Don't force me to use my right fist.

This brother's cooking skills are really good; I wish my sister could be even a tenth as good as him.

While sipping the soup as instructed by Saya, Higurashi Kaede silently pondered to herself.

Saya glanced at Kikyo, who was arriving late from the shrine courtyard, and extended a bowl of food to her. This gesture, like a traditional Chinese gesture, added to her divine aura.

Kikyo took the bowl of food from Saya's hand and sat down next to him.

Kikyo heard everything he just said to Kaede. It has to be said that Saga's personality makes him quite likable.

Instead of simply viewing strength as a tool capable of doing anything, but rather as a deserved reward for effort, this approach is the best way to encourage children.

"Thanks.

Holding the breakfast prepared by Saya, Kikyo politely thanked Saya before eating it.

"It's nothing, just treating someone to a meal, it's only right."

Zuoyou waved his hand, then presented a bowl of soup, held it in his hands, and took a sip.

"I'm heading back after breakfast. Sorry to bother you today, I should be thanking you."

With his gaze fixed on the distance, Saya planned what he would do next, and then said goodbye to Kikyo.

"But if that's the case, how are we going to repay the money we agreed on... and the debt of grain we owe you?"

With a troubled frown, Kiku turned her head to look at Saya's handsome face, which was glowing faintly in the morning light.

She always has to pay back what she owes, especially given her personality.

"Then let's just leave it at that for now. I'll come find you and talk to you when you're free, or when I have any ideas or requests. As for the deal we made at the Well of Bones, it was really just something Zuoyou mentioned casually."

The main reason is that Sasuke really doesn't have any needs right now. There's nothing about Kikyo that Sasuke finds appealing, including the so-called Shikon Jewel. Knowing its true nature, he has even less interest in it.

And Kikyo won't give it to him.

The rest, she can't possibly have to pay for it with her body, can she?

There are already enough girls who owe him favors, so one or two more won't make a difference. Sōyū is simply doing a good deed and doesn't really expect them to do anything in return.

Doing good deeds anonymously—that's the true virtue of a good man of China!

Kikyo could tell from Saya's tone that he truly had no other needs at the moment, just like a monk without desires.

Saya-kuchi finished all the food in his bowl, then stood up contentedly, wiped his mouth, and looked into the distance.

"We'll meet again someday, though mountains and rivers may separate us."

Saya waved to Kikyo, then abruptly stopped in his tracks as he was about to leave the shrine, turning around somewhat embarrassed.

Is there anything else we've overlooked?

Kikyo, who had been watching Saya's actions, stopped because of his movement. After wiping her long hair at her temples, she tilted her head and spoke to Saya.

"Um, which direction do I go to Heian-kyo? If possible, could you please provide a map?"

At this moment, Zuoyou was so embarrassed that he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He had just said goodbye so coolly, but now he turned around and came to ask her for directions. The aloof image that he had worked so hard to create was completely thrown away by him.

"Pfft, Saku-nii is such an idiot."

Kikyo hadn't spoken yet, and Higurashi Kaede, who had been feeling a pang of regret over Saya's departure, couldn't help but laugh, pointing at Saya and teasing him with a grin.

While Kikyo didn't laugh out loud like the other woman, the slight smile at the corner of her mouth already possessed a beauty like an iceberg melting.

“Let me see you off. Anyway, the food problem in the village has been solved, and I can also stop by the big town to resupply and inquire about Naraku.” Kikyo smiled and stood up. She took a pure white ribbon from her bosom and tied up her long black hair before speaking softly to Saya.

If I remember correctly, he once said that he had no sense of direction, so I'll just consider this as compensation for him.

Anyway, it's not that annoying to be around this guy.

Chapter 448 What's going on? Trying to steal my business?

Sōyū doesn't mind having someone guide him.

Anyway, Kikyo wasn't an ordinary person. The two of them traveled faster than the average person driving on the plains. In less than an hour, Saga had already seen the magnificent and towering walls of Heian-kyo.

"I'll leave you here. You can handle the rest yourself, Saya-kun. If you ever need anything in the future, just come find me in the village, provided you don't get lost."

The time for parting always comes, and Kikyo was unusually talkative. After entering the town with Saya, she nodded to him, said goodbye, and even cracked a joke.

"Haha, I will. Even if I can't find my way, I can ask for directions. On the other hand, if you find that Naraku demon, don't force yourself if you can't defeat it. It would be even better if you could come with me."

Sawa wasn't annoyed by this. He just smiled, gave her some instructions, waved, and turned away.

"Oh right, there's something else I forgot to tell you. From what I know of Naraku, he has very advanced disguise skills. In other words, be careful of people around you who act strangely, and also be wary of people you think you can trust."

As if remembering something, Saya snapped his fingers and, without turning his head, gave Kikyo his final instructions.

If Kikyo's strength and cautious nature were to cause a mishap, it would only be being stabbed by someone she knew. Saga remembers that in the original work, it was precisely because of her carelessness that she was stabbed by someone disguised as a slayer, which led to a lot of misunderstandings and ultimately resulted in the priestess's death.

He had already reminded her of this, and although it might seem like a plot device, so what? He didn't like the idea of ​​her dying anyway, and if the outcome could be changed because of it, that would be even better.

Kikyo, standing behind Saya, turned around to watch him disappear into the street, silently pondering his last words of advice.

Given her personality, she would never take Saya's words to heart, and that would be enough. If she could remember his instructions at a crucial moment, things would indeed change dramatically.

However, those are all things that will happen in the future, and they are no longer relevant to Saya. Relying on his memory, Saya wandered around the town searching for the house where Tamamo-no-Mae lived. After spending a little bit of gold beans to exchange for copper coins, he quickly learned the exact location of the house from passersby.

Instead of continuing to experience the local customs and culture of neon-lit Japan a thousand years ago, Saya headed straight for the fox's house.

Now, all he had on his mind was the desire to cultivate some kind of faith; even his usual desire to fight monsters had been pushed aside. There was no other way; as long as he could maintain Creative Mode, if Zuoyou faced some god again, he might not win, but at least he wouldn't lose.

Currently, the two gods are the enemies that Zuoyou fears the most, and this is not something that can be solved by ordinary mods.

As a result, when Saya arrived at the gate of the house where Tamamo-no-Mae lived, he saw the handsome Onmyoji disguised as a fox getting into a carriage that was going somewhere unknown.

He flashed to the side of the carriage, and amidst the astonished gazes of the servants attending him, Zuoyou lifted the carriage curtain and sat down next to the handsome young man.

"It's alright, let's keep going. She's my friend." She glared at Saya, who was sitting in front of her.

"Why didn't you wait for me to pick you up? How could you find your way back by yourself, you terrible with directions? Yuugi has even told Tamamo-no-Mae that Saya is the ultimate directionally challenged person, so she's really curious about how Saya was able to find his way back on his own."

"And since you've come back so early, that monster over there must not have been dealt with, right? That makes sense, that guy is very troublesome, so it's normal for you to come back for reinforcements."

Tamamo-no-Mae gently tapped her palm with her folding fan, speculating on the reason for Sō's return, and softly comforted Sō. In Tamamo-no-Mae's eyes, it was already quite good that he was able to escape unscathed; after all, even she didn't want to provoke that aura of death there.

"However, I'll have to wait before I can help. The hype is almost done, and once I complete the ritual, I should be close to becoming a god." Tamamo-no-Mae, continuing to comfort Saya, didn't notice Saya's similar eye-rolling expression. She simply explained that she would have to wait a while before she could help him.

"Can I say something?"

Saya, who had been interrupted by Tamamo-no-Mae's self-talk, finally found an opportunity, grabbed the folding fan in his hand, and said with a smile to the fox demon disguised as a man in front of him.

Like a startled rabbit, Tamamo-no-Mae stopped her self-talk and quietly placed her hands on her thighs, looking at Saku with proper respect and nodding, just like...

"I dealt with that monster on the very first day I went there. I even managed to take care of some of my own things. I'm not back this time to find any help. There are just some issues I don't quite understand, and only you can answer them for me."

Seeing her action, Saku didn't criticize her. He simply explained what had happened in the past two days and why he had come to find her.

"Hey? All done?"

This time, Tamamo-no-Mae was genuinely surprised by Saya. He had said he was very good at fighting, but to eliminate the lurking demon on the very first day seemed a bit too fast, didn't it?

Doesn't this make her previous reactions seem really silly?

"Why would I lie to you about something like this? The important thing is what comes next, okay?"

Sawa, used to being suspected, didn't offer much explanation. Instead, he stared intently into the eyes of the fox demon before him with a serious expression.

"Your most important question right now is to answer me: how can I obtain that thing called faith?"

"Huh?" W.

Yu Ge's face turned somewhat strange after hearing Zuo You's question.

Chapter 449 Are you a seal?

"Why are you asking this? This stuff only has any effect on a person becoming a god after accumulating a certain amount. You're not starting to get interested in becoming a god yourself, are you?"

Tamamo-no-Mae looked up at Saya with some confusion. Becoming a god through faith requires an extremely large amount of faith. Even she had spent countless hours accumulating this kind of faith. It was definitely not something that could be accomplished by simply becoming interested in it.

"I'm not particularly interested in becoming a god, but does collecting faith necessarily have to be for the purpose of becoming a god?"

While in a sense, Sōyū's desire to collect faith is also aimed at becoming something akin to a god, he can assure you that it is completely different from what Tamamo-no-Mae envisions.

"Then why are you asking this? This isn't something that can be explained in a short time. Besides, if the faith collected is gathered in the wrong way, it's not a good thing for the person being worshipped."

Tamamo-no-Mae sighed. This is precisely why some gods become gods; when they collect too many beliefs filled with evil thoughts and desires, it is difficult not to be influenced by them.

This is why she chose the divine duty of overseeing the harvest. It must be said that, at least, farmers who sincerely pray for a good harvest usually don't have so many personal thoughts involved.

"Hmm, there are different types of faith? Is it that complicated?"

Sōyu scratched his head. He had always thought this thing was a product of sincere prayer to a particular person or deity, but it turned out there were different types?

"Yes, this is the foundation for becoming a god. Do you think it's something easy to collect? How many true gods are there, and how many have you actually seen?" wJ

Tamamo-no-Mae rolled her eyes. If everyone could collect faith, wouldn't the gods have been driven away long ago? Why would she need to go through all this trouble with so many fancy things?

"Actually, not long ago, I also gained some faith, and it has been quite helpful to me, so I came to ask you if there is any way to get some more."

At the same time, Zuoyou extracted the remaining few points of faith from his body, turning them into golden threads that he had seen before, which floated in his palm.

Look, don't think I'm kidding you. After I dealt with that tree spirit you threw me over there, these beliefs seemed to have accepted me and transformed into this form, entering my body.

As the golden threads danced in his palm, Sōyū saw Tamamo-no-Mae's jaw drop in astonishment.

"...What exactly did you do?"

Tamamo-no-Mae felt as if she had eaten a dozen lemons; all she felt was sourness.

She had never seen such pure faith, devoid of any strange desires or impure thoughts, in her entire life. And yet he said he had it, and she got it just like that? Is there no justice in this world?

Was he deliberately showing off to get me to come here? Or did he really come to ask me a question?

Feeling like she'd been sunburned by a seal jumping ashore, Tamamo-no-Mae stared intently into Saya's eyes with an indescribable expression. The jealousy in her eyes was as if she wanted to turn Saya into skewers and eat him. It was because it absorbed the springtime essence contained within various plants.

Sōyū snapped his fingers, rubbing his chin, and recounted in detail everything he had done before gaining faith.

"Did you do that?"

Tamamo-no-Mae's expression of shock deepened. As a candidate for the Goddess of Harvest, she was most aware of the changes in these crops. However, she hadn't expected that the object of their convergence was Saya, and the reason behind it was this.