"Break it, Xia Jing."

She turned her back and prepared to leave the warehouse.

"See you again tomorrow? Say hello to Ye Ya for me. ”

"Brother Xia Jing!"

"Leave her alone."

Xia Jing shook his head at Lin Yu, who was angry and wanted to catch up.

"Stop chasing...... It's that it's too dangerous if we don't run away. ”

Smoke began to billowing into the warehouse.

First, it is not clear how long this house can last, and second, if you stay any longer, everyone will be poisoned by carbon monoxide.

"We ruined the Phantom Beast. That's a big win for you. ”

The Autumn Yin people are gone. She just disappeared into the flames.

Lan Yang began to slash and destroy the walls of the warehouse with golden branches. Xia Jing also turned to her side, and scratched the wall with a golden branch, creating a hole outside the company.

The crackling sound of the flames was mixed with a loud and violent vibration. The beams and columns began to collapse. It should be a matter of time before the house collapses. The fire also has a tendency to spread to the grass and trees outside the house.

"Move fast!"

Verbally urging Lin Yu and the others to step up, Xia Jing chiseled through the hole leading to the outside.

When leaving, Xia Jing finally glanced at the corpse that was originally a phantom beast.

Treasure.

A transcendent prop handed down by the deer clan.

A forbidden treasure created through curses and uncleanliness.

Why is it cursed? And who is the disease?

What did the scene I saw in my eyes just now have anything to do with those?

With an unexplained uneasiness in his heart, Xia Jing looked away from the corpse of the phantom beast.

Late that night, Ye Ya woke up.

When she sat up, she found Anai sitting on the pillow. Ye Ya, who had long been accustomed to this, wanted to get up like this, but immediately, she found that she did not have the impression of lying on the quilt, and shouted loudly in panic.

"Ana! I ......."

"Miss, Lord Xia Jing, will be woken up by you."

Anai said this, and his gaze drifted to Ya's quilt.

Xia Jingren lay on his stomach and let out a faint snort.

A similar situation happened not so long ago. At that time, it was Xia Jing who was asleep, and Ye Ya was originally worried about staying aside to take care of it, but in the end he was so tired that he fell asleep with him. The current position is exactly the opposite of that time, Ye Ya can't help but smile bitterly.

While feeling heartwarming, I also feel a little reluctant.

Don't you know that Xia Jing's mood when he woke up was the same as his current self? If the answer is yes, then it is gratifying.

「…… Well, Yaya."

Xia Jing woke up.

He looked up slowly. He wanted to rub his eyes, but he seemed to realize that he was asleep with glasses. He frowned, grabbed his hand into his hair, and after blinking vigorously a few times, he looked at Ye Ya and smiled.

"You're awake. That's great."

"I'm going to worry about you."

Gradually, it came back to my memory.

What happened to me before I went to bed—no, before I lost consciousness.

Looking at Xia Jing's face, Ye Ya was able to restrain the uneasiness that welled up in his heart.

Ye Ya pretended to be calm and asked:

"Later...... What happened? Tell me quickly."

Xia Jing bowed.

"Well, I have a question for you too."

So, Xia Jing began to explain unhurriedly.

After Ye Ya fell, he left alone.

The battle with Autumn Yin.

and the destruction of phantom beasts—

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get the sword back."

"You don't have to feel guilty, that's my responsibility."

Ye Ya tried her best to appear cheerful.

There was a sense of loss in my heart that I couldn't help myself. After all, it was the sword of the clan that was taken away, which is not trivial.

It seems that the fact of "holding the certificate of the patriarch" has a far greater effect on stabilizing the mind than I thought in the past. Besides, let that terrible weapon fall into Qiu Yin's hands, no one knows what terrible things she will do.

However, the more reassuring question is -

"That guy...... That man."

"Hmm."

The fox masked girl who snatched the sword directly from Yaya.

There can be no mistake. She is Li Qi.

Why would Li Qi work hard for Qiu Yin? Could it be that her bitter heart failed to impress Li Qi at that time, and she still wants to live as a prosperous faction? Doubts and uneasiness were mixed up in Ye Ya's heart.

Ye Ya stiffly changed the subject.

"By the way, you said you destroyed the phantom beast, didn't you...... That's amazing, Xia Jing."

Ye Ya sincerely felt admiration.

Xia Jing's ability to find out the unknown power from the Deer Clan is certainly commendable, but the most amazing thing is the destruction of the treasure. At least Ye Ya has heard of it for the first time, and I'm afraid most of the clan won't believe it.

And, no, that's because of that.

When he learned about the original appearance revealed after the destruction of the phantom beast, Ye Ya was not as surprised as Xia Jing.

Ye Ya explained her cognition to Xia Jing.

"Get to the bottom of it...... The treasure is related to the aliens that the deer clan fought with in the past."

"What do you mean by that?"

As soon as the question blurted out, Xia Jing probably expected the answer, and his face sank.

「…… Is it—"

"Hmm. Your imagination should be correct."

Yaya admitted.

"Since ancient times, the deer have defeated many demons. It is said that the treasure was created by imitating the demonic abilities of the ghosts."

This kind of knowledge is the common knowledge of the deer clan.

But Xia Jing doesn't seem to have heard of it.

Because no one, including Ye Ya, has ever explained to him.

Ye Ya felt guilty because of this and made amends to him.

But Xia Jing just doesn't take it to heart as long as she doesn't take it personally.

"Before, I didn't want to believe that you fought against those youkai. Monsters or monsters, I never thought they actually existed in this world. Naturally, I didn't want to go into such detail about it."

Probably because of the difference in values, there was a disagreement in the information he had, Xia Jing smiled helplessly.

It's just that the puzzling mystery is still unsolved.

Regarding the knowledge of treasures, Ye Ya has been- I'm afraid that even if it is sand, she only knows the part that the withered leaves revealed to Xia Jing.

And Ye Ya herself is also unclear.

If treasures other than phantom beasts are destroyed, will the result be the same? Or is it only Phantom Beasts that are the exception?

The point is –

How exactly are treasures made?

It's been three hundred years since the last war with the Xenomorphs.

The technology to create treasures has long been lost.

No. At least he was born in his own family, but he was only a second daughter, and he didn't get that kind of technology.

Ye Ya pursed her lips reluctantly.

The second daughter who knows nothing, the clown who is ignorant but thinks she is the patriarch.

Nangong and Qiu Yin's words weighed heavily on him, and he was almost out of breath.

To add insult to injury, now that even the patriarch's certificate is handed over, what can he do like this-

I don't know if I accepted Ye Ya's explanation, or noticed that Ye Ya's expression had changed-

This time, the summer scene will open the topic.

"Can you talk about you next?"

Ye Ya bowed his head and wanted to speak, but he didn't know where to start.

After being silent for a while, Xia Jing put his hand on her head as if he sensed Ye Ya's mood.

"Anno has already told me about Ah Le...... Looks like your mother, right?"

「…… Ahhhh

Ye Ya replied as if he had finally managed to squeeze out.

That's right.

That face, that voice.

Ah Le's appearance is exactly the same as that of the patriarch of the previous generation, in other words, like Ye Ya's mother.

"Yasuno has checked with Miss Sunako, and the two of them seem to look alike. And the rebellion was seventeen years ago, so she didn't expect you to react like that...... Yasuno said that Ms. Sunako later apologized.

"Really?"

But Ye Ya's mood was not depressed because of this.

Ah Le looks very similar to his mother, which is not a difficult thing to understand. After all, they are sisters.

But the crux of the matter is not there, no—it's not just there.

「…… Summer Scene."

Ye Ya tugged at Xia Jing's sleeve as if she was climbing driftwood.

His fingers trembled, and his body was cold.

Now - even feigning cheerfulness and changing the subject doesn't seem to be possible.

Even the vision began to sway because of the images that came to mind.

"Yaya? You ......."

Sleeves are no longer enough to rely on.

Although he held his arm, it was not enough.

Ye Ya hugged Xia Jing.

Xia Jing patted her on the back, and the gentleness made her sore and weep.

With Xia Jing's support, Ye Ya was finally able to speak.

"I...... Why is that? Why is it ......? I forgot it all the time, I didn't think about it."

"What's wrong? What the hell happened?"

"I've forgotten all along!"

Ye Ya shouted in Xia Jing's arms.

At the same time, he also relies on Fang Yuan in his heart. Cry out in the depths of your heart for her help.

But-even with the support of Xia Jing and Fang Yuan, they couldn't maintain their normal heart.

"These days...... Why exactly? Afraid...... Yes, because I was so scared. I didn't want to see it, I thought it was something I shouldn't see. So...... That's why I unconsciously erase my memories from my head."

Ye Ya's object is no longer Xia Jing, but herself.

Why? Why?

Seal up such an important - amazing memory, and then think of yourself as a sub-patriarch. It doesn't get much funnier than that.

Nangong had asked a question before.

Ye Ya already knew the answer. See it with your own eyes. And yet deceived himself.

"Is that person really Ah Le? Could it be that it's actually my mother?"

"What are you thinking? Didn't I tell you about it just now? Your mother and Ah Le have ...... faces."

"It's not like that! No...... That's it."

- Do you really think ...... Is it us who killed Lord Ye Chun that night?

Nangong's question and the picture he witnessed that night gradually merged in Ye Ya's mind.

The scene that had been sealed in the depths of his memory was like a ghostly ghost, tormenting Ye Ya.

A house surrounded by a sea of fire.

The figure of the mother.

The situation is very similar to the family's mansion on the day of the fire in the village.

However, there is one thing that is very different. There is a decisive difference between the two.

The figure of the mother and sister seen in the sea of fire—

Ye Ya muttered to herself as if she was vomiting blood.

"I killed my sister's ...... It's Mother."

"Huh......?"

Ye Ya recalled the scene he saw in the family's mansion, which was about to burn down.

I inadvertently remembered it.

- Surrounded by red lotus, the one who strangles her sister Ye Chun's neck - the appearance of her mother.

At the same time.

On the fourth floor of the hospital.

In the examination room in one of the special wards of the deer clan, a visitor suddenly knocked on the door.

Tian Zhi, who was busy processing paperwork at his desk, kept his cigarette in his mouth and didn't say a word, as if he was telling the knocker, "If you want to come in, come in yourself."

The sound of the door opening was heard in an instant, and the footsteps behind him were clearly audible, and it was not until the breath of the visitor stopped at close range that Tian Zhi slowly turned around.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

Tian Zhi, who turned around, glanced at the other party and rubbed his hair rudely.

"Are you here to see your sister's illness? They're already asleep."

「…… Hmph, what a nobody's attitude."

Visitor-Nangong glanced at the fearless Tian Zhi with unpleasant eyes.

"In the face of the people who have killed you, you still have a way to act as if nothing happened."

"Sasha and Xiangxiang's feet, I've successfully picked them up. It's more or less a little lame.

Tian Zhi ignored Nangong's sarcasm and explained the recent situation of the admitted patients.

However, when it came to the topic of his biological sister, Nangong could only frown slightly.

"Hmph...... You don't need to tell me anything like that."

"What else would you do? It's not going to be another attack on the hospital."

Nangong ignored Tian Zhi's sarcasm of the first army.

She sat down in the hospital bed where she was treated.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Tian Zhi said jokingly.

"This is neutral zone. Even if it's you, if you're not feeling well, I can still check it out for you."

Tian Zhi's words completely guarded his position.

But—

Nangong smiled sinisterly at Shinoda like that and said, "I'll just say it straightforwardly. I'm here to negotiate with you."

「…… What?"

"Break your neutrality."

It is called a negotiation, but in fact it is a commanding tone. There is no consideration for the other party's feelings.

After being silent for a moment, Tian Zhi showed a look of interest.

"You want me to help the Prosperityists? …… That's a stupid question."

Categorically refused.

But Nangong's expression was not shaken by his answer.

Tian Zhi felt suspicious and put out the cigarette twist on his mouth in the ashtray.

"Still, I'm stupid enough to be interested in hearing what you have to say. What kind of wishful thinking did you come to me to make such a meaningless proposal? Because of Ah Le's order, he had to obediently play the role of a microphone?"

"Hmph...... Ahh

After asking this, Nangong sneered. It's like— didn't even take the name in your eyes.

She looked a little impetuous, and at the same time a little proud, and her eyes became sharp.

"You're mistaken. I never asked you to help the Prosperityists."

Tian Zhi frowned, and silently motioned for Nangong to continue.

The offering continued, "I need you...... and the assistance of the dead. It's not a boomer, it's me."

「…… It sounds like the prosperity faction has long since fallen apart."

"If you still can't hear that, do you need me to be more straightforward?"

Nangong stood up from the hospital bed.

"It's none of my business what the Prosperity Faction does. What Ah Dai and Ah think is also their family's business. Not to mention the girls in Qiuyin...... I'm so uninterested in her that I want to kill her."

"Then what do you want ......?"

Nangong seemed to have already understood the content of the question, and interrupted Tian Zhi's question.

She opened her mouth and said, "Agree to my terms, and I will cure you of your sickness."

As Nangong played the chips.

Again—silence dominates the exam room.

The silence was long.

Ten seconds. Thirty seconds. One minute. Then two minutes.

Even the sound of breathing seemed clear and silent, and the strange tension that came with it rose steadily.

Tian Zhi wanted to find out from Nangong's expression, and Nangong met his inquiring gaze head-on.

The tension that pervades the two of them is on the verge of saturation.