"..." Kobe Hikaru didn't know what to say.
A shrine maiden, offering incense to a yōkai?
The scene looked bizarre no matter how he viewed it.
But he could truly feel the warm power contained within the curling wisps of incense smoke.
That power was slowly flowing into his body, replenishing the Demonic Qi he had consumed during the battle.
It felt comfortable.
It was just like soaking in a hot spring.
Kobe Hikaru raised an eyebrow; it was his first time experiencing the benefits of incense offerings.
If he had known earlier, he should have found a village to blend into and sponge off their offerings every day.
Of course, that was just a thought.
Compared to relying on external forces, having the 'Affection System' on him... well, that was actually an external force too, the pot calling the kettle black.
But it was always more stable!
However, for the moment, Kobe Hikaru wouldn't refuse it either.
"Thanks," Kobe Hikaru said to Kikyo.
Kikyo shook her head. "I am the one who should be saying thanks."
She took the shikon jewel out from her sleeve, its pale purple light swirling in her palm.
"This bead was originally supposed to be handed to me by that old man himself."
"But he didn't make it here alive."
"If it weren't for you..."
She didn't finish her sentence.
But Kobe Hikaru understood what she meant.
If he hadn't picked up the shikon jewel along the way, the bead would probably have already fallen into the hands of a yōkai.
The consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Don't say that."
Kobe Hikaru waved his hand. "I'm not a good person either—I'm not even human."
He cracked a small joke, but Kikyo had no reaction to it.
Kobe Hikaru felt awkward and gave a light cough, then continued.
"Anyway, I've already said it; saving that old man was just something I did while I was at it, and delivering the shikon jewel was on my way too."
"You don't need to take it to heart."
Kikyo looked at him.
A flash of light seemed to pass through her cold, clear eyes.
But it was only for an instant.
Soon, her expression returned to calmness.
"Regardless, you helped me, and you helped this village."
She said, "I will remember this favor."
Kobe Hikaru opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But after thinking about it, he didn't say it, just smiled.
It was a smile that was slightly stiff but devoid of any concealment.
It was clean, frank, and without any pretense.
It formed a strange contrast with his inverted black-and-white eyes, pale skin, and his identity as a yōkai.
Kikyo looked at this smile and was slightly stunned.
She had seen countless yōkai.
But she had never seen a yōkai that could smile so...
Human-like.
It was even more human than most people of this era, who spent their lives facing the dirt and turning their backs to the sky, living only to survive.
[shikon no tama: naohi: Affection + 1]
[Current Affection: 5]
[It conveyed a message to you:'She saw the way you looked when you smiled.']
So, this shikon jewel is also a superficial person like Kaede, huh?
Kobe Hikaru really hadn't expected that.
If he had known, he would have taken off his mask long ago!
Volume 1: Chapter 18 Learning Spiritual Power? Human and Yōkai, Spirit and Flesh
The morning of the next day.
The morning sun rose, its pale golden radiance piercing through the thin mist and spilling onto this remote village in Musashi Province.
Kobe Hikaru pushed open the wooden door of the guest house.
The air was slightly cool, mixed with the scent of soil and dew.
Last night's yōkai raid seemed to be a thing of the past; the farmers in the village carried hoes and baskets on their backs, walking towards the fields in twos and threes.
When passing by the guest house, they saw the young man at the door.
He wasn't wearing that hideous crimson Oni mask.
Pale skin, loose white hair, yet he had a young human face.
The villagers' steps paused slightly, their eyes dodging away, filled with both fear and curiosity, finally turning into stiff nods of greeting before they hurried away.
Life had to go on.
Kobe Hikaru didn't mind these things.
He raised his head and looked towards the shrine.
Above the vermilion torii gate, the leaves of the huge sacred tree rustled in the morning breeze.
On the platform beneath it, a figure in white robes and red hakama was facing the rising sun in the east.
It was Kikyo.
She was not holding a bow, but rather her hands were crossed, holding a kagura bell adorned with white paper streamers.
"Jingle—"
The crisp sound of the bell traveled far in the silence of the morning.
She closed her eyes, treading the Yu steps, her form flowing with the sound of the bell.
The wide white sleeves of her kimono rose with her movements, appearing nearly translucent in the morning light, faintly outlining the thin yet supple lines of her shoulders and back beneath the fabric.
Every time she turned, her crimson hakama skirt swirled open like flowing water, clinging to her waist and hips, tightening around that undulating, rounded curve in a breathtaking manner, only to disappear into the shadows deep within the folds the next instant as the hem fell.
That was not a dance.
It was cultivation.
Kobe Hikaru could sense it vaguely and blurrily.
Following her movements, tiny, drifting, faint specks of light were gathering towards her, merging into that seemingly slender body.
Then they were transformed into that vast power that made all yōkai feel scorched.
That was the source of spiritual power.
Pure, vast, like the sun hanging in the sky.
Kobe Hikaru stood there watching for a long time.
It was beautiful.
Not just the person, but the circulation of that spiritual power.
From Kobe Hikaru's perspective, there was an energy in it that harmonized with heaven and earth.
It was an experience completely different and entirely opposite to the turbid and chaotic Demonic Qi.
He just watched like that.
Waiting.
Until a moment later, the sound of the bell gradually ceased.
Kikyo put away the kagura bell, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air, and the energy surging around her body returned to calmness.
She turned around, her gaze crossing the long stone steps, landing on Kobe Hikaru below.
Kobe Hikaru stepped up.
Twenty-seven steps, reached in an instant.
"Morning," Kobe Hikaru greeted.
Kikyo nodded slightly. "How did you sleep last night?"
"I am a yōkai; I don't need to sleep—"
Kobe Hikaru replied.
Kikyo was stunned, seemingly realizing that she had forgotten this point.
But looking at the appearance of the 'young man' before her, it was no wonder she hadn't remembered.
Finally, Kobe Hikaru continued, "Of course, if you mean the recovery of Demonic Qi, thanks to you, I am quite full."
Kobe Hikaru spoke the truth.
That offering last night was indeed very 'filling'.
Kikyo didn't continue this topic, just quietly looking at him, seemingly waiting for him to explain his purpose.
But Kobe Hikaru originally had no purpose regarding Kikyo—he had come more for the Affection of the shikon jewel.
But at this moment, while watching Kikyo cultivate, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
A somewhat absurd thought.
He didn't dawdle.
"I want to learn."
The Oni Samurai in the form of a youth pointed to the kagura bell in Kikyo's hand, then pointed to her whole person.
"I want to learn spiritual power."
The wind stopped.
In Kikyo's cold, clear eyes, for who knows how many times, an emotion named 'astonishment' appeared.
"You are a yōkai."
She then immediately spoke, saying so.
"Spiritual power is the power to exorcise demons; it is the natural enemy of Demonic Qi."
Kikyo looked at him as if looking at a madman.
"If spiritual power is generated within a yōkai's body, it is like swallowing burning hot charcoal into one's stomach; apart from self-destruction, it has no other use."
"That is for ordinary yōkai."
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