After this exchange of banter, both Yui Yuigahama and Miko found themselves considerably more relaxed.
Ye Xing shared the world-related intelligence extracted from Hachishaku-sama with both girls.
Throughout the explanation, Sable remained obediently seated, wagging his tail enthusiastically at Ye Xing.
Meanwhile, Hachishaku-sama cowered in the corner, eyes filled with terror like an injured lamb - a sight that might even evoke pity.
Just as Ye Xing had surmised.
This was the other side of the Gates located within Kyoto.
How long this world had existed, even Hachishaku-sama didn't know.
But one thing was certain.
The underworld, hell, afterlife - all these terms from legends and stories referred to this very world.
It was essentially a one-to-one replica of Kyoto city, with one key difference: its inhabitants weren't humans but evil spirits and spectres.
"But..."
Miko frowned deeply.
"When we encountered Gates before, we never experienced crossing to another world. More importantly, there wasn't a Gate near me or Yui this time. How did we end up in this mirrored Kyoto?"
Ye Xing shook his head, pointing at the cowering Hachishaku-sama.
"Actually, you, Yui and Sable did encounter a Gate. You just didn't realise it."
Miko Yotsuya froze at these words, then stared at Hachishaku-sama in the corner with disbelief in her eyes, murmuring:
"You... you mean there's a Gate inside her body!?"
"Exactly. The reason the three of us ended up in this world was actually because Hachishaku couldn't control the Gate's power. It was pure coincidence."
Ye Xing nodded.
"Normally speaking, an evil spirit of Hachishaku's level would be about equal to your Hyakume. The reason she could instantly defeat your Hyakume was entirely due to the power from the Gate within her."
"I see."
Hearing this, Miko visibly relaxed.
She'd originally thought her awakened Hyakume was just too weak to stand against Hachishaku.
Don't be fooled by Hachishaku-sama's fame.
That was mainly because... certain rather unspeakable reasons kept inspiring new works about her.
In reality...
Yokai like Hachishaku could only trick children by mimicking voices. She was still far from being among the truly powerful ones.
So it wasn't that her Soul Materialisation was weak.
The enemy had just mutated.
Thinking this way, Miko felt much better.
"Wait a minute."
Listening to their conversation, Yui Yuigahama, who'd been looking on with a confused expression, suddenly spoke.
"If that's the case, why was Ye Xing pulled in too?"
Without waiting for Ye Xing's explanation, Yui murmured to herself:
"Hmm... and how did you know Miko summoned Hyakume? You only arrived afterwards, didn't you?"
"Could it be..."
Yui looked at Ye Xing with innocent realisation.
"I get it! You must have been worried about Miko's safety, so you were waiting nearby all along. You just stayed hidden to let her awaken her powers properly, right?"
"Pure coincidence."
Ye Xing maintained his impassive expression.
"I just happened to take on a commission. Yuigahama, did you know there's a little girl in your apartment building whose grandmother recently passed away?"
"There is? I hadn't heard."
"Understandable. It's an apartment building, not a compound. Neighbours not knowing each other is normal."
Ye Xing responded noncommittally before continuing:
"After her grandmother died, the girl claimed to hear her voice calling her name at night. She even started sleepwalking. Luckily, her parents had the habit of locking the security door before bed, or the consequences could have been dire."
"After hospital checks found nothing, her parents contacted the old man, who contacted me. Combined with your information, I could confirm there were evil spirits in this area - and not ordinary ones either."
"Coincidence. All coincidence."
Yui covered her mouth with a light laugh, leaning close to whisper teasingly in Miko's ear:
"Miko, despite what he says, Ye Xing really does care about you."
"Ahem."
Miko's face flushed slightly as she coughed to ease the awkwardness.
"Don't talk nonsense."
Before Yui could respond, Miko spoke again, half genuinely curious and half trying to change the subject: "Then how do we get out of here now?"
"Simple."
Ye Xing shrugged.
"Aside from relying on luck and gambling with probability like before, there's another stable method to traverse worlds—wait here until five in the morning."
Yui Yuigahama looked puzzled. "Why five o'clock?"
"Have you heard of Demon Hour?"
"Demon what?"
"Demon Hour."
"What hour?"
Ye Xing rolled his eyes.
"Stop messing around."
Miko Yotsuya, having studied many supernatural texts, was naturally familiar with the term Demon Hour and couldn't help but ask:
"I thought Demon Hour referred to twilight?"
"Correct."
Ye Xing nodded slightly and explained.
"But that's the time when evil spirits can appear in the human world. For ordinary humans like Yuigahama-san to pass through a Gate and return to the human world, the opposite time—roughly between five and seven in the morning—is required. I call this Human Hour."
"As for psychics like you and me, we can freely traverse between worlds through a Gate during both Demon Hour and Human Hour."
Miko pressed her lips together, deep in thought.
"So, as long as we find the location of a Gate in this world, we can return to Kyoto in the human world through it? That seems..."
At this point, Miko glanced worriedly at Yui Yuigahama.
According to Hachishaku-sama's intel, while this place mirrored Kyoto, it was a veritable ghost city teeming with evil spirits.
Her own condition wasn't great, and she definitely couldn't summon Hyakume again in the short term.
Not to mention, there was also Yui Yuigahama, an ordinary human.
Miko believed that with Ye Xing's abilities, he could safely reach a Gate alone.
But with two liabilities in tow, that wasn't realistic.
Ye Xing seemed to read Miko's thoughts and chuckled.
"Don't worry. The reason I spared Hachishaku-sama was precisely for this moment."
"When the time comes, she can send us back directly to the human world. After all, she possesses the power of a Gate."
Hearing this, Miko finally relaxed.
So that was why. No wonder Ye Xing, who was usually ruthless with evil spirits, had spared Hachishaku-sama.
Turns out, he intended to use her as a return teleportation point.