Chapter 481 Intermission Three

Looking at Xiaoxue who threw herself into his arms just after getting off the train, Baishi patted her on the back lightly, then pushed her away helplessly, and said:

"You're such an adult, don't jump on me at every turn. Didn't Mrs. Santa teach you how to be a qualified lady, Xiaoxue?"

Before Xiaoxue opened her mouth, she heard a rush of footsteps, and the third grandpa chased after her out of breath. Just when she heard Baishi's words, she said, "Your Excellency Baishi, more than anyone else, I hope that Your Highness can become an excellent lady. It's just that His Highness has become more and more self-willed recently because of lack of discipline."

Facing Santa Fu's complaint, Xiaoxue gave him a hard look.

"Really? But, I haven't seen you for a while. Judging by your appearance, you are getting old now, San Taifu."

Baishi smiled at the third husband.

Looking at the wrinkles on Santafu's face, there are many more wrinkles than a few years ago, and I can't help but sigh that time goes by.

"Yes, I also feel that the young people nowadays are a bit too lively, especially Your Highness. If this continues, I feel ashamed of the late His Highness Zaoxue."

Seeing Santa Fu talking so provocatively while still wiping away tears, Xiaoxue was immediately speechless.

"The more you talk, the more outrageous you are, San Taifu. Even I want to relax occasionally. I always stay in an empty palace, and I will be out of touch with the times."

"That's better than showing your face outside."

Santafu smiled helplessly, but his tone was full of affection.

After all, the place where they live is indeed changing with each passing day.

I vaguely remember that more than ten years ago, the names of all countries were still symbols of sacredness and dignity.

Just like a high god, he does not eat the fireworks of the world.

But as time goes by, it is completely unacceptable to continue to maintain that kind of non-human setting and still want to govern the country well.

After all, if a country's name stands too high, its image will be smaller in people's minds.

So, now, if the daimyo still wants to add the element of "God" to himself, it will not work at all.

Countries like the Kingdom of Ghosts, which can still use witches and goddesses to maintain the rule of the country, can only be treated as an example after all, and it is difficult to copy and imitate.

"Okay, don't just talk about Xiaoxue, let's take a rest and relax."

Baishi laughed.

The date for the finals of the Joint Chunin Examination has been confirmed. Therefore, in the past few days, officials from all over the ninja world and well-known businessmen have rushed to the country of ghosts to watch the finals of the Joint Chunin Examination.

Such a grand event would naturally require the appearance of the neighboring Snow Country.

It's just that Xiaoxue and San Taifu were among the early arrivals compared to the representatives from other countries.

"The final of the joint Chunin exam? It is indeed a grand event worth looking forward to."

Santafu nodded.

Although Snow Country did not participate in this joint Chunin exam, they also know the importance of this joint Chunin exam.

Testing each other between big countries is always done inadvertently.

As one of the three major countries in the western part of the mainland, the Ghost Country urgently needs to expand its influence externally. As the organizer of the third test of the Joint Chunin Exam, it is a good opportunity to expand its influence.

Although the Kingdom of Ghosts experienced the War of the Kingdom of Wind before, most of the power displayed was actually concentrated in the few head ninjas in the military. The ability of the military ninja troops to participate in the war has not yet been well known by countries in the ninja world.

After the Battle of the Land of Rain, new weapons were sold to Hidden Rain Village to contain the Land of Fire. Although it also aroused great international repercussions, it was only remotely controlled behind the scenes. The main participants in the battle are the ninjas from Yuyin Village and the ninja troops from the Daming Mansion in the Land of Fire.

During the two crucial battles, the strength displayed by the Kingdom of Ghosts is still an unsolved mystery.

The strength of the head ninja of the army of the ghost country is naturally valued by all countries. The various new weapons developed by it have also been highly recognized by the arms market.

The only thing that has not been determined yet, and remains to be seen, is the fighting power of the ninjas other than the head ninjas of the Ghost Kingdom army.

Especially as a new generation of ninja, it can best reflect the potential of a ninja village.

And this kind of potential, after several years of fermentation, will gradually form the mainstay of Ninja Village and become the cornerstone of Ninja Village's organization.

This principle also applies to the army of the country of ghosts.

Although Santafu is very confident in the new generation of ninjutsu cultivated by the army of the ghost country, no matter how confident he is, he needs to witness it with his own eyes to feel completely at ease.

"Speaking of which, Asuka and the others don't seem to be here."

After circling around, Xiaoxue found that besides Shiraishi, there were only some government officials with familiar faces, and only Shiraishi was present with a close relationship with her.

"Asuka? He and Aya are receiving Kazuki's five-day special training. After all, the two of them will represent the army of the ghost country to take the third exam. Before the finals, you probably won't see them both."

Baishi led the way, Xiaoxue and Santafu also followed.

The ninjas from the Snow Country and the government officials from the Ghost Country followed closely behind and did not bother the three of them.

With Baishi present, they were not worried that some blind people would come to assassinate Xiaoxue, the daimyo of Snow Country, at such a time.

"Well, that's a pity. Thinking about it this way, the two mothers must have important things to deal with at this time."

When referring to her two mothers, Xiaoxue's tone obviously became a little subtle.

Shiraishi said vaguely: "Yes, the two of them are really busy, and I'm not at home very much these days, so you can stay at Ziyuan's place for the time being. It just so happens that she is quite bored alone at the shrine, so you can go and accompany her, so that she won't always sneak out of the shrine because of boredom."

Thinking of Ziyuan, Shiraishi suddenly had a headache.

Although, like Xiaoxue, Ziyuan is also her adopted daughter, but in terms of self-willedness, she is even more willful than Xiaoxue.

Because there is no one around Shion who can restrain her, the witches around her are also very obedient to her wishes.

As long as he doesn't cause trouble, Baishi will turn a blind eye over time.

Because if you think about it seriously, the biggest use of Shion, as a witch, is to seal and suppress the sprites when they make trouble again.

Besides that... It seems that as a witch, she really has nothing to do, and there is no obligation that must be fulfilled.

This kind of willfulness is completely different from Maitreya, the maiden of the previous generation.

"Well, I see, then I won't bother my lord father. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Shion for a long time, so I will attend with her when the time comes."

Xiaoxue brushed her hair and smiled slightly.

"Then I will trouble you. I hope that the child can calm down in the next few days, so that I can save myself some snacks."

Receiving Xiaoxue's promise, Baishi's mood cleared up a lot, and his walking pace also became brisk.

Thinking about it this way, I'm a little thankful that I didn't design some too troublesome characters when I created the avatar. Otherwise, so many 'children' would all make a fuss, and Baishi would feel dizzy just thinking about it.

"Did you... sneak out again?"

The voice came from behind the huge stone gate, it was a long and ancient, unique tone full of vicissitudes.

It seems that as long as you hear it, your mind will be unnaturally captured by the owner of this voice.

Although the stone gates are tightly connected, in the narrow gaps, a purple-black light can still be seen, seeping a little from the gaps.

But outside the stone gate, there are layers of spherical barriers.

Under the sunlight, the enchantment exudes a platinum-like sacred brilliance.

Therefore, even if the purple-black light filled with darkness wanted to poke its head out from the stone gate, it still couldn't move freely outside.

The sacred barrier seems to be its natural enemy, as long as it shows its head, it will make its body experience the pain of burning.

Although it is a symbol of immortality, pain is equal to humans and monsters.

Even if they are not afraid of death, sprites have no habit of abusing themselves.

The person communicating with it here is a young girl wearing a white priestess costume with long light golden hair.

Around her neck is a red string with a bell attached to it.

She sat on the ground with her back against the Shimen, and nodded slightly to the voice coming from behind the Shimen.

"The mountain is too boring. There are so many interesting things at the bottom of the mountain, but my father won't let me go every time, saying that I like to play. Even if I go, I can't stay for too long, and I have to have followers by my side."

Speaking of this, Zi Yuan couldn't help puffing up her mouth, seeming to be gloomy.

"That's your protection. Your mother, Maitreya, has the power to reverse time and space, and you, who inherit her blood, naturally have this power. When you meet a certain person, their life and death will be seen through. And death is not a very beautiful thing."

Even a priestess who is pure in body and mind will feel confused after seeing too many deaths.

Such a witch has seen many times in the past.

Ugly and beautiful, she was finally swallowed up by all kinds of desires in the world and died unexpectedly.

So most of the witches who really practice will not choose to join the world. Most of the time, they practice penance in shrines.

The sorcery they practice mostly does not harm humans, but targets monsters. The higher the state of mind of such witches, the lower the influence of monsters on them.

The witches who entered the world, most of the witches who have gone heresy, don't need to pay attention to spiritual cleanliness.

Their sorcery not only has terrible killing effects on monsters, but also on humans.

For them, entering the WTO is equivalent to spiritual practice.

As the main branch of the kingdom of ghosts, the priestess is responsible for sealing itthe sprites, so it is naturally impossible to practice in the world.

Once attracted by the darkness of the world, the power of the witch will be unclean, and the restraint against it will be weaker.

Thousands of years are like a day, never changing.

"Yeah?"

"It is not a good thing to be too kind, but because of the many sorrows, there is unnecessary compassion."

"But I don't like the feeling of being on top. It's too far away from other people."

Ziyuan raised her hand, holding the golden light, and stared blankly.

"For us, human life is too small and short. Maybe the next time you open your eyes, the world will have changed, but we will still exist forever. Even if you deliberately get close to them, most of them will only feel flattered and unable to understand your kindness."

Although the so-called life, in the eyes of sprites, all are equal, neither noble nor humble.

No matter who it is, there will be so-called selfishness.

However, after all, he is an 'object' condensed from the darkness deep in the heart.

No matter how close he is to a human being, he still knows that he is not human.

This is the same for Shion, who has transformed from a human into a 'witch'.

"It's really annoying! I didn't come to you to listen to the truth! And, as a monster, do you really know what I'm thinking?"

Zi Yuan stood up, and stared angrily at the sprite behind the stone gate through the gap.

"This is the sorrow of your excessive longing for the world. Your emotions are becoming more and more like human beings. Maitreya never loses her temper."

Not frightened by Ziyuan's sudden change of face, Sprite still spoke in a calm tone.

In its view, Zi Yuan has too much immaturity.

It is completely incomparable with Maitreya who sealed him.

It's like a rebellious adolescent who always likes to disobey adults in everything.

"snort."

Regarding the comments made by the sprites, Ziyuan also knows that she is far inferior to her mother Maitreya, who can face life calmly.

"Besides, you dump garbage at me every time. Even if I don't want to hear it, I can't cover my ears. For you, it is probably difficult to perform the duties of a witch, and you currently lack such awareness."

"Well"

Can't say enough about sprites.

However, just as the sprites said, Ziyuan's first reaction to the duties of the so-called miko is not to undertake, but to avoid and fear.

It is precisely because I have seen countless deaths that I am afraid of death.

Because every time you seal a monster, you need to pay for the life of the witch.

"You are a child who lacks 'love'. Just like ordinary human girls, when you don't want enough 'attention', you will lose your temper. But one thing is very strange, why do you, as a witch, produce such things?"

This sentence seems to be asking Zi Yuan, but also seems to be asking herself.

Because in his opinion, Shion really doesn't look like a qualified witch.

The priestesses of the previous generation, the priestesses of the previous generation, including the previous mainline priestesses, have all shown amazing concentration since childhood. No matter what kind of verbal temptations they face, no matter how many human deaths they have seen, they will not shake their beliefs at all.

Facing them is like facing a stubborn rock, unable to pry open any weakness in them.

As for Zi Yuan, in the eyes of sprites, her whole body is full of weaknesses.

Capricious, arrogant, a little verbal provocation, the emotions will be too violent. It's almost indistinguishable from humans.

But also because of the weakness of the whole body, it made it impossible to start.

The witches of the past seem to be running a predetermined program. Although they are stable, they also lose the possibility of continuing to grow.

And it is undoubtedly a strange thing for Ziyuan to gradually acquire emotional humanity.

Although due to these excessive emotions, the seal may no longer be stable, but because of this, the future will become elusive.

He doubted whether this was done on purpose by that manQianba Shiraishi.

"What do you want to say?"

Shion's tone became alert.

Although it is true that she has not realized the responsibility of a witch, she also knows that the existence behind the stone gate is too dangerous for human beings.

"Since you desire to be noticed by others, you no longer live in a world of one person, but like ordinary human girls, you can freely live the life you like, and you can love the person you like, instead of living a life arranged by people like this, and finally endless loop... Then, let's live in another way."

"another way?"

Zi Yuan felt strange about what the sprites said.

"I bear the 'evil' of human beings for you, and I want to re-understand this world."

For thousands of years, I have been suppressed by witches of all ages.

One or two failures can be regarded as accidental.

But five times, ten times or even more times, they all ended in failure.

If the failure is attributed to chance, then this kind of chance is too arrogant and stupid.

Because the words of the monster were too sudden, Zi Yuan froze in place.

Just when Ziyuan was at a loss and didn't know how to answer, a priestess walked through the corridor and walked outside the barrier.

"Master Ziyuan."

"ah?"

Zi Yuan was taken aback, and pretended to observe carefully on the stone gate, as if she was carefully checking the seal on the stone gate to see if there was any problem.

"What's matter?"

She turned her head cautiously and asked.

"Daimyo of the Snow Country, His Highness Fuka Koyuki has come to visit you. Are you going to see me?"

The witch asked.

"What? Sister Xiaoxue is here? Great, take me to see her!"

Hearing the news, Ziyuan immediately forgot what the sprites said before, and hurriedly walked outside the barrier, letting the witch lead the way.

As the footsteps gradually drifted away, Yao knew that Ziyuan had left this place.

The empty hall fell into deathly silence again.

Even with the sun shining in, the atmosphere here is still extremely depressing to ordinary people.

"When else do you see?"

The voice of sprites suddenly sounded in this space.

Not long after its words fell, a man came out from behind a stone pillar not far away, with a smile on his face, looking at the sealed stone gate, it was Baishi.

"Even if it is sealed, do you still have this level of perception, sprite?"

"Hmph, your human existence is as dazzling as the sun in the sky. Wouldn't it be strange not to be discovered?"

Regarding Shiraishi's question, sprites mocked unceremoniously.

Shiraishi couldn't deny the sprite's sneer.

"However, you are really wicked enough to eavesdrop here."

Sprites continued to sarcasm.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in you, I'm just taking precautions in advance. In case my daughter is cheated, I'm still counting money."

"Sure enough, you have heard the sermon."

For this result, the sprites are not too surprised.

"The practice life of a witch is too cold, even adults can hardly bear it, let alone children. At this time, I really need a "confidant friend" to pour out the garbage in my heart, so as to release the pressure."

"You're an interesting human being."

Knowing that the Miko is in contact with monsters that are opposed to humans, but she didn't stop it, but just paid attention to it silently. Should I say it is arrogance, or is it capable of controlling all this? Sprites commented on Shiraishi in this way.

"A layer of unchanging things looks too intrusive. If Miko needs to make changes in this generation, then, as the same kind, you may become a key turning point. This is how I think."

Baishi thought of Maitreya.

The ascetic priestess.

No matter when you look at it, she is a respectable woman.

But because people idolize her too much, her existence will always be so out of reach in the eyes of ordinary people.

Only at the end of his life did he express his true thoughts about becoming an ordinary human being.

So, over the years, Shiraishi has always treated Ziyuan's willful behavior with a tolerant attitude.

As long as he doesn't do anything too extreme, even if every time he goes out, he will turn a blind eye and close his eyes, even if it may make things messy every time he goes out. He only hopes that Ziyuan's life can be a little more free.

Otherwise, with Ziyuan's lame escape technique, he will be taken back to the shrine by the people he arranges to take care of before he leaves the shrine.

No matter what, she is also her adopted daughter, and Shiraishi doesn't want her to stay in the shrine forever, living a life like a prisoner.

"Are you trying to use me?"

"Don't be so explicit, just use each other. Do you want to stay in that kind of dark world for the rest of your life? There is no light, no air, no water, no life, and a different time and space without the concept of time. Just imagine, I feel that I might as well die."

The sprite fell silent.

Although it can't feel death, it also has so-called emotions like human beings. When a person stays alone for a long time, he will feel lonely, and when he is frustrated, he will feel pain and remorse.

Except that the body and soul are different from human beings, in terms of emotions, it is no different from ordinary people.

"Is the human world interesting?"

Pokemon asked this question nervously.

It's a bit ridiculous to say, although it hates humans, it doesn't know what the human world is like.

In this way, can it persist without distracting thoughts for the reason that it hates humans?

It seems that I have never thought about this issue since I was born.

For the first time, it was the first time that sprites were looking forward to this question, but they were also at a loss.

It is afraid that its expectations are too high, and it is also at a loss because it has to touch a field that is completely unfamiliar to itself.

Seemingly feeling all kinds of complex emotions in the sprite's heart, Shiraishi also fell silent for a while.

Immediately turned around, walked slowly to the edge of the sealed hall, looked up at the sky outside, and after a long time, Baishi calmed down his emotions and said:

"Don't worry, the world we live in is not a beautiful paradise, but it is far from hell. It's just a small piece of human world between the two. That's all."

Whether it is excessive expectations or excessive disappointment, it is unnecessary.

In Baishi's view, all kinds of worries in the sprite's heart are obviously superfluous.

(end of this chapter)