Don't force me to use my right fist.

If Saya does anything unusual, she guarantees her arrow will be on his head in the next second.

Although she couldn't sense any of the aura unique to yokai from Saya, his behavior, which was tantamount to changing his gender in front of her, still made the priestess frown. Even if he wasn't a yokai, he was still a very noteworthy fellow.

Sawa looked at the shrine maiden closely and realized she was a beautiful woman.

Sensing the wariness emanating from the shrine maiden in front of him, Saya scratched his head and opened his arms to her, indicating that he had no friendly intentions to do anything to her.

Judging from her attire, she's probably a shrine maiden from some nearby shrine. However, the fact that she dared to come to the territory of the Saigyou Ayakashi means she must possess considerable confidence. The fact that she can ignore the surrounding death aura is enough to prove she's not just an ordinary person dressed as a shrine maiden.

However, even though he had complained about it many times, when Zuoyou looked at the girl in front of him, that familiar feeling of déjà vu rose up from the bottom of his heart again.

Judging from this attire, they must be someone we know, right?

Since there seemed to be far too many black-haired, red-and-white shrine maidens, Saya could only look around for any other characteristics that could prove the girl's identity.

Needless to say, his good looks are exceptional. I've hardly ever seen anyone who's based on anime characters and isn't good-looking.

Apart from that, the only notable feature of her was that her long black hair was tied up with a white ribbon at the end.

This thing can only help her rule out the suspicion that she is one of the 100,000 witches; as for the rest, there are still too few elements.

Of course, the longbow in her hand was also a special item, but the problem remained: there were too many red and white shrine maidens, and Sawa couldn't remember which one she was.

"I think the way you look at people is even more impolite."

Unable to bear Saya's indescribably pure gaze sweeping over her, the priestess took a long arrow from her quiver and drew it taut at Saya.

Saya's gaze held no desire or aggression, yet it was enough to instill a sense of revulsion in the priestess.

Just as she said, staring at a girl is definitely impolite.

"No, never mind, there's no point in explaining this. Why don't you just tell me why you came here?"

Seeing the hint of threat in her eyes, Zuoyou decisively withdrew his questioning gaze and then crossed his arms impatiently.

"Before that, I'd like you to explain your identity. What do you think of this suggestion?"

Without letting her guard down around Saya, the black-haired girl calmly negotiated with him, her hand still taut on the bowstring.

It wasn't that she was being paranoid; it was simply that the place where Sawa was located was far from safe, and his recent actions were quite unusual.

"Well, could we at least introduce ourselves? I am Sawa, a passing traveler. As for why I'm here, it's simply to deal with the monsters here."

This is the part that Zuo You was waiting for. Instead of guessing, it would be better to just introduce each other directly. Once he knows her name, he won't have to worry about not knowing who her real-life counterpart is.

Pointing to the cherry blossom tree behind him that he had cut down and which had been burned to a crisp, Saya added another sentence.

"If this is what you're after, then I'm sorry, I beat you to it. You'll have to come a day earlier to have any chance of getting any experience points."

After saying something in a nonchalant tone that was enough to surprise the girl in front of him, Saya continued to meet her gaze, waiting for her response.

"Kikyo, Kikyo Higurashi, the exorcising priestess."

The girl, who did not want to reveal too much information about herself, simply said a name and only mentioned her profession.

Even so, it was enough to make Sawa gasp in shock.

Goodness, she didn't run into K with the dog, but instead met her past life first, right? That's quite a coincidence. Japan really is a small place.

Saya breathed a sigh of relief, trying to appear less surprised, and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman in front of him, asking a question that was very important to him.

"Um, although I'm a little sorry and have an upset stomach, if I may reveal something, you're not currently in a state of resurrection, are you?" whl

To put it more bluntly, Mr. Yi, are you still alive?

Chapter 427 Trust

"It really is just as you said, quite an offensive question."

After listening attentively to Sōyū's question, the girl narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the arrow tip slightly.

What does it mean to say whether she's still alive or not? If she were dead, how could she stand before him?

Or was this some new provocation, a warning that she was about to die?

"Hmm, you don't look like you've been knocked out. At least you look quite healthy."

After staring at the girl's delicate and fair face, which was as white as jade, for a while, Zuoyou finally made his judgment.

Logically speaking, if the Shikon Jewel shattered and scattered across Japan, this guy should have been dead for over fifty years. The one responsible for collecting the Shikon Jewel fragments should have been that high school girl with the dog, not someone who should have been killed long ago.

She did make an appearance, but by then even her soul was no longer complete, and her body was a puppet made of terracotta figures. She even had to rely on the Dead Soul Worms to supply her with dead souls for basic movements.

"How much of the plot has been changed?" (This is a question mark in the original text.)

"Instead of caring whether I'm alive or not, I think you should first prove that you're a human being without hostility. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you'll be alive later."

Although she didn't understand why the boy in front of her thought he should be dead, Kikyo, who was more concerned about Saya's earlier statement about defeating the monster that had previously inhabited the area, nodded towards Saya, indicating that he should explain the details to her first.

If it were the old her, she would have put down her bow and arrow as soon as Sōyū proved his human identity. But thinking of the consequences caused by the bandit who deceived her, she had no choice but to take the strange boy in front of her seriously.

"No, am I not harmless enough? Do you really expect me to put my hands behind my head and squat down?"

Saga rolled his eyes, opened his palm, thought for a moment, then took out a fragment of the Shikon Jewel from his backpack and gestured to her.

Saku casually placed the fragments on a table in front of him, and to show that he really had no other intentions, he even took two steps back.

Moreover, his reason for collecting the Shikon Jewel shards was merely to see if he could attract some foolish demons to obtain loot and experience. If he wanted anything in return, it was probably only the body of that great demon named Naraku. He admitted that coveting the experience and loot dropped by those he eliminated was indeed despicable, but it was only human nature, right?

Besides, this thing was even worse for him than a stone, at least a stone could be used as a stepping stone.

But if it were given to the girl in front of him, Saya would have even less of a problem.

To put it bluntly, this originally belonged to someone else, so this can be considered a return to its rightful owner.

What's more, she also has a method to purify this thing, and as long as she stays close to it, a steady stream of monsters will come to her door.

As for Naraku, whom Saya is concerned about, he would never let go of the girl in front of him.

There's no reason for Sōyu not to do something that would achieve so many benefits.

However, Kikyo found Saya's actions even more perplexing.

She could not possibly mistake the aura emanating from the fragment he had placed down; it was the aura only a corrupted Shikon Jewel fragment would possess. And the fact that it was corrupted was even more obvious.

Even so, Saya was still able to resist the temptation and desire and hand over this thing, which instantly left her feeling completely bewildered.

Regardless, Kikyo, whose purpose in coming here was to retrieve this fragment, naturally wouldn't give up on what was in front of her. While maintaining absolute vigilance, she walked towards the fragment, questioning Saya as she spoke.

"How exactly did you deal with the monsters here, and what are your plans?" she usually asked.

"How did you solve it? Just hack and slash, what other tricks could you possibly have? As for your plans, please, miss, you wouldn't be meddling in my demon-slaying, would you?"

Saya shrugged. Kikyo's question was really pointless. What could he possibly plan? He was just forcibly dumped here. There were demons harming humans with their tongues, and he couldn't just sit idly by, right?

"Exorcising demons and protecting the righteous path? That's quite a high-sounding reason. On the contrary, it gives the impression that he might actually be thinking that way. For no other reason than the clarity in Zuo You's eyes, which doesn't seem like something that can be easily faked."

Slowly lowering her bow and arrow, Kikyo opened her fair, jade-like hand to Saya.

"So, if the young swordsman who vanquished demons has dealt with the monsters here, I imagine he should have more than just one Shikon Jewel shard, right?"

The black-haired girl gave Saya a kind smile and waited for him to make his decision.

"If you trust me like this, it really saves me a lot of trouble."

Saya scratched his head, walked up to the girl, and placed the remaining seven Shikon Jewel shards from his backpack into her palm without reservation, before speaking.

Chapter 428 Sōyū's Request

Kikyo was genuinely bewildered by Saya's actions, which seemed to involve rummaging through garbage and conjuring up a pile of contaminated Shikon Jewel shards from who-knows-where.

If it weren't for the fact that this guy didn't have the aura of the monster she so vehemently loathed, she would have almost thought he might be a clone that monster had separated from itself.

Do you really think the Shikon Jewel shards are free?

He had eight fragments in total, which, when pieced together, were almost a quarter of the complete Shikon Jewel. And he just gave them away like that?

Even the girl, who had maintained an indifferent and calm expression, began to look at Saya with a strange gaze.

"How did you collect so many of these? To be more precise, are you sure you can handle the monster that possesses these fragments?"

Kikyo, who had once suspected that Saya might have some ulterior motive, looked at him with increasingly doubtful eyes.

Compared to his stated reasons for eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path, the Shikon Jewel fragment he produced was far more shocking to her.

These are all corrupted Shikon Jewel shards, meaning they were contaminated after being devoured by demons. The fact that he handed them over implies that he's eliminated all the demons who possessed the Shikon Jewel shards?

You must know that the power of demons far surpasses that of mortals, and the Shikon Jewel would greatly amplify their power. Even I couldn't say that I had a sure victory. So how did he manage to obtain so many of these things?

"Is there anything particularly difficult about it? Five of these things in this house alone have already contributed. I've only collected one myself. As for the remaining two..."

Saya was rather puzzled by her strong reaction. It was just a few Shikon Jewel shards; she collected them herself, so why couldn't others collect them?

"Wait a minute, you mean you managed to defeat the monster that was originally lurking in this house, even though it was amplified by the five Shikon Jewels?"

The priestess, who had been forcibly maintaining her composure, finally felt herself breaking down. The more Shikon Jewel shards one had, the stronger one became; with the amplification of five shards, even she had to treat it with caution. But why did he seem so relaxed?

"Yes, I am upright and righteous, so naturally it is no match for me."

Sōyu waved his hand, his expression as relaxed as if he hadn't dealt with a great demon, but rather a small insect that he had casually swatted.

Of course, it wasn't really that easy for Saga, but the battle is over now, so surely he can brag a little.

After taking a deep breath, the shrine maiden regained her somewhat aloof and indifferent demeanor, but now her eyes held a new respect as she looked at Saya.

If Saya is right, then his strength is definitely undeniable.

"Well, there's really nothing much to say. I was just a passerby who couldn't stand seeing monsters harming humans. As a human, this is what I should do, right?"

Sōyū was telling the truth, but the more truthful he was, the harder it was for people to believe what he said.

"Since you are unwilling to talk about it, I can only express my gratitude to you for the Shikon Jewel matter."

The girl lowered her head towards Saku, essentially exposing her weakest point of defense to him. Instead of receiving an attack, she heard Saku's voice filled with curiosity and anticipation.

"This isn't something I'm giving you for free. There are specific requirements and conditions for me to do this."

Sōyū looked at the girl in front of him with a serious expression. Only when he got closer could he truly feel the holy feeling emanating from her. No wonder she had a nickname, "Saintess". Perhaps the saintess in Western stories had the same temperament.

"condition?"