Chapter 233: Wandering Garden Startled Dream (II)

I, a lowly woman, codename Han Ya, serve as a Judge, overseeing the final duties of the Detention, Restraint, Punishment, and Inquiry divisions. Therefore, I am not completely ignorant of you two.

Han Ya's tone was flat as she turned her gaze to the red-haired girl opposite: "Gui Naifen, an outsider, unemployed… She entered Su Garden with the Cloud Knight Su Shang the day before yesterday."

"Unemployed?" Gui Naifen put her hands on her hips and emphasized righteously: "I'm a street performance artist and a host chasing hot topics—a host! At least it's a proper livelihood!"

The three Xianzhou officials opposite exchanged a glance, then turned their gaze to Xing: "As for this person here…"

Xing immediately surrendered: "Sir, it was all Gui Naifen's idea!"

"H-how did you betray me so quickly?!" Gui Naifen's eyes widened with a "swish," this defection is way too fast!

Han Ya emphasized that this area had been designated a restricted zone, no idlers allowed; regarding Gui Naifen's idea of filming supernatural ghosts, Xue Yi corrected: "I've already said there are no ghosts on the Xianzhou. This is absurd superstition; as residents of the Xianzhou, we should neither believe nor spread rumors."

Gui Naifen completely distrusted that flimsy explanation, and with no choice Huo Huo had to add: "What we saw that day was an energy parasite known as Sui Yang."

Gui Naifen still didn't believe it, outright thinking Sui Yang was just another name for a ghost on the Xianzhou; Huo Huo, seeing persuasion fail, had no choice but to summon Tail Grandfather for a visit.

She lowered her head to glance at the tail sprouting eerie ghost flames from her buttocks, and softly called out: "…Tail, Tail Grandfather?"

"I heard you, I heard you! So noisy… This grandpa isn't some exotic beast here to serve humans."

Accompanying that arrogant voice appearing before Gui Naifen's eyes was a fiery dough ball radiating a dangerous aura.

——

A blessing upon this beautiful world.

"Eh? Is Sui Yang this fox‑person little girl's pet? It's too cute! I want the same!" Aqua's eyes lit up with envy, her body wriggling excitedly in the seat.

Kazuma gave her a disgusted glance, utterly unwilling to admit that this guy who constantly wears a lovesick expression is his companion. Since the light curtain appeared, Aqua has wanted every novel cute thing she sees, and upon seeing a handsome guy from another world she can't walk—what kind of person becomes a goddess like this?

"Hey, you idiot, you've completely missed the point!" Kazuma couldn't help but interrupt her: "That fox‑person named Huo Huo—you didn't notice she has no tail at all? That Sui Yang has taken the place of her tail; no matter how you look at it, it's really weird, right?"

Hehehe…

Megumin beside them suddenly covered half her face with one hand, let out an inscrutable laugh, and affected a deep voice: "I see… I now know everything, oh—this must be the Contract Tail of the Luofu Xianzhou? The sealed primordial evil spirit, lodging in the fox‑person's body in the form of a tail…"

"Contract Tail? What even is that? Hey hey, Megumin, what weird headcanon are you cooking up now? How could a primordial evil spirit possibly manifest as something this cute?"

Really, those two are abnormal…

But this ghost‑like thing does look a bit familiar—have I seen it somewhere before?

Kazuma carefully examined Tail Grandfather's appearance, trying to recall: "When the envoy named Huan Long was defeated, didn't a similar cluster of ghost fire remain in the same spot?"

——

Gui Naifen stared in disbelief at the fiery dough ball before her: "Tail… Grandfather?"

The dough ball's attitude was arrogant and fierce: "I am Sui Yang, the ghost you think I am—got it? Then scram!"

Gui Naifen sucked in a breath of cold air, and after forcibly suppressing her fear, she sheepishly scratched her cheek: "Um… could I talk a bit more with this… this Tail Grandfather?"

"Scram, I've got no time to bullshit with you," the dough ball said, preparing to return to Huo Huo's body.

Having seen everyone who needed to be seen, Xue Yi prepared to send them off.

"Don't be angry, sis—you rarely deal with people on your missions, so you lack experience in handling affairs; why not let Han Ya take care of this?" Han Ya looked at Xue Yi, her voice as gentle as water.

But when her gaze shifted to Xing and Gui Naifen, her tone instantly turned cloudy, reverting to that indifferent, flat manner she uses with everyone.

"You two must have heard about the accident at the Gong Zao Si's Fortune Forge Furnace, where the sealed Sui Yang escaped and is now holed up here, and the Ten Kings Bureau is also under orders to capture it."

——

Gintama.

In the living room of the Odd Jobs Agency, Gintoki lay lazily on the sofa watching the sky, when suddenly his brow furrowed and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Hold on! I've figured it out!"

Shinpachi shot up, looking dead serious and shocked at Gintoki: "Huh? Figured out what? You're not going to say the biggest impact of the Jianmu Hair Growth is destroying the Fortune Forge Furnace and freeing Sui Yang, are you? That's just a side effect…"

"No, it's more important than that. I've realized…" Gintoki lowered his voice mysteriously, "Han Ya is basically a sis‑con!"

"…"

Shinpachi couldn't take it anymore: "Damn it! That's not the point at all?! The Xianzhou is clearly facing a new crisis right now—that's what matters! Whether she's a sis‑con or not is irrelevant!"

"Who says it's not important? For those sisters it's huge." As he spoke, Gintoki stroked his chin and fell into thought, "But come to think of it, this contrast‑cute appeal really has market—being the silent type, the older sister Xue Yi, while the younger sister Han Ya, a sis‑con, is not only more voluptuous but also surprisingly good at chatting… This is a pretty standard trope in Jump, huh!"

"So you've been completely ignoring Sui Yang all this time?!"

"Oh… you mean that little Pokémon‑like fireball?" Gintoki finally reacted, waving his hand casually, "Just catch it with a Poké Ball—no way that little ghost fire could possess someone, right?"

——

"If classified by Taibu, they are extraterrestrial energy parasites appearing as stellar flames—the 【Star Fire Essence】."

"They're like moths drawn to a flame—except the flame isn't anything else, but the thoughts of sentient life."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Xing asked.

"Yeah, they like to latch onto intelligent lifeforms, sucking up their experiences and savoring their emotions. Gradually, Sui Yang takes root in the host's nervous system, using their inner desires and weaknesses to make them produce all kinds of delusions, like puppeteering a puppet."

"At that point, the host obeys Sui Yang's every word—we call that 【Seizure】."