At the end of lunch, Sotani Eiji drank the entire bottle of Junmai Daiginjo by himself, taking with him most of the bottle of sake stored at home. He was naturally drunk.
Fortunately, there was no work in the afternoon.
After helping his uncle back to the room, Soya washed the dishes and chatted with his aunt Ryoko Soya for a while, and then said goodbye.
"Why don't you stay a little longer? Let's go after dinner. By the way, we won't go back until tomorrow morning anyway. Fangming has checked out the hotel, so he can stay at our house that night, as does Miss Asagiri."
"No, I still have to visit some other uncles and aunts..."
After politely declining her aunt's request to stay, Soya did not disturb Soya Eiji, who was already sleeping soundly, but took Suzu Asagiri to say goodbye and left.
In the afternoon, although it was cooler here in Sendai than in Kinki, the temperature still rose a lot. The two of them walked quickly in the sun and breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at the station.
"What do you want to drink?"
"Anything is fine."
Bang, two bottles of green tea fell from the vending machine one after another.
Arriving at the platform and waiting for the tram that would arrive in the station in ten minutes, Sogu took a long sip of ice drink and let out a sigh of relief.
"Although the person who was most opposed to Uncle Eiji's adoption of me was Aunt Liangzi, she was indeed a good person and I never blamed her. After all, my family is more important."
Chao Wuling looked at him.
Zong Gu tightened the cap of the bottle, "For things like adopting a child, kindness and enthusiasm alone are far from enough."
"It should be said that it is more 'weird' that Uncle Eiji adopted me because he had no time to take care of himself. If he insisted on adopting me at that time, it might not be a good thing for me or Uncle Eiji's family.
To this day, I still want to thank Aunt Liangzi for her opposition, because at that time, I actually didn’t have much of an opinion."
"You used to be quite sad about this matter." Chaogiri Ling suddenly said.
Zong Gu was startled, but he quickly recalled his past self, feeling a little embarrassed, and then he couldn't help but laugh.
"There's nothing I can do...At that time, I thought I was a child abandoned by all my relatives."
He looked at the railroad tracks below, "I just stayed in the orphanage for a while, and I saw some things too much, so I understood them myself."
Asagiri Suzu held his hand and said, "You accept it faster than all the children."
Zonggu looked at her.
"I feel like I'm being praised by my elders."
"Don't think like that."
"Yes, Lord Ling."
"..."
After a while, the tram pulled into the station.
After getting on the train, Zonggu went to visit his next relative as planned.
Although he said that he looked away and did not mind the neglect of some relatives, when arranging the afternoon itinerary, he honestly shortened the time to visit each family;
In the morning, he stayed at Eiji Sotani's house for three or four hours, and even had a meal together. In the afternoon, he only stayed at other relatives' houses for about twenty minutes at most.
And this is also reflected in the gifts brought when visiting.
"Other gifts may have all kinds of inexplicable taboos, so let's just give them alcohol... Junmai Daiginjo? No, it's too expensive. Daiginjo is about the same."
After visiting several relatives living in Sendai City in this way, the afternoon slowly passed.
On their last night in Tohoku, Soya and Asagiri Suzu didn't go anywhere else. They had a long dinner at a high-end restaurant near the central station, walked for about half an hour, and then returned to the hotel.
They took a bath together and left the bathroom when they were both exhausted.
Lying in bed, looking back at the day that was about to end, Soya suddenly realized that Anko and Akane Kirino didn't look for him much today.
And he will return to Kinki tomorrow, and he still doesn't know how Kirino Akane will treat him.
"Can't you sleep?"
On the pillow next to him, Chaogiri Ling was looking at him.
Bang, Zonggu also turned off the bedside lamp.
"Not sleepy yet."
Her little hand came up, caressing it back and forth, and finally stopped at his heart, feeling the beating inside.
"After returning home, Ling will go back to her room to sleep."
"no."
"Please."
"no."
Soya gave in slightly, "Unless Kirino is away."
She raised her eyes and looked at him for a while, without expressing her position, which was regarded as acquiescence.
"When you go back, will you still do what you just did?"
Zong Gu's heart skipped a beat and he held her hand that was about to move downward.
"Um……"
"Then drive him out first."
He was stunned for a moment, and then realized that she was talking about Tsukuyomi.
"Tsukuyomi-sama has no interest in this kind of thing and won't care about it... It would be too pitiful to kick him out or something. Besides, I still need him."
After all, he is Tsuki no Takako, and he is also her nominal brother, but Tsukuyomi does not get the slightest respect from Asagiri Suzu.
"He never really helped you."
Soya almost nodded, "When dealing with Zilei, Tsukuyomi-sama still put in a lot of effort."
"Without the teacher's reminder, he wouldn't have even noticed that Zhilei was nearby."
"That's what I said..."
He pursed his lips, then lowered his head and looked at her, "Ling seems to have a lot of resentment towards Tsukuyomi-sama."
Caressing the left side of his chest, Chao Wuling responded after a long while, but he didn't say why.
Zongya didn't ask either.
"The bell will still be the same as before, as long as Tsukuyomi-sama doesn't exist."
She lowered her eyes and nodded after a while.
She also understood that her complaints were actually unreasonable.
"Or let him stay in Chiba. I think he is quite happy with it."
"Hmm... Ling hasn't given up yet?"
It wasn't until late at night that the two of them fell asleep one after another.
The next morning, Zonggu slept until around eight o'clock.
After packing up their luggage and waking up Chao Wuling, the two of them had breakfast and checked out.
After leaving the hotel and arriving at the central station, Soya searched for a while and soon found the high school student spirit Ishise who was poking around.
He has not forgotten what he promised to the other party.
"You're finally here."
Seeing him and Asagiri Suzu, Ishise was visibly relieved, "I was waiting here the night before yesterday, but I didn't see anyone. I thought you had gone back secretly."
Zonggu smiled.
"Even if I regret it, I can leave openly. There is no need to hide from you."
"That's true..."
Because of the differences between them, if Soya went back on his word, Ishise would have nothing to do with him.
"Will you take me in?"
"certainly."
"You are a good person."
"I just promised to take you to Kyoto." Soya waved his hand, "I'm going to get the ticket now, just follow me."
"good."
Ishise also followed Soya.
Chaogiri Ling just glanced at him and ignored him.
After getting two Shinkansen tickets and arriving at the ticket gate, Soya intentionally looked at the patterns engraved on the gate for the first time.
This is just part of what is revealed.
In fact, the entire station is surrounded by such or similar spiritual power lines, in order to block the spirit bodies trying to "hitchhike" and reduce their mobility as much as possible.
This is true for all stations.
Only by being led by a spiritually aware person can the spirit body pass through this boundary smoothly and board the train that travels thousands of miles a day.
Of course, this level of boundary cannot stop all spirits, but it is more than enough to deal with ordinary spirits like Ishize.
"Give me your hand."
After passing the turnstile, Soya turned around and grabbed Ishize's arm.
When he passed through that seemingly non-existent boundary, Ishize visibly shook.
Once inside, Zonggu let go and said, "Okay."
"Thank you...you are such a good person."
After that, Asagiri Suzu also passed the ticket gate, and then took Soya to pick out the station lunch.
"You can just wait here, or you can get in the car first."
"I understand." Ishize was extremely honest. After all, after arriving in Kyoto, he still had to take him with him before he could leave the station there.
It takes four or five hours to take the Shinkansen from Sendai to Tokyo, and then it takes about two hours to drive to Kyoto. Soya and Asagiri Suzu had no intention of stopping over, and they planned to have lunch on the bus, so they were particularly careful when choosing a station that was convenient.
.
"Tsukuyomi-sama said that Miss Hanada will take him to Tokyo Station."
"Um."
"It also saves us having to go to Chiba to pick him up."
"It's not impossible to let him stay there."
Zonggu didn't say anything. He looked up at the clerk inside, pointed at the glass display window, and chose a bento with a lot of beef.
Chao Wuling glanced at him and then chose another flavor next to him.
"Is one serving enough?"
"That's enough. There's plenty of beef and rice."
They only had one meal in the car.
As for Tsukuyomi, he set off from Tokyo to Kyoto, so there was no problem if he didn't eat.
After selecting their lunch boxes, the two of them didn't go shopping much and quickly got in the car.
Worried about whether they were there or not, Ishize kept waiting on the platform. When he saw them, he got on the bus and followed them until he was next to the seat.
"Don't stand here... just find a place to stay by yourself." The other passengers couldn't see him, but Soya and Asagiri Suzu could clearly feel his sight, which made them feel quite uncomfortable.
So Ishize found an empty seat and sat down.
After looking back for a while, Soya retracted his gaze and said, "Speaking of which, after the soul worship meeting is over, will the spirit bodies that gathered near Kyoto return to their original places?"
Chao Wuling shook his head, "No."
“Then the Kinki area is going to be ‘inundated with spirits’, isn’t it?”
"When the teacher selects the lucky one, it is also the moment when other disappointed and jealous spirits are most likely to mutate. Most of the spirits will die from devouring each other after mutation." She looked at him, "The remaining part after devouring
, because they are highly aggressive, and they will basically die in your hands."
Zong Gu pursed his lower lip, "Isn't this just adding to our burden?"
It’s still quite a dangerous burden.
"It's been like this for many years." Asagiri Ling leaned back in his chair, "You guys already have a lot of experience in dealing with this kind of thing, so there won't be too much pressure. You will understand after participating in it yourself.
"
Zong Gu was silent, then nodded again.
After a while, the train set off.
Heading south, shortly after leaving Sendai City, news from Akane Kirino was sent.
Kirino: Will Soya come back today?
Soya: Already on the Shinkansen.
Kirino: That’s great.
Soya: There are still about seven or eight hours left.
Kirino: It’s been a long time!
Soya: Who told us that we came from the Northeast?
Kirino: Do you need me to pick you up in Kyoto?
Soya: No need.
Kirino: It’s necessary.
Kirino: I want to see Soya soon.
"..."
Looking down at her phone, Sogu was thinking about how to reply when her next message came over.
Kirino: Or you can show me what the souvenir is right now.
He was stunned for a while.
"Oops……"
Chao Wuling looked over, "What's wrong?"
"I forgot to prepare souvenirs."
She came over and took a look at the message, and then said: "When we stop at Baishi, you can get off the car and buy it."
Zonggu nodded, "This is the only way."
Soya: I put the souvenir in my travel bag. I’ll show it to you when I get back.
Kirino:Okay.
So, when the train stopped at the next stop, Shiroishi Zao Station, Soya got off the train with Asagiri Suzu and went to the station gift shop to pick out a few exquisite-looking gifts.
"This fruit mille-feuille looks good."
"Um."
Only when the two returned to the car did Ishize feel relieved.
The train continues southward.
There was nothing to say all the way. Three or four hours later, the train arrived at Tokyo Station, where the two of them were going to transfer. By the way, they took Tsukuyomi with them, who had been staying in Chiba for several days.
The two parties met at the agreed place.
Soya and Asagiri Suzu were carrying travel bags and souvenirs, Tsukuyomi was carrying bags and PS5 cartons, and were wearing a crisp suit. Hanada Natsuna was standing next to him.
"What a big change."
"It's okay." Tsukuyomi took off his sunglasses and tied his long hair back into a neat ponytail.
"If you hadn't been carrying a game console in your hand, I would have thought you were going to the company to work."
"It's impossible to go to work..."
Hanada Natsuna on the side was staring so closely that Souya couldn't turn a blind eye. He put a polite smile on his face and said, "Miss Hanada, please send him here."
"Do we have to take him away?" She crossed her arms and said nothing about what happened in the past few days. "Let him stay with me for a few more days. Then I can send him back."
"Okay." Chao Wuling nodded.
"..."
Zonggu took a step sideways and stood in front of her.
"Sorry, I need him more than Miss Hanada."
"Yeah."
Hanada Xia Cai looked him up and down, "I can't tell, but you still have this kind of hobby. No problem, if it's just for fun, I can let you join."
"..."
Sogu ignored her teasing and looked at Tsukuyomi, "It's time to go back."
He nodded and said goodbye to the person next to him: "Goodbye, Cai Cai."
After looking at him for a while, Hanada Xia Cai sighed softly, "You really don't miss him at all."
Tsukuyomi: "Go back and play games together."
"..."
She shook her head, "I really don't know what's so fun about games. Don't look forward to it too much. I'm going to find new friends as soon as you leave. I don't have that time."
"Okay." Tsukuyomi felt a little regretful.
Taking a deep breath, Huatian Xiacai quickly adjusted her mood: "Are you feeling happy these days?"
Tsukuyomi nodded, "I have something to eat and can play games casually. Of course I am happy."
"Don't you have anything to eat in Kansai?"
"Occasionally I get hungry."
"Hungry?" Hanada Natsuna looked over, and Soya squinted at Tsukuyomi.
"Whatever." She sighed again, and then she felt relieved, "As long as you feel happy. I also want to thank you for your company these days, that's all."
"goodbye."
Huatian Xiacai raised her hand to say goodbye, then turned and left.
Tsukuyomi waved several times at her back.
Soya was about to say something, but Hanada Xia Cai, who had not taken a few steps, suddenly turned around and said, "Young man."
He is the only "young man" here.
"Miss Hanada?"
She looked at him, "Do you remember what I said a few days ago?"
"……Remember."
"How about it?"
Soya doesn't want to comment.
Hanada Xia Cai didn't take it seriously, "Then let me remind you one last thing: the more you care about your external image and the eyes of others, the more you will deviate from your true heart."
Zonggu was silent for a few seconds, "I understand."
"Bye-Bye."
With one last glance at the three of them, Huatian Xiacai turned the car key and left without looking back.
"——Cai Cai is actually very lonely."
Soya glanced at Tsukuyomi and said after a while: "If Tsukuyomi-sama can promise me something, it's not impossible for you to stay here temporarily."
"Why do you want to stay here?"
"Tsukuyomi-sama, don't you think Miss Hanada is lonely?"
Tsukuyomi looked at the figure that was about to disappear, "Even if I stay here, she will still feel lonely."
"Because Tsukuyomi-sama only sees games, not women."
"She and I have nothing to talk about in depth." He held up the game console without denying it, "Maybe you can continue the conversation with her."
"I'm not interested in lonely rich ladies either."
"I mean, as an object of observation, just like before - Cai Cai is very confident in her own psychology."
"..."
Zong Gu glanced at him sideways, "Let her show off to others, I'm not interested."
"All right."
The three of them walked towards the Shinkansen ticket gate. Tsukuyomi walked beside Soya, holding something in his other hand.
"What is that?" Soya asked.
Tsukuyomi never takes a bag with him when he goes out, and all his luggage such as a change of clothes is left here with him.
"The things Cai Cai gave me." He picked up the bag in his hand, "A few sets of new clothes, and some snacks I just bought at the gift shop."
"Yeah."
Zonggu took a few more steps forward before he realized, "Have you left behind all the sets of clothes you brought here?"
"Yeah. Cai Cai said it's too old-fashioned, like something an old lady would wear."
Looking at the brand-new suit he was wearing, Soya said nothing, hoping Kirino Akane wouldn't mind.
After checking in and entering the station, and about to get on the bus, Ishise, who had been waiting for a long time, came to greet him.
Seeing him getting closer and closer, Tsukuyomi said "Hey" unexpectedly.
"The spirit I met in Sendai is going to Kyoto. I'll take him with me by the way."
"Oh. You are so enthusiastic."
He didn't ask any more questions, just looked at it a few more times.
After a while, the train started and headed towards Osaka.
Two hours later, the three of them arrived in Kyoto successfully.
After getting off the bus, I took Ishize through the ticket gate, where the two parties parted ways.
The other party is already dead, and there is no need for him to think about how to survive in Kyoto. However, when parting, Sogu still said one more thing, "I hope you can keep your heart."
"I will." Ishize was full of gratitude, "Thank you for bringing me here."