As a famous beauty at Shinosuke Middle School, Takahashi Chihiro was absolutely perfect in appearance. Especially, she had a gentle aura about her. She possessed a pair of blood-red eyes, and her soft, long hair cascaded smoothly down her back. Her appearance easily evoked a strong desire to protect her.
But the moment Kitahara saw her, a familiar feeling arose within him…
It seemed he had seen her before, somewhere…
Then he suddenly woke up with a start.
He had indeed seen her…
Because she was the Miko in the photograph he had seen.
To see such a similar appearance surprised Kitahara as well.
Only…
The Miko in the photograph had pale hair, but Chihiro's hair was black…
Moreover, for some reason, compared to her in the photograph, the real-life her always made Kitahara feel as if something was missing.
That feeling was like things in a pale painting having no life whatsoever…
And perhaps sensing his gaze, Chihiro's eyes happened to look out the window…
Then…
Kitahara suddenly felt a warmth emerging in his chest.
It was that mark…
And the girl in the classroom also seemed to sense something, her eyes widening slightly…
Because she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity from Kitahara…
For a moment, distracted, she couldn't help but stand up, wanting to go and communicate with Kitahara.
" Chihiro?"
The teacher's voice suddenly boomed in her ear, bringing her back to her senses instantly.
"Huh?"
"Chihiro, are you alright?" The teacher looked at her with some surprise.
"Huh? I'm sorry, Teacher, I'm feeling a bit unwell. I might need to go to the infirmary…" Noticing that Kitahara was about to leave, Chihiro, filled with doubt, disregarded everything else. She quickly spoke to the teacher who was teaching.
"Oh, alright, you may go. Do you need someone to accompany you?" The teacher glanced at her.
"No need… I can go by myself…"
After throwing out this sentence, Chihiro resolutely left the classroom, leaving behind her curious classmates, who watched her retreating figure in surprise.
…
This was a quiet small garden. At this moment, Chihiro quietly followed behind Kitahara.
Kitahara was expressionless. After he reached a corner where he felt there was no one around, he turned around.
Looking at Chihiro, who was silently following behind him, he spoke.
"You are really bold..."
"Huh?" Chihiro was stunned for a moment, she looked at him in confusion.
"You actually dare to come to such a deserted place with a boy like me, you are beautiful girl, aren't you afraid that I will do something bad to you?" Kitahara opened his mouth with a smile.
When Chihiro heard this, she did not answer Kitahara, but looked at Kitahara chest with some doubts.
"This feeling..."
"Feeling?" Kitahara was stunned for a moment.
"This feeling..." Chihiro stretched out her hand and gently placed it on her chest.
Then she looked up at Kitahara, her blood-red eyes seemed to be emitting a bewitching light.
"You seem to be a chosen one..."
"Huh?" Kitahara frowned slightly.
Being chosen, he naturally knew that he was chosen...
"It seems that you should know something..." Kitahara looked at her.
"What is your relationship with that person on Xishi Mountain?"
"Person..." Chihiro murmured to herself, she was silent for a moment... then looked up and spoke to Kitahara.
"What's your name? My name is Takahashi Chihiro."
"I naturally know Chihiro-San name..." Kitahara looked at her.
"My name is Kitahara, please take care of me in the future, Chihiro-San... If you can tell me something, I would be very grateful..."
When Chihiro heard this, she shook her head.
"I know what you want to know, but I am only a part of the whole now, not complete, so what I know now is only limited to the agreement and some information about Xishi Mountain."
"Agreement?" Kitahara was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, it is a ceremony called a Ghost Marriage. People who are chosen by her on the mountain have the possibility to complete that agreement. If they are recognized by her, they can complete the Ghost Marriage and eternally guard Nether Springs."
Kitahara naturally knew about Ghost Marriage.
Simply put, a Ghost Marriage is a marriage contract between a dead person and a living person.
It is a kind of unreasonable thing that transcends the boundary between life and death.
And listening to Takahashi Chihiro's meaning, he was chosen by some terrifying existence on the mountain and became one of the candidates for a Ghost Marriage?
As long as he can complete some kind of ceremony and be recognized by her, he can conclude a Ghost Marriage with her.
But what is that Nether Springs?
Is that related to Xishi Mountain?
After concluding the Ghost Marriage? Will he die?
Seeming to see Kitahara doubts, Chihiro looked at Kitahara.
"Kitahara-kun doesn't seem to know some information about the other side of this world..."
"The other side?"
"Simply put, it is the world where the dead are... It can also be called Nether Springs." Chihiro looked at Kitahara, feeling that he should also know something and would not treat her words as nonsense, so she continued to speak.
"Nether Springs and the present world are two sides of the same coin. Where they merge is the Mojo vel Spring Eye. Because Nether Springs does not belong to the world of the living, its Mojo vel water is full of poison for the living... Moreover, Mojo vel water is completely formed by the negative emotions of people in the present world, so at a fixed time, it will inevitably erupt..."
"After all, even a huge container has a limit to the grievance it can hold."
"Moreover, due to the special nature of Nether Springs, it is easy to infect the things around it, thus forming many large and small spirit domains.
In the spirit domain, all kinds of unreasonable things will happen.
Spirits will wander in it, vengeful spirits will harm people in it, and the possibility of living people surviving in the spirit domain is very small, and most of them will eventually merge into it and become a part of it."
"Therefore, some special people will use some kind of ritual to suppress Mojo vel Spring Eye, in order to prevent Nether Springs from spreading and endangering the present world."
"And Xishi Mountain was previously the location of a Mojo vel Spring Eye..."
Takahashi Chihiro gently pressed her forehead, seeming to be in some pain.
"Xishi Mountain is a sacred mountain..." she said softly.
"Takahashi was once the family that guarded Mojo vel Spring Eye on it..."
"Once?" Kitahara captured the key point.
"Yes..." Chihiro opened her mouth.
"I don't have any memory of the specific reason, but I only know that something very bad happened... After that, Takahashi clan left Yuushoku and returned to Tokyo..."
"Ghost Marriage is a part of the ritual to suppress Nether Springs, it is very important... It is a matter related to the life and death of the entire Takahashi clan..."
She looked at Kitahara, her eyes serious, looking a little weak.
"Kitahara-kun... If you want to survive... you must... you must not go to Xishi Mountain..."