Muzan: My daughter can't be that weak!

In fact, Yukina couldn't sleep at all.

On the one hand, I was afraid that I would accidentally fall asleep for a long time and be late.

On the other hand, the mix of excitement and nervousness in her heart was like a frantic rabbit, making her toss and turn in bed, unable to calm down.

Having no other choice, she got up, picked up Xiaomo and Hanako, and started playing house as teacher and student in the dimly lit room.

While playing, she couldn't help but steal a glance out the window.

Although there was no sun in the Infinite City, she always felt that there should be some kind of change there to announce the arrival of a new day.

I think it's about time...

It must be the second day now!

She immediately put down the doll, quickly straightened her not-so-disheveled clothes, and stepped out.

She took a deep breath, cupped her small hands around her mouth like a megaphone, and shouted into the empty courtyard:

"Nakume-neechan!"

The clear, crisp voices of children echoed through the courtyard.

After calling out, she immediately lowered her hand, stood properly with her little hands by her sides, and stared straight ahead without blinking, waiting for a response.

"Miss Yukina"

Almost simultaneously, Nakime's voice rang out from very close behind her, "You can contact me directly in your mind."

"ah!"

Startled by the sudden sound, Yukina whirled around and saw Nakime in her familiar attire. Her initial shock instantly turned to delight.

"Besides my dad, can I talk to Nakime-neechan like this?"

She pointed to her little head, her eyes sparkling.

"Theoretically, you can contact anyone as long as you have Muzan's permission," Nakime explained simply.

Xue Na nodded thoughtfully.

Then I can go play with Uncle Doma!

However, the thought only flashed through her mind for a moment before she immediately remembered her important matter and hurriedly said, "Naruko-neechan, could you teleport me... teleport me to the teacher?"

After saying that, fearing that Nakime wouldn't know who the teacher was, he quickly added, "It's Uncle Kokushibo's place!"

Fortunately, she persistently bothered her father last night and finally found out the teacher's name. Otherwise, it would have been too rude of her not even knowing how to address her today.

She silently praised herself for her foresight.

"Understood."

Nakime didn't say much, but simply raised her hand and lightly pressed her fingertips on the pipa strings.

Yukina stood obediently in place, watching the scenery around her begin to change.

Although she had experienced this several times before, the feeling of this spatial shift still made her subconsciously nervous.

She tried to appear calm, but her small hands, clasped together in front of her, unconsciously tightened their grip on the hem of her clothes.

The situation stabilized.

What comes into view is an extremely simple, even spacious, traditional Japanese-style room.

Apart from a low ebony table in the center of the room and a simple knife rack against the wall, there were almost no decorations or personal items.

There are no signs of habitation; it's more like a place where one can get up and leave at any time.

In the center of the room, Kokushibo was kneeling on the inside of a low table.

He was still wearing his signature purple samurai outfit, his long hair tied in a high ponytail, and his posture as upright as a pine tree.

His six eyes were lowered, his face was cold and stern, and he had an air of dignified authority that allowed him to remain undisturbed.

Yukina stood at the door, suddenly feeling a little lost.

It's so quiet here, so...serious.

She swallowed hard, wiped away non-existent sweat with her small hands at her side, then mustered her courage, took small steps, and quietly walked in, stopping at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Kokushibo.

"Hello, teacher!"

She first bowed deeply and respectfully, her voice slightly louder than usual because of nervousness, as if raising her voice would embolden her.

"My name is Yukina. Yukina is the Yukina of Yukina, and Nai is the Nai of Yukina."

She paused, seemingly feeling she should elaborate more on her self-introduction, and then instinctively continued, "My mother's name is Se-ri, and my father's name is..."

She stopped abruptly, her face flushing slightly.

The teacher definitely knows who Dad is!

I almost said something stupid...

She secretly raised her eyes to steal a glance at Kokushibo's expression.

Kokushibo did not interrupt her.

He remained attentive throughout, listening intently until she stopped on her own, at which point he slowly raised his eyes.

Six gazes fell upon the small child before them, who shared similar eye color with Muzan but possessed a completely different temperament.

As expected of Muzan-sama's bloodline, such a polite child.

"Um."

He responded softly, his voice slow, "From today onward... I... will teach you... to read and write. The first thing you need to know is... the fifty sounds of the alphabet..."

Immediately afterwards, Kokushibo took out the paper and ink that had been prepared beforehand.

Spread it out on the table.

He picked up his pen, the tip lightly touching the paper, and slowly wrote a neat "あ".

This character is pronounced as "a".

He pointed to the character and explained its pronunciation and basic stroke order.

During his explanation, his gaze would occasionally shift from the paper to Yukina's face, making sure that her wide red eyes were following him.

Upon hearing this, Xue Nai immediately straightened her back, placed her hands neatly on her knees, leaned forward involuntarily, brought her head close to the table, and stared intently at the unfamiliar little black dot on the paper, her face filled with concentration.

Hearing Kokushibo's explanation, she nodded vigorously and repeated the words with her lips.

As Kokushibo explained, he kept an eye on her reactions.

Seeing how focused and well-behaved she was, the teaching process went much more smoothly than he had expected.

The child's clear eyes were full of curiosity, without fear or restlessness.

He should have felt relaxed; the task was so simple.

But for some reason, the image of the child looking up at him suddenly overlapped with a memory from the depths of his mind.

"Yoriichi, do you understand?"

The young son of God knelt beside him, his clear, bright eyes fixed on him as he listened to him recount his new knowledge. He didn't speak, only nodding.

Back then, I was always worried that my taciturn younger brother hadn't actually understood, or was confused because he couldn't express himself fluently.

So he repeated it tirelessly, trying to break down and analyze every single detail.

Looking back now... how laughable, and how... pathetic.

Yoriichi was not ignorant, nor was he incapable of speaking.

Those clear eyes had already seen through the essence beneath all appearances.

His silence was perhaps simply because what required effort to understand and grasp for him was so self-evident and straightforward to the Son of God that even speaking seemed superfluous.

And I... how foolish, how self-righteous I am.

He even thought he was able to teach the Son of God.

Thinking of this, he quickly turned to the side, suppressing the urge to vomit.