I said you are all war criminals

Mu tries to comfort Su Shi.

Su Shi's tears flowed even more violently, and she grabbed Mu's arm with such force that Mu felt a sting.

"Mu! You must help me! Xiangzi...she must have been in trouble! That girl in the news this morning...maybe she is Xiangzi..."

Su Shi spoke incoherently, fear and sadness almost made her collapse. She linked Xiangzi's withdrawal from school with the murder case this morning. In her mind, Xiangzi had turned into a cold corpse with strange flowers blooming inside his body.

Mu pulled her arm back without leaving a trace, and Su Shi's sharp nails left several red marks on her skin.

She looked at Su Shi expressionlessly, feeling a little sad.

"Su Shi, calm down."

Mu said indifferently, "Even if you die, Xiangzi will not die."

This is not a lie.

Mu knew very well that even if Xiangzi did not cultivate the power of the Quincy again, as a half-demon, Xiangzi could still run rampant nowadays... After all, the Quincies are all family members, and no one will do anything to Xiangzi.

But as soon as he said this, he realized that he had said the wrong thing. Su Shi was in extreme sadness and fear at the moment, and might not be able to fully understand what he meant.

Su Shi suddenly raised his head, his red eyes filled with incredible sadness.

"Mu! How can you say that! Xiangzi is your friend!"

I really misunderstood.

Mu was a little sad.

Everyone in the Knights Order could clearly understand Mu's words.

There was no other way, Mu could only add, "Xiang, it's better to die..."

If Shoko, a Quincy, dies, he will only be reincarnated into Soul Society.

Although the Shinigami and the Quincies have not yet reconciled, Xiangzi is not a fool. As long as he says that he is contacting the captain-general with the will of Lord Ichiri, there should be no problem.

There's no harm in dying.

It's actually a good thing.

Mu wanted to explain this to Su Shi, but...

"Excessive!"

Su Shi ran away.

Mu sighed softly as she watched Su Shi run away. Her slender shoulders shook slightly, as if bearing a heavy burden. She knew her words could easily be misunderstood, but she wasn't good at explaining, especially when facing an emotional Su Shi. Explanations would only make the situation worse; it would be better to let Su Shi calm down.

Mu turned back to the vegetable garden. The sunlight shone on her, outlining her frail figure. She picked up the kettle and continued watering the remaining vegetables. Drops of water slid down the veins of the leaves, gleaming in the sunlight.

No matter how you think about it, nothing could happen to Xiangzi.

Even if there is real danger, Xiangzi will contact everyone...

However, an inexplicable uneasiness entwined her heart like a vine, making her unable to ignore it.

Mu gently stroked the green cucumber leaves with her slender fingers.

...This uneasiness must be an illusion.

22

Chapter 22 Chihaya Aine got what she wanted.

Chihaya Aine had a very happy day today.

For some reason, Takamatsu Deng, who had always been pestering her, didn't come today - oh, although it's not nice to think this way, it would be great if she never came.

To be honest, Aine didn't actually hate Deng.

First of all, the lamp is very beautiful and deserves the title of "little animal" in the class.

And then, because the light was the center of attention in the class, Aine, who was being pestered by her, also became the focus of the class. Actually, Aine quite enjoyed this...

but.

…It’s been over three days since I transferred to this school, and Aine still hasn’t made any friends!

Because all her spare time was occupied by Takamatsu Deng.

Even when going to the toilet, they have to go through the toilet door, saying that they "want to be in a band for life"... Isn't this a bit too much?

So, when Aine found out that Tomo didn’t come today, she felt somewhat relieved.

...Besides, saying "never come" is just an idea. Deng is still a student, after all, so how could he never come? He couldn't have suddenly transferred to another school, could he?

It's not me.

Aine looked at the textbook with a bitter face.

Today's lesson wasn't difficult, except for the fact that it was English. Honestly, ever since she'd escaped from London, Aine hadn't really liked English.

After all, English is really useless——

Can't we use translation software? Maybe the voice of translation software will be more standard.

The bell rang like a clarion call of liberation, a particularly sweet sound to Aiyin's ears. She quickly packed her bag, eager to escape the classroom, to escape the suffocating English class. The lights weren't on today, so she could finally have her own time. Even if it was just to go to the convenience store to buy some strawberry pudding, it would be much better than being haunted by the lights.

However, her plan fell through.

The head teacher called her.

"Chihaya-san, please wait a moment."

Aiyin thought to herself that something was wrong, but she forced a smile on her face.

"Teacher, what's the matter?"

The homeroom teacher pushed up his glasses, which were about to fall off his nose, and said, "Takamatsu didn't come to school today. Do you know what happened?"

"Huh? I don't know."

Aiyin played dumb, but in her heart she was thinking, what does this have to do with me? I don't even know that guy well.

The homeroom teacher was a little surprised. "Aren't you and Takamatsu friends? I remember you were often together."

"friend……"

Aiyin complained in her mind, "What kind of friends are we? It's just that clingy person who's harassing me one-sidedly." But of course she didn't dare say it out loud, so she could only nod reluctantly: "Ah, yes, we are friends."

"Then please go and ask her why she didn't come, and see if she needs any help."

The head teacher patted her shoulder and said, "Students should help each other."

Aiyin replied with a forced smile: "Okay, teacher."

Leaving the office, Aine couldn't help but roll her eyes. What kind of a deal is this? Why should I care about that clingy girl? Besides, even if I did ask her, would she tell the truth? She'd probably pester me again, spouting some nonsense like, "We're going to be in a band together for life!"

When she thought of this, Aine didn’t want to go anymore.

But there was no way, so Aine dragged her feet and walked slowly towards Takamatsu Touma's house.

As she walked, she began to imagine in her heart how wonderful it would be if the lamp suddenly disappeared! Then she wouldn't have to be pestered by her anymore, nor would she have to deal with the head teacher's inexplicable requests.

Unfortunately, fantasy is just fantasy after all.

The lights won't just disappear.

Takamatsu Deng's home is right in front of us, an ordinary two-story building that looks ordinary and has no special features.

Aine pressed the doorbell, and her mind was already rehearsing the scene of Deng rushing over to grab her hand, and then chattering non-stop in her ear.

That's so annoying.

Aine pulled her hands out of her pockets and took several breaths to warm them up.

However, after waiting for a long time, no one came to open the door.

"Is there no one home?"

Aine muttered and rang the doorbell again.

This time, the door finally opened.

But the person who opened the door was not Gao Songdeng as she expected, but a middle-aged woman. She was pale, with dark circles under her eyes, messy hair, and wearing a wrinkled dress. She looked haggard.

"Excuse me, are you..."

The middle-aged woman's voice was hoarse and trembling.

"Hello, I'm a classmate of Takamatsu Touma's, my name is Chihaya Aine."

Aine quickly bowed, "Excuse me, is the light here?"

When she heard Aine's name, the middle-aged woman's body shook noticeably. She looked at Aine with an unbelievable look, her lips trembling, but she couldn't speak for a long time.

"Auntie, are you okay?"

Aine asked worriedly.

The middle-aged woman took a deep breath, as if she had exhausted all her strength, and then she slowly said, "Are you... Xiao Deng's friend?"

"Ah, I guess so..."

Aine hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

The middle-aged woman's tears suddenly flowed down. She covered her mouth and let out a suppressed sob: "Xiao Deng... Xiao Deng she..."

"What happened to the lamp?"

Aine suddenly felt an ominous premonition.

The middle-aged woman choked and said intermittently: "Xiao Deng...she...she is dead..."

"died?"

Aine felt her mind go blank.

She stood there blankly, completely unable to understand the meaning of these words.

What... Yesterday, Deng was still pestering Aine, talking about forming a lifelong band... Today, she died?

How can this be?

"Auntie, what did you say...what's wrong with the light? She just didn't come to school today, right?"

The middle-aged woman shook her head in pain, tears rolling down like beads from a broken string, wetting the front of her shirt.

"No... I'm not kidding... The police... The police just informed us... They said it was found... on the street..."

"Found it on the street?"

Aine's voice trembled, "What does that mean, is she lost?"

The middle-aged woman covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling violently, and sobs came out intermittently from between her fingers.

"They said... they said... the little lamp... was... cut open..."

"Cut open?"

Aine didn’t understand what that meant, she just thought it was… a little absurd.

It's all ridiculous.

It's like... a dream.

"Auntie, you're kidding, right?"

Aine's voice trembled violently, and she pinched her thigh hard. The pain made her realize that this was not a dream.

"Deng...how could she..."

The lights were fine yesterday, but it was annoying.

Aine didn't believe this was true.

"Xiao Deng...she...she has always been very well behaved...she...she likes music...likes singing...likes playing the guitar..."

The middle-aged woman simply shook her head and cried even harder. Her frail body trembled like a dead leaf swaying in the wind, ready to fall at any moment. Her words were intermittent, her sentences jumbled and her logic unclear, leaving Aine completely bewildered.

"Auntie, please calm down."

Aiyin tried to remain calm, "Can you tell me exactly what happened? When, where, and how did the light turn off..."

She really couldn't say the word "death".