Dragon Raja: Starting with Summoning Erii

Tachibana Masamune smiled and said, "You may not like it, but you can't deny our loyalty."

Xia Mu curled his lip... This old man really thinks he's Japanese.

"I'm not interested in your lofty ideals. What exactly do you want to say to me?" Xia Mu said impatiently.

Tachibana Masamune's eyes flickered for a moment before he looked down at the floor: "How about I marry Erii to you?"

Fuma Kotaro looked up in horror.

Xia Mu's mind went blank for a moment after hearing this: "Really?"

He immediately shook his head. "What are the conditions?"

Tachibana Masamune smiled slightly: "Marry into the Uesugi family, become their son-in-law."

"Obey the patriarch's orders?" Xia Mu replied.

"The Snake-Headed Eight Families are one family. They should obey not my orders, but the interests of the Snake-Headed Eight Families themselves. They should not obstruct the common interests of everyone," Tachibana Masamune took a sip of tea and put it down. "That's what I represent."

"Sounds pretty good..."

Natsuki's words delighted Tachibana Masamune.

As long as Natsuki doesn't take Erii away, as long as Erii is still in the Snake Clan and under his control, everything is negotiable.

"But why should I follow your logic?"

Natsuki slammed his teacup on the table, making a loud noise. "I'm taking Erii away, and nobody can stop me!"

Tachibana Masamune felt a chill run down his spine, and his expression finally turned grim.

"What exactly do you want?" he couldn't help but ask.

Xia Mu looked towards another corner of the courtyard and said softly, "What I want... is for her to be happy."

And your life too.

He added a sentence in his mind.

"Patriarch..."

A woman in a kimono emerged from behind the curtain and whispered a few words in Tachibana Masamune's ear.

A look of delight flashed in Tachibana Masamune's eyes. He waved for her to leave and turned to Natsuki, saying, "I, like you, want Erii to be happy. So, if she's willing to go with you, I won't stop her."

Xia Mu paused for a moment, then slowly stood up.

“If you dare to do anything to deceive her, I will raze this place to the ground today.”

Beneath his calm words, a surging dragon's might silenced Tachibana Masamune and Fuuma Kotaro. Tachibana Masamune couldn't even recall how Natsuki knew Erii's location.

The wind whispers softly, rustling through the bamboo grove and leaves.

Xia Mu walked along the path and came to the front of a heavily guarded Japanese-style house.

No one dared to stop him.

But he didn't go inside.

On the floor of the hallway in front of the door, where shoes are changed, there is a small notebook.

He bent down, picked it up, and slowly opened it.

It was Erii's handwriting; he recognized it.

"Mumu, thank you for coming to find me, but I won't go with you."

Xia Mu's heart skipped a beat.

"I used to think we could stay like this forever, together forever, until the day I leave this world..."

"Only now do I realize how naive I was before. There were so many things I didn't understand, so I didn't even think about them, because I always felt that you were there for me..."

Eternal God Emperor

"After I swung my sword at Xia Mi, I thought about it for a long, long time..."

"I finally understand that it wasn't me who killed her, but rather she who killed herself."

Xia Mu's expression changed.

I never expected Erii to understand all of this.

"She did this on purpose—giving me the video, provoking me—she wanted me to take action because she had long planned to give you everything, so... you would never forget her, right?"

Xia Mu turned to the next page.

"Mumu, everything is different now..."

"After figuring all this out, I've been thinking, if Xia Mi were still here, would you choose me or her?"

The bottom of the page is blank, marked by the wrinkles left by tears.

Xia Mu lowered her eyes sadly and slowly turned to the next page.

"I would definitely choose her, I would choose the same thing if I were her..."

"I depend on you, she supports you, I take everything from you, but she gives you everything. She gave just as much as you gave to me..."

"How can someone like me compete with her?"

"Besides, how could I, who have received her blessing, compete with her?"

Erii discovers a change in her physical condition and finds the "Dragon King's Blessing".

"Mumu, I don't know what to do, I don't know what the right thing to do is, I don't know how to deal with these complicated emotions..."

"But I guess this is the kind of growth I'm meant to go through..."

"so…"

"Give me some time, okay?"

Xia Mu's fingers traced the words little by little, his emotions complex and indescribable.

“If you tell her I still exist, she might go with you,” Jormungandr said.

Xia Mu shook his head and said with certainty, "No."

"why?"

"Because what she's struggling with is the relationship between us. Whether Xia Mi is here or not, she doesn't want to possess what should belong to Xia Mi. That's why she's unwilling to come with me now," Xia Mu said softly.

Jormungandr fell silent, his understanding of human emotions deepening once again.

Xia Mu tucked the notebook into his pocket, then put down the box he was carrying, took out a pen and paper, left a message on the box, and finally turned and slowly left.

No one was foolish enough to stop him.

He simply swaggered away from the territory of the Snake Clan.

After he left, Tachibana Masamune arrived at the door of Erii's hut, glanced at the note on the box, and reached out to take it...

"laugh!"

A long red sword flew out and struck the wooden pillar with a clang, its hilt trembling incessantly.

Tachibana Masamune withdrew his hand and gave a wry smile: "I just wanted to help you take it inside."

The wooden door was pulled open, and a girl dressed as a shrine maiden slowly walked out, her cloud-like red hair swaying gently behind her.

Erii seemed not to see Tachibana Masamune; her gaze remained fixed on the small box.

She walked over and picked up the note Xia Mu had left behind.

Cherish the present moment, hold onto the beauty in your hands, I'm waiting for you.

Erii's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her little hand holding the note remained motionless for a long time.

After watching for a while, Tachibana Masamune realized that he had no presence at all, so he had no choice but to turn around and leave.

“Mumu…”

Erii put the note into her notebook and clipped it in. The wine-red-eyed girl looked up at the sky, as if she could see that familiar face.

"Is it really possible to ignore the past, not think about the future, and just live in the present..."

She carried her small suitcase inside, opened it, looked inside, and then closed it again.

The little toys that I used to cherish so much no longer seem precious to me.

Her world is small, only big enough to hold one person...

Erii hugged her knees, resting her chin on them, and stared blankly at the white clouds drifting by outside the window.

She used to not want to think about anything, always leaving everything to Xia Mu, relying on him and taking all his kindness for granted.

Now that she has seen everything Xia Mi has done, she suddenly understands that no one should give everything for others, and no one is born to be pampered.

In this world, who isn't a child who longs to be cared for?

Chapter 262 You're here to poach people!

"Xia Mu, get in the car."

Not long after leaving the ancestral home of the Snake Clan, Natsuki turned a corner and saw the window of a van on the street corner roll down, revealing Sakurai Kogure's pretty face.

"Are you helping me today?"

Xia Mu moved closer.

"Yes, our people helped you stop about half of the hybrids."

Kogure Sakurai opened the car door.

Xia Mu lowered his head and got into the car, sitting down next to her, a delicate fragrance gently lingering around his nose.

The car started immediately and merged into the traffic along the street.

"You've come all the way to the vicinity of the Snake Clan, are you that brave?" Xia Mu said with a smile.

Sakurai Kogure stood very close to him, her breath sweet as orchids: "It's worth it to save Kogure."

Xia Mu leaned back a little, distancing herself from her, and smiled brightly: "Sister Xiao Mu, are you trying to seduce me again?"

Sakurai Kogure blushed and reached up to smooth her hair to hide her embarrassment: "Oh, I almost forgot, you're not some innocent little boy!"