juvenile onmyoji

"There are a lot of people who cook porridge with red mirror cakes," Qingming said, "There are people in our neighborhood." He sent Teng Snake to check.

At this time, Ibaraki had already broken free from Shuten, ran into the room and sat beside Riko, with his elbows on the low table, looking at Riko sideways.He kept saying, "Haven't you finished talking to him yet? It's ok. Talk to me too."

"Is there no way to wake him up?" Riko said while stroking his head soothingly.Ibaraki immediately narrowed his eyes comfortably.

"Not yet," Qingming said with dark eyes, suppressing a little displeasure, "We can only wait for tomorrow to see if his condition can be alleviated."

"If there is really a problem with the red mirror cake, there are so many people in Heian-kyo who have bought this mirror cake..." Riko would feel terrible when she thought of that.If everyone magnifies their inner desires like Ibaraki...

"Yeah," Qingming also said sadly, "If this is the case, I'm afraid the result will be worse than you think. I don't believe that the person who planned this is just to make everyone go crazy. What he planned should be It's something more precious."

"For example?"

"I can't think of it at the moment."

"I thought of one thing." Pear said.

"what?"

Just as Lizi was about to open her mouth, Ibaraki turned her face with both hands, "Okay, don't talk to him anymore. If you want to talk about Kagami Cake, you can tell me, I'm the one who has eaten Red Kagami Cake."

It's because you ate red mirror cake that you became like this, Lizi is a little speechless.

"Let me braid your hair," she said with a smile, intending to find something to attract attention to Ibaraki, "you sit behind my back, I haven't combed anyone's hair except me yet."

When Ibaraki heard that it was a unique treatment, he immediately turned around obediently.

Li Zi casually grabbed a small part of her hair and began to braid it, then turned around and continued talking to Qingming.

"That day I took Jiu Tun and passed by the hall in front of guests. Suzaku was arranging a tower of mirror cakes for New Year's worship there. But the strange thing is that she obviously used red mirror cakes. But after two or three days, it was set up The red mirror pie tower suddenly changed color and became a white mirror pie tower. I thought it had faded."

"Yes, I thought so too." Suzaku's voice came from behind.She came over to deliver dinner, and happened to hear the voice of talking about Jingbing.

While putting the food in the food box on the low table, Suzaku said, "I also went to find the peddler who sells red mirror cakes. But the other party found it even more strange than me. He said that the red mirror cakes he sold were not A faded one. No one is like me. I looked at the mirror cakes piled up in his house, all of them were brightly colored, and none of them lost their color."

"The hawker finally said that maybe I didn't put the mirror cake in a cool place. This kind of glutinous rice pressed food is very afraid of the sun. Isn't there a piece of non-melting ice on the top of our front room? The sun shines down all the year round. It made the whole room extremely bright. I assumed that it might have been faded by the sun."

Speaking of the non-melting ice, Lizi also knows.The piece of ice had been placed in the center of the roof since she came.At first she thought it was glass.It was only later that I realized that it was ice that would never melt.This is where Inari God lived before.

"I see," Seimei said, "I don't think it's faded. I think someone should have replaced it. Although I don't understand why the other party did this, it doesn't look malicious."

"I still think of one more thing," Lizi continued, "Shuten also saw red mirror cake that day. He said he smelled a very faint smell of blood. He said that this smell cannot be smelled by humans, but for You can’t hide it from a monster.”

Seimei frowned slightly, "Ibaraki is also a monster, why did he drink it without hesitation? Didn't you find it strange afterwards?"

"I can answer this question," Jiu Tun said, "When Ibaraki was still a human being, he awakened his power because he licked the blood oozing from the scalp of a customer. For monsters, the opportunity to awaken their power is very good, just like It’s the same as first love. So not only does Ibaraki not reject the taste of blood, but he is also fascinated by it. If you ask him what it tastes like, he will just tell you it’s delicious.”

"That's it." Riko nodded, "When I asked Ibaraki Red Kagami Mochi porridge what it tasted like, he said it was very sweet and delicious. Seimei-sama..."

"Xiaoli is not allowed to talk to him anymore, you promise..." Ibaraki interrupted her unbearably.

"Hmm." The top of his head was pressed down by Jiu Tun with brute force, and he was immediately crushed to the ground.There are many braids on the head, which are raised like a beautiful snake.

"Shut up for me too." Jiu Tun, who was also unbearable, said.Mr. Shimizu has a kind personality, so he took over the dark house earlier than others.

There were footsteps outside the door, and Teng Snake came in with the chill of a winter night.

For some reason, Lizi always felt that his vertical pupils were a little stiff, as if he was about to fall asleep at any time.

"I went to see it. Some people around me are normal, and some are abnormal. But the abnormal people are just bolder. I can't see that it can hurt people for the time being."

"Well," Seimei nodded, "In that case, let's just observe Ibaraki."

"One more thing." Teng Snake hesitated.

"What?" Qingming turned to him.Teng Snake doesn't like to talk, and it's very rare to suddenly take the initiative to say things like this.

"Well, my lord, I'm going to hibernate." Soaring Snake said.

"Eh?" Everyone in the room, including Ibaraki, made a questioning voice at the same time.

"That's right, Teng Snake's body is a snake. Aren't snakes going to sleep underground in winter?" Lizi said.

"I forgot," Qingming said with a smile. "In previous years, you said goodbye early. This year, it's already January and you haven't said you're going to rest. I just ignored it."

"I don't blame my lord. Sometimes I think I can last a little longer and want to serve you as much as possible. But I can't bear it any longer. I can close my eyes even when I stand during the day." Teng Snake said.

Qingming nodded, "Understood, you go. See you again in spring."

Teng Snake knelt down to say goodbye to Qingming, bowed slightly to Lizi, and finally disappeared into the air.

"Where is he going to hibernate?" Lizi asked.Although it sounded like a short separation, she still felt a little bit of reluctance in her heart after she already regarded Teng Snake as her companion.

"It will find a deep burrow," Qingming said, "don't worry, the Teng Snake will wake up again in the spring."

"It's okay?" Shuten sighed in surprise.

"Hey, I'm the best," Ibaraki struggled to break free from Jiu Tun's shackles, stood up and said with a smile, "I won't hibernate, and I won't leave my lord." There was a faint longing on his face that he wanted to pounce on Lizi again .

"Well, of course Ibaraki is the best shikigami," Riko said softly, "If Ibaraki could sit aside obediently now, I would like him even more."

"I like sitting on the side the most." Saying this, Ibaraki sat down obediently with his legs crossed, his eyes still looking at Riko, looking eager to be praised.

Lizi pursed her lips and smiled, "I also like Ibaraki the most."

Seeing that Ibaraki finally calmed down, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Lizi and Seimei just started eating dinner.

Lizi didn't sleep well that night.

There is always noise from the surrounding residents.Some shouted loudly, some stood on the roof and sang, and everyone from the master to the servants was restless.

After listening to Seimei's words, Abe Masaki asked the servant to guard the door.Because they eat white mirror cakes from top to bottom, so they are all normal.

Li Zi sleeps in a daze until midnight, always feeling that something is watching her.

Startled, she opened her eyes.In the dark room, there was something big sitting in front of her.She screamed and covered herself in the barrier.

Footsteps were heard outside the door, and with a "boom", the door was pushed in and kicked in from the outside and hit the wall.Jiu Tun rushed in.The moonlight rushed in and shone on the big black shadow.

"Ibaraki Doji." Shuten clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

Riko got out from the barrier and saw Ibaraki sitting upright in front of her quilt.

"Ibaraki, what are you doing here?" She asked in amazement, and at the same time, she already had several answers in her mind.It's nothing more than wanting to get her love; waiting here as a shikigami, so that she can see his face at a glance when she wakes up, wanting to watch her all night and so on.

"I want to be the only favorite of adults, so I sit here and wait. This way, adults can see my face first when they wake up. The most important thing is that I want to look at my favorite adults all night." Ibaraki raised his head and said, There was an amber light in the eyes.

See how well she guessed.

"Go ahead," Jiu Tun sneered, "I've already seen the shameful face of your future self when you wake up."

Lizi couldn't help laughing, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the young man standing quietly at the door.The other party was wearing a white bathrobe with fine bamboo pattern and white wooden clogs, leaning against the door frame, looking at Ibaraki indifferently.

Shuten sensed that Seimei was angry.Although it's not that I haven't seen this guy angry.But murderous emotions like this are not good.

He hurriedly picked up Ibaraki, and slashed him unconscious with a hand knife before Ibaraki yelled, "I won't let him mess around like this again." He picked up Ibaraki like a sack, and walked out.

Lizi ran to the door and looked at the kicked door, and muttered softly, "Really, who made the red mirror cake. Ibaraki is not like this usually."

Knowing that she was defending Ibaraki, Seimei tried her best to suppress her annoyance, kicked off her clogs and entered the house barefoot.

"How to sleep?" Li Zi continued to talk.Pushing the door, Jiu Tun kicked him in.Now there is a big hole missing here, and the cold wind rushes in along the door hole.She was wearing thin pajamas and was immediately frozen through. "It's a pity that Teng Snake is not here. He is the best carpenter."

Qingming walked back and forth and scattered a few small paper dolls on the ground, and the little paper people immediately went to carry the toolbox.It was specially prepared by Teng Snake for the little paper people.He likes this group of little paper figurines who also love woodworking, and made tools according to their size.

"Wow, Master Qingming is so amazing, I didn't think of it." Lizi praised quickly.

Qingming knew that it wasn't that she didn't think about it, but that she deliberately found an opportunity to praise him.His eyes became softer, and he pulled her into the room. "Is it all right, is that guy just sitting and watching?"

Lizi heard the implication, her cheeks became hot immediately, and she said angrily, "Of course it's fine."

"I don't think he is so crazy. Otherwise, there will be no monsters in the future." The boy said indifferently.

"Ibaraki just magnified his desire to be cared for." Lizi turned to the window and said, "Master Seimei, listen, the howling of ghosts and wolves outside is the real danger."

"Don't go to the shrine tomorrow, things are going a bit abnormal." Seimei said, "Suzaku is sitting on the gate right now. Some people driven by evil hearts smashed at our door just now. Suzaku has cleaned up."

"Break down on our door? Why?" Lizi was extremely surprised.

"Because of the rumors about the son of the white fox. People who usually only dare to pour dog blood on the door, now have a greater desire to destroy in their hearts. They probably want to rush in and kill me."

The message in the boy's calm voice sent chills down Riko's spine.Unexpectedly, in just a few hours, the outside has become like this.Thinking that the bad guys will be even worse, I feel a chill rise in the bottom of my stomach.Is this the purpose of the Red Mirror Cake?Make Heian-kyo crazy?

"Wait for me, I'll be with you tonight."

"Huh?" Lizi came back to her senses, and found that Qingming had left her and left.After more than ten seconds, Qingming came back, holding the quilt in his hands.

Qingming spread out the bedding, and the little paper figurine also finished repairing the door.He inserted the paper light bulb behind the lampstand and sat down, leaning his back against the wall, bent one knee, and picked up a book beside him.

Another collection of golden crow and jade rabbit.Lizi blinked lightly, and sat down on her quilt, "Does Master Seimei not rest?"

"It's too noisy outside to sleep well. Go to sleep, I'll sit here, no one will come again." Qingming opened the pages of the book.

"I can't sleep because of the noise."

"Then close your eyes and rest. Your body won't take it all night without rest."

Lizi lay down as promised.Listening to the pages of the book turning slowly, she turned over, "I can't rest even if there is a light."

Qingming raised the end of her eyes and glanced at her, chuckled softly, "Understood, sleep now."

He closed the book, covered the lampshade, and lay down with his clothes on.

The moment Qingming lay down beside her, she suddenly felt particularly secure.Even the ghostly screams outside became a little more friendly.

She was lying on her side facing Qingming.Eyes kept open.After adapting to the darkness, she could already see the other person's face clearly.She closed her eyes calmly, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.The youth's porcelain-white skin appeared transparent and delicate in the night.

"Can't sleep?" Qingming opened his eyes and asked gently.

"Well, because too many things happened today, plus being woken up, I don't feel sleepy."

"So what are we going to do?" Seimei asked.

"do not know.".

"If you can't sleep, I'll play the flute for you."

"Master Seimei can play the flute?"

"I know some simple tunes, Boya taught me." Qingming sat up and sent a little paper figurine to the next room to fetch the flute.

Listening to the still crazy shouting outside, Lizi suddenly wanted to laugh, "There is probably no one like us, right? It's so chaotic outside, but we're here to play the flute."

"Otherwise, what should I do?" Qingming smiled slightly, "There is an onmyoji in Ping'an capital, and I'm not an onmyoji. It doesn't make sense to go out to deal with the red mirror cake in the middle of the night."

"indeed."

All of a sudden, the little paper man brought the flute.Seimei pressed the flute to her lips, and played it softly...

The beautiful flute sounded in the night, and the soft music fell like gentle drizzle.As soon as the wonderful sound of the flute entered my ears, the noise outside seemed to ease.

Lizi lay on her side on the mattress, pillowing her arm.Qingyuan's melodious flute sound slowly fell on her eyelids, making her eyelids heavier and heavier.

Unable to hold back her drowsiness, she closed her eyes.

Seeing that she was fast asleep, Qingming put down her flute.This is not a song to learn from Boya.This is the method of yin and yang that makes people sleep.

Qingming made a seal with both hands, and pulled out a barrier to block all the noise outside.Only then did he take out the paper light bulb and book again, leaning against the wall and reading.

……

"Master Shimizu wait for me."

"Master Shimizu, where are you going?"

Early in the morning, Ibaraki's panicked voice came from the courtyard.

No matter where the pears go or what they do.With just a small movement, Ibaraki will panic and run after him like a child abandoned by his parents.

"It looks more serious." Qingming sat in the room, looking at the people in the courtyard through the open door.

"Fortunately, this is the only sick person in our family." Jiu Tun stood leaning against the porch pillar, lazily watching the farce in the yard with folded arms.

It's already a mess outside.There are many people running on the street, expressing their desires to their heart's content.Robbing shops, bullying the weak, and asking for flowers.The desire in the heart is magnified tenfold.Those who did not eat Hongjing porridge closed their doors tightly and dared not go out.

In the end, Riko had no choice but to let Ibaraki sit down, and dismantled and re-braided the braid he had made yesterday.The world is finally clean.

In order to keep Ibaraki quiet for a while, she braids very thin braids.

After a long time like this, the left side of the head was finished, and she just shook her sore fingers.The sky suddenly darkened.

Ibaraki, who dozed off from making up too long, suddenly woke up.Riko also let go of his hair and stood up, looking very uneasy at the sky.

The clouds in the sky swayed with weird colors and shapes, and were stirred into a group of swirl-shaped things.Red rays of light fell vertically from the center of the vortex.

It falls on the streets, inside houses, and in rivers.Even a single tree fell from their small courtyard and plunged straight into the ground.Although it was red light, it exuded a strong smell of blood.

Thousands of blood threads fell on Heianjing, and the thickness was so thick that it made people feel sick.The sky is getting darker and darker, only the bloodline exudes a coquettish and strange red light.

The people reveling outside also saw the vision.They stopped in confusion and looked up.Those fiery red threads fell like rain.Some just landed on people's bodies and exploded into blood in an instant.

"Wow--"

A scream like a fuse detonated panic.

Everyone began to run away desperately, pushing each other, scrambling to escape to their own homes or other people's homes.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" "Mom—!" "Get out of the way of the uncle!" "Hurry up!" "Don't push! Idiot!" "What the hell is that?" "Ah ——! Ya——!” “Don’t get in the way!” “Whoah!”

The panic caused by the crowds and chaos quickly spread, and the entire Heian capital was noisy.

"Master Qingming." Lizi hurriedly ran to Qingming's side.At this time, Seimei had already put on her hunting clothes, and was putting stacks of written talisman papers into the talisman bag.

"It doesn't look like an ordinary incident. Why is it so troublesome just to make people crazy?" Qingming said, "What the other party wants should be the power generated by desire."

"What do you need so much desire for?" Lizi also hurriedly put on her coat and carried her satchel on her back.Take advantage of this time to pick up the scissors and start cutting fierce paper-cuts for backup.

"I don't know." Qingming said, "There is no way to absorb the power of desire. It should be to use this power to do something. What could it be?" He faintly felt that he had forgotten something.

Just as they were talking, the blood line seemed to be a little thicker, and the smell of blood became a little stronger.After Lizi packed her satchel, Seimei was still talking to herself, "What special thing happened recently? Strange things always happen next to each other."

Riko thought for a while, "Master Masaki was awarded the key to the Great Formation of Heian Jing?"

Qingming's eyes twitched suddenly, and he looked up at the sky again, the positions where those inextricable red lines fell did overlap with the formation.

"I'm going to Suzaku Avenue, where the formation eye is."

"I'll go too." Lizi said immediately.

"You stay here," Qingming said, "It's too dangerous there. What's more, so many people in the family need the protection of Miko-sama."

Lizi forced a smile, "But I want to go with you."

"If I don't come back for a long time, you can go find me again." Qingming said, "But it's best not to go. If I don't come back, I won't come back."

"You will definitely come back." Lizi said seriously.

"why?"

"If you don't come back, who will go back in time?"

Qingming smiled slightly, "That's right. So, wait for me at home."

Pear nodded reluctantly.

After Qingming left, she turned her gaze back to the red thread, which was already as thick as a little finger.She saw Ibaraki through the red thread.Ibaraki sat cross-legged on the porch, raised his head and stared blankly at the sky.

"Is he okay?" Lizi asked anxiously.

Shuten has been watching Ibaraki's every move to prevent him from mutating and hurting Riko.He probably already guessed what the smell of blood in the red mirror pancake was.Only the blood of thousands of people will be so fishy.It seems that the blood obtained by Yamata no Orochi is not only the blood of Onmyoji.

"I think he will probably go crazy in a while, Master Shimizu, please stay away from him."

"I'm not worried at all that he can hurt me." Lizi said with a smile, "It's simply impossible for this to happen."

"Why?" Shuten asked suspiciously.In the next second, Ibaraki suddenly stretched out his arms and rushed towards Lizi, his pupils were bloodshot, "I want it so much, it seems like I want all the love. Give it all to me, I want to take everything you like from adults .”

"Master Shimizu, be careful." Jiu Tun rushed towards Ibaraki, trying to control him without hurting him.

But his arms hugged nothing.

Jiu Tun looked around in confusion, he and Li Zi were the only ones in the courtyard.

"Where's Ibaraki?" He looked up at Riko's smiling face suspiciously.

"I put it away, little black house."

Ibaraki was timidly floating in the darkness, unable to move.He floats like an instrument, bumping into other shikigami from time to time.

"Hey, where is this?"