Reaching a Consensus

Gu Mo stood up and casually swung the uchigatana in his hand a few times. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the sword seemed to feel a little lighter.

He wasn't sure if this was an illusion caused by his stamina instantly recovering and even becoming more abundant than before, or if there was some kind of linkage between physical attributes like Strength, Constitution, and Spirit, where enhancing one would slightly boost the other two to a certain extent.

Speaking of which, how was the Profession Level supposed to increase? Did you get a skill point or something for every level up?

But there should be a difference, right? Otherwise, there would be no need to have two separate leveling systems...

These thoughts flickered through his mind, but Gu Mo didn't dwell on them. Instead, he turned around and looked at Hidechiyo behind him, waving his hand with a burst of energy. "Okay, I've rested enough. Let's go up the mountain now!"

"..."

"..."

The black-haired girl eyed him strangely. This person was truly odd. She could understand him saying he needed to rest for a bit, after all, he had been cutting his way from one end of the village to the other, handling all the Lesser Hungry Ghosts one-on-one. His growth was visible with the naked eye as he fought his way through.

Regardless, being able to last this long with the stamina of an ordinary person was quite impressive. The girl also felt that he really did need to sit down and catch his breath, otherwise, he might not even have the strength to go up the mountain later.

Combat was truly exhausting. Not to mention this kind of real life-or-death struggle, even ordinary people fighting each other would get tired quickly, just like boxing. It was a high-intensity sport that consumed a lot of physical energy.

But...

He had clearly been exhausted just now, and the fatigue on his face was obvious. Yet, after just going to wash his hands, he immediately became full of energy. What kind of trick was this?

Hidechiyo tilted her head, as if question marks were slowly appearing above her head. She subconsciously shifted her gaze towards the water. Could it be that this strange person had some special secret art or method... Hmm, to quickly recover his state by washing his hands?

Gu Mo had no idea that the girl suspected him of being a "Hand-Washing War God" because of his strange behavior. He was simply leading the way towards the stone steps leading up the back mountain.

Seeing this, the black-haired girl could only raise her torch and quickly follow.

Arriving at the stone steps, looking at the winding mountain path above, obscured by dense mountain forests stretching out of sight, Gu Mo looked up at the sky. The light of the stars and moon had dimmed, and the eastern sky was already showing a touch of white, like a fish's belly...

It was close to dawn.

Speaking of which, when he was about to go back to his apartment complex but entered this dungeon, it should have been around 1 AM. The time spent in this dungeon was at most a little over an hour, certainly less than two hours—

This was because he had been cautious in exploring, only attracting one Lesser Hungry Ghost at a time, and the powerful ally he was leaning on was also very patient...

So, no matter how you looked at it, it shouldn't be almost dawn already. The only explanation was that there was a difference between the time in the dungeon and the time in the real world... This was naturally to be expected, as the worldviews were different. It was just that perhaps by coincidence, or for some other reason, every time he entered a dungeon, the time in the dungeon happened to be night.

This had inadvertently created this illusion for Gu Mo, and it also made it difficult for him to distinguish the boundary between reality and illusion at first.

"It's almost dawn..." With this sigh, Gu Mo slightly quickened his pace.

According to the plot he knew, Tokichiro would only arrive at dawn. Although he didn't know what Tokichiro had been doing in the meantime, despite saying he would wait under the night cherry blossoms, Gu Mo, who had just tricked Axiu not long ago, subconsciously wanted to avoid meeting Tokichiro.

It would be too awkward to be exposed face to face...

So, it was better to clear the dungeon as quickly as possible and then "pack up and leave." By then, even if his deception was exposed, his actual person wouldn't be in this world, so there was nothing to fear.

The black-haired girl behind him also looked at the sky. It was indeed almost dawn. After all, she had fallen asleep late at night and was woken up by a passing traveler being attacked by a hungry ghost. After killing the small yokai and saving the traveler, she found a letter delivered to her house, inviting her to Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village.

Since the distance was originally quite far, it took her some time to travel here, and she naturally arrived very late. Coupled with the time spent just now, it was now almost dawn. What was so strange about that?

And he had just seemed to have plenty of time to spare, so why did he suddenly seem to be in a hurry?

The girl was a little confused, but she couldn't ask questions.

"Hmm, Perpetual Darkness again..."

Gu Mo, walking in front, suddenly felt his vision dim, turning into a near black-and-white tone, as if he had unconsciously stepped over the boundary separating him from the present world and into something like the demon realm. As the background and light grew darker, he felt his body become much heavier, and his abundant energy began to drain away.

However, it was slightly different from what he had felt when he stepped into the Ox-Head Demon's Perpetual Darkness domain. It wasn't as unbearably heavy, and the speed of energy loss wasn't as ridiculously fast; it had slowed down considerably.

Was it because his current Constitution attribute had reached 12 points, an increase of two points? That might be the case, but it was also possible that the Yokai that had created this Perpetual Darkness domain wasn't as powerful as the Ox-Head Demon.

The black-haired girl also raised her eyebrows slightly, reaching for the sword at her waist, feeling the bloodline within her, which had only recently calmed down, becoming active again.

Using Yokai Energy and Yokai Power to influence the space of the present world and form an Otherworld Realm similar to Tokoyo was something that almost all Yokai could do. It was an instinct they were born with. They were originally non-human beings from Tokoyo, so it was natural for them to know how to use their power to influence and change the environment to make their actions and battles in the present world more advantageous.

But this was usually just a small range of aura formed by the flow of Yokai Energy. To be able to upgrade into Perpetual Darkness, transforming from an aura field into an inherent domain, not only greatly increased the area and enhanced the effects, but it also indicated that the being capable of this was no ordinary Yokai.

Although she had also defeated many masters of Perpetual Darkness, she wouldn't be too careless.

Because within the Perpetual Darkness domain, her Human side would be suppressed, while her Yokai bloodline would become active, making her mind, body, and behavior lean more towards the Yokai side... She didn't like this and wasn't confident in being able to control her rage when she became Yokai-like.

So now that there was another Perpetual Darkness in the back mountain shrine, she needed to be extra careful. If her recently calmed Yokai bloodline was triggered multiple times in a short span, she was very likely to undergo Yokai transformation.

Just at this moment—

The black-haired girl, who was slightly frowning, saw the person in front stop at some point and turn back, staring intently at her forehead with bright eyes. She was stunned for a moment, and after realizing what was happening, she couldn't help but turn her face away slightly, her lips tightly pressed together.

Here it comes again, that strange gaze...

As expected, this person is no different from anyone else...

"Although it's a bit presumptuous, Axiu, I still want to ask, can I take a picture with you?"

The next moment, a somewhat enthusiastic voice came. The strange person held up a small, exquisite object that she didn't recognize and waved it in front of her, smiling broadly as he spoke.

Because of the angle before, he hadn't seen it, but this time they were moving together, so when he saw the girl's forehead instantly reveal a pair of faint golden and noble, exquisite demon horns after stepping into the Perpetual Darkness, Gu Mo couldn't help but give in to his impulse and pulled out his phone.

Anyway, he would probably be leaving in a little while. Whether it was to commemorate the girl in front of him or to commemorate the first proper dungeon he had cleared, he had to leave something behind—he thought this and sincerely requested Axiu.

"Huh?"

Hidechiyo was stunned again. Could it be that this person wasn't disgusted because he discovered her Half-Yokai identity?

And... what is a "picture"?

"Oh, this, this is a specialty from... well, from where I'm from. One of its functions is taking pictures, it can save the scenery you see, like a painting... Hmm, how about this, I'll just show you directly. It's like this. Wait, I'll turn on the flash. Don't be nervous, it will flash for a moment..."

Seeming to notice the girl's confusion and incomprehension, Gu Mo enthusiastically leaned closer, gesturing with his phone as he explained.

This was a bit difficult. He racked his brain, trying to translate something completely normal for modern people into terms Hidechiyo could understand.

But the more he explained, the more confused the black-haired girl's eyes became. He slapped his forehead and simply switched to camera mode, pointing it at the mountain path ahead and taking a picture... There was a soft click, and the flash briefly illuminated the dim surroundings before disappearing.

The photo was successfully taken. Although there was no signal or internet, the phone's basic functions were unaffected.

He clicked on the photo and looked at it, nodding in satisfaction. At the same time, he handed it to the girl opposite him to look at.

The black-haired girl's eyes widened slightly after just one glance. She looked at the mountain path ahead, unable to hide her astonishment, then couldn't help but lower her head again to look at the image displayed on the small box... It was obvious that this thing was truly incredibly novel to her.

"Just like this! Come on, let's take one together! Smile! Say cheese!"

Immediately after, Gu Mo stood beside the bewildered girl, extending his arm and holding the phone out in front of them. He took a selfie very quickly, so fast it was as if he was worried she might react and refuse.

He looked at the new photo displayed on his phone. In the eerie, dim forest, behind them was the winding stone staircase mountain path, with a torii-like archway faintly visible in the distance. He himself was making a cheesy, old-fashioned V-sign in the photo, and beside him was the masked girl with a sword, looking heroic and cool...

Her expression was a little nervous and unnatural, and her eyes looked somewhat bewildered, but this didn't clash with the heroic spirit in her brows, nor did it feel out of place. Instead, this subtle contrast made the girl's demeanor a little more naturally clumsy.

It was just a shame that her face was covered, so he couldn't see her full appearance...

Gu Mo felt a slight regret. He turned to look at Hidechiyo, who was still at a loss, and after thinking about it, decided not to ask again. After all, that would truly be too presumptuous.

Thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem to make much difference anyway. He knew what she really looked like. With this change in thought, he no longer dwelled on it. Instead, he looked at the path ahead and asked again, "By the way, can I take a few more pictures later? Just to keep as a memento."

Since they were for memories anyway, taking a few more was fine, right? And the first photo together couldn't really show much. It would be best to take a picture of Axiu in her heroic fighting pose, the kind that people online could quickly recognize as a live-action cosplay of Nioh 2...

Take a few more pictures?

Hidechiyo blinked, unsure what to say for a moment.

"As long as you don't object, then we've reached a consensus!" The person in front of her said cheerfully, grabbing her hand and shaking it up and down a few times.

What consensus?

She clearly hadn't said anything, had she?

The girl bit her lower lip. All her life experience combined didn't tell her how to deal with this. This person probably didn't know she couldn't speak and hadn't asked about it, or perhaps he unilaterally assumed she was just quiet, and that not speaking up against it meant she agreed?

That must be it, she thought, watching him tamper with the small box while turning his head and continuing to walk forward. She sighed helplessly and could only hurry to catch up, her mind still a mess, unable to stop thinking about the photo just now.

Just as the black-haired girl was slightly distracted, there was a sudden movement ahead. She quickly collected her thoughts, only to find that the Lesser Hungry Ghost that had lunged out onto the mountain path ahead had already been sliced open through its bulging belly, and golden-yellow Essence was dissipating into the air.

Gu Mo shook the Uchigatana in his hand. This weapon was much sharper than the previous hatchet.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. After doing anything repeatedly in a short amount of time, one will quickly become proficient. Killing Lesser Hungry Ghosts was no exception.

—He had gone from treating them as formidable enemies at first, fighting terribly in ways that almost wasted stamina just to ensure a safe kill of a single Lesser Hungry Ghost...

—To gradually gaining confidence and some experience, starting to relax and consciously adjust and optimize his fighting methods, pursuing efficiency by quickly killing enemies by targeting their weaknesses and conserving stamina...

"Huh?"

With his sharp eyes, he suddenly noticed that on the corpse of the Lesser Hungry Ghost on the ground, light was gradually seeping out, gathering into a ball, and finally forming a white light spot hovering about a dozen centimeters above the corpse.

Something dropped? He hadn't seen a single drop all this way, and he thought there wasn't a mechanism for monsters to drop loot after being killed!