amaotonovel Chapter 724 She Will Come Back
Chapter 724 She Will Come Back
Upon hearing Yuko's words, Yoshino's pupils trembled slightly, but only for a moment. Soon, Yoshino closed her eyes again, knelt in the corner, and adopted an attitude of resignation.
She was prepared to face death. For Bount, there was no hell or Soul Society after death; she would simply disappear like sand scattered by the wind.
But the expected pain did not come.
Yu Zi coldly replied, "Can't you understand human language?"
Fangye raised her hand, her lips barely moving: "Gate, come back."
She put away the flame doll, opened her eyes, looked up at Yuko, her gaze flickering slightly, and said firmly, "I've already said, I have nothing to tell you."
Yuko narrowed her eyes slightly.
Fangye revealed a relieved expression and closed her eyes again: "You can kill me now."
She thought that as long as she stood firm in her stance, Yuko would kill her.
"I've said before that I have no interest in helping people commit suicide."
Yoshino paused for a moment, then, feeling somewhat weak, leaned against the wall to stand up. After her gaze swept back and forth between Yuko and Ichigo's faces, she gave a self-deprecating laugh, turned around, and dragged her heavy steps to leave the alley.
"...In that case, farewell. Death, and this one..."
"Where are you going?" Yu Ziqing's cold voice rang out from behind.
Fangye stopped and turned her head slightly: "Didn't you say you didn't want to kill me?"
"I don't intend to kill you, but I didn't say you could leave either." Yu Zi's calm voice carried a hint of domineering arrogance. "Do you think I went through all that trouble to capture you just to let you go?"
"...It didn't seem to take much effort, did it?" Ichigo couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Ikuko ignored Ichigo and simply walked towards Yoshino.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Fangye's forehead. The worst thing had happened; she had been captured.
The other party didn't want to kill her; they just wanted to pry information about other Bounts out of her.
Despite her conflicting beliefs with Kariyagami's, she did not want to become a traitor who betrayed her comrades.
Fangye gritted his teeth and pushed off with his feet, showing no intention of surrendering.
Or perhaps, she simply wanted to provoke Yuko in order to get herself killed.
But her body had been severely injured by Yu Zi just now. She staggered for only two steps before Yu Zi knocked her unconscious with a chop to the neck and dragged her back.
Looking at Yoshino being held in Yuuko's arms, Ichigo felt a strange sense of sympathy and asked, "Auntie, what do you want to do with her?"
"What should we do?" Yu Zi looked up and glanced at him. "A dark and stormy night for murder..."
"Didn't you say you wouldn't kill them?"
Yu Zi glanced at him sideways. Did this idiot not understand her joke?
She casually tossed the Yoshino in her hand to Ichigo.
"Huh?" Caught off guard, Ichigo caught Yoshino off guard and hurriedly caught her, asking embarrassedly, "What are you doing?"
Before Yuko could answer, Ichigo suddenly realized, "Auntie, you don't mean you're thinking of handing her over to Urahara, do you?"
"Give her to Urahara? Are you planning to let him dissect this woman for research?" Yuko rolled her eyes. "Anyway, take her home first."
"what?"
"you have a problem?"
"No, but what about that ordinary person?"
"Who cares? He'll wake up when he gets cold. Do I have to cover him with a blanket?"
"……oh oh."
Meanwhile, inside a Western-style mansion located on the edge of Karakura Town.
This is a temporary gathering place for the Buffetts, and the buildings around it are in a Western style.
In a certain room, Utagawa Ryo was elegantly fiddling with his pocket watch, his movements carrying a deliberate aristocratic air, his gaze occasionally drifting towards the man in the main seat.
Kariya God.
The man sat in the shadows, holding a yellowed ancient book in his hands. Unlike his flamboyant hairstyle, he exuded a calm and composed aura.
"Has Yoshino not returned yet?" Udagawa asked casually.
“That woman has become increasingly disobedient lately.” The gray-haired old man named Sawatari, leaning on his cane, spoke in a muffled voice, “Kariya, you’ve been too lenient with her.”
Kariya didn't look up, but simply turned a page of his book, his tone calm and without any fluctuation: "Yoshino is a sentimental woman, prone to having some unrealistic ideas. But she knows better than anyone that the Bount has no home."
“The Bounts are a race abandoned by this world. Soul Society cannot tolerate us, and the human world sees us as monsters. She has nowhere to go but to return to her own kind.”
He stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the night view of Karakura Town, his eyes filled with confidence that he was in control of everything.
“Those humble acts of kindness will only leave her battered and bruised, and then she will discover once again that the only people who can give her meaning to her existence are us.”
As Kariya spoke, he turned his head slightly, a faint red light gleaming in his eyes.
"That woman will come back sooner or later."
……
"You're not going anywhere."
The living room on the second floor of Yu Zi's house.
"Behave yourself and don't make things difficult for me." Yuko said calmly to Yoshino on the sofa. "Sometimes death isn't scary; what's scary is wanting to die but not being able to."
This is a threat! It's definitely a threat!
"Is this alright, Auntie?" Ichigo, now back in his body, stood at the doorway, looking hesitant.
He was terrified that the moment he left, his aunt would subject him to inhuman torture.
Yu Zi glanced at him indifferently: "What? You're planning to take in this homeless woman?"
"If your parents don't object, I'll also..."
"No way!!!" Before she could finish her sentence, Ichigo jumped up.
"I'm leaving!"
"I'd rather die than see you die; if I stay any longer, Ichigo is genuinely afraid something might happen to me."
Ichigo rushed down to the first floor, leaving only the frantic shouting of Kon behind him echoing in the stairwell.
"That damned Ichigo! He's taken my big sister away from me again!"
"..."
When are we going to kill that doll?
Yuko closed the door before turning her gaze back to Yoshino on the sofa.
Yoshino had already regained consciousness on the way and had even tried to escape, kicking Ichigo in the back, but fortunately his soul blocked it.
As a result, he was unable to escape and was easily subdued by Yuko.
At this moment, Yoshino was not under any restraint. She knew clearly that she had no chance or possibility of escaping from Yuko.
This woman was too strong. She gave off a feeling that was no less powerful than Kariya. Her confidence, as if she controlled everything, and her unwavering gaze made Yoshino not even have the courage to meet her eyes.
When Yoshino met Yuko's eyes, she subconsciously lowered her head and could only see Yuko's toes.
Yuko kicked off both shoes, walked on the floor in her socks, and disappeared from Yoshino's sight.
Should we just ignore her?
Fangye paused for a moment, then looked up and saw Yuko with her back to her, rummaging through something on the cabinet.
Yuko suddenly turned around and asked, "Coffee or tea?"
“…Coffee will do.” Yoshino paused for a moment.
"Then tea will do; we don't have coffee."
"..."
A short while later, a cup of coffee was placed in front of Fangye.
"..." Fangye couldn't quite figure out this woman's attitude.
Yuko sat down in front of her and took a couple of sips of her coffee.
Just when Yoshino thought she was about to ask about Bount again, Ikuko didn't say anything at all. She just crossed her legs and leisurely drank her coffee.
Fangye paused for a moment, then lowered her head and drank her coffee.
It didn't taste very good... it was probably the kind of instant coffee you get at convenience stores.
But until she slowly finished her coffee, the woman in front of her didn't say a word, just sat quietly.
Yoshino held the cup, looked up at the clock on the wall, and realized that an hour had passed.
She couldn't help but speak first: "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Silent violence".
"Ok?"
"This is called passive-aggressive behavior. In layman's terms, it's about making someone unbearable by isolating and ignoring them," Yu Zi explained calmly, "so that... you can get them to talk."
"..."
That's not a valid method.
But Fangye couldn't help but say, "There's no point in you arresting me. I'm just a useless woman in the Bavent."
She didn't speak up first because of the passive-aggressive treatment.
Yu Zi put down the cup that had been resting on her lap for a long time and said calmly, "I know that your strength is among the weakest in the Bount."
Fangye narrowed her eyes slightly: "You know?"
“The mansion on the outskirts of the city, right?” Yu Zi understood the meaning in her tone and said calmly, “Including you, there are eleven people in total. One of them is not Bount, but Death.”
Fangye's pupils suddenly contracted.
In the living room, where only the ticking of the clock could be heard, Yuko's words were like a bombshell, completely shattering Soma Yoshino's last psychological defenses.
No, using "last" isn't really appropriate.
She never expected that Yuko would reveal their hiding place and the number of members so directly and quickly.
This kind of shock is no less than when you're playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) and your first move is a royal flush.
"How could you...know?" Yoshino's voice trembled, and the coffee cup shook violently between her fingers.
Even the Grim Reaper knows it all.
“I have a knack for perception. Although you have hidden it well, you still can’t fool me.”
"I see, that's why I was discovered so quickly..."
"No, you're just unlucky; you happened to be blocking my way home."
"..."
Blocking the way? Are you sleeping under a bridge?
Fangye gave a bitter smile: "Since you already knew about Bavent's situation, why did you still arrest me?"
"If you're trying to use me to arrest other people, I advise you not to waste your time."
"The Bavents are not a very cooperative people."
"Is such a cumbersome thing necessary?" Yu Zi's crimson eyes didn't show much emotion. "I'm just a little curious. You used to only feed on the souls of the dead, so why are you suddenly feeding on the souls of the living?"
Fangye's body trembled slightly.
"What's the difference between the two for you?" Yuko tilted her head and asked, "Is it a difference in taste?"
"..."
Before Yoshino could speak, Yuko began talking to herself.
"Indeed, there is a significant difference in taste between the living and the dead, and the bodies of the living usually taste better."
Compared to the dead, ghosts are only interested in the living.
Yoshino was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but say, "Well, the Bount only feeds on human souls."
Yuko looked up: "Is there a difference?"
"..."
Of course there's a difference!
We are not those savage monsters!
And why are you talking like you've eaten human flesh?!
Fangye fell silent again, her fingers gripping the cup slightly, adjusting their pressure.
Yu Zi didn't disturb her; she knew that her words had already been imprinted in the woman's mind.
The clock on the wall ticked slowly, and finally, Yoshino loosened her grip on the cup.
"Are you... are you the Grim Reaper?"
“How come you see?”
Yoshino noticed that this person didn't like to answer questions obediently... although she was the same way.
But she was unwilling to answer, and this person was the type who deliberately pretended to be ignorant and enjoyed playing pranks on people.
Recalling the woman's attitude towards that blond-haired Grim Reaper, Yoshino came to this conclusion.
She patiently explained, "Because that boy who was with you just now, he's Death, right?"
"Perhaps I am a Quincy?" Yuko said calmly. "You know, Shinigami and Quincy have always had a good relationship."
Perhaps annoyed at being fooled, Fangye frowned slightly, subconsciously forgetting her current situation of being a dependent.
With a hint of anger on her face, she looked at Yuko: "Didn't you want to know about Bount?"
Yuko met her gaze calmly: "That's why I'm asking you."
Meeting those crimson eyes, Fangye subconsciously looked away, only realizing what was happening belatedly.
This woman is terrifying. Unlike Kariyagami, she's terrifying because her words are full of traps.
Yuko noticed that she was avoiding her eyes several times, and frowned slightly: "You seem to be afraid of my eyes. My eyes should be normal now."
Yoshino shuddered again.
This woman! She's frighteningly perceptive!
“…God.” Yoshino felt relieved and suddenly smiled, a smile carrying a hint of liberation. “Kariyakami, just like you, has a pair of red eyes.”
"Who is that?"
"Didn't you already investigate us?"
"I only know your location and number of people."
"...Kariyakami, our leader...at least for now."
"At least for now?" Yu Zi raised an eyebrow. "It sounds like you two aren't entirely convinced of each other's abilities."
Fangye shook his head: "Didn't I tell you? The Bounts aren't a very cooperative group. We've only come together temporarily because of a common goal."
"What's the purpose? To devour the souls of the living? What's the difference?"
When Yuko brought this up, Yoshino fell silent again.
A moment later, Yoshino raised her head and looked at Ikuko with a serious expression: "Are you a Grim Reaper?"