Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

The two snuggled together, quietly enjoying the warm light.

Under the cherry blossom bushes a little further away, several girls noticed them, each showing some hesitation, as if debating whether to come over.

Qingkong stretched and put the empty cup aside. She then reached out and gently scratched her boyfriend's chin a few times.

Kotegawa closed his eyes and gently rubbed against her.

A group of people a little further away saw this scene, sighed, and gave up on their past thoughts.

They walked away into the distance, and after passing a wall, one of the girls said with a complicated expression, "Isn't that Kotegawa? The one he's holding in his arms is his girlfriend, right?"

The other girls remained silent. After a moment, one of them whispered, "Who knows why he suddenly went to study at a high school in Tokyo..."

At 2:30 pm, the temperature under the sun gradually dropped. The two, who had been strolling around half of Ina, took a taxi home. It was getting late, and it would be more comfortable to stay at home.

I had a leisurely day today, and Qingkong had a pretty good time because I enjoyed the pleasure of a date, something I hadn't done in a long time.

When they got home, Uncle Kenji and Aunt Akiha were frying shrimp balls.

The room suddenly became lively.

After a while, Kotegawa scurried into the yard, closed and locked the gate, glanced at the setting sun in the west, and then went back into the house to help cut the meat.

As the evening glow fades into the horizon, a figure sits on a tree branch as thick as an arm atop a distant mountain, one hand gripping the trunk, his two scarlet eyes gazing silently into the distance, towards the village at the foot of the mountain where smoke rises from the chimneys.

……

In Tokyo, at Takanashi's house, in Takanashi's bedroom on the second floor, Yuka and Takanashi, each wearing thick, fluffy pajamas, were eating shrimp porridge while trying to video chat with Kurumi.

The connection was successfully established, and Little Walnut waved her hand, saying, "Sorry, my mom made me do chores all day, so I kept you waiting!"

As the year draws to a close, shrines and temples become the busiest places. She also works as a security guard to prevent bounty hunters from sneaking in, so she doesn't dare to relax at all throughout the day.

Yujia swallowed the porridge in one gulp and quickly waved her hands, "No, no, no, it's us! We forgot you'd be very busy these next few days..."

Walnut shook her head, shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, and looked at them curiously: "Is something the matter?"

Yujia glanced at the little bird swimming.

The little bird hesitated for a moment, its courage from the morning gone, and now it was too embarrassed to say it again.

Hu Tao suddenly blinked: "How about this, I'm getting really bored at home, give me a few minutes, and we'll talk later."

Yuka quickly said, "It's so late, you should stay at home. It's too unsafe outside."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Kotori, who was also startled, quickly nodded.

"It's alright, it's actually quite safe to go out at night these days..." Hu Tao waved her hand slightly: "Wait for me!"

The call was disconnected.

Yuka and Takanashi exchanged a glance, dropped their bowls, and rushed downstairs.

Ten minutes later, the two of them returned to the bedroom, followed by Kurumi with her hands behind her back, and Machiko who had come with them.

To be on the safe side, Hu Tao brought Machiko with her when she went out.

Takanashi invited them to sit at the table and quickly went downstairs to bring up hot tea and snacks.

After everything was finished, Machiko, curious, couldn't resist starting to eat the cooked beef. Kurumi also looked at Takanashi and asked curiously, "What trouble did you run into?"

"This, this..." Takanashi was even more embarrassed to speak. She felt that with Kurumi's intelligence, Kurumi would definitely guess what she was talking about as soon as she opened her mouth. Unlike Yuka, Kurumi was sometimes a bit silly and didn't think things through.

Jia raised her hand and said, "Well, we talked about a very complicated problem today, and I can't figure out the answer right now, so I wanted to ask for your opinion."

Hu Tao's eyes lit up, she crossed her arms, and her eyes curved into bright little crescents: "What's the problem?"

Yujia cleared her throat: "For example, if Kotegawa wanted to marry several wives, and one of them happened to be you, what would you do?"

"Huh?" Hu Tao was stunned.

Chapter Fifty-Six: The New Year (Part Six)

The room fell into a deathly silence the moment Hu Tao uttered those words.

Yu-jia stammered, "What...what should we know?"

Takanashi was stunned, and the cookie he had just been holding fell onto the table.

Hu Tao looked left and right, then suddenly realized she might have said something she shouldn't have. Her mind racing, she forced a dry laugh and said, "I mean, you all know that Kotegawa has this dream, right? He really does want to marry several wives..."

Yujia patted her chest as if she was still scared: "You scared me to death! I thought he really did it... right, Huawu?"

Takanashi didn't say a word, and his face looked very pale.

Hu Tao cleared her throat, her eyes crinkling again: "Well, Kotekawa wants to marry several wives, and one of them happens to be me. What would I do?"

Yujia nodded repeatedly: "Don't you think this is strange?"

"Well..." Hu Tao organized her thoughts, "First of all, my experience is somewhat unique, so my views on many things may also be somewhat unique, and they are probably only suitable for myself. Just listen to them."

Youjia nodded a few times to indicate that she understood.

Takanashi watched her silently.

Only Machiko, still at an age where she is quite naive, is currently more interested in cooked beef.

"I grew up in Heian-kyo." Hu Tao said with reminiscence, "From the first day of my training, the most important thing was to try to survive. Really, people die during training, people die during trials, and people die in accidents... Although it was cruel, because of this, I gradually became less concerned about things other than survival... Well, I guess it's a unique style of our sect. Hmm, my master was a rather extreme person."

She smiled and said, "I almost died again recently, and he saved me. There's also the matter of being disfigured... So, if he wants to marry several wives, and one of them happens to be me, I would definitely be willing! Yes, I would marry no one but him."

The two girls listened in silence for a long time. The experience was too exciting, and also too far removed from reality. The death and the like... were quite unusual, and indeed not very relevant to their lives.

Takanashi suddenly said, "But that kid already has Seoku! If he flirts with other girls, wouldn't that be betraying her?"

Her eyes were fixed on the walnut.

Hu Tao blinked: "Of course, this kind of thing requires everyone's agreement."

"……What's the meaning?"

"I mean, Kotegawa would never hide something like this from Seiko; he would only do it after she agreed... Otherwise, why would he be so obsessed with becoming a god?"

Takanashi was stunned for a moment, then immediately retorted, "Impossible! How could Seishu agree to such a thing? Ridiculous! Who would willingly share love? I certainly wouldn't!"

"Well..." Hu Tao looked at her and smiled slightly, "How will you know if you don't try?"

Takanashi, who was slightly agitated, felt a sudden tightness in her chest. She felt as if Kurumi, who was smiling in front of her, had X-ray vision and could see right through her.

She looked away and picked up a piece of beef.

Yuka, standing next to him, seemed to be struggling with a dilemma: "Even though that might be the case, I still can't quite accept that Kotegawa suddenly found a girl that nobody knows."

Takanashi and Kurumi both looked at her at the same time.

Yujia glanced at them and said weakly, "After all, I still live there."

Takanashi silently pondered along her train of thought, and for no apparent reason, a tightness appeared in his chest.

The room fell silent for a moment, as if everyone was contemplating unpleasant scenarios.

……

As night deepened and the moon rose high in the sky, Kotegawa suddenly woke up. He glanced out the window, got up, dressed, put on a coat, and went downstairs and out the door.

In the courtyard, he climbed up the ladder and immediately saw Aunt Qiuye.

Aunt Qiuye sat on the highest water tower on the roof, hugging her knees, staring blankly at the distant mountains.

He walked over and said softly, "Aunt Qiuye?"

Aunt Qiuye snapped out of her daze, somewhat surprised: "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Kotegawa shook his head, sat down next to him, and looked at Daiyama as well: "Missing Yosuke?"

Aunt Qiuye paused for a moment, her eyes glazed over: "I don't know what's wrong, but I keep dreaming about that child lately."

Kotegawa's expression became more serious: "A dream?"

"The child must have been a little lonely this time because I was away for a while." Aunt Qiuye smiled, took a deep breath, and said with relief, "It's good that you're back."

Kotegawa nodded silently and looked into the deep mountains.

After a while, Aunt Qiuye patted him and got up to go down from the roof.

He followed him downstairs and back into the house.

The room was warm.

He went up to the second floor, returned to his room, pondered for a moment, changed his shoes, and transformed into wisps of cloud, flying into the mountains.

He made no attempt to conceal his presence, even amplifying his aura as he swiftly swept across the sky, overlooking the entire mountain range.

The mountains and forests were quiet and still.

He walked around for a while, but found nothing amiss. He then returned to the house, stood by the window without turning on the light, and gazed into the mountains for a while before drawing the curtains, taking off his clothes, and getting back into bed.

He's probably overthinking it.

In a corner deep in the mountains, a humanoid creature huddled in the shadows slowly opened its eyes; in the darkness, two points of light shone crimson like blood.

"Hmm?" Kotegawa, who had just lain down, sat up again, frowned, got out of bed, and pulled back the curtains.

The humanoid creature deep in the mountains seemed to sense something, and closed its eyes again, its body seemingly merging with the entire mountain, and it no longer breathed.

Kotegawa stood by the window for a while before slowly drawing the curtains closed.

There seemed to be some strange aura flashing through the mountains.

But in the mountains, it would be strange if there weren't some odd things.

He stopped thinking about it and lay back down on the bed. If that aura appeared again, he wouldn't sleep tonight.

In the darkness, the cell phone on the bedside table suddenly vibrated.

He took it with one hand, glanced at the caller ID, and answered it immediately.

"Hehe, did I disturb you?" Hu Tao's mischievous laughter reached his ears.

He turned over and whispered, "Qingkong is in the next room."

"Huh? They're sleeping in separate rooms?" Hu Tao's voice was slightly exaggerated, then she chuckled mischievously, "Well, my older sister will be here soon, are you excited?"

"Huh?" He sat up again, surprised, after just lying down. "Where are you?"