"I don't know... But, but, I can't just pretend I didn't see it, and what exactly do you want to accomplish by staying in this world?"

"Only the living have the right to continue creating the future, but the time of the dead has already stopped, and there is no future for them..."

The old monk seemed unafraid of the fate he might encounter next. Even at this moment, he continued to speak with a pained heart, not fearing his own failure or the possibility of being killed, but sincerely feeling sorry for the dead person before him.

"..."

"..."

The air became briefly silent.

Kikyo looked coldly at the ragged old monk, and under the pure white moonlight, her aura seemed even cooler. But in the end, she didn't do anything, and her tone was devoid of any emotion, remaining as serene and indifferent as always —

"Leave, and don't ever appear before me again."

She had indeed been extremely angry just now, but even in the original trajectory of fate, the old monk's death was an accident, with the mana rebounding, pierced through the throat by the sharp claw of the shattered Mana Divine Dragon, dying under his own rebounded spell.

So now that she had calmed down, it was even less likely for her to take action.

"You..." The old monk looked up in astonishment; realizing what he had heard, he seemed to want to say something more.

"Give it up, Master."

Gu Mo leaned against a tree, picking at his nails with a calm and casual demeanor, said, "If a few simple words could resolve obsessions, then they wouldn't be obsessions. You clearly can't do anything... why don't you understand?"

Reasoning cannot resolve obsessions, and force is far from being a match—what else can the old monk do?

He's indeed a good person and a virtuous monk, but there's really no need to crush himself against this steel board...

"The world is so chaotic, Master; it's better to keep yourself useful and save others, isn't it?" He said frankly, staring at Master Qinghai.

The old monk's complexion turned ashen and desolate; his lips moved slightly, but in the end, he said nothing. Instead, he let out a long sigh.

This old monk clumsily got up from the ground, dusted himself off, wiped the blood off his face, and silently picked up the dragon-bead-like magical artifact that had shattered into several pieces. Then, looking at the two opposite him, he seemed to have lost all his spirit and, with a hunched back, slowly turned and walked away.

"..."

"..."

The air turned quiet and silent again.

Gu Mo turned to observe the witch with a cold expression and noticed that maybe due to the recent burst of spiritual power, her tied-up hair had fallen loose, and the water guide used to tie it was nowhere to be seen.

Under the bright moonlight, her waist-length black hair seemed to shine.

Seeing Kikyo remain still for a long time, he hesitated slightly, cleared his throat to draw her attention a bit, then pointed in a certain direction on the other side of the woods.

Kikyo, with a calm face, followed his gesture; her face, at once icy and composed, was replaced entirely with surprise —

"Xiao, Xiao Ye? How could you be..."

Behind a big tree, the dazed little girl finally became aware of having exposed herself, and the look of fear crossed her face immediately. Facing the witch calling her name, she instinctively stepped back in fright.

After all, she was a child, and the scenes that just unfolded were beyond her imagination.

Moreover, she had never seen the witch sister so terrifying —

Her expression was so cold, the feeling so oppressive, it was entirely different from the usual gentle and kind demeanor, making Xiao Ye feel extraordinarily unfamiliar.

"..."

"..."

Seeing the instinctive fear and retreat in the little girl's expression, Kikyo's face slightly dimmed, and the steps she wanted to take forward also subconsciously stopped.

"I'm sorry if I scared you..." she said softly, her tone full of apology.

After a pause, the witch seemed at a loss for words once again.

She fell silent for a moment, then looked not far at the ground, where a few tiny fragments of the magical artifact lay quietly. The old monk hadn't taken them all with him. The events that just transpired and the words the monk had spoken seemed to resurface in her mind once more.

With her eyes slightly downcast, she said in a calm tone, "Let's go."

...

...

The long night will always pass, and the sun will always rise as usual.

In the midst of unknown wastelands and wilderness, and likewise near a rocky stretch by the riverbank, a square-patterned picnic cloth was spread on a flat ground. Several people sat on it eating, surrounded by various ready-to-eat snacks such as chips, and bottles of mineral water placed in the center of the picnic cloth.

The scene looked out of place with this era, there was even a ladies' bicycle parked nearby.

A girl in a sailor suit paired with a dark blue pleated skirt stood next to the bicycle, looking at Inuyasha and Master Maitreya still sitting leisurely on the picnic cloth, and couldn't help but shout, "Hey! Stop sitting there, finish up and get moving already; we need to hurry and rescue the souls of those girls!"

"Where should we rescue them..." Inuyasha grumbled, clutching his tattered, rusty Demon Blade, and looked at Himura Kagome with displeasure, "We chased all night last night, and those Demons vanished without a trace ... Besides, there's no benefit in this for us; we won't even get any Four Souls Jade Fragments."

"Hey! You're just being lazy."

Himura Kagome's eyes widened; he was at it again, always going on and on about needing the Four Souls Jade Fragments, and without fragments, he didn't want to do anything.

"We've already chased them to here; at least we know the direction the Demons are heading, right? Let's keep looking; they might be nearby..."

The girl from five hundred years into the future was unwilling to give up. Filled with energy, she stood looking around, searching for signs of Demon Qi. Last night, the group had stayed at a town where a large household offered them lodging and requested their help to exorcise some demons.

It was said that recently there had been demon sightings involving the spirits of deceased young girls, and the family's daughter had also unexpectedly passed away at a young age, prompting them to ask for help.

During their late-night vigil, they did see a demon collecting souls, an unimpressive weak demon cut down easily by Inuyasha in one strike.

They thought that was the end, but there were more, streaming through the sky, carrying the souls of the dead ... resulting in an all-night chase that brought them here.

"Hey? There's someone up ahead; how about we ask them?"

Scanning the area, Himura Kagome's eyes suddenly brightened, pointing ahead.

The group looked and discovered, from the end of the winding road along the riverbank, two figures appearing. It seemed to be two wandering monks, one young, supporting the elderly monk, ambling slowly towards them.

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