the yard.
At first, Xiao Qing thought he was someone sent by the garbage yard to collect trash. She called out to him twice, but when no one answered, she realized that head of silver hair looked familiar.
When she stepped closer and saw Han Zhiqi's flushed, sweat-covered face, as well as the huge stone on his back, she froze on the spot.
Miss Shinobu had said a new resident would be coming to the Butterfly Mansion. Could that new resident be him?
Under Xiao Qing's stunned gaze, Han Zhiqi put the stone from his back back where it had been, then habitually dusted off his hands and headed toward the rear courtyard.
Xiao Qing was left standing there alone, clutching her broom in utter confusion.
Not long after, the other two arrived beside Xiao Qing, each carrying their own tools.
"Why are you spacing out? Thinking about some handsome guy again?"
"What handsome guy? That person is back."
"That person? Which person?"
"The one who called us idiots. I just saw him walk into the courtyard carrying a huge stone. That very stone."
"Carrying a stone? Why would he carry such a huge stone?"
"Could something really be wrong with his head? Did he come back here to recover?"
"Is this really the time to discuss that? The point is, he is back!"
"..."
The three of them no longer cared about sweeping. They began chattering all at once.
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