When Kikyo heard Master Harumi's words, the smile on her face stiffened slightly. Her gaze fell upon the Demon-Slaying Scroll on the ground. After a moment of silence, she was about to reach out to pick it up when Retsu's voice suddenly rang out.
"Old man, pick up your own things. You're getting on in years, don't use excuses to hit on a beautiful woman, aren't you ashamed?"
As soon as these words were spoken, both Kikyo and Master Harumi's bodies froze at the same time.
The gentle smile on Master Harumi's face instantly solidified. Aside from his embarrassment, waves of shock surged within his heart.
Until the other party spoke, he hadn't even noticed the presence of this samurai!
[At this point, I hope readers remember our domain, Taiwan Novel Network, for a better and easier reading experience.]
Just now, his attention had been entirely drawn by the evil energy on Kikyo, and he had actually completely overlooked this person who was right at his side.
Kikyo looked at Retsu wordlessly and silently withdrew her outstretched hand.
Retsu was seen holding the samurai sword at his waist, walking over slowly with the arrogant posture of a wandering samurai.
Seeing Retsu helping her deal with the Monk's testing, Kikyo stood up and said softly to the children surrounding her, "Alright, everyone go back for now."
As she spoke, she picked up the basket filled with herbs, turned around, and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Seeing this, Master Harumi immediately stepped forward to give chase, but he was blocked by Retsu.
"Lady Priestess, she..." Master Harumi still wanted to persuade her, but before he could finish, the figure before him suddenly vanished.
He was startled and was about to circulate his Dharma Power for defense when he felt a chill on his neck. A sharp samurai sword was already resting against his throat, its icy aura spreading along his skin.
Retsu's cold voice came from behind him: "If you don't want to die, get lost immediately."
Upon close contact, Master Harumi suddenly discovered that the man blocking him was actually also an Undead!
It was just that compared to the dense evil energy and Resentment on Kikyo that couldn't be dispersed, he only had the pure aura of the dead. Coupled with his nearly hidden state just now, he had completely ignored this man.
Retsu was not surprised that the Monk hadn't noticed his presence.
He had been sensing Natural Energy and integrating himself into nature, making it easy to be overlooked as part of nature. With Kikyo, a more conspicuous 'target' nearby to attract attention, he was completely ignored.
"You are also one of the dead..." Master Harumi felt the sharp blade against his neck, his voice heavy. "The human world is no place for the Undead to stay. Please let go of your Obsessions early and return to the Underworld."
"Heh, what does that have to do with you?" Retsu mocked unceremoniously. "There are plenty of Demons in the deep mountains and old forests. If you're so capable, go kill a few. Why are you meddling here?"
"I..." Master Harumi still wanted to argue, but he was interrupted by Retsu's cold voice: "I don't have time for nonsense with you. Either get lost or die."
As soon as he finished speaking, the cold sensation on the side of Master Harumi's neck instantly vanished. He looked up abruptly, only to see Retsu's figure already appearing behind the Priestess in the distance, as if the sharp blade at his neck just now had never existed.
"Master Harumi, are you alright?" The Young Monk behind him finally broke free from the invisible restraint and hurriedly ran over to support him, his face full of worry.
Just now, Retsu had only glanced at him, and he felt his whole body go stiff, unable to move. That sense of pressure made him not dare to resist at all.
"Such speed..." Master Harumi looked warily at Retsu's departing back, his voice carrying an unmistakable shock. "This man is even more dangerous than that Priestess."
Walking behind, Retsu glanced back. Seeing that the two Monks were no longer following, he withdrew his gaze.
The reason he had acted was because he knew that the current Kikyo's Resentment was extremely deep. If she were allowed to deal with these two Monks, she would surely kill them just like in the plot.
This would not only stain her hands with the blood of innocent people but also worsen the erosion of her Resentment, pulling her further and further away from the 'real Kikyo'.
However, he was also unsure if these two Monks would come looking for them again later, as they did in the original plot.
Up ahead, Kikyo had already said goodbye to the children. She stood alone under a large tree, looking at the Village in the afterglow of the sunset, her eyes vacant, lost in thought.
Retsu's head suddenly appeared in front of her from above, blocking her view, as he asked in a lighthearted tone, "Ready to leave this place?"
Kikyo, who was in a daze, was startled by this sudden appearance and instinctively took two steps back.
Regaining her composure, she saw that Retsu's feet were suctioned to the tree branch as if by an invisible force. He was hanging upside down from the tree with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at her with interest.
"You..." Kikyo looked at him, feeling somewhat helpless for a moment.
After spending the past two days together, she had already discovered that this man who appeared out of nowhere had powerful and strange abilities.
For instance, he had the ability to ignore gravity and walk on any surface as if it were level ground. Yesterday, she had even seen him walking freely on the surface of the water to catch fish.
Furthermore, he acted as he pleased, had a proud personality, completely disregarded the opinions of others, and liked to solve problems with his fists.
His strength was incredibly high, yet he didn't use his power to do evil, nor did he kill the innocent or take the initiative to help the weak.
Whether it was humans or Demons, he seemed to 'look down' on everyone equally.
If Retsu knew what she was thinking, he would certainly not be able to resist praising her, saying, "Your judgment of people is really spot on."
In this ancient era of Japan, the fact that he hadn't used his power to help the Demons kill everyone here was already a mercy for the sake of being fellow humans.
Expecting him to use his power to save the people here was simply impossible.
Unless a Demon proactively ran into him or he encountered characters related to the plot, he would not take the initiative to act.
"Since your identity has been discovered by the Monk, you probably won't be able to stay in this Village anymore." Retsu was still hanging upside down from the tree. Seeing that she didn't speak, he continued to ask,
"When do you plan to leave?"
He remembered that in the plot, Kikyo would kill the Monk who came to test her that night, only to be seen by a girl named Sayo, and ultimately be forced to leave the Village.
Hearing his words, Kikyo remained silent for a long time. Her gaze once again turned toward the Village dyed golden by the setting sun, her voice carrying helplessness and sadness: "I just wanted to live here peacefully. Is that not allowed?"
"It's almost impossible." Retsu's tone suddenly became serious, directly puncturing her fantasy. "The shikon jewel has reappeared and has shattered into fragments scattered everywhere.
As the Priestess who guards the shikon jewel, you are destined to be entangled with it. Your resurrection and return to this world is the arrangement of fate; you cannot escape all of this."
"The Priestess who guarded the shikon jewel died long ago!" Kikyo's face instantly turned dark, the evil energy around her surging uncontrollably, her voice chilling. "I am just an Undead who crawled out of hell, my heart filled with Resentment. My fate is only revenge!"
"Kikyo, stop lying to yourself." Retsu was completely unfazed by the evil energy on her as he continued,
"Your Reincarnation, that girl named Kagome, you should have met her already, right? Since she can cross time and space to come to this era, is it really that difficult for you to return to the human world from the Underworld after death?"
The current Kikyo had only just been resurrected and was no match for him at all, so he naturally had no qualms.
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It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
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