Crown Master

"Uh……"

When seeing this girl, Natsume's first reaction was to take a step back.

Wait, is this girl a little older than she looks?

Suspicious Natsume Takashi hugged the fat cat that jumped into his arms, and walked towards her cautiously.

"That...thank you for reminding me earlier."

"So you're really cursed?" The mysterious girl came out from behind the tree, Natsume's dignified face was reflected in her golden eyes, she said with a light smile.

Natsume asked puzzledly, "Hey..."

The girl saw his confusion, and explained first: "I sensed that guy's breath, but whether he is cursed or not needs further confirmation. You seem to be very afraid of me, so I didn't come close, I can only remind you. But you Among the friends around me, there should be a type that is sensitive to curses, so have you found a solution?"

"..." Natsume pursed her lips and shook her head vigorously, "No," then he said seriously, "So I want you to help me get rid of this curse."

The girl tilted her head, and her bare soles brushed the grass, as light as nothing, like a ray of cold night wind mixed with moisture. When passing by Natsume, the night wind suddenly became violent.

"Find the eight-flavored herbs, and knead them into threads."

"..."

When the gust of wind stopped, Natsume raised his head and looked around, only to find that the girl's figure had disappeared again.

"Baweicao?" Cat teacher licked his paw, "I seem to have heard of it from Bing, but..."

Very good, seeing Mr. Cat's confused look, Natsume judged based on past experience that he should go to C as expected.

"Bawei grass? Let me think about it, ah, in the river of Yayuan, at midnight when the moon hangs high, the light blue medicinal herb that grows on the fluorite illuminated by the first ray of moonlight, also known as Bawei, is also called Bawei grass .”

The alluring banshee thought for a while, and reported the habitat of the eight-flavored grass.

Natsume was very grateful, and that night, he waited by the river without delaying even a minute.

Under the clear river, the stones that have been scoured by the water for many years have lost their edges and corners. The water is like a flowing mirror, reflecting the scenery of the mountains and forests on both sides of the river, as well as a pair of bare feet.

The girl sat on the branch of a tree, watching the young human beings rushing towards the direction of the moonlight.

"Son of man... gather grass to make a ring, light the flame of Suzaku..."

"O son of man... gather the pillars and pile them up at the sealed portal..."

"Son of man... when the song resounds... when the moon sets..."

"The Spring of Tang emerges from the ground, washing away the filth..."

In the forest at night, the singing sounded far, far away.

Natsume Takashi and Mr. Mao watched helplessly as the first ray of moonlight fell on the roundest and largest rock in the river as if consciously. Ye gradually changed from unreal to real.

The color and luster is like a gemstone, full of charming magic under the bright moonlight.

"This is Baweicao?" It is undeniable that Natsume was amazed by this wonderful scene, and Teacher Cat's eyes widened.

"Baweicao is said to be the fairy grass used by Moon Rabbit to make medicine. It is not surprising that it is so beautiful."

"Moon Rabbit making medicine?" Natsume looked at Bing who appeared by the river at some time.

The banshee marveled at the scenery in front of her, and said in an unhurried tone: "The fairy grass is made of an elixir called 'undead medicine', which is also the origin of the name of Baweicao. Bitter and poisonous, life, old age, sickness and death, love, resentment, hatred, nothing to ask for. The elixir made by Baweicao can cure this poison... But in the end, this is also a legendary thing. This kind of medicine grows under the moon every year, but there is no Man really makes the elixir."

Natsume Takashi looked at it quietly, "Will someone really come to pick it and seek immortality?"

Bing said lightly: "Every year, there will be monsters or humans who will not give up."

"...That's it."

"Let's go, Natsume, after a while, the moonlight will disappear, and the eight-flavored grass will also disappear!" Mr. Cat shook his ears, and jumped impatiently towards the rock in the middle of the river.

With its beginning, Natsume realized it all at once, and hurriedly followed.

"Wait for me, teacher!"

The girl sang on the tree branch, and watched them pick enough herbs to make "thread", and then watched them sitting by the river bank, worrying about how to twist the grass into thread.

She smiled and went on singing.

"Son of man... gather grass to make a ring, light the flame of Suzaku..."

"O son of man... gather the pillars and pile them up at the sealed portal..."

"Son of man... when the song resounds... when the moon sets..."

"The Spring of Tang emerges from the ground, washing away the filth..."

……

"I got the thread made of Hachimi grass!" Natsume Takashi went to the girl who had been watching the show all night in a mess.

Although the process was very firm, the requirements were fulfilled anyway.

The girl looked at Natsume's raised hand, the ball of thread exuding a faint silver-white light, and the corners of her eyes were slightly curved.

"Look for the pillars, go to the steep mountain..."

"What's that pillar?"

"Fiery red..." The girl looked towards the sky, the blue sky was vast and boundless, she retracted her gaze from the sky that would suck people's souls and minds in, and said with a smile: "The ones stained with human blood Stone."

Natsume Takashi: "..."

Because Teacher Cat has never been able to see the existence of the girl, including her language, and can only rely on Natsume to convey the whole process, so when Natsume talked about Zhushi's request, it kicked him like a furry.

"Do you know how many cliffs there are in Yahara? You idiot!"

Natsume covered her face, looking depressed.

"I know, teacher."

The cat teacher snorted.

"If I don't look at you, I'll run into trouble, and that woman is definitely not a simple thing, and she doesn't have any evil spirit..."

When Mr. Cat was thinking, Natsume retorted weakly.

"That...although I've grown up a bit since the first time we met, but it's still not enough to be regarded as a woman..."

"Fool!"

"Well!"

"I'll go to the nearby mountain wall to take a look, and you and the intermediate will look around!"

"...Yes." Natsume resignedly began to search the location of the nearby mountain wall together with other monsters. The fiery red stone should have been very eye-catching, but no matter how they searched, the returning people still found nothing at sunset.

Mr. Cat transformed from a giant monster back into a maneki-neko, flicking his fur in displeasure.

"You won't be deceived, Natsume? I've never heard of a fiery red pillar!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

The two middle-level monsters couldn't help but agree.

The two of them have also been busy all day, and they are also exhausted at this time. Natsume smiled wryly and shook his head, picking up the stone that had fallen off the mountain wall at hand. The sun's rays shone on it, as if dyed it. It became a fiery red color.

Teacher Cat: "Did you listen to me!"

The fat cat's blow from behind hit the back of Natsume's head straight, and with a "duang", Natsume hugged his head and shrank his body.

"It hurts! Teacher Cat!"

Teacher Cat curled her lips in disdain, "Humph!"

When the pain subsided slightly, Natsume Takashi let go of his hand unhappily, and his eyes fell on the rock in his hand inadvertently. He was shocked to find that it had completely changed into the appearance of Suzaku's wings. diffuse throughout.

Under the sunlight of the setting sun, the transparent rocks turned red as if they were about to burn.

After Natsume Guizhi witnessed all this happening, Fang said in a daze, "This is the red pillar, stained with the blood of the son of man."

Exactly as it says in the song.

When everyone looked at the stone in surprise, Teacher Cat narrowed his eyes, a strange aura suddenly appeared after the pillar changed its appearance, and the vigilance of the big monster almost immediately sent an alarm to it.

The sharp cat's eyes looked towards the direction where she was hiding, and the girl hid behind the rock, showing a strange smile.

That night.

Because the rest day was spent looking for things, the exhausted Natsume did not procrastinate. Almost after eating and taking a bath, he lay down on the bed after greeting Uncle Zi and Aunt Tako, and became half asleep after a while.

However, Mr. Cat, who always fell asleep quickly in the past, lay on the sleeping Natsume with his cat's eyes wide open this time.

Time passed by minute by minute.

In the dark bedroom after turning off the lights, a clear moonlight shines in front of the window.

Then his eyes dazzled, and suddenly a small figure appeared.

Teacher Mao said arrogantly: "Sure enough, you have been sending Natsume around. What's the purpose? This guy and the friend account are all mine, and not just anyone can covet them."

The figure floated outside the window for a while, as thin as a leaf, and then suddenly took on a real body.

"Dong dong."

She tapped on the window twice to ensure that the owner of the house would not be woken up, but it could perfectly express her joking mood.

"Little cat, it is your master who is begging for help."

Teacher Cat said without hesitation: "He is my pet, not the owner!"

The figure is looking at the moon with its feet up outside the window.

Teacher Cat jumped off Natsume in dissatisfaction, tiptoed to the window, raised her round head, and narrowed her small eyes.

"who are you?"

The figure gradually formed the figure of a young girl under the moonlight, but within a few seconds, the light collapsed into dots of broken light under the strong impact. Looking at her small hands, she always felt a little smiling not come out.

Chaotic memory, but it seems to have omniscient and omnipotent authority.

Everything has no secrets to her, but who she is is the only truth that the world feeds back to her.

False permissions, real afterimages.

She is just a shadow from a high place.

The real "she" was rejected and ignored by the whole world.

……

"You can call me afterimage."

"Your purpose? Is it to use Natsume to break your seal?"

"Hey?"

"Don't be stupid, get Natsume and get blood thick, your aura has become much stronger, my nose can already capture your figure."

After Teacher Cat finished speaking, the wriggling "cat ball" finally squeezed out from between the windows. In its field of vision, the girl bathed in the moonlight was not in its field of vision, but the big monster's keen sense of smell had already confirmed this. The shape of the "shadow".

Teacher Cat hummed unhappily: "What is it about that guy Natsume that you have taken a fancy to?"

The girl smiled, and said in a teasing tone: "Ah, your attitude is more respectful?"

Teacher Cat snorted coldly.

"First is the sense of smell, then the sense of hearing. When you get your vision back, the complete image of you imprinted in the eyes of the world surpasses most noble existences."

The girl sighed softly: "This is not an interesting thing."

Teacher Cat agrees.

"It's a good thing you feel the same way."