Chapter 103: Coveting Her Body, Despicable!

The next day.

The sun rose in brilliance, the sky clear and air crisp.

Along the street, shopkeepers pulled up their iron shutters and stepped out, ready to open for business—the morning holds the key to the day.

“What a beautiful day today—perfect for an outing.”

Kamikawa Chiemi stepped out of her apartment, raised her head, shaded her eyes with her hand, her bright pupils reflecting white clouds and blue sky.

After seeing Kamikawa Chiemi off to school, Kamikawa Mitsu walked toward school himself.

On the way, people chatted about the transcendent and the yokai.

Children, wielding sticks or toy swords, played at being transcendent or yokai, laughing and chasing each other along the road.

Since the incident at Yunhu, the transcendent and the yokai had become common topics of conversation.

“The streets are much livelier than before.”

Kamikawa Mitsu glanced around; this street had never been busy, but now foot traffic had doubled—these people weren’t from Arakawa Ward, but from other districts of Tokyo, even other parts of Japan.

According to statistics from Japan’s economic authorities, Arakawa Ward, once a slum, had experienced explosive economic growth in just half a month, and was expected to soon shed its slum status—a development no one would have believed possible before.

All of it was due to the yokai and the transcendent.

Now everyone knew the transcendent and the yokai were real, and if you wanted to see them, you had to go to Arakawa Ward, for that was where all the transcendent and yokai activity was concentrated—Arakawa Ward was clearly becoming a distinctive district: the Yokai District.

“So I’ve indirectly boosted my hometown’s development?”

Listening to the chatter around him, Kamikawa Mitsu learned that many businesses and merchants had moved into Arakawa Ward, spanning all kinds of industries.

At that moment, someone stopped Kamikawa Mitsu.

“Excuse me, are you Kamikawa Mitsu?”

She held a camera and phone—clearly a streamer. In the past few days, the most common professions in Arakawa Ward had been streamers and reporters; you could find one on nearly every street.

They spent their days broadcasting outdoors, wandering everywhere, just hoping to encounter a yokai or transcendent.

“You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not Kamikawa Mitsu. I’m Tada Eiichiro.”

To avoid trouble and not be late for school, Kamikawa Mitsu gave a casual reply.

The female streamer blinked: “Oh, really? Sorry about that.”

Sigh… so she’d mistaken him for someone else…

Hmm? Wait—Tada Eiichiro? That name sounds oddly familiar.

Inside the livestream.

{Everyone leave, this streamer’s probably an idiot}

{Brain scan: a cute idiot.}

{Wow~ Kamikawa Mitsu looks even better in person than on TV. So handsome. Sis, I’m done, what about you?}

Later, the female streamer realized her mistake and stomped her foot in frustration.

“No, today I’m definitely interviewing you.”

Without another word, she used her viewers’ crowd-sourced detective skills to find Kamikawa Mitsu’s school and headed straight there.

The transcendent and the yokai were today’s dominant topic; the late King, as one of the transcendent, had his videos watched by countless people, his fanbase surpassing tens of millions. Kamikawa Mitsu, as one of the three main figures in those videos, naturally gained fame along with them.

Interviewing Kamikawa Mitsu would bring her massive traffic.

…

Arakawa High School, Tokyo, Japan.

“Kamikawa-kun.”

No sooner had he stepped into the classroom than a voice came from behind—he turned.

“Tsukuyomi-kun.”

Tsukuyomi Xia Mei carried her schoolbag, her delicate, beautiful face lit with a warm smile. She knew she had no magical power, but she had no intention of transferring schools—she liked it here, her classmates were good, and most importantly, there was Kamikawa Mitsu, the only student who could truly talk with her about the Shinto Way.

At her previous school, no one could discuss the Shinto Way with her.

She sat down at her desk.

“Kamikawa-kun, what do you think about the myths…”

Tsukuyomi Xia Mei eagerly began talking to Kamikawa Mitsu about divine tales.

Lacking magical power hadn’t diminished her love for the Shinto Way—she’d simply shifted her focus. No longer seeking to exorcise demons, she now wanted to research and explore whether Shinto history was truly as recorded, or if there were grand, unknown truths hidden beneath it, hoping to revive and spread the Shinto Way.

“Kamikawa-kun, do you think Yamata no Orochi really came from China, as the internet says?”

“I think it’s quite possible. By the way, may I ask you something? Online, they say your family descends from Abe no Seimei, and that the ‘Collection of Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit’ wasn’t written by him—then what did Abe no Seimei actually write? I’m curious.”

“Ah, actually, I don’t know. My family has many ancient texts, and there’s plenty recorded about our ancestor Abe no Seimei, but as you know, after a thousand years, not everything survives. Some of the texts about our ancestors are missing. Kamikawa-kun, are you particularly interested in my ancestor?”

“Abe no Seimei was the first master of Yin-Yang Dao within the Shinto Way, and a legendary figure in Shinto history—how could I not be interested?”

“I’ve read some of my family’s texts, but I haven’t finished the ones about Abe no Seimei. If you want to learn more, you can come to my house—I’ll show you them.”

“That would be too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all! I’ll tell you, we have a lot of ancient texts—about Abe no Seimei, and also records of generations of our family’s figures, like Arai Taishin, one of the three famous Yin-Yang Masters and Abe no Seimei’s fifth-generation descendant, and Abe Yushu, another of the three great Yin-Yang Masters who later changed the family name to Tsukuyomi, and even Tsukuyomi Taifuku, the founder of Tsukuyomi Shinto, and many others.”

When Tsukuyomi Xia Mei spoke of the Shinto Way, especially her Tsukuyomi family, pride welled up on her face.

Her clear, water-like eyes sparkled with light.

She puffed out her chest, standing tall and proud.

“Besides our family’s ancestral records, we also hold ancient texts on the lives of Shinto figures from every era—extremely rich. Even though some are lost, we still have many that can’t be found online—only we have them.”

“Tsukuyomi-kun, if you say that, I absolutely must visit your home. You can’t refuse me now.”

Kamikawa Mitsu smiled, ignoring the “FFF Gang” glares from classmates around him.

To build his grand mythological world of gods and monsters, he needed to understand the Shinto Way—more detail, the better.

Originally, he’d thought a boy visiting a girl’s home would invite gossip, but now that Tsukuyomi Xia Mei had said so much, his curiosity was fully aroused—he had to go see for himself, had to learn more about the Shinto Way.

“How could I refuse? Kamikawa-kun is my friend—I welcome you warmly. My parents and grandfather are also happy when I bring friends home.”

Tsukuyomi Xia Mei was delighted—this was the first time she’d invited a male friend to her home.

She’d never invited any before, because none of the boys she knew could truly talk with her—they weren’t genuinely interested in the Shinto Way, only pretending. But she could tell Kamikawa Mitsu was sincerely fascinated.

That look in his eyes—the thirst to understand the Shinto Way—was just like hers.

Unfortunately, the classmates around them couldn’t see that. All the boys saw was a gaze that wasn’t seeking knowledge—it was hungering for Tsukuyomi Xia Mei’s body. Yes, that look was exactly like theirs: base, vulgar, craving her body.

To them, Kamikawa Mitsu’s gaze wasn’t one of curiosity—it was the hungry look of a man craving Xia Mei’s body, yes, just as base and vulgar as their own, craving her flesh.

……