Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

It was lined with bedding and had enough space; it looked quite comfortable.

It's just... it feels weird lying in there...

It's as if we're about to hold his funeral any second now.

"Don't worry, after many improvements, this simple bedroom is quite comfortable. It has many hidden air vents, and it's very easy to open from the inside out, so you won't suffocate inside. It might take some getting used to the first time you sleep in it, but after a few tries, you'll love it..."

Under Jiang Bai's persuasive tongue, Yi Dou was finally swayed and decided to give it a try.

Seeing that Yi Dou had gone to sleep, Jiang Bai sat on the floor, leaning against the bathroom wall, poking at the fire, waiting for Hu Tao to finish her bath and come out.

The surroundings were unusually quiet, making the sound of water in the bathroom all the more noticeable.

For some reason, Jiang Bai recalled the scene at the foot of Wuwang Slope.

At that time, all of Hu Tao's clothes had been burned away by the flames, and he held her naked in his arms.

He felt a bit hot all over, and his face was burning.

He quickly went to the nearby stream to calm down.

He lay in the stream, letting the icy water wash over him, and it took him a while to calm down.

After lying there for a while, he simply put his hands behind his head and stared blankly at the moon.

Gudu, who was playing in the water nearby, blew a bubble. I wonder what's wrong with its owner this time.

Hu Tao came out of the bathroom, wearing simple pajamas, still damp with moisture, some wet hair sticking to her face, and her face still had a slight flush from the hot bath.

Unlike her usual mischievous and clever self, she now exuded a gentle charm.

"Where's Yi Dou? Did he go inside?"

Jiang Bai dried his wet hair. "Yes, I believe he will fall in love with my simple bedroom tomorrow."

While wringing out her wet hair, Hu Tao said, "Give me one too. I haven't slept in a coffin in ages."

"No problem, Master, please sit down. Let me dry your hair first."

Jiang Bai sat behind Hu Tao by the fire, combing her hair while using wind elements to dry it.

Looking at the large coffin in her line of sight, Hu Tao rested her chin on her hand, her thoughts suddenly drifting.

She seemed to have dreamt once that she was lying in a coffin with Jiang Bai. In the dream, Jiang Bai had his arms around her waist, his warm breath spraying on her neck and shoulders. The two of them were so close that her heart was pounding...

As she thought about it, her face suddenly turned a little red.

Why did she have such a dream back then?

Was it because I wanted to see him so much back then that I had such a dream?

The reason doesn't seem to matter much anymore...

Even earlier, this guy was already irreplaceable.

"Jiang Bai," she called softly.

"What's wrong, Master?"

"It's getting late, go to sleep early."

The morning light illuminated the earth, and three stone coffins stood in a row on an open space.

There was an extinguished fire next to the coffin, and birds perched on the coffin preening their feathers.

A slime was fast asleep on the coffin lid.

Logically, such a sight should be somewhat frightening, but under the bright sunlight, the three coffins did not evoke any sense of gloom or terror.

Not long after, the coffin lid was suddenly lifted from the inside.

Ichidou sat up and stretched.

He commented on the coffin he slept in for the night, "Although it was a bit cramped for me, I slept quite comfortably... It was just too dark; I couldn't see anything outside, and once I lay down, I completely lost track of the time..."

He looked east and saw that the sun had not yet risen.

"So early..."

He glanced at the two motionless coffins beside him, stood up, and prepared to wash up and go into the woods to see if he could find pheasants or rabbits for breakfast.

Chapter 519 I've seen you on the wanted poster!

When Jiang Bai woke up, the sun had already risen. The coffin next to him had been opened, and the person was nowhere to be seen. Hu Tao, however, was clearly still not awake.

Jiang Bai leaned close to Hu Tao's coffin, put his ear to it, and listened for a while. The breathing inside was steady, and he was clearly still unconscious.

Jiang Bai waved his hand, and half of the coffin lid disappeared, revealing Hu Tao sleeping soundly inside.

Hu Tao's sleeping posture was unusually unstable. The pillow that should have been under her head was now in her arms, and the blanket was kicked into the corner of the coffin. As if she was not sleeping comfortably, she turned over while hugging the pillow, revealing her snow-white waist.

Jiang Bai rested his head on the side of the coffin and watched her sleep. He couldn't help but reach out and poke her cheek.

The sleeping sect leader is so cute...

"Stop messing around..." Hu Tao muttered unconsciously, then turned over again.

Jiang Bai plucked a blade of grass from the side and tickled her. "Master, wake up."

"Ah Qiu——"

Hu Tao sneezed, and groggily sat up while hugging her pillow.

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, "What time is it...?"

"I'm not sure, it should be eight o'clock by now."

Jiang Bai set up a small hut for her to change clothes. "Master, please get up first. I'll go make breakfast."

Hu Tao nodded, yawned, and fell asleep again.

It's still early, I'll sleep a little longer.

Jiang Bai followed her and took out noodles from the Sanqing Bell to start cooking.

Yi Dou emerged from the woods, his feet glistening with dew on the grass, carrying a bird's nest in his hand.

He proudly showed off the nest full of bird eggs, "Ah Bai, wake up! I found so many bird eggs, time for an extra meal!"

Jiang Bai's lips twitched. "Are you deliberately picking on bird eggs?"

Ever since that bird droppings in his mouth last time, Yi Dou has been obsessed with birds.

"I wanted to catch some rabbits, but these rabbits and pheasants are so fast! I finally found one, but it disappeared in no time..."

In order not to leave empty-handed, he had no choice but to climb the tree and steal birds' nests.

"Give it to me, it'll be perfect with noodles and an egg."

Just as the group finished their breakfast and were preparing to continue their research on the abandoned shrine, Sora and Paimon arrived bathed in sunlight.

"Jiang Bai, Hu Tao!" Paimon waved excitedly when he saw them.

Jiang Bai was somewhat surprised, "Oh, you've finished checking the other places?"

"No!"

Paimon briefly recounted what had happened yesterday.

“Yesterday I went to a place and met a shrine maiden who purified a sacred cherry tree. But she disappeared after she finished purifying it and told us to come here, so we came.”

"This witch is truly elusive..." Jiang Bai remarked.

This Ms. Hana Sanri is clearly a very busy person, and she can even juggle two jobs at the same time.

"By the way, who is he?" Paimon pointed at Yidou.

They had met this person once when they were looking for Jiang Bai, but they only met him once and did not know him.

"How can you fly and talk, little one?" Ito looked at her with curiosity and reached out to tug at the little cape behind her.

"I'm not a little one, I'm Paimon!" Paimon puffed out his cheeks angrily.

"Paimon, right? Listen up! My name is Araki Ichito, and I'm the boss of the Araki Faction! Ah Bai is my underling, and Hall Master Hu is now my boss..."

Paimon scratched his head, bewildered. "You're the boss, and Hu Tao is the boss too, how come there are so many bosses...?"

He stared at Jiang Bai with dead fish eyes, "Little Jiang, call me 'boss' too."

"If you also want to be my boss, I can call you Third Boss."

"Third Boss?! Does that even make him the boss anymore?!"

She rolled her eyes, not wanting to bother with this guy who claimed to be all over the world.

"My name is Sora, and I am a traveler. I am currently traveling in Inazuma," Sora introduced himself to Ichito.

"I've seen your name on the wanted poster!"

Sora was somewhat embarrassed; his wanted posters were indeed plastered all over Inazuma.

"Don't worry about these trivial matters. Come on, let's go take a look at that shrine." Sora changed the subject and walked towards the shrine.

Upon arriving at the abandoned shrine, Hana-san's figure finally reappeared.

Hana Sanri led the group to a celestial fox statue. "The talisman is inside this celestial fox statue. To break the seal and obtain the talisman, you need a [Decree of Pardon]."

"A pardon?" Hu Tao pulled out the book she had found yesterday.

"There is indeed a record of the amnesty decree here, but the specific details are not written. Are we going to have to go find the amnesty decree?"

"No need to worry, I happen to know."

Hana Sanri stood before the statue and spoke softly:

"Messenger of the Gods, of the Bai Chen bloodline, bring the fried tofu quickly!"

As soon as the decree was spoken, the patterns carved on the statue shone brightly, and the talisman floated out from it.

Hu Tao handed the book to Hana Sanri, saying, "This should be a relatively important book for you. Keep it safe."

Hana-san didn't accept it, saying, "Please return it to Narukami Taisha."

"Can't I give it to you?"

"To be honest, I am not a real priestess; I am merely a memory that was left behind."

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded.

"Back then, Fox Prince died to protect Narukami Island, and his memories were preserved and absorbed by Sakura. And I am the filth that was formed from Fox Prince's memories."

"what!"

Jiang Bai looked her over from left to right, but couldn't find any sign of filth on her body.

Hu Tao wasn't too surprised; she'd seen plenty of strange things over the years.

"No wonder, you exist by relying on the roots of the Divine Cherry Tree, which is why you can appear and disappear so mysteriously..."

"Does that mean you also belong to the filth that needs to be purified?" Paimon frowned, looking somewhat unhappy.

They've only known each other for a short time, but she already considers her a friend.

Trying to purify your friendships will inevitably make you unhappy.

"Yes, I will also depart after the final purification ritual is completed," Hana Sanri said calmly.

For her, that's all there is to her existence.

"Then can we not purify it?" Paimon asked, somewhat reluctantly.

Hana Sanri gently shook her head, looking at the sacred cherry tree located atop Mount Kageshiro.

"No, if too much filth accumulates, the Divine Cherry Tree will wither. In my memory, the Divine Cherry Tree withered several hundred years ago. I don't remember exactly how it recovered, I only know that someone performed a great purification ritual..."

“It’s been at least several hundred years since there was a major purification ceremony. It seems the condition of the Divine Cherry Tree is not optimistic…” Jiang Bai immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

"Logically, this shouldn't be the case. Isn't Yae no Miko present? Can't she perform a great purification ritual?"

Given Yae no Miko's personality, it's impossible for her to have made such a big oversight.

When talking about Yae no Miko, Hana Sanri's tone became noticeably gentler.

"Inatsume's situation was very critical at the time. Kitsuri-gumi tricked her into taking over Narukami Taisha, and many things were not explained to her in time..."