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II: Lily of the Valley
Chapter 101: Stains on Snowy Days
Three Buddhas were established in the world.

***

Satoru was assigned by the higher-ups to recover a special grade curse object.

The conditions of the family that collected it were deteriorating, and they could no longer afford the responsibility of sealing the cursed object. After considering all aspects, they sent Satoru to recover the cursed object.

That cursed object was called "Three Ages of Buddhism".

The concept of Buddha was first introduced to China from the Ganges River area in India. The first time the concept of Buddha appeared in Japan was in the ancient Asuka period. Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China via Korea. During the thirty years of Prince Shotoku's regency, he issued an edict to promote Buddhism, established monasteries, and personally preached Buddhist scriptures and wrote treatises.

The Nara Period inherited the policy of protecting Buddha from the Asuka Period. Emperor Shomu respected Buddhism and built the famous Todai-ji Temple and the world-famous Nara Great Buddha Hall.

"Three Ages of Buddhism" originated from the Buddhist concept of "Three Ages of the Dharma". The "Three Ages of the Dharma" refer to the past Buddha, the present Buddha and the future Buddha, so the "Three Ages of the Dharma" have three parts in total. Three eras also referred to the past, present and future.

The family that contained this curse was a family of sorcerers with a history of several hundred years. In the Edo period, it was an important member of the top echelons of the jujutsu society. It began to decline in the Taisho era. The family members withered, the industry collapsed, and declined day after day. They were gradually excluded from the upper echelons. The descendants who inherited the skills from their ancestors were no longer as good as before. The family was deteriorating, the bloodline of the clan was withering, and there were even one or two generations of family heads who passed down the lineage alone.

Compared with the previous generations of family heads, the heirs of this generation of family heads could be said to be prosperous. There were a total of four children, one son and three daughters.

The eldest daughter had long passed the age of marriage. The elders of the family had made careful plans for her and her sisters' marriage. The youngest son was at the age when ordinary people go to kindergarten. From the moment he was born, he had been trained by the family as the next generation head of the family.

The whole clan placed great responsibility and hope on him, and the whole clan pinned their hope for revival on him.

When Satoru took Yayoi to get the cursed object, he was welcomed by a line-up of people from all over the clan.

The ancient sorcerer family's reception etiquette and methods have been inherited from their ancestors hundreds of years ago, and they have no plans to change. Otherwise, Yayoi thought they would fire off a salute to welcome them.

Yayoi was shocked, this was different from what Shoko said about being annoying and no one liked it.

Yayoi tugged on Satoru's sleeve, "You are so popular."

The white-haired man held his head high and said proudly, "I'm so popular!"

The white cat blinked wildly, his blue eyes under the sunglasses bright and shining, "Praise me, praise me quickly!"

Yayoi believed his lies.

The old butler nodded and bowed to welcome the guests into the tearoom. Passed through the ancient corridor, the smooth bamboo tubes were filled with running water and knocked on the stone slabs. The expressions of the several maids who came and went were as if they were referring to the same people. It's like being copied from a template. Every move seemed to have been measured by a ruler and then carved into the bones. Facing the master and guests, he bent down and bowed thoughtfully. After the host sat down, he brought tea and poured water.

Yayoi stared at the expressions on the maids' faces for a long time as if in trance. One of the maids was trembling all over as she looked at her, her lips pursed tightly, like a frightened deer.

Satoru seemed to be familiar with this scene. He walked briskly and whistled thoughtfully, walking through the winding corridors as if there was no one else around.

The head of the house had not shown up until now. The person talking to Satoru was the clan elder who had the most say in the house. He had snowflake-like white hair and shriveled skin like the bark of an old tree. While talking to Satoru, Yayoi saw that the other person seemed not to want a third person to be present, and spontaneously walked out of the room.

The wind stirred the thick bushes, and the green leaves curled and fell. The water surface was marked with ripples in circles, and the green leaves rippled on the water like a flat boat.

Looking up at the sky from under the eaves, the sky seemed to be cut in half by the eaves, half blue and half made of wood to build the roof.

The area of the sky in sight was much smaller.

Such a view reminded Yayoi of the time when she lived in the clan a long time ago. The forbidden area hidden deep in the clan was not a monster with snarling teeth and claws, but a child who had taboos carved into her bones and blood.

Yayoi held her chin and sat down slowly. The floor of the corridor was wiped clean by the maid, and there was no dust to be found.

Yayoi stared at the fallen leaves. The green and slender bamboo leaves were swaying in the wind. The clear water reflected the clean sky, and ripples swayed in the water.

The whole conversation in the room was dominated by the elders of the clan. Satoru, who was usually talkative, suddenly became less talkative at this time. Occasionally, he would make a few casual remarks that were half teasing and half mocking. The conversation ended up being unhappy. After leaving, Satoru didn't take the conversation seriously and walked out of the room, leaving behind the incompetent and furious old elder in the room.

When he stepped out of the threshold, the first thing that caught his eye was the familiar red color. Her hair was much longer than it was many years ago. The red hair was like flowing flames, winding on the thick and smooth floor.

Her scalp was tight but not painful. Yayoi looked back and saw Satoru bending down to pick up the red hair scattered on the ground and starting to braid her hair as if no one else was watching.

The maid who came in to pack things politely handed Satoru a hair tie.

Satoru's hands were surprisingly dexterous, and his fingers quickly moved through the red hair. It didn't take long to braid Yayoi into a fishbone braid. The end of the hair was fixed with a hair tie handed over by the maid and tied with a beautiful bow.

"Do you like it?" Satoru bent his eyes, raised his hand, and opened his palm. Her beautifully braided red hair lay obediently and docilely in his palm, like a red goldfish.

The amber eyes glazed over for a moment, and then they looked like the surface of a lake with glistening water. Satoru saw her beautiful eyebrows arched, and the redhead showed a gentle smile like a kitten.

"I like it," she said, "I like it when you braid my hair."

Satoru deeply felt that red-haired people were a strange species. Whether it was emotional quotient or intelligence quotient, both jump repeatedly between negative values and full values. The span was so large that it made people caught off guard.

"Yayoi." Satoru moved his lips.

Yayoi slowly turned around and tilted her head in confusion. He didn't speak for a while. She slowly tried to stand up, but Satoru, who was half-crouching, grabbed her hair.

She tugged at the braid but didn't move it, but Satoru still held on to the newly braided hair and wouldn't let go.

"Gojo?" Yayoi tugged on her braid again, this time pulling it back.

Yayoi stood up from the ground, straightened out the folds of her clothes, then raised her head and met Satoru's eyes. His beautiful eyes that could accommodate the sky stared at her, making her a little frightened.

The white head dug directly into the crook of Yayoi's neck. The soft white hair tickled her, and when the warm breath fell on her skin, there was a strange feeling of crispness.

"That's a foul." Satoru muttered into the crook of her neck.

Yayoi raised her hand and touched the white hair as soft as dove feathers. The white cat rubbed Yayoi's cheek, smiling with crooked eyebrows. It was very different from the unruly expression just now. The aura he exuded became gentler, and after the big cat had restrained his claws and teeth, only soft fur and a belly that was easy to rub were left.

The clan elder who walked out of the room was caught off guard and saw this scene.

After looking back and forth between the young head of the Gojo family and the beautiful young red-haired woman, his eyes were dark and deep in his sunken eye sockets.

Gojo's family had a master, but Gojo had no mistress.

If you want to be the wife of the head of the Gojo family, the eldest daughter of his family was indeed not qualified, but as a woman who served men, she was already qualified.

What's more, she had reached the age of marriage, right? Since she was a child of the family, she must have the consciousness to give everything for the family.

The family that included the "Three Ages of Buddhism" enshrined the three Buddha statues in the shrine of cursed warehouse. The shrine was not only a small pavilion for housing the Buddha statues, but also a cursed weapons for sealing the cursed objects.

The heavy door of the warehouse opened, dust rushed over, and daylight poured into the dim warehouse. Satoru waved symbolically.

The attendant who led the way was not qualified to enter the family's treasury. After leading the person to the gate of the treasury, he was ordered to open the door. However, he had no intention of stepping behind the door. He pushed it to the door and made a gesture of invitation, indicating that he could come in.

After the decline of the family, there were only a few things in the family. Most of the stored cursed weapon were things that Satoru looked down upon. After a cursory glance, his eyes locked on the target.

There was a thick cobweb on the corner of the wall. The flying insects that fell into the cobweb fluttered their wings feebly a few times, and dust rose and fell in the air.

The ancient shrine, the golden lotus seat, the mercy of the Buddha, and the deep and dark vault all gave rise to a strange and absurd feeling inexplicably.

Satoru's footsteps paused, and the strange feeling that was about to materialize rose and fell with dust in the air.

His eyes fell on the Buddha statue again. Among the three Buddha statues mentioned in the information, one was missing.

*slam—*

The heavy door was suddenly closed behind him, and the last ray of light flashed on the strange expression of the Buddha statue.

"Gojo!"

The world returned to chaos and silence, and the last thing he heard was someone calling him.

If she had to describe her current mood, then her heart was full of bewilderment at this moment.

Shoko was holding a lollipop in her mouth. She was so excited that she dropped it from her mouth and failed to catch it in time. She let it fall to her feet with a 'thud' and shattered into pieces. The crystal clear candy shattered into pieces and scattered across the smooth tiles on the floor.

The woman in a white coat felt a dull pain in her temples, and couldn't help but raise her hand to rub the acupuncture points on the side of her head.

"Sorry, Shoko-san, we got into trouble."

Shoko's hands shaking as she rubbed his temples looked at the white-haired man wearing a white shirt with a docile expression with horrified eyes. Today, this guy didn't wear a blindfold, and his silver-white hair hung down like soft and docile dove feathers.

Shoko, who had lived to this age, had never heard Satoru use his voice to say honorifics properly until today. This man was accustomed to being domineering. Let alone using honorifics, speaking properly should not happen to him.

Shoko looked at the red-haired woman moaning and groaning on top of the white-haired young man, and couldn't hide the strong feeling in her heart.

She saw "Yayoi" the cat nuzzling "Satoru"'s neck like a baby. The moment she spoke, a delicate and soft voice sounded in the quiet infirmary. It was obviously a girl's soft voice, but Shoko couldn't help but get goosebumps all over her body.

"I'm so tired." "Yayoi" hugged "Satoru"'s neck and said aggrievedly. The amber eyes were covered with mist-like water vapor, looking pitiful like an aggrieved cat.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Shoko saw "Satoru" gently touching the red-head, coaxing the person on his back with a tone that could be called a frightening, gentle and reliable adult. The eyes of the sky under the sunglasses were as warm as a lake reflected the boundless sky in early spring, "Listen to what Shoko-san has to say and I will carry you back."

"Yayoi", who was lying on "Satoru", hummed twice and rubbed her cheek twice on the skin of "Satoru"'s side neck.

Shoko: "..."
I have nothing to say, please get out.

The cold dog food was slapped on the face coldly.

Shoko pinched her brows and took out a lollipop from her pocket. She didn't like sweets, but at this time she desperately needed sugar to support her shaky brain, especially after a night of dissecting corpses. To solve the mess caused by Satoru and Yayoi.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at "Yayoi" hanging on "Satoru" like a koala, and Shoko felt anxious for a while. What kind of crap was this?

Shoko opened her mouth when she saw "Yayoi" on "Satoru"'s back, and quickly interrupted what the other party was about to say, "Let me touch it, don't talk."

Shoko held her forehead and simply rubbed her head. Hers eyes went back and forth between her idiot classmate and the little red-head who she had known for many years. She took a deep breath and forcibly cheered herself up.

"You are Yayoi." The woman with thick dark circles under her eyes looked at the person holding Satoru's shell, and then looked at the woman lying on the other person, blinking her amber eyes like glass, "You are Satoru.”

Satoru, wearing the Yayoi shell, clapped happily and smiled with his eyebrows curled up like a cheerful little seal, "Shoko is so smart!"

Shoko's eyes twitched, "Explain to me first what's going on."

Satoru, wearing the Yayoi shell, lay openly on his body. The soft red hair fell off the black uniform against his soft face, and then fell on the broad shoulders of the man. His smiling eyebrows were as cunning as a cat's. It's also like a fox in an ancient story that turned into a beautiful woman to seduce travelers.

Shoko felt that letting Satoru out now would bring disaster to the country and the people, and poison the majority of male compatriots.

The leaves outside the glass window fell very slowly, and the slightly hot wind stirred the thin leaves, and the veins and textures on the leaves were clearly visible.

“That cursed object is called the Three Ages of Buddhism."

The slender fingers wrapped around a strand of bright red hair and twisted it gently. The smooth hair was tangled around the fingers, and the red-haired woman smiled with her eyebrows crooked.

Yayoi swore that she had never smiled so brightly on her face in her entire life.

Yayoi listened to Satoru explain the situation in her own shell, and she added a few words from time to time. Satoru was super excited to explain the cause and effect to Shoko. Shoko, who had listened to him for so long, only knew two things.

1. There were supposed to be three Buddha statues in the cursed object, but only two Buddha statues were recovered, and one of them was missing.

2. The rest was unclear. In short, after waking up, he looked like a bird. The only thing that was certain was that it had something to do with the two Buddha statues.

Shoko had never felt so bad in her life.

"Then what? What did the Soma family say?"

"Soma's family?" Satoru looked at with Yayoi's harmless face, confused and innocent.

"This is the family where you recovered the cursed objects!" Shoko wanted to pry open this guy's brain and see what the hell was inside!

"The old man swore that he had nothing to do with it, and the people around him didn't seem to know either," Satoru said.

Everyone in their profession knew that, excluding all kinds of factors, "curses" were something that could not be promised easily. The curses of a sorcerer could be fatal. Although the old man did not fully explain the situation, lying on the premise that he could not lie would cost his life.

He didn't seem like someone who had the courage to risk his own life to achieve his goals, so the probability of the old man lying was very low.

After the excitement was over, the expression on Satoru's face tightened. He lay on Yayoi's shoulder aggrievedly and slumped down. It was very different from the excitement just now. He kept moaning about pain and kept groaning. He rubbed his body into the crook of Yayoi's neck, not feeling any psychological discomfort at all because it was his own body.

Shoko paused and looked up and down at Satoru, who was wearing Yayoi shell. She found that he had a black coat tied around his waist. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether the man was crossed again.

"What's wrong with him?" Shoko decided to ask Yayoi, who was wearing Satoru's shell. The man was not wearing a uniform. Shoko immediately understood that the coat was around Satoru's waist.

Yayoi paused.

Shoko watched with stomachache as Yayoi used Satoru's face to make an expression that only an honest person would have.

"These few days are my menstrual period."

Shoko: "..."
I understand.

"Yayoi, it hurts~" Satoru groaned.

"I'll go back and boil some brown sugar water for you right away. It won't hurt you after drinking it." Yayoi said softly.

Shoko: "..."

***

· Genuine translation can be found only in OchatimesBlogspotCom, FanFictionNet, and Wattpad

• Omake •

Shoko: Something is wrong, but nothing seems wrong.
Gojo the Cat: Make trouble!



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