Waving his hand to disperse the naughty child, the priest had no intention of moving any further.

He just stood there, as if thinking, as if remembering something. In the middle of the night, I slowly looked up at the sky.

There are no clouds in the sky, and the blue sky is endless, except for a round of cold sun hanging high in the sky. After looking at such a sky for a long time, there is always a feeling of vertigo falling into it.

The Lord closed his eyes. For a long time, I don't know what he was thinking, and finally slowly opened his eyes and walked to the depths of the shrine.

On the ground, a drop of blood inexplicably dripped from it.

In the kitchen of the banquet, a villager who had just finished helping outside came to the kitchen.

I don't know why, but there's no one here. Maybe they've all gone outside to help, he thought to himself.

He counted the various spices and ingredients he had brought, and suddenly sighed.

"Looks like there's a pot of soy sauce missing?"

He rummaged around, and suddenly found that there was really a lot of seasoning missing. But something even stranger is that there are so many more.

I don't know why there was a lot of blood in the basket containing the fish, and the whole bamboo basket looked like it had been splashed with blood. The villagers checked their frightened feelings and breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that the bamboo basket was broken, and the broken bamboo thorn pierced a fish, and the poor fish was pierced half of its body, and it was drenched in blood.

But the strange thing is that the basket does not look old or crushed after a long time, but as if it has been pierced by a knife. But the villagers didn't think much about it, or he couldn't figure out why this was happening, so he simply didn't think about it.

"Well, kill it while it's still alive, or it won't be fresh," the villager muttered, his hand slashing down.

Of course, he would not have thought that a fish would not have so much blood to make a bamboo basket like this.

In the back mountain, a villager has just finished drawing water in the small river not far away, and is carrying it back with difficulty, perhaps because of some difficulty, or it may be that the shade of the back mountain is too dark, he accidentally stepped on a pool of silt, the mud splashed up at once, and made him slip and almost fall, but fortunately stabilized his body at the last moment.

He shook the mud on his straw sandals in disgust, and couldn't help but feel a little glad in his heart, and continued to limp back to the shrine.

He didn't notice that his footprints had turned scarlet.

But after walking for a short time, the footprint was stuck with the mud and sand, and the red mark gradually disappeared.

This kind of thing happens quietly in many corners, but it is not noticed.

Only a young, but vicissitudes of life was in his room, silently wrapped his arms with white ribbons and several hideous wounds.

Then, like a nobody, he put the arm on his hand in the chest pocket on his chest, walked out of the door indifferently, and looked coldly at the busy villagers outside, without any intention of helping.

A soft knock on the door interrupted the conversation between the old man and Xiu.

Sakura quietly poked out half of her head. She felt as if she had disturbed them.

"Shall I come back later?" She whispered.

"No, it didn't bother. What's wrong? Xiu stood up and looked at the girl by the door.

"That—" She hesitated for a moment, as if she had made up her mind, "Okay, can you come out?" ”

Xiu blinked.

Outside the shrine, everyone was in full swing preparing for this thing, and Sakura and Shu slowly walked past them.

But they are all too conspicuous, one is the eldest daughter of the shrine god, the future shrine witch. One is a foreigner with white hair and purple eyes, and his special appearance is not eye-catching.

But they didn't seem to have any intention of communicating with the villagers, and the villagers looked at him and ignored him.

Hurry up and start the meal, they can go wherever they want, and they don't bother to pay attention to it.

Sakura and Shu went all the way down from the main entrance of the shrine.

This was the first time that Shu had really stepped out of the shrine, and it was also the first time he had come to Yae Village.

After passing through the torii gate at the entrance of Yae Shrine, and walking to the left, there is a stone path, and there is a 'Divine Road' covered by seventeen torii gates.

The living are on the left, the dead are on the right, and only the gods are in the center.

"Legend has it that once you pass through the torii, you will be in the kingdom of God." Sakura said softly.

"Legendary?" Xiu thought for a moment, "But you live in a shrine, in these legends." ”

Sakura looked up at the vermilion torii gate passing overhead.

"Because that's what everybody says." She smiled a little shyly, "But I'm not a witch yet." ”

"Oh..."Xiu was silent.

Walking under the torii, watching the broken shade of the trees on both sides of the road on his face, his eyes slid little by little.

"If the legend is true... Then we are leaving the kingdom of God now. Xiu said.

Sakura nodded.

They didn't talk about anything more.

Shu followed behind Sakura, and Sakura walked forward in small steps, and the long staircase fell behind her little by little.

When you walk out of the last torii, you will be greeted by a small open lawn.

"Every March and April, the cherry blossoms in Yae Village bloom." Sakura whispered.

She stood on the edge of the lawn and looked out at the houses in the distance, and at her feet, a not-so-high fault, and some, the stream that flowed down from the back mountain around Yae Village. And beside her, there is a stone lamppost, and at the top of the column is a beautiful fox sculpture.

"At that time, the sky in the village is full of petals drifting in the wind. The pink cherry blossoms will surround you like fireflies at night. That's when the entire Yae Village is at its most beautiful. She said to herself.

“... In that case, I'd really like to take a look. ”

Bent over, tried, and sat on the edge of the lawn, his little feet dangling and swaying slightly.

"Xiu, do you have any other siblings in your family?"

Xiu sat down beside her, looking at the stream in the distance, listening to the quiet sound of the water.

"And a sister."

A chuckle.

"I envy you." She looked up at the sky. The pure white sun shone on her slender neck, leaving a dazzling snow white.

For a moment, Xiu couldn't tell whether the light made her so dazzling, or whether she made the sun dazzling, and he couldn't help but look away.

"There are only two people in the family, me and Rin, but Rin's illness has never been cured. My father tried many, many ways to no avail. In fact... I'm starting to lose my confidence. She sat up straight and exhaled lightly, smiling as if she didn't care, "It's true." It's just that I haven't admitted it, and I've always said to myself that there must be a way, but after so many years, there has been no way, sometimes... It's frustrating too. ”

"But actually, sometimes, I feel quite lucky. Because Rin always needs me to take care of her, because there are too many chores at home... In the past, when my mother was there, there was always my mother to do it, but suddenly one day my mother was gone..."

"All of a sudden, I had to learn to do housework on my own. Cooking, laundry, and cleaning the shrine. I thought I couldn't finish it every day, I couldn't do it myself, but I have been doing it for several years. Sometimes it's hard to think about. ”

"Actually, the first time you saw Rin, those words you said to her... It not only gave her confidence, but also gave me courage. ”

"My father didn't give up hope, and the most fortunate thing was him, but he never changed his original intention, and he has been working hard, but I don't know if I think... Became numb. ”

"Ah, I'm sorry, I don't know if I think so, so I said so much to myself." She smiled apologetically at Xiu.

"No, no, no need to apologize. In fact... I'd love to hear you talk about your family. Xiu waved his hand and said.

"It's all trivial, not as engaging as the story you said."

Xiu hesitated slightly.

"Actually, it's those trivial things that I want to hear the most."

Sakura couldn't help but glance at Xiu, as if she was a little puzzled.

"Hmm... How so? "Xiu thought about it" before I used to hold a sword every day, basically every day on horseback outside the practice, or just in the classroom, I never had much rest. So I'm curious, how do normal families generally live. ”

"Have you seen it all these days?" Sakura turned her face sideways.

"Hmm." Xiu nodded, "Very happy." Although it is also very fortunate. ”

"So," Sakura sat up straight, "can you tell me a story?" ”

"The story? I know a lot..."

Sakura shook her head.

"This time, the story I want to hear is yours."

(End of chapter)