If the child answered, "Pretty," she would remove her mask and ask again, "How about now...?"
If the child answered, "Not pretty," she would kill them with a sickle or scissors. If they answered "pretty," she would cut open the child's mouth, making them as "pretty" as herself.
But at that moment, I suddenly answered, "You look pretty ordinary—not pretty, but not ugly either."
That answer left the Slit-Mouthed Woman completely flustered. She stared at me, hesitating as though she had fallen into a mental dead end.
For a moment, she stood there dumbfounded, confusion spreading across her face. She actually had no idea what to do.
I went around her and turned to leave. Asuka and Yun Ye followed behind me.
"You're incredible." Yun Ye looked at me with admiration. "How did you know the answer?"
"I just had nothing better to do than research it." My expression remained calm.
"Your answer was exactly right. Otherwise, another fierce battle would have been unavoidable. The Slit-Mouthed Woman is extremely difficult to deal with," Asuka said.
"So it's best to avoid her," I replied.
Only after we left did the Slit-Mouthed Woman regain her composure. Then she continued searching for her next prey.
Soon, she found a man. When she pulled off her mask, the man shouted frantically, "You're hideous!"
The next moment, the man was hacked into pieces. Standing atop his corpse, the Slit-Mouthed Woman muttered, "You really have no taste at all."
Hanako of the Toilet
After evading the Slit-Mouthed Woman, we continued onward. Yun Ye hovered around Asuka, fussing over her and asking if she was all right. Asuka, however, kept glancing at me from time to time.
As we chatted, we learned that Asuka was the daughter of a wealthy business magnate. She was also a shrine