This was a small fishing village by the sea, on the outskirts of the Land of Rivers.
It was clearly dusk, yet the village was deathly quiet. There was not even any smoke rising from cooking fires.
In a rundown little courtyard, a girl who looked only four or five years old lifted her head, a mist gathering in her dark eyes.
"Big Brother, when will Father and Mother come back?"
Standing beside the little girl was a skinny boy with neat short hair and sun-darkened skin.
At his sister's words, a flicker of anger crossed the boy's eyes, followed by deep desolation.
But before his sister, he quickly hid his emotions. Reaching out to rub her head, he smiled and said:
"Don't worry. Father and Mother just went fishing. They'll be back soon."
"Really?"
The little girl suddenly perked up, looking at her brother with anticipation.
The boy could only force out a smile. "Of course."
"Cough, cough, cough."
A bout of hoarse coughing interrupted the siblings' conversation.
It was their grandfather.
An elderly man in ragged cloth clothes, his body hunched over, emerged from the low earthen house.
His body seemed rusted, a bent skeleton supporting dark, rough skin covered in wrinkles.
Leaning on his cane, the old man said hoarsely, "Mori, Rin, come inside and eat."
The boy's name was Shiraishi Mori.
Hearing his grandfather, Shiraishi Mori stood up and took his sister's hand, preparing to head home.
"Caw, caw."
Suddenly, a dense barrage of harsh bird cries rang out.
Then, a vast flock of black crows flew overhead before swiftly scattering and descending toward the little fishing village.
One of the crows happened to land on a dead tree in the Shiraishi Family's courtyard.
The light of the setting sun spilled slantwise across the yard like blood.
"Caw, caw."
"There seem to be a lot more crows in the village today."
Shiraishi Mori looked at the crow grooming its feathers atop the dead tree.
Grandfather glanced at the crow before looking away, muttering indistinctly, "Too many crows are no good omen."
With that, he turned to enter the earthen house.
At that moment, two black figures emerged from the sunset.
The sunset over the sea was crimson as blood.
Shiraishi Mori stared at the two figures in a daze, as though he were watching two people walk out of a sea of blood.
"You two, get inside!"
Grandfather's expression suddenly turned grave.
Shiraishi Mori and Shiraishi Rin did not dare disobey him and hurried into the house.
As the two figures drew nearer, their voices became clearer as well.
"Damn it, Simu, I'm starving!"
Hidan clutched his rumbling stomach and complained endlessly.
"I think I could eat an entire cow right now!"
Simu glanced at him and said flatly, "Shut up, or I'll cut off your head and make sure you can't eat anything."
Hearing that, Hidan instinctively touched his neck.
He did enjoy the sensation of having Simu cut off his head, but that could wait until after he ate.
Simu had no idea about Hidan's perverted thoughts and walked straight toward the courtyard.
"Excuse me, could we have a meal here?"
Simu looked at the old man standing at the courtyard gate and asked politely.
Leaning on his cane, the old man said shakily, "Of course. Please, come in."
His frail body laboriously moved aside, making way for Simu and Hidan to enter the courtyard.
Hidan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Didn't expect an old man like you to be so accommodating."
Simu glanced at Hidan. This guy really had no idea what courtesy was.
Like some lord, Hidan strode into the Shiraishi Family's courtyard and went straight inside.
The house was tiny. After returning indoors, Shiraishi Rin had been hidden beneath the bed by her brother.
Thus, the only one before Hidan was the skinny Shiraishi Mori.
Lord Hidan had never been interested in children. He sat directly on a wooden bench and shouted carelessly, "Hey, old man, I like fried pork cutlets. Hurry up and make some."
Shiraishi Mori was just about to say something when he saw his grandfather give him a look. The old man then rubbed his hands together and said respectfully, "Certainly, honored guests. I'll prepare it right away."
Then he turned to Shiraishi Mori. "Mori, come help me prepare it!"
"Yes, Grandfather."
Shiraishi Mori's gaze remained fixed on Hidan. Only after staring for quite some time did he run toward the kitchen.
At that moment, Simu slowly stepped into the house as well.
The furnishings were simple: a bed, a table, and some torn fishing nets and rusted fishing tools hanging on the dusty walls. There was nothing else.
Very... clean.
In the kitchen, Shiraishi Mori watched his grandfather slaughtering a pig and asked in confusion, "Grandfather, why do we have to kill this little pig for those two?"
This was the Shiraishi Family's last pig, and it was still a piglet, just beginning to put on meat. Killing it now was such a waste.
Holding a butcher's knife, Grandfather killed the piglet without hesitation and said seriously to Shiraishi Mori, "You must never provoke those two."
"If I'm not mistaken, they should be people from the Jashin Cult."
"The Jashin Cult?"
Shiraishi Mori's face was full of confusion.
Grandfather nodded grimly. "It's a cult that worships Jashin and is particularly fond of blood sacrifices. Five or six years ago, the people of the Jashin Cult massacred the neighboring Baiyu Village."
Grandfather's hands paused, as though he had recalled that slaughter from five or six years ago.
Shiraishi Mori's face turned somewhat pale, and his skinny fist slowly clenched.
Before he knew it, his voice had become hoarse.
"What are they doing here?"
Faced with his grandson's question, the aged grandfather could only shake his head.
"How could people like us possibly know what they want to do?"
"But I suspect it has something to do with Sakamoto Trading Company."
At the mention of Sakamoto Trading Company, Shiraishi Mori immediately clenched his teeth, a savage expression appearing on his face.
Seeing this, Grandfather sighed.
"Mori, I know you've always been unable to let go of what happened to your parents, but an enormous force like Sakamoto Trading Company is not something we can fight."
"Then are we just supposed to let them take Father and Mother away?"
Shiraishi Mori clenched his fists, barely able to control his emotions.
"Sigh."
Grandfather said nothing more. He simply cleaned and cut up the piglet, whose struggling breaths were gradually fading.
Since the family did not have enough oil, Grandfather could only discuss it with Hidan and change the fried pork cutlets into grilled pork cutlets.
Shiraishi Mori watched the suckling pig roasting on the rack, feeling strangely miserable.
What difference was there between himself and this pig tied to a rack and roasted?
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