Nighttime Slaughter (1)

"Senior Brother Lu, where are we going?" Jiajia asked.

"I don't know either. Aunt just told us to come out and play. Is there anywhere you three want to go?" Lu Mingfei asked them.

Walking down the street, he felt like he was taking a few children out, which was a bit exhausting.

"I want to go back and sleep."

Lu Mingze answered immediately. He had been in the middle of a nap when his mother suddenly woke him up, telling him to go out and walk around more. How could the outside be more comfortable than his bed?

"Denied. If you dare to go back, your mother will definitely kill you. She might even implicate me, and if she implicates me, I'll kill you too!"

Out of humanitarian concerns, Lu Mingfei directly vetoed Lu Mingze's suggestion.

Thinking about his mother's temper, Lu Mingze obediently shut his mouth.

"Senior Brother Lu, why don't we go to the zoo?" Jiajia said, blinking her eyes.

When Erii heard this, her eyes lit up. She immediately took out her notebook and wrote on it: "Want to see the giant pandas!"

"Alright, destination: Ueno Zoological Gardens. Let's go!"

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and Lu Mingfei helped pay the six-hundred-yen admission fee for each person.

The zoo closed at five in the afternoon, so they only had two hours to look around.

Everyone walked into the zoo with great enthusiasm. After entering the main gate, they immediately saw the giant pandas Erii had been longing for.

Before Lu Mingfei could say much, Erii grabbed the corner of his shirt and pointed at the pandas, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Lu Mingfei.

There weren't too many people around, so Lu Mingfei led them straight over to watch the pandas playing inside.

Erii watched the giant pandas for a long time, unwilling to leave.

"How about this? I'll take a photo of you and the pandas, and after that, we'll go see the other animals, okay?" Lu Mingfei said with a smile.

Erii nodded and stood in front of the panda enclosure, where the pandas were rolling around on the ground behind her.

"Come on, strike your best pose."

Lu Mingfei took out his phone, switched to camera mode, and suggested to Erii.

She folded her hands in front of her, expressionless, though a hint of excitement could be seen in her eyes. A breeze blew by—click—and Erii's photo was saved to Lu Mingfei's gallery.

Walking over to Erii, Lu Mingfei showed her the photo. Erii leaned in, looking at herself and the pandas behind her on the screen, feeling very happy.

"Sakura, I want this photo!" Erii wrote her strong request on the notebook.

"Alright, I'll have it printed for you in a while," Lu Mingfei replied.

Then, Lu Mingfei took a group photo of Lu Mingze and Jiajia, who stood together looking a bit stiff.

Seeing them like this, Erii wrote on her notebook: "I want to take a photo with Sakura too."

"Sure. Jiajia, come over and take a picture for us."

Jiajia took the phone, stood at a distance, adjusted the angle, and signaled for them to pose.

Lu Mingfei held up a peace sign with his left hand, wearing a smile. Seeing Lu Mingfei like this, Erii also held up a peace sign with her right hand, a faint smile appearing on her face.

After taking the photo, the group headed deeper into the zoo.

Along the way, they saw larger animals like deer, tigers, and lions, as well as bats, groundhogs, snakes, and frogs.

"I'm very happy to be able to visit the zoo with Sakura today!"

After walking out of the zoo, Erii wrote these words very solemnly in her notebook.

"I'm also very happy to be able to visit the zoo with Erii," Lu Mingfei replied just as solemnly.

"Mingze, Jiajia, you two head back first. Erii wants to eat Hokkaido ramen tonight, and it's quite far from here, so I'll take her there and then send her home."

Lu Mingze and Jiajia said "oh" and headed back. They had figured it out—it was better not to be a third wheel.

Lu Mingfei took Erii to a shop that sold Hokkaido ramen, and they each ordered a bowl, eating happily.

Without realizing it, the sky outside had turned dark, earlier than usual.

Before long, the sky was covered with dark clouds, looking like it was about to rain.

Glancing outside, there was no one around; it seemed everyone had headed home early upon seeing the weather.

Better finish up and head back quickly.

Lu Mingfei thought this while looking at the sky. This was already Erii's third bowl of noodles, and of course, he hadn't eaten any less; it was his third bowl as well.

Things did not go as planned. Before they had finished eating, the wind outside began to howl, and rain started falling from the sky, turning from a drizzle to a downpour in an instant.

He couldn't help but worry about how they would get back.

After finishing their meal, the two stood at the shop entrance, feeling a bit melancholy.

"Customers, are you trapped by the rain?" The shop owner, who had finished clearing the tables, asked them.

The shop owner was a thin, elderly man; he was the one who had made the noodles they ate.

"Yes, the rain outside really caught us off guard," Lu Mingfei sighed as he looked at the downpour.

"I have an extra umbrella here. If you don't mind, you can take it and use it."

The shopkeeper retrieved a black umbrella from the back, which looked just large enough to cover both Lu Mingfei and Erii.

"Then thank you, boss. I'll bring the umbrella back tomorrow." Lu Mingfei didn't stand on ceremony.

"Erii, come here." Lu Mingfei opened the umbrella and beckoned to Erii.

Erii had been lost in a daze, but seeing this, she trotted over to Lu Mingfei's side to share the umbrella.

The two of them stepped out into the rainy night.

Watching from behind, they looked like they were huddled together for warmth.

"Youth is truly a wonderful thing." The shopkeeper sighed, watching their retreating figures from the doorway.

The rain was truly heavy today, the sound of droplets hitting the ground dense and rapid; even with the umbrella, they would likely need to change their clothes once they got back.

There was no one else in sight on the road, just the two of them walking along. Once they returned, he could use the Binding Way to hide Erii.

That way, he could make it appear as though Erii had already gone back; he would have to tell her to be careful later.

Why hadn't he thought of using the Binding Way to hide her when his aunt and uncle were knocking on the door?

Hindsight is truly 20/20.

Lu Mingfei's mind was currently a mess of chaotic thoughts.

The road ahead was quite wide, and rain continued to pelt the ground, but the night grew increasingly still—still enough to feel a hint of eeriness.

Erii's expression suddenly turned vigilant.

Before Erii could even react, Lu Mingfei suddenly scooped her up and leaped to the side.

The ground where they had been standing was torn apart by a blade.

"Oh? You actually dodged it?"

A man wearing a black haori with a bewitching face and a cherry-red longsword in his hand stood in the rain; the rainy night could do nothing to conceal his golden pupils.