Memorial

Gray-black clouds filled the sky, making it look gloomy and oppressive.

Xia Jie stood alone in the cemetery, quietly looking at the gravestone before him.

This was the second time he had come here to visit the person lying in the grave.

In the center of the gravestone, Chinese characters read: "Grave of Xia Changqing, Beloved Father." Above them was a photograph of Xia Changqing while he was alive.

Looking at his father's gravestone, Xia Jie felt sadness, confusion, loneliness, helplessness... all kinds of emotions surged within him.

Logically speaking, he had transmigrated into this body. He should not have felt too much grief over Xia Changqing's death.

That was what he himself had thought as well.

While he was in the hospital, all he had thought about was his suddenly awakened Cursed Technique. He had not spared a single thought for his deceased "father." The same was true after he was discharged; he had been busy gathering Legend Points for the Imaginary Cursed Spirits, without thinking of his "father" at all.

Until... he held Xia Changqing's funeral.

More than ten years of little moments spent with his father turned into a flood of memories at that instant.

The sudden, unfamiliar yet profound grief drowned him like a tide, making him unable to stop his tears from falling.

"What a strange feeling... Logically, we should have been 'strangers'! Yet this body... still feels grief on its own." Xia Jie spoke quietly to Xia Changqing on the gravestone.

He murmured, "Is it reminding me that I am that 'Xia Jie'?"

"Father," Xia Jie called to Xia Changqing in the photograph. He had fully accepted his identity in this world.

Before saying it, he had found the word difficult to speak. Yet once he truly said it, it felt completely natural.

"I'll take good care of myself! Don't worry about me!"

"Stay here for a while first. When I return home, I'll let you meet Mother again!"

Xia Jie stood before the gravestone and rambled on for a long time, as though he wanted to tell Xia Changqing everything he had never said to him over the past decade.

Who knew how much time passed before Xia Jie finally stopped. After bidding Xia Changqing farewell, he slowly left the cemetery.

A light rain began to fall from the sky. Fine droplets landed on him, soaking his clothes. Shadow Maru emerged from his shadow, transforming into a large black umbrella that spread over his head and shielded him from the rain.

Xia Jie blankly looked up at the black umbrella beside him. Two huge eyes suddenly opened on its surface, staring motionlessly back at him.

"Lord Xia Jie, you'll catch a cold!" Shadow Maru's muffled voice rang out.

After materializing Shadow Maru, Xia Jie had him remain hidden within his shadow at all times to protect him, rather than summoning him only at critical moments.

Thunder Maru did not receive the same treatment. After all, he was far less stealthy than Shadow Maru.

As for why Shadow Maru could speak, it was because Xia Jie had stipulated during his imagining that both Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru possessed intelligence no less than that of humans and could even communicate with people through language.

That also meant they consumed more Legend Points.

While they were at it, it was worth mentioning how the Legend Points needed to materialize Imaginary Cursed Spirits were calculated.

For an Imaginary Cursed Spirit to evolve into its complete form, the Legend Points required were determined by factors such as its designated upper limit of Cursed Energy, Cursed Technique skills, intelligence, and physique.

Take Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru as examples. Their maximum Cursed Energy was 20,500.

The Legend Points required to condense that Cursed Energy were a hundred times their maximum Cursed Energy, or 2.05 million Legend Points.

Cursed Technique skills were roughly divided into three tiers. Ordinary ones required at least 1 million Legend Points, mid-tier ones required at least 2 million, and higher-tier ones started at 5 million.

Shadow Maru's Fleeting Shadow required 2.1 million Legend Points, while Thunder Maru's Lightning Flash required 2.05 million Legend Points.

For a Cursed Spirit to possess intelligence and the ability to communicate, at least 500,000 Legend Points were required.

In the end, materializing Shadow Maru in his complete form required 5.4 million Legend Points, while Thunder Maru required 4.68 million.

If not for Suguru Geto's Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, Xia Jie would never have imagined Cursed Spirits like Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru. Even if he had imagined them, it would have been useless, because he had no way to gather such a massive number of Legend Points.

An ordinary person could provide at most 100 Legend Points to an Imaginary Cursed Spirit, but most of the time, they only provided 1 or 5 Legend Points.

The Legend Points ordinary people provided to Imaginary Cursed Spirits accumulated gradually: familiar with the name (1 point/person)—half-believing, half-doubting (5 points/person)—gradually believing (10 points/person)—completely convinced (20 points/person)—reverent awe (50 points/person).

Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru, as imagined by Xia Jie, required a combined total of 9 million Legend Points. Even from an optimistic perspective, at least 4.5 million people would need to have heard of their existence at the same time.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been unimaginable.

But now, riding the wave of the Shinjuku Riot, the claim that Kishimojin had caused the chaos was accepted by more and more people, allowing Xia Jie to fully materialize Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru.

Xia Jie shook his head and said, "Thank you for your concern, Shadow Maru! But I'm not that fragile yet!"

Even so, Xia Jie still grasped the handle of the umbrella Shadow Maru had transformed into.

If anyone else had seen this scene, they would probably have found it extremely strange. In their eyes, Xia Jie held nothing in his hand, yet the rain falling from the sky was blocked.

Fortunately, not many people were out walking on a rainy day. The occasional passing cars could not tell whether Xia Jie was getting rained on, and would only take him for a strangely behaved high school student.

Holding the black umbrella transformed from Shadow Maru, Xia Jie returned to his former home and unlocked the door with his key.

The shattered walls and windows had been completely repaired. The house had been cleaned, without a speck of dust in sight, and everything still looked just as it had before. But... now, he was the only one left.

Xia Jie quietly sat on the sofa and stared blankly for a while before pulling his wandering thoughts back to reality.

More than ten days had passed since the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons in Shinjuku. The people who had luckily survived suppressed the fear in their hearts and gradually began returning to their normal daily lives.

The damaged buildings were also being rebuilt at full speed. Because Xia Jie's home had not been particularly badly damaged, the workers he hired finished repairing everything in only two or three days.

The wages were paid from his father's insurance payout.

After Xia Changqing's accidental death, the insurance company found Xia Jie and gave him an insurance settlement of 35 million yen. Combined with the savings his father had left behind, Xia Jie now had nearly 50 million yen in savings. This enormous sum meant he no longer needed to worry about money for his future living expenses.

But Xia Jie would rather not have this enormous sum at all if it meant his father could return. Unfortunately, that wish was destined never to come true.

Xia Jie pushed open the window. A few raindrops drifted onto his face with the breeze, and their icy touch gave him a sense of calm.

"Shadow Maru." Xia Jie called Shadow Maru out, intending to chat about something random to ease the loneliness in his heart.

"My lord, I am here!" Shadow Maru emerged from the shadow behind him and respectfully stood at Xia Jie's back.

"What am I to you?" Xia Jie asked calmly.

"You are our one and only creator, our supreme master!" Shadow Maru's gaze became fervent, and his voice rose with emotion.

A strange expression appeared on Xia Jie's face. He truly had not expected Shadow Maru to describe him like that. Hearing such words, which sounded almost like flattery, made him feel a little awkward, even diluting his earlier sadness.

"Ahem... There's no need to put it that way!" Xia Jie coughed lightly to conceal his embarrassment, then asked Shadow Maru, "Have you ever thought about leaving me?"

"Never!!!" Shadow Maru looked at Xia Jie in shock. "To us, you have shown incomparable grace. Serving you is our only wish! Neither I nor Thunder Maru could ever entertain the thought of betraying you!"

"I was just asking." Xia Jie was somewhat surprised by Shadow Maru's attitude, but he also felt much more at ease.

"Please do not say such things again!" Shadow Maru dropped to one knee and solemnly said to Xia Jie, "Your will is the truth we follow! No matter what happens, we will never leave your side!"