"You can see me, can't you? You saw me..." Suddenly, the evil spirit spoke.
Hearing these words, tears welled up in Yotsuya Miko's eyes. If she hadn't been forcing herself to hold them back, they probably would have already flowed down.
Why hasn't he left yet!!!
Xia Yu looked at Miko's expression, which was on the verge of collapsing, and smiled mischievously. He didn't continue teasing her and moved his head, which was shrouded in black mist and leaning extremely close, away.
Seeing the evil spirit move its head away, Yotsuya Miko felt like she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In an instant, tears streamed down.
Yotsuya Miko: (ಥ﹏ಥ)
"Ah... how did sand get in my eyes?"
Although the evil spirit was no longer staring intently at her, it was still nearby. To avoid showing any abnormality, Miko wiped her tears while reading in a monotone voice.
After sitting for a few more stops, Yotsuya Miko noticed something unusual.
Why is this evil spirit still following me like a lingering ghost? Aaaaah!
Realizing that the evil spirit hadn't departed like usual, Miko was about to cry again. This isn't right! Why hasn't he left yet!
Xia Yu: I finally found someone who can see me and communicate with me, so I definitely can't let her go.
For the rest of the journey, Xia Yu followed Yotsuya Miko like a guardian spirit.
Although Yotsuya Miko was very scared, she had experienced similar things before, so she could still hold it together for now, as long as he stopped staring at her.
Before long, she arrived at the agreed meeting place with her friend, a café.
Because Yurikawa Hana had taken the wrong train and would be a bit late, Miko ordered a matcha latte first and waited while drinking it.
But after only a few sips of the latte, her gaze was drawn to a handsome blonde man on the opposite side who was making a phone call, as well as the female evil spirit beside him.
The female evil spirit looked like a drowned ghost; her entire body was swollen and black, her scattered hair was incredibly messy and dirty, and her entire face was split open like a Lamprey's mouth, with a wet tongue hanging out from within.
She kept muttering "I love you, I love you, so much love..." into the blonde man's ear. As if noticing Yotsuya Miko's gaze, the blonde man looked up and gave what he thought was a very handsome smile.
Ah, crap!
Yotsuya Miko immediately looked away because the blonde man had noticed her, and that Lamprey-like female evil spirit had also noticed her.
In an instant, the female evil spirit turned her head with her large, dead-fish eyes and looked at her.
Aaaaah, don't do this! I didn't mean it that way!
Yotsuya Miko screamed frantically in her heart, but the female evil spirit, with her tongue hanging out, suddenly stood up and walked over, swaying with every step.
What should I do! What should I do!
Yotsuya Miko frantically swiped at her phone, attempting to find a way to deceive the female evil spirit. But before she could find anything, a figure shrouded in black mist suddenly stepped out from behind her.
"Hey, hey, don't be too narcissistic. Only a Lamprey like you would be interested in that blonde Host."
Xia Yu swung his tentacles, blocking the path of the female evil spirit and shielding Miko behind him.
Hearing Xia Yu talk about the blonde man like that, the female evil spirit immediately became enraged. Her head of filthy hair instantly exploded like a sea urchin, and her Lamprey-like mouthparts opened wide.
"Aaaaah—!"
So you're provoking me, huh?
Xia Yu really wasn't afraid. Although this kind of creature was stronger than an ordinary evil spirit, it wasn't by much.
He immediately tensed all his tentacles, their sharp tips pointing at the female evil spirit from various angles. Then, he split open his pitch-black, cavernous maw, the sharp teeth within glinting with a cold light.
Although he didn't let out a howl, just this display was enough to make the female evil spirit act as if someone had pressed the mute button; her blustering provocation instantly ceased.
That sea-urchin hair instantly went limp, and the entire spirit turned around dejectedly and retreated quickly, returning to the blonde man's side, never daring to look this way again.
Seeing this, Xia Yu closed his mouth disdainfully. This small fry dared to provoke him? Did she really think he was just an ordinary spirit?
However, that blonde man wasn't a good person either. The appearance of the female evil spirit was clearly related to him, so Xia Yu didn't bother eating her and just left her for the blonde man.
After driving away the female ghost, Xia Yu turned around and came before Yotsuya Miko, speaking with a beaming smile.
"I've helped you such a big favor. Are you still going to pretend you can't see me?"
Eeeek!!! Why is he targeting me again!
Originally, when Yotsuya Miko saw the tentacle evil spirit and the female evil spirit face off, she had quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Since these two evil spirits were facing each other, they would surely ignore or even forget about her.
But who would have thought the female evil spirit would be so cowardly and retreat immediately? Now the tentacle evil spirit was back to bother her. What should she do!
Hearing the tentacle evil spirit's words, Yotsuya Miko continued to ignore him, but at the same time, a bit of doubt rose in her heart.
The evil spirits she had encountered in the past could never even speak a full sentence; it was always intermittent and impossible to communicate with. But this tentacle evil spirit seemed to possess intelligence and could even ask her questions.
Should she answer? She felt a bit uneasy.
Just as she was thinking about it, a cheerful female voice suddenly came from nearby.
"Miko, sorry for the wait!"
A girl with short orange hair and side-swept bangs waved her hand and greeted Yotsuya Miko.
She had a woman's shoulder bag with a rabbit icon slung over her right shoulder. Perhaps because of the bag, her figure looked very full, and her 'front armor' was even more exaggerated than that of an average adult, making her look very energetic.
As Yurikawa Hana jogged toward Yotsuya Miko, there seemed to be a 'puyo puyo' swaying sound in the air.
Thank goodness!
A smile of relief appeared on Yotsuya Miko's face, and she immediately stood up and walked toward Yurikawa Hana.
Seeing this, the blonde man not far away wanted to get up and exchange phone numbers with the black-haired girl who seemed interested in him.
But just as he stood up, a beautiful girl followed by a total of six male evil spirits also walked into the café and headed straight for the blonde man.
Those six male evil spirits surrounded the beautiful girl, their mouths, like the Lamprey female evil spirit, constantly saying "I like you, I love you, don't abandon me, let's go together..." "Tsk tsk, a bitch for a dog, a match made in heaven."
Glancing at the pair surrounded by evil spirits, Xia Yu gave a sharp evaluation. He didn't know how these two were still alive and well. Could those evil spirits be'simp' spirits or something?
Tsk tsk, even after becoming an evil spirit, they can't escape being simps. How pathetic.
Xia Yu stopped paying attention to those simp spirits and continued to follow Miko like a guardian spirit as they left the place.
It was rare to meet someone who could communicate and see him, so he was willing to spend time slowly wearing her down. Anyway, he didn't have anything else to do.
During the shopping that followed, they didn't encounter any more evil spirits. Until then, Yotsuya Miko acted like an ordinary high school girl, browsing the mall with her friend.
In the Don Quijote retail store, Miko originally intended to buy some Buddhist Bead Bracelets for self-defense, but after she took a glance at Xia Yu while pretending not to care, she immediately gave up on the idea in despair.
This evil spirit was right next to the Buddhist Bead Bracelets, yet nothing happened. The Buddhist Bead Bracelets were completely useless!
A moment later, the shopping ended. Yurikawa Hana bought her favorite rabbit plushie, and Yotsuya Miko, still not giving up, bought four strings of Buddhist Bead Bracelets.
However, before she could pay, Xia Yu suddenly extended a tentacle and seemingly unintentionally swept it over the Buddhist Bead Bracelets. The bracelets instantly burst apart, and the smooth beads scattered and fell to the floor.
Yotsuya Miko: ┌(.Д.)┐
Looking at the beads rolling all over the floor, Miko was completely dumbfounded.
In the end, she gave up on the idea of buying more Buddhist Bead Bracelets. The clerk assumed the broken bracelets were just poor quality and didn't make her pay for them.
After Yotsuya Miko walked out of the mall in a daze, although Yurikawa Hana didn't know why her friend was distracted, she still said with a smile to cheer Miko up.
"Miko, don't be unhappy. I'll treat you to some Butt Daifuku. They're soft and bouncy, and super delicious!"
As she spoke, she pulled Miko forward, and in a short while, they reached an alleyway.
"As long as we pass through this alley, we'll be there soon."
The alley looked quite dilapidated, but Yurikawa Hana skipped inside. This path was very familiar to her, and she wouldn't get lost.
But in Yotsuya Miko's eyes, the alley was filled with monsters and demons. Various evil spirits were entrenched there, making the alley look like the gates of hell.
"How about it? If you admit you can see me, I'll help you deal with these evil spirits."
At that moment, Xia Yu's devil-like words entered Miko's ears.