Xu Zhiqiu Fell Ill

Onigumo lay peacefully in the silence. His hearing had sharpened, allowing him to hear every rustle of wind and grass outside.

Now he heard footsteps outside. He grew anxious, but he could not move and could only stare at the bright opening above him.

Once the visitor came into view, his eyes stayed fixed on the woman's face. "Qiu, you're finally here."

Even after all these days, though he could say quite a lot, his voice remained harsh and hoarse.

"What? Do you look forward to me coming every day?" Xu Zhiqiu asked with a cold snort.

She crouched down and followed her usual routine, lighting the oil lamp first and placing it somewhere sheltered from the wind.

"Yes, very much." Onigumo gazed at Xu Zhiqiu's face with yearning in his eyes. Her long hair was twisted into a bun held by a wooden hairpin, leaving only her bangs and two strands to frame her face, which was adorned with rouge and powder.

When she came closer, he could even smell the sweet fragrance on her. "You're getting prettier and prettier," Onigumo said dreamily.

Xu Zhiqiu endured his lecherous gaze, took the bowl out of the basket, and shoved a spoonful into his mouth. "You're completely crippled now, and you're still thinking about that sort of thing? You'd be better off thinking about how you're going to survive this winter!"

Onigumo opened his mouth to take the soup and gave a rasping chuckle. "I was complimenting you. I wasn't thinking about anything else. You're overthinking it, Qiu."

Xu Zhiqiu: "..."

The corner of Xu Zhiqiu's mouth twitched. His words did not make her blush in the slightest; instead, her expression darkened. "One more word of nonsense, and I'm leaving."

How had Kikyo in the original story managed to care for Onigumo almost every day and put up with the barrage of outrageous nonsense pouring out of his mouth?

If she had not wanted to prevent the original plot from unfolding, she would never have taken this task upon herself.

Clenching. My fists are clenching. I should just poison him and be done with it.

The cave grew rather quiet.

For once, Onigumo fell silent, opening his mouth and waiting for Xu Zhiqiu to feed him.

"Qiu, why didn't you kill me? Why did you spare my life?" Onigumo suddenly asked.

"Isn't tormenting you like this better?" Xu Zhiqiu answered expressionlessly.

"Heh, heh." He gave another rasping chuckle.

Neither said anything more.

When the bowl was empty, he still wanted more and even boldly made a request of Xu Zhiqiu. "Qiu, could you bring me some porridge next time?"

Xu Zhiqiu put the bowl away, picked up the basket, and stood. "You're lucky to get soup at all, and now you want to be picky?"

Ever since Onigumo had been lying here, he had been drinking soup day after day. Although the flavors varied, it was still soup, still liquid.

"Sorry for the trouble."

He even spoke to her in an apologetic tone.

"Oh," Xu Zhiqiu replied, then left.

After watching Xu Zhiqiu leave, Onigumo withdrew his gaze. His dark eyes shifted, and there was no telling what he was thinking.

Bitter winter arrived, blanketing heaven and earth in ice and snow.

Most demons had gone into hibernation, but some refused to behave and still came out to make trouble in the depths of winter.

One day, Kikyo came to Xu Zhiqiu's house and got straight to the point. "Qiu, someone has asked me to exorcise demons in another land, but I'm worried about Kaede's Village and the Shikon Jewel. Could you stay in the village and protect them?"

Xu Zhiqiu frowned at this. "Exorcise demons? Can you handle that alone?"

A faint smile appeared on Kikyo's cool face. "Inuyasha will be there too. He's going with me."

She had known it would turn out this way!

Xu Zhiqiu's mouth twitched. "All right, I'll watch over this place. You and Inuyasha be careful."

"Mm."

That winter, aside from killing a few small-fry demons, Xu Zhiqiu spent her days lounging inside by the fire and cooking whenever she got hungry. Life was wonderfully comfortable.

While Kikyo was away, she took Kohaku hunting in the snow and joined the village children in building snowmen and throwing snowballs.

The consequence of going out to play in heavy snow was that Xu Zhiqiu caught a cold the next day.

Although she had taken medicine, she still felt weak all over.

Xu Zhiqiu was different from someone like Kikyo, who possessed spiritual power. She truly had none; without her jade, she was just an ordinary person.

To avoid relying too heavily on the Jade Blade, she occasionally used archery or a sword to protect herself.

While Xu Zhiqiu was ill, the task of delivering soup to Onigumo fell to Kohaku.

Xu Zhiqiu looked at the children who had played with her. Every last one of them was fine, yet she, the adult, was the one who had fallen ill. Wasn't that completely backward?

So infuriating, but I still have to face life with a smile.

After returning from delivering soup to Onigumo, Kohaku ran into the house, still looking unsettled. "Sister Qiu, who is that person in the cave? He looks so scary."

Xu Zhiqiu was silent for a moment, then gave a concise explanation. "He's Onigumo, a bandit. He committed every kind of evil, so someone took revenge and threw him off a cliff. When Kikyo and I found him, he had only one breath left."

"But if he's a bad person, why save him?" Kohaku asked in confusion, her eyes full of incomprehension.

Xu Zhiqiu pressed her lips together and answered, "Sometimes, staying alive is a form of torment for someone crippled like him."

"Oh." Kohaku understood.

"Come try the roast meat I made." Xu Zhiqiu changed the subject, raising the plate in her hand and offering it to Kohaku.

The sight of food immediately caught Kohaku's attention.

Sitting beside the fire, warming herself and eating, was pure happiness!

Halfway through eating, Kohaku remembered what Onigumo had said before she left. "Sister Qiu, that person asked why you hadn't come. I told him you were sick, and then he didn't say anything else."

Xu Zhiqiu was biting into some dried meat. At those words, her chewing slowed. "Oh, really? Never mind him. Keep eating. Didn't Inuyasha pick lots of wild peaches last time? They're all pickled, and you haven't eaten them yet, right?"

"We haven't," Kohaku answered.

Xu Zhiqiu's eyes lit up, and she rubbed her hands together. "Then bring a jar over so we can have a taste."

When someone set their sights on her food, Kohaku's mind became especially sharp. She asked skeptically, "Sister Qiu, didn't Sister Kikyo give you a few jars back then?"

"Mine need to be kept a little longer," Xu Zhiqiu answered.

The excuse was a little flimsy.

Kohaku's mouth twitched, her childish eyes reproaching Xu Zhiqiu for taking advantage of her like this.

Xu Zhiqiu pretended she was blind and could not see.

In the end, Kohaku still brought over a jar of her family's pickled wild peaches. The two ate the entire jar while warming themselves by the fire, leaving only peach pits scattered across the floor.

Only after resting for three days straight did Xu Zhiqiu recover.

Once she was well again.

Xu Zhiqiu continued holing up inside. She decided she would not go out unless demons attacked the village. Her blankets were much more comfortable.

And so, she thoroughly exploited her child laborer, Kohaku, making her deliver soup to Onigumo. After five straight days of deliveries, Kohaku saw Xu Zhiqiu lounging around the house all day without a care, awakened to the spirit of resistance, and went on strike.