Chapter 197 – The Seventh Chapter Scheme
“Battle? Fighting?”
Yukinoshita Yuno was momentarily taken aback before shaking her head and saying, “I know Aikido; it should be enough for self-defense, don’t you think?”
“It’s certainly adequate to handle regular thugs or troublemakers, but the opponents we might face in the future aren’t your run-of-the-mill types.”
“You mean those monsters we encountered at the elementary school yesterday?” She recalled the grotesque appearance of the Cursed Spirits she saw last night, her brows furrowing, “Those things are called Cursed Spirits, right?”
“Why would I want to fight those monsters?” She spread her hands, asking.
She already had plenty on her plate without becoming a superhero.
“What if an unexpected situation forces us to fight…”
Before Lin Qi could finish, a spunky short-haired girl interrupted him with, “Then that’s your job, isn’t it?”
“I can’t possibly stay in you forever.”
“Of course not, who could endure living with a demon inside them all their life?”
…
Yukinoshita Yuno’s nonchalant attitude left Lin Qi speechless. Seated in the ergonomic chair by her desk, she gave a light kick against the bookshelf, causing the chair to spin.
“At least learn how to control your curse energy.”
“Is that so?”
Yukinoshita Yuno stretched out her hand, fingers splayed. Under the bright lights of the room, her slender fingers glowed faintly red, as healthy as ever. More striking than her perfectly proportioned hand was the blue-green curse energy rising from it like flames.
It suddenly dawned on Lin Qi that Yukinoshita Yuno could already manipulate techniques. How could she not control her own curse energy? They must have subconsciously assumed the worst due to past teaching experiences.
“But thinking about fighting, it made me consider an interesting way to play.” The short-haired girl’s eyes sparkled, the corners of her mouth lifting, as if a light bulb had lit up above her head.
She summoned her two manifestations, pointing a finger at them: “Alright, the both of you, start brawling!”
The two Yukinoshita Yunos glanced at each other, then rolled their eyes toward the main body unenthusiastically before engaging in halfhearted pushing and shoving. Even elementary school kids fought more passionately. Watching this, the main body, Yukinoshita Yuno, looked exasperated.
“Obviously, my main personality is like this,” Lin Qi muttered.
While Yukinoshita’s high school persona wasn’t much different from her college version in essence, the differences in behavior required time to adapt to.
Though the manifestations wanted to slack off, once the main body began channeling techniques, they had no choice but to engage seriously. However, manifests are still just manifests, trained by the same teacher; they couldn’t break through defenses. After watching for a while, Yukinoshita lost interest.
“Boring.”
She released the technique dejectedly, and the two manifestations reverted to shadows, returning to her body.
“Let’s go out and take a walk.” She poked her cheek, only feeling the softness of her skin.
“Alright.”
Given the varying methods of instruction between Yukinoshita and Yuno, as a distinguished teacher compared to Satoru Gojo, Lin Qi had to adjust his approach.
“I hope you won’t get me in trouble with Mother by keeping me cooped up inside this entire time.” Before handing over the control back to Lin Qi, Yukinoshita Yuno questioned.
“Don’t worry. You’ll just stay in your room. Maybe use the computer for some internet surfing or play video games—it shouldn’t cause any issues, right?” Lin Qi assured.
“That’s good. Mother seldom comes into my room unless she suspects I’m playing games. As long as she doesn’t catch me, nothing will happen.”
With those reassurances, the spunky girl entrusted the body to Lin Qi. A figure leaped out of the window, disappearing into the night.
Riding atop an owl familiar, Lin Qi sat crossed-legged, expanding his perception to its fullest. Soon, he identified his target.
Hmm, a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, quite weak—perfect for Yuno’s first practical training session.
“Hey, since you’re out, shouldn’t you give the body back? It feels strange controlling it myself.” Yukinoshita Yuno said.
“Almost…” Lin Qi manipulated the Nue towards the direction of the Cursed Spirit.
When the owl descended, Yukinoshita Yuno guessed his intentions and mocked him inwardly. Using this tactic again, huh? Truly fitting for a demon.
He likely planned to switch back to her once they reached the Cursed Spirit, forcing her to face the monster. But that was beneath him.
No problem; she’d just turn and run if need be.
Could she really evade him?
In her heart, Yukinoshita Yuno huffed softly, resolved not to let Lin Qi win easily.
The Nue carried Lin Qi to a park, where he directed the familiar to hover low overhead, relinquishing control to Yukinoshita Yuno.
This unexpected change left the short-haired girl startled. Raising an eyebrow, she challenged, “What’s going on? Weren’t you planning to throw me at the Cursed Spirit and force me to fight?”
“Whoever told you that?” Lin Qi replied mysteriously.
That late night park became eerily silent—the kind of place typically populated by many drifters or disillusioned drunks sprawled on benches. Amidst the secluded area, a sudden clear and urgent footsteps echoed toward the hovering Yukinoshita Yuno.
“There, there’s a monster!!”
“Help! Someone save me!”
Blood-curdling cries pierced the silence as the owl familiar descended, Yukinoshita Yuno instinctively ducked to look for the source.
A disheveled man ran frantically along the gravel path, dark hair tangled and unkempt, unkempt beard quaking with every breath. His eyes filled with terror, brimming with fear and exhaustion, he darted past.
Chasing him were monstrous figures, each over six feet tall, their bodies covered in nauseating tumors, heads grotesquely resembling giants, glaring with eyes the size of cowbells, drooling uncontrollably—almost treating him like a running roast duck.
Seeing the gap slowly close, Yukinoshita Yuno’s expression grew increasingly grim.
She underestimated this vile demon within herself.
This wasn’t some underhanded plot but a straightforward strategy.
