Chapter 21: Look, It’s Laughing Hannya Adult, We’re Saved!
Shangshan Che saw Tokugawa Ririko wipe the glistening water droplets from the corner of her mouth and asked puzzledly, “Shangshan Jun, why are you following me?”
The girl looked at Shangshan Che who had suddenly appeared and, for some reason, thought of the new knowledge she had learned that morning.
Thus, Lili Zi subconsciously took two steps back, her expression strange as she clawed at the air with both hands: “Could it be that you want to do this or that to me?”
Splash splash splash.
Cool water gushed out from the stainless steel faucet.
After drinking his fill, Shangshan Che pursed his lips helplessly: “I came to drink water.”
As he spoke, he didn’t forget to turn off the faucet; the idea of saving water became even more profound for him every month when he saw the water and electricity bills.
Lili Zi crossed her arms, humming: “Oh my, what a coincidence. You’ve found the place in this school with the best-tasting tap water.”
“But since it’s Shangshan Jun, I’ll reluctantly share this treasure spot with you.”
Shangshan Che stared at Lili Zi, who seemed like a completely different person, and finally voiced the doubt in his heart: “Does your aloof passive get triggered whenever there are more people around?”
“Exactly.”
Lili Zi nodded, making a listless bitter melon face:
“If you haven’t experienced having your desk and shoe locker stuffed full of all kinds of love letters, and having people confess to you separately during lunch break and after school every day, you probably won’t understand why I do this.”
Shangshan Che broke out in a sweat.
It’s not a bad thing for high school students to be full of energy, but this is way too crazy…
With that, Lili Zi re-equipped her attitude that kept people at a thousand miles away, coldly spreading her hands: “After doing this, the whole world becomes peaceful.”
Shangshan Che couldn’t help but clap in admiration: “Is this the effortless control of an old-generation artist? I’ve witnessed it.”
After the brief chat ended, Lili Zi, who was staring down at her reflection in the water, spoke: “Shangshan Jun, I somewhat understand what that cop did back then now.”
Cop… Sister Nanjo?
Lili Zi’s tone was low: “For normal people, knowing too much really isn’t a good thing.”
Shangshan Che recalled the peril after learning his old man’s ghost identity and sighed: “Sometimes, ignorance might be bliss.”
Lili Zi said: “I think I need to go apologize to her.”
“There’ll be a chance.”
After smilingly bidding farewell to Lili Zi, Shangshan Che casually found a sunny patch of grass and lay down on it; as for the teacher, Lili Zi would naturally handle that.
He closed his eyes.
Enormous water pressure assaulted him.
The fresh scent of green grass vanished in an instant, replaced by that choking sulfur smell.
Silently transforming into Laughing Hannya, Shangshan Che proficiently pushed open the door and walked out, his footsteps quickly heading toward the workshop.
Originally, his plan was to gradually reduce the number of workshop apprentices, ensuring not a bit of soul ash was wasted, and then slay the foreman at the end.
But the incident at noon where Shizuma Manatsu photographed White Hannya, along with the Onmyo-ryo’s powerlessness against supernatural means, kept warning Shangshan Che—time was running out.
Since they needed to race against the clock, the tiny bit of soul ash from those apprentice mosquito legs couldn’t be slowly scraped up anymore.
“Roar!”
Shangshan Che racing along so brazenly naturally drew the attention of the farmers by the roadside, and upon seeing the Western-style school uniform, it charged over like a madman.
“Courting death.”
Shangshan Che snorted coldly, the cleaver appearing in his hand out of thin air.
His footsteps didn’t stop for a moment; he just took a deep breath, accumulating the energy in his body to a critical point before erupting it forth.
A flash of rusty blade light streaked by.
Gulp.
The farmer’s head fell along with Shangshan Che’s receding footsteps, kicking up a bit of negligible dust.
Soul ash +5.
Before long, Shangshan Che arrived at the position from which he had previously observed the workshop.
The current time was clearly still far from his last visit; there wasn’t even a shadow of the double moons in the sky, but the workshop still echoed with the rumbling of machinery.
Finally, he straightened his attire by the creek, and after finding no openings, Shangshan Che strode openly toward the operating workshop.
Arriving at the workshop’s entrance, Shangshan Che was surprised to discover that even though the apprentices inside had noticed him, not one dared to leave their workstation.
He called out loudly: “Call your person in charge over.”
Although no apprentice responded to him, within two minutes, the foreman he had seen before through the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball’s perspective hurried toward the doorway.
The foreman’s expression changed dramatically.
He became furious and ferocious the instant he saw Shangshan Che’s Western-style clothing, but turned exceptionally enthusiastic upon seeing that Laughing Hannya mask.
“Mr. Laughing Hannya, hello.”
The foreman approached with a fawning smile, proactively extending both hands toward Shangshan Che: “May I ask the purpose of your visit to our humble abode…”
Seeing the thick yellow mist above the other’s head, Shangshan Che didn’t strike immediately but instead asked: “I see your workshop seems somewhat different from traditional workshops.”
“Yes, yes!” The foreman bowed at the waist, sighing heavily: “The foreign factories have been exploiting everyone for a long time now, while recklessly destroying the environment, to the point that the surrounding farmland has been polluted and ruined.”
Shangshan Che pondered; this plot direction seemed completely different from what he had imagined.
The foreman paused, his eyes flashing with sharp light: “So, I thought we need to train a batch of our own local craftsmen and workers.”
“And then learn that assembly line technology too…”
Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow: “Learn from the barbarians to control the barbarians?”
The foreman was stunned for a while before roughly understanding the meaning, and he immediately nodded: “Yes, exactly that!”
Shangshan Che asked again: “Care to step aside for a private word?”
The foreman nodded, pointing to the unoccupied dense forest nearby: “Of course.”
In the foreman’s eyes, a Hannya wearing Western-style clothing must be an outstanding talent who had studied at the source of those factories.
Otherwise, how could these muscle-brained Hannya wear such clothes and be so refined?
Just like that White Hannya who came to the village to recuperate not long ago—he had sent apprentices to make contact, only for them to be swallowed alive.
The epitome of uncivilized bloodthirsty beasts!
Unlike the one before him—properly dressed, mild-mannered, and polite in demeanor.
A spark of hope surged in the foreman’s heart.
Perhaps this was their chance to drive out that foreign factory…
In the dense forest, Shangshan Che walked silently, while the foreman followed closely at his side.
Dozens of seconds later, Shangshan Che spoke: “Your workshop has some potential. Can you relocate it away from this village?”
The foreman shook his head: “We can’t move. Neither the machines nor the apprentices can withstand long-distance travel.”
“And if even we leave, who will care about Arakawa Village afterward?”
Shangshan Che said no more.
The two walked farther and farther from the workshop.
Perhaps due to the prolonged silence, the foreman took the initiative to bring up a topic, saying indignantly: “Several apprentices went missing a couple of days ago; it must be those damn outsiders who did it!”
Hearing this, Shangshan Che stopped.
Because they were now at a sufficient distance from the workshop.
