He still had some matters to search online.

Beichuan Si's fingers danced on the phone screen, instantly typing out the keywords—

"Four Directions Consortium," "Four-direction Group"...

Although he had told Master Yutian that he was no longer having any problems, he still needed to do some basic investigation on this family.

There were many search results, roughly around ten to twenty thousand keyword entries.

Beichuan Si scrolled through the screen, reading ten lines at a glance.

"An emerging group from the Tokyo economic circle! Four-direction Group!"

"An economic dark horse? What kind of group is the Four-direction Group really?"

"..."

Most of these news articles reported the current status of the Four-direction Group in the Tokyo economic circle.

However, the authors of these articles also knew not to categorize the Four-direction Group within the consortium realm.

Yes, even if the financial power of the Four-direction Group was substantial, it lacked a very important aspect:

The Tokyo heritage.

Looking closely, one could almost find that the reports about the Four-direction Group mostly used adjectives like "dark horse" and "sudden rise," and no sane person would compare the Four-direction Group with consortium organizations.

Even so, the Four Directions family, which could attract everyone's attention in Tokyo with such swift momentum... they certainly weren't just sitting idle.

No wonder they could afford 40 million yen.

To these people, 40 million yen probably wasn't considered a lot of money.

Beichuan Si shook his head as he thought about it, scrolled down, found mostly repetitive news, and gave up the idea of continuing to read.

He reopened the search bar and this time entered the keywords "Four Directions" and "Nara Prefecture."

Unlike the overwhelming number of entries from before, there were very few results this time.

Moreover, most of them related to "Nara Prefecture" and "deer," and going through carefully, entries containing the word "Four Directions"... were basically nonexistent.

"It seems difficult to find information about the Four Directions Family on the Internet."

Beichuan Si murmured thoughtfully.

At this point, even if he cared, there wasn't much he could do.

Since he couldn't gather clear ideas online, he would have to go to the site and figure things out.

Moreover, the Four Directions family should provide the necessary information, so there shouldn't be too many problems.

But...

Beichuan Si felt it was still best to be cautious.

After all, this commission was taken through Master Yutian, and as for the people from the Four Directions family... Beichuan Si hadn't even met them face-to-face.

In such a situation of vast uncertainty, keeping a relaxed and optimistic attitude toward accepting the narrative provided by the Four Directions family would only come from a truly big-hearted person.

Beichuan Si grew slightly more cautious about the Four Directions Family.

However, after being cautious, Beichuan Si felt an increased sense of anticipation about meeting those with exorcism abilities.

The Four Directions Family, who cared so much about their shrine... what kind of person would they invite?

And how would they compare to him?

"It's about time to head back."

Thinking too much was useless.

Beichuan Si cast these mixed thoughts aside and began to walk slowly towards his home.

...

Days passed quickly, especially weekends which undoubtedly moved the swiftest.

It felt as if the meeting with Master Yutian to discuss the Four Directions Shrine was just yesterday.

In the blink of an eye, the day had arrived at Monday.

And Monday was the day Master Yutian had previously mentioned to meet the other two exorcists.

After "kindly" making Beichuan Huili and Nakajima Michika eat the mountain vegetables he had prepared today, Beichuan Si was satisfied.

Not knowing how long this outing would take, being able to feed all the mountain vegetables to Beichuan Huili and Nakajima Michika before leaving was a good thing.

Feeling Beichuan Huili and Nakajima Michika staring at him with bitter faces, Beichuan Si's expression didn't change at all. He casually picked up his shoulder bag and, without looking back, instructed:

"I'll be out for an hour or two, might come back late. Make sure you don't stay up too late."

Leaving these words behind, Beichuan Si picked up his shoulder bag and walked out of the house.

Inside his bag, there weren't many items, only Nishijou Kurenai and the Shinra Bell.

This time Beichuan Si was formally making contact with exorcism masters from the outside world. It was only natural for him to make these preparations.

"I wonder what their abilities are actually like," Beichuan Si murmured under his breath, his eyes flickering.

The agreed meeting place was in the elegant room where Master Yutian had met with Beichuan Si last time.

This time, Beichuan Si didn't call Master Yutian by the door.

He followed the information that had been sent to him and went directly into Yutian Temple, bypassing the pine stone pathway and heading straight to the quiet elegant room.

At that moment, the door of the elegant room was tightly closed. You could hear Master Yutian's voice inside.

Beichuan Si knocked on the door, his tone unchanging, "Excuse me, I'm interrupting."

After saying these words, he lifted his hand, slid open the paper door, and looked inside.

Sitting opposite Master Yutian was a middle-aged monk wearing a light gray monk's robe. Unlike Master Yutian, his head was shaved, and he carried a stern expression, looking like a traditional monk.

Master Yutian stood up and hurriedly invited Beichuan Si to sit:

"Ah, Mr. Beichuan... the Mage has arrived, just in time, let me introduce you."

He extended his hand, "This is Master Onodera from Onodera, a fellow practitioner in our field."

Master Yutian then introduced him to Master Onodera:

"This is Beichuan Master whom I mentioned to you just now."

"Beichuan Master?" Master Onodera looked at Beichuan Si somewhat strangely.

The man was very young, visually appearing no older than twenty and still a youth. Could such a person truly be honored with the title of Mage?

His thoughts briefly stirred as he focused intently on Beichuan Si.

And then—

Clang!

The teacup was overturned. Master Onodera couldn't maintain his serious demeanor. Pointing at Beichuan Si, his voice even trembled, "What, what is the matter with you? How are you alive?! It's impossible! You shouldn't be alive at all! No, that's completely wrong!"

He frenetically shook his head, his gaze at Beichuan Si filled with doubt about life itself.

The previously cool and serious monk façade was gone in an instant, but Master Onodera didn't care. Pointing at Beichuan Si and realizing he wasn't answering his question, he turned to look at Master Yutian:

"Master Yutian, what exactly is going on? How can a person's sinister deathly aura be so terrifying?"

Master Onodera even felt that merely standing next to Beichuan Si, he might be sucked into that dark and ominous aura enveloping him.

On the other hand, Master Yutian had clearly anticipated Master Onodera's reaction.

He cleared his throat and reminded, "Master Onodera, do not be disturbed. As you can see, Beichuan Master is enveloped in a thick deathly aura, but at the same time, you can sense that Beichuan Master is still alive. He is merely afflicted by a terrifying deathly aspect."

While speaking, Master Yutian also looked guardedly at Beichuan Si.

When Beichuan Si had visited last time, Master Yutian had not used benevolent thoughts to examine his state.

But now upon looking—

The ominous deathly aura surrounding Beichuan Si was significantly stronger than before.

Previously, he still fell within the range of 'human'.

But now...

Beichuan Si was more of a 'vengeful spirit' than 'vengeful spirits'.

That ominous aura made Master Yutian dare not approach him.

But Master Yutian had mentally prepared himself well in advance, so he did not lose composure like Master Onodera.

Master Onodera soon realized his behavior was inappropriate, and he apologized to Beichuan Si:

"Uh... I'm sorry, that was rude of me."

"No problem," Beichuan Si shook his head, not minding his earlier reaction.

After all, what he cared more about now was...

Ban Si's eyes flickered with the hues of a deathly aura as he fixed his gaze on Master Onodera.

After a while, Beichuan Si's expression turned odd.

Why did it feel...

This companion... seemed a bit weak?

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