After arriving at Sunset Shrine, Li Xia walked openly toward the two-story house where Kagome and her family lived.
By then, it was already late at night.
Yet Kagome still summoned the courage to come downstairs.
"Hello, Kagome Higurashi..."
Li Xia's slightly hoarse voice sounded from the darkness of the courtyard.
It startled the girl, who had quickly dressed and come downstairs to investigate after sensing the Shikon Shards.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Li Xia. Not long ago, your house caught fire, and your grandfather was trapped at the scene. I braved the flames to rescue him from the burning storehouse and called the fire department and an ambulance! Has your mother mentioned it to you?"
Li Xia spoke with a smile.
As he spoke, he stepped out of the darkness.
He had changed into a practical sweatshirt, with a relatively lightweight bulletproof vest underneath and an enormous backpack on his back. His right hand also held an ordinary-brand bicycle.
"Oh, it's you? Thank you for helping us before."
Kagome bowed politely.
She had quite a favorable impression of the boy her mother had described, the one who had rescued her grandfather from the fire.
Wait, he has seven Shikon Shards. Could six of them be the ones stolen from my room back then?
"Kagome, actually, I'm also your classmate! I originally came to the shrine that day for another reason, but I happened upon the fire in your storehouse. Worse still, a demon whose seal had been broken appeared in the flames!"
Li Xia paused there, giving the girl enough time to digest the information.
At the same time, he was laying the groundwork for what he would say next.
"My classmate? But why don't I remember you at all?"
As she spoke, something suddenly occurred to her, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait, are you that international student who attended a few days of classes, then took leave and stopped coming?"
Hearing this, Li Xia readily admitted it.
"That's me!"
"Wait another second. You just said there was a demon in the fire? That can't be right. How could there be demons in this world?"
Kagome gave an awkward laugh.
She tried to gloss over such an unbelievable subject.
"Kagome, I'm actually just like you. I belong to a family of practitioners associated with a traditional shrine! Back on the Korean Peninsula, my family also considers slaying demons and exorcising evil its duty! So there's no need to deny the existence of demons in front of me..."
"Brr... um, could you invite me in for a cup of hot water? We're in a late-spring cold snap, and it's still rather chilly outside this late at night!"
Li Xia maintained a polite smile.
It was hardly appropriate to leave a visitor outside without inviting him in for hot tea. And since he had saved her grandfather's life, keeping him at the door was even less appropriate.
Reminded of this, Kagome immediately realized her oversight and hastily apologized.
"Sorry for being rude. Please come in..."
The commotion eventually woke Higurashi Grandpa and the girl's mother, who had already drifted into light sleep.
The two had just taken their seats in the living room, and Li Xia had just accepted a steaming cup of plain tea from the girl opposite him, when a beautiful woman came downstairs, fully dressed, and entered the first-floor living room.
"We meet again, ma'am."
Seeing Kagome's mother, Li Xia immediately stood to greet her.
"It's you!"
Only seven or eight days had passed, so Kagome's mother naturally had not forgotten the face of the boy who had rescued their elderly family member from the fire.
Thus, when she saw him again, the surprise and gratitude in her eyes were undisguised.
Watching this from the side, the girl was no longer as guarded as before.
After that, the atmosphere quickly became warm and friendly.
What should have been time alone for two became a "one-on-three" meeting.
"Li Xia, what brings you here?"
Kagome's mother was all smiles.
Li Xia blew on his steaming cup of tea and appeared to sink into thought. Only after a long while did he ask a question in return.
"Kagome, you should be a Miko, shouldn't you?"
The three members of the Higurashi Family exchanged glances.
As the heir to Sunset Shrine.
With her grandfather serving as the Shrine Priest, she did indeed count as a Miko.
"Yes. Why?"
After Kagome nodded, Li Xia took an alloy box from his pocket and placed it on the table. He removed the Spirit-Sealing Talisman attached to it and opened the lid, revealing seven Shikon Shards emitting a faint purple glow.
"These are called Shikon Shards, fragments of a supreme treasure known among practitioners since ancient times. My family's records mention them! I don't know where the Higurashi Family obtained so many jewel shards, but while they grant their bearer power, they also bring suffering and misfortune!"
"As a practitioner, I originally came to visit the Higurashi Family because I'd heard you were in poor health, Kagome! After all, if it wasn't gout, it was a strained back. You hadn't attended school for ages and kept taking leave..."
His words left the girl utterly exasperated.
She looked at her grandfather with reproach in her eyes.
"And I happened to know a few magical techniques! So I wondered whether I might be able to offer a little help that way..."
His words conveyed concern for a classmate.
This won him even more goodwill from all three generations of the family.
As he spoke, he also took out two low-grade talismans and gave a small demonstration before continuing.
"Originally, I thought it would just be a simple visit to a classmate. But when I arrived, I found the storehouse on fire! Just as I was thinking about rescuing your grandfather from the flames, I noticed a mask demon dart out of the fire, clamoring for someone to give it a body!"
At these words, Higurashi Grandpa's expression turned grave.
"And then?"
Unpleasant memories brought a faint sheen of sweat to his forehead.
"And then..."
Li Xia took out the Great Katsura Tree Mask and put it on his face.
"Give me a body! Give me a body!"
His vivid performance did not make the girl or the beautiful woman uncomfortable in the slightest.
But it gave the old man a terrible fright. He grabbed a handful of talisman papers and hurled them at Li Xia.
Catching the imperfectly drawn talisman papers, Li Xia's eyes briefly flickered with an unusual look.
As it turned out, the papers Kagome's grandfather had thrown at him were genuine talismans of the talisman way. However, their creator's cultivation was inadequate, and the materials used to draw them were of the lowest grade, leaving them mere half-finished, inferior products. The power they contained was pitifully small, and their outward effects were utterly unremarkable.
Otherwise, these talismans could have shone brilliantly.
How could Li Xia remain calm at the thought of a talisman way inheritance hidden within the Higurashi Family?
"Father, Li Xia is only joking with you..."
The beautiful woman smiled gently.
Clearly, this woman, who had never experienced a demon attack and had lived her whole life in peace and safety, felt no fear of demons.
Li Xia also put an end to the joke and grew serious.
He had staged this deliberately, not merely for amusement, but to rekindle the old man's helplessness and terror when facing a demon, and thereby make Kagome realize how difficult saving his life had been.
Sure enough.
Having experienced the Sengoku Era on the other side of the Bone-Eater's Well, the girl caught a look in her grandfather's eyes much like the one ordinary villagers there wore when confronted by demons: fear.
And so, in that instant, her gratitude toward the classmate before her for rescuing her grandfather quietly deepened.
Li Xia continued his account.
"After subduing that mask demon, I also discovered several of the legendary Shikon Shards embedded in its mask! These are the ones!"
Theft?
Nothing of the sort!
These were spoils I obtained from the Flesh-Bodied Human Face!
And this explanation made Kagome even more frightened by what might have happened!
With the old man's startled reaction serving as proof, the facts were beyond doubt!
"How could this happen?"
The girl was deeply shaken.
She had brought the Shikon Shards into the modern world and kept them at home, only to nearly cause her grandfather's death. If the classmate before her had not intervened in time, she would have gotten her grandfather killed and might even have dragged her mother and younger brother Souta into it.
At that thought, guilt toward her family filled her heart.
Li Xia secretly watched the changes in Kagome's expression. Seeing the complicated look on her face, he immediately thought, I've got this.
He had seized the initiative!
Not only would he no longer have to hand over his Shikon Shards, but he had also gained another assurance that he could reach the other side of the Bone-Eater's Well.
In fact, winning this honest family's goodwill and making a favorable first impression had been a choice he reached after considerable thought.
First, he was currently only a mage with mediocre combat strength, and venturing alone into the Demon World beyond the well was still a little too dangerous. Second, he was not completely certain he could travel through the well on his own using the Shikon Shards' power. Better safe than sorry.
But with the girl before him cooperating, he would definitely be able to cross.
After all, Kagome had brought modern objects over more than once!
She had even brought "dried goods" that could revive upon contact with water back to the modern world in the original story!
In other words, as long as he held tightly to the girl's hand while she traveled through the Bone-Eater's Well, he should theoretically be able to follow her across! The Shikon Shards plus the girl before him meant double insurance!
If even that could not get him through the Bone-Eater's Well, it would be downright unreasonable.
In return, within reasonable limits, he would find a way to help Kagome lift her kagari seal ahead of time and enhance her strength as a Miko.
Meanwhile.
At the Smith Family.
A group of senior members was flying into a rage.
"What? The plane crashed? That private aircraft went down?"
"Can someone tell me what exactly happened?"
"The Jewel of Four Souls Shard was practically in our grasp, and now it's just flown away?"
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