Stardew Valley of Gensokyo

......

Chapter 186 Competition

It was a bit cold standing outside talking, so Akina Sawa invited the slightly trembling Motoori Kosuzu into the house.

After thanking her, Motoori Kosuzu sat obediently by the kotatsu, quietly watching Akina Sawa fiddling with the bookmark fragments she had given him on the table.

Akina Sawa had also seen the Eientei CD and was very familiar with its patterns. If the bookmark's patterns were similar, he could recognize it quickly.

After piecing the broken bamboo bookmarks back together, Akina Ze checked them against his memory one by one.

Indeed, they do bear some resemblance, both featuring the same broken patterns.

Having reached this conclusion, Akina nodded and said to Suzune, "It does indeed look very similar to Kaguya-sama's disc."

He returned the bookmark to Xiaoling and asserted, "It seems you're right. The reason you were deep in the Beast Path that day was most likely due to this thing. After all, almost no one would want to go to that place."

Besides the hairy creatures, carnivorous wild animals could also leap out of the animal trails at any time. Although it's currently the time when most dangerous animals are hibernating, it's possible that a few wild animals are still roaming outside.

Given Motoori Kosuzu's small frame, the consequences of an encounter would be unimaginable...

Logically speaking, one shouldn't go to such a dangerous place, yet Motoori Kosuzu still went. She's not stupid, so why did she go anyway? And why did she ignore so many dangers?

Akina Zeya frowned slightly, realizing the danger of the situation.

If there are still many things like CDs and bookmarks that hide unknown dark energy, they are likely to affect the thinking of people or monsters, causing them to ignore relevant situations and the dangers of their targets, which could easily lead to unforeseen events.

This is even more dangerous for humans. Compared to monsters, ordinary humans have virtually no ability to protect themselves and will die on the spot if they encounter even slightly greater danger.

"This is troublesome..." Akina Ze also felt a headache coming on.

He had lived in the Human Village for almost a year and admired Mokou's concept of protecting the village. He simply couldn't stand by and watch a potential danger exist.

Even Miss Xiaoling almost met with misfortune.

Thinking about it, Akina Sawa also turned his head to look at Motoori Korin and found her sitting there quietly, and even smiled slightly when she saw his gaze.

Such a thing as encountering misfortune is absolutely unacceptable!

Turning his gaze away, Akina Ze secretly made up his mind.

But if we want to trace it back to its origins, where do we even begin?

It seems that both the game discs and bookmarks were bought from flea markets, but with so many people at flea markets, it's not easy to find the exact supplier of these two items.

Moreover, he didn't know what specific effects that unknown black aura would have. After all, in Kaguya's hands, it was about getting addicted to games, while in Rin's hands, it was about sending her to the Beast Path to hunt hairy tama.

These two things seem very isolated, and it is very difficult to find more common ground between them.

This kind of mental work is not his forte... As he thought about it, Akina Ze also put on a mask of pain.

Motoori Kozue, who had been sitting quietly to the side, saw that Akina Sawa also looked troubled and wanted to speak several times, but she still didn't say anything.

"We can only ask Ms. Wenwen for help and have her investigate this strange thing in Gensokyo."

After thinking for a long time, Akina Sawa decided to give up and got up to walk towards the study. Although he really didn't want to bother Shameimaru Aya at this time, especially since it was during a cold war, albeit a one-sided one.

That day, Princess Kaguya ambushed him while she was shopping, which prompted Aya Shameimaru to confront her, and the two almost came to blows.

He was forced to resort to that desperate measure.

Although the effect was good, the two did not fight, and Princess Kaguya ran away, but Miss Aya ignored him.

Akina Sawa believed he had done enough, but unfortunately, he still couldn't figure out what they were thinking...

Standing in front of the study door, Qiu Mingze gently knocked and said cautiously, "Wenwen, are you there? I have something I want to tell you?"

There was no sound coming from the room.

Akina Ze was also somewhat disappointed. He repeated the action as before, but still received no response.

With a sigh, Akina Sawa decided to try again. If Aya Shameimaru still ignored him this time, he would let it go, after all, things shouldn't happen more than three times.

Just as her knuckles were about to tap on the wooden door, Motoori Kozue, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly spoke.

“I know someone who should know about this if it ever happened in Gensokyo.”

"who is it?"

Akina Ze also withdrew his knuckles, which were about to strike, and turned to ask Xiaoling.

“Akyuu…” Motoori Kosuzu answered slowly.

Actually, she had been hesitant to speak up because Hieda Akyuu was very weak recently, as if she had a serious illness. If she were to bother her at this time, she might get even sicker.

As Hieda Akyuu's good friend, Motoori Kosuzu didn't want to bother her.

But at the same time, Xiaoling saw that Qiumingze was also standing in front of the study door pleading with that Tengu lady with a troubled look on his face. She couldn't bear it and finally told her.

......

Leaning against the door, Aya Shameimaru slowly squatted down, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

The fact that Motoori Kosuzu suddenly visited could not escape her keen senses as a tengu.

But since Motoori Kosuzu posed no threat to her, Aya Shameimaru simply stayed quietly in the study listening.

After all, she was also very interested in what happened at Eientei, and now that there were follow-up clues, she naturally wanted to collect them as well.

If nothing unexpected happens, this incident involving Eientei Houraisan Kaguya will soon be published in the newspaper and announced to the entire village.

But Aya Shameimaru really doesn't know how to face Sawaya Akina now.

That day, the sudden burst of energy emanating from Akina Zeya deeply shocked her. The way his arm slammed down with such power, with its elegant curve, was also quite beautiful, but...

The final target turned out to be Kaguya!

Aya Shameimaru harbored great resentment towards this.

But this did not stop her from blushing as soon as she saw Akina Zeya.

I should be angry about what happened, but why am I blushing so badly?! Does this mean I should just accept that Akina Sawa is also messing around outside? It's unacceptable for him to be messed around with by other women!

So these past few days, Aya Shameimaru has been secretly undergoing desensitization training, and now she's reached the point where she no longer blushes when she sees someone's back.

She was waiting for the training to be completely finished before telling Akina Sawaya that she didn't like it.

The price we've paid is the near-cold war situation we've been in these past few days.

But as he listened to Akina Sawa's footsteps as he left with Motoori Kosuzu, Aya Shameimaru felt a surge of regret.

If I weren't so fixated on this, wouldn't I be the one investigating the case with him? It definitely wouldn't be some random third person who appeared out of nowhere!

But if I were to meet him like this, how could I possibly say what I wanted to say...?

And even if he said it, he probably wouldn't believe it; he'd just take it as shy flirting... Aya Shameimaru didn't want that...

But she didn't want to just watch others take action... especially Kaguya!

Taking a deep breath, Aya Shameimaru struggled to her feet, straightened her bangs in front of the mirror, pushed open the back door, spread her wings, and took to the air.

She's planning to do something.

......

Chapter 187 The Taste of Mao Yu

Green tiles and white walls.

Hieda Akyuu's residence is actually one of the oldest buildings in the village of Hitoshi.

The Hieda family has lived here for generations, and as history has changed, the estate has grown larger and larger.

This wasn't Akina Sawa's first visit here. He had supplied goods to the Hieda family several times before, and during that early, less affluent period, he received his first capital to start his business.

However, this time he wasn't there to sell vegetables or fruits, but rather as a customer.

"Please come in."

Upon seeing the visitors, the gatekeeper of the Hieda family stood respectfully to the side, bowing his head in greeting to the guests.

"Thank you. May I bring one more person in?"

"of course can."

After receiving the reply, Motoori Kosuzu returned the greeting politely, then smiled and took Akina Sawaya's hand, leading him into the Hieda family residence.

Although she was a frequent visitor to the Hieda family and had a good relationship with Akyuu, the head of the family, Motoori always followed the rules and would ask the doorman for directions every time she entered, and this time was no exception.

The Hieda mansion occupies a large area, and Akyuu's residence is some distance from the gate.

Akina Sawa also looked around the courtyard with some curiosity; there were pavilions, terraces, and towers—everything one could imagine.

The ancient and elegant atmosphere revealed in the building is very different from other buildings in the Human Village. Perhaps only the buildings in Baiyulou can compare with it.

If possible, he would like to decorate his Akina residence like this. But unfortunately... most of the space in his yard is used for planting things, so even if he could get some artificial rockery sculptures, there would be no place to put them.

Shaking his head, Qiu Mingze also withdrew his gaze. One thing he couldn't accept was the occupation of arable land. No matter how beautiful the things were, he would not agree to exchange them for arable land.

Composing himself, Akina Sawa asked Motoori Kosuzu, who was leading the way:

"Xiaoling, before I came here I heard you say that Ms. Hieda recently had a serious illness? I don't think I've heard anyone mention it."

Upon hearing this, Motoori Kosuzu hesitated for a moment, but still replied, "I only found out because Akyuu wrote to me. I don't know if she's recovered yet."

No wonder... Akina Sawa's face suddenly realized why Suzune seemed hesitant when mentioning Akyuu. It turned out she was still worried about whether Hieda-san's illness had fully recovered.

It's really not a good idea to disturb a patient abruptly.

"You'll arrive after you turn the corner ahead," Motoori Kosuka suddenly pointed out.

Now that she had already told Mr. Akina about Akyuu, and had come this far, the hesitation on her face had completely disappeared, replaced by realization and a hint of apology... "I'm sorry, Akyuu, I hope we won't interfere with your recovery."

"Well, since we're almost there, take this. Just say it's a gift we brought together for Miss Hieda when she's sick."

As he spoke, Akina Ze took out something wrapped in a bamboo leaf from his backpack and handed it to Xiaoling.

"What's inside this bamboo leaf?" Motoori Kosuzu asked curiously.

"Just some food." Akina Ze also touched his clean-shaven chin.

Actually, what was wrapped inside those bamboo leaves was a salted rice dumpling with meat and sesame seeds that he had made.

Akina Ze happened to have obtained a hairy dolphin when he rescued Xiaoling the day before yesterday, and he was thinking of using the hairy dolphin to make a dish.

After much deliberation, Akina Sawa finally decided to use tama (a type of glutinous rice dumpling) to make zongzi (rice dumplings). After all, zongzi has fewer steps involved and is easy to carry and store. He just didn't know if it would suit Ms. Hieda's taste.

As he turned the corner, Akina Ze also narrowed his eyes slightly.

Because the houses in front looked more rustic and were much smaller than the surrounding ones.

The window of the house facing the street was open, and Akina Ze glanced over.

Sure enough, Miss Hieda was behind the window, head down, pen in hand, writing something with great concentration, unaware that a guest had arrived.

Seeing this, Akina Sawa and Motoori Kosuzu exchanged a glance, and at the same time, they tacitly reduced the noise and slowed their pace to approach.

When they reached the door, Hieda Akyuu still hadn't noticed her and was writing furiously with her head down, but the two of them didn't want to disturb her.

Akina Ze also had an idea. He took the Maoyu Zongzi from Xiaoling's hand and slightly lifted one corner.

Instantly, a rich aroma of meat spread, with a hint of milkiness. This was the smell of Maoyu meat, which became even more mellow after being enhanced by salt.

Even Motoori Kosuzu had a strange expression on her face, and she couldn't help but drool. The effects of the unknown black aura were indeed gone, but she still really wanted to eat a bite of this kind of rice dumpling.

"This fragrance... Suzu, what brings you here? And Mr. Akina too?"

Hieda Akyuu, engrossed in his books, twitched his nostrils slightly and caught a wonderfully pleasant scent in the air. He looked up in confusion and was surprised to find two people standing in front of his door.

Wiping her mouth, Motoori Kosuzu smiled and replied, "Akyuu, Akina-kun and I have come to visit you."

......

After inviting Motoori Kosuzu and Akina Sawa to sit down, Hieda Akyuu said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry, the living room table is a bit dirty. I'll go get a towel to wipe it."

"It's okay, I don't care about these things," Akina Ze said indifferently.

Motoori Kosuzu looked surprised. "Akyuu, why aren't your servants cleaning your house?"

"..." Hieda Akyuu remained silent for a moment, a bitter smile on his face. He did not respond and turned to walk towards the room where the towels were placed.

Xiaoling realized she had said something inappropriate and looked to Akina for help.

Akina Ze also gestured with his hand to signal her to calm down, as it was not advisable to take action without sufficient clues.