Chapter 67

The dark night was broken by a glimmer of skylight.

Ao Ling stood at the bottom of the well, looked up at the square well, and took a deep breath.

There was still a faint evil aura at the bottom of the well that he had brought with him from Heian-kyo.

Just in case, Ao Ling carefully put away the ears and tail on the top of his head, and a little nervously helped the dark demon knife around his waist, rubbed the handle of the knife, licked his lips, and jumped out of the well.

The well is surrounded by a quiet mountain forest.

The early morning wet mist drifted through the trees, and in the distance there were droplets of dew from the trees that slid down the veins of the leaves and into the grass beneath the trees.

The faint morning light sparsely penetrates the fog, and in the quiet mountain forest, the morning birdsong comes and goes.

There is no miasma, no evil energy, no pure divine energy.

Nothing.

Ao Ling climbed out of the well, reached out and touched the jade plate on his chest, and when he lowered his head, he found that the jade card no longer had the effect of hiding, and the big horn was exposed.

Probably because of the relationship between the Ye King and the Leaf King, the hidden spirit pattern applied to the jade plate disappeared.

This is not Heiankyo anymore, nor is it the land of demons where Sesshomaru is located.

Ao Ling looked around for a moment, and finally made sure that he had finally returned to the place where Yoshida Matsuyo and Sakata Gintoki were.

- He saw a ruin in the distance, and there was a deep dungeon in the ruins.

Ao Ling remembers the place, the last time he saw his teacher before jumping into the well.

It's just that the ruins seem to have been abandoned for many years, Ao Ling retracted his gaze and frowned a little uneasily.

The youkai's memory was very good, and he stood there to distinguish the direction, took a deep breath of the moist aroma of plants, and ran in the direction of Matsumoto Village.

Weeds have grown along the way, because the seasons have approached the color of withered yellow, and the pond is overgrown with green duckweed because of the lack of care.

Occasionally, one or two deep potholes can be seen on the ground, and the surrounding soil layer is turned up, bare. The exposed deep rocks are very hideous.

Ao Ling looked at the miserable scene along the way, and the ominous shadow in his heart gradually increased.

Finally, he saw a gray shadow misty in the morning mist—it was the shadow of Matsumoto Village.

The black-haired young man sped up, and like a gust of wind, he swept through the abandoned fields and trickling rivers, and crossed the fallen trees that were left untended, and scurried into the dark shadow.

At this time, Matsumoto Village was a little far from what Ao Ling remembered.

At this time, the villagers should have gotten up and gone to the fields not far from the village to harvest wheat and rice, instead of sitting in front of their homes or in the courtyard with their eyes blank, as they are now, leaving the fields barren.

Ao Ling's arrival made the expressions of those villagers a little more flexible.

But the expected surprise and welcome did not appear, and the villagers' eyes suddenly erupted with fierce hatred and anger when they saw him.

"Ling Sakata!" The roar of the man at the head of the East Village was no longer as full of anger as he had remembered.

He pointed at Ao Ling, who had returned here, his hands trembling, and even his face trembled and became distorted, "You-if it weren't for you——! ”

Ao Ling paused, frowned, restrained the slight closeness on his face, and looked at the skinny man coldly.

"Get out!" He roared angrily, looking like he wanted to make a move, but he was afraid of something.

Ao Ling withdrew the gaze that fell on him, and without saying anything, he turned around and walked directly in the direction where Matsushita Village Juku was.

Matsushita Village Juku is a little outside the west of Matsumoto Village, Ao Ling bathed in the resentful eyes of the people of Matsumoto Village, slowly walked to the place where Matsushita Village Juku was located, and looked at the scene in front of him silently.

- There are only a few crumbling houses left, the ash is thick, the plaque has been cut in two, and insects and rats can be seen crawling on it under the layers of broken wood.

Ao Ling could also tell where the vegetable plot he had cultivated, which part was dug by Sakata Gintoki, where was the classroom, where was the bedroom, and where was the kitchen.

But now only ruins remain, and the smell of the friends and teachers has long since disappeared, and only the smell of rotting wood chips comes to the nose.

Ao Ling looked at the place with the most sense of belonging in his memory in a daze, and after a while, he turned to look at the villagers who had gathered around at some point.

"Teacher...... Teacher Songyang, what about them with Yinshi? ”

"It's all their fault, those damn sluts, we can't take refuge in Hagi Castle now!" The man at the east entrance said angrily in a trembling voice, "Get out of here, you people from Matsushita Village Juku are not welcome here!" ”

Ao Ling's face became worse and worse, the hand on the demon knife on his waist was tightly clenched into a fist, and his eyes stared at the man who spoke out darkly, "Let me ask you, where are they." ”

The man stiffened his neck and wanted to refute, but he was trembling by Ao Ling's eyes, "No, I don't know!" ”

Ao Ling retracted his gaze, looked at the wooden sign of the Panasonic Village School that had been cut in two, and after a long time, he let go of the hand that was clenched into a fist, glanced at the villagers who were looking at him indignantly and nervously, turned around and disappeared without a trace.

These are ordinary people, and it's normal not to know.

Ao Ling didn't want to do anything just because they had a bad attitude towards him - his memory was still stuck in the village of Matsumoto, where everyone would show him a smile and kindness.

He didn't know why it was like this now.

He can only hope that other forces, such as borrowing Chidori's power to check a little, will definitely be able to know.

Ao Ling directly climbed over the high walls of Hagi Castle and ran under the noses of the guards.

The guards only felt as if a breeze was blowing, and without blinking their eyes, they still looked at the situation under the city walls.

Ao Ling skillfully turned into a small alley in Hagi City, stopped when he reached the end of the alley, reached out and peeled off a piece of wall skin, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the combination lock inside.

Luckily, it's still there.

Ao Ling entered the password in his memory, and after making sure that it was unlocked, he looked at the narrow door frame that opened, and flashed in sideways.

There was a damp musty smell from inside the door, and Ao Ling paused as he walked down the stairs after closing the door, his good night vision allowed him to see the situation of the stronghold clearly.

- Except that things are not smashed, and there are no insects, ants, snakes, and rats, there is no other difference from Matsushita Murajuku.

Ao Ling walked down the stairs and turned on the light, looking at the dust gathering here and there, and pursed his lips.

He blew the dust off the console, wiped the dust off the display and those buttons, and pressed the start button.

Luckily, the machines are still functioning properly.

Ao Ling breathed a sigh of relief, and while waiting for the machine to turn on, he began to rummage carefully.

This Chidori's stronghold is known to only a few people.

Himself, Yoshida Matsuyo, Sakata Gintoki, and a liaison with Chidori, and only one Mutsu was left.

If there is any accident between Sakata Ginto, the closest secret stronghold to Matsumoto Village is this one.

If they've been there, they've left some traces.

Taking a step back, now that the people of Matsushita Village have gone to the empty building, it is also good to be able to contact Chidori through here, and it is good to be able to use Chidori's intelligence network to get the silver when they and Songyang Sensei.

Ao Ling rummaged through the old man for a long time, but finally found nothing.

He frowned as he looked at the machine that had finally started, glanced at the time displayed on the machine, and his mind froze for a moment.

It's been three years since he left here.

Mr. Songyang once said that he could only hold out for three years at most.

Ao Ling looked at the big screen of the machine, and the hand that stretched out to enter the contact coordinates unconsciously trembled slightly.

He looked at the contact signal displayed on the screen with a somewhat pale face, licked his lips nervously, and quietly waited for the result.

In the middle of the day, the red font of the failed contact appeared on the huge screen.

Ao Ling was stunned.

He reached out and touched the jade plaque hanging around his neck, and the whole person fell into a state of confusion.

- What to do?

Chidori can't be reached, and the people of Matsumoto Village don't know anything.

Who else could he find.

Ao Ling rubbed the jade plate around his neck, and the cold touch made him calm down a little.

After a while, the black-haired young man seemed to remember something, and hurriedly entered the contact coordinates of the Spring Rain Seventh Division, stared at the signal on the screen, and breathed a long sigh of relief at the moment when he saw that it was connected.

OK.

And there is hope.

Ao Ling now only hopes that in the past three years, the night rabbits of the Spring Rain Seventh Division have not changed their blood, otherwise his face is really not very good.

"I haven't seen this coordinate for a long time...... Insult?! The night rabbit who was connected over there stared at the screen with a bored face, and was stunned the moment he saw Ao Ling, and he didn't react for a long time.

"You're not dead?" The night rabbit looked at Ao Ling in amazement.

Ao Ling sighed and nodded, "I'm not dead. ”

"You don't look very good." The night rabbit on the opposite side looked at Ao Ling's pale face, "Chidori was directly banned by Mutsu a few months ago, and now you suddenly appeared, do you want to join the spring rain?" ”

"Banned? What's going on? Ao Ling was stunned.

The night rabbit was also stunned, "You don't know? ”

Ao Ling shook his head and cut off the topic directly, "I don't know what's going on with Chidori, I also joined as a semi-free back then, and I'm not going to join Spring Rain now, I just want to ask you for a favor, and the reward is good to discuss afterwards." ”

The night rabbit in charge of liaison work is quite familiar with Ao Ling, and after knowing that the other party has no intention of joining the spring rain, he just waved his hand indifferently.

"Say, what's the deal?"

Ao Ling was a little grateful, "Help me check where my teachers and friends are." ”

The night rabbit smiled and nodded, "No problem, you wait a minute." ”

Chidori's ghoul Ling has a human teacher, and the matter of several human companions is not a secret among the night rabbits who often act with him, and this night rabbit in charge of liaison has even met Yoshida Matsuyo several times.

Even earlier, I would occasionally help check their situation, but now I can quickly find the information when I bring it up again.

Half an hour later, the night rabbit suddenly looked up at Ao Ling, his expression a little subtle.

He sighed, coughed lightly, raised his voice and shouted to the youkai across the screen, "Ling! ”

Ao Ling came back to his senses from the void and looked up at the screen, "Found it?" ”

"I found it, and the situation is not too good." The other party sent a few photos to Ao Ling's screen, "Your teacher has been in the hands of that shogunate on Earth these days, and he was asked to be taken to Edo for trial some time ago, and he has been locked up in Edo for a long time, and those friends of yours have organized a very powerful defense force to prepare to rob the prison." ”

The black-haired teenager looked at those photos and felt that Mr. Songyang's face looked pretty good, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"But just now, your teacher was ordered by the shogunate...... Beheading. ”

Ao Ling paused, stared at the night rabbit on the other side of the screen in a daze, and his breathing suddenly stagnated.