She did not expect Kitagawa Tera to slap Hos.h.i.+no Nana directly when she merely stretched her hand out.

"I probably have some conflict with that person at school. You don't need to care too much. Anyway, school will start again tomorrow. I'll find a way to resolve this matter." Kitagawa Tera walked forward, speaking neither too fast nor slow.

"… I understand." Kitagawa Eri replied obediently, but the worry in her eyes had not dispersed.

Kitagawa Tera did not think much of her worry.

Why would an adult worry about what happened in a high school?

From Kitagawa Tera's perspective, everything that happened in high school was very childish.

Moreover, Kitagawa Tera himself was calm and naturally did not care.

Kitagawa Tera truly treated Kitagawa Eri as his younger sister now.

He might not have exchanged many words with Kitagawa Eri since he transmigrated over ten days ago, but he could see the caring gaze from her.

Huh? Kitagawa Tera's heart jumped, and he looked into the distance.

"What's wrong, Terniisan?" Kitagawa Eri's gaze followed Kitagawa Tera's.

It was a lake park, chilly and bleak during winter. Thick snow blanketed it, and there was no trace of human activity. The irregularly round-shaped lake in the center had no ice formed on it, and there were benches scattered around it.

Dry branches protruded like the claws of a ghost, and the rust of the swing was like scarlet blood. An indescribable eeriness shot up straight from Kitagawa Eri's heels to her spine.

Silence…

Dead silence!

Someone seemed to be beckoning Kitagawa Eri from deep within the forest. The hand was white as jade and looked so ghastly beautiful.

Kitagawa Eri wanted to go closer to see it clearly…

"Eri." Kitagawa Tera's calm voice rang in her ears.

Despite his voice not being loud, it seemed to burst in Kitagawa Eri's ears like a clap of thunder.

Kitagawa Eri suddenly came to her senses and was full of cold sweat when she realized where she was.

She was on the lake embankment. One more step forward would have brought her into the white, misty lake.

Had she stepped into the lake in this weather, she would have fallen seriously ill even if she did not die.

"Let's go and pray at the shrine."

"Ah, oh." Kitagawa Eri nodded, lost in thought. She let Kitagawa Tera take her hand and walked toward the shrine.

Shortly after Kitagawa Tera and Kitagawa Eri left the lake, Hos.h.i.+no Nana followed closely behind to the side of the lake.

How ridiculous. Both of them actually forgot to bring their purses… Hos.h.i.+no Nana pouted.

She took out her makeup mirror and checked her appearance in the gla.s.s.

Although the blood by her mouth had been wiped clean, her pet.i.te snow-white face was red and swollen.

That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Kitagawa Tera!

Hos.h.i.+no Nana squeezed the makeup mirror in her hand hard and gritted her teeth.

Finally, she exhaled. So weird. Why is that usually silent blockhead suddenly like this today?

I'll definitely be laughed at if I go to the New Year's shrine visit with my face as red and swollen as this. Hos.h.i.+no Nana walked forward, absorbed in her thoughts. I won't go to the New Year's shrine visit this year.

Splash

Icy cold.

A biting chill spread from the soles of her feet upward.

Hos.h.i.+no Nana looked up, dumbfounded.

She had stepped into the lake unconsciously. Half her thighs were already submerged in the frigid lake.

"What's going on?!"

The humidity and coldness from the frozen lake wrapped around Hos.h.i.+no Nana. Her rosy lips turned pale and purple at a rate visible to the naked eye!

Her legs lost their feeling, and a numbing cold dominated her entire body.

She could not see anything.

The white mist of the lake had surrounded her unknowingly.

She looked back again, only to see arms waving from deep within the forest.

Waving arms…

Dozens of arms cl.u.s.tered on top of a piece of meat.

Hands, hands, hands…

They were all hands!

They swayed in the cold wind like shrubs and gra.s.s!

Despair, doubt, perplexity, the mixture of all sorts of emotions forced Hos.h.i.+no Nana to scream loudly!

She wanted to escape but couldn't!

"Come." Someone reached out to her in the mist.

This was the only possible way to survive.

Hos.h.i.+no Nana stretched her hands out and firmly grasped this final straw!

Suddenly, the mist disappeared. Hos.h.i.+no Nana was lying on a mat. Her lower body was wet, her purplish lips were trembling, and her face was full of gratefulness for escaping death.

"Th-thank you…" Hos.h.i.+no Nana raised her head to express her grat.i.tude when the words became stuck in her throat…

Something flew at high speed toward her little head.

A s.h.i.+ning metal bat reflected in her exquisite pupils.

Bang!

A m.u.f.fled sound came from deep within the park, followed by the sound of someone's body falling heavily onto a mat.

…

After visiting the shrine, Kitagawa Tera returned to the lake park. He had something he wanted to investigate, so he found a reason to split from Kitagawa Eri.

The lake park was still that lake park. Nothing had changed since Kitagawa Tera left it.

"Let's see. What's hidden here?"

Kitagawa Tera took a deep breath, and a jet black stream flashed through his pupils.

The world transformed.

He saw vicious scarlet blood lines fill the air with Cadaveric Aura.

This was 'grudge'.

Human thoughts had invisible power, and when thoughts concentrated, they would become 'spirits'.

There were good and bad spirits. Spirits that did not have strong grievances before they died were ordinary spirits and would not cause excessive damage to humans. Some of them might even become similar to Kitagawa Kenichi, a guardian spirit accompanying people.

However, they would become wraiths if they suffered immense injustice before they died. Wraiths would subconsciously harm the living because they were formed by resentment toward the living. Therefore, the scarlet blood grudges generated by them were also harmful to the human body.

Perhaps nothing would happen on the first encounter, but they would subtly change people's personalities and temperaments and make them violent.

Kitagawa Tera could not help covering his nose and mouth.

The grudge in the air had formed silk threads, and Kitagawa Tera did not want to waste his Cadaveric Aura on expelling them.

No wonder no one came to this lake park for morning exercises. After all, people subconsciously sought luck and avoided danger. Most people would intuitively not want to step near this place after seeing it.

With such a strong grudge, there had to be something in the lake park.

Kitagawa Tera's thoughts jumped a little… The density of grudge here has reached the level of an advanced-stage elementary wraith. My Cadaveric Aura and physique will definitely advance a grade if I can resolve the other party.

With this thought, he stepped decisively into the depth of the lake park.

However, the place Kitagawa Tera was heading to was not the lake but the bridge opposite.

In that dark and dense forest…

A pair of eyes were on Kitagawa Tera in the dark not far behind him as he headed there.

Peering intently at him…