The demon cloud dispersed, leaving clear skies stretching for miles.
Yet a pall lingered over everyone's hearts.
"Inuyasha, what exactly happened? When I left, didn't we agree that you would all stay in the village practicing your newly acquired skills and avoid going out without good reason? Why did Naraku turn up in the village and even take control of all the villagers, while you were nowhere to be found?"
Li Xia blew on his freshly brewed hot tea as he asked calmly.
If they had stayed in the village as agreed, how could Naraku possibly have taken control of everyone in Kaede's Village?
Tessaiga, which could break through the pink barrier, alone would have been enough to send Naraku packing.
So despite his outward calm, inwardly he was already furious at their failure to live up to his expectations.
He badly wanted to punch Inuyasha.
"It was the Shikon Shards!
"The night before last, Kagome suddenly sensed several Shikon Shards outside the village. But once they reached the outskirts, the jewel fragments stopped approaching. We suspected Naraku had come, so we followed to investigate, putting a little distance between ourselves and the village.
"After tangling with him for a while, we confirmed it was only Naraku's Wooden Puppet.
"By the time we chased it to a village twenty or thirty li away, we nearly had it, but a bank of mist blocked our path.
"We were just a little short of destroying Naraku's Wooden Puppet and claiming several Shikon Shards!
"None of us wanted to give up..."
Miroku paused at that point.
He looked somewhat ashamed.
"You didn't want to give up? So you chased it into the mist?"
Li Xia raised his eyebrows.
He had a fair idea that they had probably fallen for a trap.
First, Naraku