spooky love

But now weeds are overgrown, and it is quite deserted.

Dema suddenly stopped in his tracks. In the completely deserted courtyard, there was only a touch of red that attracted his attention strangely. It was a camellia tree planted straight in the middle of the courtyard.The camellias were already higher than the eaves, taller than any tree planted along the fence.

The camellias are in full bloom, as if it is the flowering season now.The flowers that bloom under the bright sun in hot summer are beautiful, but for some reason, the burning red is scary.Blooming red flowers bent the branches and fell to the ground in front of De Ma's eyes. The flowers that fell on the ground covered the roots of the tree like a pool of blood.Dema picked up one of them, and the cold and moist touch of the petals reminded him of Xuejiang's skin that was not human.

The trunk of the camellia tree is very thick, which makes people feel that it is really old.Convinced that "it is right", Dema put down the basket on his back, took out the axe, and swung it down to the tree roots without hesitation.

rustling rustle...

Even though there was no wind, the camellia tree swayed wildly as if struggling.De Ma slammed down the ax vigorously, and every time he cut the ax, the flowers fell like ice sapphires.

When he cut the fourth axe, he heard a strange "click", and his fingertips suddenly became lighter.It turned out that the blade of the ax fell off the handle. He wanted to repair it, but the wooden handle was cracked and there was no way to repair it. He didn't have the time or money to buy a new axe, and Xue Jiang would come back during the purchase.

Dema looked around. The original house was about seven rooms away from the neighbor's house (Note 52). A camellia tree of this size should not cause sparks when burned, and there is no wind today.

Dema didn't hesitate.If Xuejiang is not eradicated now, countless dead will be added in the future, just like the men who were killed in the brothel.And let's not talk about anything else, he can't help Yuan.

Dema wrapped the camellia tree in newspaper and sprinkled the oil in the bottle on the trunk.These things were prepared by him to purify and burn the items after destroying the monster's attachments, and he didn't intend to use them to burn the monster to death.

Considering that in case of sparks, Dema brought a bucket full of water from the well behind to prepare, and then lit a fire on the camellia.With the power of oil and paper, the flame burns quickly.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

There was a tearing scream, and looking back, Xue Jiang, who was supposed to have gone to Fenglai Bridge, was standing there.

"You... actually..."

Xuejiang murmured in a voice that seemed to come from the ground:

"Let me tell you, I just came back to take a look because I thought it was weird, but..."

Although Xue Jiang stared at him sharply, his movements were very slow.She bent forward, dragged her right foot forward, then staggered to the right, and fell to the ground instantly.

"It's hot, it's hot, it's hot..."

Xuejiang's hands, feet, face, and almost transparent white skin seemed to be swollen by the fire, and then blackened. They were burnt like wood even though they hadn't touched the fire.She crawled over on all fours like an animal, and put her face and hands into the bucket prepared by Dema.

"Hot, hot, hot!"

Xuejiang knocked over the bucket rudely, lay on his back, waving his hands and feet like a child, and his beautiful face was burned like this.Unexpectedly, there was a strong wind, blown by the wind, and a pillar of fire rose from the camellia tree. Xue Jiang called "噫噫噫噫噫" and jumped up, like a mouse abandoned on a hot iron plate, barefoot in the courtyard Running to and fro, talking too late and then quickly, she suddenly fell down on the flower bed with a slap.

Although it was very pitiful to see her being burned, but thinking of how many men she had killed so far, De Ma felt that this was what she deserved.He clasped his hands together and began to chant sutras.

Another strong wind blew, and the sun was not so strong. In the clear sky that was cloudless just now, the clouds that looked like grass gray water flowed like pulling a curtain.

No way... Just as he was thinking, the sky turned gray, and the raindrops began to drip, and then immediately "rustled" and became bigger, and the fire on the camellia disappeared all of a sudden.

De Ma walked under the eaves, and Xue Jiang, who had fallen in the flower bed, did not move.

"Mulberry leaves."

Hearing his name, the ghost appeared from his right palm.

"Is Xuejiang dead?"

"It's not dead yet. If a youkai with a body dies, it will disappear without a trace. It looks like the inside of the camellia hasn't been burned yet."

"Now can you eat Xuejiang?"

He thought: Although Xuejiang is a monster, he originally thought she was a human being.It would be better to let her disappear without a trace than to leave her pitiful appearance that had been burned by the fire.

"If she's that weak, she might be able to eat it. But it's almost blackened, so it doesn't look very tasty."

While complaining, Sang Ye leaped nimbly and approached the prone Xuejiang.Then he opened his big mouth and bit her head in one bite.

"Gaaah!"

Xuejiang yelled, and broke off the mulberry leaf that was biting her head, then stood up unsteadily, grabbed the ghost's feet, and fell to the ground again and again.

"Mulberry leaves!"

Before Dema could arrive, Xue Jiang had already bitten Sang Ye's limp feet, and Sang Ye let out a cat-like "squeak!" scream.Xue Jiang spat out the bitten off legs to the flower bed, and then threw the mulberry leaves that were only above the knees on Dema.

"Mulberry leaves, mulberry leaves!"

Sang Ye cried "It hurts, it hurts" in De Ma's arms. It was the first time De Ma saw Sang Ye get hurt so easily.

"But a ghost of decades, how can it be against me who has lived for hundreds of years!"

Xuejiang dragged his feet and slowly approached De Ma who was holding the mulberry leaves.The once beautiful face was burned, and there was no trace of it.

De Ma continued to retreat bit by bit, he could only see monsters or spirits, and could not get rid of them.Because of the presence of mulberry leaves, it can be taught to deal with it by eating the opponent.

"Damn human, almost burn me to death, I want you to look good!"

Holding the mulberry leaf in his arms, Dema ran wildly in the pouring rain.But the clogs were slippery on the wet stepping stones, and he fell down with a thud and hurriedly got up.When he was about to reach out to pick up the fallen mulberry leaves, someone grabbed the back cloth of his kimono from behind.

Dema was dragged back and fell to the ground.Xue Jiang sat on the stomach of the fallen De Ma, and grabbed his neck forcefully.

"Ugh, uhhh!"

The burned face laughed silently and horribly, and the ugly ghost had never been seen even in the hell map.

"Xue Jiang, what are you doing in the garden?"

Yuan's voice came, and then gradually approached, and De Ma suddenly lost consciousness as if falling into a dream.

When he woke up, the Dema man was already indoors, his hands and feet were so cramped that he couldn't move.He immediately found that his hands and feet were tied with ropes, his waist was tied to a pillar, and beside him was a cat-shaped mulberry leaf. His hind feet were gnawed off, making him weak, and he was also tied to a pillar.

It was a large six-fold room with alcoves, and there was a dim light from a Japanese-style seat lamp in the corner.When he and Ryoichiro visited Hara's house before, he had enjoyed tea and snacks in this room.It was raining loudly and rustling outside. Although he didn't know how long he had been in a coma, he should be sure that it was already night.

Dema shivered in horror.He was wearing a wet kimono, so it was cold.Looking at the mulberry leaf next door, I saw it arched its back and became small.

"Sang Ye, leave me alone, please run away."

Sang Ye opened one eye and shook the cat's head blankly.It only changes the face back to that of a ghost, because it can't speak if it keeps the cat face.

"I don't have feet, so I can't walk."

"Then, please turn into the size of a mouse and hide somewhere, so that you can break free from the rope."

"Because I have no feet, I can't change the size... Originally, I was afraid that it would be troublesome for the student to make a fuss, so I turned into a cat shape, but turning into a cat is already very reluctant."

"And..." Sang Ye continued:

"If you die, I die too."

I don't know if it's because of this sentence or because of the chill, Dema's spine trembled.He was very glad that he was not killed directly at that time. Conversely, he didn't know why the other party let him live like this now.In Xuejiang's eyes, he should be very hateful, and it's not enough to be cut into pieces. It should be Yuan who interceded for him and stopped Xuejiang.

"At least please return it to me so that no matter what happens, you won't suffer."

Sang Ye shook her head:

"I lost my feet. If I go back like this without getting my feet back, I will become a ghost without feet forever."

The paper door swung open, and Xue Jiang's face, hands, feet... eyes and mouth were all wrapped in bandages, his hair was messy, and he was only wearing an undergarment.She shuffled towards Dema.

"you're awake?"

From the gap in the bandage, Xue Jiang's eyes could be seen, very red.

"It's a shame that you made me into this state, how many years will it take to get back to my original state."

Even the lips that used to be as beautiful as camellias were burnt dark red and scorched.

"The reason why I didn't let you die happily is because the hatred in my heart is hard to get rid of!"

Xue Jiang crouched down in front of De Ma, hugging his knees.

"You, are you the concubine of the scholar teacher? How did you abduct him with such a submissive face?"

Xue Jiang, who was bandaged all the way to his fingertips, scratched Dema's cheek vigorously, and pain like a fire rushed across his right cheek.

"I'll just burn this face that the scholar teacher likes, and burn it as black as me? Let me let you know what it feels like to be burned alive."

Xuejiang took out a match from the sleeve of the undergarment, rubbed it lightly, and brought the small flame close to Dema's cheek.

There was a sizzle, and there was the smell of burnt hair.Dema subconsciously blew out the match, and the flame disappeared.

Xue Jiang raised his right hand high and slapped De Ma on the cheek.Although her arms are slender, she has great strength, and the smell of rust