CH 6

[RESIDENCE OF MONSTERS V4] CHAPTER 6 – THE AWKWARD MATTERS YOU DISCOVER WHILE VISITING A FRIEND’S HOUSE AREN’T NECESSARILY FOUND HIDDEN UNDER THE BED

Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.

Author: Lan Qi Zuo Ren ( 藍旗左衽 ).

Translated by: Yujuan

The Shadow Academy executed their matters with great efficiency. On Wednesday morning, everything on the list of essential goods Feng Ping Lan had handed in had been prepared, delivered to Quetzal’s office. A financial card was included within to pay for the mission’s expenses.

“We will thoroughly investigate every purchase made, and any unreasonable sums of money will be recovered from you.” Yin Su Shuang reminded once again.

“Can’t you deduct it directly from the reward money?” Conglong asked instead.

“You’ll need to be certain you’re receiving the reward money first.” Yin Su Shuang warned coldly, “Don’t look down on bounty missions…”

Thursday morning. The first-class cabin of a nine o’clock flight heading towards Kansai International Airport was entirely booked by a group of twelve people.

The members of the group had ages ranging from twenty to thirty years old, and among them, six wore sunglasses, who did not take them off even after boarding the plane. Although a bigger part of their faces was concealed by the black lenses, it could not hide their handsome and outstanding looks.

Their only request was to not be disturbed. They had only pressed the service bell once for their entire flight, for which they had requested to change the sickness bag.

The flight attendants whispered to each other to exchange gossip, guessing the identities of the guests in the first-class cabin.

“I heard it’s a very famous indie band…”

“What’s the name of the band?”

“I’m not sure, they’re not telling.”

“Why’re they being so mysterious?”

“Aren’t artists all the same. Besides, with all the members as hot as that, they must have quite a lot of fans. They’re probably afraid of being disturbed.”

Just as the flight attendants were in the midst of an enthusiastic discussion in the rest area, all was silence in the luxurious and wide passenger’s cabin.

Byriel, Quetzal, Morris, Dongya, Conglong, and Zhong Xian had disguised as the six-person band, the others pretending to be staff members. Through Zong Yu’s excellent makeover skills, everyone had been transformed into entirely different appearances. Most of them had no complaints about their identities, but Ivan was slightly dissatisfied with this arrangement.

“Why am I a staff member?” Ivan questioned. The other Contracts were disguised as huge celebrities, and only he was here to do an unskilled job. He felt as if he was being pushed out.

“You don’t have the aggressiveness of a celebrity.” Byriel answered with a smile, a sort of haughty and charming smile that belonged to someone a cut above others.

“Is that so? What about him, then?” Ivan pointed at Conglong. From the car to the plane, from the ground to the air, Conglong’s face made him seem like a sick patient about to die.

“It’s because he’s crippled, if he wasn’t a celebrity, no one would want to bring such a crippled person along. And we need you to deal with those meddlesome humans.”

“Why?”

Byriel gave a smile, “Excluding me, you are the most spiteful person around.”

Ivan raised his eyebrows, “Alright then.” He accepted this compliment.

Conglong had started feeling unwell even before the plane left the ground, and started to vomit violently when they flew into the air. Although he had gotten better as the flight went along, his complexion still appeared blue.

He tried opening the windows, but realized that the windows couldn’t be opened. He had originally intended on prying them open with brute force, but was stopped by a flight attended.

“He’s a little excited.” Byriel smiled brilliantly, “Don’t worry.”

The flight attendant girl nodded her head, and, upon returning to the cabin crew’s rest area, immediately shared this new discovery— The blue-haired member was hazy from drug overuse. As expected, the entertainment industry was a descending decay from indulgence in the life of luxury.

All of Feng Ping Lan’s Contracts were sitting in the window seat, both hands pressed against the windows, not taking their eyes off the scenery out the window. Although Quetzal was not as direct as Morris and the others, his purple eyes couldn’t help but be attracted by the skylight and cloud shadows outside. Simo had boldly requested for an entire bottle of alcohol from the flight attendant the moment she stepped aboard the plane, at first gracefully pouring it into a glass to taste it, but directly started drinking heavily later on. Morris’ gaze was caught by the little screens behind the seats instead, busy as he alternated between spamming the channels and looking at the scenery.

Dongya was praising the clean plane toilets to high heaven, the toilet bowl’s unique structure and operation deeply captivating his heart.

Byriel had suddenly run off somewhere once the flight condition was stabilized, returning only after quite a while with a gift box of high-grade sweets in his hands, legs crossed as he happily bit into the delicate little sugar spheres.

Morris cast a sidelong glance at Byriel, “The Shadow Academy’s not going to pay for your private expenses.”

“I know.” Byriel licked his fingers, “This is a freebie.”

“Are the scratches on your neck freebies as well?”

“Oh, no.” Byriel’s finger caressed the faintly red marks on his neck, “That’s the price.”

Morris shook his head, fixing his gaze back onto the little screen, with the movie ‘The Great Cat-Dog Wars’ playing on it. His expression was incredibly imposing, evidently feeling anxious about the future of the cat faction.

Igor had earphones plugged in, listening to the plane’s music channel, spaced out. Ivan had run off to chat with Liu Yi Chen, although she didn’t have the patience to bother with him.

Zong Yu had started drawing the moment he boarded the plane, Su Li Wan reading a book, although her gaze would always stop secretly on Zhong Xian beside her. She was incredibly surprised that Zhong Xian had agreed to come along and assist.

Zhong Xian was currently wearing a famous designer’s shirt and jacket, his lower half adorning a pair of trousers tailored to fit him. There were sunglasses covering his clean and handsome face, which he was unwilling to take off even if they had boarded the plane, seemingly unused and embarrassed about his disguise.

This was the first time Su Li Wan was seeing Zhong Xian dressed in something other than a Chinese-style robe, and before her too. Zhong Xian was usually in the mirror world, even when she was in the Shadow Academy’s classes or back home, he would always deliberately avoid her.

This was an extremely rare chance. She kept on flipping through her book, pretending to glance carelessly into Zhong Xian’s direction.

“Are you done looking?” Zhonglong glanced out the window, voice cold.

“Ah, I’m sorry…” Su Li Wan lowered her head, but there was a faint smile still held in the corner of her lips, “I have never seen you like this before, so I momentarily forgot my manners…”

“Are you ridiculing me?” Zhong Xian frowned. His gaze was blocked by the sunglasses, but Su Li Wan could feel his loathing expression.

“No.” Su Li Wan lifted her lips to smile in objection, speaking frankly, “I think it looks good, so I want to look a little longer, to memorize it.”

Zhong Xian froze a little, going silent for a second, then warned in a low voice, “White sand will blacken, relative to all black.1 Your manner of speech is becoming increasingly similar to that fool called Feng…”

Kaido had been quiet throughout the entire journey, and as they got closer to their destination, his expression became even more grim-faced.

As for the leader, Feng Ping Lan? Because he had been searching for information and pondering over countermeasures these past few nights, he was lacking in sleep, and had fallen asleep the moment he sat into that first-class cabin’s luxurious and comfortable seat.

Feng Ping Lan’s seat was next to Quetzal’s. The first-class cabin’s seats were spacious, and although their positions were close to each other, there was quite a distance in the middle.

“Quetzal…” A vague mumble sounded out faintly.

Quetzal listened quietly, but when he did not hear any continuation after a moment, he turned back indifferently to abruptly realize that Feng Ping Lan was talking in his sleep.

Quetzal furrowed his brows slightly, about to turn his head back, when he heard another mumble.

“Jing Lan-ge…”

Jing Lan? He had a faint impression of this name. That was the name of Feng Ping Lan’s older brother.

He wondered what sort of personality would Feng Ping Lan’s close relative have, what sort of character? Would he be just as simple-mindedly foolish as him, as crazy?

He suddenly realized that Feng Ping Lan had never mentioned his family to them before, and they had never even seen him in contact with his family members.

From what he perceived, for humans living in countries in the Pacific Region, those who were underage would usually have a close relationship with their families. But Feng Ping Lan did not seem to be the case.

Quetzal came to a realization, that he knew nothing about Feng Ping Lan.

At the same time, he realized another matter that made him annoyed— he had started to care about Feng Ping Lan’s past.

Feng Ping Lan’s expression in his sleep had lost its usual foolish smile, and it let him feel extremely unused to it. He couldn’t help but be curious, was it completely sincere joy hidden under that smile, or—

Damn it, stop reflecting.

This shouldn’t happen…

*

The plane landed at Kansai International Airport. When they exited the customs, there was a person from the hotel standing outside with a signboard in hand.

Feng Ping Lan’s group was eye-catching in a sort of meticulously subdued way, with quite a few people casting them curious looks on the way, but no one knew just who they were.

The person from the hotel had also received information that this group of VIPs had quite a background, that they absolutely could not slight them, even sending a small bus to pick them up from the airport, but they were unsure of where these celebrities had come from.

The person from the hotel had also received information that this group of VIPs had quite a background and absolutely could not be slighted, that they had even sent a small bus over to pick them up from the airport, but they were unsure of where these celebrities had come from.

Looking at this attitude and this entourage, no one dared to ask, afraid of offending their VIPs. They must be huge celebrities from a certain country, everyone guessed.

On the way to the hotel, Conglong continued to be carsick, the sound of his retching lingering on incessantly.

“Why does he have so many things to vomit?” Ivan scrunched his face, glaring at the source of that noisy disturbance.

“A water-type demon.” Byriel replied with a smile.

After around an hour’s journey, they arrived at the thousand-year capital, Kyoto.

As the bus passed through a certain road, Kaido looked out without turning his gaze, his hand even placed on the windows after the bus had left, peering at the back. Even the person sent by the hotel had noticed his serious and concentrated expression.

“There’s a shrine at the end of that road, it apparently has a history of six hundred years. Its exterior appearance is incredibly beautiful, but it’s not open to the public, and only special members of the family and relatives are allowed to pay their respects.” The person receiving them spoke in thick accented Chinese, “But the surroundings are very pretty, you can take photos of the exterior woods and the torii.”

“I know.” Kaido returned to his seat, muttering in a low voice, “I know…”

*

The travelers’ inn they were staying in was called Takusetsu Shin’en, a pretty well-known Japanese-style inn. The exterior had kept its appearance from when it was built a hundred years ago, quaint and antique, lucid and elegant.

The executive of the travelers’ inn was a distant relative of a Summoner in the Association. The higher-ups in the Association had visited this place in the past, but because of this, the Shadow Academy was worried this layer of relationship would cause the ones being investigated to have misgivings, so they did not arrange for any other assistance, nor did they have any plants within the inn. Feng Ping Lan and the others checked according to the usual procedures, just like any other guest, with no special privileges, and they had to depend on themselves to collect all the requirements and intelligence.

This was an exceedingly great challenge.

After they got off the bus, a female attendant wearing an exquisite kimono was already waiting at the entrance with a band of people to greet them, quickly unloading their luggage and moving them to their rooms. One of them led the group to the front desk to register their rooms.

“We express the utmost gratitude of your company.” The female attendant at the front desk greeted courteously, “I did not think there would be so many esteemed guests in the offseason, as equally matched to our peak period, it’s been considerably lively!”

“What? You mean there are other visitors here?” Ivan rolled his eyes, saying rudely, “And I wasted my energy to book suck a high-grade hotel too, I thought there would be fewer strangers around. Honestly…”

“Please do not worry, no matter the number of guests, it will not affect the quality of our service. We will absolutely ensure a comfortable resting space for each one of our esteemed guests.”

“Our band members have special statuses, we don’t want to be interrupted by any outsiders. Hopefully, your hotel won’t leak any information about their whereabouts to others. I don’t want a repeat of any of the other fiascos at the other hotels, they were even ranked by five stars, but what happened in the end? Humph!” Ivan snorted with all his might, acting his part to the very image of an unbridled and snobbish manager. He then turned his head, explaining the important details of their stay to Feng Ping Lan and the others in Chinese.

Although there wouldn’t be any communication problems under a demon’s spell, it created the impression of the other members excluding the manager being unable to understand Japanese. This way, if they were caught in a moment of inattention while investigating, they could still explain it away as a misunderstanding caused by miscommunication.

Their rooms were located in the west corner of the inn. They had booked two six-person tatami rooms, but the doors in the center of the tatami rooms were interconnected, and when pulled apart, would turn into a large linked room.

As the female attendants left, Simo immediately created a sound wall, cutting off all noise. Dongya also placed a barrier in the surroundings which would make a warning noise once someone passed by.

After taking off their cumbersome disguises, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

“This is a floor plan of the inn.” Feng Ping Lan pulled out the prepared file, taking out the pieces of paper from within, unfolding them one by one, “This is where we’re at.” He used a square-shaped highlighter to circle a corner of the floor plan. “This area seems to be all big six-person rooms. Currently, with us excluded, there are no other guests coming in groups. As for this row,” He circled another row of rooms facing perpendicular from that corner, “Over here are the twin rooms, and these are the quad rooms, where a majority of the guests live. Except for the very few rooms where the ordinary tourists are living in, the others are people connected to the Green Lion’s assembly.”

“How do you know that?”

“I looked it up on the Internet.” Feng Ping Lan grinned, pleased with himself, “I tried to book the other rooms on the inn’s booking system yesterday, and I could only book four rooms out of thirty-five twin rooms, so there are at least thirty-one groups living there. There are twenty-five quad rooms, and twelve rooms that can still be booked, then there are seven six-person rooms out of nine that can be booked. After that, I typed in the inn’s name in the internet search engine and found the related posts published in the last three days. I found fourteen posts on travel blogs and Facebook check-ins, and from those posts, I knew there were at least thirty-one groups of common tourists currently living here.”

This was an age where everyone was in a hurry to share, record and boast about their current situation and whereabouts to others, tracking down the movements of others using the internet was a very easy thing to do.

“Then, Shen Yang’s information mentioned that the numbers of the Green Lion’s members are unknown, but looking at the records of past assembly points, there must be at least more than a hundred people, and if you count, it more or less matches up with the number of people living here.”

“You’re really amazing…” Ivan praised grudgingly. Although he had known from the start that Feng Ping Lan was a Spec Ad student, with an extremely bright mind, with how he was used to looking at his crazy and moronic words and actions, it was still hard to get used to his shrewd behavior for a moment.

“It’s alright, it would save us a lot of time if we could get hold of the guest register. We could know which rooms are occupied, and what kind of people are living in them.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, “Also, there are four banquet halls here. We’re not sure which of them will be used, but it shouldn’t be hard to find out. When the time comes we can install some monitoring devices or detector spells. That mostly all of it.”

After saying this, Feng Ping Lan looked at everyone, waiting for them to speak their opinions, but the room was silent for a long while, not a person speaking a word.

“Uh, is everyone tired? Why isn’t everyone speaking?” Feng Ping Lan glanced at his watch, three-thirty displayed on it, “Dinner is served in the hotel at six o’clock, mm, hang in there.”

“So, what should we do?” Morris asked languidly, “All the work, all the missions that need to be carried out, just give it straight to us.”

“Ah? I figured we could discuss it together, exchange opinions and enhance our relationship or something.”

“That’s too troublesome, we’ll leave everything involving the mind to you.” Morris yawned carelessly, “We’re in charge of coordinating with you.”

“That’s right.” Byriel chimed in, “Not everyone has that organ.” Saying this, he glanced at Morris in askance.

“What the fuck are you staring at!”

Feng Ping Lan looked at his other companions, and seeing the others express their approval, continued to speak of his plan.

“We need the guest register, because we don’t know which are the members of the Green Lion’s group, which are ordinary tourists. Even if they are a member, we’re unclear of whether which of these people are connected to the Summoners or Opposers. We’ll have to at least distinguish them from human and demon, this way we can shrink the scope of suspects, then we’ll capture them before they can commit another crime.”

“How do we know which of them are members of the Green Lion’s group?”

“According to the information, the attendees will wear a cufflink with the Green Lion’s pattern on it. That’s an important identifier, and I figure they’ll only wear it on the day of the assembly itself. So if we find a cufflink, we should be certain of their identities.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, a little embarrassed, “This method is a little troublesome, because we’ll have to search through them individually, but I can’t think of any other ways.”

“This is fine too.” Su Li Wan spoke out to comfort him, “As long as we can find the object, it’s simple and clear, very understandable.”

“What happens if we mess up the room while searching through it?” Ivan questioned, “Acting quickly whilst keeping things tidy, isn’t that a little too hard?”

Dongya patted Ivan, smiling lightly in a confident manner. “Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem.”

“All we can do for now, if to verify the members of the Green Lion’s group before Friday, then think of something to find the murderer…” Feng Ping Lan said softly, sounding a little uneasy.

“What’s the matter, are you scared?” Byriel smiled faintly.

“Oh, it’s not that.” Fing Ping Lan said, his tone slightly lacking in confidence, “Actually, there’s a hole in this plan, because I’m not sure if the murderer will come. Besides, if the murderer doesn’t commit the crime, we won’t be able to ascertain who it is. If we expect the murderer to commit a crime so that we can catch them, it feels a little dishonest…”

“At least we wouldn’t return empty-handed.” Ivan took objection to that.

“Then,” Byriel stood up, his lips hooking up into an eager smile, “Let’s start.” The resplendent smile transformed into gold mist, scattering.

The Contracts dispersed on their own, slipping into the other rooms. Quetzal assimilated into the shadows, proliferating like ink and permeating under the dark areas underneath the rooms, pursuing stealthily.

The ones left were the young Summoners.

“Then, what will we do now?” Su Li Wan asked.

“Patrol around the hotel. If you detect anything fishy, adapt and handle it immediately. Oh, we still need someone to wait here and guard this room.”

Su Li Wan could observe Feng Ping Lan’s eagerness, and spoke out on her own initiative, “Then I’ll guard.”

The other members rose, and prepared to set off after putting on their disguises.

With a swishing sound, the windows abruptly opened, and the upper half of Ivan’s body entered the room.

“I almost forgot.” He held out a piece of paper, “Here, go grab the things written on this list, we can’t consume the things eaten by humans.”

Feng Ping Lan took the piece of paper, milk, sake, whole wheat biscuits, vanilla ice-cream, yam paste, pomelo, sugar, and sesame listed on it.

“Yam paste, pomelo, and sesame?” He recognized the other foods, they were all eaten by his Contracts.

“Yam paste is Zhong Xian’s.” Su Li Wan spoke.

“Tan Hua only eats pomelo.”

“So, Ivan’s main source of food is sesame?” Feng Ping Lan looked at Ivan, unable to imagine how sesame was supposed to be eaten as a main course.

“You have something to say? Don’t buy sesame paste, there are a bunch of things mixed in. I want pure sesame, black or white is fine.” Ivan reminded, then vanished behind the window.

After Ivan had left, the others started to operate on their own.

Feng Ping Lan strolled around within the boundaries of the hotel, just like any other tourist. He would occasionally meet a few female attendants wearing kimonos who nodded their heads respectfully in greeting.

The inn’s landscape was incredibly elegant, no matter the rock garden, courtyard, or the pool, cloister, they all had a restrained and otherworldly feeling of quiet remoteness to it. The man-made houses and natural landscape complemented one another, setting off each other in a harmonious and serene scene.

The maple leaves were turning red as they entered autumn, each piece of red maple breaking away from the branches by the slight wind, descending trippingly, resting on the surface of the water, and above the inverted image of the treetops, the falling leaves returned to its branches. The evening sun dyed the trees and water a golden sheen, gorgeous and dazzling.

Feng Ping Lan halted his footsteps to look at the scenery, feeling the cool air sweeping through the surface of the water.

How at ease… It didn’t feel as if he was in the middle of a mission at all…

Did the netherworld have a similar scenery to this? He suddenly had the urge to find everyone, get them to sit along the hallway together to admire the scenery whilst they conversed.

Would Quetzal like this kind of scenery? Or, did his Contracts miss the view in the netherworlds more?

How long would the days like this last?

The sound of footsteps and people conversing traveled from the front. Feng Ping Lan followed it curiously, just to see the backs of five guests passing through the little bridge over the pond, onwards to the opposite pavilion. One of them, who wore a snow-white long dress, had a back that gave him a sense of familiarity.

Feng Ping Lan chased up towards them, going over the little bridge, and just as he was about to enter the building, he was halted by a female attendant.

“There are other guests inside.” The female attendant said, warmly cordial, “You’ll have to make a reservation if you have the intention to use it, do you need me to register your name?”

“Oh, no need, thanks.” Feng Ping Lan couldn’t help but give another glance inside the building, then turned to leave.

On the way back, he spotted Zong Yu squatting under a maple tree outside the side room, in the midst of doing something.

Looking at Zong Yu’s back, Feng Ping Lan lifted his lips into a mischievous smile, tiptoeing as he walked quietly towards that short and chubby figure. When he was just a step away from him, his entire body leaped forward.

“Ha! Xiao~ Yu~ Er!” Feng Ping Lan pounced on him from behind, arms circling around his thick body.

Zong Yu did not give any reaction.

“Did I scare you? Is Xiao Yu-er stupefied?” Feng Ping Lan leaned forwards, looking at Zong Yu’s face from the side.

“I noticed you the moment you walked up to the aisle…” Zong Yu humphed lightly in objection, continuing with the work in his hands.

He pushed the dirt into the pithole before him, filling it up. A butterfly lay in the pithole, the blue-black wings turning filthy by the dirt.

“Xiao Yu-er, are you burying this butterfly?” Feng Ping Lan patted Zong Yu’s shoulder, “I never thought Xiao Yu-er was this melancholy, just like Lin Daiyu, hahaha.”

“I’m burying a curse. If a person dies, their soul will be attracted by the dead butterfly, temporarily dwelling in it, notifying me…” Zong Yu smiled creepily, the spoke in a chilly tone, “Will you come down now…”

He wasn’t used to touching others.

“Oh, but Xiao Yu-er feels really wonderful.” Feng Ping Lan pinched Zong Yu’s waist, “The hardness of your flesh is especially unique, it feels a little like a sofa or a cushion.” He poked that perfectly rounded arm, “I never thought it would be so sturdy! Xiao Yu-er, could it be that you’ve been secretly training all this while? There’s actually an Adonis belt on your stomach, am I right?”

Zong Yu’s furrowed his brows, then violently stood up. Feng Ping Lan wasn’t able to react in time and fell to the ground, but wasn’t troubled at all, standing up smilingly after patting off the dust on his bottom.

“Are we heading back now? I wonder how the others are doing with their investigation, we’ll need to buy food for the others later.” An idea suddenly lit up in Feng Ping Lan’s mind, “Right, Xiao Yu-er, where’s your Contract? Why have I never seen them appear before this? Are they shy? What do they eat? We can buy it with the others later?” He questioned with a smile, simple curiosity in his eyes.

Zong Yu did not answer, and after a moment’s silence, he evaded the question by changing the subject, “Kaido went out earlier…”

The change of subject was a little rigid, but he didn’t want to answer, nor did he want to directly refuse him. He had always assumed that he liked being all by himself, but he realized he did not dislike it when Feng Ping Lan stuck to him, interacted with him.

“Kaido’s gone? Did he go out to buy food? But the list is with me, does he remember what to buy?”

“Who knows…” Zong Yu patted off the dust in his hands, “About five minutes ago, his Contract brought him out over the walls.”

“Tan Hua too?” Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to think, “Then, we’ll go find him.”

Ever since they received the mission, Kaido had been acting weirdly. Not only was he unusually silent, but he was also always in deep thought.

He wanted to know just what had occurred.

“Why?” Zong Yu didn’t understand.

What did the affairs of others matter to him? Even more so that it was Kaido’s. He wasn’t close to Kaido, and if not for Feng Ping Lan, he absolutely wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that arrogant young master.

“Why not?” Feng Ping Lan thought Zong Yu was worried about being scolded, “He scolds me every day, either way, this time won’t make a difference, hahaha!”

Zong Yu wanted to refuse, but Feng Ping Lan had started planning the route on his own.

“How should we go? Dongya and the others are busy, I don’t want to bother them. Ask the hotel staff to drive us there? Or do we call for a taxi? But we’re not sure where he’s gone…” Feng Ping Lan muttered, looking a little distressed.

Zong Yu frowned. To a Summoner who could master six demons, he should be able to easily cast a spell to transport them to another place. But Feng Ping Lan seemed to be unable to do anything once his Contracts were gone.

“You’re really useless…”

“That’s right.” Feng Ping Lan admitted magnanimously, “But I have you guys! Xiao Yu-er, do you have a way to get there?”

Zong Yu was silent for a moment, at last humphing in resignation.

He glanced left and right for a while, and after making sure no one was near, recited a few incantations in a low voice.

Then, his sturdy back started to morph, two sides of his vertebrae swelling, four transparent dragonfly-like wings extending out of his back.

He glanced at Feng Ping Lan indifferently, who revealed an astonished expression on his face.

“Goodness… This…”

Zong Yu gave an inwardly cold sneer. As expected…

“Amazing!” Feng Ping Lan poked his head over, staring at the thin wings, unable to take his gaze off, “Is this an enchantment? So strong! Zong Yu looks like one of the little fairies in Peter Pan! So beautiful! Can I touch them?”

Zong Yu was silent.

Feng Ping Lan was truly startled by his appearance, but his reason for being startled was not as he had expected. Feng Ping Lan was startled purely out the novelty of something unknown, and not because he could make out just why he was able to put a spell like this to full use…

Why wasn’t he able to see through him? If he could become the master of six demons, why was it that he couldn’t even detect the changes of his aura?

“Are we going now?” Feng Ping Lan asked eagerly, “Is Xiao Yu-er going to fly away while carrying me bridal-style? Or do you need me to hug you like a koala?”

Zong Yu set the puzzlement away in his mind for now, indifferently taking Feng Ping Lan’s hand and flapping his wings.

They did not start flying, but travelled on the ground, heading forwards at high speeds as if they had stepped on a wheel, towards the direction Kaido had taken.

“Wow!” Feng Ping Lan cried out in surprise, he never thought they would be using this method to move.

“They climbed over this wall, this way…” Zong Yu turned over a corner, rushing towards a short wall behind the side room.

It looked as if they were about to crash into the wall, but the two of them were not obstructed by it, stepping on the surface of the wall, ascending directly up, and after crossing the wall, descended gracefully.

Feng Ping Lan was blinking continuously. This wasn’t similar to being brought along by Morris’ leaps, or flying with Dongya’s wind walk, it was a unique kind of experience, it felt as if he was stepping on the wind.

Zong Yu led Feng Ping Lan by his hand as they moved rapidly, sidestepping the people and cars on the street. Due to the concealment spells, no one took note of them.

“Do you know where Kaido is headed to?”

“Probably…” Zong Yu answered carelessly.

When he switched to this form, his senses would be several times more acute, and he could quickly capture the demonic auras he was familiar with. He pursued Tan Hua’s inaudible aura, changing the route as he went.

*

Twenty minutes later, the two of them stopped before an intersection of an uphill road.

This roadway climbed windingly up the hill where a dense bamboo forest sat, a red torii faintly poking out of the woods. Feng Ping Lan recognized this road as the one the staff member who was receiving them earlier had mentioned, a place Kaido had shown considerable interest in.

Zong Yu had also recognized it. But the reason he had stopped was not that they had reached their destination, but because he could feel the demonic aura and wards concealed amidst the hill.

This was the territory of a Summoner clan.

He was a little hesitant about whether he should approach, since the Summoners were a bunch of very territorial people.

“Let’s go! Kaido must be further up!” Feng Ping Lan pulled on Zong Yu.

Zong Yu paused for a moment, lips lifting into an affected smile. No matter…

He took a step, leading Feng Ping Lan in, passing through the footpath like a gust of wind, entering the forest.

In the midst of the luxuriously dense forest, a red construction could be faintly discerned on the other end. It was clearly manifested as they got halfway up the hill, an elevated passageway created by twelve linked torii, towering over the avenue like an arched door, carrying along with it a guarded and solemn aura.

They could see two figures about two pass through the first torii from afar.

“Kaido’s right there!” Feng Ping Lan laughed up his sleeve, proud of himself, “We’re moving quicker than him, we’ll reach them in no time!”

Zong Yu halted, keeping his wings away and changing back to his usual form. Feng Ping Lan walked towards the meadow beside the stone pathway, approaching quietly as he tiptoed.

“Shh, let’s give them a surprise!” Feng Ping Lan waved at Zong Yu behind him, “Be a little quieter.”

“Will you knock it off…”

“This makes it even more interesting!” Feng Ping Lan smiled, “Hurry, hurry!”

Zong Yu groaned in exasperation, and followed Feng Ping Lan’s footsteps.

Kaido and Tan Hua passed through the torii, and when they reached the fourth gate, a flash of lightning came from the red pillars.

Then, a green-haired boy wearing a white kariginu suddenly appeared, a halberd in his hands, guarding the road.

“Wow!” Feng Ping Lan exclaimed quietly, “Is that a Summoner?”

“That’s a shikigami, a mid-rank demon.” Zong Yu replied in a low voice.

“It’s you?” The boy spotted Kaido, revealing an astonished expression.

“It has been a while, Seizawa.” Tan Hua greeted softly.

“Why are you here? Has the Wei Family permitted you to return?” Seizawa questioned.

“Where I go is my own choice, no one can restrict me.”

Seizawa could tell that Kaido’s appearance here was completely out of his own intentions. He spoke awkwardly, “You mustn’t be here…”

“This is my house, do I need to report it first when I return?!” Kaido rebuked angrily.

“No, it’s not that.” Seizawa answered respectfully yet confidently, “You used to live here, but you belong to the Wei Family…”

Kaido became agitated, “You’re just a watchdog, do you think you can obstruct me with just a few words?” With that, he pulled off the adornment by his waist, summoning the saber hidden in his boundary, ferociously assuming an offensive position.

Seizawa whipped around the halberd in his hands, the tip of its blade pointed at Kaido, “If you continue to persist.”

Several swords formed behind Tan Hua, arranging into a lotus-like formation in the air.

“I’ll say this one last time, step aside!” Kaido bellowed.

“This will also be my last reminder, please return.” Seizawa replied with staunchly, “You should know this, but your appearance will only cause trouble for us, your mother… Lady Sei will also be troubled—”

“Shut up!”

A harsh atmosphere proliferating through the air, a violent battle was most definitely about to take place before their eyes—

“Ahhh! Kai-kai-kai-do-do-do-ya-ya-ya!”

A mournful and preposterous bawl rang out of a sudden, simultaneously, a figure clumsily marched over, brandishing his hands as he approached.

Kaido and Tan Hua turned back to look at the person who had come, displaying expressions of shock.

“Feng Ping Lan?!”

Not just Feng Ping Lan, when Kaido took notice of Zong Yu’s obese figure, his face became several degrees more sinister.

“Did you bring everyone here?” You don’t wash your dirty linen in public, he didn’t want his private matters exposed before everyone else!

“Nope, it’s just Xiao Yu-er, we came to find you.” Feng Ping Lan replied with a smile, then turned his head to wave at Seizawa, cracking into a smile, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you!”

Seizawa froze, looking at this uninvited guest in confusion, “You are?”

“We’re Kaido’s friends, we’re classmates in the Shadow Academy!” Feng Ping Lan said in satisfaction, as if this was something to be intensely proud of.

Seizawa was flabbergasted, “Friends?” He looked at Kaido, seemingly very disbelieving, “Your friends?”

“None of your fucking business!” Kaido turned his head to glare angrily at Feng Ping Lan, “Why did you guys come—”

Feng Ping Lan cut off Kaido’s words, speaking to Seizawa on his own, “Here’s what happened, we came to Kyoto to play, and I’ve just finished eating the leftovers of the seafood we ate this afternoon, so my stomach’s feeling a little weird right now, and we came to borrow your toilet,” With that he clutched his stomach, revealing a pained expression, “I never thought Kaido would use it for such a long duration, I said we could find a spot in the forest to deal with it…”

Seizawa had never expected an outsider to show up, and to wish to enter for a reason such as this, momentarily feeling a little at a complete loss, “But…”

“These two are students from the Shadow Academy, they are quasi-Summoners acknowledged by the Association, not people of an unidentified origin.” Tan Hua took the opportunity to say, “The Association’s objectives are the mutual aid between the Summoners, providing support for each other. At present, Young Master Feng Ping Lan has a stomach ache at hand, and I am sure the Imawabe Family has rooms available for him to rest in temporarily. Young Master Kaido and I were coincidentally accompanying him, not a visit by ourselves, nor did we take painstaking measures to come. Is this reason enough to let us in?”

The one Seizawa had misgivings about was Kaido. Letting Kaido in would offend the Wei Family, but if they did not request entry in Kaido’s name, this might be a solution to it.

Seizawa hesitated for a very long time. While he contemplated, Feng Ping Lan became even more realistic, even deliberately squatting onto the floor to groan, secretly pressing his mouth to his arm to make farting noises.

Kaido’s face was pretty unpleasant, but he held it in, looking uneasily at Seizawa to make his decision.

“Alright then.” At last, Seizawa compromised, “But you cannot stay for too long.”

“Yay! That’s great!” Feng Ping Lan immediately stood up, and, noticing Seizawa’s doubtful gaze, hurriedly bent his waist to moan, “Then… I’ll leave it to you to lead us in… Ugh!”

Seizawa sighed lightly, turning to lead the others in. When they reached up to the last torii, he asked them to wait by this spot, then entered the house to report.

With this time-lapse, Kaido took the chance to go batshit crazy.

“What are you doing here! Do you know exactly where this is?! If Seizawa was a moment quicker, with the way you rushed over like that, your body would have been ripped apart by now! Idiot!”

“I was worried about you.” Feng Ping Lan replied frivolously, “I thought Kaido was running off to the red-light district to play an adult’s game all on his own. So that you don’t take the lead in development, leaving your chastity behind earlier than all of us, I hurried over to stop you.” With that, he took Kaido’s hand, “We have to become magicians together!”

“What nonsense are you spouting out!” Kaido shook off his hand, “I don’t understand you! Who told you to come after me!”

“Aiyo, how could Kaido be so heartless, if it wasn’t for my feces, we wouldn’t be able to get in!”

Kaido was struck speechless. Tan Hua couldn’t help but smile lightly.

“Is this your house?” Feng Ping Lan’s attention was attracted by the gorgeous Japanese building before him.

It was a building with the main colors of vermillion and snow-white, richly ornamented, stone lamps with complex engravings on it arranged around the courtyard. The entire area dispersed a sumptuous and rich air, having an entirely different style to the inn’s elegance.

“I used to live here…” Kaido muttered, “This is where my mother lives.”

“I see.” Feng Ping Lan gazed around him, “It’s very beautiful!”

Not long after, Seizawa returned. Feng Ping Lan hurriedly bent his waist, scrunching up his forehead and groaning bitterly.

“You can rest in the guest rooms in the East Court.” Seizawa glanced at Kaido, as if he knew his intentions, “Lady Sei is not here. This was permitted by Steward Kirino.”

Kaido’s shoulders drooped, revealing a clearly disappointed expression.

“When will she come back?” Feng Ping Lan immediately asked, “I’ll need to properly thank her for letting me borrow her toilets one day.”

Seizawa gave Feng Ping Lan a sideways glance, and he quickly gave a few groans.

“I will pass that on to her.” Seizawa replied politely.

“That’s great, just wait a minute—” Feng Ping Lan immediately flipped out a bunch of junk from his pockets, pulling out a pen and gum wrapper from the pile, casually shoving the other junk back into his pocket.

“This is my phone number, she can call it if she wants to contact me!” Feng Ping Lan wrote down his number on the wrapper, then placing it in Seizawa’s hands with great cautiousness, “You have to remember!”

Seizawa lowered his head to look at the wrinkled paper in his hands, then looked at the awkward-looking Kaido at the side.

“I didn’t think he was actually your friend…” He clicked his tongue in wonder, then looked at Feng Ping Lan, “I’ll remember.”

After Feng Ping Lan’s group was let into the house, Seizawa brought him to the restroom. Feng Ping Lan deliberately sat inside for a long while before coming out. Zong Yu, Kaido and Tan Hua were staying in the wing rooms to rest.

Zong Yu lay beside the window, looking at the scenery outside, where a few girls dressed in a miko’s clothing were cleaning the courtyard. He let out an affected laugh as he used his stubby fingers to make scratches on the wooden shutters, letting out an ear-piercing sound.

Kaido glared at Zong Yu, eyebrows scrunched up tightly. He didn’t feel at ease, because it was very rare for him to communicate with people. Although he operated with the others in class due to his relationship with Feng Ping Lan, he did not plan on making any unnecessary interactions with anyone else.

He didn’t know how to interact with others either.

“That shrine maiden is very beautiful…” Zong Yu muttered lowly, “The red skirt is very similar to the color of blood…”

“That’s called a red hakama.” Kaido sneered, “I didn’t think you’d come with him.”

“Oh…” Zong Yu replied without turning his head, “I didn’t think you’d be connected to the Imawabe Family either…”

“That’s none of your business!”

“I have no interest in you…” Zong Yu scoffed, “How conceited… If you closed your mouth and became silent for eternity, you would have something to look at…”

“You disgusting fatso!” Kaido slammed the desk, “It’s because that revolting behavior of yours, there’s no wonder no one wants to approach you!”

“Putting on airs and being immaculately dressed, yet having no one willing to approach you, you’re in a more sorrowful state than I am…” Zong Yu turned his head back, “You say this is your home, but you ran here from distant parts only to be refused entry, it looks like your whole family loathes you…”

“What did you say—”

“Young Master Kaido!” Tan Hua tried to put a stop to it, but Kaido had already rushed up, fisting Zong Yu’s collar.

“Are you angry? You’re attempting to walk in solitude, but unwilling to be left out, overlooked, you’re really hilarious…” Zong Yu sniggered, “In the end, you long to be given attention…”

“Shut up!”

The door was suddenly pushed open, cutting off the two’s deadlock.

“Woah, I was only gone for a moment, and your relationship has already made such rapid progress.” Feng Ping Lan looked at the two of them who were locked together in envy. “Let me join in!” Then, ignoring their angry shouts, pounced at them, embracing them left and right, tumbling into a pile.

“Get off!”

“You’re crushing me!”

“Wow! Xiao Yu-er’s boobs are so soft, I can’t fit it in one palm!”

“Let go…”

“Have you had enough, idiot!” Kaido couldn’t see this go any further, reaching out to slap off Feng Ping Lan’s demonic claws, but to his surprise, his hand was clutched instead, pulled towards Zong Yu’s chest.

“Kaido, touch it, it’s very therapeutic!”

“Vulgar—”

Just when the racket in the room was about to reach a point where it could not be stopped, a light cough was heard.

“May I ask, is everybody planning on staying any further?”

They turned their heads to see Seizawa standing by the door, staring at the people in the room with an astonished and ruminating look.

Kaido awkwardly and embarrassedly pushed Feng Ping Lan and Zong Yu away, standing up.

The group left the side room and was delivered out to the outer courtyard by Seizawa. A taxi was already parked outside, looking like it was to make sure that Kaido and the others would really leave.

After getting into the car, Kaido once again entered a deep silence, not giving an explanation for the reason for his actions, nor did he explain the connection between him and the shrine earlier.

“Is this the reason why Kaido chose Kyoto?” Feng Ping Lan smiled to ask.

Kaido ignored him.

“So, Kaido is here to specially visit his mother?”

“None of your business!”

Feng Ping Lan smiled, unbothered, “This is nothing to be embarrassed about.” He gazed out the window, muttering in a low voice, “I haven’t seen my parents in three years. If I had the chance, I would like to visit them. I wonder if they’re putting on weight in their old age!”

Kaido couldn’t help but turn his head to look at his face.

For the first time ever, he had a feeling that this guy, who was always caring for others with a smile on his face, was not as cheerful and strong-willed within as his outer appearance suggested.

“You…”

“Ah, a phone call.” Feng Ping Lan took out the vibrating phone from his pocket, “Hello?” He listened for a few seconds, “Oh, alright, we’ll be reaching soon!”

As he hung up, he spoke with excitement and slight nervousness, “They’re starting to move!”

TL Notes

White sand will blacken, relative to all black: I tried my best to translate the phrase “白沙在涅，与之俱黑”, which means those who are good, placed in a filthy environment, will eventually turn bad as well.