Chapter 295: This Is “love” From Big Sis! Public Declaration: Shangshan Che Belongs To Me!
Tick-tock.
On the arena.
Tokugawa Haruhiko held his breath, clearly feeling the sweat droplets from his chin fall onto the back of his hand gripping the hilt.
Sticky, and bone-chillingly cold.
No matter how much hearsay he’d caught before, no matter how much he’d witnessed with his own eyes, only after truly standing on the same arena with Tokugawa Ririko…
Could he feel just how elusive and powerless the so-called “Sword Domain” truly was.
Tokugawa Haruhiko’s state of mind had already reached “Hundred Refinements” in Unity of Man and Sword, and had progressed more than halfway, barely above the average level among the younger generation of the Three Great Families.
But precisely because of this, Tokugawa Haruhiko, just like when facing Third Sister and Eldest Brother, could find no method or possibility to win no matter what.
“What, not attacking?”
From the other end of the vast arena, Ririko’s light voice came: “If so, you’re going to lose the first move.”
This Tokugawa Ririko, her words sound nice…
Tokugawa Haruhiko suddenly looked up and met the eyes of the girl with indifferent gaze.
Under the licking embrace of the Sword Domain, sweat poured like pulp from both sides of his pale cheeks.
—In the end, where did he have any first move!
After several seconds of eye contact, unable to withstand the pressure, Tokugawa Haruhiko looked again at the Kaga Kiyomitsu gripped by Ririko.
And that daito!
If not for that blade borrowed from the little white-faced Shangshan Che, perhaps he still had a chance to fight.
Taking a small deep breath, Tokugawa Haruhiko pointed at Kaga Kiyomitsu in confusion: “Not discarding it, Fifth Sister?”
Buzz?
Unexpectedly being specifically called out, Kaga Kiyomitsu vibrated in Ririko’s hand and quietly asked: “Ririko Ms., did Little Jia do something bad?”
“No need to mind.” Ririko calmly reassured Little Jia, “Some fools always like to think they’re clever.”
“Oh… okay…”
Tokugawa Haruhiko continued: “This daito was borrowed to you by that Shangshan Che, right? It’s an external object, impure! It’s not power belonging to you, Fifth Sister!”
“—Fifth Sister, wasn’t it you who, since childhood, always said not to rely on external forces but on yourself?”
Ririko, upon hearing this, thoughtfully fixed her gaze on Kaga Kiyomitsu as if deep in thought.
“What you say might indeed have some truth.”
Hearing this, Tokugawa Haruhiko couldn’t help but brighten his eyes slightly.
If Ririko foolishly discarded that divine daito worthy of being a spiritual weapon, perhaps this match could still be fought.
“—Did you really think I’d say that?”
Ririko’s mocking tone spread through most of the venue, pouring into Tokugawa Haruhiko’s ears, making the latter’s eye twitch involuntarily.
She shook her head, her tone pitying,
“Tokugawa Haruhiko, you’re still as hopelessly stupid as you were over a decade ago.”
“Also, correcting an error.”
Ririko raised a finger and drew Kaga Kiyomitsu, entwined with viscous pale and cold pitch-black.
Amid the latter’s delighted and pleasant blade hum, under the gaze of countless audience members and broadcast cameras, in Tokugawa Haruhiko’s silent stare,
Ririko raised the blade, calmly and domineeringly making the correction,
“Shangshan Che’s blade can’t be considered external force.”
“Because—”
“He was mine to begin with.”
……
“As expected.”
Hearing this, Kitada Kei smiled, thinking if things were like this, it made sense.
But a young man who swung swords all day every day, accompanied by blades, reeking of sweat, actually meeting a top-tier kendo beauty girl with equally exceptional attainment and effort, someone to discuss and progress mutually with…
Old bro, this couldn’t really be filming some sci-fi blockbuster, could it?
This couldn’t really be a conspiracy by the kendo senior, could it?
Kitada Kei glanced at Shangshan Che in his arms holding Two-Foot Adult, unhappily clicking his tongue.
Beside him, Minamoto Shizuka, also seriously watching the match, blinked in confusion.
What did Tokugawa Ririko mean by that?
“My thing”…
But aren’t those two independent people, independent swordsmen?
Would a master like Shangshan Che agree to being controlled like this by someone else?
Minamoto Shizuka was utterly baffled.
As for Shangshan Che himself who was mentioned, he was now expressionlessly gritting his teeth, frantically inhaling cool air.
Because Two-Foot Adult, who had been unusually well-behaved in his arms, after hearing Ririko say that, began sitting down forcefully, then twisting her waist while sinking even deeper inside.
And because the white skirt quietly expanded, from outside it looked no different from before.
Only Shangshan Che knew how much he was suffering now.
“Two-Foot, don’t move… hiss… anymore…”
He raised his hand, about to flick Two-Foot on the back of the head, but she preemptively grabbed his finger, lowered her hat brim, raised the cheerleader pom-poms, and in others’ blind spot licked the fingertip.
“If you keep this up, I’ll toss you back to the Ksitigarbha Statue—”
But Two-Foot interrupted his words through the heartstrings, replying in an unprecedentedly cold tone,
“Didn’t Ririko Miss say it? Che Adult, you are her thing.”
She twisted her unusually full lower body not belonging to her age while plucking the heartstrings, faintly asking,
“Che Adult… tell Two-Foot, what are you thinking…”
……
Bang!
The surface of the already heavily struck old table now had another deep pit covered in cracks.
Ye Chun slowly raised her skinned fist, gnashing her teeth and muttering: “This kendo muscle girl with nothing going for her, I was here first…”
Downstairs, the man who had just been about to turn on the TV but was jolted again looked up strangely,
“Damn, what is big sis doing in the room? Don’t tell me she cranked the switch to max and is immersed in her own world oblivious to everything, with Mom and Dad still home…”
Having taken off his suit but still wearing his shirt, the man tiptoed up the stairs and quietly pressed his ear to the door before knocking.
But after a good while, he heard no strange sounds.
In the room, only a somewhat familiar commentary voice came through.
In thought, the man knocked on the door.
Knocking was a good habit he’d developed after starting work, a very reliable and useful skill.
But after knocking several times, he got no response.
So the man helplessly turned the door handle to open, and before the person inside could react, deftly flipped the light switch.
Click.
After months who knows how many, the energy-saving lamp in Ye Chun’s room finally lit up again.
Under the warm white light, the room’s utterly chaotic layout, cleanly washed but randomly tossed clothes and pants, mangled manga and design books, disheveled hair, Ye Chun wearing only thin pajamas and hot pants—all laid bare before the man.
“L-Little Jing? Weren’t you on a business trip? Why are you suddenly back?”
Ye Chun, who had been staring dead at the flickering screen, looked up in shock; she nearly wanted to punch the screen to bits.
“Yeah, halfway there a closer bro took over, saving my sorry ass.”
Ye Jing nodded, skillfully kicking aside the obstruction at the doorway, leaning in to look at the 32-inch big screen playing the live stream.
“Yo, big sis, you’re watching the Seed Battle live stream huh.”
Without waiting for Ye Chun’s reply, Ye Jing glanced at the donation column, teasing: “Tsk tsk, chasing stars now? Tell your little bro which hunk you like so he can send rice.”
Ye Chun’s face under her messy hair flushed slightly, and she kicked Ye Jing in the waist, nearly making him spit blood,
“Get lost, you brat!”
“Cough cough cough… Ye Chun, that’s attempted murder…”
Ye Jing, nearly knocked out by the kick, staggered back, clutching his waist and gasping: “Meow… don’t forget to come down for dinner later, you can watch with the APP on your phone too!”
Ye Chun hugged her knees, waving impatiently: “Got it, got it! Go downstairs!”
“I come up out of kindness to remind you and you kick me, I’m done…”
After a few coughs, the footsteps gradually faded.
But not two seconds later, the footsteps turned back and grew louder.
“Oh right.”
At the doorway, Ye Jing’s voice suddenly rang out,
“I read the newly released collected volume a couple days ago; the art makes you drool, plot’s great too. Everyone at the company is urging big sis to draw faster.”
Ye Chun had just turned her head when she saw only a thumbs-up waving at her from the doorway before it retracted,
“Tch, that kid…”
But after this exchange, Ye Chun found the anger in her heart had considerably lessened.
The thought of landing two punches on that Tokugawa Ririko remained, though.
……
“Nanjō, this little Tokugawa family girl actually has a connection with that Shangshan under you? What do you think?”
On the Ghost God spectator stand, Kujō Rōgetsu leaned forward with great interest.
“I’m just watching.”
Nanjo Emi rolled her eyes: “The first time I met those two was at 2 a.m. in an abandoned school in the wilderness.”
“This…”
Kujō Rōgetsu paused mid-sentence, clearly not expecting such a bombshell.
“So young and the little couple playing that big?”
“What are you thinking, Kujō.” Nanjo Emi sighed speechlessly: “A group of them went there together to play a Supernatural Phenomenon Game and nearly got wiped out by a kitsune-dog.”
“Huh?”
Kujō Rōgetsu scratched his head in confusion.
At that age, that relationship… and it turns out they went to an unmanned school at midnight to “play Supernatural Phenomenon Game”?
Who would believe that!
“Hey, Nanjō, no need to trick me here…”
“It’s the facts; you can check the Special Affairs Office records.”
Nanjo Emi shrugged.
—At this time, in the audience seats.
After the main arena battle concluded, Okabe Motonobu naturally turned her gaze to Ririko, who possessed a blazing Sword Heart.
Then, as expected, she saw Kaga Kiyomitsu in her hand.
Okabe Motonobu froze in her seat, her breathing halting instantly.
Though her memories were long blurred, Okabe Motonobu believed this was the first time since then she’d seen such a similar daito!
Vermilion scabbard, the handguard style, and the constantly vibrating spirituality…
Okabe Motonobu raised her finger, pointing at Kaga Kiyomitsu: “Hozoin Little Monk, do you know the origin of that daito…”
“Hm? Ogasawara Big Sister, didn’t you pay attention just now?”
Hozoin Inrai blinked his big eyes: “That daito was lent by Shangshan Che to Tokugawa Ririko.”
Okabe Motonobu’s thoughts stalled.
Then, like a tsunami, a magnitude 50 earthquake erupted in her mind.
But on the surface, Okabe Motonobu just responded and lowered her hand.
Shangshan… Che?
Che?
This was too much of a coincidence.
Could Shangshan Che really be that Che?
Okabe Motonobu thought somewhat incredulously.
If not for the Seed Battle still ongoing, if not for the many Ghost Gods in the venue making it inconvenient to approach now.
Okabe Motonobu would have long rushed up and ripped off that Red Hannya Mask!
……
“Alright, fight or not.”
Ririko looked at Tokugawa Haruhiko frozen in place for a long time, her thought stirring impatiently, slicing a bloody mark on his cheek.
She raised her brows,
“If not, I’ll send you down with one sword.”
“One sword!”
Kaga Kiyomitsu vibrated in agreement.
“One sword? I don’t believe it…”
Tokugawa Haruhiko angrily drew his blade, glaring wide-eyed: “Who wins and loses isn’t certain yet!”
Under the watchful eyes of countless audience members, competitors, and Ghost Gods, Tokugawa Haruhiko unleashed a barrage of flashy moves and sword techniques, yet couldn’t even touch Ririko’s hem.
Instead, he was repeatedly caught in his move gaps, smashed on joints and face with the blade back and hilt again and again.
Tokugawa Haruhiko was utterly powerless to fight back!
This one-sided scene far from over… it was less a battle and more an outright humiliation!
Humiliation in front of millions!
Bang!
Casually dodging Tokugawa Haruhiko’s “sudden” thrust, Ririko again smashed his nose bridge concave with Kaga Kiyomitsu’s hilt,
“How could I send you off with just one sword, Tokugawa Haruhiko?”
Bang, bang, bang, bang…
Dull thuds echoed on the arena repeatedly, making Tokugawa Haruhiko’s movements increasingly sluggish.
Slowly walking to Tokugawa Haruhiko, now beaten into a pig head with everything above the neck a bloody mess, Ririko smiled down at him,
“These are all sister’s love, you know.”
She finally raised the jubilant vibrating Kaga Kiyomitsu, smashing down amid his faint, almost inaudible roar,
“Take it all!”
Bang!
Tokugawa Haruhiko passed out on the arena.
The Ghost God Judge ascended with a strange expression, announced Ririko’s victory only after pityingly glancing twice at Tokugawa Haruhiko’s miserable state.
Ririko sheathed her blade, her expression unchanged, as if she’d done something utterly trivial.
“Your Excellency.”
As the physician Ghost God below the stage prepared to drag Tokugawa Haruhiko away, she suddenly spoke.
“Tokugawa competitor… please speak.”
Ririko smiled, “kindly” and “concernedly” saying: “Could you please not treat Haruhiko’s face? They’re just minor injuries that don’t affect actual combat power anyway.”
The girl sighed in frustration at his inadequacy,
“As his sister, I want him to learn a lesson.”
The physician was speechless, exchanged several glances with the referee, and considering their blood ties, nodded slowly to give Ririko face,
“This… alright, just this once without affecting the rules.”
“My deepest gratitude.”
Ririko beamed.
Beating Tokugawa Haruhiko so badly on the arena was pointless anyway; he’d be healed right after.
Since so, better use some special means to leave this guy with an unforgettable memory for life.
A light pillar enveloped Ririko; she closed her eyes and sneered.
—Who told this blind Tokugawa Haruhiko to point fingers at Shangshan Che behind her after the Red Tide?
Ten-odd seconds later, all injuries affecting Tokugawa Haruhiko’s combat power were instantly healed.
He’d just sat in his backward ranking seat wanting to curse inwardly when he immediately felt the swelling pain on his face.
“This…”
In disbelief, Tokugawa Haruhiko carefully raised his mobile phone, tremblingly opening the front camera.
Then, he seemed to hear mocking laughter coming from all directions of the entire world.
……
“I declare, the first stage of the Eastern Region Seed Battle Elimination Tournament ends here!”
Just minutes after Ririko and Tokugawa Haruhiko’s battle ended, the Onmyo Assistant reappeared in mid-air, his majestic voice transmitting throughout the entire Sky Castle.
“—The last sixty-four seats, eliminated.”
Amid unwilling sighs, fully half of the 128 seats dimmed.
Akechi Yuya, who had pushed to superhuman limits to secure ninety-second place, was among them.
Shangshan Che thought silently: “Little Brother is quite a pity…”
“Che Adult, you still have energy to care about others?”
Two-Foot Adult plucked the heartstrings, huffing as she twisted: “Po, looks like I’m still too lenient with you!”
“Two-Foot, I warn you, don’t think being in this place at this moment lets you turn the world upside down—”
In mid-air, the Onmyo Assistant waved again, sternly saying,
“At the same time, rules change!”
“—When challenging upward, everyone has only one failure chance! Upon defeat, directly lose qualification to challenge upward!”
