Chapter 346

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Chapter 346: What Should Have Been

The sky gradually grew dark, and the daytime passed by quickly.

The sun never stops, while the moon can’t wait.

Winter days were always like this. The daytime was too short, and the nighttime was too long. The pitch-black midnight felt incredibly long and quiet. The air was cold, and the night breeze swept through the mountains, as if nature was showing its invisible majesty, causing all living creatures to bow their heads, curl up, and tremble with fear.

The moonlight of December once again brought a sensation of pain to Kokonohana Nori. Although another force flowing within her easily dispelled this stinging sensation, she could still feel the declining strength of this bestowed power, which was unavoidable.

The descendant of a witch, in the distant land of Yingzhou, was denied the golden gaze.

For a span of four hundred years, from bloodline to spirit, everything had become deeply intertwined with this land, making it incredibly difficult to leave.

"Let’s go."

She put on the outfit of a funeral attendant and entered the underground shrine.

The shrine was built on a small hill, and the mountain had already been hollowed out, turning the spacious interior into a place where the shrine concealed all its secrets.

The first underground floor was the place where the sword witches resided, and they had to spend a difficult month here.

During the day, they could come out to move around, bask in the sun, but they had to return once night fell.

Kokonohana Nori arrived at the first underground floor and looked at the gaze of over fifty sword witches before her. She opened her mouth, but the prepared words in her mind were immediately forgotten, and she didn’t know what to say to comfort them.

Boosting confidence is very important, and one must not succumb to the Scarlet Curse. But perhaps this only adds to the pain, like treating a terminally ill patient, struggling to prolong life in agony.

A responsible elder priestess immediately came forward and said, "Dear funeral attendant, two people are missing."

Kokonohana Nori asked, "Are they missing? Are they not back yet?"

"No, we have already summoned them three times. If they don’t return by this time, they will be left out under the crimson moon," the elder priestess shook her head and said, "Perhaps she knows she can no longer hold on, so…"

There was no need to say anything more. This kind of thing had already happened many times before.

When the sword witch underwent a gruesome transformation, her life was nearing its end. On one hand, she didn’t want to face execution here, but on the other hand, realizing that her days were limited, she naturally wanted to do something. Perhaps go home and visit her parents, or find a place to end it all.

"Found her," Kokonohana Nori said before Kurosawa Yaka could speak, "Maybe there’s still a chance to save her?"

"Ah, found her," the funeral attendant held back feelings of sorrow. "I’ll go as well."

She turned back and looked at the other sword witches, saying to Kurosawa Yaka, "Take care of them."

…

Behind the shrine, on the mountain.

"Izumi! Don’t run anymore. It’s getting dark. Come back with me quickly."

"I don’t want to! What nonsense are you talking about? Go back and wait to die?"

"Does that mean you won’t die if you don’t go back? Stop making a scene!"

"I am not going back!"

The girl ahead stopped in her tracks, holding onto a branch. She turned around and the evening sun’s rays illuminated the hillside, revealing two clear tear streaks on her cheeks.

"I won’t… go back!"

"You also saw their expressions, when I go back, everyone will be frightened, you and I, like two monsters!"

She removed the injured bandage, revealing her fair and delicate arm that was covered in dripping blood. Colorful feathers had grown, and they were now soaked in blood.

She grabbed her arm tightly and forcefully tore off the growing feathers, throwing them onto the ground.

"Look! This is how I look now!"

"Another night passed, and I had no idea what kind of creature I would turn into. Would the future me still be myself?"

"I don’t want to harm my friends, nor do I want to die like this. But I will turn into a monster, and I will die by the High Priest’s sword. But… why? Why do I have to accept this fate? Did I do something wrong?"

Izumi sobbingly asked.

Shashu fell silent. She looked at her friend’s arm, lowered her head, and her hand instinctively touched her face.

Her face was also destroyed in the bizarre transformation last night. Vines that had suddenly grown almost choked her neck, and rough bark grew where her face had been cut by leaves. It itched and hurt a lot.

Flesh mutation, once this sign appears in a witch, it means that death is not far away. Even if they manage to survive by chance, they will mostly become beings that are neither fully human nor demon-like. They can only hide in the secluded mountain villages, waiting for the next Blood Moon to devour their souls.

The incurable Blood Moon Disease, it was a curse that the sword witches carried.

Starting from the previous generation, it began to appear and reached its peak in this generation. Therefore, it was the first time they had seen it, and even the first time they had learned about it.

The two sword witches were still very young, only twenty years old. They had never expected to encounter such a calamity before dying in battle. The thought of gradually losing their sanity in pain and eventually being slain by the high priestess drove Izumi to madness. No matter what, she couldn’t accept this outcome in her heart, so she escaped.

Shashu chased after her all the way until they arrived at this back mountain. The two of them ran up along the crimson-tinted slope, one in front and one behind, until they reached the hill. They stopped in their tracks, gazing at the sun about to set.

Shashu approached silently, gently holding Izumi’s hand and pulling her, they slowly sat down on the hillside.

"I will stay with you until the very end, we are not alone, I understand how you feel."

Izumi hugged Shashu and burst into tears.

The glow of the setting sun grew increasingly dim. Before the sun had completely set, the red moonlight had already occupied half of the sky.

Izumi’s crying became even more suppressed, as she once again felt a sharp pain, even stronger than before.

Shashu also felt the pain. She felt her blood flowing slowly and heavily, as if something was trying to break free from inside her body, eager to leave this physical vessel. She clenched her lips, and what made her even sadder than the pain was the increasingly clear and distant singing, slowly separating her from her own consciousness. It was as if her sense of self was diluting rapidly, like paint being continuously mixed with water.

Izumi opened her eyes and looked at Shashu, seeing the same pain and determination reflected in her best friend’s eyes.

…and the time had come.

They stood at the top of the cliff. The height here wasn’t particularly high, only about one or two hundred meters. On this side, there was a steep cliff, with a vertical drop of over a hundred meters, enough to shatter the two girls if they were to fall.

The chill and pain distorted their senses, one feeling a piercing coldness, while the other felt her entire body burning up.

They were all feeling a little scared, but they forced themselves to take a half step forward, peering down at the steep cliff.

The girls chose to close their eyes, leaned forward, and imagined themselves jumping, free-falling, sacrificing themselves.

"Izumi, Shashu!"

Kokonohana Nori caught sight of them. She shouted their names loudly, weaving through the forest and climbing up the slope. "Don’t do anything foolish!"

"Funeral attendant,…" Shashu murmured, "Sorry, but we need to take a step ahead."

At this moment, Izumi’s consciousness became faint. She nodded gently and leaned against her friend’s shoulder.

The two sword witches leapt down the cliff, and as their figures disappeared, the last trace of the sunset’s glow also faded away, leaving the world illuminated by the crimson moonlight.

Kokonohana Nori stood ten paces away. She slowly bent down, feeling a wave of pain, numbness, and self-blame flooding her heart, transporting her back to that fateful night twenty years ago.

Because she was so powerless back then, this sense of powerlessness surrounded her like a nightmare, keeping her awake at night, and forever remembering the beloved friend and teacher who died on that fateful night… That’s why she vowed never to let this tragedy repeat itself again.

But still, she couldn’t change anything. She felt sadness and powerlessness…

So, twenty years ago, she firmly gave up on useless beliefs and became part of a group that abandoned tradition.

But these twenty years, nothing has changed. Everything remained the same as it was back then, and even became worse.

Abandoning tradition, forsaking belief, trying countless methods, in the end, couldn’t save all the sword witches.

The shogun of the shogunate also spoke directly, saying, "The abilities possessed by these heroic spirits can save one or two people. However, when there are too many people in need, even they are powerless. The Heroic Spirit Principle belongs to the individual heroic spirits themselves, and its mysteries cannot bestow blessings and favors upon thousands of people."

Kokonohana Nori longed for something more than just her own redemption. She desired to save other sword witches, to save the sword witches of the future. However, her strength fell short, and once again, it ended in the same outcome.

She supported herself against the trees with immense pain, relying her body’s weight on them. Fragile like a hundred-year-old person, she breathed heavily, gasping for breath.

She felt like she was about to collapse, as if the mountain within her heart was about to be completely overwhelmed and crumble by the scene before her eyes.

The hateful crimson moonlight was like a mockery, and the singing grew closer and closer, gradually tearing apart her battered soul.

Then, the distant singing abruptly stopped, as if a record player had been abruptly turned off, and a figure blocked the crimson moon.

He rose slowly from beneath the cliff, taking steps on thin air, with each step leaving behind a golden ripple, as if walking in the sky.

He held a Sword Witch in each hand, as if carrying two half-grown kittens, gripping them by the nape of their necks, and the cats remained completely still.

He ascended the cliff and gazed at the dazed Kokonohana Nori. Releasing his grip, the two Sword Witches rolled away with a soft thud.

Izumi and Shashu had lost consciousness and remained unconscious. However, the physical changes brought about by the transformation had disappeared, and they had returned to being two lovely young girls.

They were safe.

Kokonohana Nori slowly knelt down, tightly embracing the two girls. In a soft, sincere, and hoarse voice, she said, "Thank you."

The young man stood facing the crimson moon, and the golden silhouette scattered the crimson hue.

He said, "You’re welcome."