Chapter 88: Alstroemeria

The color of the divine power was like snowflakes, and it also danced around the young girl like snowflakes.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was stunned. He actually didn’t realize that the other party was a cultivator. What kind of curse was it? To be able to hide one’s divine power so well.

He said with a smile, “Is this your family’s flower?”

“No,” the white-haired girl replied coldly.

“Then why are you angry?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked strangely. The next moment, only his head was outside the ice. He didn’t even have a chance to turn into a red and black evil dragon.

The ice that wrapped him looked very thin, but he couldn’t break free no matter what. He couldn’t even reach out to pat the back of his head.

“Wait, miss, I’m Minamoto Kiyomoto. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me.”

“I know you, that’s why I brought you here.”

This sentence made Minamoto Kiyomoto, who had intended to get closer, helpless. He even felt a sense of guilt for deceiving her feelings.

“I apologize to you first,” he said while trying to undo the restraint with various curses. “When you see a flower you like, you want to pick two. Can you understand this feeling?”

He cast his gaze on the flower branch held in the white-haired girl’s hand.

“I can understand,” the white-haired girl nodded.

“So I just now—”

“Is this two?” Before Minamoto Kiyomoto could finish his words, the white-haired woman pointed at the lavender that had been completely dug up.

“Because I like it too much,” when he was wrapped in ice, Minamoto Kiyomoto found it easy to make his eyes look pure.

“What about the soil?”

“Because I like it too much.”

“You like soil?”

“I like flowers,” Minamoto Kiyomoto switched to the eighth curse. “I live in Tokyo. If I take them back from here, they will wither soon without soil.”

“Okay,” the white-haired girl nodded, agreeing with his words.

“The misunderstanding is cleared up,” Minamoto Kiyomoto reminded her to let him go.

The white-haired girl raised her crystal-clear white hand and slowly pressed down. The snowflakes flew, and Minamoto Kiyomoto sank into the mud.

“What are you doing?!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was both surprised and angry.

“You stole flowers, you’re a thief. I’m going to bury you here,” the white-haired girl said as she continued to cast the spell.

“Didn’t we already agree?!”

“Agree on what?”

“I stole… I picked flowers because I like them… Stop! Stop! This isn’t your flower. You have no right to punish me!”

In a blink of an eye, Minamoto Kiyomoto was almost buried up to his neck.

Helpless, he could only use his trump card. He raised his neck and shouted, “Miss Kamibayashi—!”

Hokkaido was vast and sparsely populated, with vast and open land. Even so, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s full-throated cry for help still caused an echo.

The next moment, two figures appeared in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s field of vision. He didn’t know when, but Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi were already standing by his head.

“Young Master Kiyoshi, what are you doing?” Himemiya Izayoi was holding two ice cream cones.

Seeing him buried in the ground with only his head exposed, and his neck still steaming with cold air, she found it very interesting.

She held her skirt, bent down, and sized him up curiously while eating the cone.

“That guy ambushed me!” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s nose was filled with the smell of ice cream and her fragrance. “I want to fight her to the death!”

“You were ambushed,” Himemiya Izayoi’s tone was leisurely, not taking this matter to heart at all.

“You pull me up.”

“Here,” she handed him an ice cream.

Minamoto Kiyomoto took a big bite, but was attacked by the cold from both inside and outside, and his head hurt from the cold.

Kamibayashi Miko stood between the white-haired girl and Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head. She sized up the white-haired girl, “Hokkaido Miko?”

“Yes,” the white-haired girl nodded, but her pretty face was looking at Minamoto Kiyomoto and Himemiya Izayoi. “Are you two lovers?”

“No. You three, anyone will do. Can you let me out?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Not lovers,” Himemiya Izayoi made a meaningful sound, eating her own ice cream while feeding Minamoto Kiyomoto.

The ice cream was brought to his mouth, and Minamoto Kiyomoto had to take another bite.

“What did he do to you?” Kamibayashi Miko asked the Hokkaido Miko.

“He deceived me and betrayed my feelings,” the Hokkaido Miko replied.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto, and Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly shouted at the white-haired girl, “Hey, don’t you—”

Himemiya Izayoi stuffed the ice cream into his mouth all at once.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes widened, and he looked at her with confusion. She pursed her lips and revealed a brilliant and beautiful smile, then took a small bite of the cone.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm!” Minamoto Kiyomoto could only speak like this. If he spat out the ice cream, the consequences would be even worse.

“You really are lovers,” the white-haired girl nodded as if confirming. “Have you done it?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto ignored the cold and swallowed the small ice cream in two or three bites.

“No! I said we’re not lovers. And, hurry up and let me go! I’m willing to apologize to you for the flower.”

“Have you kissed?” the white-haired girl asked again.

“Miss Hokkaido, I don’t think you’re angry either. You let me out first, and we’ll talk properly, okay?” Minamoto Kiyomoto persuaded.

“Answer me.”

“No.”

“Holding hands?”

“I said we’re not lovers.”

“Okay,” the white-haired girl nodded as if confirming something again. “It seems you’ve held hands.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto: “…”

Himemiya Izayoi squatted by his head with her knees hugged, her pink tongue happily licking the ice cream.

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked up at Kamibayashi Miko, “I didn’t lie to her, and I didn’t betray her feelings. I was buried because she thought I stole flowers.”

“Is that so,” Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“Of course!” Minamoto Kiyomoto promised. “I’m single-minded towards you. How could I go and find other women?”

“So you two are lovers,” the white-haired girl looked at them. “Have you done it?”

“We’re working hard. Can you let me go?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Have you kissed?” the white-haired girl was simply a question robot.

“I apologize to you for what he did. It was my teaching that was at fault,” Kamibayashi Miko bowed her head slightly, with a calm expression of ‘this boring topic ends here.’

The Hokkaido Miko was about to say something, but Shirako jumped out from somewhere—Minamoto Kiyomoto couldn’t see.

“Piglet, you fell into a human trap?” Shirako had an expression of about to burst into laughter.

“Miss Kamibayashi, let me out,” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t look at her and said to Kamibayashi Miko.

“You did something wrong. Stay in there for a while.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t know if she was talking about stealing flowers or kissing her on the sea of clouds.

“Hehe!” Shirako sized up Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head and suddenly laughed with ill intentions.

“What are you doing?!” Minamoto Kiyomoto twisted his neck and stared at her warily.

“I’ve always wanted to try this,” Shirako walked in front of him and sat on his head with a plop.

Her sitting posture was bold, her legs wide open, her hands crossed in front of her chest, and she even let out a “ha, ha, ha” laugh to the sky.

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto wished he could bury his head in the ground.

Himemiya Izayoi laughed so hard that she couldn’t squat anymore and could only stand up.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at Shirako and Minamoto Kiyomoto under her butt, smiled beautifully, and finally let Shirako get up and let Minamoto Kiyomoto out.

“Shirako is a shikigami. Her body isn’t dirty. And you’ve lived on her body for so long. It’s nothing for her to sit on you once.”

“Miss Kamibayashi, when you comfort people, can you have some professional ethics and not laugh yourself?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said in annoyance.

“It’s a bit difficult,” Kamibayashi Miko replied honestly.

Minamoto Kiyomoto no longer paid attention to these bad women and walked in front of the Hokkaido Miko.

“I apologize to you for the lavender,” he said.

“Some things can’t be solved with an apology,” the white-haired girl replied.

“Pay money? Or do you want a curse?”

“Have you kissed her?” the white-haired girl pointed at Kamibayashi Miko.

“Why are you interested in this kind of thing?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was puzzled and asked her back.

“It seems you have,” the white-haired girl began to nod to herself again.

“…” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t know what to say, in every sense.

“No,” at this time, Kamibayashi Miko replied.

“Yes,” although the white-haired girl’s voice was soft and emotionless, it had a persistent taste. “Unless you swear to the successive Divine Miko that you ‘haven’t’.”

“…” This time it was Kamibayashi Miko’s turn to not know what to say.

“You two,” Himemiya Izayoi, who was watching the show, her expression calmed down.

“I kissed her forcibly,” Minamoto Kiyomoto confessed. “But she didn’t resist at first.”

Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi reached out at the same time, one on his left shoulder and one on his right, and pushed Minamoto Kiyomoto back into the ground.

“Let’s go back,” Kamibayashi Miko turned and left.

“The lavender is average. Let’s try other flavors,” Himemiya Izayoi followed.

Shirako twisted Minamoto Kiyomoto’s cheek, “You piglet, you actually dared to kiss Lady Miko! Who allowed you!”

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Miss Kamibayashi—!” Within a few minutes, Minamoto Kiyomoto had actually used his most powerful curse twice.

“Shirako,” Kamibayashi Miko called out.

Shirako pinched Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face hard again before leaving reluctantly.

After everyone had left, the Hokkaido Miko took out a branch from the flower branch she was holding and placed it in front of Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head.

“What do you mean?!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was really going to get angry.

“The flower, take it back,” the Hokkaido Miko said.

Minamoto Kiyomoto sized her up carefully and confirmed that there was no mockery in her meaning. “…Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The Hokkaido Miko’s white hair turned back to soft and smooth black hair, and she walked into the distance.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s head couldn’t move, and he could only watch her go.

His forehead suddenly felt cold. He raised his head, and the fine snow in the air was dancing silently with the wind, slowly getting smaller.

When he looked down again, the Hokkaido Miko’s slender figure had already disappeared into the sea of flowers, without a trace.

The surroundings fell silent. Everything that had just happened was like lying on the white snow and having a light dream.

From far away, some bird was chirping, light and pleasant, ethereal.

He glanced at the flower branch in front of him and stared at it for a long time. Minamoto Kiyomoto began to wonder if this Hokkaido Miko was really giving him a flower, or was she “visiting his grave”?
After thinking about what had just happened for a while, he looked at the curses in the Xiangye crown for a while, and finally thought about starting school tomorrow.

He began to recall the “Atlas of Human Anatomy.”

First was the ‘full body surface.’ The female front view on it, the position of the navel always looked a bit high.

Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi walked around and came back. They heard Minamoto Kiyomoto reciting the bones of the whole body.

“…Tibia, fibula…”

“Let’s go, Young Master Kiyoshi,” Himemiya Izayoi’s mood seemed to have improved.

“Wait, there are still the bones in the feet… lateral malleolus, tarsal bones, navicular bone, metatarsal bones, phalanges, medial malleolus, talus, cuneiform bones, calcaneus. Alright.”

After reciting, Minamoto Kiyomoto waited for a while, raised his head, and looked at the two of them, “Well, you two sisters, who’s going to let me out?”

Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi looked at each other and acted at the same time. When they realized that the other was also acting, they stopped at the same time.

Minamoto Kiyomoto: “…”

“Miss Kamibayashi,” he called out affectionately.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced at him, squatted down, and put her fair hand on his shoulder, about to pull him up.

But Himemiya Izayoi also bent down, and her equally white hand pressed on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s shoulder, not letting him get up.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at Himemiya Izayoi. Himemiya Izayoi smiled beautifully at her, but did not move away.

A blue butterfly, it was unknown whether it was attracted by the flowers or by the fragrance of the two, flew around the tip of Minamoto Kiyomoto’s nose, about to land but not landing.

“It tickles,” as soon as he finished speaking, he sneezed loudly.

The two miko let go at the same time and looked at him with disgust.

Minamoto Kiyomoto subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch his nose. As soon as his hand moved, the hard mud just now turned into sand and slipped from his arm like flowing water.

Being caught between the two miko, this was probably the outcome—he understood.

On the way back to Tokyo, Minamoto Kiyomoto asked the two about the Hokkaido Miko.

“It seems to be called Alstroemeria. Her divine power is very strong,” Kamibayashi Miko said.

“How strong?”

“Without the Divine Miko’s curse, it’s hard to say who would win between her and me.”

“So powerful?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said in surprise. “No wonder I didn’t have time to fight back.”

“You didn’t have time to fight back, or were you mesmerized by her beauty?” Himemiya Izayoi said with a mocking smile.

“Even you, Izayoi, couldn’t mesmerize me. Who else can?” Minamoto Kiyomoto said proudly.

“Miko,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“Her? That’s not being mesmerized, that’s love.”

“So beautiful, Young Master Kiyoshi. Can I pull out your scales?” Himemiya Izayoi asked in an innocent tone.

“It’s best not to. This was lent to me by Miss Kamibayashi. Although it can be repaired, it’s not good to break it. By the way, give me your piece too.”

“No!”

Only after Himemiya Izayoi finished speaking did she remember that her piece seemed to have been accidentally lost when she was angry with Minamoto Kiyomoto.

She looked at Minamoto Kiyomoto with even more displeasure. This annoying guy.

“The Hokkaido Miko, why does she always ask if people have done it?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked again.

“I don’t know,” Himemiya Izayoi replied in annoyance.

“Then—”

“I don’t know.”

“…Oh.”

Returning to Hakusan Shrine, which he had been away from for a month and a half, Minamoto Kiyomoto had a feeling of returning home after a trip.

Half of his wooden house had been washed away. The roof was gone, and the mud had invaded all the way to the front of the bed. Under the sunlight, weeds had even grown.

The only things that were intact were the “North Star,” which he hadn’t used for a long time, and the cultivation notes of him and Kamibayashi Miko, which were placed under the “North Star.”

In the vegetable garden, because no one had taken care of it, the weeds were flourishing.

“Piglet, you live here. Don’t do anything dirty, you know!” Since she knew that Kamibayashi Miko had been kissed by Minamoto Kiyomoto, Shirako had been shouting at him.

“Dirty things?” Minamoto Kiyomoto sized up his new room.

There were two rows of bookshelves against the wall, filled with books.

Under the only window, there was an oak desk. In the corner next to the desk, there was a wooden bed.

Shirako opened the window, and the sunlight shone in. The dust particles were like light particle creatures, swimming in the sunlight.

“I know you’re using the toilet, taking a bath, and even secretly taking Lady Miko’s underwear. What else, you know yourself!”

“A gentleman is lustful but not lewd. How could I do such a thing?” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked in and stroked the desk.

“Forcible kissing?!”

“…I’ll be careful,” Minamoto Kiyomoto felt that he did have a criminal record and could not be trusted.

“As long as I find out you have this idea, I’ll kick you out immediately!” Shirako snorted and slammed the door shut.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t care. He casually took a book from the bookshelf—Guo Maoqian’s “Yuefu Shiji”—sat at the desk, and basked in the sun.

He opened it casually. It was all in Chinese characters, and it happened to be the famous “Ballad of Mulan.”

The lines were filled with annotations, in Kamibayashi Miko’s neat handwriting.

Did she also sit here and read this book?

(End of Chapter)