[The cultivation days in the mountains were uneventful. Chizuko Nagato studied the scriptures, cultivated spiritual power, practiced archery, and learned herbal knowledge. In addition, the Unripe Rice Village’s witch once roamed the world when she was young and learned varied life skills. She passed all the skills down to a fast learner like Chizuko Nagato. In a blink of an eye, she had been cultivating on the mountain for more than a year. It was soon approaching the time to pray for the New Year. The Unripe Rice Villagers started to prepare to go up the mountain for praying purposes. Also, the Unripe Rice Village’s witch intended to have Chizuko Nagato host it.]
[The New Year’s blessings preparation was taxing. All the ins and outs required careful preparation. The Unripe Rice Village’s witch mentioned that praying required sincerity. Everything must be prepared with respect, even for the wood signs for villagers to write prayers. Each piece must be nurtured once with spiritual power. Sure enough, the shrine Inugami took the role of preparing the wood signs. Though, he was questioning his existence for being forced into such a mundane task. Sadly, his new master Chizuko Nagato was so cold-tempered that she would make him kneel if he didn’t heed her order. Inugami’s knees always ended up hurt. Spring left, and autumn came. Inuyasha soon had an idea on Chizuko Nagato’s temperament. As long as he suited her temperament, nothing terrible would happen to him. At first, he planned to teach this little devil a lesson to let her know that he wasn’t an easy demon beast. However, he had unknowingly become the one who acted upon this damn little devil’s mood.]
[“Inuyasha, how many wood signs have you prepared?”]
[“Three hundred and fifty-nine.” Inuyasha replied feebly, then looked at the rice ball in Chizuko Nagato’s hand with his stomach groaning.]
[“Do you want to eat?”]
[Inuyasha nodded with his flushed. He snorted coldly, “No!”]
[Chizuko Nagato took out a rice ball with plum and threw it aside. The shrine Inugami, who was already hungry for a long time, threw away his dignity. He jumped out with his hands and legs on the ground, bit the rice ball directly into his mouth, and ate it happily, revealing his true nature.]
[Similar events had happened many times. Chizuko Nagato always smiles quietly. She put the rest of the rice balls aside. Then, she began to pick up the made wood signs and nurture them with spiritual power. Chizuko Nagato did not go down the mountain for more than a year. The only time she went down the mountain was on Unripe Rice Village ritual day last year. At that time, Haru Narukami was about to give birth and couldn’t go out. Axiu did follow Shinji Nagato to go out. They met. At that time, Axiu had been pregnant for three months. Later, Saburo Nagato sent a letter saying that Haru Narukami gave birth to a son. Last month, Shinji Nagato also sent a letter saying that Axiu also gave birth to a daughter. Chizuko Nagato smiled again, then put down the nourished wood sign and fetched another piece. At this time, Inuyasha, who was already full, was squatting on the ground with his tail waving. It was clear that he was an obedient guy. Everyone was doing well.]
Boss Luo Qiu stopped writing here. Then, a light breeze blew on the yellowed paper, gradually drying the handwriting. It was the maid’s effort in waving the fan. As for the fan, she must have found it in the shrine.
It’s great to have a beautiful lady accompany me in the storytelling.
Luo Qiu lowered his head and smiled. The pages were not compiled into a book yet. All the pages were lying around as he finished the last page. You Ye picked up one of the pages. She blew the page that was not dry while reading it. It was a satisfying time.
When the ink on this page was dry, the maid opened a new blank page for the master. Then, Luo Qiu dipped the brush with ink and resumed writing the story again.
[On the first day of the new year, the villagers put the copper coins into the shrine offering box. They then walked up the steps to shake the bell one after another, neat and orderly. At this time, Chizuko Nagato was in front of the wooden fence, waiting for the villagers who came to hang their wood sign for prayer. Few villagers knew how to write. They need the witch’s help to write their wishes. It used to be Unripe Rice Village’s witch’s job, but Chizuko Nagato took over the role now. Unfortunately, the wooden fence was much higher than Chizuko Nagato. She needed the shrine’s Inugami’s help to do it. The Unripe Rice Village had known for a long time that there was a demon beast the witch had subdued. Of course, it was awe-inspiring for the villagers. Besides, Inuyasha was no different from ordinary people except for his silver hair, ears, and tail. Even apart from these, he could be regarded as a handsome young man.]
[“Hey, kid! Don’t ride on me! Be careful. I will eat you!” Inuyasha stared fiercely at a guy with a runny nose but stubbornly riding on his shoulders. He scared the child into crying.]
[“Sit!” Chizuko Nagato called out.]
[Inuyasha felt pain in his knees again. Having his knee directly hit the ground at high speed was sore for Inugami. He hadn’t received this kind of treatment for almost three months, thinking that Chizuko Nagato was tired of playing this kind of game. But Chizuko Nagato didn’t pay attention to Inuyasha’s ‘sorrowful’ eyes at all. She walked to the scared child and comforted him tenderly. Inuyasha looked at her and thought disdainfully. Are you not just a kid? But no matter what he thought, he dared not say it.]
[“Takeko has grown up a lot.”]
[“Mother.” Chizuko Nagato heard the voice and looked forward. The serene woman in front of her with a baby in the embrace was Haru Narukami. Saburo Nagato accompanied her. Not far away were Nagato Munechika, Shinji Nagato, Axiu, and their child. Chizuko Nagato looked at them one by one. She didn’t choose to approach the Nagato family immediately but continued to help the villagers. This tugged at the Saburo Nagato couple’s heartstrings whilst making them felt glad about it. Recalling Chizuko Nagato’s age, she should have lived carefree without any worries.]
[Haru Narukami and the child stick closer to Saburo Nagato at this time. Then, the group walked towards Inuyasha. She was born in the shrine. Although she had been married off and was no longer a witch, she had not cut off ties with the shrine. Naturally, she could recognize the origin of Inuyasha at a glance, “Master Inuyasha!” ]
[Finally, I encountered a human who was polite to me! Inuyasha was glad and snorted softly, “What’s the matter! If you don’t have anything, please go away. I’m busy!”]
[Haru Narukami sternly said, “Chizuko is still young. I hope Master Inuyasha can take good care of her in the future. This child is strong-minded. She doesn’t open up to others easily if she has something in her heart. If Chizuko has offended you from now on, I hope Master Inuyasha will not take it to heart.”]
[Inuyasha waved his hand generously, looked at Haru Narukami, and said, “Don’t worry. Why would I be bothered with such a kid?”]
[Haru Narukami bowed deeply in front of Inuyasha, “Then, I will hand Chizuko over to Master Inuyasha’s care.”]