Kurozawa's point of entry was behind the sealed door.
He landed precisely on a narrow, cobblestone path, about a meter wide.
Flanked by silent green bamboo that only trembled slightly in the night wind, Kurozawa paused for a breath, a slight daze in his eyes, before his expression returned to calm.
"So, the Iguro family's food comes from the bamboo forest?"
Clatter! In front of him, Iguro Sayaka stared at Kurozawa in shock. Startled by Kurozawa's sudden leap from two meters high, she lost her grip on the tray she was holding, and it crashed to the ground, shattering.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. A series of white wisps of smoke rose from the ground.
Kurozawa looked down. From a broken cup, a transparent liquid had spilled out, corroding the cobblestones with a sizzling sound.
"Th-that's... some of the liquor is stored in the bamboo forest," Iguro Sayaka stuttered, still recovering from her shock, not even noticing the cobblestones on the path smoking.
"Your liquor here is that potent?" Liquor is poison that runs through the intestines, literally.
Kurozawa took a step forward and firmly tapped Iguro Sayaka's forehead. Like a bolt of lightning, before she could even finish her explanation, she went limp and collapsed onto the ground.
Looking at the still graceful figure of Iguro Sayaka lying on the ground, Kurozawa recalled a saying from his previous life and sighed softly.
"You were meant for better things, why become a thief? What a pity."
He couldn't be entirely sure what role Iguro Sayaka, and the other Iguro women, played in this matter, so he had only knocked her out, not killed her.
"There's definitely something strange about this bamboo forest."
Iguro Sayaka suddenly appearing in the bamboo forest, and carrying poisonous liquor, was clearly not right. The sealed door to the bamboo forest must just be a facade. Otherwise, how did Iguro Sayaka get here, and why would she need to leave from here?
Kurozawa twisted his neck, ignoring the unconscious Iguro Sayaka. He followed the winding cobblestone path, stepping forward one step at a time.
In the bamboo forest, whenever a gentle breeze blew, green bamboo leaves would spin and fall from the green bamboo. After twirling a few times, they would land on the ground, creating a thick carpet of green leaves. Only the cobblestone path seemed to be frequently swept and walked upon, with only a few freshly fallen leaves.
After walking not far, Kurozawa encountered another beautiful and delicate-looking Iguro woman.
"You are..." The woman was startled, but before she could speak, Kurozawa knocked her to the ground. Just like Iguro Sayaka, she went limp and fell unconscious.
After continuing forward for several dozen meters, his senses began to warn him. Kurozawa stopped. He felt a prickly sensation on his back, as if he was being intensely observed by a large number of eyes.
Hiss, hiss, hiss. The continuous sound of snakes flicking their tongues rang in his ears. Kurozawa slightly furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping in all directions.
Snakes of various colors, flicking their tongues, were coiled in the bamboo forest, wrapped around the green bamboo, hidden in the thick bamboo leaves on the ground. They directed curious and dangerous gazes at Kurozawa.
"So many snakes..."
Perhaps their animal instincts sensed the power of the person in front of them, but the hidden venomous snakes did not attack Kurozawa. They only slithered around in the shadows with soft rustling sounds, constantly hissing as they flicked their tongues.
Without stopping, Kurozawa moved forward, encountering another Iguro woman. He then used the same trick to take her down.
"Come out."
After taking down the woman, Kurozawa didn't leave immediately. He spoke indifferently, but after waiting for a moment, there was no sound other than the wind and the snakes.
"Quite patient, aren't they?"
*Crack!* The ground cracked, and a network of spiderweb-like lines spread out. Kurozawa instantly disappeared from his spot.
The next second, Kurozawa appeared in the bamboo forest outside the cobblestone path. Amidst the dense sounds of snakes, his eyes were icy.
However, when he clearly saw the person lying on the ground, their face on guard, the chill in Kurozawa's eyes faded, replaced by some surprise.
It was a boy with a bandaged face and a white snake coiled around his neck. His heterochromatic eyes were very unusual.
The boy was startled by Kurozawa's almost instantaneous appearance, but his gaze quickly changed. He raised the wooden hairpin in his hand, jumped up, and fiercely jabbed it towards Kurozawa's eyes.
The small white snake around his neck also bared its fangs and claws, trying to bite Kurozawa's face.
The future Serpent Pillar... The boy's appearance overlapped with someone in Kurozawa's memory.
At the same time, Kurozawa grabbed the boy's wrist with one hand and pinched the small white snake between his fingers with the other, easily neutralizing the attack.
"Don't move."
"I mean no harm."
Staring at the boy's strange heterochromatic eyes, Kurozawa spoke in a deep voice.
His voice had a profound, trustworthy quality that calmed the restless boy, though the boy didn't lower his guard. His eyes were full of vigilance, staring intently at Kurozawa.
"Let... let go of Kaburamaru..."
Following the boy's gaze, Kurozawa saw the small white snake he was pinching between his fingers, still baring its fangs and claws, hissing in a threatening manner.
"Kaburamaru? Nice name." Kurozawa smiled slightly, then released the white snake, returning it to the boy's neck. At the same time, he released the hand that was gripping the boy.
His smile had a magical quality, further lowering the boy's guard and making him slightly stunned.
In a daze, the boy felt as if he had seen a rising sun in a place that had always been dark and sunless, warm and full of light.
Gradually, the boy's eyes became moist, and his voice choked up.
"You... you finally came to save me..."
What? Kurozawa was a little surprised, not understanding what the boy meant.
He didn't know that the boy had been confined in a dungeon since birth, and had fantasized countless times about someone saving him. The feeling Kurozawa's smile gave the boy at this moment was exactly what he had fantasized about: warm and sunny.
"What's your name?"
"Why are you here?"
Although he already had a guess, Kurozawa still confirmed the boy's identity.
"Iguro... Iguro Obanai, my name is Iguro Obanai." Iguro Obanai paused, then spoke again with a complex tone, "This place... is my home, where I was born."
Iguro Obanai's voice wasn't pleasant to listen to, carrying a slick, greasy feeling like a dark snake. The emotions contained within were intense and complex; even with Kurozawa's experience, he couldn't decipher Iguro Obanai's current mood.
At this moment, as if suddenly remembering something, Iguro Obanai urgently urged, "Quick, let's go."
"She should have realized I escaped by now."
Just as Iguro Obanai spoke, the ground began to shake violently, and a sharp woman's voice rang out not far away.
"Obanai! Where are you!"
"You can't escape my grasp!"
The voice was sharp and unpleasant, like fingernails on a chalkboard, making one feel completely uncomfortable. Kurozawa stood in front of Iguro Obanai and looked towards the source of the sound.
Within his sight, the ground shook incessantly. Amidst the rumbling sounds, it was like a steamroller had started up, crushing, snapping, and felling green bamboo stalks to the ground one by one.
And within the huge cloud of dust and bamboo leaves stirred up in the bamboo forest, a thick snake tail and a woman's face were vaguely visible in the dense smoke.
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