Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

The disintegration occurred silently.

The two forces of cold and heat converged in Nizaki's chest cavity, grinding down the hard outer shell of Nizaki's chest and continuing to penetrate inward.

In the blink of an eye, a hole the size of a basketball replaced the place where his chest used to be.

"……live……"

Rito stood there, watching the mangled body gradually lose its breath and fall straight backward.

"...Live...on..."

As the last syllable fell, Niqi completely lost his breath and became a cold corpse.

His hand was stretched outwards forcefully, as if trying to grab something.

Kugizaki leaned against a tree, holding a hammer, a dried bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.

"Let's go back," Rito said softly.

Kugizaki nodded and turned to walk towards the girl.

The mountain wind blew away the last bit of ashes, and the sunlight fell again, illuminating the gloomy forest.

The little girl lay in a patch of trampled weeds, her face streaked with dried black tears.

Kugizaki crouched down, supporting the back of her neck with one hand and gently lifting her up by reaching around her knees with the other.

The girl's head rested on her shoulder, her breathing shallow but very even.

The person who performed the spell died, and the toxin disappeared as well, so the little girl was no longer in danger.

The two walked back the way they came.

The stone steps on the mountain path were more broken than when we came, probably because they were cracked when Nizaki released the poisonous mist earlier.

The fir trees on both sides have large areas of corrosion, with the bark peeling off to reveal the blackened wood underneath.

The outline of the shrine reappeared through the gaps in the leaves.

Inside the worship hall, dozens of villagers were still crammed into a corner.

Hearing footsteps, everyone looked up.

Their gazes first fell on Kugizaki, then on the little girl in her arms, and finally on the empty direction behind her.

When Kugizaki walked in, all eyes turned to him at the same time.

Some people shrank back, some moved their lips but swallowed them back, and some stared at the little girl in her arms with reddened eyes.

The old man who had previously cursed Kugizaki sat cross-legged in the corner, his head bowed low, not daring to meet Kugizaki's gaze.

Kugizaki didn't look at anyone.

She walked to the center of the hall, knelt down on one knee, and gently placed the little girl on the ground.

At that moment, the little girl woke up.

Her small eyelashes trembled, then she opened her eyes, her cloudy, unfocused pupils moving blankly.

A woman rushed out from the crowd, knelt down, and hugged her tightly.

"Mother……"

"Mommy's here, Mommy's here." The woman pressed her daughter's face against her shoulder, tears streaming down her face.

The little girl nestled in her arms, remained quiet for a few seconds, then raised her head, her eyes wide open, and looked around.

"Mom, why is it dark?"

The candlelight in the worship hall flickered on the wall.

Kugizaki's body suddenly stiffened.

Realizing something was wrong, Rito quickly squatted down and waved his hand in front of the little girl's eyes twice.

Those eyes were open, their pupils round and glistening with the candlelight.

But deep within the eyeball, there are several dark lines that, like capillaries, spread outward from the bottom of the eye and wrap around the entire iris.

Seeing this, Rito's heart sank.

He stood up, looked at Kugizaki, and gently shook his head.

The worship hall was silent for a moment.

Then the old man's disgusted voice rang out again.

"...I knew it."

In the corner, the old man who had been sitting cross-legged with his head down stood up.

He poked at Kugizaki with his thin fingers, the skin on his knuckles hanging loosely.

"This is all the fault of your Kugizaki family."

His voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet shrine, every word was clear.

"Hua'er is only six years old, she's only six years old!" The little girl's mother hugged her daughter, her whole body trembling with sobs. "She's only six years old..."

Other villagers also stood up one after another, their faces contorted with fear, anger, and accusations.

The only thing missing was gratitude.

"If that curse caster hadn't come after your family, how could the village have suffered like this?"

"We've lived here for decades and have never seen a monster like that before."

"Why should we suffer for what your Kugizaki family is protecting?"

The voices came one after another, growing louder and louder, and becoming more and more self-righteous.

Kugizaki stood still.

Her expression was calm, just as it had been when she heard those accusations during the standoff at the shrine.

She didn't explain or refute anything; she just stood there, listening to the voices she had heard since childhood.

"Have you said enough?"

Li Ren's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the entire worship hall.

He stood in front of Kugizaki, in front of everyone.

The brand-new school uniform was already torn, and the exposed skin was covered in bruises.

His face didn't show any particularly intense expression, but when his eyes swept across the faces of every villager, no one dared to meet his gaze for more than a second.

"If it weren't for Kugizaki, you would all be dead by now."

The old man who had just been pointing at Kugizaki subconsciously took a half step back.

"While you were huddled in this corner trembling, she was standing outside risking her life."

"Her grandmother is still lying in the house, and none of you have gone to see her."

"Her father died in the mountains behind the village sixteen years ago, also for your sake."

As he spoke, Rito took a step forward.

"Criticize her? Do you even deserve to?"

No one answered in the worship hall.

The old man's lips trembled a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he could only squeeze out a few indistinct syllables.

The little girl's mother held her daughter, burying her face in her daughter's hair, not daring to look up.

The other villagers avoided eye contact with the ground, the corners of the walls, or anywhere else that didn't require them to make eye contact with He Li.

That's enough.

Kugizaki's voice came from behind.

Li Ren turned to look at her.

Kugizaki remained standing, his expression still calm.

She glanced at Li Ren, then tilted her head slightly towards the outside of the worship hall.

"Let's go."

Rito looked at her and remained silent for a second.

Then he nodded.

When the two left the shrine, dusk had already fallen beneath the treetops.

None of the stone lanterns on either side of the steps were lit from beginning to end, but Kugizaki walked very steadily, stepping on the flattest part of the steps with each step.

She's walked this road since she was a child, and she wouldn't fall even with her eyes closed.

No one speaks.

The mountain wind blew through the cedar forest, rustling the withered grass by the roadside.

Rito walked half a body length behind Kugizaki, just as she had when she arrived.

When I got home, the oil lamp was still lit.

The flame flickered gently on the wick, causing the shadows on the wall to sway back and forth.

Grandma leaned against the corner of the wall, her gray hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, but her breathing was much more steady than before.

The edges of those blackened wounds had begun to regain their normal color, and the putrefactive poison had dissipated along with the death of the practitioner.

Hearing footsteps, Grandmother opened her eyes.

Kugizaki stood at the door for a moment, then went inside and squatted down next to his grandmother.

"He's dead," Kugizaki said.

Grandmother didn't speak, she just nodded slowly.

"Scorpion Mound is gone, there's no need to continue guarding it."

"...Okay." Grandmother's shoulders relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Kugizaki stood up and tightened the strap of the bag on his shoulder again.

The bag is almost empty now, as most of the nails have been used up, making it much lighter to carry.

"I'm leaving."

Grandmother looked up at her.

The light from the oil lamp shone on Kugizaki's face and also on his grandmother's face, making it difficult to see clearly.

"Wild rose," Grandmother began, slowly raising her hand and then lowering it again, as if she had never made that gesture before.

Kugizaki paused for a moment.

"……Take care of yourself."

Kugizaki did not turn back.

She walked to the door, stood side by side with Rito for a second, and then stepped across the threshold.

The two walked out along the mountain path they had come from.

Night enveloped the entire Scorpion Village, shrouding the gray rooftops, closed doors and windows, and half-withered persimmon trees in darkness.

The tap at the village entrance was still dripping, each drop hitting the moss-covered stone trough, the sound particularly clear in the quiet village.

"Reasoning with people".

"Um."

Thanks.

Li Ren turned his head to look.

But Ding Qi didn't look at him; his gaze fell on the mountain path ahead, which was bathed in moonlight and appeared grayish-white.

Rito withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

"Let's go, it's time to go back."

In the distance, the lights of Tono City shone in the night, forming a small, blurry halo.

The mountain road turned a corner ahead, and the two figures, one in front of the other, walked into the area where the light could reach.