After returning from my father's place, I often dreamed, sometimes repeating the scene, sometimes waking up and forgetting all about it, but one thing I know for sure was that in all these dreams, there were youkai, and there was more than one, many of them were youkai that I had not seen, and they seemed to be telling and asking for something.

"Ahh My head hurts..."Sitting on the steps at the door of Tianbei's grocery store, I thought back to last night's dream, which was of a horse with long white hair, running like a bird flying. It's seven o'clock in the morning, but I don't feel sleepy at all, and the morning and evening after the Mid-Autumn Festival begin to get cooler, "I always feel that summer is passing soon..."

I don't know when it began.,The news that I can send the monsters back to no man's land spreads all over the streets and alleys like the fluttering of the sycamore in autumn.,These suspicious yokai also flew away like the sycamore fluttering and disappeared.,The business of Tianbei's grocery night ghostwriting suddenly became extremely deserted.。

"It's good that I can reduce the chance of dying from overwork due to lack of sleep. I said to myself.

"Sooner or later, my shop will close. A voice rang out behind me after a long absence, "You loser. ”

My mind froze for a second, but quickly resumed, and I sat there without turning my head, "Didn't the store go on as usual when I didn't come? ”

"I haven't learned anything else, but I'm a lot better at slippery oil cavity. The fat body squeezed around me with a "bang".

The old man Tianbei, who has always refused to see me, finally appeared in the store again today.

How are you doing? Did the doctor allow you to escape? Why didn't you say a word before you came back?

I shoved my stomach problems back down my throat one by one, and Guan Qing would tell me about the old man's condition regularly, so there should be nothing to worry about.

"Why, now they're all putting up a fight?" said the fat old man, "shouldn't you ask the boss when you see him?"

It's amazing that he didn't hit me with his fat hand.

"I want to ask," I turned my head to look at him, he looked a little older, but he looked good, it seems that Guan Qing really took good care of him, I have to thank Guan Qing, "but I think you will beat me if you ask." ”

"Well, yes, remember to eat and remember. The old man stared at me too, pursing his lips slightly, his brow furrowed, not knowing what was going on in his head.

Autumn leaves begin to fall, the sound of sweeping the floor can be heard not far away, and the smell of breakfast can be heard from time to time.

"Are you... Fat again..."After a few minutes, I finally couldn't help but open my mouth first.

Before the last word could be pronounced, my head was struck in the air, and the old man's roar rang in my ears, "It's so unpleasant to speak!"

Sure enough, don't be more calm with the old man, because no matter if he wins or loses, you only have to listen to the training.

"So your old man came early in the morning... What's wrong?" I took out Tian Bei's teacup from the cabinet, thought about it and put it back in place, he still drank less tea now.

"What are you doing putting it back, I want tea. "The old man was in the storeroom, but he seemed to see what I was doing.

"The cup was not washed. I pulled out a clean glass, "It's all moldy, and I can't use it." ”

"Nonsense!" Tian Bei turned his head, "Guan Qing told me early in the morning that you would wash my cup every day." ”

... Most afraid of pig teammates.

The old man came out of the storeroom with a dull yellow piece of paper in his hand, which looked to be some years old.

"Why is it water, do you take care of the boss so much?" the old man was obviously dissatisfied with the boiled water on the table, and he knocked on the table hard, "I want tea." ”

"You're taking medicine, and the doctor said you can only drink plain water. ”

The old man was just about to have a seizure, and I quickly flipped out the message that Guan Qing sent me, which showed how the doctor told Guan Qing over and over again that he needed to pay attention to the old man's diet.

"Guan Qing, this stinky boy..."The old man's face tensed instantly, and he finally sighed after seeing my indifferent appearance, "You are both stinky boys." ”

"Is something wrong?" I asked again.

"What can happen, I'm the boss, and I can't go back to the store to see. The old man took a sip of the water in his cup, and his expression was as if he were drinking medicine.

"You came to the store so early, and you didn't come in through the front door," I looked at him, "I haven't mopped the floor in the shop, and the dust hasn't been wiped in days, and you didn't even pay attention to all this, and if you just came to the store to see, you would have thrown a broom in my face." ”

The old man's eyebrows raised upward, "I'm going to clean you up after I've checked them all." ”

"And you didn't ask me anything about the yokai, even if the yokai broke your precious radio you didn't find out. "Didn't ask my father about it, I thought to myself.

"My radio!" the old man stood up with a "boom", turned to find his radio and fiddled back and forth, "What's broken, it's not good." He suddenly reacted, "You lied to me?"

“... So, unless there's something urgent, shouldn't the first thing you do when you get back to the store be to look at your baby radio..."

Judging by the old man's expression, I guessed right.

"Your father is fine. He sighed and sat back in his chair.

"Well, it's fine. I said, "I'm older, but I'm better at talking than I used to." ”

"Hmph, if you don't go back to see him for so long, the gods will get old. The old man said, "All the things that should be talked about?"

I nodded.

Guan Qing said that Tsubaki told him that you had been sleeping badly lately. He looked me up and down, "It seems that this is really the case, even those who are not sober dare to tease me." ”

"Definitely. My head still hurts at this moment, "I have a lot more time to sleep at night than before, but every day is like no rest." ”

"What else?" he asked, "what will you see, what will you hear?"

"That's not true, it's just dreaming at night. I said, "I've been dreaming all night, and last night I dreamed of a strange horse." ”

The old man frowned.

His silence made me a little uncomfortable, "... Did you come back for this?"

"Well, almost. ”

"What the hell is going on?" may be the reason for not sleeping well, and I am very anxious.

"The Lu family sent someone to visit me in the hospital some time ago," said the old man, "and brought some news by the way. ”

"What's the news?" I get nervous whenever it comes to demon slayers.

"It is said that many youkai in City A have recently scattered and fled. The old man said, "It seems that there are some monsters in there who are familiar with you." ”

“... Maybe they fled because they knew I had the ability to send them away. ”

"The awakening of the ghostwriter's abilities may be a reason," said the old man, "but I got more information than that," he paused for a long time as if he was deliberately selling off, "It is said that the little monsters in City A fled because they were afraid of the coming guys." ”

... So, the dismal business of Tianbei groceries is not entirely due to me, but this result makes me not happy at all.

"It's... Is it as fierce as Poor Odd?", I asked.

"There may be, but not all. The old man said, "We don't know exactly which monsters will come to City A, but one thing is for sure, they are coming for you, and your dream confirms it." ”

“... Me?"

"Well, it is said that the balance of power between humans and youkai is tilting in the direction of humans, and if it had been put many years ago, it might have turned into a big war," the old man said, "but now it is not the past, humans and youkai have been together for so long, and there are already quite a few youkai who have developed feelings for humans, including many intelligent and powerful ancient youkai." ”

"So what?"

The old man shook his head, "I thought you were finally a little smarter, but you still can't figure out anything." ”

"Those youkai you mentioned came to City A without fear after learning that I had the ability to open no man's land," I didn't want to say the answer in my heart, "It may mean that they have feelings for humans, so they can't bear to use the force they used to force the scales right, so..."

"So, they came to you so that you could cut off their ties with humanity and return to no man's land, where they would have nothing to do with humanity and the scales would cease to exist. The old man said something I didn't want to say, "These youkai have been living in the world for many years, and when they choose to leave, they almost take the entire yokai world away from the human world. ”

“......”

"It's not just them," the old man's voice slowed, "and a lot of humans have developed feelings for youkai too, like you. ”

"There's another way, there must be. I said, "Otherwise, what would the ghostwriter do? Wouldn't it be the same result if you get rid of all the monsters directly after the demon killer?" Don't the youkai who decided to leave have any nostalgia for this place?"

"Ye Ke," I felt a big hand on my shoulder, "to be honest, I really don't know, maybe there is another way, maybe not, but no matter what the outcome is, as a ghostwriter, you should do your best to help the youkai realize their desire to be harmless to humans, not to mention the youkai who are about to come to City A, you are not a rival." ”

"Including sending them back to No Man's Land?" I still vividly remember the sadness of the last time I sent the youkai back to No Man's Land, "This is a punishment, not a gift. ”

"What it is depends on the youkai's own thoughts. The old man shoved the tattered paper out of the storeroom in front of me, "The deer family told me that these monsters may soon come to you, and as for what to do when the time comes, you can decide for yourself." He paused, "I can't see the monsters, I can't help you, and the demon exterminators probably don't want to face these ancient monsters directly, so remember, protecting your own safety is the most important thing." ”

The yellowed paper was thin, brittle, almost transparent, and the marks on it were not clear, but the forms of several horses could be faintly seen.

"In ancient times, there were eight horses," said the old man, "and legend has it that there were eight fine horses, each with their own special skills, and after the death of their masters, they each hid in human society and have survived to this day." ”

"Jedi, Feather, Sky, Shadow, Radiance, Dawn, Dawn, Fog, Wing," I silently read out the names on the paper, "If only I could convince them not to leave." ”

(End of chapter)