Poor technique

Fenghua staggered to her feet.

She clutched her injured arm with one hand. Blood still dripped from her robes, pooling beside her feet. Moonlight illuminated her bloodstained yet fiercely stubborn face. She stood there, watching the figure that had already walked several steps away.

"Could you-"

She spoke, her voice hoarse but clear.

"Take me with you..."

Kashimo did not stop walking.

"No."

His refusal was blunt and decisive. He did not even turn his head.

He already had one burden in tow. There was no way he was taking on another. Besides, that Electromagnetic Cannon had nearly drained his Cursed Energy. He had no time to wander around outside.

He kept walking.

Hurried footsteps sounded behind him.

Fenghua ran in front of him and spread her arms, blocking his path. Moonlight shone from behind her, leaving her entire figure silhouetted. He could not make out her expression, only her startlingly bright red eyes.

"If you refuse-" she panted, "I'll keep following you until you-"

"Kashimo."

Fenghua was abruptly interrupted.

She had not stopped herself.

A voice had come from off to the side.

That voice.

Kashimo froze.

Familiar.

Far too familiar.

He turned his head toward the sound.

A petite figure stood nearby in the moonlight. She wore those same clothes, now somewhat dirty. Her hair was a little mussed, and her small face was still flushed from the journey, but her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.

She held a staff against her chest.

The Ruyi Staff.

Kashimo had planted it in the ground earlier, and she had simply picked it up.

He stared at the staff, then at her face, and suddenly felt some of his exhaustion lift.

Damn.

Saved at last.

Rinko stood there holding the staff in one hand, looking at him.

"I ran into a Cursed Spirit at the inn," she said, still slightly breathless but trying to keep her voice steady. "I killed it."

She paused.

Her gaze passed over Kashimo and settled on the blood-covered woman in red robes behind him.

"Also, who's this woman?"

Kashimo was just about to speak.

"I just-"

"We just had a fight."

Fenghua's voice came from behind him, beating him to it.

She stood there, still clutching her injured arm, her red eyes startlingly bright in the moonlight. Despite being covered in blood and wearing tattered robes, she spoke with complete confidence, as though stating something perfectly ordinary.

After hearing Fenghua's answer, Rinko nodded.

"Oh, I see."

She gripped the Ruyi Staff with both hands and held it horizontally in front of her. Moonlight illuminated the seriousness in her eyes.

"Then, Kashimo, I want to fight you too."

A question mark popped up over Kashimo's head.

Fight me?

A fight?

He glanced at Rinko's still-childish face, then at the staff in her hands, which was almost taller than she was, and fell silent for two seconds.

That Cursed Spirit must have scared the sense out of her.

Before he could think any further, Rinko charged at him with the staff.

Her movements were surprisingly proper. It was the Kujū Dojo's opening stance.

Kashimo raised the Soul-Devouring Blade and casually blocked.

Clang-!

The instant blade and staff collided, his arm jolted violently.

Kashimo's pupils narrowed slightly.

This girl's strength.

How had she gotten so strong?

Rinko gave him no time to think. Using the rebound to swing the staff up, she launched another sweeping strike.

Fenghua stood a few steps away, watching with her red eyes wide.

Kashimo stepped back, putting distance between them.

He stood in the moonlight, staring at the girl opposite him as she gripped the Ruyi Staff with both hands. His brow knitted tightly.

Seriously?

She got stronger just from killing a Cursed Spirit?

No.

It wasn't killing the Cursed Spirit that made her stronger.

Her Heavenly Restriction was developing faster.

His mind raced.

His original plan had been to keep the girl with him for the rest of her life if she could only barely reach her father's level someday. They could eat, drink, have fun, and wander around. After all, in this era, nothing except Ten Shadows could threaten him anymore. Supporting one extra freeloader was no big deal.

Hadn't Kujū Jūrō's dying wish simply been for his daughter to live?

He had fulfilled it.

But things were different now.

She could protect herself.

After all, a fully developed Heavenly Restriction was more than enough to survive in this era.

Kashimo had come to fulfill Kujū Jūrō's dying wish, not to be her babysitter for life.

With that thought, he tossed away the Soul-Devouring Blade.

The blade arced through the air, landed beside Fenghua's feet, and embedded itself in the dirt.

Fenghua looked down at the blade, then back up at him, her red eyes full of questions.

Kashimo ignored her.

He turned to face Rinko, slowly curling his empty hands into fists.

Kashimo vanished from where he stood.

An instant later, he was standing in front of Rinko.

He drove a fist forward.

It slammed squarely into her abdomen.

"Urgh-!"

Rinko was knocked into the air, both feet leaving the ground like a kite with its string cut. The Ruyi Staff flew from her hands, tumbling through the air before landing in the grass nearby.

Before she could react, a roundhouse kick struck her side.

Bam!

Rinko flew sideways and slammed into the ground, sending dust and fallen leaves swirling.

She lay there, coughed twice, and braced her hands against the ground to get up. But her arms trembled so badly that she failed to stand after two attempts.

Kashimo stood where he was and lowered his leg.

Moonlight illuminated his expressionless face.

Kashimo lowered his leg and stood in the moonlight, watching the figure on the ground struggle to rise.

"Decent strength. Poor technique."

He delivered his assessment in an even tone, as though commenting on some sorcerer he had encountered that day.

"That's enough. Let's head back."

He turned and walked toward the grass nearby. The Ruyi Staff lay quietly there, glowing a soft jade green in the moonlight. He bent down, picked it up, hefted it in his hand, and rested it on his shoulder again.

When he looked up, Fenghua was limping toward him. She held the Soul-Devouring Blade in her uninjured hand, with no intention of giving it back.

Kashimo glanced at her.

He said nothing.

Nor did he reach out to ask for it.

He could not shake her off anytime soon, so he would leave things as they were for now.

He turned and headed out of the woods.

Behind him, Rinko finally pushed herself up from the ground.

She stood there, watching the figure carrying the staff grow more distant, watching the man who never once looked back at her. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

The inn.

Kashimo stood outside his room, looking down at the woman who refused to leave his doorway.

Moonlight streamed through the window at the end of the corridor, stretching Fenghua's shadow long. She leaned against the doorframe, still covered in blood she had not had time to clean off. Her red eyes stared straight at him, and she showed no intention of moving.

Kashimo was truly out of ideas.

She had followed him from the woods to the inn, from the entrance to the corridor, watched him tell Rinko to return to her room and rest, then followed him all the way to his own door. When he stopped, she stopped. When he walked, she walked. She said nothing, simply following him.

"If you insist on following me," Kashimo said, his voice tinged with weary resignation, "I'll lock you outside all night."

He stared at her with eyes as lifeless as dead fish.

Fenghua blinked.

"Then I'll sleep outside your door all night."

She spoke with complete confidence, as though she had prepared her answer long ago.

Kashimo fell silent for two seconds.

"Fine."

He reached out, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Then.

Bang.

The door shut swiftly in Fenghua's face, nearly striking the tip of her nose.

The bolt slid into place inside with a crisp, decisive sound.

Fenghua stood outside, staring at the firmly shut door, stunned for two seconds.

The corridor was quiet. Only moonlight shone through the window, stretching her solitary shadow long.

Fenghua leaned against the door and slowly slid down to sit.

The corridor floor was cold. Moonlight streamed through the window, laying a faint wash of silver beside her feet. She buried her head between her legs, wrapped her arms around her knees, and curled into a small ball.

She did not know what had gotten into her, either.

She simply did not want to return to that place.

That suffocating home-or rather, a place that could not be called a home at all.

If Father found out Yingliang was dead, but I was still alive...

What would be waiting for me?

Execution. Torture. Or being used as a tool for a marriage alliance, handed over to some family that could offer something in return.

She knew those scenes all too well. She had seen them far too often growing up.

She did not want to end up like that.

Anyway, if I followed this man...

Fenghua buried her face a little deeper.

At least I'd feel a little safer.

She would not have to live in fear every day-afraid of being tortured, afraid of being used as a bargaining chip, afraid of waking up to find herself tied to some stranger's marriage bed.

The corridor was quiet.

There was only moonlight and the sound of her breathing.

Then-

"Creak."

The door behind her suddenly opened.

A hand settled on top of her head.

It was large and warm, with slightly rough calluses. The moment it touched her hair, her whole body stiffened.

The Cursed Energy of Reverse Cursed Technique flowed from that hand, seeping strand by strand into her arm, which had not fully healed. The open wounds closed, broken bones knitted back together, and the pain faded little by little.

Fenghua looked up.

Kashimo stood inside the doorway. Moonlight shone from behind him, shrouding his face in shadow and hiding his expression.

"Come in," he said, his voice as languid as ever. "Hurry up and bathe and change. If the bed reeks of blood, I'll have a hard time explaining it to the inn staff."

He paused.

"I'm getting up early and leaving tomorrow morning. Whether you wake up in time to follow me is up to you."

After saying that, he added one more thing.

"I'll sleep in the chair."

Fenghua looked at him.

Moonlight illuminated her face and her red eyes, which now sparkled as though something inside them was shining.