Crunch – crunch –

The old wooden wheels crushed the snow along the mountain forest road, making a sound similar to moaning.

In addition to this, there is the sound of wind, the sound of sharp paws rubbing, and a hoarse cat meow.

Akido Naxun slowly woke up in the midst of these chaotic sounds.

She remembers that she was waiting for her good friend Kanoya to arrive at the Hakkoda platform.

She seemed completely unrepressed by what happened after that.

And...... Where is this here now!?

Because he was lying flat, he could only see above, and the surrounding light was dim, and heavy shadows of the trees were whistling past him.

Akido Naxun only felt a bump.

She barely came to her senses, struggling to turn her neck.

I seem to be on a very rudimentary wooden cart now?

That's right, plank car.

The simple wooden plank, which seems to have golden lines, is very familiar, as if it has been seen somewhere.

Look to the side again.

The wooden cart was moving rapidly, and there was a strange group of black shadows surrounding the side of the cart, pulling or pushing the cart forward.

Those dark shadows were about the size of a child of seven or eight years old, and they were a bit like a shriveled little old man and little old lady.

They are hunched over, hunched over, on all fours, and crawling and running wildly through the mountains and snows in an extremely strange and awkward posture.

"Meow ——!"

A high-pitched, hoarse meow of a cat kept coming from the surrounding dark shadows.

What are these things!?

Where are they going to take themselves?

"Bah!"

Suddenly, such a strange scene Akido Nai wants to scream.

But her voice was choked in her throat, and all that came out was an extremely muffled grunt.

"Meow ——!"

The meows around him were louder and hoarse.

Then, a black shadow jumped on the cart and sat down curled up in front of Akimichi.

It was a skinny old cat, the size of a child.

The old cat was half rotten, with only a little black fur hanging lifelessly, and the hair was clumped together with blood and foul-smelling mucus that I couldn't tell what it was, like a rotten rag.

One of the eyeballs on its face hung out of its sockets, and under the bare white ribs, it could still see the wriggling and mutilated organs.

"Meow!"

The old cat opened its big mouth and roared towards the autumn road.

The stench of decay made the frightened girl almost faint again.

Her body trembled violently, trying to make a move, but the terrifying big cat in front of her suddenly raised its paws and landed on her chest.

Like a boulder pressing on his body, Qiu Dao felt a strong suffocation, and could only open his mouth wide and gasp hard.

The body is no longer able to move.

Tears welled up in her eyes because of the fear.

What the hell is this thing?

Now this, it's a dream, right?

A nightmare.

Wake up quickly!

Akido closed his eyes hard and opened them again, but the terrifying scene still lingered in front of him.

Even the horrible big cat got a little closer to her.

Akimichi could feel it, its sharp nails peeking out of its claws, scratching the placket of its clothes; I could feel the cold wind blowing on my face from the big cat's mouth.

This is not a dream.

Everything feels real.

"Brain...... Brain ......"

The big cat spoke again, but this time vaguely.

Its vocals were choppy, hoarse and foul as if it had a thick piece of phlegm stuck in its throat.

"Brain ......" "Brain ......"

The surrounding shadows also began to learn to speak, and their voices came and went.

It can already be determined that the things running along the mountains and forests, dragging wooden carts, are all terrifying big cats that look like ghosts.

"Don't ...... Brain! ”

The rotten big cat continued, the barely intact pupils and the eyes that fell out of their sockets, all staring straight at Qiu Dao.

It's like looking at a mouse to tease.

"Don't ...... Brain ......"

"Useless, throw away ......"

"Receiving the ...... of the body"

The cats hissed along.

"What......?" The frightened Akido Naixun suddenly thought of something.

The boxes in that warehouse......

The gold dreaderie on the box seems to be somewhat similar to the one on the wooden cart.

Also, the brain.

That's right!

Brain!

Nahiro Akido had opened all the wooden boxes in the warehouse, and he had also seen the words with the names of the organs engraved on the bottom of the wooden boxes.

The names of the organs that are engraved on them.

I don't think I wrote about "brain"!

Although her body couldn't move, Akimichi's brain was still running rapidly, probably because of the adrenaline stimulation, her brain seemed to be very active.

As a native of Hakkoda native, she thought of something else-

That was a long time ago, about a dozen years ago, when Akido was still in elementary school in his hometown.

One winter, there was a case of a female high school student going missing in Hakkatora, which had been stable.

The big sister who disappeared at that time...... It is said that only brain tissue left in the mountains and forests has been found.

Because of this incident, Akido at that time was so scared that he didn't dare to go to school for several days.

Box.

A strange disappearance ten years ago.

Two seemingly unrelated things are connected by a terrifying scene in front of them.

So, is that what it is?

These strange cats are the initiators of the strange case ten years ago.

That box in the warehouse, as soon as it is opened, will attract these things?

Qiu Dao, who wants to understand all this, is like falling into an ice cave, even more desperate and helpless.

"Then I...... Is it going to be the same as the high school girl who disappeared more than ten years ago? ”

These horrible big cats, going to kill me in the mountains and forests, take my body, and leave only my brain?

……

"W-ha-"

Shikanoya walked like a fly in the completely dark mountain forest.

The wolf followed her closely, illuminating the mountain path for the fawn with the lantern around his neck. The clone of the little old man, who is holding shakuhachi, has already stood on the shoulders of his eldest lady.

The [White-clothed Guanyin Sutra Sticker] flashed with golden light, and the Sanskrit characters on it floated, lingering around her side, and the [Holy Virtue Imperial Incense Burner] in her hand was also flashing with a strange luster.

The small snow boots under the fawn's feet trampled on the snow, constantly raising snow chips.

The snow in the mountains and forests was still thick, but that didn't stop her.

Because of the pinch of the [Outer Lion Seal], and there are two props of scripture stickers and incense burners to strengthen the effect of Buddhist spells, the physical fitness of the deer can be greatly strengthened.

"No, it won't work."

In the snow forest, whether it is the smell of his friend Akido Naxun or the disgusting smell of strange talk, they are all very strong.

They should be in front of them, but they always keep a certain distance from the fawn.

Even if you have tried all your strength to catch up, you can't catch up.

"If only Sister Ohara were here."

Xiaolu's heart couldn't help but be a little anxious.

"Calm down, there must be a way...... If it were a Master, what would he do in the face of the current situation? ”

Master has a flying Utengu under his command.

There is a big dog god who is indomitable in the mountains and forests.

There are whales that can directly change the terrain on a large scale.

Even as long as the master himself became one with the master of Prajna and put on that white grotesque mask, the speed of his movements would be exaggerated to the point of dragging out the afterimage.

If the master was here, he would have a way to catch up with the strange talk that captured Nai Xun in front of him.

However, none of these methods can be replicated by the fawn.

It would be nice if Master was here; It would be nice if the eight-foot man was here; It would be nice if Sister Ohara was here......

Since the fawn has grown up, it has been cared for by many strange and powerful soul slayers at home. Therefore, when encountering difficulties and things that are difficult to reconcile, it is inevitable that there will be such thoughts.

She can't be blamed for that.

With the help of parents, it is not a shameful thing in the eyes of Xiaolu.

But the problem is, none of them are here.

There is only Shikanoya here.

And, more importantly –

"Nai Xun, she's my friend."

Not a friend of Kamiyagawa, nor a friend of an eight-foot adult.

It's a friend of Kanoya.

So, it's not what Master would do if He was here.

It's what to do at the moment.

"There will be, right? Things I can do. ”

Luyewu's footsteps did not stop, and the rainbow light driven by the Buddhist magic was reflected on the props, which always shrouded her body, making her figure really like an elf deer running in the woodland, smart and holy.

"Since I can't catch up, is there any way to slow down the strange talk in front of me?"

If the enemy slows down, it's like I'm speeding up.

However, he kept chasing after the smell that remained in the air, and he couldn't even see the unknown taillights in front of him, so he wanted to slow down the enemy......

No!

If you think about it, it doesn't seem entirely impossible.

From the outside of the satchel, Kanoya took out two packs of spices wrapped in oiled paper and folded, different sizes.

The large side is the base incense of the six smokes, and the small side is the Lingling powder.

Two packets of spices were raised to the incense burner, infused with spiritual power, and the incense burner "exhaled" to ignite a faint blue spark, exuding a ghostly and strange fragrance.

The "attendant incense" in the six incense sticks.

This ghostly incense can provide a certain degree of power amplification for weird talks.

Moreover, the two packets that Xiaolu spilled were all high-quality materials, and they were the "collector's edition" that Miss Yunju gave her as a gift before.

The actual effect is much better than the ordinary.

In addition, the last time the fawn used the squire incense in actual combat was when it was in Matsuzawa.

She used this set of incense recipes to strengthen the real-time combat ability of sending wolves.

But this usage is actually a variation of "waiter incense".

The most primitive effect of this group of incense recipes is actually to drive away ghosts, and it is still lonely souls and wild ghosts. Although the incense and ami-liu incense mastered by the deer are famous for their elegance, any incense spell has some ability to sacrifice ghosts, after all, the incense culture was born in sacrifice.

The primitive use of "acolyte incense" has a peculiar fragrance that attracts a certain range of wild monsters, and in exchange for them to eat the aroma of the "acolyte", the burner can briefly drive them to use them for his own use.

"If there are wild strange tales in this mountain forest, and use the attendant incense to drive them to block the strange tales in front of Nai Xun, then I can catch up with them!"

It's not necessarily successful, it's not perfect, but it's worth trying.

It belongs to the method of Shikanoya.

The problem now is that the scent of "Squire Incense" only permeates the side of the deer, and the hostile monster who captured Akido Nahiro in front of her is still far away from her.

But since the fawn has already moved, it means that she has thought of a way to solve the problem.

Rustle –

She reached for her satchel as she ran.

In Xiaolu's bag, all kinds of props are sorted and sorted by her, and when necessary, even with her eyes closed, she can find what she wants.

This time, Shikanoya pulled out a talisman.

The bellflower yellow charm of Juqiong Shrine.

Of course, the fawn doesn't know how to draw talismans, and this talisman paper was given to her by Onizuka Kirita.

After Kanoya returned from Matsuzawa, the two teachers Yunju and Kanazawa, as well as the little witch girl Onizuka, gave her a lot of things one after another.

Because the fawn doesn't know the spell of the talisman, the yellow talisman that Onizuka gave her is a "simplified version" with a reduced effect, and it can work as long as it is injected with spiritual power and then ignited.

In addition, most of the rune paper sent by Onizuka is "Xunfu".

"Little deer, you master the spell of incense, incense and wind should be a very good match." That's what the little witch said at the time.

Kanoya twisted the talisman with his slender fingers, approached the incense burner, and paused before the talisman paper could be lit.

"One doesn't seem to be enough."

She simply pulled out most of the Xun talismans in her bag, leaving only three or two.

A dozen pieces of talisman paper came to the censer, lit by a dancing spark.

The yellow talisman curled up, the flames danced, and the cinnabar talisman symbol on it was particularly eye-catching in the fire, and the bright red was about to come out.

"Haste as a law?"

The fawn imitated the appearance of the onizuka and recited the mantra uncertainly.

Well, it's really useless.

But it's like you have to shout out when you throw a bomb while playing cards, otherwise it always feels like something is missing.

Phew——!

The strong wind whistled out from the fawn's fingertips, roaring and sweeping in all directions, violently crashing into the surrounding trees. Then this strong gust of wind enveloped the ghostly attendant incense, like an invisible giant wildly wielding a giant blade, slashing towards the dark place far away from the mountains and forests.

The pine trees shook violently in the wind, and the snow fell from the branches.

The black-pressed flock of birds was alarmed, flapped their wings and screamed, and fled into the air.

The smell of the attendant's incense permeated the vast mountains and forests with the help of the wind.

"Woohoo—"

Shikanoya's nose twitched slightly.

She could smell the complex messages contained in the scents in the air.

Then, her dark eyes flashed with excitement, and her spirit was also lifted, and even in the incense burner in her hand, the bright spark flickered even more.

"The smell ...... That's right, something answered me from a distance! ”

……

Crunch – crunch –

Under the pull and push of those terrifying big cats, the humble wooden cart ran fast.

Akido Nano is still in the car.

The black cat, half of which was rotting, was still pressing down on her, immobilizing her.

Autumn Dao can't even move, let alone save himself.

And all of a sudden—

Syllable!

There was a loud bang, and the wooden cart jolted violently, almost throwing the autumn road out.

She felt a strong wind blowing, mixed with wind and snow, and scraped like a knife on her face.

And in this wind, there is a very peculiar ...... Fragrance?

"Meow ——!" "Hiss——!"

The group of cats around the cart roared.

They were all hunched over, their fur facing the same direction in front of them.

The cat's eyes, either a pair or a single one, flickered in the darkness, revealing a murderous fluorescence.

The cats are facing a dark place in front of the mountain forest.

Akido Nahiro doesn't know what the situation is now.

But she felt that the strange fragrance in the air had become stronger, and the fragrance seemed to deliberately bypass the cat demons around her, all gathering towards the dark place in the forest ahead.

Then from that place, there was a strange sound of greedy swallowing, mixed with the sound of cats barking one after another.

The original rotten black cat removed its paws from Akimichi's body and also glared angrily ahead.

Akido was finally able to move.

She struggled to look up, and seemed to see a figure squatting in the darkness of the forest, with his back to him.

It appeared to be a girl in uniform with beautiful straight black hair.

Akimichi recognized the style of the girl's uniform, which was the winter uniform of a high school on the Hakkoda side.

But it seems to be an old model from a long time ago.

The girl always maintained a squatting position with her back to her, her body was mostly obscured by the shadows of the trees, and she could only see her thin shoulders trembling, and the strange swallowing sound of "Titicaca" kept coming from her body.

So, Qiu Dao immediately thought of something-

"More than ten years ago, there was a high school girl who disappeared, and people only found her mutilated brain tissue in the mountains and forests."

So is it her?

Wait!

That appeared in front of the ...... that stopped the wooden cart Isn't it a ghost!?

(End of chapter)