It was 9 o'clock in the evening, and Chongzong had already finished washing up and was in his room, pretending to read a book. In reality, even when he was still studying, Chongzong rarely read books, especially in his current state after finishing the exam. He was thinking about tomorrow's plans.
Choosing to travel with Usagi Yuki was not a sudden impulse or a careless decision. It was the result of Chongzong carefully considering and coming up with the optimal solution.
Ayaki Yuriko, who may go by the name of Hakucho, was around 23 years old with little room for error. After failing to assassinate Koga Mizuo at the residence of Koga Mizuo, she was stopped by Chongzong and then placed under house arrest by him, assigned to Eiji Hayamizu. During this time, interrogation and investigation yielded some information, but their authenticity could not be confirmed, leading to a pause in further investigation.
Chongzong's guess was that this woman was Bai Yaxin's associate. Based on the various events that occurred before and after their contact, it could be inferred that Bai Yaxin was the mastermind behind it all and intended to kill to cover up.
Everything sounded reasonable and made sense when thinking about it, but the most crucial evidence was missing. So where could they find the evidence from? The most direct resource Chongzong had at hand was this woman. However, he didn't have a means to extract information from her. Unbeknownst to Chongzong, or rather due to various thoughtless actions, the situation had become extremely delicate. They couldn't make it public, and there was no external help to seek. They had to rely on themselves and Hayamizu. They needed the woman's information, suspected her of deception and lack means to verify the truthfulness of her words. They were caught in a dilemma.
If they continued like this, time would drag on, but the progress of the matter wouldn't correspondingly extend. It might even come to a standstill. Moreover, they still had their normal lives to tend to, and time was running out. This matter increasingly resembled a hot potato. Once it got out of hand, Chongzong wasn't confident he could turn things around. Therefore, time was becoming scarce. What should they do next? Should they continue to consider and make a fully informed decision, even if it carried the risk of the situation spiraling out of control? Or should they make a hasty decision while there was still sufficient time? Chongzong himself didn't know which option was right, and nobody could tell him either. Only after making a judgment and waiting for some time to pass, when the whole matter had a result, could he know if he was right or wrong. But that's not always the case. Perhaps both choices were wrong. Life isn't so simple as to be either right or wrong. Having realized this, Chongzong made a decision. He was going to take Yuki to meet that woman. More accurately, he was going to have Yuki help him determine if the woman was telling the truth or lying. To be honest, it was a decision that made one laugh out loud. After being torn for a long time, he ultimately became a coward, pushing responsibility onto a little girl. But that wasn't Chongzong's intent.
His thinking was very pure. Yuki's intuition had always been accurate. Since he had become the bottleneck in the progress of things, he would find someone or means to break through the bottleneck. As for the outcome, he would bear it himself.
So, on this dark and windy night.
Oh no, actually just an ordinary night.
Chongzong came to Yuki's room.
It's not very normal for an older brother to go to his younger sister's room.
As the saying goes, wise men see different things and good people see good things, while dirty-minded people see dirty things.
Yuki sat on the edge of the bed, and Chongzong sat cross-legged on the floor cushion, as usual, with this position arrangement and posture.
"Cough, Yuki, I have something to discuss with you."
And, the familiar opening line.
"Is there something you need my help with?"
Chongzong hadn't said anything yet, and Yuki went straight to the point.
When asking for help, Chongzong always felt embarrassed to look elsewhere, but this time, he looked straight into Yuki's eyes, and Yuki didn't dodge, looking back at Chongzong candidly.
"Well... there is a difficult matter that I need your help with."
"Okay, I'll help you."
Yuki didn't ask anything and agreed directly.
Chongzong's jaw almost dropped.
"Why did you agree without asking anything? I haven't said anything yet!"
Chongzong was a bit excited and almost stood up.
"Because I believe that my brother won't ask me to do something bad, and since my brother asked, it must be something that only I can do, right?"
In stark contrast to Chongzong's excitement, Yuki remained calm and composed, not at all like an elementary school student.
Actually, Yuki's real name is Edo-gawa Yuki, right?
Chongzong was speechless at this moment.
He was not only amazed once again at Yuki's extraordinary intuition, but also impressed by Yuki's judgment and decision-making ability in unexpected situations.
It was right to ask this child for help.
Chongzong reaffirmed his choice.
