The coldness of winter made me wrap myself up tightly in the clothes the puppet merchant gave me, and sit by the fire Kidomaru lit to warm myself up. I still felt cold.

Kidomaru sat opposite me and threw all the dry wood on the side into the fire without hesitation - after all...

My eyes touched the four little ghosts next to him. After all, they were the ones who picked him up, but they were too afraid of me and would hide whenever I got close to them.

"By the way, what are you doing in Kyoto, senior brother?"

"Looking for interesting prey." Kidomaru pulled the chain holding the kid in his hand, and the kid scattered again to find firewood, "It's you, how did you become like this?"

"My body was cursed and was weakening. I don't know when I encountered other monsters and died." I paused, "But I remember that my senior brother has a curse on him and he is not allowed to approach Kyoto."

"I'm just near Kyoto, so I won't be in the way." He said, using his demon power to hold up the iron chain, "What's more, there are so many ghost kings gathered in Heian Jing, which is exactly what I want."

"So, you are going to find the Ghost King for fun?" I asked incredulously.

"If you weren't so weak that I could strangle you to death with one hand, I wouldn't have to hunt the Ghost King." Kidomaru said in a deep voice.

"Yes, really..." I rubbed my red nose with my hand, "Then...who are you going to find?"

"Tamamo-mae, Shuten-dōji, Otakemaru..."

"Don't think about Otakemaru, he is already dead." I couldn't help but interject.

"Oh? It sounds like you know them very well." Kidomaru's tone was a little excited.

I immediately stood up and said, "I know a little bit. If you want to start the Ghost King Hunting, I would be able to help you in the past, but now, I can't do it at all. Now I am just a Bai Bodhidharma, and I can do anything with any monster."

Kill me."

"That's it."

The ending has an unexplained tone, vaguely revealing an aura of danger.

Higanbana is okay, but Kidomaru...

"Senior brother won't kill me...right?" Somewhat unsure, I carefully guessed his thoughts.

"Then you'd better leave now, before I lose interest in you..." Kidomaru tightened the chain again, "But do you remember, right? Your name has already been on my chain, so you can't escape.

It fell."

"...Okay, senior brother, if you want to know anything, just ask." I sat down by the fire again with determination, "But Otakemaru is really dead."

Even if Suzuka Gozen can save Otakemaru, I don't want the two of them to run into each other. As for Tamamozen and Shuten-Douji, Tamamo-mae will definitely not be caught easily, Shuten-Douji... leave it to Hoshikuma-Douji to deal with the headache.

.

Of course I told Kidomaru the location, but he got up after hearing this. The place where we made the fire was in a cave, and it was snowing heavily outside.

"Senior brother?" I called to him.

"Huh?" His expression was rather dull.

"At that time..." I paused, "Why did you say 'wait'?"

Kidomaru paused when he turned around, as if he was recalling: "Ah...it's been so long, and you still remember."

"...A little, a little bit concerned." I looked at his uncertain face and replied dryly.

"It's nothing special." Instead, he sat down again, as if his mood suddenly improved, and his tone was very normal, "Because at that time, I thought you were the same kind."

similar?

"If we are of the same kind...wouldn't it be easier to kill each other?" I forcefully accepted his words.

"That's how it was." Kidomaru lowered his eyes, "But you have changed now."

...Is this a good thing? I was the one doing the talking after that, and he would occasionally ask some questions.

"Ah!" A gust of cold wind blew, and I couldn't help but sneeze again.

"You said you died here, other people's reactions must be interesting, right? Especially the guy named Axi you mentioned." Kidomaru said with a chuckle.

"...Senior brother, are you going to leave me alone?" I asked, looking at the few dry firewood left.

"Who knows."

"...Brother, don't leave me!" I panicked. Even if this body can still hold on, it's only an ordinary human body. It's very possible to freeze to death in the wilderness, let alone someone else.

The monster.

"Then if you say something interesting, at least it will make me interested in keeping you."

Kidomaru's voice was still mixed with the cold air surrounding my ears, and my vision went dark. The top of my head seemed to be covered by something.

I pulled the thing apart and found that it was Kidomaru's jacket - a jacket made of countless ghost skins. I couldn't help but shudder. But compared to freezing to death, it was better to wear this coat that smelled of blood.

Better.

The snow outside is getting heavier and heavier, and the sky is getting darker.

I was sitting at the entrance of the cave and vaguely saw a figure running from a distance. I immediately became alert, but Kidomaru was still stirring the fire nonchalantly.

"It seems like someone is coming." I thought he was not worried, so I said.

But Kidomaru raised his head and looked at me: "Don't worry, he is my 'good friend'."

...Did he just emphasize "good friends"?

But I didn't dare to let down my guard and was prepared to hide behind Kidomaru at any time.

The figure got closer and closer, and then I saw a simple hat emerging from the snow, and then a rather familiar face,

"Eh? Puppet master... why are you here?" I asked in surprise, looking at her covered in snowflakes.

The puppeteer originally had a sad look on his face, but when he saw me he immediately laughed: "Ah, it's you! Great! I was delayed halfway because of a commission, and unexpectedly it started to snow heavily on the way.

I thought I had no place to hide, but who knew I would see you! You are really my savior!"

This conversation seems so familiar, but who is she? Kidomaru's good friend?

Kidomaru didn't say anything, so I pushed the puppeteer to the edge of the fire and sat down: "As long as you're fine, let's warm ourselves up first. Are you hungry? I have two more steamed buns here."

I originally planned to share it with Kidomaru later - but he wouldn't want it, right?

"It's great! I can meet you in such weather...you guys..." The puppeteer finally noticed Kidomaru.

I looked around and saw that the four little ghosts were still around Kidomaru.

"That's my senior brother. He said you are his good friend. Is that true?" I took out the steamed buns in the storage bag and asked.

"Of course not!" The puppeteer's smile was a little strange.

I handed a whole steamed bun to the puppeteer: "...Brother, you have recognized the wrong person."

Then he separated the steamed buns in his hand and handed half of it to Kidomaru: "Senior brother and I haven't seen each other for a long time, and you and I met by chance. Maybe this is fate?"

Kidomaru glanced at me and silently took the steamed bun.

"That's true." The puppeteer sniffed and said, "But... I really didn't expect that you and him are from the same school..."

"What?" I wondered.

"Ah hahaha, it's nothing." The puppeteer scratched his head and took a hard bite of the steamed bun.

"Kami-sama still likes to hide things." Kidomaru said suddenly.

...Lord God? I remember that I didn’t say anything about myself and that god just now.

The puppeteer who was eating steamed buns suddenly choked: "You, what are you talking about? You must have mistaken the wrong person."

"But Kami-sama called me a good friend not long ago, why did he change his mind now?" Kidomaru's voice hid different emotions.

"Ah... that..." She suddenly stood up and looked at me, "I... I suddenly thought that I still have a commission, so I'll leave first!"

I was curious about her identity: "But before that, can you tell me who you are? When I talk to you, I always feel very familiar. However, if you want to leave, I hope your name is not known to my senior brother."

The expression on the puppeteer's face ranged from embarrassment to helplessness. He glanced at me, then at Kidomaru aside, and then slowly sat down.

"Actually..." the puppeteer felt embarrassed, "Actually..."

Before she could say her next sentence, a chain jumped from my feet to the puppeteer and tied her up.

"Kami-sama, you can't even fulfill my little junior sister's little wish, right?" Kidomaru smiled gracefully and said threatening words.

The puppeteer immediately became frightened: "No, no! I said it's not okay...you let me go first."

Kidomaru just loosened the chain: "In order to prevent Kami-sama from still hiding it, we will do this temporarily."

Then, the puppeteer looked at me, his eyes evasive: "Actually...it's not that hard to recognize you..."

"Have we met?"

"Of course I have!" The puppeteer was a little angry, "Azi, have you completely forgotten about me?!"

"Who are you? If you were a monster or a person from the past, I would definitely recognize you. But if you are in disguise, I have no way of knowing now."

"Eh?"

"After all, I'm just an ordinary human being now."

With a "pop" sound, the puppeteer appeared in front of me in a brand new appearance.

"Xiao Yuan——?!"
To be continued...