While the four were discussing, Zhang Quan, who had been sent to track them down, slipped in through the window. As Half-Corpse Soul that had recognized its master, Jiang Nuo's barrier was not harmful to it.
Zhang Quan did not show his true face. Instead, a dark shadow slipped into the ugly doll, crawled out of Jiang Nuo's pocket, jumped onto the coffee table, and danced around, speaking in a different voice.
Where did the Reaper go?
Jiang Nuo asked it.
Zhang Quan raised his cotton-padded arm and poked it out the window. "I chased after them. They went to the garden. The back gate of the garden is invisible to the naked eye. Once inside, it leads straight underground."
"The underground area is vast and filled with a chilling atmosphere. Those who take away the children's souls seem even less human than the Nightwalker. There are also special cages used to imprison all sorts of souls."
"Moreover, there are many Reaper; the underground seems to be their own town."
Zhang Quan spoke, he raised his arms and made a gesture as if he had been pushed down.
"I followed them forward, leading the child's soul through a large bronze door. That door blocked me; its power was greater than mine."
[(`皿´) So, in that case, these are actually two small towns! Humans just live on the ground.]
So this is what it means to live in harmony with demons...?
This isn't symbiosis; it's domesticating humans as food.
Unable to enter through the bronze door, and feeling that staying underground would easily expose him, Zhang Quan had no choice but to return the way he came, noting the locations along the way.
Si Yan spread out the map given to her by the weeder on the table and took out a bottle of old ink from the cabinet.
"You marked that route."
"Good!"
The ugly doll hopped onto the map, laboriously stretched out a finger, dipped it in ink, and drew a route.
After finishing the drawing, Si Yan used red ink to draw the route given by the weeder. The two routes largely overlapped, except for the two starting and ending points: the entrance underground and the area near the bronze door.
Su Yi carefully examined the area where the two routes overlapped and speculated, "Could it be that the path the weeder pointed to is more suitable for humans to descend?"
Jiang Nuo rested his chin on the back of his hand and said softly, "If they could go down there more often, they wouldn't be so terrified of the Reaper and Nightwalker."
"So... the weeder led us down the wrong route?" Qi Lin asked, then, after thinking for a moment, suggested, "To be on the safe side, why don't we follow the doll's route tomorrow?"
"Let's go scout ahead first."
As Jiang Nuo spoke, she grabbed another talisman, folded it into a little figure, and tossed it onto the coffee table.
"Rise."
The little yellow paper figure stood up, looked at the map again and again, then flew to the window and jumped down.
"We'll split up again tomorrow. We need to go to the garden and the church; there are many secrets in those places."
Hearing Jiang Nuo say that, Si Yan immediately leaned back, holding her waist possessively, "Don't leave me behind, I want to be with you tomorrow."
Su Yi: " Qi Lin and I have better chemistry, let's divide it like this tomorrow."
Qi Lin nodded in agreement.
Although the entire day was shrouded in darkness, making one lose track of time, the hotel chefs never missed a meal.
Each time he was reminded to eat, he would simply knock on the door. Jiang Nuo smiled and remarked that the chef was practically the most normal-looking human being in this small town.
When they were served, Sano Kurotsuki, Mikazuki Hexi returned with grim faces. Mikazuki Hexi had bloodstains on their skirts and were injured to varying degrees, clearly having been through a fierce battle.
Mikazuki Shunsuke did not return.
Even though Sano Kurotsuki remained silent with a somber expression, it was clear to anyone with a discerning eye that Mikazuki Shunsuke had probably not returned.
Si Yan smiled to express her regret, her upturned lips barely concealing her schadenfreude; she was practically gloating written all over her face.
But gloating is one thing; Si Yan doesn't think things are that simple. Mikazuki Shunsuke is treacherous and cunning, full of tricks. Even if he's taken away, he won't die so quickly.
You will pay the price for this.
Sano Kurotsuki's voice was fierce; he was just short of attacking.
Jiang Nuo glanced at him, smiling, "Oh, I'm so scared."
Please don't argue here.
The little girl skipped and hopped along behind the chef, acting like a little adult. The boss hadn't returned to the hotel tonight, and she seemed to be keeping him company in place of her father, having taken the seat of honor.
She changed into another black dress, swaying her legs as she chewed the candy in her mouth with a crunching sound.
The little girl had extremely dark eyes, and as she chewed on the candy, her lips grew redder and redder, no one knew how.
"I chose today's meal; I enjoy eating with you all."
She clapped her hands, and three chefs served the dishes.
Unlike the simple meals we had before, tonight's dishes were all bright red, with an iron plate in the center surrounded by various raw blood-based foods.
"Grill whatever you like, and have dinner with me."
The little girl clapped her hands, the blood still lingering on her lips and teeth. She licked it off with her tongue and began to devour the candy.
Su Yi: "... I don't think going hungry is a bad idea."
Qi Lin's tone was equally complicated, "Before today, I quite enjoyed eating blood-based foods."
But watching the little girl eat like that completely ruined my appetite!
Yue Qian also started eating the meat before it was fully cooked, and she ate with great satisfaction, her speed almost matching that of the little girl.
Jiang Nuo rested her chin on her hand and stared at him for a while. Yue Qian felt the gaze return to her, his eyes filled with wariness, thinking that he had exposed his identity.
Jiang Nuo simply looked away without reacting, slowly picking up a piece of blood and placing it on the baking tray, her eyes smiling as she watched the blood sizzle as it baked.
"That's really interesting."
Jiang Nuo said softly.
Si Yan didn't like this food, so she took out some bread to eat, keeping a close eye on Yue Qian across from her. She felt that this man had ill intentions and might have a different opinion about Nuonuo.
And so they had their first dinner together in town without arguing.
As they were finishing their meal, Jiang Nuo asked the little girl a question.
Do you know the rules for tomorrow?
The little girl looked up from her bowl, her mouth smeared with blood, and said, "I know!"
She seemed excited, casually wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "Tomorrow is Tuesday."
"Everyone must wear special clothes in order to meet each other; no one is exempt."
"Robbery and murder will be permitted tomorrow, but the families of the lucky ones will be pardoned tonight."
The little girl babbled on and on, then popped a piece of candy into her mouth.
This time, Jiang Nuo saw it clearly; it didn't look like candy, but rather like dried and roasted chunks of meat.
"What lucky person?" Su Yi asked, but she had already guessed quite a bit.
The little girl refused to answer, jumped off the chair and skipped away, but suddenly remembered something when she reached the restaurant entrance.
"That's right! The moon will be very full tonight!"
It was indeed because of the full moon.
--On moonless nights, vengeful spirits will randomly choose a few houses to live in, and those who are not asleep will be considered as food to be offered to them.
Jiang Nuo had just had a few drinks and was sitting quietly with his arms crossed when he suddenly said something.
"That's a terrible rule; they don't consider people with insomnia at all."
Su Yi and Qi Lin nodded in unison, having understood.
The three members of the Wa Country team who didn't understand:??
What does this have to do with the full moon?