Chapter 300

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Chapter 300: Listen to Me, Thank You

"Hello, Mr. Yamada," said the children.

"Hello Miss Kokonohana,"

"It’s the same as always, let’s start with three strings of tri-colored rice cakes."

"Okay, I’ll be right there."

Kokonohana Nori really liked the taste of the wagashi from this shop. The flavor of Yoshino’s wagashi, although not as refined as the ones made specifically for the imperial court and shogunate, was even more delicate.

She personally enjoyed this kind of rustic atmosphere, sitting inside the shop, peacefully enjoying a string of wagashi. Her mood would become especially relaxed.

Recently, no matter where she visited, she had developed the habit of getting a box of wagashi as a souvenir from here.

Most shrine maidens tend to enjoy sweets. Sugar is one of the sources of life energy and spiritual power, so there’s generally no need to worry about gaining weight.

Yoshino’s business has been doing well lately. After all, this is not a bustling commercial street in New Tokyo, and the foot traffic is not too high. For now, the shop can manage to keep busy with just one person.

Kokonohana Nori heard Yamada greeting her, saying, "Hey there, Mr. Bai."

Kokonohana Nori looked up and indeed, it was that young man from the Ming Country, Bai Wei. It wasn’t that she had deliberately investigated him, but rather, she unconsciously had multiple encounters with this young man. After bumping into each other, they would experience a sense of familiarity, as if being precisely captured by vast amounts of data.

Bai Wei ordered two pastries and sat outside, engaging in casual conversation with Yamada.

His recent mood was good, as he didn’t have much to keep him busy. He was enjoying life even more comfortably.

Two men, without discussing current events and politics, or chatting about guns, cars, or sports, instead started gossiping about everyday family matters.

After a while, Kokonohana Nori saw Bai Wei walk into the inner hall. She remained there in a daze for a moment, then returned to the main hall and sat down.

She caught a whiff of Bai Wei’s faint scent of smoke and fireworks. She speculated that there might be some kind of memorial altar nearby, as he seemed to visit it frequently.

Kokonohana sat quietly for a while, then got up and packed a portion of the traditional sweets to take away. After that, she politely bowed to Bai Wei and Yamada, lowered her head, and promptly departed.

As Yamada watched Kokonohana Nori’s figure disappear, he exclaimed, "Miss Kokonohana can eat so many traditional sweets and yet her figure remains unchanged. She’s truly amazing!"

"What’s the big deal about that?" Bai Wei rolled his eyes. "I haven’t changed either, you know."

"Mr. Bai, no matter what happens to you, I won’t be surprised."

"Tsk…" Bai Wei propped his chin up. "This Kokonohana Nori is not an ordinary person, you mustn’t offend her."

"Why would I offend such an important customer?" Yamada shook his head repeatedly. "She takes such good care of my business, I can’t thank her enough."

Bai Wei changed the subject, saying, "By the way, your notice board has gotten quite a few new things again."

"I have already cleaned up a lot of advertisements," Yamada said. "I made a deal with those people that advertisements can only be posted for a week at most, but it seems like there are more and more missing person notices." Yamada scratched his head. "Upon closer interaction, I realized that there are so many people in society who need help."

Bai Wei took a sip of tea and said, "It’s good to have a kind heart, but if there are really so many people in need, it only shows that there is a problem with the country’s system." He paused for a moment and continued, "This matter must rely on the Shogun."

"Yamada chuckled nervously and said, ‘I dare not speak ill of the General.’ However, Mr. Bai, being from the Ming Country, indeed didn’t care about such trivial matters."

Bai Wei walked to the front of the notice board and saw a piece of paper posted on it. The writing on it was clearly done by hand.

If any masters of Qi cultivation, overseas immortals, or experts in magic medicine see this, or if there is any contact information, please get in touch with me, Rokuro Shimura. My contact information is as follows…

Yamada noticed that Bai Wei was looking at the paper, and he said, "This was left behind by Mr. Shimura."

Bai Wei glanced at Yamada and said, "Oh, this looks familiar. Last time, there was a missing person notice posted here."

"That’s different," Yamada waved his hand. "It’s different from Mr. Sato."

"Where is it different?" Bai Wei said calmly. "This seems to be someone who wants to learn Qigong."

True Qi is different from celestial spiritual power, and also different from magical power. Although they are all Qi, the functions they manifest and the paths they follow are completely different.

Yamada explained, "Mr. Shimura said that he was searching for a Qigong master to help his daughter with her illness."

"Unbelievable, not going to the hospital to see a doctor?"

"The hospital cannot cure her, and he also doesn’t have that much money," Yamada said. "There used to be a wandering Taoist who travelled to Yingzhou, claiming to be a celestial being. Seeing his daughter’s pitiful condition, he transferred some Qi to her, claiming it could protect her heart meridian. However, it could only be effective until the age of ten, and afterwards, it would require another intervention. But the celestial being mentioned that he might not be able to come again, it all depends on luck. Now that the situation is grim, he feels that there is little hope, so he is pinning his hopes on finding another celestial being for assistance."

Bai Wei said, "Then he must have been tricked before."

"This is not the case," said Yamada, "Mr. Shimura is quite intelligent. He has kept a precious artifact left behind by a celestial being from years ago, which can discern true from false celestial beings." Yamada studied Mr. Bai’s expression and asked, "Mr. Bai, are you interested in this matter?"

Bai Wei remained silent. Whether he was interested or not was secondary. The main point was that the hint had already been revealed.

It was a yellow question mark.

[Triggered after meeting with Shimura]

Another new task, am I not going to get any rest? Exclamation mark, are you an assignment arranged by Keqing?

Bai Wei secretly regretted his miscalculation. Perhaps he shouldn’t have come here. Time and again, new tasks would arise, even though he could choose not to accept them. However…

They had come, after all.

"I will come again tomorrow, can you get in touch with someone named Shimura?" Bai Wei asked.

"Sure, of course," Yamada nodded with a radiant smile.

"Why are you laughing so happily?" Bai Wei wondered.

"Master Bai stepped forward, Mr. Shimura’s troubles will surely be relieved. I am happy for him."

Yamada raised his thumbs up and said, "Listen to me, thank you. Because of you, the four seasons are warmer."

"What goes around comes around?" Bai Wei left without looking back, not even paying the money.

…

Upon returning to the doorstep, in front of Yagyū’s residence, there was a car parked. It was a black sedan, very familiar.

Has Hokusinn arrived?

Bai Wei walked up and was about to greet Hokusinn Kichyō, who was wearing a white kimono. But instead, he was met by a serious and tense-looking driver, along with…

"Good morning, Uncle Hokusinn," Bai Wei greeted with a bundle of fresh meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables in his hands. "Have you eaten?"

Hokusinn Xuanma looked at Bai Wei with a serious expression and said, "…No."

"Shall we wait together? My sister will be coming back soon," Bai Wei greeted.

"No, I have something to ask and I need to leave right away," Hokusinn Xuanma shook his head, declining the warm invitation from the people of the Ming Country.

We have arrived at the doorstep, yet you haven’t taken a single bite of food.

Bai Wei pushed open the door and continued, "There’s always time for a cup of tea, isn’t there?"

Hokusinn Xuanma stood still, and straight to the point, he said, "Kichyō has gone missing."

The young man suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around, and asked, "Missing? When did it happen?"

"One week ago," Hokusinn Xuanma furrowed his brow, "She left a letter one week ago, saying she wanted to leave home for a while."

"Perhaps she’s just gone on an outdoor trip, calling it a disappearance seems a bit exaggerated," Bai Wei thought. He believed that leaving a letter behind meant it wasn’t an inexplicable disappearance, considering there were no conflicts in Hokusinn’s family nowadays.

"In the letter, she said that she would communicate with the family every three days, but it has been seven days already," Hokusinn Xuanma’s expression tensed up.

Bai Wei noticed his expression. The imposing head of the Hokusinn family had an unpleasant look on his face, as if he hadn’t rested for several days.

Hokusinn Xuanma spoke with certainty, "Kichyō must have encountered an unexpected incident or a difficult situation. I believe she might have mentioned to you where she was going."

Bai Wei noticed that the middle-aged man didn’t mention how he had spent these past few days. He didn’t bother complaining to Bai Wei, but rather wanted to inquire about his daughter’s whereabouts.

Even through blind guessing, one could imagine how much effort the old father had put into searching for Hokusinn Kichyō’s whereabouts, yet the result was inevitably nothing gained.

He stood here to inquire of Bai Wei, in a sense, it meant that he had already run out of options.

Bai Wei furrowed his brow, the atmosphere grew heavy. The disappearance of Hokusinn Kichyō weighed heavily on the spirit of Hokusinn Xuanma, but unfortunately, he truly knew nothing.

Bai Wei replied, "I can help investigate."

Hokusinn Xuanma’s facial muscles tightened, unable to conceal the look of disappointment. He opened his mouth and said, "…. I would greatly appreciate your help."

He turned around and stumbled slightly as he bent down to get into the car. It took him a moment to adjust before he finally seated himself inside. Before leaving, he glanced at Bai Wei and smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Kichyō, she trusts you more than her useless father, I see."

A letter was passed through the window of the vehicle, and as Bai Wei received it, the car drove away.

Bai Wei lowered his head and looked at the letter in his hand. It was the letter left behind by Hokusinn Kichyō. Opening it, he saw a faint pale exclamation mark appear on the pages.

[Event Triggered: Searching for the whereabouts of Hokusinn Kichyō]

[Target Area: Shikoku Town]

Pale in color, the mission difficulty is low, and it is a search for whereabouts, not a rescue of Hokusinn Kichyō.

It seems that she is temporarily safe, at least not yet in a life-or-death situation, unlike the incident in Kyoto when she saved Jingūji.

"Where exactly is Shikoku Town? I also need to check the train timetable and buy the tickets…" Bai Wei said, holding his forehead with his hand. "I have to go out again. I’ll have to ask Simozi for permission to take time off."

…

Shrine, Kokonohana Nori gazed at the report with concern. "Is this report true? All four sword witches who went to investigate have gone missing!"

The officials in charge of reporting waited for her anger to subside a little, then asked, "Do we need to initiate a search and rescue operation?"

"We must initiate the search and rescue!" Kokonohana Nori said coldly. "Even if they have become lifeless bodies, we must bring those bodies back!"

The priest lowered their head, revealing a troubled expression on their face.

The funeral attendant set down the report and asked, pressing their fingers to their forehead, "Is there a shortage of personnel?"

"Yes, most of the sword witches in December have lost their ability to move, and the priests are already extremely worried."

After a moment of silence, the shrine attendant said, "I will go."

"But you…"

"I am also a sword witch, there is no reason for me to stay behind. It’s settled then," Kokonohana Nori waved her sleeve. "It’s getting late, everyone should go down. Remember, warn everyone, never go to see the crimson moonlight."