While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

Tianyan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Atsuya Hikarube.

He had seen this name in the college's database.

A first-class sorcerer, a user of the Shinkage-ryu style, and a teacher at Kyoto High School, responsible for instructing in swordsmanship and physical combat. Some describe him as "very strong, but lazy," saying he'd rather lie down than sit, sit than stand, and avoid fighting if possible.

Tianyan bowed slightly and said, "I've heard so much about you, Mr. Kusakabe."

Kusakabe waved his hand, his tone casual, as if to say, "Don't give me that." He continued, "No, don't call me teacher. I'm not your teacher. Just call me Kusakabe, or you can call me 'Uncle' if you like."

Tianyan's lips curved slightly, but he didn't reply.

Kusakabe glanced at him again, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment, before speaking with a casual tone, as if confirming something with curiosity: "An unfamiliar face. Are you a freshman?"

Tenyan nodded, making no attempt to hide anything: "Tokyo Higher Vocational School, Zen-in Tenyan."

Kusakabe raised an eyebrow slightly: "Zen temple? The Zen temple of the three starter families?"

"Yes."

Kusakabe was silent for a moment, then shook his head and made a cryptic "tsk".

He raised his right hand from his side, scratched the back of his head, and looked somewhat troubled, as if he had encountered some kind of problem.

"You know Zen-in Naoya, right?"

Tianyan nodded: "I know him."

"That brat, Zenin Naoya, has caused me a lot of trouble at school."

He said, with the helplessness a teacher might feel when talking about a problem student: "He has a bad temper, a sharp tongue, looks down on everyone, and acts like he's the heir to a Zen family."

He paused, glanced at Tianyan, and said, "But he does have the strength, I don't deny that."

Tianyan nodded: "Zhizai-kun... his personality is indeed not very good. Sometimes he speaks impulsively and doesn't consider other people's feelings when he does things, but he has a heart of gold, so please bear with him in your daily life."

He sighed inwardly, thinking that an adopted son was behaving like an elder brother taking care of his younger brother towards the legitimate son of the Zen family.

It's not about flattery or fawning, but a natural and heartfelt concern, as if saying, "My younger brother may not be very good, but please bear with him."

Kusakabe mentally compared Zenin Naoya again.

That blond kid walks with a swagger, speaks with a barbed tongue, never looks people in the eye, looks down on his classmates, ignores his seniors, and even his teacher, Naoya, rarely gives him a kind look.

The arrogance and disdain on his face, that sense of superiority as the heir to the Zen family, that smug "you're all trash" expression—every time I see him, I just want to stomp on his face.

Looking at the young man before me, I see that he is calm, polite, and neither arrogant nor humble. When he talks about the Zen-in family, he doesn't have that kind of arrogance that is off-putting, but there is a confidence and pride between his brows that says, "I am a member of the Zen-in family." It's not something he says, but something that comes from his very bones.

"Tsk."

Kusakabe sighed inwardly.

Zhizai, you can't win against him.

Even if he is an adopted son, even if he is not related by blood, even if you are the legitimate heir of the Zen family, you still can't compete with him.

Whether a person can win people's hearts depends not on bloodline, magic, or the amount of incantation power, but on the person himself. When Zen Temple Tianyan stood there, he gave people a feeling of "I can rely on him".

If he were to become a member of the Zenin family in the future, and had to choose between Zenin Naoya and Zenin Ten'en as the head of the family, he would choose the latter without hesitation.

Kusakabe shook his head inwardly, banishing these chaotic thoughts: "Alright, alright, stop apologizing for that kid. He's not a three-year-old."

He waved his hand, indicating that the topic should be left at that.

Then, his expression became more serious.

"Zen Temple Heavenly Flame".

He spoke, his voice still low, but with a hint of probing in his tone: "What brings you here?"

Tianyan looked at him and remained silent for a second.

"I've come to visit an elder," he said calmly.

"An elder?" Kusakabe raised an eyebrow slightly. "Who?"

Tianyan did not answer.

He simply looked at Kusakabe, a gentle, polite smile playing on his lips.

Kusakabe looked at his expression, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed.

He scratched his head, as if organizing his thoughts or thinking about how to begin.

"All right."

He said, with a hint of helplessness in his voice, as if to say, "Since you won't tell me, I'll just be blunt": "Where do you want to go? The mountaintop, the east, or the west?"

Tianyan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Kusakabe didn't wait for his reply and continued, holding up one finger: "There's a shrine on the mountaintop, but it's been deserted for a long time, not even a shrine maiden left, it's just an empty shell."

He stuck out another one: "There's a waterfall to the east, the scenery is nice, but there's not much to see this season."

He stretched out another one: "West..."

Kusakabe's expression changed slightly in that instant; the change was so subtle that it would have been almost unnoticed if Ten'en hadn't been observing his expression closely.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth tightened slightly, as if he were saying something he didn't want others to know.

"There's nothing to do in the west, nothing interesting, let's not go."

His tone was relaxed, as if he were suggesting a lost tourist try a different route.

Tianyan remained silent for a moment.

His mind was racing; the west was where the address he had obtained was located.

The new master of the Yin-Yang School stood in the way of the only road leading west, blocking his path.

Kusakabe, on the other hand, was clearly the old woman's bodyguard, and his task was to protect her.

Keep anyone who might cause "trouble" to the old lady away.

He himself was clearly the "trouble".

Tianyan's lips curved slightly, his smile gentle, polite, and flawless.

"Mr. Kusakabe is right."

He said calmly, "Then I won't go to the west; I'll go somewhere else."

Kusakabe's expression relaxed for a moment, his tense shoulders slumped slightly, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips, a smile that conveyed a sense of relief.

"Then go ahead, have fun." He stepped aside to make way for him.

Tianyan walked past him at a leisurely pace, his shoes making a soft sound as they trod on the stone pavement.

Kusakabe stood behind him, watching his back, and then turned around and began to descend the mountain.

After walking about ten steps, Kusakabe's body suddenly stiffened.

He looked down at his right hand.

The hand was trembling, irresistibly reaching for the hilt of the knife at the waist.

It was an instinctive, uncontrollable reaction, as if something inside him had been triggered, as if an invisible thread had emerged from the darkness, wrapped around his wrist, and was slowly and irresistibly tightening.

He sighed, a sigh that carried a sense of helplessness, as if to say, "I knew this would happen."

"He was just pretending not to see it."

His voice remained soft, as if he were speaking to Tianyan, yet also to himself: "I don't want to get involved in the troubles of those big families. I just want to teach peacefully, retire peacefully, and collect my pension peacefully..."

He paused, a bitter smile curving his lips.

"This is such a damn constraint."