Apogihara at night.

The Apoki River flows quietly around the vast plains, and the upper reaches of the river reflect a bright glimmer of light under the light of a large moon above the sky.

The lower reaches of the river, near Tsukushi Castle, are a different story.

The people and grass of Tsukushi Castle gathered around the Apoqi River to sacrifice river lanterns.

It is part of the festival in honor of Izanagi.

On the surface of the water, river lanterns of different shapes float, bamboo strips of colored paper, strong and beautiful.

The orange candle flame on the river lamp swayed, the light was soft and warm, and floated up and down in the water waves, like the flow of star chips, connecting into a brilliant ribbon of light, baking a flowing beautiful dream on the river.

Rather and beautiful, no one wants to break.

On the banks of the river, away from the inconspicuous spot where people and grass gather.

A small figure wandered.

This is a little girl, and like everyone else participating in the festival, she is also a human grass in Tsukushi Castle.

The girl wore a heavy black hooded cape, the hem of which dragged down to the muddy ground. Her hood was so low that the top half of her face could not be seen clearly.

On the face under the bridge of the nose, you can see bloodless lips and some sickly pale skin.

Like some human grasses, the girl has some divine abilities, and has some "extrahuman" characteristics on her body-

She has two pairs of black wings on her back.

The four dorsal wings were huge, and when folded they could envelop her completely.

The black clothes and black wings are strict and solid, which makes the girl feel gloomy.

Eight birds.

The people and grass in Tsukushi Castle all call this girl like this.

In the hands of the small eight birds, they also hold a river lantern interwoven with bamboo strips of colored paper, which is in the shape of a small boat.

She walked to the bank of the river, her wings gathered a little to keep out the night wind. Then carefully light the lantern and hold it into the river.

The bird watched his little river lamp drift away with the current, and interlocked his left and right hands with ten fingers, and placed them on his chest, which had just begun to develop, and was slightly raised.

According to the custom of the festival, people and grasses will make a wish when they sacrifice the river lanterns.

It is said that the river lantern festival carries everyone's wishes and wanders to the side of Izanagi-sama.

"I hope Momoxian-sama can stop working so hard."

Daisen Peach God has always been the administrator of Tsukushi City, and he is gentle, loving, and affectionate, and is deeply loved by the people and grasses.

There are a lot of people and grass in the city, and the young Yagaku bird has not actually had any direct contact with the peach fairy.

But she, like everyone else, loved that adult from the bottom of her heart.

"If Izanagi-sama can hear what Izanagi-sama says, then I hope that everyone will not continue to be trapped in Apogihara."

"Also, I hope that the rest of the people in the city will stop playing tricks on me and stop playing pranks on me. Izanagi-sama, I'm really a good boy and haven't done anything bad, I can swear. ”

The Eight Birds whispered in a somewhat immature tone.

I made three wishes in one breath, and I don't know if I was too greedy.

But today is the most grand millennium celebration ever, and Yatachia thinks that Izanagi-sama should be able to do the same, right?

Above the river, the night breeze blows.

It may be that the weight of the three wishes is too heavy, and the lonely river lantern released by the eight birds has not had time to float into the distance and gather with other river lanterns, so it first swayed violently in the small wind and waves.

The candle flame above was about to go out.

The eight birds held their breath and suddenly felt worried.

But after three or five seconds, the river lantern boat she released was strong and stable again.

The candle flame above also tends to be more stable.

"Whew-"

Yachitori breathed a sigh of relief.

And at this moment, there was a "whoosh".

A pebble flew from behind and smashed into the river with the little black cloak of the eight birds.

The stones landed a few centimeters from the river lamp of the paper boat, and the ripples began to shake the dim yellow light the size of a grain of rice.

This was followed by the second stone, and the third......

Raindrops poured into the river.

Yachia looked back in a panic and saw a group of grass children her age standing behind her.

Those children were residents of Tsukushi Castle.

The leader is named Oak Two, and his head is like a big acorn.

Yatatori knew them, but they weren't playmates.

Yagatori has no playmates.

"Oak two, what are you doing! Stop it! Yagatori was a little angry, the wings on his back spread out, and his tone was clearly angry.

But the other children ignored her protests and continued to throw stones into the river.

Soon, Yachitori heard a "thump" and smashed another stone into the water.

Then the leader Oak II began to cheer: "Hit!" Hit! ”

The other children shouted happily.

The bird looked into the river, and the river lantern she had released had fallen on the water, and the warm yellow light, which carried her full of wishes, was also extinguished by the river and ceased to exist.

"You ...... Why are you doing this? ”

Oak Er's oak head shook proudly, and he said as he should: "Of course I can't let you let the river lantern out, who knows what terrible wish you made." ”

"That's it, that's it!"

"Maybe you want to kill everyone in the city!"

"I don't have bad wishes! You talk nonsense......" The anger in Hachi's tone seemed to go out along with the river lamp, and it turned into a little snorting mixed with water.

"Bad people don't admit that they have done bad things!"

"That's it, that's it!"

"My grandmother said that as long as you show up, there will be no good things!"

"You're going to let everyone in the city die!"

The children continued to shout, and their voices drowned out.

Their shouts could not be heard from the crowd of festivities in the distance, but they could clearly penetrate the ears of the birds.

The chicks, with their wings black, stood on the bank of the river at a loss, confronting their peers.

The river behind her soaked the hem of her long clothes, stained her feathers, and was blown by the night wind, making her shiver with cold.

And the excited people and grass children have not stopped denouncing the eight birds, and their tone has become more intense:

"Wherever you appear, someone will die. The day before Grandma Wind died, you heard you singing by her house! ”

"Before my third uncle fell ill and died, you also sang in front of my house."

"Yes, you killed them!"

"Only the Yellow Springs will make the grass die. You're not a human grass at all, you're a bad thing that escaped from the Yellow Springs! ”

"I'm not, I'm not! I just heard them were in pain and I just wanted them to ......"

Yachia tried to argue, but the kids didn't pay attention to it, and they didn't care what she said.

Then, I don't know which child made the move first, maybe it was Oak Er, maybe someone else.

The children began to pick up the stones on the ground and threw them at the birds.

"Go back to Yellow Springs!"

"You murderer!"

The helpless Yachia could only gather the wings on her back and wrap her body, and her voice was already completely whimpering: "I'm not, I'm not...... You guys...... You ......"

And those blunt or sharp stones, smashed on her wings, and smashed on her body all hurt the same.

This bullying lasted about half a minute.

Until a small, emerald green hideous thunderbolt flew out of nowhere.

Bang!

The thunder and lightning exploded in front of the second class of oak children, extending a spider web-like thunder web, and the terrifying arc of lightning rolled and sputtered, and the heat wave of the blazing air startled the second class of oak and the others to the ground.

Such a noise finally alarmed the other grasses gathered in the distance on the riverbank.

"Although it is not clear what is going on here. But before I can educate you imps in earnest, enough will happen. ”

The array of feathers with intricate gold patterns on a black background swayed in the night wind, and stopped in front of the eight birds.

"Abaaba!"

The short monk wearing a deep hat followed the feather weaving and pointed at the two oaks, probably expressing the meaning-

It's always wrong to partner with someone to bully.

Of course, when the master fights in a team battle, it is counted separately.

Kamiyagawa will appear here with a little old man, but he is really just passing by.

He had just gone to the palace in Tsukushi City, but he didn't find the Great Immortal Peach God.

So he went to the bank of the river and continued his search.

Walking here, I happened to bump into a group of human grass children who were throwing stones at a human grass girl with wings on her back, although I didn't know what was going on, but I still stopped it.

Oak Er's gang of children were really frightened by the "mini version" of the dragon thunder thrown out by Kamiyagawa.

Immediately scattered as birds and beasts.

"Are you alright?"

Kamiyagawa looked at the little girl behind him.

"I'm not, I'm not, I'm not ......"

The girl still sat on the ground, wrapped in pitch-black wings, her four wings shaking, as if the attack from Oak II had not stopped.

Kamiyagawa is the one who raised a "daughter" in the family, and he can't see the pitiful appearance of the little girl.

So he raised his hand and gently grasped one of the girl's back wings, trying to pull her up from the ground first.

"Huh?"

And the moment he touched the girl, Kamiyagawa quickly let go of his hand as if he had been electrocuted.

even jumped out of the way with agility, and pulled out the boy Che Angang with a "bang".

Wrong.

It didn't feel right just now.

"I'm not...... No! ”

The girl was still sobbing.

Kamiyagawa stared at her, only to see the outline of the girl's body quickly blurring in the night.

At the center of her position, a darkness thicker than the night, squirmed out like tentacles.

It's all too familiar.

Utterly filthy, utterly depraved.

It is the breath of Yellow Spring.

"What's the matter with her?"

Even Kamiyagawa can't understand the situation in front of him for the time being.

Before he touched the girl, there was clearly no residual aura related to Huangquan on the other party's body.

A few more seconds passed.

At this moment, not only was the outline of the human grass girl blurred, but even her body was completely engulfed by the thick and flowing darkness like oil, and only her muffled whimpering sound could be heard continuing to echo.

And the darkness with the smell of yellow springs has torn open a hole in the space on the riverbank, pouring out and crowding out.

"Ho...... Ho ......"

Several short humanoid bodies, flesh and blood rotting and unrecognizable, began to emerge from the darkness, accompanied by heavy gasps.

On the bodies of the humanoids, wriggling black maggots could be seen.

"These things don't seem to be Yin Gods, at most they are just Yin Soldiers of Huangquan. Or is it...... Something contaminated by the Yellow Springs. ”

An enemy of this level is not Kamiya's opponent at all.

His left hand pulled into the air, and the bright, hideous, and huge dragon thunder spear was held in the palm of his hand.

Dazzling thunder tore through the night, illuminating the river, and stabbing at the golden-veined featherweaves that swayed wildly in the heat, and the arc of lightning sputtered, whipping the outer side like whips into the muddy ground.

Bang!

The emerald green dragon thunder swept away, and the decaying and festering human forms collapsed with devastation.

The disgusting Huangquan maggots were also blown apart, and the arc chasing each other was incinerated to the ground.

The darkness with the breath of Yellow Spring retracted into the rift of space like tentacles.

"That's it?"

Kamiyagawa was quite surprised, obviously he couldn't even warm up now.

But then, he sensed something was wrong.

Condensed pupils scanned the surroundings, and Kamiyagawa noticed that the colors of the surrounding environment were fading rapidly, especially the river lantern strip on the Apoqi River, which was eerily dim and pale.

Space is turning.

The Apoki River seemed to flow overhead.

Kamiya's senses seemed to have been withdrawn from his body, and he rose lightly.

He heard the cries, the fighting, and the smell of blood and fire.

I don't know if it was the Apoqi River under me or overhead, the river lamps on the river were completely invisible, and instead of filth and blood, soaked in the surface of the river.

Also, Kamiya also saw Tsukushi Castle.

The majestic and fortified city has somehow become dilapidated.

On the streets of the city, you can see the corpses of people and grass everywhere, and those red and white paper lanterns, half of which are soaked in pools of blood, and the other half are peeled and burned.

In the dilapidated and silent Tsukushi City, there are still people and grass that are not dead.

Kamiyagawa saw a familiar figure.

The plain white silk robe, without any pattern decoration, was already dyed with bloody color at this time.

The human-grass girl named "Sakura" was lying on top of the two corpses and weeping bitterly.

"Daddy...... A-Niang ......"

It's just that no one can respond to her.

……

The strange sense of sensory detachment didn't last long.

Before Kamiyagawa tried to resist, it was as if his consciousness had fallen back into his body.

He found himself standing at the gate of Tsukushi Castle with the little old man's body.

The city was still as normal as it was, with strong walls and magnificent walls.

The surroundings are a little dark and the air is a bit cold.

However, it was not night, as Kamiyagawa could see the sun rising on the eastern horizon.

It's sunrise.

Kamiyagawa looked at the little old man.

The scout was also confused, and it was clear that even he, who had superior perception, did not know what was going on.

Then, before Kamiya could analyze and think about the situation, from the streets of Tsukushi City, a figure walked towards the city gate.

Cherry.

She was dressed in plain white silk, unstained with blood, and her steps were brisk.

As she approached the city gate, the Grass Girl quietly looked at the strange and handsome young man outside, and continued to walk forward. Just as the two sides were about to pass by, Kamiya stopped her, "Sakura." ”

The girl immediately turned her head, and the expression on her face was slightly puzzled:

"You...... Recognize me? ”