"You can only endure and endure, or leave."
Seiji furrowed his eyebrows tightly upon hearing this.
"It took so much effort to get here. I can't leave before I find my target," he stated. "How much time do I have left?"
"I can't say … If the rate of collapse continues, you'll probably be able to last until this place completely collapses. But, if the rate of collapse increases, you won't be able to last much longer."
"What will happen if this place completely collapses?"
"It will become like how it should be."
"Like how it should be?"
"I don't know either."
"You don't know how this place was formed either, do you?"
"That's right."
'What a useless spirit!' Seiji wanted to comment like that, but he only thought about it.
Logically speaking, Yomi was already quite amazing. If it wasn't for her, it was likely that he wouldn't have been able to reach this place at all.
Right now, there was basically a countdown timer. The longer he stayed here, the more he would be affected by the debuff. This would continue until this place completely collapsed or he was unable to endure any longer. In order to complete his mission, he would have to find his target before the countdown ended.
But, how was he supposed to find his target?
Seiji thought about it for a while, but was unable to come up with a good idea.
He could only look around the town first.
Actually, as long as he was patient enough, he would be able to load time and time again until he completely searched this entire town.
Seiji walked out of the alleyway after using a spell to conceal himself. He walked down the street and observed his surroundings.
…
Koutarou heard a terrifying rumor while he was selling coal.
The carpenter Shibata's family had died.
The adults and children had all died. They had been eaten by a ghost!
Apart from them, several other farmers living outside of town had also been eaten by a ghost … at least several dozen people had died!!
Koutarou was afraid when he heard this news. He became even more worried when he thought about his family.
It was said that ghosts wouldn't appear during the day. However, Koutarou was still afraid that he would see something terrible when he returned home.
The coal sold quite well. It didn't take long for all of them to be sold out, much earlier than he had expected. Koutarou hurriedly rushed home.
The more he walked, the more hurried he became. In the end, he basically jogged all the way home.
His mother, younger sister, younger brother … Koutarou panted heavily as he passed through the misty mountain path. Finally, he saw his family's house.
The door was actually open!
In this kind of weather, normal people would not open their doors.
Seeing this, the unease in the charcoal seller's heart rose to the peak.
As he approached the door, he smelled a peculiar odor.
"Mom …" Before he could finish his sentence, he was stunned by the scene in the room.
The color of blood, the torn clothes, and the figure lying on the ground …
"Ah … Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
His mother and brother... were dead.
Koutarou was unwilling to accept this reality. However, the cruel scene was right in front of him. No matter how much he screamed and cried in pain, he was unable to change anything.
Only his sister was still alive.
She had lost a lot of blood and was very weak and dying.
Although Koutarou still hadn't completely accepted reality as the older brother, his body started moving on its own. He hurriedly bandaged his younger sister's wounds and then carried her down the mountain!
He had to find a medicine master to treat his little sister's life.
"Don't die, Dongmei, don't die …"
Koutarou kept calling out his younger sister's name as tears streamed down his face.
Carrying someone on his back while running at top speed on a mountain path covered in snow and thick fog, Koutarou unsurprisingly slipped and fell heavily to the ground.
"Dongmei …" Koutarou didn't even have the time to cry out in pain. He crawled up to check on his younger sister's condition.
However, he saw that Dongmei raised her head and opened her eyes. Her eyes were completely blood-red!
"Roar!!"
Dongmei let out an inhuman roar as her fangs protruded from her mouth. They became long and sharp, as if she was a wild beast!
"Dongmei?" Koutarou was astonished to the point of being stunned.
He saw his younger sister propping herself up on all fours. Her palms became larger, and her fingernails became longer like claws. Then, she suddenly pounced at him!
"Ahh!"
Koutarou instinctively felt fear. His body automatically reacted and tried to dodge. However, Dongmei viciously pounced on him and pushed him to the ground.
The charcoal seller sensed his death as he saw Dongmei's sharp fangs approaching him.
"No … Dongmei … don't …" He did his best to resist. His strength, which he had developed over many years of hard work, was finally effective as he forcefully pushed Dongmei away.
"Roar!!!" Dongmei roared as her sharp claws pierced through her older brother's clothes and into his body.
"Ahhh!!! Dongmei!!!" Koutarou was in incredible pain. He used all his strength to push his younger sister away, and then kicked her away with all his strength!
However, Dongmei immediately pounced at him again.
The charcoal seller was almost out of energy. He was unable to think as he looked at his younger sister's demon-like expression. There was only pain, sorrow, and despair.
Koutarou recalled the first time he saw his younger sister. It was also a snowy day like this when she was born. The little baby girl was held in her mother's arms, and her father gently told her that he was going to be her older brother from today onwards, and that he had to take good care of his younger sister …
'Dad … I'm sorry …'
Koutarou closed his eyes.
The next instant, there was a loud thud. Koutarou, who was waiting for death, suddenly felt his body lighten.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a samurai!
This samurai was wearing a white feather weave and black pants. He held a longsword in his hand, and his long hair was tied into a ponytail. His face was incredibly handsome, to the point where it was difficult to determine his gender.
This was the second time in Koutarou's life that he had ever seen such a handsome person.
This handsome samurai was currently slowly unsheathing his sword. His cold gaze was directed at the girl who had collapsed several meters away.
"Ahhh!!!" Dongmei roared loudly as she crawled back up and viciously attacked.
The handsome samurai's figure flashed as he spun around at high speed and circled behind the girl. At the same time, he unsheathed his longsword and stabbed her in the back, viciously nailing her to the ground!
Dongmei screamed in pain as she furiously waved her claws.
The handsome samurai had a calm expression in his eyes. He was about to move his longsword and execute her.
"Wait … wait a moment!!!" Koutarou shouted out when he saw this scene.
"No … Lord … please don't kill her … she's my younger sister …" The charcoal seller knelt on the ground as he begged with tears streaming down his face. "My only surviving family member … she's the only one left … Mom … Younger brother … they're all dead … please don't …"
Koutarou's words were incoherent. He was only desperately begging, hoping that the samurai would spare his younger sister's life.
The handsome samurai turned around and glanced at Koutarou.
"She's already become a ghost. There's no saving her."
"No … no … there's a way to save her … there's definitely a way to save her … I won't let her eat humans … I'll watch over her and not let her eat humans. Then, I'll find a way to save her …" Koutarou did his best to move his rather slow tongue as he spoke.
Koutarou didn't even think about whether or not there really was a way to save her, or how to watch over his younger sister who had become a monster. He didn't even think about it. He didn't even think about it … Right now, he only understood one thing: if he didn't convince this samurai, his younger sister would die!
He didn't want Dongmei to die, even if she had already become a ghost.
"Please … please …" The lowly charcoal seller's face was covered in tears as he begged the powerful and noble samurai.
The demon girl who was nailed to the ground was still struggling.
The handsome samurai's gaze moved away from the demon girl and looked towards his older brother.
"Don't leave your life and death to others," he spoke in a low voice. "If you want to stop me from killing her, then kill me."
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