If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

Golden and plump wheat ears covered the mountains and fields under the setting sun, and the wind kept blowing through the wheat fields, causing the branches to sway and tremble constantly.

The black ninja crouched on the side of a path in front of the wheat field, holding a red and white flag representing victory and defeat. The mask was hidden in the remaining pair of eyes, and he stared at the two swordsmen holding knives and facing each other on the path with murderous intent.

The swordsman on the left, with a naked and muscular upper body, and the cross-shaped scars on the muscles of the ghost-like back seemed to be oozing with blood under the setting sun. The swordsman with the same red hair tied his ponytail behind to prevent the hair from hindering his sharp eyes from missing the opponent's knife tip. His strong and powerful arms raised the knife to his eyebrows, and the blade and the sharp eyes pointed directly at the enemy. This is a man as fierce as the fangs of a beast.

The swordsman on the right was much more gentle and delicate, wearing a loose rokuro outfit of white and blue. His eyes were serene and sharp under his scattered blue hair. His forward leaning movement and his steady hand on the unsheathed long sword at his waist, which was enough to stop a dragonfly, also showed the danger beneath his delicacy. This was a man as beautiful as autumn water, but with a dark vortex.

The bleak sound of the shakuhachi sounded in the blood-red wheat field in the breeze, and a bright moon was unusually hanging in the sky full of sunset.

When the ninja in black on the side of the trail suddenly raised the flag and waved it down, the murderous intent suddenly poured out.

The delicate swordsman drew his sword and performed Iai, as fast as lightning, while the fang-like swordsman on the left seemed to have a premonition and directly raised the middle of the sword to defend, but was still forcibly repelled two meters by the force that made his thick arms numb, and even had to bend down and release the force to the ground.

The blue-haired and elegant swordsman who had drawn his sword seized the moment when his opponent was repelled, sheathed his sword again and returned to the state of Iai, leaned over and entered the state of visual observation, observing the red-haired fang swordsman's every move.

The two kept pacing and testing each other, and at a certain moment, as if they were in sync, they burst into foot power and rushed towards each other at the same time! The blue-haired and elegant swordsman drew his sword in the middle of Iai, but was blocked by the red-haired fang swordsman! But this was only the first attack. The blue-haired and elegant swordsman used an unimaginable speed, so fast that he left an afterimage, sheathed his sword, and drew his sword again!

Afterimage·Step forward and cut!

The pale rainbow-like sword light swept down, but was still blocked by the red-haired fang swordsman!

The blue-haired swordsman who was blocked by this move quickly kicked and attacked from the lower part in order to break the opponent's middle defense, but the distance was a little shorter. However, this was not his real intention. Instead, he wanted to shift the red-haired swordsman's defense to the lower body, and then use the fastest standing sword in his moves to break the opponent's defense!

But the red-haired swordsman didn't buy it at all. He ignored the lower kick and only stared at the sword in the opponent's scabbard that was full of power. He blocked the middle attack with his sword erected at the moment it appeared. The next moment after being shaken out by the huge force, he immediately rolled forward to seize the short gap when the opponent was swinging back to collect the sword!

The blue-haired swordsman was startled and took a half step back to send out the sword that was so fast that it was like an afterimage again, but the red-haired swordsman had expected it and continued to roll to avoid it, and went around behind the opponent. The arm that seemed to be able to tear a tiger alive directly pinched the blue-haired swordsman with one arm, lifted him up, and threw him to the ground!

When the blue-haired swordsman got up in a panic, the red-haired swordsman seized the opportunity to suppress him with a combo - cassock slash! Reverse cassock! Lion manifestation! Three fierce attacks all fell on the blue-haired swordsman, which was also the red-haired swordsman's signature suppression skill, three consecutive kills, tooth, horn, phosphorus!

The bright red blood was sprinkled all over the wheat ears, and the refreshing attack seemed to fill the red-haired swordsman's [anger gauge], entering a state of rage, and the last heavy sword killed the blue swordsman in a precarious state on the field path!

A huge "Ippon!" appeared on the screen.

The ninja in front of the wheat field raised a red flag to the red-haired swordsman.

Genjuro of Kibami defeated Ukyo Tachibana, and Minamoto Chisei defeated Eriya Uesugi.

Simple and unpretentious killing. The old game "Samurai Shodown II" does not have too many fancy lights and shadows. In hardcore fighting games, the ultimate move is always a flashy performance. The real high-level players always use prediction and counter-prediction, as well as various opportunities that may be less than 1 frame to react on the spot and seize the opponent's positioning mistakes to attack to decide the outcome of a duel.

Eri and Gen Chisheng have played this game countless times. They have long become the few players of this old game that has been eliminated for who knows how long. Among these players, the two of them can also be called a group of top players of high-level players.

But even for high-level players, there is always a food chain. In this food chain, Gen Chisheng is undoubtedly better than Eri.

The game "Samurai Shodown II" was taught to Eri by Gen Chisei. When he was free, he would always come to Eri's room to play this game with her, and most of the time he won more than he lost. Even though Eri often practiced online with players from all over the world when he was not around, she always lost every time she played against Gen Chisei, but she never got tired of it and regarded it as a challenge.

The game started again soon. According to the current rules of "Samurai Shodown II", the first player to win seven games was considered to have won completely. The current game score was 6:1. Gen Chisei scored 6 points first, and this round was the match point.

Before the light from the screen, it was clearly the match point, but Yuan Zhisheng shifted his attention and turned his head to look at the red-haired girl sitting next to him, whose cheek was illuminated by the white light. Her dark red eyes looked at the screen without squinting, and they were shining.

Instinctively, or perhaps because of his understanding of this girl, Yuan Zhisheng knew that this state was not concentration, but was far away from the so-called concentration.

The game was paused, and the red-haired girl paused for a moment, holding the handle and turning her head to look at her brother next to her. She also saw the other party's eyes on her, but she did not react, as if waiting for the other party to speak first.

"What happened today? You are not concentrating on playing games." Yuan Zhisheng put down the handle and gently placed it on Eri's hair to ask.

Eri turned her head back to look at the screen, pressed the handle cracklingly, and typed a line of words on the screen: "I am not not concentrating, it's just that my brother is too strong."

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned.

He looked at Eri's cheek, which did not show any emotion and could not read anything.

He knew that Eri had a face that was neither sad nor happy. Many family heads thought that the head of the Uesugi family was as delicate as a puppet that did not change, so they also preconceived this way of thinking, thinking that this red-haired girl was more like a sacrificial knife that was put away in the shrine than a living person.

Whenever there was a disaster, they would respectfully take the knife out of the shrine and let the head of the Minamoto family, who was under the Amaterasu, swing it. Wherever the knife went, the earth would collapse. When the sun rose tomorrow, the light of the Amaterasu would still shine on the land of the eight families of Snake.

Minamoto Chisheng hated the family heads' thoughts, but he was not surprised why they had such thoughts. Eri rarely showed her emotions to others. The only way to understand her was probably her eyes, which were as perfect as the pupils made of the best glass in the glass factory.

When she was happy, her eyes would be more lively, with more of the feeling of a girl next door. At other times, her pupils were like smooth mirrors, changing only by reflecting the light from the outside world. Unfortunately, most people can't see the first kind of time. There are probably no more than three people in this world who can make Eri's eyes come alive. Gen Chisheng is one of them, and the first one.

When she is with Gen Chisheng, Eri's cheeks will rarely show a smile, and her eyes will rarely come alive, and she will focus on the game character on the screen, which will remind people of the cat squatting on the ground and staring at the cat toy stick. It is a feeling that even if she sits there quietly, you can feel the vitality stirring under that perfect body. Only at that time, Eri will be more like a "person" rather than a sacred artifact enshrined in a shrine.

But unfortunately, at least today, Gen Chisheng can't read the familiar girl in Eri's eyes, nor can he feel that vitality. In the dark red pupils that are slightly illuminated by the screen, Gen Chisheng only sees his own afterimage reflected.

As a "person", Gen Chisheng believes that Eri always has the power to choose, but at the moment of the family's survival, in fact, no one can choose their own path, including Gen Chisheng himself.

At the family meeting earlier today, as an opponent, he refused to prematurely put Eri into the war with the demons, which was the greatest power he could get for Eri, even if he failed in the end.

Will Eri be angry about this?

Obviously not, Eri never gets angry about any decision made by the family, so the rare reason that can make this girl "look" at Gen Chisheng today is not likely to be a grand matter like the conflict between the demons and the eight families of Snake.

Eri is angry because of something else.

It's also interesting to say that if Gen Chisheng tells others about the emotions Eri is showing now, it may not cause any worries, but will instead attract all kinds of surprises.

Because people who know Eri normally think that the word "angry" is too advanced to use on this girl.

It really doesn't fit a girl who has done the most rebellious thing in her life but to secretly go to the airport to pick someone up.

The head of the Uesugi family never quarrels or gets angry with others. Even when he ran away from home that time, it was just because of his natural desire for Universal Studios and Disneyland, not because he wanted to deliberately anger someone, make someone unhappy or scared.

So everyone thinks that the head of the Uesugi family is just a puppet, a ritual vessel in the shrine, because puppets and ritual vessels will not have rebellious emotions, and a knife is just a knife. It may rust if it is not used for a long time, but it will never get angry.

So when Gen Chisei savored the emotions and flavors in the slightly angry words on the screen, he did not feel angry or worried about the sudden rebellion of his sister, whom he had watched grow up. Instead, he felt a sense of relief and comfort from the deepest part of his heart - as if he had once again found strong proof that Eri was a person, not a tool - even though he had never regarded Eri as anything other than a person, and was just happy to see evidence in the details that could be used to criticize those who looked at this girl in other ways.

Yuan Zhisheng was quiet for a while and then said, "Time will make a relationship grow rusty. Even if you did have a friendship before, for people like him, the friendships around you and the emotions that are greater than friendship are always disturbing. It sticks to his body like a spider thread. After a long time, he will naturally forget the past things. "

Eriyi tapped the controller, the cursor moved quickly on the twenty-six-key keyboard on the screen, and typed out a line of words: "Did brother know this beforehand?"

Yuan Zhisheng was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Don't forget, I have been dealing with him earlier and longer than Eri Yi. Some of his things outside and some interpersonal relationships, Eri I know everything that Yi doesn’t know.”

"Did I do something bad?" Eri Yi typed and asked.

"It's none of your business. His position is special. In this relationship, he will always be the dominant one. He gave up on his own initiative. It's definitely not your fault, Eriyi." Yuan Zhisheng said softly, "Maybe it's because there are too many silk nets stuck to him, and he doesn't even notice them. When you notice, those webs have become thick cocoons. His hands and feet are tied up and he has no way to deal with them. He will naturally deal with the fetters that bother him seriously, and his relationship with you may have already been regarded as a light one. A strand of silk, wrapped in a cocoon, is nothing.”

Eriyi moved the cursor several times, but finally her finger stopped on the button of the handle, and her pupils were lowered.

Minamoto Zhisheng looked at Eriyi, who seemed a little frustrated and seemed to be thinking dullly alone, without making a sound, and her eyes were also lowered.

Earlier, when Yabuki Sakura was applying light makeup for the head of the Uesugi family before attending a formal meeting, she made a trivial suggestion to the girl's uneasiness and confusion. She and Eriki said: If you are really worried about the other party, For your opinion, it’s better to just look at what he calls you. People who are close to you are always willing to stay close to you, and people who are unfamiliar with you will always build an insurmountable barrier from you no matter how you hide it.

Eriki didn't understand the meaning of what Yabuki Sakura said to her at first. It wasn't until they reunited after a long absence that the boy who sat very respectfully, similar but not the same as in the impression, looked into her eyes and said calmly: "When I was the head of the Uesugi family, Eriki probably understood the meaning of that sentence." mean.

Many people call her the head of the Uesugi family.

There are very few people who call her Eri.

It was also the first time that she felt that thick barrier erected in front of her. Affected by Yabuki Sakura, she had been troubled by this matter until now. If things are really like this - if things are not like this - if Miss Sakura is right - if Miss Sakura is wrong - a girl with a quiet and simple mind can always imagine something from a dead branch in the middle of winter. The whole summer.

When Eriki lowered her eyes at the meeting, Minamoto knew that his plan had succeeded.

Miss Sakura's words were conveyed to Eriki under his instruction.

If you really like someone, you can see every inch of his shadow with your peripheral vision, and Yuan Zhisheng tried his best to do it. At this special time and special situation, let Eriki temporarily lower his eyes. , no one is seen.

It is normal for a girl to have a child, and Minamoto is not surprised that Eriki will have such a day, and even because of Crow and Yasha's joke: Don't let the head of the Uesugi family have a crush on the young master. I have been troubled and afraid, but it seems that now that the fear and trouble have been eliminated, the sorrow and troubles it caused have disappeared.

The person Eriki cares about is a very dangerous person, and Minamoto is aware of this. In order to cut off this possibility, he does not hesitate to do some "stupid things" that only a cruel brother can do. What's more, even if you believe in the other person's character, don't forget the position that the other person represents when he comes to Japan this time, and he doesn't even come alone. The leader of that group, the heir of the Gattuso family, will inevitably make some wrong judgments and uses of this relationship because of his position. Even if this is unlikely, it is worthy of Yuan Zhisheng's vigilance, and Kill in advance.

For conveying false and malicious news, Minamoto Zhisheng could only apologize to Eri quietly in his heart. Even if he now sees the girl's loneliness, he still firmly believes that what he did and the seed he planted must be meaningful. of.

Moreover.

Yuan Zhisheng didn't completely think that his sister really fell in love with that boy - the love in youth always has traces to follow, it may start from a certain moment, a certain quality, or simply seeing. Sexy. But Yuan Zhisheng could roughly understand where the starting point of Eriki's feelings for that boy was.

That time, the entire Sheqi family was alarmed by his running away from home.

It's freedom. The trump card of this department gives the "vessel" of this family a joyful freedom. That kind of lawlessness, breaking away from control, and embracing the sunshine and the city's indulgence are things that Eriyi has never been able to obtain. Once you have experienced it once, you will remember it for the rest of your life. This is something that Yuan Zhisheng cannot give to Eri, and no one in the Sheqi family can give her. Therefore, this kind of freedom, this kind of "feeling" and "feeling" for a person "Cognition" will be deeply engraved in this girl's heart, unique.

Looking back to this day, Yuan Zhisheng regrets that he was negligent in taking care of Eri Yi. If it happens again, he will definitely not let this happen again.

The button of the controller was knocked again, Yuan Zhisheng raised his head and looked at the line of words left by Hui Liyi on the screen:

"Will he still come to the meeting?"

"Probably not. The discussion between the main family and the headquarters was not so harmonious at the meeting. Mr. Masamune has instructed to isolate and control the authority of the headquarters' specialists after the meeting. The family will no longer allow the headquarters to listen in and intervene in the decisions of major and minor matters. This is related to the dignity and dominance of the main family, and it is a red line that cannot be compromised." Yuan Zhisheng replied in a low voice.

Eri stopped typing.

Perhaps because the air pressure in the room dropped, the girl's eyes became more and more like glass, reflecting the white light of the screen. Yuan Zhisheng took the initiative to pick up the controller and asked, "Do you want to play another game? I stayed in the company today to accompany you. We can play the game for a while longer."

"I'm sleepy." Eri put down the controller after leaving two words on the screen.

Yuan Zhisheng was about to say something, but suddenly stopped, looking at the lighted screen calmly and silently.

The girl stood up, and the sound of the skirt fabric rubbed against each other, making a fussy sound, until the white socks gradually left the room on the tatami and walked onto the wooden floor, and then the faint sound of water echoed in the quiet room.

The moment he heard the sound of water, Yuan Zhisheng suddenly coughed violently. When he coughed the first time, he leaned over and covered his mouth, hiding the rest of the cough under the distant sound of water, until his trembling body calmed down.

When he kept his hands away from his mouth and nose, what he saw was black blood, like the pus flowing from the body of an incurable patient.

He stared at the black blood on his hand quietly for a while, soaked it all up with a tissue and put it in his pocket, then turned off the game console and the screen, put away the handle and put it in the right place, and left the room.

When passing by the bathroom, he bent down and put Eri's favorite yellow duck at the door of the bathroom, then opened the door and left.

—

Entering the elevator and leaving the ξth floor, Yuan Zhisheng swiped his card and pressed the button for the 30th floor.

The elevator arrived at the strategic department and opened the door. It was late at night, and even the fire on the tea table had gone out. He walked alone across the clean floor and came to the deserted Awakening Temple through the secret door.

The heavy rain earlier had stopped. There were no electric lights in the Awakening Temple. The granite walls were carved with solemn Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and mighty Susanoo. These gods and demons were surrounded by wind and clouds and hidden in the darkness. The colorful horror was like a hundred ghosts parading at night.

The sound of the clear spring on the terrace was the only movement here. Yuan Zhisheng walked to the low table on the wooden corridor under the eaves in this silence and sat down. From here, you can overlook the Shinjuku area from the Awakening Temple. The neon lights on the long streets of Tokyo in the night are lit up from east to west, and the meaning of feasting and revelry is gradually becoming stronger.

But Yuan Zhisheng's intention is not the beautiful scenery. He has been tired of such scenery for decades. Once upon a time, he also thought about going to see different scenery-but not in this state and appearance now.

The violent urge to cough came again, making people feel heartbroken!

Yuan Zhisheng's forehead even had black veins protruding. He endured the pain of tearing his inner cavity expressionlessly, pulled his left hand out of his clothes and exposed it. The scarred arm was already covered with pale dragon scales, but the surface of these dragon scales was attached with tiny black blood vessel-like substances, which kept sticking in the cracks, as if undergoing some kind of erosion.

In the dim light, he took out a safe from a secret compartment under a statue in the Awakening Temple, opened it after entering the password, and inside were half-solidified dark rainbow-colored potions in quartz tubes. Under the illumination of the city's faint night light, they still showed a colorful beauty. Unlike similar potions that Lin Nian and his group had seen, the changing colors were deeper, wrapped in a dangerous dark red, and filled with dreams and bloody fantasies.

Genji Chisei told Eri more than one lie today, such as he stayed alone in Genji Heavy Industries not just to accompany Eri to play games for a while longer.

He looked at these potions and seemed to recall something. He did not move for a long time, his heart full of contradictions and gloom.

Until the tearing pain in his body came again, the feeling of dying from the collapse of blood vessels was about to flow through his arms and press against his throat along the protruding black blood vessels, causing him to emit an uncontrollable roar, he finally picked up one of them.

After a long time, the dark Awakening Temple became quiet, and at the same time, a soft sigh sounded.