Xiao Xiao frowned slightly.
The hand the Pipa ghost had wrapped around the back of his clothes trembled again.
He looked at the man.
"Master Zhou."
Xiao Xiao's expression was cool.
"It's my friend."
"It's never hurt a human."
"Oh, you have a lot of friends."
Master Zhou didn't respond to Xiao Xiao's last comment.
He merely made a remark that sounded both admiring and mocking.
He meant it, too.
He was rather amazed by it.
He considered himself fairly well-traveled and knowledgeable.
But...
He really had never met anyone with so many monster friends.
His gaze turned a little strange.
What a strange young man.
Strange or not...
He was certainly a nuisance.
He was getting annoyed.
"Tsk!"
The hand in his trench coat pocket clenched.
But...
"For Senior Brother's sake..."
The clenched hand in his pocket relaxed.
If the young man went and complained to Senior Brother later, he'd have to put up with another long lecture.
Just thinking about Senior Brother's endless nagging gave him a headache.
Forget it.
He turned and left.
With the young man here, he'd let that monster go for now.
"...Never hurt anyone..."
The man sneered.
The rain struck his face, leaving a chill in its wake.
A moment later, he lowered his umbrella to shield himself from the slanting rain.
The long hem of his coat fluttered behind him.
"Just because it hasn't yet doesn't mean it won't."
"...A monster is still a monster..."
Even over the howling wind and pounding rain, Xiao Xiao clearly heard the man's parting words.
His expression didn't change.
He already knew how the man felt about monsters from their earlier encounters.
And he figured the man knew how he felt about them, too.
He turned around.
He reached out and took hold