Flame Markings

"Onii-chan, have you defeated all the enemies?" Jingūji Maki asked. The little girl had kept her eyes closed from the beginning, Qing Chen didn't let her see a single drop of blood.

"Yes, we defeated them all."

The little girl recalled everything that had happened that night.

First, a group of people rushed into her hot spring hotel to take her away. Her grandmother struggled to get up and try to save her, but was pushed to the ground.

Then, those people became like monsters, and no one could do anything about them.

At that time, the little girl was actually in despair; she felt that no one could save her.

But the moment Qing Chen appeared, everything changed. This older brother simply and gently told her to close her eyes, and then all those arrogant Mysterious Affairs Department members vanished into thin air.

There were no intense battles, no complicated plots, unlike Ultraman's arduous fights against monsters. It was as if he snapped his fingers and all the enemies were gone...

It's like the gods who live in seclusion in the Takamanohara divine realm, as depicted in the myths that unfold annually at Shirakawa-go- shin-ji Temple.

Jingūji Maki asked, "Onii-chan, are you a god who lives in Takamanohara?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment and answered honestly, "No, if I had the chance, I might destroy that 'Amaterasu Omikami' in your Takamanohara."

Jingūji Maki opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time...

Amaterasu Omikami is the legendary ruling goddess of Takamanohara, the goddess of the sun.

"Just kidding," Qing Chen said.

Jingūji Maki: "Huh?"

Qing Chen: "If I really had that chance, how could I only destroy Amaterasu Omikami? I would definitely destroy them all."

Jingūji Maki: "..."

Looking at the flames engulfing Shirakawa-go -go in the distance, Qing Chen calmly said, "Xiao Zhenji, those who came to capture you are the ones who call themselves gods. In my opinion, they have no reason to continue existing."

Since its inception, the Mysterious Affairs Department has consistently associated itself with Takamanohara, implying that they are messengers of the gods, and even promoting certain Chosen One as reincarnations of gods.

This move also attracted countless Shinto believers.

Jingūji Maki and said, "Onii-chan must hate bad people, right?"

The two returned to Shirakawa-go, where the little girl clung to her grandmother and cried for a long time until her voice became hoarse.

Although Qing Chen had to leave as soon as possible, he did not stop them, after all, they were the little girl's only family.

After an unknown amount of time, Jingūji Maki got up and wiped away her tears. She didn't beg Qing Chen, but instead went to find matches and set the entire hot spring inn ablaze.

This is the hot spring inn that my grandmother ran her whole life. Now that she's gone, let the hot spring inn accompany her on her journey.

Qing Chen looked at Jingūji Maki, he suddenly noticed that the little girl's expression gradually calmed down after she lit the hot spring inn herself.

At one point, he felt like he was looking at his younger self.

The day his parents divorced, he made up his mind to tell his mother that he wanted to continue living with his father, and he did so afterward.

Qing Chen's heart stirred.

He suddenly grabbed Jingūji Maki's pulse point, and his Knight True Qi surged forth, his Breathing Technique sweeping across the area like flames.

Jingūji Maki looked up at Qing Chen in surprise. "Onii-chan, what's wrong? I feel a warm current flowing into my arm and then into my heart."

The little girl's eyes were like a pool of autumn water in Jiuzhaigou, clear and lively.

This time, it was Qing Chen's turn to be stunned, because under the firelight of the hot spring inn, Flame Markings were clearly visible on the little girl's face, a unique mark of the Knight's Breathing Technique.

The problem is, the little girl didn't engage in Heart's Inquiry.

The little girl did not feel any pain.

Or perhaps, the other person's mind is so pure that... they don't need to go through any of that to easily cross the threshold of Heart's Inquiry.

More importantly, the little girl has never been to the Inner World and should still be bound by the rules of the Outer World, making it impossible for her to become an extraordinary being!

What's going on?

Qing Chen frowned. Could it be that he had encountered a true Chosen One?

Wait, or maybe I've encountered a beta tester from Japan?

If the other person, like myself, was sent to the Outer World before they had any memories, then all of this makes sense.

But Qing Chen couldn't be sure if this guess was correct.

The biggest question is, if Jingūji Maki was a beta tester, why didn't she become Time Walker at the beginning of her time travel?

What went wrong here?

It's also possible that Jingūji Maki wasn't a beta tester, but rather someone who was born with the ability to break the rules of the world.

"Let's go." Qing Chen found his mountain bike that he had left by the roadside, carried it on his shoulder, and then took the little girl's hand and walked towards the snow mountain.

"Onii-chan, where are we going now?" Jingūji Maki asked softly.

Qing Chen felt the little girl's body trembling slightly in the cold.

He understood that it wasn't because it was really cold, but because the other person had no one else to rely on in this world, so they were genuinely afraid.

The little girl used to be able to rely on her grandmother. Even when her grandmother was lying in a coma on the hospital bed, her heart was not completely broken, and she could hope that her grandmother would get better one day.

Now that Grandma is gone, there are no more fairy tales in this world.

Jingūji Maki was actually afraid that Qing Chen would suddenly let go of her.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "The place I'm going to is very harsh and dangerous. Are you willing to go?"

The little girl nodded quickly. "Yes, I can wash your clothes, Onii-chan! I'll wash them really clean!"

Qing Chen shook his head. "No need to be so humble. Wherever I go, you go."

"Onii-chan, you're not from around here, are you?"

"Um."

"Is Onii-chan's hometown beautiful?"

"You can go and see for yourself."

The people from the Mysterious Affairs Department arrived faster than expected.

They originally came to Nakatsugawa City together as a group of over a hundred people, but then split into more than ten smaller teams, each heading to a village near Nakatsugawa City.

They agreed to meet again in Nakatsugawa City before 2 a. m.

In the plans of the members of the Mysterious Affairs Department, capturing potential Time Walker in the countryside should be a very easy task, and nothing unexpected should happen.

There have never been any accidents in the past.

When Shirakawa-go's team still hadn't returned by 2 a. m., this group of over a hundred people immediately rushed over.

They found four SUVs that had rolled down into the ravine, along with the bodies inside.

The team leader silently checked. "There were 7 people in total, and 7 of them died from gunshot wounds. On average, it took two or three shots to kill one person. Their marksmanship doesn't seem very good."

When Qing Chen killed someone, he deliberately took two or three shots to kill one person, because he didn't want the Mysterious Affairs Department to associate this operation with the Joker who appeared in Osaka.

Now is not the time.

At this moment, the team leader suddenly felt something was wrong. He went back to check on everyone's injuries. "One of them died first, and then was shot three more times."

As he spoke, he looked at the corpse's neck, where there were clear purplish-blue marks and the knuckles of a human hand.

At first, he thought the neck injury was from falling off the cliff, but now it seems that this was the real fatal wound.

The team leader touched it. He immediately gasped, "A single chop to the neck—that takes immense strength!!"

It's important to know that the cervical spine is one of the strongest bones in the human body, and the members of the Mysterious Affairs Department are all gene warriors whose bones have been enhanced to a certain extent.

What kind of monster could cleave a neck bone with a single chop?

The team leader thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that the person the Osaka City Hall looking for has shown up here?"

"That can't be right. The description given by the Osaka City Hall said the other person was an expert marksman," one member wondered. "Osaka is on high alert right now. They say two more 'Chosen One' have rushed over from Tokyo and Kobe. Why would someone like that, after causing such a commotion in Osaka, come to a small place like Shirakawa-go- go?"

"Yeah, what are you doing in Shirakawa-go- go? Skiing?"

The team leader thought for a moment, "The fact that the three potential Time Walker weren't among the corpses means that the person who attacked must be connected to one of them. It's hard to say whether it was the Joker, but I think we should report to the Osaka City Hall immediately and have them send reinforcements."

"Huh? Should we alert the Osaka City Hall?"

The team leader glanced at the puzzled team members and said, "Listen to me, we'll wait for reinforcements to arrive before we go into Shirakawa-go to scout. This decision... might just save your lives."

I'm only updating once today. I consulted with the doctor, and they expect the swelling to go down in about seven days, and it won't hurt as much as it does now.