My parents and relatives had long since vanished without a trace.

  With Ohagi gone, it felt as if my last connection to the world had disappeared.

  Sanzo cried until he couldn't catch his breath. Like me, he'd lost his last relative.

  I sat with Ohagi all night. At dawn, I told Sanzo I was taking Ohagi away.

  Ohagi had wanted to fulfill a vow at the shrine. She'd once prayed to see me again.

  Now her wish was fulfilled, but due to poor health, she'd never been able to fulfill her vow.

  I planned to take her ashes to the shrine and bury her there.

  Sanzo was startled by my words, saying reluctantly, "Granny Chihaya, you're not coming back?"

  "You need to have your own family. It's not appropriate for me to stay."

  I knew he and Tsuko from the village liked each other, but they'd been putting off marriage, probably considering my presence.

  If Ohagi hadn't had limited time left and hoped I'd stay to accompany her through her final journey, I would've left already.

  Now that Ohagi had passed, I had no need to trouble him further.

  I told him if I had time, I'd come visit.

  Barring accidents, I'd probably settle near the shrine... If he or his descendants encountered trouble, they could find me there.

  After the funeral, I shouldered the urn with her ashes, took the few clothes Ohagi had made me, and set out.

  That shrine was very far. I had no map, only asking people for directions and slowly feeling my way.

  But I was excited.

  This was the first time in my decades of life I'd traveled so far from home.

  Long-distance travel was quite an achievement for someone of my background.

  Moreover, I didn't need to worry about making a living now, so I could appreciate the scenery before me more leisurely.

  I looked around the whole way. When I saw fireflies, I'd catch them to observe. When I spotted beautiful flowering trees, I'd climb up to pick a few blossoms.

  If I encountered magnificent scenery, I'd endure the scorching sunrise to look a few times before retreating to dark places to hide.

  Like Ohagi said, the world wasn't peaceful. Women traveling alone easily attracted attention.

  Just days after leaving, I encountered several men with knives surrounding me.

  Honestly, they were no match at all.

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  I meant them.

  But how to handle these people who wanted to abduct me still troubled me.

  Precisely because killing was so easy for me, I didn't want to kill.

  But if I let them go, these people might hurt those without power to resist next time. I had to take responsibility for others' safety too.

  After some thought, I found the perfect solution.

  Tie them up, drag them into town, and bring them to the magistrate's office. The people there indeed accepted these ready-made achievements and symbolically gave me some money.

  I bought some sweets in town. Eating long-missed treats, I felt I'd found another way to earn money.

  On the way to the shrine, I traveled while catching people, tossing them into towns, and exchanging them for reward money to sweeten my mouth.

  After traveling for over a month, I finally reached the foot of the mountain where the shrine was located.

  It was already late at night. In this desolate wilderness, a group of people camped by the roadside.

  Noticing my approach, those burly warriors drew their swords with a sharp sound.

  I just wanted to walk past on that road, had no intention of approaching them... Moreover, they were so vigilant, clearly not bandits.

  I prepared to circle around and avoid them.

  But low coughing came from beside the fire. I suddenly stopped, catching a somewhat familiar scent.

  Soon a middle-aged man emerged from the group, stopping ten paces from me and saying respectfully:

  "Miss, the night is deep. My master worries you'll encounter danger. Please come rest with us for the night."

  Normally I should refuse. Night was my time to travel.

  If I stayed with them until daylight, I'd inevitably expose my abnormalities.

  But the scent I caught confused me. I also wanted to know their master's identity, so I agreed to go meet this person.

  The one they protected so closely was just a youth with jet-black hair and light red eyes.

  He raised his head to look at me. For an instant, I couldn't help moving my fingers.

  But I suppressed that momentary impulse to tear him apart.

  This wasn't the Young Master, just a child who resembled him.

  No wonder I caught a familiar scent. Turned out he was Tachibana bloodline.

  Turning and leaving would seem suspicious. I went over to greet him, sat at a safe distance, and started talking with him.

  His name was Kiyohiro. He didn't tell me his surname... but his temperament was quite good. He asked gently where I was going, traveling alone at night.

  I said, "My sister had a wish before she died—to fulfill a vow at the mountain shrine. I came for her last wish."

  Kiyohiro smiled. "Then Miss, our purposes align. The world isn't peaceful now. Coming here alone must've been difficult. Why not travel together with me?"

  Better not. I feared after he discovered I was a demon, he'd capture and lock me in the mountains again.

  Worse case, he might let the sun kill me directly.

  Because he asked my purpose, I reciprocated and asked what he was doing at the shrine.

  My tone might not have been very respectful. His attendant behind him frowned tightly, very dissatisfied with my attitude toward his lord.

  But Kiyohiro didn't feel offended. He said good-naturedly, "To seek help from the shrine priest, to find a way for my clan to continue."

  He told me a tragic story.

  Unclear when it started—maybe twenty or thirty years ago—their clan began gradually withering.

  First, adult descendants in the clan contracted a strange severe illness and died. Then reproduction became increasingly difficult.

  Later, children born with great difficulty were hard to raise to adulthood. Without exception, they all contracted the same bizarre illness and died. The rate of premature death accelerated.

  By his generation, it had become so severe that even newborns were difficult to keep alive.

  This was undoubtedly a curse.

  Kiyohiro told me calmly that their clan had shrunk from hundreds to only twenty or thirty people, on the verge of extinction.

  Yet he wasn't willing to just wait for death.

  Hearing the shrine priest serving the great goddess Amaterasu had strange powers, he traveled thousands of miles... hoping to learn the truth of the curse and find a thread of hope.

  I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say to him.

  Even without seeing the shrine priest, I already knew the source of this clan's curse.

  The Tachibana household had raised a man-eating demon. He continuously created more man-eating demons, committing countless killings. So heaven punished the Tachibana Clan.

  The hope they sought probably wouldn't come so easily.

  Unless all the demons in the world disappeared, this curse would accompany them generation after generation.

  What about me? Why wasn't I punished?

  Or perhaps my encountering this youth here and hearing about this was actually heaven's hint to me?

  ~~~~??~~~~~~~~??~~~~

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