“There are a few real headaches out there. Usually, the moment they hear they can’t kill a ghoul or break a curse, they just shrug and walk away… But there are also Tendo masters worthy of respect, like Long Kui, the sect master of the Tiandi Sect, one of the factions within the Tendo Academy! That’s why I’ve come to respect Tendo masters more and more. It’s just that Long Kui’s son was even more troublesome. He was a little younger than you, and I can’t remember his name. I tried taking him on as my disciple. Guess what? Aren’t you dying to meet him?”
“But I don’t want to. You’re being an idiot, okay?”
“Heh-heh, your teeth are still as obnoxious as ever. You always drag the conversation miles off course—probably half a li away.” Yuanhui nodded as he casually slid his sword into place, then squeezed past Juxi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“That’s it?”
“No. I mean, you’re jealous of me.”
After hearing all that, Juxi fell silent for a while. Yuanhui had no intention of rushing him.
“I don’t know…” Juxi finally said. “But if you just drag some complete stranger into our group for no reason, especially someone who threatened you at the very beginning—someone who hurt you or forced you onto the gallows—then I think you’d be satisfied, wouldn’t you?”
Just as Yuanhui and Juxi were arguing at the top of their lungs, the noises coming from the kitchen caught their attention.
Of course, apart from Yuanhui and Yukari, no one else had ever entered Juxi’s room. But Yukari had recently gone out to take part in an extreme mission hunting corpse souls. Even using a Divine-Travel Tile, she couldn’t make it back.
Oh, right—the Divine-Travel Tile was a medicinal powder refined by the Tendo Academy from vulture ashes. Sprinkle just one gram of it, and you could run three times faster than a horse… Ahem. I’m getting off track.
The most important thing right now was figuring out exactly who the person in the kitchen was!
At some point, a girl in gray cloth armor, her golden hair tied into a ponytail, leaned against the table. She lowered her voice again and spoke to Yuanhui in an almost inaudible whisper. “He accepted this mission. You know, there are still a few smart people here, and the only one with a noble status is this gentleman.”
“…”
Juxi and Yuanhui both froze. Seriously, who the heck was this big sister?!
Looking completely dazed, Yuanhui immediately drew the wooden sword in his hand and warily stared at the girl standing by the kitchen door. “Who are you, and why…”
“This is my employer. Yuanhui hasn’t met her yet, has he?” Juxi didn’t seem all that surprised by the girl’s appearance. Instead, he wore an expression that said everything had gone exactly as he’d expected. Seriously, was there really nothing wrong with this?
Juxi himself wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the situation. But for now, they had no choice but to trust the girl. Otherwise, they didn’t have a single useful clue, and if this went on, they’d be driven into a dead end!
Juxi had already tried to mentally prepare Yuanhui in advance, but after actually seeing the true face of the companion who would be traveling with them, even he had trouble staying calm.
“Oh my god… You’ve given me way too many surprises today. I’ve seriously seen everything now!!!”
With that, Yuanhui calmly walked toward the door. Then he turned around and spoke to Juxi, who was just about to start explaining.
“All right. Let that guy get properly prepared. We’re leaving soon.”
Yuanhui was finally gone, and Juxi could at last breathe a temporary sigh of relief. But the girl who had hired him yesterday was acting completely out of character, pretending to be shy as she cautiously tested the waters with Juxi.
They’d had enough of this. According to the rumors, some strange people would seek out Tendo masters and tell them, “Forget the ritual and the exorcism. Kill the priest, then tell the employer the magic failed. Call it a workplace accident.”
The employer would certainly be furious, of course, but the worst they could do was refuse to pay the fee.
That cunning Tendo master would then find every possible way to bleed the related villagers dry, taking every last coin they had. He might even threaten them: “If you’ve got the guts, do it yourselves!”
What else could they do? Fight him?
We scraped together some money and haggled over the price, but it was all completely… Sigh. In the end, it was still pointless.
That made me raise an eyebrow despite myself. Could anyone really find peace under circumstances like that?
The questions kept piling up. Was there really nothing useful…?
Ye Juxi said, as mentioned above: That was exactly what those blacksmiths working for wages had said.
“A complete waste.” Yuanhui spoke like a deflated balloon. “I don’t want to be the first idiot to go there and get myself killed. That bastard spent all day wandering around, lying in ambush in the shadows and waiting. In the end, just like people said, he saw hope. Most likely, it happened when the monsters started killing people. You know, those things don’t slip out of their caves just to stretch their legs. That very night, he packed up and left. Without even saying goodbye, he went and took out those scumbags.”
At that very moment, Juxi was at home, gazing out at the torrential rain through the window, already heavy with sleep. Beside him, the girl’s lips curled slightly, her expression half-smiling and half-mocking.
Those clever people understood the rules of the trade. They knew better than to underestimate a profession that offered high returns—but carried equally high risks.
