Staying in Kaede's Village

Another new day had dawned.

Kikyo had no duties that day, so she took Kohaku out to gather medicinal herbs. The village children went along with them, sometimes running around Kikyo with flowers clutched in their hands.

The children's bell-clear voices drifted farther away on the wind.

It was only when she played with the children that a smile appeared on Kikyo's face. Her gentle, lovely expression tugged at the heartstrings of anyone watching, making their lips curve into a smile as well.

As she played with the children, Kikyo noticed someone watching her. She looked up. "Miss Zhiqiu, what brings you outside?"

Now that she had been spotted, Xu Zhiqiu smiled at them and slowly walked over, explaining, "It was too stuffy staying inside. I happened to hear you laughing and couldn't help coming out to see you."

"Big Sister Qiu, do you want to join us too?" One little girl skipped toward Xu Zhiqiu, clutching her flowers. She offered them to her, tilting her head up to look at her with an innocent expression.

"Of course." Xu Zhiqiu's heart melted at the child's cuteness. She took the flowers and ruffled the little girl's hair.

As soon as Xu Zhiqiu accepted the flowers, the little girl grabbed her hand and led her into the group.

Everyone went on playing amid cheerful chatter and laughter.

That afternoon, a demon suddenly appeared near Kaede's Village.

With her spiritual power, Kikyo sensed the demon's presence. Without another word, she picked up her bow and arrows and headed toward it.

Xu Zhiqiu followed her. Mainly, she wanted to test whether her jade could kill demons at any time, or whether its cutting ability only manifested when she was in danger.

Seeing that Xu Zhiqiu wanted to come along, Kikyo let her follow, reasoning that the demon they were about to face was not particularly powerful.

They reached the woods where the demon was hiding, though they had yet to draw close.

Xu Zhiqiu noticed nothing amiss, but Kikyo stopped with a solemn expression. She raised her bow, ready to draw, and aimed her arrow toward a spot ahead and high to the left.

Xu Zhiqiu gripped the jade, ready to attack.

A moment later, an enormous tail emerged from the dense woods and lashed toward them.

Once the target appeared, Xu Zhiqiu swept her jade toward it, while Kikyo fired a Purifying Arrow, which was devastating to demons.

The air blade from Xu Zhiqiu's sweep appeared around the monster's tail. In less than half a second, it severed the enormous tail. At the same time, the Purifying Arrow pierced the severed tail, instantly reducing it to fragments that drifted down from midair.

Xu Zhiqiu leaped onto a clean patch of ground and exchanged a glance with Kikyo, who had jumped to the other side. Then she continued using the jade's blade against the hiding place of the demon, which had yet to emerge.

The sharp blade sliced both the large tree and the demon hiding in the woods in half. Once the demon was exposed, Kikyo used another Purifying Arrow to purify it completely.

After the demon was dealt with, Kikyo walked over to Xu Zhiqiu with admiration on her face. "I didn't expect your ability to work like that. Do you need this piece of jade as a medium?"

"Of course. But I can only use it to cut demons apart. I can't purify them completely." As Xu Zhiqiu spoke, she frowned at the chunks of monster flesh slowly disappearing from the ground.

Kikyo smiled calmly and reached out to pat Xu Zhiqiu's shoulder. "That's already enough."

There was warmth in Kikyo's cool, clear voice. Xu Zhiqiu looked back at her and nodded. "Mm."

With the monster dealt with, they headed back.

Kikyo asked her, "Miss Zhiqiu, where do you plan to go once your injuries have healed?"

"Let me think. I rather like it here. Could I stay?"

"Of course." Whatever Xu Zhiqiu decided was her own choice, but her staying was the best possible outcome for Kikyo. Kaede's Village would gain another guardian, and Kikyo would gain a companion. Killing demons would be much easier from then on.

Once Xu Zhiqiu decided to stay, Kikyo immediately arranged for the villagers to provide her with a home, just near her own.

When the villagers learned that Xu Zhiqiu could also kill demons and that their village now had another priestess, their joy knew no bounds. They eagerly built her a house.

Xu Zhiqiu gathered wooden stakes and asked Kikyo, Kohaku, and the others to help hammer them into the ground one by one with stones, enclosing her house in a little fence. Then she scattered vine seeds around it. Once the seeds sprouted, the vines would wind around the stakes, turning them into a truly green fence.

Besides that, she cleared two plots in front of her house specifically for growing wild vegetables.

There were plenty of wild vegetables here. When she went out with Kikyo to kill demons, she spotted quite a few along the way. With a basket on her back and a hoe in hand, she dug them up, roots, soil, and all, and brought them home to plant.

Once Kikyo understood what she intended, she had Kohaku help Xu Zhiqiu cultivate the wild vegetables as well. Whenever they had no demon-slaying duties, Kohaku also went with them to dig up wild vegetables.

After filling both plots in her yard, Xu Zhiqiu felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. As a child, she had lived with her grandparents in the countryside. Her greatest joys each day had been playing with the village children and picking vegetables in the garden.

Later, when she grew older and her grandparents passed away, her parents took her to the city. She never returned to the countryside after that, and the land there was leased to other companies for large-scale cultivation.

Every patch of land in the city was worth its weight in gold. Having her own vegetable garden had been impossible. She had never expected to fulfill that little wish here.

One day, Kohaku went out with Kikyo while Xu Zhiqiu busied herself tidying her little yard.

When they returned, Kohaku looked glum.

Seeing this, Xu Zhiqiu asked her what had happened.

Kohaku answered, "A wandering priestess put a curse on Sister Kikyo. She said my sister must never fall in love with any man. If she does, she'll suffer the curse and die an unnatural death. That priestess was truly vicious."

Kikyo soothed her angry younger sister, saying gently, "Don't worry. I won't fall in love. Don't dwell on it."

Kohaku pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Kikyo turned to Xu Zhiqiu and changed the subject. "Qiu, how is your vegetable garden coming along?"

"It's almost finished," Xu Zhiqiu answered.

"That's good."