(a)

Every morning after Yakumo Zi left, Yuyuko would go to the backyard of the White Jade Building to take a turn, carefully and carefully inspect the cherry trees in the courtyard one by one, and if she could see a newborn flower bud, she would definitely jump up with excitement.

It's a pity, no, not a single flower, Yuyuko just came with anticipation, and went dejectedly, day after day. Her face was also haggard in this day-to-day disappointment, and her soul was jealous in her eyes and hurt in her heart, but there was nothing she could do.

At the beginning of May, the snow in the sky was a little lighter, but it still didn't stop. Yuyuko suddenly fell ill and couldn't go to the yard for a week.

This morning, just after dawn, Youji was clearing the snow in the courtyard. When he swept to the middle, a pale pink shadow suddenly flashed from his field of vision. The demon jealous looked at it, but saw that on the dry branch of the westbound demon, a pink white flower with green flowers and bones drilled out like new spring bamboo shoots, waiting to be released with shame.

"Blossoming ......"

The broom rod took off his hand and fell to the ground with a "clang". The demon jealous widened his eyes and looked up at the westward demon, he opened his mouth, but he couldn't organize his words.

In the middle of the night, a broken cry finally broke through his throat:

"The Westward Demon has blossomed!"

With astonishment and joy, facing the belated spring breeze, the demon jealous flew to Yuyuko's bedroom. As soon as he opened the door, he exclaimed impatiently:

"Mistress Yuyuko...... Westbound Demon ...... The Westward Demon has blossomed!"

"Okay, okay, I got it. Yuyuko sat on the bed, half of her body covered by the quilt, and said with a smile, "How many times have you shouted along the way, as if you were afraid that no one in this courtyard would know." ”

"Right...... Sorry ......"

Youji blushed and lowered his head.

"Quick, help me up!"

Yuyuko said this, and stretched out her arms to the demon jealousy:

"Take me there!"

(b)

The demon jealous put a layer of cotton jacket on Youyuzi, supported her, and walked to the westward demon. The small clump of buds was pink and tender like a newborn baby, and Yuyuko looked up at it, and the joy on her face bloomed like a spring flower.

"Really...... It's blooming......" she muttered to herself.

Her eyes glistened with tears, and the jealousy was clear. After learning that her death was approaching, Yuyuko of Xixing Temple never shed a single tear, but today, even if it was her, she couldn't be stronger anymore.

Because her last wish has been fulfilled.

His master didn't even have the last regret before he died, and should you be happy or sad about it? He couldn't figure it out, he only felt empty in his heart, as if he had lost something that had been in his arms.

"Go, youji, go to the city and invite everyone you can. Youyouzi held on to the trunk of the Westbound Demon and said without looking back, "Call the best chef and restaurant again, and we will have a banquet in this white jade building." ”

"But, Yuyuko-sama, your body ......"

"Don't worry about it. ”

Yuyuko turned her head, her cherry-colored eyes as clear as water.

"I'll be fine, go ahead, Youji. ”

"Yes!"

The demon boy saluted her and walked away quickly.

Yuyuko of Seigyoji Temple glanced in the direction of the demon bogey, and then looked at the unopened cherry blossom in the treetops. She stood beneath the Westbound Demon and didn't move a single step for a long time.

The spring breeze was blowing, alarming the undead in the trees. They flew down, gathering more and more around Yuyuko. The cold yin qi eroded Yuyuko's already weak body, but as if she couldn't feel anything, she opened her arms and gently hugged the ghosts in front of her.

"Mom, Dad, I'm back......"

Yuyuko's face was filled with a happy smile, and there was not much residual warmth left in her body.

(c)

For this banquet, Youji worked all day.

He first went to the city to find the best restaurant, and it took a lot of effort to persuade them to come to this "unlucky" white jade building to hold a banquet. Then he went all over the town, knocked on the doors of every house that he knew or did not know with the Saigyoji family, and presented invitations in an embarrassed and sincere manner, asking them to "be sure to participate."

After doing this, the sun has tilted to the west, and Youji was going to go home to help, but unexpectedly, the people in the restaurant found him again, saying that there was not enough wine for a banquet, and he had to buy some more. He volunteered to take over the errand work, went to the wine cellar on the outskirts of the city to get a jar of good wine, and carried the dozens of pounds of jars on his back, and trotted all the way to the door.

Weight-bearing long-distance running is also a kind of spiritual practice.

When he returned to the courtyard of the White Jade Tower, the sky was already orange and yellow. Sumptuous tables, stools, and wine utensils filled the backyard, and the aroma of wine and meat filled the air, and the feast was clearly well prepared, but the atmosphere was ......

It's kind of weird.

There was not a single sound in the courtyard of Nuoda, the voices of people, birds, and wind, not a sound, and it was as quiet as if it had died. Youji stepped on the snow on the ground and walked over, and the "crunch" and "crunch" footsteps seemed extremely piercing in this dead silence.

At first, he thought that his invitation had not worked, and the people invited did not come, and he blamed himself for it. But when he got closer, he realized that something was wrong.

All the people who invited came, and none of them were left behind. Each guest sat quietly in his or her seat, motionless, not talking, not even breathing.

With their eyes closed, they looked as if they were indulging in a dream in the spring breeze and had fallen asleep quietly. Youji walked up to one of them, stretched out his hand to sniff, and his face suddenly became as solemn as black iron.

"Dead. ”

He removed his finger and said lightly.

All of these guests, without exception, died. There was no struggle, no flight, no despair, one by one, they were as peaceful as if they were asleep.

Who is the person who did this, and what is the motive? Youji didn't have time to think about the answer to this question, because the "answer" was right in front of him.

He put down the jar of wine on his back, and pulled out the double knives at his waist, one long and one short. The long one is the "Louguan Sword" that cuts off the soul, and the short one is the "White Mansion Sword" that cuts off the confusion.

These two swords were inherited from the previous generation of Soul Court Masters, and this was the first time he had used them in actual combat.

The soul demon is not a descendant of the soul family, but the orphan of the fallen samurai, and is saved by the Yuyuko of the Xixing Temple. The previous generation of soul wandering masters had no queen, and they were very close to him, so before he died, he entrusted these two knives, along with the first-class name of the soul, to the young demon jealousy.

Now, the twin knives in his hands were guiding him, telling him to lift them up and use their blades to face the man standing directly in front of him.

The woman, with her cherry-colored hair, cherry-colored eyes, and a bloodless smile on her pale face. That's right, his master, even if he gives up his life, he must protect the good object, the Yuyuko of the Xixing Temple.

Behind her, the bright and intense cherry blossoms are blooming gracefully under the blazing dusk, and the strange light is breathtaking. Countless souls hovered between the treetops, leaping and falling, performing a silent and rhyming dance of the dead.

Youji only glanced directly at the westbound demon, and then he felt a strong gravitational pull that distorted his mind and tried to pull his soul out of his body, and he immediately looked away and stopped looking.

All the "normal" cherry trees in this yard did not bloom, but the demon cherry blossom, from germination to full bloom in one day, what happened during this period, the soul and demon jealousy have no way of knowing. All that unfolded in front of his eyes was the barren courtyard, the blooming westward demon, the banquet of the dead, and the Yuyuko of the westward temple that no longer made him feel cordial.

He raised the Louguan sword, pointed the tip of the sword straight at Yuyuko's face, and asked sharply:

"Tell me, who are you?"

"What are you talking about, little goblin?" Yuyuko smiled as usual, without a glimmer of brilliance in her eyes, "Who else can I be? Hurry up, come to me!"

As she spoke, she beckoned to Youji, and a cold wind swept across Youji's neck, freezing the blood in his throat.

"No......" the jealous voice sank, "You're not ......"

The two knives were parallel, the body was lowered, and the demon jealousy faced his master with an offensive posture.

"Hold on a little longer, Yuyuko-sama......" he muttered in a low voice, "I'll get you out right away!"

"Prison Sword ......"

"One flash in two hundred!"

The knife flashed.

The distance between the two, which was half a yard long, was shortened to zero in the blink of an eye, and then widened a lot. With two blades in his hand, Youji slashed past Yuyuko's side, and continued to rush forward a few meters with inertia, reaching behind her.

"I'm sorry, Yuyuko-sama......"

He turned his back to Yuyuko of Xixing Temple, straightened up, and slowly put the two knives into the scabbard, his face unchanged.

As soon as the words fell, Yuyuko's clothes in Seighiroji Temple suddenly broke open twice, and Yin Yuyuko's red blood gradually spread on the pale blue kimono. A cold wind swept by, and the cherry blossoms rained, and she fell into the powder snow all over the ground along with the scattered petals.

"I ended up ...... Or ......"

The jealous lips lost their bloody color, and between opening and closing, they trembled.

"Didn't ......"

"Plop"

Before he could say this, his body had lost the strength to stand and fell down like a sandbag. A small white spirit emerged from his back, slowly rising and drifting towards the blooming westward demon, which was his soul.

After a few hopeless struggles, the Soul Demon slowly closed his tired eyelids and fell into a long slumber.