Holding on to the bar, Zonggu coughed for a while before he recovered from the strong stimulation of the strong alcohol flowing into his throat.
"Cough...cough!"
The culprit was just standing at the bar and watching with a smile.
She quickly finished mixing the second glass of her casual cup, drank it in one gulp, and Souya immediately stepped back warily.
"hehe……"
The wine in his mouth didn't linger long. Izanami put down the goblet and brushed the tip of her tongue across her crystal lips.
"I like the word 'reunion'. Now that you're here, let's stay here, Fangming."
"Forgive me for refusing."
"Why?" She looked at him, "Are you still angry?"
It was still in the past, Zonggu didn't know what she was talking about, and he didn't want to tell.
The brief and painful kiss made him sink for a while, and then he quickly woke up.
"I didn't come to Tachibana...Izanami-sama for this matter."
He awkwardly changed his nickname, but she didn't feel dissatisfied and listened to him continue.
"I have something else to ask of you."
"I see. So Fangming is the same as them."
She tilted the wine glass, and Zonggu turned around and saw that she was pointing at the spirits who had been hiding aside before.
The two seemed to be very close, and they wisely gave way to the bar and kept looking at him in the corner.
The girl who was sitting on the high stool a few minutes ago was no longer hiding somewhere.
"They also came to me with various requests... Really, I don't know who spread the news that I am here."
"As early as more than a thousand years ago..."
Soya turned around again, "There are rumors in the underworld that Lord Izanami is staying at the Kyoto Royal Garden."
"Have I been here this long?"
Izanami twirled the empty wine glass, seemingly lost in memories.
"To put it this way, it's no wonder that I always felt particularly peaceful during the time I stayed in Sendai. It turned out to be because they couldn't find me."
"..."
Hearing her deliberately mentioning that time, Zonggu pretended not to have heard.
Izanami looked at him, "What is it that Yoshiaki wants to ask me for?"
"I think……"
"Wait a minute, before you speak, does Yoshiaki know the rules of Kyoto's Takamagahara?"
Zong Gu was interrupted, his heart sank, and he slowly shook his head.
"If you want me to help, you have to do something for me." She smiled and said, "That's fair, right?"
"That's all I've heard."
He then asked, "What does Master Izanami want me to do?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. Fangming should talk about his troubles first."
Zonggu glanced at the amulet she still held in her hand, stretched out her arm, and placed it on the bar between the two of them.
"Please ask the great god Huangquanjin to purify my constitution." He opened his palms and said, "I ate Huangquan's food, and the aura of Huangquan was left in my body that cannot be eliminated."
"If it were not for the amulet in Lord Izanami's hand, I would be endlessly hunted by the Daughter of the Underworld."
"Then just go back with them."
"..."
"hehe……"
Izanami picked up the amulet and said, "Yoshiaki, do you know what this is?"
["Fangming, come here...do you know what the teacher has in his hand?"]
"..."
His mind felt dazed for a while. Zonggu took a deep breath and spoke again after calming down.
"As you can see, this is an amulet."
"What about the material?"
"Peach wood..."
Having just recalled the creation myth, he suddenly realized something, "Is this the peach wood of Hirazaka?"
"That's right." Izanami looked at the palm of her hand, "The original body of this amulet is the peach tree that my husband used to deal with Huangquan's pursuers."
"I used the Tian Congyun Sword to chop it for three days, and I thought it was all destroyed."
Zongya didn't expect this amulet to have such an origin. After the accident, he inevitably started to worry again.
"This is not my thing. Sooner or later it will be returned to others...please return it to me."
Izanami laughed and suddenly clenched her hands.
"I can't do it."
"..."
"Don't get me wrong."
She put the amulet on the bar and did not return it directly to him, "I mean, I can't get rid of the underworld aura in Fangming's body."
After putting down the amulet, the hand held his own.
"After all, even I look like this."
"But Izanami-sama is the master of the underworld, and all the girls of the underworld only obey you."
"Then it's better to let Fangming take my place."
"..."
Somewhat reluctantly, Zonggu pulled his hand back.
In fact, he didn't have high expectations.
One of the most important reasons why Izanami was abandoned by Izanagi and even Takamagahara was that she ate food from the Underworld and turned into a so-called filthy body.
How can you save others if you can't save yourself?
"Isn't Fangming unwilling?"
"Stop joking."
Zong Gu sighed silently. Since the root cause cannot be cured, he must at least treat the symptoms first.
"Recently, a peerless evil spirit that escaped from the underworld appeared in the Lake Biwa area. The daughter of the underworld and the underworld army are no match for it. Does Izanami-sama know about this?"
Kyoto is a key place in Kinki, and he didn't believe that she didn't know anything.
"I know."
Izanami showed an unreadable smile again, "Speaking of which, he and I have quite a relationship."
"..."
Zong Gu was slightly startled, "What's the relationship?"
"Are you curious, Fangming?" She smiled, "It's a very dangerous relationship."
"In this case, I'm relieved."
Soya looked at her, "I want to ask Izanami-sama to destroy it."
"How cruel."
"..."
"But I agreed."
"That……"
"But I can't get out of bed lately."
"..."
Izanami looked at his helpless expression for a while before speaking again.
"Let her help you."
...
"Welcome to Takamagahara, Kyoto!"
"Welcome to Takamagahara, Kyoto!"
"Welcome to Takamagahara, Kyoto!"
"..."
Akane Kirino squatted on the ground holding her head. No matter how tightly she covered her ears, the sound kept coming into her head.
She buried her head, raised her eyes slightly, and could only see the wooden clogs floating close to the ground all around.
There were many strange people forming a circle around her, spinning and repeating the unexplained words:
"Welcome to Takamagahara!"
"Really——"
She got lost here, and no matter which way she ran, she could never leave this weird alley;
And these even weirder people... no, they were spirits, and they were always entangled around her.
She was really tired from running, so she could only squat down on the spot, hiding like an ostrich in a deceptive way.
If this is a prank, when will it end...
Where did Soya go again?
Akane Kirino lowered her head, regretting that she had chased after him so recklessly, not finding Soya and letting herself fall into such an inexplicable situation.
what to do……
She was stuck on the spot and was at a loss, staring at the ground, and suddenly made a new discovery.
"This is... white sand?"
This is the kind of white sand that is used when laying out courtyard floors.
In other words, she is not in some alley, but in a courtyard?
Kirino Akane grabbed a handful of white sand and was about to confirm it carefully when the sound in her ears suddenly stopped at the same time.
"..."
She raised her head, and all the spirits that were surrounding her disappeared, leaving only two figures, one tall and one low, not far away, looking here.
The tall figure among them was the exact same spirit body as before.
"..."
Looking at each other from a distance, he bowed deeply, then bowed similarly to the petite girl next to him, then turned and left.
Only then did Kirino Akane notice that the surrounding area was no longer the alley that could not be circumvented, but a wide courtyard.
The ground is paved with white sand, alternated with pines and cypresses, and the high walls with eaves extend into the distance. Looking back is the palace.
She didn't come here much, but she was deeply impressed.
"...Kyoto Imperial Palace?"
How did she get in?
Kirino Akane looked around and saw that there were not many people in the former palace and today's park at this time.
When she came back to her senses, the petite girl who was still far away just now had already arrived in front of her.
"..."
She has short hair and an expressionless face. Judging from her stature and childish face, her age seems to be between a primary school student and a middle school student;
Although the sun was shining all the time, it couldn't be said to be very warm now, and she was only wearing a thin bathrobe.
"that……"
Kirino Akane looked into the distance and saw that the weirdo just now was gone. They seemed to be in a group and they should know something.
"What's going on?"
"Boundary."
"Eh?"
"A barrier for spiritual senses."
Not only was the petite girl's face expressionless, but her voice was also flat and without any fluctuations. The amount of information in her words...
Wait, spiritual sense?
"Who are you?"
"..."
The other party seemed to be stumped by Akane Kirino's question and just glanced at her without answering.
She then asked: "This is the Kyoto Imperial Palace, right? Why am I here?"
"You came in on your own."
"Eh? Why don't I feel anything at all..."
"Boundary."
"..."
Isn’t this the same as having no explanation at all?
Kirino Akane wanted to ask again, but the petite girl seemed to hear something suddenly, looked back, turned and left.
"Wait a moment--"
Although she is petite, her steps are very fast and she is far away in the blink of an eye.
Kirino Akane hurriedly chased after her, and just as she caught up with her, a strange building suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
"Eh?"
The modern style was incompatible with the Imperial Palace, which was full of ancient buildings. It seemed to be a bar, and she was more concerned about the neon sign hanging above it.
"Kyoto Takamagahara?"
After being distracted for a moment, the petite girl walked away again. She looked back for the last time in front of the door, and then walked in.
Kirino Akane followed without hesitation.
When she walked into the bar, there were people on both sides, but the first thing she saw was the people sitting at the bar.
"Soya?"
He also looked here with surprise on his face.
To be precise, she was looking at the petite girl who came in before her.