Consciousness gradually returned, and Sugawara Kyoko woke up from her coma. She felt that her body was extremely hot, and her left and right sides were dazzlingly bright.
After taking a moment to calm down, she realized that it was a heater, and the bright red light tube was the brightest thing.
Lying on the rush mat tatami, the heater continued to send hot air to her. Chihaya and Hakama on her body had been dried and wrinkled.
She tilted her head, and her white footbags were now completely black. Next to her, she could see the yard outside and a small patch of blue sky.
"..."
strange place.
Sugawara Kyoko wanted to get up, but with just a slight movement, the pain all over her body was immediately activated, knocking her to the ground.
"Well……"
There was a lot of movement here, and it finally caught the attention of another person in the Japanese room.
"It's a good thing you woke up, otherwise I would have started to wonder if it would have been better to just call an ambulance."
The sound came from the direction above her head. Sugawara Kyoko raised her head with difficulty, and immediately frowned after seeing the other person's face clearly.
"..."
They had nothing to do with each other, but they met one after another during this period, and she began to wonder if he had been following her.
Zong Gu was not surprised by her reaction. If the two of them switched identities, he would probably have the same attitude.
"Ms. Sugawara."
He only cares about one thing now, "What happened last night?"
"..."
Even though her whole body was sore, Sugawara Kyoko forced herself to sit up, looked around, and answered questions with questions.
"This is where?"
"The Kirino family runs an izakaya."
The spacious old house of the Kirino family is rare to see nearby. If it were a local, Soya believed she would have some impression of it.
"I found you in the bushes in the yard."
"Yeah."
Kyoko Sugawara recalled what happened before she fell into coma. She seemed to have escaped here by herself in the snow and wind.
"Did you save me? Thank you."
"You're welcome. What happened last night?"
"What time is it now?"
"It's almost noon."
Zong Gu pointed to the heater that was still glowing and heating, "It's only been less than half an hour since I moved you here and found these things."
"Really? Thanks."
Looking around the unfamiliar Japanese room, Sugawara Kyoko was surprised when she saw middle school textbooks on the table in front of him, but she didn't say anything.
"Ms. Sugawara, what happened last night?"
"Thank you for your rescue. It's time for me to go back. If I have the chance, I will repay you."
She still avoided answering, but soon discovered that it was impossible to stand up in this physical state.
After several failed attempts, Sugawara Kyoko sat down again and looked outside silently.
"..."
She couldn't crawl out of here in front of him.
The sun shines in the yard, and there is almost no residual snow visible on the wooden fence, and it has melted a lot underneath, revealing the earthy ground.
"Well, Mr. Kirino..."
Soya was still sitting at the low table, looking down at his notes and slowly scanning Kirino Akane's beautiful handwriting.
"..."
Sugawara Kyoko bit her lip.
Of course he didn't suddenly become deaf, it was just a response to her inability to hear.
"Mr. Kirino, can you lend me your cell phone?"
Zonggu turned another page, but still no response.
He is not "Mr. Kirino".
"..."
She immediately decided not to make a third attempt, and once her body recovered slowly, she would find a way to leave here.
And this wait lasted half an hour.
Gu——
"..."
Zong Gu finally looked up. She was sitting on the rush mat with her back to him. She still couldn't stand up. All she could see was that her ears were already red.
He put down his pen and sighed silently.
Really serious and stubborn.
"Ms. Sugawara, would you like some snacks?"
"..."
Her figure wavered slightly, "No need."
Zong Gu pretended not to hear, got up and left the living room.
Hearing the noise, Sugawara Kyoko looked back and tried to get up again.
"pain……"
Not to mention the failure, my dry stomach also started to growl again.
Gu——
From participating in the operation last night to now, she has not eaten for almost a day and a night...
Being unable to stand up is more like a vicious cycle of pain and hunger.
"..."
Hearing footsteps in the corridor, she turned around again.
Snap.
It seemed like something was placed on the table behind her.
"Just some simple wagashi."
This was the snack Kirino Akane brought a few days ago. Soya ate a few pieces, but then forgot about it, "If Miss Sugawara doesn't mind, just eat some."
She turned around and saw a plate of exquisite snacks such as dumplings and daifuku on the table, and a cup of hot tea with white smoke hanging next to it.
Gu——
"..."
Sugawara Kyoko didn't realize that she stared for a long time before looking away, but Soya was already waiting.
The two looked at each other, and he spread his hands to invite again, "Please don't be polite."
This is not charity, and I did not ask for it. It is just an ordinary way of entertaining guests.
"……Thanks."
After convincing herself, she moved to the low table with some difficulty and picked up the snacks.
"I'm gonna start now……"
She didn't know whether it was the superior quality of the snacks themselves, or whether her hunger was secretly beautifying them, but she just felt that the dumplings in her hands were more delicious than any snacks she had ever eaten.
Seeing Sugawara Kyoko eating four or five dangos in a row without saying a word, Soya was about to remind her to slow down when she choked.
"Cough...cough!"
The hot tea was piping hot, so he got up and went to the kitchen to make a cup of warm water and handed it to her.
"Ahem...thank you...ahem!"
After drinking most of the glass of water, she felt better.
"I see……"
Doubts squeezed away the gratitude that had just emerged in her heart. Sugawara Kyoko raised her eyes and saw Soya sitting opposite her with a complex expression. She couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or something else.
"You are defeated."
...
Starting from Mount Hiei in the west, to Mount Suzuka in the east, and bounded by Mount Shigaraki and Mount Nosaka in the north and south respectively, countless Daughters of Underworld and Underworld Army formed a large invisible net, slowly pressing down from all sides, trapping the hunted ones. The target is approaching Lake Biwa in the center.
Priests and shrine maidens from various Shinto shrines in Kinki have also gathered at the center of this large net. Firstly, this is because the shrines can only cooperate with the actions of these natural spirits, and secondly, these spirit removers cannot keep up with their speed.
Pressure came from all directions. The evil spirit, which had been hiding for more than a month after escaping from the underworld, finally had nowhere to escape and appeared near Lake Biwa.
Then, the underworld army that covered the sky and the sun disappeared with a roar, turning into invisible gray snow on the shores of Lake Biwa.
As for the spirit-killing team composed of priests and witches...
"..."
Sugawara Kyoko paused, and then realized that Soya, who was sitting opposite, had used the words very accurately, and there really was no more appropriate way to say it.
"...and they were all defeated."
"Is anyone dead?"
She pursed her lips and said, "I don't know."
"Yeah."
Zongya just asked casually. Apart from digging out the miko lady in front of him from the snow, he didn't have much substantive concern for the spiritual awakeners;
In return, she gave him a complete description of the incident - although she didn't know it herself, the result from his mouth was just a bold guess.
"Mr. Kirino..."
"—My surname is Soya, and I just stayed with the Kirino family for a while. Soya Yoshiaki."
"Sorry, Mr. Sotani."
Sugawara Kyoko sat up straight, "Excuse me, as an ordinary person, why does Mr. Sotani know so much about our affairs?"
Is she a shrine maiden who belongs to the shrine - look at the Tsurumatsu pattern Chihaya she is wearing, or is she a professional shrine maiden who is more pure than the average part-time shrine maiden - is fundamentally different from Akane Kirino, so Soya has not told her the truth for the time being.
Intend.
"I have my own path."
"Yeah."
Sugawara Kyoko did not pursue the question further, but regarded Akane Kirino, whom she had met before and invited, as one of the ways he mentioned.
The difference in spiritual perception leads to a natural gap between them and ordinary people.
How to describe the colorful world to a person who was born blind?
But there are always people who can get a glimpse of it from a few words.
In her opinion, Soya may be the best among them, even though he is only a...middle school student who looks about the same age as her.
"..."
The miko sitting opposite looked at him from time to time, her expression still a little sluggish. Souya didn't know what she was thinking, and he didn't care at the moment. He was still digesting the shocking facts she just said.
Judging from the result, his wish has come true: the girls of Underworld and the Underworld Army wandering around Kinki no longer exist.
However, the actual situation was not that they returned to the underworld, but that they were directly eliminated - they were all blown into ashes by the evil spirit in one breath.
Where did this peerless evil spirit come from...
Zonggu had a headache.
What's even more troublesome is that the forces from Huangquan don't know what giving up means, and the lost troops will be continuously replenished.
It won't be long before the shores of Lake Biwa will once again become a land of human ghosts where the underworld's army is rampant.