Hearing the explanation, Raiden Ei silently sheathed her sword, cast a faint glance at Orochi, and for reasons unknown, slowly said,
"You may leave. I will not kill you."
This was rather unexpected. Orochi looked at Raiden Ei in surprise, especially considering how she had treated her not long ago. Yet, this time, she wasn't going to kill her?
She had expected to at least pay some price to leave safely. To be let go without consequence, how incredibly kind was she?
"Why are you looking at me like that? Surprised? Killing you brings me no benefit. Besides! Today is my Inazuma's festival, the atmosphere should be joyous. I do not wish to stain such a happy day with blood. It's most inauspicious."
Seeing that Orochi had not moved, Raiden Ei drew her sword again and stuck it into the ground. She deliberately lowered her expression and said,
"If I tell you to leave, then hurry up. What's with all the nonsense? If you wish to die, I can certainly oblige. A little blood, what's the worst that can happen? Inauspicious? So be it."
Startled by this threat, Orochi quickly scrambled to her feet. Dragging her injured leg and hand, she used all her might, but after only a few steps, she collapsed.
"Big sister, I can't even leave if I want to."
This was rather awkward. She could only turn her gaze towards Lu Ze, who was leisurely drinking tea in the distance. In the next moment, she appeared beside him.
"Do me a favor. Use the ability of your large white spear to heal Orochi, please?"
Lu Ze, who had been calmly sipping his tea, was startled and almost spilled it.
"Ei, don't always appear beside people so suddenly. It's quite frightening, you know?"
Raiden Ei quickly apologized and looked at him with a pleading expression.
"Alright, alright, I get it. If I'd known, I wouldn't have used the Cleansing Seven Thunders on her. I could have subdued her with my bare hands. Also, that's not called a 'large white spear'. It's called Black Abyss White Flower."
The two reappeared beside Orochi. The latter, upon seeing Lu Ze, felt a pang of bitterness and silently turned her head away, unwilling to look at him.
"Black Abyss White Flower, Zero Rated Power."
In a short while, Orochi's wounds had all healed. Even her right eye, which had been pierced through, was restored as if nothing had happened.
After being healed, Orochi quickly fled, not wanting to linger for another second. She knew she could never return to her previous life. From now on, she would go to Seirai Island and live out her days in retirement.
She had broken the seal only for revenge. Now, her revenge was unfulfilled, and yet the other party had let her go. What was the point of it all? She had no more motivation to move forward. Her future days would likely be spent in retirement and travel.
Lu Ze, with a blank expression, returned to his seat. The Sango-no-miya Festival thus concluded. After all, with one of the participants gone, what was the point?
After a brief explanation, Lu Ze, along with the Raiden sisters and Yae Miko, arrived at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
The soul of Kazari was nearly repaired. As for Hanakari, Lu Ze gave her an object to house her soul.
He then handed it over to Yae Miko, asking her to work quietly at the Grand Narukami Shrine. After all, there were already many people at the shop, so there was no need to bring her back.
It was absolutely not because he feared being beaten by the people at the shop. How could he possibly be afraid?
He retrieved the puppet body from his system space and placed it on a low platform. Then, he placed the soul chain on its forehead. Watching it merge, the puppet body began to change in appearance, mirroring the soul.
In about a minute, the puppet body had transformed into the likeness of Kazari, completely identical, except it was unclothed.
"This puppet is amazing. What's the principle behind it?"
Raiden Ei, who had once forged puppets herself, was intrigued by this technology. However, she didn't ask further, as it was someone else's secret.
Similarly, he stuck an incense stick into the ground, and its faint smoke drifted slowly into the air, like a wisp of smoke in the wilderness.
The time it took for an incense stick to burn passed quickly. The red chain was spat out, becoming a normal chain. This thing was no longer useful, so he casually set it aside and took out the life essence from his system space.
The potent life aura caused everyone present to show a look of yearning, just as before.
If there were any greedy individuals present, they would have undoubtedly stepped forward to snatch it. After all, consuming this item not only extended one's lifespan but also cured all kinds of difficult ailments.
The life essence slowly integrated. After about half a minute, the puppet opened its eyes. Kazari had come back to life.
"Where am I... Wasn't I in filth? The pain is gone. Wait! Am I seeing things? Truly! Ei! Am I dreaming? And who is this?"
Kazari recognized the first two but had no recollection of the grown-up Yae Miko. Apart from confirming she was a fox, there seemed to be no other distinguishing features. Could she be a new fox they had adopted? Had their affection waned?
"Just forget about me. It's understandable. I am Yae Miko. That little pink fox, you must remember me, right?"
Hearing her junior, Yae Miko, a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face. Since she didn't even recognize the pink fox she spent her days with, she truly must be getting old...
"My apologies, Miko. You've changed so much, I didn't recognize you at first. My sincerest apologies. And... have you two also died? Otherwise, how could I possibly see you?"
The few of them looked at each other. Ei lightly slapped Kazari's face, intending to use the pain to tell her that this was not a dream, but reality! They were not dead.
"Ei! Why did you hit me? Wait, why do I feel pain? Is this dream this realistic? Could I have truly come back to life?"
After understanding the sequence of events, Kazari tried to stand up from the platform to properly thank Lu Ze, only to realize she couldn't move and was completely naked, making her feel rather chilly.
"Ah! Where are my clothes? What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and get me some clothes."
Yae Miko tried her best to suppress her laughter but couldn't. Kazari, slightly annoyed, nudged Yae Miko.
"What are you laughing at? Having friends like you is truly a blessing for three lifetimes. If it weren't for those three lifetimes of good fortune, I wouldn't know how I met you all."
As for Lu Ze, he had already quietly left the Grand Narukami Shrine, his good deeds unknown. Although it was somewhat inappropriate to offend her given she was unclothed, he had already seen everything...