In the early morning in the mountains, Aoba wakes up to the sound of insects and birds.

After getting up and changing his clothes, Aoba opened the door and let the dazzling morning sunlight shine into the room.

Aoba stretched a few times, then walked out of the door in the morning light, looked at the door next door that was still closed, and felt the sound of Uesugi Maki's well-proportioned breathing in the room, obviously Uesugi Maki was still sleeping.

Aoba didn't plan to wake her up, but walked to the nearby waterhole and began to wash.

The water in the pools is all spring water flowing down from the mountains and is diverted into the courtyards, but most of the courtyards have long been out of use due to disrepair.

However, as a few courtyards that are often inhabited, the function of the waterhole is still intact.

With the help of the perennial flowing water in the waterhole to wash her face and brush her teeth, Aoba quickly took care of her personal hygiene and returned to her room, but hesitated when passing by the door of Maki Uesugi, Aoba didn't know if to knock on the door to wake her up, because it was almost time for breakfast, and if she didn't get up to wash, it would be too late.

Although breakfast or something, in fact, for a city person, it is natural to miss breakfast during the holiday because of sleeping, but the key is that it is not in Tokyo now, but in the old home in the countryside, in case Uesugi Maki is scolded by Yuichiro Uesugi because he missed breakfast, it is not worth it.

But Aoba doesn't know whether Uesugi Maki wants to get up and go to breakfast hard, or would rather be scolded than get up early, which is why Aoba is worried and doesn't know if he should knock on the door.

But soon Aoba doesn't have to worry about it, because a pleasant music ringtone from the room makes Aoba don't need to think about this problem anymore, it's the alarm set by Uesugi Maki herself, so if you can't afford it, let her worry about it!

So Aoba returned to his room, sat on the tatami floor with the door open, basking in the early morning sun, and waited for a little more to leave for the dining hall to eat.

And it's in the process. Uesugi Maki in the next room, but he was in a hurry for a while, Aoba heard the voice from next door and knew that Uesugi Maki still chose to get up quickly and go to breakfast, it seems that the fear of Uesugi Yuichiro's grandfather is enough for Uesugi Maki to get rid of his sleepy insects.

After a period of scrambling, Uesugi Maki finally put on a suit and opened the door, but this was not the end, Uesugi Maki hurriedly ran to the waterhole and began to wash.

Aoba, on the other hand, saw that the time was almost up, so he stood up and walked out of the room. But he didn't rush to the dining hall immediately, but stood there waiting for Uesugi Maki to finish washing up, ready to leave with the two.

In this way, it wasn't until a moment later when Maki Uesugi finished washing up and walked back with various toiletries that she saw Aoba who was already standing in front of the door waiting.

"Brother Aoba is early!" said Uesugi Maki after washing up, still smiling with Aoba.

"It's morning, Sister Maki, you're done, let's go have breakfast together!" Aoba invited.

"Well, wait a minute, I'll come. Uesugi said yes and returned to his room.

Then Uesugi Maki first put down the various toiletries in his hand, and then took out a comb and began to comb his hair. After combing his hair, he began to draw in front of the mirror.

So Aoba could only wait outside the door, looking at the appearance of Uesugi Maki putting on makeup, Aoba looked at the things that were getting closer and closer to breakfast time, and Aoba was extremely regretful at this time. I shouldn't have invited her to go with me just now, I left first and let her put on makeup slowly, but unfortunately since I have agreed, I can only continue to wait.

But the woman put on makeup. It's really a thing that makes men feel sad!

Fortunately, Uesugi Maki also seemed to know that the time was running out, so he didn't put on makeup for a long time, but simply drew it. He walked out of the room.

"Brother Aoba has been waiting for a long time, aren't you? Uesugi Maki said to Aoba with his hands folded, and at the same time winked playfully and sold a cute.

"It's okay, it won't be long, but we have to hurry, otherwise we won't be able to catch breakfast in a while, and we'll get up so early. Aoba said as he looked at the time again.

"yes, yes, let's go, Brother Aoba. Uesugi Maki was also in a hurry, pulling Aoba and walking quickly in the direction of the dining hall.

Aoba, who was dragged by Uesugi Maki in a hurry, actually wanted to ask at this time, why did you have to put on makeup for so long since she was in such a hurry.

But in the end, Aoba still didn't ask, so he could only shake his head helplessly, and under the pull of Uesugi Maki, the two walked quickly towards the dining hall.

Fortunately, although the two people in the dining hall were the last to appear after Yuichiro Uesugi and Ginji Uesugi, they were still in time for breakfast.

In this way, Aoba and Uesugi Maki knelt down in front of their seats, and soon Miss Sato brought everyone's breakfast in turn.

Obeying the rule of eating and not sleeping, the members of the Uesugi family, who only have a total of four people at this moment, began to eat after Yuichiro Uesugi gave an order.

Both Aoba and Uesugi Maki ate quickly, and it didn't take long for the two to eat their share of breakfast.

However, when the two had breakfast and were about to leave first as usual, they were stopped by Yuichiro Uesugi who hadn't finished eating.

"Don't go yet, I have something to announce. Yuichiro Uesugi was still eating slowly with his head down, but a strong voice came out of his mouth that stopped Aoba and Uesugi Maki's footsteps.

"Okay, got it, grandpa. Aoba was the first to react, and the half-formed figure sat down again.

"It's Grandpa. Uesugi Maki also sat down very obediently and obediently, anyway, in front of Uesugi Yuichiro, Uesugi Maki has always been like this.

In this way, Yuichiro Uesugi and Ginji Uesugi continued to eat, while Aoba and Maki Uesugi waited quietly.

It wasn't until a moment later, when Yuichiro Uesugi and Uesugi Ginji also ate the last grain of rice in the bowl and put down the chopsticks in their hands together, that the conversation began.

"Father, is there something wrong with you leaving Maki and Aoba behind?" Uesugi Ginji asked first as he looked at the atmosphere in front of him.

"I made a decision this morning that the Festival will be held earlier. Yuichiro Uesugi said in a deep voice.

"What time is it going to be held in advance?" Uesugi Ginji didn't care when the somewhat inexplicable puja would be held.

Also not caring is Aoba. For him, it's the same when it is held.

If you want to say that the person who is most concerned about this topic at this time is Uesugi Maki, who has been thinking about getting Guan Hu in his hands as soon as possible, and as soon as he heard that the festival was held in advance, his eyes lit up all of a sudden.

"Just this morning, we'll go to the temple together in a minute. Yuichiro Uesugi replied with a reply that made Maki Uesugi ecstatic.

"This morning, Father, why did you suddenly change the time of the puja to this morning?" said Uesugi Ginji, puzzled.

"It's very simple, I had a dream last night that the Shikigami enshrined by the family had sensed the arrival of a new master who could control it, so I decided to conduct the puja in advance. Yuichiro Uesugi said this. Even on the face that had been expressionless, there was a rare hint of fanaticism, and at the same time, his eyes kept turning around Aoba and Uesugi Maki's bodies, obviously taking this dream as some kind of omen, so now he was a little impatient.

And Aoba, who listened to Yuichiro Uesugi's words, understood at the first time that this must be the dream that the two Shikami gave Yuichiro Uesugi as the patriarch.

Although Yuichiro Uesugi can't control Shikigami, as the patriarch of the Uesugi family, there is still a weak connection with Shikigami. This connection may not even be known to Yuichiro Uesugi himself, but it is real.

And Yuichiro Uesugi also subconsciously believed the information transmitted through this connection for the first time.

It seems that those two little ones have also slept for decades, and they don't want to sleep anymore!" Aoba thought.

Compared with Aoba's calmness, Uesugi Maki was already happy at this time, and couldn't hold back his expression at all. Everyone could see the smile on his face.

"What? Maki are you happy?" asked Yuichiro Uesugi when he noticed his granddaughter's status.

"Yes, Grandpa, I've been looking forward to the festival for a long time, and I really wish I could be chosen by Shikijin-sama, so that I can also contribute to the rise of the Uesugi family. Uesugi Maki realized that he had been noticed by his grandfather. So he immediately said formulaically.

"Well, it's good that you have this heart, since breakfast is finished now. Then let's go, go to the temple, and start the puja. Yuichiro Uesugi said as if he couldn't wait even more than Maki Uesugi.

"Good father, but don't you need to make some preparations for the puja? I remember that in previous pujas, you had to bathe and change your clothes in advance, and you also needed some sacrifices. Uesugi asked, thinking about the preparations he hadn't made yet.

"That's just a false ceremony, I don't need it this year, this is what Shikikami-sama specially told me when I was dreaming, let me hold the puja as soon as possible, and everything else can be simplified. Yuichiro Uesugi said with a big wave of his hand.

"Understood, then let's go!" Uesugi Ginji saw that Yuichiro Uesugi, who usually pays the most attention to these etiquettes, said this, so he was naturally happy and relaxed.

In this way, all four members of the Uesugi family, Yuichiro Uesugi, Ginji Uesugi, Maki Uesugi and Aoba, the four of them walked in front of Yuichiro Uesugi and walked towards the location of the temple together.

However, the four people walking in the middle of the day were naturally not the path through the woods that Aoba and Maki Uesugi took last night.

Instead, Yuichiro Uesugi led everyone down the mountain first, and after coming to the stone steps leading to the temple on the other side of the mountain, everyone climbed up the stone steps to Uesugi.

It is said that this was done to show respect for Shikigami, otherwise it would be too disrespectful to Shikigami to go directly through the woods to the temple.

In this way, it took a lot more strength than last night when Aoba and Uesugi Maki walked directly through the woods, and only then did they reach the location of the temple.

And after seeing the temple, Uesugi Maki continued her physical condition last night, and she was so tired that she was almost lying on the ground, but when she thought of the Shikigami who was still waiting for her in the temple, Uesugi Maki burst out with strength, which made her climb the stone steps all the way to the location of the temple.

"It's here. Yuichiro Uesugi looked at the temple close at hand, and his eyes flashed with an inexplicable light.

"Father, let's go in!" said Uesugi Ginji, who was carrying some rudimentary sacrificial items in his hands.

"Okay, let's go inside!" Yuichiro Uesugi said, and walked towards the temple gate.

So Uesugi Ginji followed, and Aoba, who was also carrying some sacrificial items in his hand, also followed, and because of physical problems and gender problems, Uesugi Maki, who didn't hold anything in his hand, seemed to be more tired than others, but he still gritted his teeth and followed.

Speaking of which, when the Uesugi family was at its most prominent, when a festival was held to worship the family's shikikami, the scene was also very grand.

At that time, whenever such a festival was held, it would be like a festival, and not only would the Uesugi family line up outside the temple to the bottom of the mountain to offer incense to the temple, but also groups of Uesugi family members would enter the temple and let Shikigami choose whether there was someone who could control Shikikami.

Even people who don't belong to the Uesugi family, such as people from nearby villages, hold a famous festival at the foot of the mountain with various food stalls and game stalls.

However, all this gradually disappeared with the decline of the Uesugi family.

Of course, it's not just the Uesugi family that's falling, but also the nearby villages.

The village, which was originally densely populated, became more and more depressed as more and more young people moved to the city because they longed for the big city.

And now there are not only few young people in the village, but also few children, and the largest number of people are the elderly, but as these old people gradually sink into the ground, no one knows how many people will be left in the whole village, and even whether the village will continue to exist.

However, all of this was a problem that was too far away from them for Aoba and Uesugi Maki, and the two didn't think about it at all, so they just followed Yuichiro Uesugi and Uesugi Ginji, pushed open the door of the temple, and entered the temple with the sunlight shining in.

In the past, every festival was held, and even the hustle and bustle would have continued until the temple at the foot of the mountain, but now it seems to have been abandoned by the world, and if it weren't for the Uesugi family's occasional cleaning, it is uncertain that the temple would have collapsed due to its dilapidation. (To be continued.) )