“Ugh... my head, it hurts so much...”
In the darkness, Yi Hua pressed her hand against her throbbing head, muttering to herself.
She opened her eyes, but only met with darkness.
She tried to speak, but found her mouth had been gagged. No matter how she struggled, she could only make muffled sounds.
She tried to stand up, but her hands and feet were bound, rendering her unable to move.
It didn't take long for Yi Hua to realize the situation. She had been kidnapped!
A wave of fear and panic washed over her.
But her panic was short-lived. Yi Hua quickly calmed down and pieced together her memories. She recalled the last thing she remembered was entering the audition studio. Now, she understood. She had been kidnapped by that so-called big director! She didn't know why, but her immediate priority was to free herself from the ropes binding her wrists.
“Huh? Someone’s awake?”
A surprised, yet somewhat cute, female voice reached Yi Hua's ears.
Yi Hua turned her head towards the source of the voice, only to see a girl with short hair shining her phone's light as she walked towards her.
“Woooo!”
With her mouth gagged, Yi Hua wanted to ask about the girl's identity and what was going on, but she could only make whimpering sounds.
“Let me untie you,”
The short-haired girl came closer, loosening the ropes binding Yi Hua. She explained:
“We've been captured by yokai. I know it might sound unbelievable, but it's the truth. Don't make a sound. You might attract them.”
Despite the girl's calm tone, Yi Hua couldn't help but feel her heart pounding.
Yokai? What in the world?! She had been kidnapped by yokai? But there's no such thing as yokai in the world, right?!
Yi Hua stared at the short-haired girl with wide eyes, unable to believe it.
This girl looked even younger than her. Although she was pretty cute, how could she possibly know all this?
A torrent of questions flooded Yi Hua's mind. As if sensing her confusion, the girl introduced herself.
“My name is Natsume Yuzuha. I'm an onmyouji. You can trust me. Don’t worry, I'll get us out of here!”
Even though Yi Hua was hesitant to believe it, she had no choice but to trust the girl in front of her.
About half an hour later, Yi Hua felt her wrists loosen as the ropes were untied!
She immediately flung her arms out, pulling the cloth from her mouth and taking a few deep breaths.
After catching her breath, she turned to look at Natsume Yuzuha. The girl was already by the side, holding her phone and pointing it at someone lying on the ground.
Yi Hua felt around her body and discovered that her phone hadn't been taken. Feeling relieved, she thought about calling the police. But when she turned on her phone, she found that there was no signal.
The glimmer of hope she had just felt shattered.
“This cage is specially made by those yokai. No signal can get through,”
Natsume Yuzuha sensed Yi Hua’s thoughts and spoke.
With no other option, Yi Hua took a deep breath, turned on her flashlight, and examined their surroundings.
They were trapped inside an iron cage. There were four people inside: Natsume Yuzuha, the unconscious girl in front of her, and a familiar figure in the corner.
“Is that… Arima?”
Taking a couple of steps closer, Yi Hua recognized the figure's face. It was Arima Kana, the girl she had talked to briefly.
She was about to try waking Arima Kana, but Natsume Yuzuha stopped her.
“They're unconscious from inhaling demonic energy. Normal people won't wake up easily. Don't make any noise.”
Hearing this, Yi Hua stopped in her tracks. After a moment of hesitation, she sat down beside Natsume Yuzuha.
“What do we do now?”
Yi Hua asked helplessly, turning to the girl beside her.
But Natsume Yuzuha's response left Yi Hua feeling uncertain.
“Don't worry, there will be a way.”
Natsume Yuzuha didn't elaborate, only offering words of comfort to Yi Hua.
However, she knew that the talismans on her were already taken by those yokai. She couldn't summon her shikigami to fight anymore.
Without her shikigami, she was just a girl with less strength than an adult male.
Biting her lower lip, Natsume Yuzuha looked at the girl lying on the ground.
The girl's name was Kaidou Kana. She was Natsume Yuzuha's classmate. She was dragged into this, and it was all related to this girl.
Yi Hua noticed the unusual look on the girl's face and couldn't help but feel a pang of fear.
She suddenly realized that if this onmyouji girl had a way to escape, she probably would have left already, instead of being locked up with her.
But what made Yi Hua feel touched was that even though the girl couldn't do anything, she still tried to comfort her.
“Yuzuha-san is very strong. But don’t worry, my brother, Yu, will come to save us!”
Yi Hua curled her legs up and looked up at the ceiling, speaking.
“Yu? Your brother?”
Hearing this, Natsume Yuzuha turned her gaze to Yi Hua.
“Yes, trust me. Yu will come back and save us!”
Yi Hua nodded, her voice firm.
However, Natsume Yuzuha didn't believe Yi Hua's words. Tokyo had become a yokai stronghold, and there weren't many powerful onmyouji stationed here. She had never heard of this "Yu."
He was probably just a normal person.
Not wanting to discourage Yi Hua, Natsume Yuzuha decided not to reply. But then a voice that surprised Natsume Yuzuha immensely echoed.
“Oh, my dear, you really believe in your little brother, don't you? You're a bit too naive, wouldn't you say?”
“Buzz!”
As the voice finished, the lights in the hall suddenly turned on. The blinding white light filled the entire hall, forcing Yi Hua and Yuzuha to shield their eyes with their hands.
“Even though our target today is that so-called Yu, since you're so confident, why not wait with us and see if your prince charming comes to the rescue? Until then, take a nap.”
As those lighthearted words rang out, Yi Hua’s eyes adjusted to the light. She now saw the owner of the voice.
Standing outside the cage, a young man with blonde hair, wearing a white suit jacket over a deep V-neck shirt, smiled at them. His hands were in his pockets.
His gaze seemed to treat them like toys!
After speaking, the young man released a black mist, enveloping the two conscious girls.
...
Tokyo, once known as Edo, has always been the territory of yokai. In this land, a massive yokai organization flourished, known as the Nura Clan!
Time has passed, and the Nura Clan has entered the era of the third generation yokai leader. But due to various circumstances, the third generation leader is a human named Nura Rikuo!
At this moment, on the back steps of the Nura Clan estate, a young boy with brown hair, wearing a dark kimono and thick glasses, was staring at the scattered cherry blossoms, lost in thought.
Just then, a rat yokai wearing a kimono peeked out from behind the cherry blossom tree. Seeing Rikuo, it scurried towards him hastily.
Rikuo was startled by the rat and fell back. He was about to say something, but the rat beat him to it.
The rat bowed, his voice serious, his pitch-black rat eyes holding a hint of cunning that was almost imperceptible.
“Young Master, Rikuo-sama!”
“I am a servant of the Old Rat Clan, residing in Ukiyoe-Ichi-ban-gai. Your friends, Kaidou Kana-sama and Natsume Yuzuha-sama… ”
“Have been kidnapped!”
......
The first chapter of today! It's a little late, but as always, I'm begging for flowers and tickets~