"Elisa, why has your body shrunk again?"
Yang Tao looked at Elisa, who had rushed back after receiving a call, and for a moment found it hard to accept. Elisa, who had clearly grown into an adult, had now reverted to being about the same age as Miko.
"Don't you like young girls and married women? I can't do married women, but I can do young girls."
Elisa said with a very serious expression, and her short sentence instantly broke Yang Tao's defenses.
"Wait… Elisa, who told you I like young girls and married women? Do you have some kind of misunderstanding?"
Yang Tao felt like he had been inexplicably branded with some unspeakable labels, oscillating between pervert and super pervert.
"I believe every woman, at any age, has her unique charm. Elisa, you are you; don't forcefully change your appearance due to other factors."
"Oh, I changed like this to make it easier to go to school with Miko…"
Yang Tao: "..."
"Let's go."
Just as I said nothing, I directly opened the window and jumped down from Miko's room window. As soon as I landed, I felt a gaze fixed on him.
Kayako was standing by the road, holding a bag of trash, looking at him with some surprise, her gaze moving back and forth between Miko's bedroom window and him.
"Mrs. Kayako, long time no see…"
Kayako showed a smile that implied 'I understand everything,' mixed with a hint of 'young people are so bold.'
"That… Mr. Yang, it has indeed been a long time. I didn't expect to see you in such a situation."
"I'm going to throw out the trash first, Mr. Yang. If you have time, you can come to my house for a visit. My husband, Mr. Saeki, has always wanted to thank you."
Yang Tao nodded weakly. It wasn't his fault, but this world's. After Kayako turned and left, he looked around to make sure no one was there, then directly pulled out the Tiger Benz from his backpack.
As soon as he parked the car, Miko and Elisa came out of the house carrying large and small bags.
"Let's go!"
…
By the time Yang Tao and his group arrived at the place Miko mentioned, it was already afternoon.
A clear stream flowed through the dense forest. Since it wasn't flood season, some parts of the riverbed were completely exposed, full of pebbles that crunched underfoot.
Yang Tao sat on a large rock by the river, holding a fishing rod and fishing very intently.
Several shadowy figures emitting black aura swam from downstream towards his fishing spot.
Just as Yang Tao was about to call Elisa over for an extra meal.
[Exploration Value 47.52%]
The exploration value, which had been dormant in this supernatural world for a long time, suddenly jumped out and made its presence known. This made Yang Tao pay more attention to the Ghast in this small stream.
He lightly leaped into the water, and instantly, ice appeared, freezing several Ghasts within it. Yang Tao leaned down and reached out, grabbing a Ghast that had poked its head out, ready to attack him.
Its dark body was like the invincible 'Lil' Black' in the Detective Conan World. The Ghast's entire body emitted a ghostly aura that made it look full of evil.
Elisa, who was originally accompanying Miko and Hana, appeared by his side in the blink of an eye. Black energy instantly spread from her, and the ghost shadows in the river had no ability to resist; they were instantly assimilated and devoured by Elisa's power.
"Elisa, do you feel that the art style of these ghosts is a bit different from the art style of the ghosts in the city?"
The ghosts in the city at least had some form, but these Ghasts in the stream looked more like ghost shadows.
"They are too weak…"
That made sense. Yang Tao casually tossed aside the Ghast in his hand. This thing clearly had no intelligence, so trying to get any information from it would be like talking to the moon.
'Will Miko also come here in the plot?'
Looking around, he didn't find anything special, so Yang Tao could only instruct Elisa: "There might be other Ghasts here. Protect Miko and Hana well."
Elisa, having devoured the small ghost just now, nodded slightly. These small ghosts were simply not enough to even stick in her teeth now.
Returning to the shore, Yang Tao continued to sit on the rock and cast his fishing rod. Soon, a cod flew out of the stream.
'Dinner is served!'
Feeling the breeze, Yang Tao rarely enjoyed the limited time. A figure came to his side and then sat directly on the rock.
"Mr. Yang, do you have a way to let me see those things too?"
Yurikawa Hana's eyes were very firm when she said this, but Yang Tao knew this girl was actually very timid.
"Actually, you are fine as you are. Those things look really disgusting. If you see them, you might not even be able to eat your favorite butt daifuku anymore."
"But… but I don't want Miko to face danger alone. I want to help her."
"As long as you aren't so jumpy in the future, that counts as helping Miko, haha."
Yurikawa Hana's biggest role was to use the abundant life energy emanating from her body to repel weaker ghosts and attract stronger ones.
On one hand, she broadened Miko's horizons, and on the other hand, she improved Elisa's absorption efficiency.
She was like a human magnification effect.
"Ah?!"
Yurikawa Hana couldn't accept this setting. What did it mean that not being jumpy counted as helping? How did she feel like some kind of jinx?
She reached out and wrapped her arms around Yang Tao's arm, a classic "ball-hitting-person" move, and said pitifully: "Mr. Yang, will you help me?"
"I don't have a good way right now. You'll have to wait a bit longer…"
Yang Tao indeed didn't, but there must be a way in The Outcast. Binding Spirit and Dispatching Generals should be pretty good; if the drawbacks of the ghost-eating method were removed, it would be very useful in this world.
And Yurikawa Hana's continuously overflowing life energy—if it could be exploited, it would definitely make her stronger.
Just as Yurikawa Hana was hugging and shaking Yang Tao's arm, a blue car stopped by the riverbank.
Two young people, who looked about the same age as Miko, got out of the car with a little girl.
[World Exploration Value 55.35%]
Yang Tao was slightly stunned.
'This… this level of exploration value… is it the protagonist or the final villain?'
As he spoke, the young man and woman had already come down, carrying their things.
After putting down their belongings, they looked at them. Soon, the two led the little girl over, preparing to say hello.
[HP 8 / 8]
[HP 9 / 9]
[HP 73 / 73]
The strongest was not the man and woman, but the little girl who looked only eleven or twelve years old, accompanying them.
As they got closer, the little girl's eyes caught Yang Tao's attention.
Each of her eyes had two pupils, combined with other slightly deformed features, making it look like there was a cartoon-version skull in her eyes.
The leading girl walked up to Yang Tao with a smile and said: "Hello, my name is Hozuki Eiko. We would like to set up camp next to you. Is that alright?"
The little girl was quite polite!
It seemed that the Ghasts in the river just now were likely part of these three people's plot. Yang Tao said with a smile:
"It's fine, just make yourselves at home."
"Thank you, sorry to bother you."