Chapter 177: News of Asase Hibiki! A glimmer of life!

Lumine and Paimon, who learned the news from Kurisu, were silent for a long time.

The most helpless thing was that the few of them couldn't take down Kujou Kamaji, and were instead held off by him until his companions arrived.

Subsequently, Harrison and the others were terrified and scattered in a rush.

Unsurprisingly, all seven or eight of them were wanted.

And as the original aggressor, Kujou Kamaji transformed into a victim.

"What should we do now?" Paimon was worried.

Lumine was also dumbfounded.

Now that Kujou Kamaji was being watched by many people, she couldn't get close to blackmail him, and even if she wanted to rely on getting evidence to solve the problem of random tax rates.

This was also a dead end.

Once Harrison took action, he was pushing himself to the brink.

Now, unless they ran to join the resistance on Watatsumi Island, it would be hard to get rid of the charge of attacking a Kanjou Commission official.

"Sigh, if only Mr. Luo Li were here."

Paimon sighed, missing Luo Li, who was nowhere to be found.

…………

On the other side!

Thousand-Gate Empty Boat!

Not to mention Lumine and Paimon struggling with how to solve the trouble for Kurisu and the others.

Luo Li had been living quite comfortably these days.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that the skylight he had opened late the previous night had been closed, and he couldn't see the bright moon or stars.

Only the dazzling sunlight shining through the pavilion window told him it was already noon.

Looking to the side, Mitsuyo, who offered everything every night, was sleeping beside him, with wet traces still at the corners of her eyes.

Luo Li was silent for a moment, got up, went to the window, and stretched his muscles.

Here, he could see the almost heaven-reaching Mount Yougou through the Thousand-Gate Empty Boat floating on the sea.

And the prosperous Inazuma City was hidden behind it.

Staring for a long time, Luo Li suddenly heard the sound of someone getting up behind him.

"Master, why are you up so early today?"

The cold beauty, rubbing her eyes, had already awakened. Finding the figure of the person beside her pillow standing behind the window, her slightly panicked mood returned to normal.

Luo Li turned back and found she had already put on her attire.

"It's almost noon, how is that early? You've been getting up later and later these days."

Mitsuyo was a bit shy; after all, she knew the reason, it was the increase in intensity since that night.

The Great Tengu, who craved pleasure, had forgotten everything else for a time, her mind entirely focused on Luo Li.

Worried that this was just a dream, she followed her master every moment, not leaving a single step.

"It's not my fault, Master, you didn't care if I could..."

Mitsuyo pouted her lips low, as if staying with her master had returned her to the state of a lively young girl.

Luo Li pretended not to hear and turned to say: "Staying here for a few days, accompanying you for these days, it's time for me to leave."

Mitsuyo panicked in her heart and hurriedly said: "Where are you going again? No matter where you go, I'm going too!"

She was really worried that her master would leave and never return, leaving her alone to guard the villa for another five hundred years of loneliness.

She would definitely go crazy.

"I just came back, and there are still many old friends to see. Don't tell me I haven't fed you enough?"

Luo Li’s teasing look made Mitsuyo’s face flush, but she held on and said: "A lifetime wouldn't be enough."

"Alright, I promise, this time I definitely won't leave again, okay? You can't expect me to stay here forever."

Reaching out to flick the nose of the Tengu who had shed her purity, Luo Li’s gentle words made Mitsuyo hesitate.

Until a moment later, hearing her master mention many old friends, she suddenly remembered something and hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

Pausing, Mitsuyo said: "Master, there is one thing I forgot to tell you."

Luo Li watched her quietly, making a listening gesture.

"It's about Hibiki."

Luo Li’s eyes moved, stirred by this name, recalling memories of the past.

Asase Hibiki, that strong, kind, little shrine maiden who liked to work hard in silence.

Five hundred years had passed; Mitsuyo had become a Great Yokai and still existed, but could Hibiki, as a human, survive such a long time? Perhaps she had already returned to dust.

Thinking of this, even after experiencing many similar scenes, Luo Li felt a trace of separation rising.

Sure enough, sometimes it's best not to get involved with non-long-lived species.

Just like the Liyue Adepti who lived in seclusion in the mountains, their traces hard to find.

To say it was their nature and they didn't like making friends would be a misunderstanding.

Excluding individual cases, no one likes to be alone; it's just that they have to be.

Witnessing countless friends die, the hearts of the Adepti, once as pure as glaze, would be stained with filth and scarred; the so-called "pearl covered in dust" was exactly this.

"What happened to Hibiki?"

Luo Li had originally been prepared for the worst, but what Mitsuyo said next stunned him.

"When she learned of your death, Master, Hibiki didn't tell anyone. She left the Grand Narukami Shrine alone and returned to her hometown on Seirai Island, inheriting the position of shrine maiden at Asase Shrine. I didn't learn of this until several years later."

"I wasn't doing much better then, not wanting to see anyone, until later I heard the lingering hatred of the Thunderbird on Seirai Island had been unsealed. When I passed by, I wanted to see Hibiki, but found she had already disappeared without a trace, only seeing a black cat named Neko there."

"It told me that Hibiki couldn't accept the blow of the truth and used the sealing arts you once taught her to seal herself. Because her own cultivation wasn't enough, she forcibly unsealed the Thunderbird’s power to connect with the ley lines and set up a barrier. Since then, I haven't been back."

Speaking to this point, Mitsuyo’s eyes dimmed and she stopped talking.

Luo Li’s eyes brightened slightly; when he taught Mitsuyo and Asase Hibiki, it was with the intention of making them top-tier existences.

Sometimes he would go beyond the curriculum to explain some techniques they couldn't yet use, including the various sealing arts he taught the shrine maiden Asase Hibiki.

One of them was a barrier that could freeze time forever, but it required a constant supply of power to maintain.

He hadn't expected Hibiki to use the Thunderbird’s power to connect the ley lines and completely seal herself on Seirai Island.

In this way, as long as the sealing art wasn't broken, she should still be in the state she was in back then.

His heart eased slightly; never expecting to receive such good news, Luo Li showed a faint smile.

"Master, Hibiki she..."

Sensing Mitsuyo’s low mood, Luo Li stroked her long hair soothingly.

Back then, she had treated Hibiki entirely as her own younger sister; learning that her sister’s life or death was unknown must have been very painful.

"But Hibiki might not necessarily be in trouble."

Luo Li whispered to himself.

Of course, he couldn't be sure; everything would have to be observed carefully after going there.