【Good Leaf】Eclipse of the Crimson Moon

【Qi Ke】

The hazy orange-yellow flame flickered for a moment, and a brief shadow shrouded the boy's body, giving me the illusion that he seemed to be touched by something.

In fact, his expression didn't change at all, still with a bit of helpless calm.

A small sound came from behind, accompanied by several times of indeterminate light and dark, I turned sideways, and saw a brown moth hitting the candle lamp in the middle hall.

"I do not know either."

An extremely erratic voice came, and for a moment I thought I had heard it wrong.

"what did you say?"

"I don't know what happened at that time... I'm sorry..." Brown eyes stared at me without any flicker or evasion, but his answer was unbelievable...

"I don't know?" I tried my best not to turn up the volume, because there are many priests on duty at the door, and I probably want to hear the movement in the room at this moment.

"You...shouldn't you have said the same to the great priests?"

"Yes. But they don't believe it..." There was a bitter smile on his face, and he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with what he said, but I was anxious, and I held the iron bar tightly and shouted at him:

"Of course you won't believe it! Such a serious thing happened, you can't just pretend to be confused! Besides, I don't know what it means? Didn't you perform the magic on the puppet?"

"...Maybe...it's me..." He moved his body in embarrassment, but there were too many restraints on his body so that this small movement was quickly restricted, "See you in the moon, now I am the only puppeteer... but…"

He raised his eyes and stared at me: "I really don't have any memory of what happened at that time. It's probably due to the influence of spells. The technique of transferring souls is a forbidden technique, and I can't predict the result of using it..."

"Forbidden technique? Haven't you tried it before?"

"En. No one should have tried Yue Jian, no, it should be said that no one has ever succeeded."

There was a low "呲" sound from the candle lamp, and the bumping sound one after another just now could no longer be heard.

I can understand a little bit what he said.

This kind of technique, which is rarely heard by ordinary psykers, should not be the kind of technique that anyone can practice or use, otherwise it will cause countless incidents that violate ethics.And in Yuejian, because the people are all burdened with a curse-like fate, they cannot leave this prison-like island.But what if you use that technique?

Ma Cangye transferred his soul to "others" and survived as another person in a place other than Yuejian for more than four years, which is enough to prove that this method can escape the curse of Yuejian.If Nishi Kujo didn't die and didn't return to Tsukimi, he would probably live in a place other than Tsukimi as an ordinary person in the future.

The more powerful the technique, the stronger the impact and headwind it will bear. Even if it is successfully cast, it may cause unexpected results. The possibility of losing the memory of the soul transfer is indeed extremely high.But no matter how big the risk is, because there is such a glimmer of hope to break free from the shackles of fate, I can imagine how tempting it will be for the people of Yuejian.It is not unreasonable for the elders of the four families to repeatedly press for methods.

"So you have no memory of that time?"

"kindness."

"Since when? Can you be more specific?"

"you mean?"

"When was the memory interrupted? Even if you don't have the memory of the incident, haven't you thought about it before that? Reconciliation and leaving together..."

"...!" His dull eyes suddenly sharpened, and the reason could only be that he heard the name——

The only thing that the boy who has been silent for such a long time of torture is the phrase "Let me see him, let me see you".Several days have passed since then, and although some subordinates have reported the situation to Asakura as usual, he refused to meet anyone, and the inexplicable silence continued.

"You... just said... okay?" The young man was full of surprise.I guess he was probably shocked by my unreasonable way of addressing him (Note).

"You... you can't be... that... and him..." He didn't know what he thought of, his face suddenly flushed and he began to speak incoherently, "Grandma Mu Nai... she did say that..."

"Wait!" I finally understood where his misunderstanding went: "It's not what you think! I'm just assisting the Patriarch of the Asacang family as a disciple of Granny Mu Nai, and staying in Yuejian according to her wishes!"

"Hey...is that so...sorry..." He lowered his eyes in embarrassment, and murmured: "You are amazing, Miss Anna. He rarely allows his subordinates to disrespect him, unless that person's ability is recognized by him."

"...I'm an outsider. Except for my mother-in-law who is a teacher and relative, I don't think it is necessary to humble myself to others, except in special circumstances."

"Aha... that's right..." He paused, then raised his head and asked, "Can you see brother?"

"He's been in the bedroom all the time."

"Uh... because I want to confirm something with him in person, but everyone tells me that he doesn't see anyone right now... Can you help me, Miss Anna?"

"...What you want to say can't be conveyed by me? Or is it true that you have discussed with him something that must never be known?"

"...Sorry..." The face that had never felt much tension finally showed a look of panic, and he still had something to hide.

"Ma Cangye, the others didn't lie to you. He doesn't want to see anyone now. I think you should know the reason? Why do you think I can bring him here?"

I don't know if he was stung by my cold words or he really thought of something, his eyes widened, but then they were covered with a layer of familiarity.The body of the brown-haired boy trembled slightly and leaned towards the stone wall beside him, returning to the original pale and weak posture like a puppet, and remained silent for a long time.

He still has most of his memories of being Nishikujo Masumi and returning to Asakuraha, even when they met at Mount Osore a few years ago.Therefore, after he fell into a coma, what happened to Yue Jian, the failure of the ceremony, the death of the clansman, the new chief priest, and all the things after that, I believe he understood a little bit.He should be more aware of his current situation than anyone else.

Obviously already a sinner who can't do anything, even so, he still holds inexplicable stubbornness.And where everything that happened now will lead to the fate of the future, no one can tell.

Just when I wanted to ask more questions, there was the sound of small footsteps from the outer corridor, followed by the sound of the door latch being scraped.The wooden door was pushed open, and several people walked in. The girl at the front carrying the box and basket was Tamura Yuo.After seeing me, several people stopped and walked to salute.

"Master Anna, I'm sorry to disturb you. It's time to change Master Ye's medicine." She cautiously asked me if there was anything else to do. Discuss later.

Finally, I glanced at the young man who was leaning against the stone wall and stopped talking, and I turned and exited the stone prison.At the same time, seeing the guarding priest open the door on the side of the iron fence to let those people in, he sighed unconsciously.

It has already reached this point, is it necessary to make it so strict?The elders of the four families seemed to believe that Ma Cangye would use some treacherous secret technique to escape from this cell, and assigned several priests to watch at all times.

On the way back to the moon meeting, the questions of several freshmen have been entangled in their hearts.

The first is about the art of transferring souls.Although Yuejian has a small population, it can be regarded as a hereditary land of Shinto.Even if it is a rare technique, only one person can master it, isn't it strange?According to my understanding, at least Ma Cangye should have a teacher who taught him this technique.Is there a deeper secret here?

Then there is the puzzling mystery that has been hanging over the boy.I thought that everything would naturally come to light after he woke up, but it turned out not to be so smooth.This is not due to any gods or fate, someone must be secretly manipulating and hiding some key clues.Will this have nothing to do with the subsequent ceremony?

In the end, I still had to ask that person.

★★★

About an hour later, Yuxu came to my dormitory.

It was only when I was in the brightly lit room that I noticed that her complexion was very bad, with obvious dark spots under the corners of her eyes.It must be very hard to take care of the injured all day long, and that person is one of the young masters of the Asakang family.

Because she has been serving the head of the family, after Ma Cang Ye Ming and Ma Cang Qianjiu passed away, she was allocated to Ma Cangyi to handle the affairs of the dormitory.Calculated in this way, she spent much longer than me at Tsukiyomi Shrine.I am the only girl in the Asakang family whose age is similar to hers, so since we met, we occasionally get together to talk about topics that are appropriate for girls of this age, and we can naturally understand her thoughts after going back and forth.

Yuxu admired Ma Cangye from a long time ago, and one of the "marriage candidates" mentioned by Mu Nai's mother back then was Yuxu.

And when it comes to this point, I am also curious. I once asked her about the candidates.It is said that according to the customs of the Yuwu family, the heir will meet the candidates according to the arrangement of the elders when he is about 12 years old, and there will be about two to three candidates.Although Ma Cangye came to see me very honestly at that time, but Ma Canghao refused to see each other to the death. He made Lord Ye Ming and Lord Ganjiu very angry, and then he asked Mr. Ganzi to act as a shield , In the end, he was fooled.But who expected the situation to develop into what it is now?

If there is no direct heir left, the Asakura family will probably be handed over to a branch family.But those are things for later, and now no one has time to take care of things other than the ceremony.

"How is his injury?"

"It won't be a serious problem, but it won't recover in a short time. It must be very painful...Master Ye..." Yuxu's eyes were full of melancholy, and his eyes turned red when he spoke, "They are using lightning techniques, so Lots of burns on the skin."

Ye Cai had just regained consciousness. Using a torture tool to injure his body would be life-threatening when his physical strength and spirit were poor. That's why he chose the lightning technique, but even then, repeated use would still leave burns similar to electric shocks.And as the prince of the moon who had accepted Chuyi, his own time has been slowed down several times, and even if he leaves an ordinary wound, it will not heal for a long time.

"Don't worry too much, Yuxu. They won't let him die, at least at this stage. The head of the Kurosawa family proposed to use him as the candidate for the last dark sacrifice, so as to calm the noise of the gate of the underworld."

"...how... how..." Surprise and sadness were on display at the same time, the girl was almost speechless.

"They have already determined that Ma Cangye is an unforgivable traitor, how could they let him go like this?"

"...But...Master Ye would never do that kind of thing! As long as he can remember, he will be cleared of his charges..."

Looking at the girl who was so excited that she almost shed tears, I felt infinite depression in my heart.

If it is because of the impact of the spell that he lost his memory, so that the boy who was "Nishi Kujo Masumi" could not have all the memories and abilities of "Asakura Leaf", this is understandable, but why is the key memory before the spell cast? Will there be no?

If it wasn't that Ma Cangye was lying, someone else was involved in this incident.After all, I can also use spells to erase memories, but it must be done under the premise that the spells are successfully cast. Specifically, it refers to two situations: to attack those whose abilities are inferior to mine, or to take advantage of the unpreparedness to launch a surprise attack...

"Didn't Ma Cangye say anything to you? About that time..."

"No, Master Ye really doesn't remember anything."

I am noncommittal.Based on Yuxu's admiration for Ma Cangye, he probably accepted all his words.

"And..." she suddenly lowered her voice, and said at a volume that I could just hear clearly: "If you are there, Mr. Ye can't express what he wants."

"What? I know there are watchers outside the door, but if you are careful, you can always find a way to convey it..."

"No, it's not just that. There is a very hidden peeping technique in that stone prison, which I only discovered after Mr. Ye hinted. So no matter what you say or do there, it may be caught by the other four families. The elders noticed."

"Ah...is that so?"

Even I didn't notice it. Fortunately, the previous conversation didn't make any progress... Maybe it was set up by the high priest of the Kurosawa family. I heard that he is good at this kind of art.

"Then it must be impossible to secretly deliver items and letters?"

"Yes, the waiters and priests who have entered the stone prison will be checked."

He slammed his fist hard on the tatami, and couldn't help feeling annoyed.

They underestimate them.Everyone is looking forward to getting the truth of that incident from Ma Cang Ye. It is not enough to be leak-tight, right?Probably they have considered all the methods I can think of.

How can I get him to speak up in this situation?I'm almost certain that there will be some part of his answer that involves Ma Canghao.If this is the case, what will happen to the next ceremony?

★★★

The paper door in front of me was pushed open, and a long-haired boy in a black hunting suit appeared in front of me.The face covered by the prajna face still makes it difficult to see the expression clearly, but he is undoubtedly looking down at me.Moments later, it brushes past me, turns and enters the promenade on the right.

Looking at his back, I was wondering why he suddenly changed his mind, but he stopped and turned his face halfway.

"Aren't you going with me?"

"Why?" I followed his question and said it casually, only to realize that I was restrained by him, obviously I just need to answer "no need".

"Aren't you very concerned about what I will say to him?" An elegant smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, but at this moment, I only felt a terrifying chill, and even the words of denial froze on my lips.The mood that was slightly relaxed because he was willing to see Ye froze instantly. What is this palpitating feeling of unease?

"Don't worry, there will be the answer you need." The frivolous voice is like a sharp edge cutting across the ice, elegant and light but still leaving a deep mark.And the most frightening thing is that I didn't speak, but he continued, as if he had seen through my thoughts... This feeling of deja vu evokes a long-lasting memory, and I instinctively put on guard against the boy in front of me mentality.

The world is really full of the most unlucky coincidences. Just when I was thinking hard about how to make Asakura change his mind and go to the Abyss of Darkness, I received a call from Osore, saying that Grandma Kino was admitted to the hospital due to an old illness.

Communicating this to Hao was one of the reasons I went to see him right away.First of all, my mother-in-law is Ma Canghao's only blood relative now. On the other hand, thinking of what my mother-in-law left behind, I made up my mind to drag him to see Ma Canghao no matter what method I use.And just when I wanted to break into his dormitory where he had been closed for many days with this thought in mind, the other party unexpectedly responded to my request.

Now we are walking on the road to the dark abyss, the suffocating silence surrounds the two of us like a breath of death, making my heart flustered and beating wildly.

Things were going too well.What caused him to suddenly change his mind? He always felt that it was impossible because his conscience discovered that his mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital.Following behind him like this, the closer I got to my destination, the more uneasy I felt.Did I get someone wrong...should they really meet?

hateful!

In the 15 years since I was born, I have never been so contradictory and indecisive as I am now.Anna Osore, calm down!Why have you become so unlike yourself?I hate this feeling!

It is impossible to stop the matter now, only to let nature take its course——

★★★

When entering the deepest stone prison where Ye was, the several priests in charge of guarding saluted together after the door was opened, and retreated to a distance. This is the utmost respect for the chief priest.I also planned to wait outside the door, but Asakura stopped and made a gesture for me to go in too.

Without knowing what he was thinking at all, I followed him into the central hall, and then stood by the door and waited.

If the boy inside was awake, he must have heard us coming.This should be the first meeting of the Ma Cang brothers in four years. What will they say?

Hao slightly bent down and entered the stone prison inside the iron gate. As usual, the young man leaning on a corner of the stone wall was stunned the moment he walked through the outer wooden door, and his slightly protruding body froze into an unnatural posture.

The pair of amber eyes widened from the first glimpse of the tall and thin figure, as if seeing something unbelievable, the shocked expression was fixed on the pale face, and the slightly blue lips trembled slightly He spoke, but failed to utter half a clear word.

Fortunately, he stood still not far from the iron fence, and lowered his head slightly to look at another young man at the end of the stone room.Then I heard his usual arrogant and uninhibited voice, a casual sentence:

"Hey, Yeh. Long time no see."

Unexpected ordinary greetings, it is completely unimaginable that there is a deep-seated entanglement between them that lasted for several years and cannot be explained in a few words.

But it was this very common sentence that made the young man on the other side of the stone room suddenly wake up from his shock.On the ground, he crazily jumped up and rushed towards his brother.

The sound of clanging chains colliding echoed in the dead stone room, but in an instant he had come to Kuaizhihao's side.Because his hands were handcuffed behind his back, he couldn't maintain his body's balance at all, and the heavy shackles on his feet also hindered his movement. Seeing that the boy was about to fall forward, the chains passing through his back were almost stretched to the limit. limit--

"...!"

I could hardly help screaming out.

silence.

There was no sound of heavy objects falling to the ground.When I looked back, Hao was already half-squatting in the middle of the stone room, firmly supporting the boy who was about to fall to the icy ground.Ye's hair fell gently on the slightly dangling chain.With a time difference of less than one second, if the "ghost binding" is pulled to the limit, it will trigger the curse array arranged in this stone prison, which is powerful enough to make him lose consciousness immediately.

There was a brief silence.The two people in the stone room did not move, maintaining that half-kneeling posture.From my point of view, Ye's shoulders were just buried in Hao's chest, so I couldn't see his expression at all.

I don't know how long passed in the silence, and the frozen scene gradually melted away.Smaller and hoarse voices than melting snow came from the loose scenery, flowing very slowly, converging into strands, gathering into streams, and finally burst out without concealment.

Ye's shoulders were trembling constantly, and his crying voice was hoarse and intermittent, and it even sounded a little weird to me.He must not be good at sorrow, I can tell from the smirk on his face all the time, but I didn't expect him to have such a side.

I stood quietly by the wooden door next to the entrance and looked at them, but those two people might have ignored my untimely existence.

The result is that I think too much?

No matter how difficult the experience is, if you can overcome it together, there is nothing to be afraid of.At that time, I really thought so from the bottom of my heart, and it was also the first time that I felt a deep bitter feeling in my heart.

I want to pray to the gods to end Tsukimi's cursed fate, and please let all tragedies end here.

After about 10 minutes without being disturbed, Ye finally raised his head and looked good.It can be seen that he seemed to want to say something, but he choked up when he came to his mouth:

"...ok...can you... take off the mask?"

Probably because he was extremely uncomfortable facing that ferocious face at close range, so he didn't express any objection.He let go of the hands holding Ye, and slowly took off the mask.In the range of the candlelight, I saw that the expression of sadness on the still tear-stained face was quickly replaced by horror.

"your face……?"

"What's wrong? Are you surprised?"

Hao Hao's tone was flat, still cold and indifferent like ice flowers blooming in the void.He grabbed the shoulder of the shaky brown-haired boy again, firmly imprisoned him in front of himself, and said word by word:

"The ceremony failed. Everyone died, only us. Don't you know?"

The brown-haired boy couldn't speak anymore, he just stared blankly at the good eyes, with a more desperate expression flashing with his every word.

"Why do you make such an expression? Didn't you think it would become like this before you did that?"

Ye slowly shook his head in a trance, and nodded hastily after being stared at by Hao for a moment.Probably, he no longer knows what he wants to say...

"Anna said you want to see me, what else do you want to say?"

When I said these words, my good voice became soft again, and the moment of coercion seemed to disappear, but the trembling that I had never felt before hit my whole body from the soles of my feet.

The temperature in the stone chamber was dropping, and the spells originally used to maintain the temperature were becoming invalid, because the spell power of the opposite nature released by Hao had overwhelmed it in an instant.

The brown-haired boy who was strangled by the shoulders was still full of sadness, but he tried to raise his head to meet the good gaze.The shadow covered the pale skin, and Hao stood up and looked down at him.

"Let me answer you, the question you have in mind." The slender fingers caressed the brown hair scattered on the wet face, and gently picked it apart, revealing the bewildered face:

"After reading that, I think there can only be one conclusion, even if I don't want to believe it. So..."

not very…

how come!

The reason why Ma Canghao has been avoiding him is not due to pressure from the four families, nor is it because the officiant has a heavy workload or avoids people's eyes and ears... none of it!

That's just because—

"Ahhh-"

At the moment I was stunned, the miserable screams had spread throughout the stone chamber, accompanied by the crisp sound of clanging chains hitting back and forth.

Ye's body was already on the ground, and the heavy pressure from Hao Hao's feet almost pushed his face into the crack of the stone slab.And the good other hand has already held the two chains that penetrated the back bone and tightened it.Shocking bright red oozes from the wound that was torn due to the violent struggle just now, and it quickly smudges on the back of the white singlet.

"Ugh..."

So he increased the strength of suppressing Ye's body a little bit, completely sealed off his tendency to try to lift his body, and then moved the chain upwards again with a swift and tyrannical gesture, and the sound of rubbing people's friction immediately pierced the cold air.The splashed blood-colored droplets scattered in the void, and a little dripped on the plain white clothes, turning into blooming twigs.

Asakura Hao leaned close to the twitching body that lost his voice due to the severe pain, and said in a low voice but clearly:

"If I had seen you at that time, maybe I would not be able to control myself and tear you apart, betrayer!"

Note: Subordinates must use honorific titles when addressing their superiors, but Anna rarely uses honorific titles for people unless it is a special occasion or the situation with the other four patriarchs.