Chapter 118 Warmth
"Oh~ Are you a new believer? I've never seen one before~"
Standing on the Zhu Bridge, the handsome man holding a box of bait in his hand looked at the woman who was staring at him blankly with a gentle smile on his face. After saying these words, he turned around, picked up a handful of bait and threw it into the lotus pond below.
This attracted a large number of koi carps to compete for it, and the handsome man watched quietly with a smile, but after just a moment, he lost interest in the fish.
He turned around and looked at the woman who was not saying a word and just watching him sweat silently. He chuckled and spoke to her again.
"Why don't you say anything? You keep staring at me. Am I wrong?"
Some of the dazed women came to their senses after hearing the other party's teasing, and with a shy blush on their faces, they lowered their heads to explain.
"I'm sorry... I'm not one of your followers. The reason I stared at you is because you are too handsome."
When she said the last sentence, the woman raised her head with a sincere smile on her face, which stunned the man who claimed to be the leader. This was the first time he saw such a sincere smile.
However, the man reacted quickly, covered his mouth with Jin Shan in his hand, chuckled a few times, and pointed at Tianyin and said happily.
"You're so funny~ What's your name?"
"My name is Qinye."
"Kotoha~ What a nice name. My name is Douma~"
Inosuke, who had just arrived, heard the conversation between the two clearly, and at this moment, a complex emotion arose in his heart.
He didn't understand why this happened, so he could only calm down his excitement and continue to watch the two from afar.
After exchanging names, Douma did not stop talking and continued to ask Kotonoha.
"So, if you're not a believer, why are you here so late at night~"
Hearing Douma's question, Kotonoha subconsciously tightened her arms around the child, looked at Douma with a somewhat evasive look, and spoke in a somewhat ashamed tone.
"I wanted to protect my child from being beaten by his father, so I ran away from home and came here by chance. I hope that the leader can temporarily take me and my child in for one night..."
After listening to Kotonoha finish her words with difficulty, Douma realized that the child in her arms not only had difficulty walking, but his body was also covered with dense bruises, and one of his beautiful emerald green eyes had dimmed.
His smile froze slightly, and Douma forced a distressed expression on his face. He wanted to gently stroke Kotonoha's blind eyes with his hands, but she took a step back and dodged him.
With an earnest expression on her face, Kotonoha bowed deeply to Douma while holding the child, and spoke sincerely regardless of the other party's arm hovering in the air.
"Please, Master!"
Coming back to his senses, Douma put his hands down, tapped his fingers lightly with the golden fan, looked embarrassed, and finally sighed and gave Kotonoha a gentle smile.
"Okay...but since you already call me the Lord, then you have to join my Eternal Paradise Cult, so that I can always protect you~"
After thinking for a moment, Kotonoha recalled her husband's brutality against herself and the child, and slowly nodded in agreement. Douma also smiled and personally took Kotonoha into the temple.
And Inosuke followed closely with a frown on his face.
A comfortable room was chosen for Qin Ye. Qin Ye looked around with her child in her arms with her mouth slightly opened, and happily put her face close to the child's ear and whispered.
"Look! This is where we will live from now on. The leader is such a good man!"
Douma, who was waving a fan behind him, naturally heard it. The smile on his face remained unchanged, but he waved the fan in his hand faster. Inosuke saw Kotonoha leaning close to her child's ear to talk.
Subconsciously, a warm feeling flowed through my heart and a smile appeared on my face.
Snapped!
At this moment, Douma's waving fan suddenly slapped his own palm, making a crisp sound and attracting the attention of everyone present.
After clearing his throat, he said to Qinye.
"From now on, you and your son will live here. As for your husband and mother-in-law... I think they will never be able to harass you again~"
Although she didn't know what method Douma would use, seeing that he was reliable, Kotonoha immediately felt relieved. She excitedly held Douma's hand and waved it up and down to express her gratitude.
Douma just smiled and didn't say much. He withdrew his hand and slowly walked out of the room, closed the door, walked out of the temple, and disappeared into the night light.
Since then, her husband and mother-in-law never harassed Kotonoha again, and even disappeared from the world as if they had evaporated. During this period of time, Kotonoha and Douma became more and more familiar with each other.
From time to time, Douma would look for Kotonoha to feed the fish and chat with him, and Kotonoha would often sing a song she was good at for him. The child was also thriving under the careful care of Douma and Kotonoha.
In Inosuke's eyes, Kotonoha's mood became happier and the smile on her face became richer. He wanted everything to be fixed at this moment, but the accident still happened...
On this day, Kotonoha brought the snacks she had just made and pushed open the door of Douma's room to receive believers as usual, but this time it was in the dark. After all, she was a little stupid and it took her a whole day to make it.
But as soon as she pushed open the door, a strong smell of blood hit her nose and rushed straight to Qin Ye's head. But when Qin Ye saw the scene in the room, her world seemed to have really collapsed...
Holding a piece of the sexy woman's body, Douma sat on the futon and bit it with big mouthfuls. Blood bubbles gurgled out of the mouth of the woman who was not yet dead.
The snack in his hand fell to the ground in a moment of distraction, attracting Douma who was addicted to eating.
"Master...what are you doing?"
A trace of surprise flashed across the smiling face with blood all over his mouth. Douma didn't know that what he was feeling now was called panic, and he dropped the body of the dead woman in his hand.
He walked slowly towards Kotonoha. Inosuke, who had been following behind him, couldn't help but feel his mind go blank when he saw this scene. But when he saw Douma walking towards Kotonoha, he subconsciously rushed towards Douma and wanted to subdue him.
But this is just an illusion after all, or... a long-forgotten memory.
Douma passed Inosuke and walked towards Kotonoha, still trying to make excuses for himself.
"Don't get me wrong, Kotonoha~ I'm helping my lovely believers get to paradise~"
But even though Kotonoha was not very smart, she was not stupid enough to believe Douma. She turned around and limped towards her room.
"..."
Looking at Kotonoha's hurriedly leaving back, Douma did not chase after her immediately. He stood there in silence, and the smile on his face became increasingly stiff.
"What a shame..."
On the other side, not long ago, Douma moved Kotonoha's room to a room not far from his own room. At this time, Kotonoha ran at full speed and quickly returned to the room.
After picking up Inosuke, Kotoha turned around and ran without time to pack up other things. However, with such a tall temple, Douma would definitely catch up with her with her lame feet. Thinking of this, Kotoha set her sights on the lotus pond under the temple...
Pfft!
A slender human figure smashed into the water like a cannonball, startling the koi in the water and causing them to scatter in all directions. Qin Ye, who fell on her back, was in so much pain that she could hardly breathe.
But she still lifted the child high out of the water, making Inosuke floating above them anxious but unable to help at all.
Qin Ye, who had difficulty in swimming, swam to the lake shore, but did not dare to stop for a moment and ran up the mountain. Looking at the child in her arms who had a frightened face but did not cry, Qin Ye's eyes flowed.
"I'm sorry... I'm such a bad mother... Even though Inosuke is so smart, he has to suffer because of me."
When Inosuke, who had been following them, heard this, his expression froze for a moment and tears flowed from his eyes. Although he had expected this, he was still shocked after confirming it.
"Mother…"
But at this moment, a frivolous voice came from behind.
"Ah~ Why can't Xiao Qinye pretend that she didn't see anything~ I plan to keep you by my side for the rest of my life..."
Hearing this, Kotonoha tightened Inosuke's arms and ran even harder up the mountain, completely ignoring the fact that Douma was following them from behind.
But soon, the trees disappeared in front of Kotoha, and the land under her feet came to an end. Below the cliff was a stream. She looked at Inosuke in her arms and Douma who kept attacking her from behind.
After struggling for a moment, a gentle smile appeared on her face again, but this time... her eyes were filled with tears.
She bit her hand and wrote Inosuke's name on his loincloth with her blood. Then she lifted him up and rubbed his soft face with her cheek, the warm tears in her eyes dripping onto the child's face.
"Inosuke, Mommy loves you..."
Behind him, Inosuke, who was staring at all this in a daze, subconsciously reached out and touched his cheek, as if the warmth there had not yet dissipated.
Under Kotonoha's reluctant gaze, Inosuke was thrown into the turbulent water, and turned his head to meet the eyes of the current Inosuke.
Kotonoha, who couldn't see Inosuke no matter what he did, was now slightly stunned and muttered to herself in a self-deprecating manner.
"Why do I suddenly see the grown-up Inosuke..."
Just at this time, Douma also came in front of Kotonoha, and seeing the stubbornness in the other's eyes, Douma's rainbow eyes dimmed for a moment.
"Really? I see."
The golden fan in his hand pierced through Inosuke who rushed forward to defend Kotonoha and slashed directly on Kotonoha's chest, blood splattering everywhere. He also left after staying for a moment.
Looking at Kotoha dying on the ground, Inosuke's face was full of anxiety and tears were streaming down his face, but Kotoha showed no sign of pain and slowly reached out her hand towards Inosuke's face.
Hey~
A buzzing sound was heard during the contact, and Kotonoha's warm fingers touched Inosuke's cheek.
After a brief smile, the arm fell, and Kotoha was lifeless. Inosuke sat there, expressionless, but kept his hand on the place where Kotoha touched him.
Until a white light flashed before his eyes, covering his entire vision, and when other colors appeared before his eyes again, he had already returned to the priest's residence.
A line of hot tears flowed from my eyes, and at this moment a calm voice came from beside me.
“…You’re awake.”