Death's Hidden Mobile

As time went by, the temperature dropped lower and lower, and finally the coldest time arrived. After a heavy snowfall, the world was covered in white, and the cold invaded everyone.

Because the temperature is too cold, the density of spiritual particles in the air is greatly reduced, and their absorption rate of spiritual particles is also reduced, so they are unable to replenish their consumption by absorbing free spiritual particles in the air.

Moreover, the outside was blocked by snow, making it impossible to go out fishing, which plunged the three of them into hunger.

In the cold and hunger, their spiritual energy was consumed at an extremely rapid rate, and Xia Yan was shivering from the cold.

Renji Abarai then looked at Natsuhiko and Rukia and said, "If we don't have any more food, our spiritual energy will be depleted too much."

Rukia frowned and said, "But where are we going to find food?"

Renji Abarai looked into the distance and said, "We'll have to steal it."

"steal?"

Xia Yan stared wide-eyed at Renji Abarai.

The latter nodded and said, "That's right, this is the only way. We can't let them starve to death."

Rukia asked, "Then where should we steal it?"

Renji Abarai whispered, "I've been scouting the place these past few days and I found out that the Murata family made a lot of steamed buns. We can go and steal a few."

Rukia thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we go and ask for a few? Maybe they'll give us some."

Renji Abarai waved his hand and said, "That's impossible. The Murata family is relatively wealthy in the Tokatsu Ward, but they are only slightly well-off. How could they possibly give it to us?"

Rukia nodded and said, "Then we'll have to steal it."

Renji Abarai waved and said, "Let's go."

The three stepped out of the house and immediately felt a chill in the air. They trudged through the thick snow towards the edge of the village. Abarai pointed to a house not far away and said, "That's the Murata family's house. The room on the right is the kitchen. The steamed buns are already cooked and are in the kitchen. There's a window in the kitchen, but it's small; only Natsuhiko can fit through. I'll lure them out through the front door in a bit. Natsuhiko, you climb in through the side window and steal the buns. Rukia, you stay outside and wait for my signal."

Xia Yan and Rukia exchanged a glance and said, "Okay."

The two walked to the kitchen window. Xia Yan listened carefully and heard someone busy inside, so he gestured to Abarai.

Renji Abarai nodded, took a deep breath, and when he reached the front door, he raised his hand and began to pound on the wooden door.

A short while later, the wooden door opened, and a man appeared in the doorway, looking at Abarai Renji and saying, "What, it's you?"

Renji Abarai was quite famous in the Toshiro Ward. He lived with several orphans and was known for his fierce and aggressive nature, so no one dared to mess with him.

Renji Abarai looked at the other person and pleaded, "Uncle, could you give me some food? My younger brother and sister are starving."

Upon hearing this, the man snorted coldly and said, "Whether you starve to death is none of our business. Get out of here."

Renji Abarai continued to plead, "Please, just give me a little food."

The man waved his hand in dissatisfaction and cursed, "Get out of here! No, no!"

Abarai immediately grabbed the man's arm. The man tried to push Abarai away, but Abarai held on to his arm and wouldn't let go for a moment.

At this moment, the man's wife was alerted and came outside the house to ask what had happened.

At that very moment, Xia Yan opened the window, Rukia crouched down, hugged Xia Yan's legs, and lifted him up suddenly.

Xia Yan climbed up the window with both hands, entered the house, jumped out of the window, and walked towards the pot of steamed buns.

Lifting the lid, the white buns inside emitted an enticing aroma.

"what."

Xia Yan reached for the steamed bun, but burned himself and immediately pulled his hand back.

Xia Yan felt a bit hot, but he didn't give up. He endured the heat, grabbed a few steamed buns, put them in his arms, and ran towards the window.

The window was quite high, but Xia Yan brought over a stool, stood on it, leaned out, and handed the steamed bun in his arms to Rukia.

After Rukia took it, Natsuhiko went to climb out of the window. However, the stool was quite low, and Natsuhiko was also short. To climb out of the window, he had to push himself up. As he did so, his foot knocked the chair over, making a loud bang.

What was that sound?

Hearing the noise, the wife rushed back into the house, just as Xia Yan climbed onto the window.

Seeing Xia Yan's actions, the other party immediately understood what had happened and screamed loudly, "Someone is stealing!"

"Stealing?"

Upon hearing this, the male homeowner glared at Renji Abarai and said angrily, "So, you were just trying to stall me so that others could steal things, you little bastard, I'll beat you to death."

As the male protagonist spoke, he kicked Renji Abarai to the ground and began punching and kicking him. With his fourth-level spiritual pressure and activated spiritual particles, how could Renji be afraid of the other party?

However, Renji Abarai knew he was stealing and that he was in the wrong, so he did not resist. He just curled up and was beaten to the ground.

In the kitchen, the hostess tried to grab Natsuhiko, but Natsuhiko jumped out of the window and landed. He then ran around the corner with Rukia, where they saw Renji Abarai being brutally beaten.

Upon seeing Xia Yan and Rukia, the male homeowner shouted, "Don't run! Put your things down!"

He was about to chase after the two when Abarai grabbed his legs tightly and shouted, "Run!"

Xia Yan hesitated for a moment, but Rukia was calmer and called out, "Let's go."

Natsuhiko gritted his teeth and ran back to the house with Rukia. When the male head of the Murata family saw that he could not catch up, he continued to beat Renji Abarai.

Back in the house, Rukia took out three steamed buns from her arms, which were emitting white steam.

Xia Yan looked at the big white steamed buns, his mouth watering. He hadn't eaten a single meal in almost half a year since arriving in this world, and he was craving them terribly.

Seeing Xia Yan's expression, Rukia handed him a steamed bun and said, "You eat first."

Xia Yan shook his head and said, "No, Renji-nii hasn't arrived yet."

Rukia stuffed the steamed bun into Xia Yan's arms and said, "Eat it, hurry up."

Xia Yan glanced at the steamed buns, but still didn't plan to eat them before Renji Abarai returned, since he was being beaten up so that they could have food.

Seeing that Xia Yan was determined not to eat, Rukia gave up.

Just then, the curtain opened, and Renji Abarai entered the room, his face bruised and swollen, his clothes torn.

Rukia immediately stood up and asked, "Renji, are you alright?"

Renji Abarai waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, just some superficial injuries."

Seeing this, Xia Yan said apologetically, "Renji-nii, if I hadn't kicked over the chair, we wouldn't have been discovered."

Renji Abarai patted Natsuhiko's head and said, "It's alright, it's enough that you were able to complete the mission."

Rukia immediately said, "There are three buns in total, one for each of us."

"it is good."

Renji Abarai took a steamed bun, and the three of them each had one, eagerly starting to eat.

In Soul Society, crops are all composed of spirit particles. Wheat is ground into flour, and vegetables can be cooked directly; both contain abundant spirit particles.

In addition, there are also foods such as cookies, rice crackers, tea, and wine.

Food containing spiritual particles tastes even better than food in the real world. Xia Yan took a big bite of the bun. Although it was vegetarian, it tasted delicious.

The three of them ate steamed buns together. Although it was still cold outside and they still had no idea what their next meal would be, Xia Yan felt a sense of warmth.

Chapter Six: Departure

Winter in Soul Society is not much different from winter in the human world; it lasts only three months. By the end of February of the following year, the weather begins to warm up, and spring arrives.

After winter, the spiritual particle density of Renji Abarai, Rukia and Natsuhiko decreased significantly. Although Natsuhiko had trained hard in summer and autumn, he had only improved slightly compared to when he first arrived in this world.

Springtime also means that Rukia Abarai and Natsuhiko will have to leave this place to pursue their dreams in the distance.

On this day, Renji Abarai called Rukia and Natsuhiko together and said seriously, "The registration period for the Shinigami Academy starts in two days and will last for ten days, so we need to leave as soon as possible."

Rukia nodded, her face full of anticipation, and said, "As long as we can get into the True Central Academy of Spiritual Arts, we won't have to live in fear anymore."

"Yes."

Renji Abarai nodded and said, "But the journey will definitely be dangerous, so we must be careful."

Unlike Seireitei, Rukongai has a comprehensive surveillance system, and even a Gillian-class Hollow cannot enter freely.

However, Rukongai is extremely dangerous, with Hollows frequently attacking souls. Although Shinigami (death gods) come to kill the Hollows, the souls perish after only a moment's hesitation.

Besides the void, what's even more terrifying are the other spirits that reside there, attacking outsiders who enter the area, even in the Tatsumi district.

Therefore, we must be extremely careful along the way.

. . .

That morning, Abarai Renji Rukia said goodbye to several other familiar boys in the Inugami Ward. Upon learning that they were going to the Shinigami Academy, they all expressed their envy.

After saying goodbye, they embarked on their journey to the True Central Spiritual Arts Academy.

The Shinigami Academy is located in Seireitei, which is situated in the center of Soul Society, surrounded by Rukongai on all sides. It is divided into four directions: east, south, west, and north. The larger the area number, the farther away it is from Seireitei.

They were located in the 78th district of South Rukongai, the Todori district, which was extremely far from Seireitei. To reach Seireitei, they would have to travel a long way.

The three embarked on their journey, traversing region after region, heading towards Seireitei.

However, when they reached the Jinlin District of the 74th District, they were stopped by three people. One of them was not very tall, but had a thin build and short black hair. However, he looked fierce and seemed very difficult to deal with.

The other was a muscular, robust man whose massive size instilled immense pressure.

The third person was a boy, shorter than Renji Abarai, but he was carrying a dagger.

The burly man saw the three of them and said with a smile, "You're not from Jinlin District, are you?"

Renji Abarai gripped his long sword tightly and looked at his opponent, saying, "What do you want?"

The burly man laughed and said, "Since you dare to come to our area so rashly, of course we'll kill you and absorb your spiritual energy."

Souls in Soul Society die when their spirit particles are exhausted. After being killed, they transform into spirit particles and disperse into Soul Society.

Many people, in order to absorb spiritual energy, would wantonly kill others, thus creating a very chaotic area.

For example, the 79th ward of South Rukongai, Tatsumi Ward; the 79th ward of North Rukongai, Kusajika Ward; the 80th ward of North Rukongai, Zaraki Ward, and so on.

Upon hearing their words, Abarai gripped his bamboo sword, while Rukia and Natsuhiko tightened their grips on their wooden sticks.

Seeing the two's actions, the three blocking their way revealed a mocking smile. The burly man said, "Ryoji, I'll deal with this red-haired kid, and you deal with the woman. As for Kin, you deal with this brat."

The short-haired youth laughed and said, "I'll leave this woman to you. I won't hurt her; I'll capture her and have some fun with her."

The three immediately approached Xia Yan and his companions. The burly man was focused on dealing with Renji Abarai and did not immediately make a move, but the short-haired youth and the boy named Kin didn't have so many reservations and rushed towards Rukia and Xia Yan first.

The short-haired youth approached Rukia and reached out to grab her shoulder, but Rukia stepped back with her right foot, dodging the attack.