Collapse, Kaslana's Way of Survival

but……

In Kaino's memory, the place where the huge fox statue was placed in the middle of the shrine was now empty.

Chapter 161 Dinner with the Eightfold God Lord

"This is the guest room in the shrine. You will stay here for the next few days, Kaino."

Yae Sakura led Kaino to a door, opened it and introduced it to Kaino.

"Don't worry, even though the room hasn't been occupied for a long time, I clean it every day, so it's not dirty. You can just move in."

"okay."

Kaino responded while looking at Yaesakura with a slightly strange look.

She patrols the village and cleans the shrine rooms. Although the shrine maiden's uniform is not very formal, she is most likely a shrine maiden. Yaesakura has a lot of work to do.

"Speaking of which, is it okay for me to just wander around the village?"

On the way here, Kainuo used the power of the Herrscher of Wind to scan the periphery of Yae Village, but found no trace of Seele and Bella.

On the one hand, he wanted to find out if there were any traces of Seele and Bella inside Yae Village. On the other hand, he was also prepared for Seele and Bella not being in this spiritual space, so he needed to quickly find the breakthrough point of this space and leave.

"I know you, Kaino, are eager to find friends, but it's better not to." Yae Sakura turned to Kaino, shook her head, and said seriously.

"Although you appear to have practiced martial arts for quite some time, Kainuo, it seems you caught a cold from drowning earlier, and your body is much weaker than before. Although the villagers aren't particularly xenophobic and won't do anything to you, there have been an inexplicable increase in the number of demonic beasts near the village recently. To avoid any accidents, it's best not to go out."

"It's getting late today, and there aren't many herbs left at the shrine. Tomorrow I'll go out again to pick some herbs for you. I'll go look for them again after you feel better."

"Is that so? I understand."

Kaino sighed with a feigned sadness, then nodded, "Thank you, Yaesakura."

"You're welcome. It's just a small favor. It's not a big deal."

Yaezakura shook her head and continued after a moment's hesitation.

"If you're really anxious, you can come with me to collect herbs tomorrow. Just don't stray too far from me, and you can look for any trace of them along the way."

"Really? That's great." Kainuo's eyes lit up and he didn't think twice.

As it stands, Yae Sakura, who works as a shrine maiden at Yae Shrine, is most likely a key figure in this spiritual space. If we can establish a good relationship with her, then the journey to find a breakthrough point will definitely be beneficial.

"So I told you not to be polite, three?h slip Er? Ye cruel Zhi Jun is exhausted!

Perhaps because she had never met anyone who would say thank you after receiving help, Yaesakura sighed helplessly, seeming unable to cope with it, but a slight smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"It's getting late, and I need to prepare dinner for tonight. The bedding is ready in the closet. Kaino, you can rest in the guest room first. I will call you to eat together when the food is ready."

As she spoke, Yaezakura reached out and took the wet nun's uniform from Kainuo's arms.

"Give me the wet clothes first, I'll dry them later. Before that, Kaino, you..."

Looking at Yae Sakura who was suddenly stuck in front of him, Kainuo scratched the side of his face with a puzzled look.

"what happened?"

Yaezakura didn't answer.

She first stood on tiptoe to compare her height with Kaino's, then sighed, a look of worry appearing on her face.

"It's troublesome."

Yaesakura sounded a little annoyed.

She raised her head and looked at Keno again, a hint of apology in her eyes.

"You're taller than me, so I'm afraid my clothes won't fit you. While my father's clothes might be suitable, you don't seem particularly interested in men's clothing... It would take quite a while to make a new one. Can you bear with me?"

Kainuo:?

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the nun's uniform in Yae Sakura's arms. Belatedly realizing his misunderstanding, Kaino covered his face with his hands. Seeing her serious yet worried expression, his voice took on a rare hint of shame.

"No need, just wear men's clothes!"

"Is it really possible?" Yaezakura still looked worried. She brushed her hair and continued, "If you really can't accept it, then making a dress for me wouldn't be too much trouble..."

"That's really not necessary!" Kaino interrupted Yaesakura hastily, "My friends forced that outfit on me. I don't have a habit of wearing clothes of the opposite sex!"

"Is that right?"

Yaesakura nodded, a hint of disappointment crossing her face.

"What are you disappointed about?!" Kainuo widened his eyes.

"That's all for now. I'll bring a set of clothes when I come to get you later."

Automatically ignoring Kaino's words, Yaezakura finished her speech without giving Kaino a chance to continue speaking, turned around and left quickly.

Watching Yaesakura walking away, Kainuo leaned against the door and supported his forehead with one hand.

……

On the table.

Wearing new simple clothes, Kaino bit into the rice ball made by Yaesakura herself, and carefully observed Yaesakura and her father who ate silently without saying a word.

The relationship between the two was a little beyond his expectations.

Maybe it was because Yae Sakura had greeted the other party in advance, but after he followed the other party to the kitchen, Yae Sakura's father didn't ask anything. He just glanced at him lightly and said, "Sit down," and then started eating without saying a word.

Yaezakura wasn't even half as enthusiastic towards her old father as she was towards him. Not only did she not say hello, she didn't even look at him. Apart from saying "Just eat whatever you want" to him and "I'm starting" after she sat down, she didn't say anything else and also started eating in silence.

For a moment, the whole room was silent, and Kainuo, who had originally planned to talk to the two during the meal, stopped talking and had to concentrate on eating.

Still without looking at the man sitting across from her at the table eating, Yae Sakura finished the rice ball in her hand, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, then turned to look at Kaino.

"I'm done eating." Yaezakura said suddenly.

"Hmm?" The sudden sound startled Kaino, who was concentrating on eating, and he almost choked. Unable to swallow the food, he could only nod twice blankly, "Hmm."

The man opposite Yaesakura looked up at Kaino, then lowered his head and continued eating in silence.

"After dinner, Kainuo, you can just go back to your room and rest. I'll come back later to clean up the dishes and other things."

Yaesakura lowered her head to glance at the wooden plate with rice balls on the table, then slowly stood up.

"Then I'll take my leave now."

Listening to the footsteps getting farther and farther away behind him, Kainuo couldn't help but look at Yaesakura's father, the head priest of this priesthood.

In this shrine that has trapped him in this spiritual world, the chief priest and the shrine maiden, who are part of the same family, do not get along with each other. He doesn't believe that there is no story in it.

In that case, why don’t we go to the other party’s room to search for evidence at night?

"Sakura's gone far away."

While Kainuo was pondering his hidden plan, Yajō-shin-sama finished his rice ball in two bites. He first glanced up at the gate, then turned his head to meet Kainuo's gaze.

"Young man, can you talk to me for a moment?"

Staring into those deep eyes, Kaino blinked, then nodded slowly.

"Well."

Chapter 162 The Knot Four Years Ago

After accepting the invitation from Yaesakura's father, Kaino continued to eat his rice balls slowly while waiting for the other party's next words.

"Are you from outside the village?"

After Keno finished eating, the man suddenly asked.

"Has Yae never told you about this?"

Seeing the other party shaking his head, Keno was actually at a loss.

"In that case, why didn't you ask me a few questions when I came in to eat just now?"

"Since Ying brought you in, I believe you won't harm the people in the village. I trust Ying's judgment." The Yae God Lord looked at Kaino with an increasingly serious look. "Then tell me, are you from outside the village?"

"I see your village isn't very big, is it? Don't you recognize everyone in your village?" Kainuo asked back, looking helpless. "I've definitely never seen you before, and I guess you haven't seen me either—so isn't it obvious? I'm not from this village."

"I haven't been to the village in a long time, and I've forgotten who's there." After answering Kaino's question, the man relaxed a little: "No outsiders have been to Yae Village for a long time."

Kaino curled his lips.

Not to mention the fact that this is essentially a spiritual world, just looking at the rugged mountain roads around Yae Village that he saw when he came here, it would be strange if outsiders often came to such a remote and unremarkable little village.

"I ended up here by accident." Keno shrugged, not wanting to delve into the issue further. He got straight to the point: "Tell me, what do you want to do by keeping me here? You can't just want to ask if I'm an outsider, right?"

"Of course not." Shaking his head, the man pondered for a moment before continuing, "In fact, I hope you can do me a favor."

"Help me get out of here~?"

Just like the player who finally received the NPC task, Kainuo's eyes lit up and he became excited.

"You say!"

As if frightened by Kaino's enthusiasm, the man froze for a second or two before coming to his senses and continuing, "Yae Village is relatively small and has become increasingly impoverished recently. I'm just a small shrine priest, so I probably can't give you anything too valuable."

"I don't need anything too important. In fact, I'm actually quite rich." Kainuo shook his head and refused.

However, worried that the other party might be suspicious of his enthusiasm, he quickly added, "Besides, Yae saved my life after all. It's okay for me to help you in return—as long as it's not too strange."

"For saving my life?... I see." A gleam flashed in his eyes, and the man nodded thoughtfully.

"I hope you can help Sakura untie the knot in her heart. If all else fails, I hope you can make Sakura happy for a few days."

"What?" Kaino suspected he hadn't heard clearly. "Untie the knot? Me?"

"That's right." The man nodded and gave an affirmative answer.

Kainuo suspected that the other party was crazy.

He could roughly guess what kind of irreconcilable conflict there was between the other party and Yae Sakura, and he could also understand the other party's desire for a third party to mediate.

But no matter what, this shouldn't be his turn, right? He and Yaesakura have only known each other for less than half a day. Is there really no one else in your village?

As if he could see Keno's confusion, the man began to explain, "You have to be the one to do this."

"Except for the children, Sakura hasn't spoken to anyone in the village in almost four years."

"You haven't spoken to anyone in four years?" Kaino raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Really? I think Yae is quite enthusiastic and talkative."

Kainuo could never imagine that a warm-hearted girl would take the other person to her home when they first met, provide free accommodation and food, kindly offer clothes, and want to collect herbs for him to make medicine. She would have a cold face and remain silent after meeting someone else.

And according to Yaesakura, the reason she was able to fish him out of the creek was because she was patrolling outside the village to eliminate the risk of villagers being killed. Would such a person ignore the villagers?

"Maybe that's true for you, and maybe it was true for Sakura four years ago. But the fact is that since four years ago, Sakura hasn't spoken a single word to anyone other than the child, including me."

"Well, excuse me." Kainuo's expression turned strange. "What happened four years ago that made her become like this? Could you tell me about it?"

Now that I think about it, Yaesakura's face did darken once or twice when she talked to her today, as if some bad memories from the past were brought back to her.

Tell him directly that this matter is closely related to the breakthrough point to get out of this spiritual world.

The man was silent after hearing Keno's question, then slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."

"Are you kidding me?" Kaino's eyes widened. "You asked me to untie her knot, and you won't even tell me the key information?"

"That matter is not just between Ying and me, it involves the entire village."

Gritting his teeth, the man stepped back slightly, supporting himself with his hands, and slowly knocked his forehead against the floor.

"If that's not possible, I hope you can spend more time with Sakura during your stay in Yae Village. I wouldn't ask for anything else, at least just so she has a friend to talk to."

"please."

Looking at the other person's appearance, Kainuo rubbed his temples and suppressed the thought of using Yu Duchen to check the other person's memory. He nodded with a headache on his face.

"Okay, I'll try my best."

……

The next morning, the sun had just risen.

Yaezakura stood in front of Kainuo's door, looking at the door with a serious expression.

"Lord Kainuo, you should get up." After knocking on the door twice more, Yaezakura shouted, "The sun has already risen. The place where we pick herbs is not close to the village. If we don't get up now, we will be too late!"

However, there was still no movement in the house.

After staring at the door for two seconds, Yaezakura suddenly took a deep breath and her eyes became determined. She placed her right hand firmly on the door.

Then, the door suddenly opened.