After that, there really wasn't much else to say.
When the sun rose again, Duanmu Huai had already come down the mountain and returned to the town, where he found Sakuya. She had clearly been thrown into a panic by the terrifying earthquake and had even wanted to go back up the mountain to look for Duanmu Huai. Fortunately, he had returned in time and managed to calm her down.
As for everyone else asking what had happened on the mountain, Duanmu Huai simply said, "I don't know. I originally planned to take a look inside the cave, but before I even got there, an earthquake suddenly struck. So I just ran and ran all the way back."
No one suspected anything. After all, the earthquake had been so powerful that the situation on the mountain was bound to be even worse. The fact that Duanmu Huai had made it back alive was already a miracle. They weren't particularly concerned about anything else.
Duanmu Huai wasn't worried about being exposed, either. Although traces of his battle with the Drill Worm were scattered all over the mountain, so what? The actual culprit had melted away completely, without leaving even a single hair behind. Those traces could easily be blamed on the earthquake. Ordinary people would never think in that direction, would they?
What if someone noticed?
Give me a break. Can mortals even witness a confrontation between two mythological creatures? They'd go insane on the spot.
The rest was simple. The outside world naturally discovered what had happened here. The roads were cleared soon afterward, and supplies began to arrive as disaster relief and reconstruction got underway—of course, none of that had anything to do with Duanmu Huai and the others. Once the roads were open, Duanmu Huai drove Sakuya away