Don't force me to use my right fist.

Chapter 534 I'm Not Curious Anymore

Sawa was stunned by her reply.

He really didn't know what he wanted her to do. It was such a big favor, and he just felt that she absolutely couldn't renege on it, but what exactly he wanted her to do was something that even Sawa himself didn't know.

After all, there's nothing he really needs the fox god's help with right now.

Uh, don't you have anything good to give me, or some earth-shattering secret to tell me?

Sōyū couldn't think of anything that required her help for the time being, and after struggling for a while, he passed the buck back to her.

To put it bluntly, he just couldn't stand this lazy fox's behavior of slacking off, not doing any work, and even trying to renege on his debts.

"Well, if you put it that way, I do have something that you would definitely be very, very interested in."

When Tamamo-no-Mae heard Saya's answer, she was amused. It turned out that Saya himself couldn't figure out what he wanted her to do, so asking her directly was a bit too much.

But Sōyu's act of relinquishing the initiative to her revealed one thing to Tamamo-no-Mae: this young man was still as interesting as he had been a thousand years ago, even allowing her to propose a reward. Wasn't he afraid she would trick him again? Thinking this, Tamamo-no-Mae half-closed her eyes, beginning to whet Sōyu's appetite. She was certain that Sōyu would be extremely interested in what she said, and given his current strength, he was probably the only one who dared to make such a move.

"Is this enough to repay your favor?"

Sawa raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that his casual remark would actually yield the information he wanted from Tamamo-no-Mae. And how did she know what he wanted to ask? He hadn't usually shown any particular interest in any specific thing, had he?

"Well, it's a huge secret, you could even owe me a favor."

Tamamo-no-Mae's small face was full of mystery, and she shook her head like a charlatan.

"How about this, I'll take the loss and tell you this secret, then we're even. And you can stop bringing up those old grudges I owed you before I became a god, okay?"

Her fox-like, alluring eyes darted around, and just by looking into them, Zuoyou could tell she was definitely up to something.

"No, suddenly, I'm not so curious anymore."

To Tamamo-no-Mae's surprise, after pondering for a moment while stroking his chin, Saya decisively rejected her suggestion.

Without any intention of asking any further questions, Saya released his grip on her hand, which was preventing her from escaping, with an indifferent expression.

"Rather than letting you pay it off all at once, I'd rather you keep owing it. Besides, you even said that this secret alone can repay my favor, which proves one thing: this matter is absolutely super troublesome, so troublesome that even knowing about it carries enough weight."

Sōyū explained why he stopped asking; he had his own things to do, and if he were to create another side quest with this fox, wouldn't that be...

Moreover, if something could make Tamamo-no-Mae, the Inari deity, so mysterious, it wouldn't be worthy of Saga's performance unless it was related to one or two other deities.

"Tsk, how could you do this? Wouldn't it be better if we were even? You were the one who was grabbing me and demanding payment just now, how come you turn on me faster than flipping through a book?"

Now it was Tamamo-no-Mae's turn to be unhappy. She twisted her body in front of Saya, looking just like a pet cat that couldn't get what it wanted.

"Ha, you say we're even, but the end result will definitely be me being used as a tool while you reap the benefits, right? That's what you've done before, so why should I trust you anymore?"

Sōyū wouldn't be swayed by her simple cuteness. He waved his hand dismissively, declaring that he didn't care anymore and ended the conversation abruptly.

"Let's not talk about that. What's the purpose of your outfit? Don't tell me you came here specifically to scam me. The look on your face just now clearly showed you wanted to stay at least ten meters away from me."

Zuoyou looked her up and down, admiring her completely summer-themed outfit. It was clear she wasn't really there for tourism; either there was something interesting about her, or there was someone who caught her attention.

"Oh! I almost forgot, I came here to fish!"

She slapped her forehead and looked around in a fluster, as if searching for someone.

Unfortunately, apart from the passersby who mistook them for a couple flirting and were incredibly jealous, there was no one else around who seemed to be the person she was looking for.

"Fishing? What kind of fish? You, an Inari god, have such a hobby?"

Sawa was even more confused. What kind of thing could a fox possibly catch while fishing?

It has to be said that Sōyuu was somewhat curious.

"Oh, never mind that. Quickly help me find if there's a little girl alone nearby. If we're too late, I'm worried she might be in danger."

Anyway, this guy was just sitting around doing nothing, and since this whole thing happened because of him, it's only right to bring him over to work.

Sōyū's lips twitched. This fox god shouldn't be this shameless, right? Even he had only ever used himself as bait, but using children as bait to fish was something he couldn't accept.

After all, he is a deity who protects the land. Although his values ​​may be different from those of humans, since he is a yokai, using children as bait and disregarding their safety is something that Saya absolutely cannot tolerate.

"So what if I'm fishing for weirdos? That kid was someone I gave a sliver of my humanity to. I'm using myself as bait, what's it to you?"

Before she could even explain, Tamamo-no-Mae was instantly enraged by Saya's retort. She pinched Saya's waist before yelling at him with full force.

Chapter 535 Fishing

Meanwhile, a few streets away from where Saya and Tamamo-no-Mae were, at a street corner, a girl who looked only ten years old but had an exceptionally cute appearance was skipping and hopping across the street. As a fragment of humanity differentiated from Tamamo-no-Mae, to better match her current image and age, Tamamo-no-Mae had deliberately only used her memories from when she was a child. In short, this little girl could easily be considered a younger version of Tamamo-no-Mae.

Furthermore, to prevent being discovered while fishing, Tamamo-no-Mae even deliberately severed all contact with her, essentially turning her into a loli who was no different from an ordinary girl.

But as an avatar of a god, she actually knew what she wanted to do, and she also knew that in a corner she couldn't see, her original self was secretly protecting her.

Tamamo-no-Mae was indeed fishing, and she was specifically targeting children.

Normally, as the Inari goddess, a deity of harvest, she would turn a blind eye to most strange or supernatural beings, as long as they didn't go too far.

Just as humans need to eat meat to survive, some monsters and strange creatures also need human fear to survive.

Her duties did not include protecting humanity from the threat of the supernatural. As long as it did not affect the overall harmony of the region, it had nothing to do with this lazybones.

But something's not quite right about what's happening within her jurisdiction right now.

The area she was protecting was experiencing a series of mysterious child disappearances, which should have been an extremely easy task for Tamamo-no-Mae to solve and find the root cause of the problems.

But it was precisely this that made her feel something was wrong.

It was as if something was deliberately concealing something; even though she, a deity, personally investigated, she still couldn't obtain any useful clues.

We don't know what was responsible, nor how those children disappeared.

Even Tamamo-no-Mae couldn't determine whether these beings were humans with special abilities or some kind of psychopathic anomaly.

This made her take it to heart.

Moreover, the number of missing children has exceeded single digits, and the number is increasing every day.

One or two could be considered accidents, but such a large number of disappearances inevitably raises suspicions that they are targeting children.

Although Tamamo-no-Mae is a yokai, she has been a deity for many years, and she cannot accept the existence of those who specifically target children.

So, creating a young version of herself to go fishing became one of the plans conceived in her cunning fox-like mind. Putting everything else aside, the priority was to find out who was behind these despicable acts.

That was the original plan, but the young Tamamo-no-Mae, as a clone, gradually sensed something unusual.

She should have reached the end of this not-so-wide street long ago, but the distance beneath her feet seemed to stretch infinitely long, making her feel almost as if she were standing still. And, she didn't know when it started, there wasn't a single pedestrian left on the street, not even the usual clatter of bicycles.

The entire street was eerily quiet; the only sound was the crisp crunch of her little leather shoes on the floor. While it wouldn't be impossible for her to do this using her divine power, to pull someone into this world so silently was far from simple.

Although she is currently just a helpless little girl, she still has some experience from the past. For her to be drawn into this situation and only then realize what's going on, the other party would have to be someone with power close to that of a god.

Fortunately, I'm here to fish. I just need to keep going and wait for the culprit to take the bait. Then my true self, who has been hiding in the shadows, will jump out and bring the culprit to justice.

As the young Tamamo-no-Mae thought this, she was completely unaware that she had been forgotten by the main body.

Fortunately, the person she was waiting for didn't keep her waiting long. After she pretended to finally realize that something was wrong with her surroundings and started to walk in a panic, the surrounding environment began to change gradually.

It was as if the entire space was being distorted by a strange force, and the surrounding buildings became dilapidated. The roadside greenery and streetlights, seemingly replaced by twisted chunks of flesh and tentacles, pulsated rhythmically as if they had come alive, a sight that was truly awe-inspiring.

In the blink of an eye, the whole world has undergone earth-shattering changes.

At the same time, a stench like rotting food spread, and several vagrants dressed as homeless people, their bodies covered in disgusting pustules, crawled out from the nearby shadows, opened their mouths full of pus and blood, and crawled toward the loli version of Tamamo-no-Mae.

"This feeling doesn't seem like a deity or a monster. Could it be something that doesn't belong to this world?"

With a slight frown, the young girl version of Tamamo-no-Mae looked at those disgusting monsters that, although they crawled, moved at a surprisingly fast pace.

She had never seen the aura emanating from these creatures before, and beneath the stench lay a power that seemed intent on devouring everything, unlike any power originating from this world. Fortunately, as things stood, these things were no match for her true form.

Therefore, the feigned fear and apprehension on her face vanished instantly, replaced by an incredibly smug pose as the young Tamamo-no-Mae pointed at the rotting monsters in front of her.

"It's time to make our move and teach these disgusting bastards a lesson!"

A loli's crisp, clear voice echoed throughout the space, even causing the crawling monsters to pause for a moment.

Does this little girl have some hidden trump card?

But after waiting for a long time, nothing else happened except for a gust of wind carrying a fishy smell.

The loli version of Tamamo-no-Mae was stunned on the spot, almost bursting out a curse.

The next second, just as the putrid monsters pounced, Tamamo-no-Mae, in her loli form, was pulled aside by a green-haired girl wearing a Sakura Academy uniform, narrowly avoiding the monsters' attacks.

Chapter 536 Are you tired of living?

Saya didn't know what had happened, but she knew very well that she absolutely couldn't let this little girl fall into the hands of those monsters.

She was late because she was preparing cookies for Saya in the morning, so she missed the last bus to school and had to run all the way there.

But it was precisely because of this that she was inexplicably drawn into this incredibly dangerous incident along with the girl.

This scene, half-nightmarish—bloody and terrifying—didn't seem strange to her; instead, she felt inexplicably comfortable, as if she had returned to a place that suited her life.

But now is not the time to think about that. If she hadn't intervened, that girl would already be in danger.

But the situation isn't much better now. The little girl's small arms and legs aren't very good at running, and she's not exactly athletic herself.

Fortunately, those putrid monsters crawled on the ground and weren't very fast, so they could barely keep up with them.

Even so, the crisis was not over.

The street remained endless, no matter how fast they ran, and the distance between them and the monsters kept shrinking until they were right behind them. The stench made Tamamo-no-Mae feel dizzy, but Saya seemed oblivious, simply pulling hard on Tamamo-no-Mae's arm and continuing to run.

It wasn't until then that Tamamo-no-Mae in her loli form finally realized what was happening. This wasn't the time to be dazed or blame herself. If she didn't quickly come up with a solution, she would be fine, but the girl who had come to save her would be in trouble.

"Let go of me and run away by yourself. Those monsters are after me. If you hold on a little longer, someone should come to rescue you."

Looking at the green-haired girl who was panting and pulling her along, Tamamo-no-Mae loosened her grip slightly and said urgently to her.

Even if her main body is preoccupied with other matters, or simply too lazy to forget about herself, as long as she is destroyed by those monsters, her main body will definitely be able to sense the abnormality and rush over.

Putting everything else aside, saving this kind girl shouldn't be a problem.