Survive with the beautiful girl

Being fragile and haggard usually elicits two reactions from people: either pity her and the desire to protect her, or arousing the animal nature in one's heart and the desire to ravage her more vigorously.

Liucheng was somewhat surprised to find that in his heart he preferred to treat Kurosawa Mika in the latter way.

This made him feel guilty and he couldn't help but turn his eyes away from Kurosawa Mika who was concentrating on making handmade coffee, and suppress the ridiculous thoughts in his mind.

"Sister Mihua, have you ever considered hiring an assistant?

With so many customers like us, you're a bit overwhelmed, right?"

Hayasaka Ai came closer as if she was curious about the old-fashioned way that Kurosawa Mika made coffee, and asked Kurosawa Mika indirectly about the outcome of the "disappearance" incident of Hinamiyama ten years ago.

Judging from the fact that only Kurosawa Mika is currently staying in the antique coffee shop, the suicidal girl Yuri Fukurokata who was once rescued by Kurosawa Mika is likely to have walked out of the Bad End - although she successfully rescued Kurosawa Mika who was imprisoned in the [Coffin Cage] and volunteered to replace Yuri as the "human pillar" to suppress the Night Spring, Yuri herself sank into the Night Spring of the Higan Lake together with Kurosawa Aise, the last "big pillar" of Higan Mountain.

"Yes, I used to. I'm waiting for her to come back."

Kurosawa Mika murmured alone, immersed in her memories, she did not notice that Hayasaka Ai, who was helping her, was brewing coffee with a skill far beyond that of an ordinary barista.

"I'm very sorry for touching on a topic that made you sad.

But I want to add one more thing. 16 years ago, did you see a woman named Qingshui Mingyezhu walking into Rishang Mountain?"

Hayasaka Ai glanced at Shinomiya Kaguya who was eavesdropping. She had been worried about her mother's affairs and had trouble sleeping since last night, but she still appeared calm.

After so many years, Kaguya's temper has not changed.

"16 years ago..."

Kurosawa Mika's surprised gaze swept across each of their faces and finally stopped on Shinomiya Kaguya's face. Her eyes changed into shock and disbelief.

Shinomiya Kaguya's beautiful appearance is almost exactly the same as Shimizu Nayatake who appeared in front of her 16 years ago, but the difference in temperament between the two, that of a young girl and a young woman, made Kurosawa Mika never make that connection from the beginning.

After all, Kurosawa Mika and Shimizu Nayotake had only met once when Mika had just taken over the Antique Coffee Shop. The taciturn beautiful lady left a deep impression on the 17-year-old Kurosawa Mika.

"May I ask what is your relationship with Ms. Ming Yezhu?"

"She is my mother."

Shinomiya Kaguya suppressed her excitement, stood up and walked towards the gentle Kurosawa Mika, "Can you tell me what happened here? The purpose of our entry into the mountains is to find my mother. My intuition tells me that she is still alive...

Just like your assistant before you.

Recently, there has been another "disappearance" incident near Rishang Mountain. The last time was ten years ago, right?

Does this mean that the last pillar who suppressed "Night Spring" is facing a mental breakdown again, and Higashiyama has begun to select new priestesses to become "human pillars"? "

Chapter 369: Ghost Marriage

Shinomiya Kaguya's scarlet eyes looked a little aggressive, but Kurosawa Mika knew that Kaguya was just worried about her mother...

She had no idea how Kaguya Shinomiya learned about the secrets of the mountain these days. From the very beginning, she planned to sacrifice herself to become the new "human pillar" to suppress the "Night Spring" after finding the victims of the "Kamikaze".

“How much do you know about Rishang Mountain?

Even if you want to go in and look for someone, at least you have to be prepared in advance."

Kurosawa Mika brought three cups of steaming coffee to the table where Liucheng and the others were sitting, and Shinomiya Kaguya followed closely behind her.

"We can exchange intelligence, because we are not sure that the information we have is correct."

Hayasaka Ai shared the hot coffee she had brewed among herself, Kaguya and Ryuichiro, and then she and Kaguya sat down next to Kurosawa Mika, one on the left and one behind.

The woman, as mature as a peach, bit her lip and stared quietly at the coffee liquid and milk foam being stirred together by the coffee spoon in her hand. As Liucheng and the others listened attentively, she told them what happened in Rishang Mountain 10 years ago.

Hinasaki Fukaha, who came to Higami Mountain together with Shinomiya Kaguya to look for her mother, bid farewell to her mother who was running out of time. Feeling disheartened, she was once again captured by the priestesses of Higami Mountain who still followed their duties after death, and became a substitute for the "Great Pillar" and was locked in a [coffin cage].

As for the descendant of Kunihiko Aso, Fang Shenglian was lucky enough to go down the mountain with his assistant Jing Gong Lei. Afterwards, when Kurosawa Mika communicated with them, she found that the two had completely forgotten everything related to "Rishang Mountain"...

Not wanting to involve her friend again, Kurosawa Mika decided to keep it a secret from the two of them. In the past 10 years, Mika has been looking for a way to completely suppress the "Night Spring" on Mt. Hikami.

Because Kurosawa Mika once again witnessed her assistant Furugata Yuri, whom she had rescued, and the last shrine maiden to become the "big pillar" of Higan Mountain, Kurosawa Aise, falling into the Higan Lake together, she calmed down the rioting "Night Spring".

Kurosawa Mika, who thought that the "Night Spring" would remain temporarily stable, discovered that after the world changed more than a month ago, the "Night Spring" was about to burst and overflow again.

During this period, she has been seeking help from temples and exorcists that suddenly appeared in the world, looking for a way to completely solve the problem of "Rishangshan" and Yequan.

The thorny problems of Mount Rishang have deterred many exorcists, but Kurosawa Mika is not completely without gain. At least now when she enters Mount Rishang to look for people, she can ensure her safety in going up and down the mountain.

"Miss Kaguya's mother is Ms. Yotake. When I first took over the coffee shop, she took the initiative to enter Hijo Mountain as a priestess of Kagerou Mountain and became a human pillar to take on the responsibility of suppressing the "Yequan."

Kurosawa Mika's eyes showed deep respect and sadness. "Although the priestesses of Higami Mountain were massacred and their inheritance was cut off, those priestesses who turned into ghosts still lure those who came to Higami Mountain to commit suicide as sacrifices to suppress the "Night Spring" and maintain the barrier of Higami Mountain to prevent the Night Spring from overflowing and endangering the world...

The surrounding Yangyan Mountain also has a tradition of shrine maidens, and in the past, it also provided shrine maidens who could become the "central pillar" for the suppression ceremony of the Sunrise Mountain..."

Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly interrupted Kurosawa Mika's words, "After entering Hijo Mountain... has she ever come out?"

Kurosawa Mika shook her head with certainty, "Ms. Mingyezhu mentioned you to me at the time... She blamed herself very much for not being able to witness you grow up because she didn't have much time left."

"Does every witch have to perform a ghost marriage ceremony? Do you know who performed a ghost marriage ceremony with my mother?"

Shinomiya Kaguya probably understood why her father Shinomiya Gan'an always insisted that she was his daughter. Perhaps it was because the ghost marriage ceremony that her mother held back then was somewhat special.

"It seems that Miss Ming Yezhu had already held a ghost marriage ceremony before entering Rishang Mountain. Her decisive attitude is the only one I have ever seen in my life."

The shrine maiden with the strongest spiritual power becomes the "big pillar" and is sealed in a [coffin] and sunk into the Night Spring. The [coffin] of the shrine maiden who becomes the "middle pillar" is placed in the mountains to maintain the stability of the barrier. In order to allow the [coffin] to suppress the Night Spring for a longer period of time, the unique "ghost marriage ceremony" of Rishang Mountain was born.

Under the guidance of Yume, the men who are attracted by the "ghost marriage" choose ema with the appearance of the shrine maidens, and the souls of those shrine maidens are summoned by Yume to perform the "ghost marriage".

If the men still have love for the witch after seeing her appearance eroded by the "Night Spring", his soul will be sealed into the [coffin] together with the witch, and his body will be buried in the sacrificial valley.

On the contrary, if one is afraid or regrets after seeing the true face of the witch, all the joints in his body will be crushed and he will be put into the [bandit] and thrown into the cave inside the womb like the "bandit girl" with weak spiritual power.

Whenever a shrine maiden who becomes the "Daishu" can no longer bear the emotions and pain she has witnessed over and over again and suffers a mental breakdown, a shrine maiden is chosen to become the successor "Daishu" and a "ghost marriage" ceremony is held after the shrine maiden is locked up in a [coffin].

Shinomiya Kaguya sighed softly. Her mother, Ming Yezhu, might have decided to become a shrine maiden after returning to her hometown. She unexpectedly found out that she was pregnant, so she returned to Tokyo and risked her life to give birth to her. Later, she went to Higami Mountain to continue to perform the duties of a shrine maiden to suppress the "Night Spring".

The priestesses sealed in the [coffin] will become immortal "eternal flowers", maintaining their appearance in life. The price they need to pay is to constantly repeat the painful emotions they have witnessed from the dying people, sharing their pain until their own hearts collapse and melt into the night spring.

Ding-da-da

Shinomiya Kaguya put down her untouched coffee. After confirming that her mother Ming Yezhu had become the "eternal flower", she became very anxious.

She desperately wanted to enter the mountains to find her mother's [coffin] and save her from the endless suffering.

"Thank you for sharing the information, Ms. Mika. Now that the information has been confirmed, we should go look for Kaguya's mother."

Liucheng saw how Kaguya Shinomiya felt at the moment, so he drank the black coffee in his cup and pulled her up.

Yotsuya Miko also thanked Kurosawa Mika for her care and followed Hayasaka Ai's pace. Yuzu, who was left at the end, paid for the coffee for Liucheng and the others. She hugged Kurosawa Mika enthusiastically and jogged after them.

They did not force Kurosawa Mika to go into the mountains with them and use her "shadow-seeing" ability to find Shinomiya Kaguya's mother.

He even turned a deaf ear to Kurosawa Mika's warning about the dangers of Mount Higami, and blatantly walked into Mount Higami to look for someone at sunset.

After being stunned by their "reckless" behavior, Kurosawa Mika came to her senses. She hurriedly took out a camera that she had not used for many years, closed the door of the coffee shop, and chased after Liucheng and the others.

Chapter 370: Mother-in-law in the Coffin

“Should we go directly to the Palace of the Netherworld, or should we visit all these locations?

Walk or take the cable car?"

Yotsuya Miko opened the map they had prepared long ago.

Kurosawa Mika, who had already caught up with them, saw that the important buildings on Rishang Mountain were marked in detail on this map.

"that...

I want to interrupt you, Chengjun and Kaguya-san are missing...

Aren’t you worried?”

Kurosawa Mika looked at Aihara Yuzu with a somewhat incomprehensible look.

Even though her brother and Kaguya Shinomiya disappeared from her side, Yuzu looked so heartless.

She even enthusiastically discussed with Hayasaka Ai how to go so as to visit as many haunted sites on Mt. Higami as possible.

Their attitude towards playing doesn't show at all that they are here to look for someone.

This made Kurosawa Mika regret her decision. It was not fun at all to go up the mountain with someone who knew it was dangerous but still wanted to die.

“Sister Mihua, you don’t have to worry about the two of them.

We have a division of labor and cooperation, but my brother... bah!

My brother and Kaguya will go and rescue people, and we will be responsible for clearing out the evil spirits on this mountain!"

Yuzu Aihara, with two furry white earrings hanging on her earlobes, shook her head. In order to prove her strength, she kept demonstrating her ability to summon her Zanpakuto out of thin air in front of Mika Kurosawa.

This somewhat extraordinary ability made Kurosawa Mika put away her doubts and contempt. She cautiously asked: "Excuse me, Liu Chengjun and Kaguya-san...

After they walked out of the coffee shop, did they go directly to the Ghost Palace?

Are they there now?"

If this is true, then Liucheng and the others may have a superpower similar to "teleportation".

No wonder they were so bold as to go into the mountains to look for people. With this ability, they could escape unscathed at any time.

Just as Kurosawa Mika was imagining things wildly, Hayasaka Ai glanced at her phone screen.

She reported the progress of Kaguya Shinomiya's search for her mother in a live broadcast tone.

"Ms. Kaguya has arrived at the Jiulong Hall under the Yu Palace. They are looking for Ms. Shimizu Nayatake."

Yukinoshita Yukino and the others were also watching the live broadcast of Liucheng and the others' actions in the park, and relayed the message to Hayasaka Ai and the others in the chat group via live text.

---------------

Coffin cage hall.

In the small rooms separated by screens and sliding doors, the tightly closed coffins opened one after another as Liucheng raised his hand.

Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't contain her nervousness and excitement, and ran quickly towards the coffin with exquisite patterns.

In each dark wooden box, there is a beautiful woman curled up with her whole body immersed in the night spring water.

Their faces were pale and lifeless, and their exposed skin bore traces of the dried-up night spring water.

These are women who voluntarily or were lured to become priestesses who suppress the "human pillars" of Yequan, and are women who are seeking death and possess strong spiritual powers.

They were wearing clothes from different eras.

As Liucheng and Shinomiya Kaguya gradually went deeper into the ancient palace, the identities of the women in the coffins began to become unified and clear towards the priestess.