Seeing Naruko Anjou staring at her with a shocked expression, Hina Amano smiled sheepishly.
"Anjou-san, why are you staring at me like that?"
"It's just... you... this..."
Naruko stumbled over her words, taking a deep breath to suppress her astonishment before managing to organise her thoughts and speak incredulously.
"You... changed the weather?"
"Yes."
Hina Amano smiled playfully, as if this were completely insignificant.
"I'm a Sunny Girl with a one hundred percent success rate."
Although the Weather God had been destroyed, Hina Amano still retained the ability to change the weather within a certain range according to her will.
After all, her soul's true form, Hiyoribo, had devoured part of the Weather God's body. Combined with her own experience as a Sunny Girl for over half a year, she had long mastered the skill of manipulating weather changes.
Making the weather clear within a single mountain range posed no difficulty whatsoever for the current Hina Amano.
"Though this mountain forest does seem quite frightening to enter at night."
"Isn't that just because you're too timid?"
"Hmph, I'm very brave. I even dare to oppose gods."
"Putting on airs now? I wonder who was sitting there crying pitifully earlier?"
"You! You must never tell Futaba and the others about that. Only you saw me in such an embarrassing state."
Watching Hina Amano and Ye Xing walking ahead, chatting and laughing as if they were on a spring outing in this mountain, Naruko Anjou didn't know what words could describe her current feelings.
When she entered Sobu High School on Monday, she had asked around among the students and learned that Ye Xing had founded a club called the Supernatural Quantum Mechanics Research Society.
The key point was...
This was just too supernatural!?
Changing the weather?
What the hell?
If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, Naruko Anjou would have found it very difficult to believe that such things and such people could exist in the world.
This reminded her of the game she used to play as a child with Hana and Menma.
During battles in that game, you needed to use weather-changing abilities to give your pocket monsters an advantage.
Commonly known as field battles.
"Hehe, little Annaru, Amano-nee is really amazing"
Menma said with a laugh.
Of course, Naruko Anjou couldn't hear it, and Hina Amano seemed somewhat embarrassed by such flattering words about herself, so she didn't translate them.
...
The four... no, three people, plus one little loli ghost girl, spent over half an hour reaching the area on the mountainside.
"This is..."
As they got closer and closer to the main body of that evil Mountain God, both Naruko Anjou and Menma couldn't help but feel an inexplicable fear rising in their hearts, yet also a kind of longing, as if being called by something.
Compared to Menma beside her, the fear in Naruko Anjou's heart was even deeper. Fragments of memories from that day five years ago were gradually being recalled as she got closer to the missing part of her soul.
"I... I..."
Naruko Anjou's legs trembled as she looked ahead at the forest path, her face already changed.
She crouched on the ground, hands clutching her head, her voice trembling.
"I... I don't want to go any further..."
Vague fragments from that day five years ago surfaced in Naruko Anjou's mind.
A black monster as tall as a mountain, seemingly composed of rotten flesh, and those twisted human limbs...
Just a few blurry images made Naruko Anjou recall the fear she felt facing the monster that day.
"Annaru..."
Menma looked at Naruko Anjou crouching on the ground, her whole body trembling, a trace of heartache showing in her eyes.
"Stand up."
What surprised Hina Amano was that Menma, who was usually obedient and cute with a somewhat scatterbrained personality, now wore a serious expression as she placed her hand on Naruko Anjou's shoulder and spoke slowly.
"Annaru, stand up."
"Men...ma...?"
Hearing the faint voice ringing in her ears, Naruko Anjou couldn't help but freeze.
She slowly raised her head, and what appeared before her eyes was a faint, indistinct white illusion.
This white illusion gradually became clearer until finally, it formed into a little girl with silver hair, pale skin, and a cute face, wearing a white dress.
"Menma..."
Naruko Anjou could hardly believe what she was seeing was real. Trembling, she extended her right hand as if wanting to touch the Menma before her, yet also seeming afraid it was all just an illusion, freezing in mid-air, not daring to move forward.
Menma grasped Naruko Anjou's hand, smiling as she gently pressed the other's palm against her own cheek, saying sweetly:
"It's me, Annaru."
"Menma... Menma!"
Naruko Anjou's mind went blank. When she came to her senses, she immediately leaned forward and hugged the petite Meiko Honma into her arms, two streams of uncontrollable tears overflowing from her eyes as she sobbed.
"Menma... It's really you... I... I..."
"Alright, no need to say more."
Menma gently stroked Naruko Anjou's head. Though she herself was just a child, she comforted her with remarkable tenderness.
"You're not a child anymore, you can't cry so easily. After all, you're a high school student now."
"Menma... I... I'm sorry, that day I abandoned you... I alone..."
"Not alone."
Maintaining her gentle smile, Menma crouched down and cupped Naruko Anjou's face, speaking softly.
"You saved Hana - it wasn't abandoning Menma to run away alone. You're my best friend, I could never blame you."
Witnessing this touching reunion between childhood friends separated by life and death, Hina Amano felt her own eyes growing moist.
She turned to Ye Xing beside her and whispered.
"Fortunately, you have Domain Expansion ability. If it were just me conveying messages, it wouldn't compare to Menma herself speaking with Anjou-san."
To Hina Amano's surprise, Ye Xing shook his head.
"Has nothing to do with me. I didn't expand any Domain."
"Eh?"
Hina Amano's expression changed as if suddenly realising something.
"Could it be..."
"Yeah."
Ye Xing gazed at the surrounding dark woods, watching the shadowy figures wandering closer, and said calmly.
"The evil spirits have chosen to take the initiative."
Menma, as a spirit, also noticed the surrounding abnormalities and immediately gritted her teeth slightly, saying to Naruko Anjou.
"Annaru, stand up! This isn't the time to be afraid!"
"Right..."
Naruko Anjou wiped her tears and slowly stood up, forcing down the fear in her heart as she clenched her jaw.
"Though I can't do anything, my role as bait has been fulfilled, right?"
Naruko Anjou looked at Hina Amano standing there, took a deep breath, and said very seriously.
"Amano-san, don't worry about me! Eliminate these evil spirits! Don't get distracted trying to protect my safety!"
"Eh? Anjou-san, you seem to have misunderstood."
Hina Amano stepped back several paces, positioning herself to protect Naruko Anjou and Menma.
Within this domain of the Mountain God's evil spirits, even an ordinary person, Naruko Anjou, could clearly see that the other party's beautiful soul true form - dressed like some kind of erotic teru teru bōzu - had also come to their side, showing no intention of taking the initiative.
Hina Amano pointed at Ye Xing, who stood alone facing the shadowy figures in the woods, and said with a laugh.
"You don't actually think I'm stronger than him, do you? I'm just support - Ye Xing is the frontline combatant."
"Ah?"
This statement dealt another severe blow to Naruko Anjou.
Wait...
Just what kind of club is this Supernatural Quantum Mechanics Research Society of yours?
A superhuman with such powerful abilities to change regional weather is just support?
Is this modesty?
"Though I'm quite moved that Anjou-san, you were willing to participate in this operation with such determination to die if necessary."
Ye Xing first said this, then Naruko Anjou saw a monster suddenly appear behind him, standing six or seven metres tall, half black and half white, with an unnaturally smooth neck incision and several rainbow-coloured marks covering its body surface.
"But..."
Ye Xing turned his head, looked at Naruko Anjou and smiled.
"You didn't actually believe that, did you?"
"Just some Mountain God evil spirits – for me, it's merely speedrunning a dungeon."
"Go."
As Ye Xing uttered these two words, Naruko Anjou watched the black-and-white headless monster use its two arms alternately for support, moving in an extremely eerie, bone-chilling manner as it charged recklessly into the dark forest like a massive truck crashing through a pigsty.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Witnessing the black-and-white headless monster raise its enormous ghost hand to crush a withered, emaciated evil spirit like squashing an ant, then grab another fleeing evil spirit as easily as picking up a chick, squeezing it into a puff of black smoke – Naruko Anjou was completely dumbstruck.
This is an exorcism?
Is this really an exorcism?
Clearly, the malevolent Mountain God lurking in the shadows had also realised that merely sending these evil spirits - distorted human souls who had died in these mountains - no matter how numerous they were, would be nothing but futile resistance against Ye Xing's soul's true form.
"Hand them over..."
Accompanied by this bone-chilling voice that sounded neither male nor female, as if hundreds of people were speaking simultaneously, the source of Naruko Anjou's terror and psychological trauma appeared in the distance within her field of vision.
At this moment, the memory from five years ago in Naruko Anjou's mind overlapped with the colossal entity now appearing before her.
Its massive, twisted and viscous body resembled melting asphalt under scorching sun, covered with hundreds of human arms and legs.
These limbs squirmed in an utterly disgusting manner, while hundreds of mouths with dark yellow teeth were howling in shrill tones.
"Hand over... those two girls!"
The courage Naruko Anjou had mustered with great difficulty nearly shattered upon witnessing the manifestation of this so-called Mountain God's malevolent form.
Just then, Menma took her hand.
"Annaru, don't be afraid."
Menma gazed at Ye Xing's back and spoke softly.
"Brother Ye Xing is the strongest."
Noticing the way Menma looked at Ye Xing, Naruko Anjou immediately sensed something unusual.
Is this... affection?
If it were merely innocent affection, Naruko Anjou wouldn't have thought much of it. Even though Menma remained at the age of her death, just a little girl, she didn't see anything worth concerning herself with.
The crucial thing was Menma's tone when she said those words...
It sounded quite similar to Hana Yurikawa...
Wait...
Can humans and ghosts really create a love triangle?
Meanwhile, Menma showed no particular reaction upon seeing the Mountain God's true form.
Her death had been caused by a manipulated consciousness, leading her to accidentally fall into a river, so she had never witnessed the entity's appearance.
"Hey, Annaru."
Ye Xing turned his head to look at Naruko Anjou.
"This is the one, right?"
"Yes..."
Naruko Anjou replied first, then muttered under her breath.
"Don't call me by that name..."
"If Menma can call you that, why can't Kyoto's number one eroge shooter? I'll call you that if I want."
After retorting like this, Ye Xing looked at the repulsive Mountain God.
"Go."
Upon receiving his command, the black and white headless monster instantly flashed and appeared behind the Mountain God. The pale and dark fingers of its ghost hands, sharp like blades, plunged directly into the entity's body.
"Ah!!!"
Hundreds of mouths simultaneously emitted piercing screams.
As Ye Xing's true soul form, the black and white headless monster's attitude towards evil spirits could only be described with one word.
Brutal.
After its sharp-nailed fingers pierced the Mountain God's body, they deliberately curved like barbed hooks, firmly anchoring within the entity's form.
Ye Xing slowly walked up to the Mountain God and spoke softly.
"Hand them over."
"Die!"
Enduring the pain, the Mountain God extended dozens of arms from its surface, reaching out to grab Ye Xing.
A flash of dark blade light swept through.
"Ah!"
Onimaru Kunitsuna's sharp spiritual power not only inflicted damage upon spiritual entities but also continuously sliced through wounds like countless small knives, creating torment comparable to hell.
"Hand them over."
"Die, die, just die!!!"
Facing the Mountain God's murderous roar, Ye Xing merely raised Onimaru Kunitsuna in his hand and, with movements as elegant as dining in a Western restaurant, sliced off a moderately thick piece of black flesh from the other's body, placing it in his mouth to chew slowly.
"Ah... your flavour is rather mediocre."
After tasting it, Ye Xing shook his head, appearing somewhat disappointed.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
How could an evil spirit formed in a mere desolate mountain possibly compare in flavour to the Weather God?
Right now, Ye Xing had only one thing to say.
Damn weather, I miss you.
"Hand them over."
Like the Mountain God, Ye Xing kept repeating those same words.
The difference was...
Each time he said them, he would use Onimaru Kunitsuna in his hand to slice off another small portion of the Mountain God.
The Mountain God's volume was enormous; roughly estimated, at Ye Xing's current slicing rate, it would take at least three days and nights to finish.
In fact, the cutting might not even keep up with its regeneration rate.
Though not fatal, the excruciating pain was absolutely real.
"Hand them over... hand them over... hand them over..."
Watching the scene before her and listening to the Mountain God's continuous screams of agony, Naruko Anjou's expression froze completely.
She looked towards Menma and Hina Amano beside her and cautiously asked, "Isn't... is Ye Xing... this..."
Naruko Anjou didn't even know how to put it into words.
Though Hina Amano also felt somewhat reluctant, she still explained, "If it were an ordinary evil spirit, Ye Xing probably wouldn't waste time like this. But although the battle is over, the missing parts of your souls still haven't been found."
"If your souls were devoured into this Mountain God's body, and if Ye Xing rashly devoured it, he might unintentionally consume parts of your souls too."
"So, some interrogation is quite necessary."
...
Twenty minutes later.
"Bloody hell, finally talked."
Ye Xing swallowed the black smoke formed by the Mountain God's massive body in one gulp, his face full of displeasure.
"What a waste of time. I have things to do tonight."
After this complaint, Ye Xing had Onimaru Kunitsuna, who was in his hand, take human form.
"Master, milk..."
"Can you stop acting like a pervert every day? Keep this up and I'll change swords."
Hearing this, Onimaru Kunitsuna pursed her lips into an enchanting smile and said softly, "Besides me, what other sword in this world could possibly be worthy of you, Master?"
"You're quite good at flattery. Don't pick up bad habits from that Itomori Town guardian deity."
Ye Xing waved his hand dismissively.
"Go now. Kill every single evil spirit in this mountain range - leave none alive."
"Understood."
After Onimaru Kunitsuna vanished into the darkness, Naruko Anjou followed Ye Xing forward.
Watching his retreating back, her feelings were extremely complicated.
Good grief, this was truly speedrunning.
Including entering these mountains, the entire battle took even less time than the bus ride here.
The evil entity she had feared for so long was just... eliminated like that?
But...Naruko Anjou didn't think Ye Xing's methods were particularly cruel.
She even had an inexplicable feeling.
His cruel approach of slowly cutting the evil spirit's body apart piece by piece wasn't just for gathering information.
It was also revenge for Menma's death.
It seemed...
This Ye Xing still cared quite deeply about Menma.
"This is the place."
At Ye Xing's words, Menma, Naruko Anjou, and Hina Amano came to a stop.
Before them stood an extremely worn sacrificial wooden table, upon which rested two small wooden boxes.
"This is..."
Before Menma and Naruko Anjou could finish speaking, they saw a milky white light sphere and a pale green light sphere leap out from the two boxes, flowing into their respective bodies.
Naruko Anjou didn't feel much different, as the part of her soul she'd lost was only very small.
But Menma underwent an instant transformation.
"Menma... you..."
Seeing the astonished expressions on Hina Amano and Naruko Anjou's faces, Menma looked at them with confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"You... grew up..."
In the eyes of Naruko Anjou and Hina Amano, after the milky white light sphere entered Menma's body, she instantly grew taller, and even her facial features changed. She was no longer the childish little girl from before, but had become a graceful and beautiful young woman.
"So you did grow up after all."
Ye Xing said this first, then glanced at a certain part of Menma's body before commenting with a complicated expression.
"Hmm... you certainly have what it takes to compete with Yukinoshita. Truly the reverse of Hana Yurikawa."
"The task of taking them back falls to you, Hina. Keep Onimaru Kunitsuna with you for now, just in case."
Hearing this, Hina Amano couldn't help but ask curiously.
"You said earlier you had something to do tonight. Where are you going?"
Ye Xing waved his hand and turned to leave, leaving behind only one amused statement that took Hina Amano, Menma, and Naruko Anjou completely by surprise.
"I'm going to form a band."