That evening, at Naruko Anjou's home.
"Five years ago..."
Naruko recalled the childhood friend Hana she'd seen during the day, and the handsome boy who had been with her. Behind her large glasses, her eyes revealed tangled, painful emotions.
"No... mustn't recall anymore... otherwise..."
Naruko Anjou felt as if her head was about to split open, the pain unbearable.
Though she didn't want to remember what happened that day, the more she tried not to think about something, the more it came to mind - an instinct beyond subjective control.
Amidst the intensifying pain, Naruko's vision gradually faded into complete darkness.
...
Meanwhile, hidden in a corner untouched by streetlight glow, Ye Xing wore black casual wear and completely erased his own spiritual power aura as he watched the two-storey residence nearby, silently waiting.
If this scene were photographed and posted online, seventy percent of people would assume it was a pervert stalking someone.
Twenty-nine percent would believe it was a serial killer selecting his next target.
The remaining one percent - particularly delusional fangirls - would see Ye Xing's photo and contact the reporting journalist to ask for his contact details.
Don't say such possibilities don't exist - Natsumi Suga had recently encountered many such absurd cases.
Of course, she hadn't given anyone Ye Xing's contact information.
Whether this was due to journalistic ethics or some other personal reason remained unknown.
Just then, Ye Xing suddenly saw Naruko Anjou emerge from the two-storey house.
The word "emerge" was appropriate because she literally passed through the thick walls.
"Well, now, primordial spirit separation? A mighty cultivator?"
Though Ye Xing said this, it was merely for amusement.
He knew perfectly well that Naruko was no mighty cultivator, and her soul leaving its physical body wasn't a voluntary choice.
Judging from Naruko's expression, she resembled those wandering spirits Miko Yotsuya had seen before - drifting aimlessly through streets with no aggressiveness, mere lonely ghosts.
"Let's see what tricks they're planning to pull."
Ye Xing immediately decided to follow Naruko's spirit floating mid-air.
Naturally, he considered this might be the enemy's diversion tactic, with the real purpose being to lure him away.
"Onimaru Kunitsuna."
"Master."
The beautifully-faced Onimaru Kunitsuna appeared again, dressed in black mourning attire like a widow, though this time Ye Xing noticed that her eyes seemed to harbour an inexplicable anticipation.
"No... what exactly are you expecting?"
Onimaru Kunitsuna stated matter-of-factly.
"Hm? When you summoned me, wasn't it to drink milk?"
"What kind of misunderstanding is this?"
Ye Xing looked utterly confused.
"When did I ever say I'd give you milk?"
"But you said you wouldn't have any intentions toward a sword. Since I can take human form, I can drink milk, right?"
"Your train of thought... is truly unique."
Ye Xing shook his head helplessly, wondering why there were so many abstract beings around him.
Miko Yotsuya, Yui Yuigahama, Hachishaku-sama, and now Onimaru Kunitsuna - all showed tendencies toward evolving into abstract directions.
Really now.
Who knew who was negatively influencing them? Truly heartbreaking.
"We'll discuss the milk matter later. First, I'm giving you a task - guard that residence. Any evil spirits trying to enter... You understand what I mean?"
"Understood."
Onimaru Kunitsuna nodded seriously.
"Chop them into fine mince, without a single bone mixed in!"
"Are you some feudal official? Just kill them."
"I thought after chopping them up, they'd be ready for you to enjoy when you return."
"Fine, I'll leave it to you."
...
Half an hour later, deep in the mountains on the outskirts of Kyoto.
Naruko Anjou's eyes gradually cleared and regained focus.
"Here again..."
She looked at the trees surrounding her that stretched like elongated ghostly shadows in the darkness, and the all-too-familiar small wooden cabin before her, letting out a soft sigh.
"This dream again..."
Ever since the incident five years ago when Menma died unexpectedly, Naruko Anjou had frequently suffered from nightmares.
Every dream contained the exact same content.
She would find herself in these mountains, standing before the small cabin where she used to play with Menma and Hana during their childhood.
Naruko had tried to escape the mountain area, but no matter which direction she went, whenever she was about to leave, she would inexplicably find herself back in front of the cabin again.
It defied logic.
But dreams never followed logic anyway.
Every time she had this dream, Naruko could feel something in the darkness among the trees, watching her.
She even had a strange thought.
On the day Meiko Honma fell into the river and drowned...
Part of Naruko Anjou had remained in these mountains forever.
This nightmare felt like the mountain forest calling out to her, summoning her back to willingly meet her death.
"That day's events..."
Naruko recalled the question Hana had asked her during the day.
What exactly happened on that day five years ago?
Naruko couldn't remember clearly. She only had a vague feeling.
That day, she had seen something extremely terrifying.
So terrifying that Naruko didn't even dare to recall it.
That was precisely why she had cut off contact with Hana Yurikawa - partly because she didn't know how to face her friend after Menma's death.
And partly because whenever Hana Yurikawa was around, she would unconsciously start remembering what happened that day.
Naruko Anjou was afraid to confront it.
"Really..."
Although returning to the place where her childhood friend died in her dreams was indeed terrifying, and Naruko wasn't particularly brave, even the most horrifying nightmare becomes somewhat familiar after experiencing it so many times.
Starting over half a year ago, the frequency of Naruko's nightmares had increased significantly.
What used to be a nightmare occurring once every few months had become fortnightly, then weekly, until now, when she would dream it every two or three days.
Naruko even wondered if, in the end, she would end up like in those horror comics - falling into permanent sleep, forever trapped in these mountains.
"This place... really hasn't changed much at all..."
Naruko Anjou stepped into the small wooden cabin, gazing at the dust-covered floor and the marks carved into the wooden walls by herself, Menma, and Hana during their childhood. A touch of nostalgia surfaced in her eyes.
Yet one thing puzzled her.
If this were a dream, shouldn't the cabin in her dream appear as the clean and tidy place she remembered from her memories?
Why had it grown increasingly dilapidated over time, mirroring her own gradual growth?
Naruko Anjou could find no answer.
She walked over to one wall, raised her hand, and gently brushed the only spot in the cabin untouched by dust.
[Meiko Honma, Naruko Anjou, Hana Yurikawa]
Beneath the three names was another sentence.
[Three people must always be friends!]
"Menma..."
Naruko Anjou gently traced Menma's name with her fingers. Even after five years, whenever she saw this inscription, memories of their time playing together would surface, and tears would inevitably well up in her eyes.
Kneeling on the ground, she raised a hand to wipe her tears, but they kept flowing uncontrollably.
"Menma... I... the person I am now... I'm no longer the same as I was back then... If only I could see you one more time... that would be..."
Just as Naruko Anjou was weeping alone, she suddenly heard a series of sounds from outside the cabin, like teeth grinding together.
"That's..."
Naruko Anjou turned her head and saw, in the darkness of the forest outside the cabin, dozens of pairs of bloodshot crimson eyes had appeared at some unknown time. Their eyes held a twisted fanaticism as they stared intently at her.
"Bring to the master..."
"Offer the sacrifice... to the master..."
"Found you..."
Naruko Anjou's pupils contracted in shock. She collapsed onto the floor, scrambling backwards in terror.
"This... this..."
She watched as dozens of monsters emerged from the forest's darkness. They wore tattered cloth garments, their bodies withered and emaciated, with some parts even revealing stark white bones. Their faces were distorted, and they were moving towards the cabin.
"Found you..."
"Found you..."
"Found you..."
The evil spirits kept repeating these words.
"No... don't..."
Seeing one of the evil spirits place its desiccated grey hand on the cabin's doorframe, Naruko Anjou covered her mouth, her face full of terror, with only one thought in her mind.
Wake up.
I must wake up immediately!
But no matter how hard Naruko Anjou tried, she couldn't rouse herself from this nightmare.
After all, this wasn't actually a nightmare at all.
Just as Naruko Anjou felt utterly desperate, a figure suddenly passed through the dozens of evil spirits and came directly to the one closest to her, which was about to enter the cabin.
Then, a slender, elegant hand grabbed the evil spirit by the hair on its head.
Thud!
Watching the evil spirit's head smash against the doorframe and hearing the dull thud, Naruko Anjou even felt the ground tremble from the impact.
"Just you lot... you're really too disappointing."
Ye Xing kept slamming the evil spirit's head against the rigid doorframe until its head was twisted out of shape, then crushed it into black smoke as if he'd grown tired of playing with it.
He scanned the dozens of emaciated evil spirits before him, his handsome face showing only one thing.
Disappointment.
"Really, you don't have much flesh on you, yet you're still this weak, and you taste terrible, too. With all that, you still come out here - do you even have any awareness of being food? So irresponsible."
Naruko Anjou stared at the suddenly appeared Ye Xing, first stunned, then exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh... you're the one from today, the one with Hana..."
"Not important."
Ye Xing didn't even turn his head as he spoke indifferently.
"My current identity is simply that of someone who's been anticipating a feast for a long time, only to be served a plate of nine-turn large intestines... an enraged person!"
As his words fell, two crimson kaleidoscope patterns appeared in Ye Xing's eyes, staring directly at the group of withered evil spirits before him.
"Feel my hatred and fury."
"Amaterasu."
Violent black flames instantly ignited upon these evil spirits.
The dozens of evil spirits that had appeared terrifying and distorted like death-dealing evil spirits in Naruko Anjou's eyes just moments before were now rolling on the ground, howling in excruciating pain as the black flames covered them. They desperately tried to extinguish the black flames covering their bodies, but to no effect.
"Time for some barbecue."
Ye Xing's philosophy was simple - he wasn't picky about his food.
Combined with Amaterasu's inextinguishable black flames, he devoured the burning, screaming evil spirits one by one.
Although the raw ingredients were somewhat trashy, this top-tier cooking method, combined with the freshness of live consumption, could indeed be considered using exquisite culinary skills to prepare a delicious dish.
Given the weak strength of these evil spirits, they couldn't provide any power boost to Ye Xing in his current state.
He ate these creatures partly for amusement.
On the other hand, it was also to obtain the most profound memories from these evil spirits' lives through devouring them.
Just as he had speculated.
These evil spirits were all travellers who had once come to this great mountain.
Judging from the first-person perspective of their clothing, some among them even dated back to ancient times.
"Hmm?"
Although the most profound memories from all the evil spirits' lives were, as Ye Xing had guessed, scenes from before their miserable deaths, what surprised him was that what appeared in his vision wasn't some terrifying evil spirit with distorted features, but instead...
Humans wearing strange black robes, their faces unclear.
"This is rather interesting."
Ye Xing had originally thought this operation would follow the same procedure as the Weather God incident.
Locate the Divine Territory, enter the Divine Territory, find the feast, and enjoy the meal.
But judging from the final memories of these evil spirits' lives, they hadn't died at the hands of some malevolent entity, but instead were killed by humans. The question was, if the killers were human, why did these spirits gather in this great mountain after becoming evil spirits?
Had they become earth-bound spirits?
Or, like the Weather God's divine envoys, had they become puppets of some existence?
Based on the current information, Ye Xing could only think of one possibility.
The evil entity truly existed, but there was also a mysterious organisation composed of humans who worshipped it.
No matter.
Find a way to lure them out, then start killing, eliminate them all, root and branch, leave none alive.
"Can you still stand up?"
Hearing Ye Xing's words, Naruko Anjou tried to stand up, but due to her earlier extreme tension, her muscles had become weak and sore, leaving her without even the strength to stand.
"I... I can't..."
Ye Xing asked in a calm tone.
"Piggyback, bridal carry, or train bento?"
"Eh?"
"Since you can't stand up, I'll have to help you. I'm asking which position you want to choose."
Naruko Anjou originally wanted to say it wasn't necessary, that she just needed to rest a bit longer.
Yet on second thought, what if those monsters appeared again?
The longer they stayed, the greater the danger.
Moreover...
Naruko Anjou glanced at Ye Xing standing there, thinking, 'Being carried by such a handsome guy wouldn't be so bad after all.'
There was just one thing she couldn't figure out.
She knew what both the princess carry and piggyback positions were.
But what the hell was a train bento?
It sounded more like a band name than anything else.
Naruko didn't understand, but she was genuinely curious.
However, guided by reason, she ultimately said somewhat awkwardly.
"Well... then I'll trouble you to carry me on your back."
"Alright."
...
Fifteen minutes later.
Naruko Anjou opened her eyes, rubbed her head, and slowly sat up in bed.
"How long... have I been asleep..."
She checked her phone and found it was already past twelve.
"Wait a moment..."
As her mind cleared up a bit, Naruko recalled the content of her dream.
She had returned to that mountain, in front of that small wooden cabin.
Only this time, dozens of terrifying-looking monsters had tried to attack her.
And the one who saved her was...
Naruko's expression changed as she felt her memory of the dream becoming increasingly fuzzy. She immediately opened her phone's memo and wrote down the most important sentence.
"Monday, go to Sobu High School, find Hana and that boy."
When Hana Yurikawa and Ye Xing visited Naruko Anjou during the day, they were wearing Sobu High School uniforms.
In Kyoto, Sobu High School was well-known as one of the best public schools, completely different from the third-rate school Naruko currently attended.
"What in the world... is going on?"
Naruko didn't understand why the boy from Hana's side had appeared in her dream.
She certainly didn't think it was the real person.
Could it be...
Had she reached that age?
Although the boy was very handsome, dreaming about someone after just one meeting would be taking it too far!
Could it be that she, who had never been in a relationship, was really that desperate?
More importantly...
What was the relationship between that boy and Hana?
Could it be that the boy who appeared in her dream, carried her on his back, made her heart flutter, and played the hero saving the beauty...
Was actually her childhood friend Hana Yurikawa's boyfriend!?
If that were true, wouldn't she be morally bankrupt?
Naruko Anjou's face showed a conflicted expression.
New Era Publication.
Curly-haired Gyaru Doesn't Dream of Sobu High's Abstract Hottie.