Watching Maya captured by the silver-furred man, Masa adjusted his glasses and glanced at Shin nearby:
"Mr Shin Natsume, things seem to be getting a bit troublesome."
At that moment, Luo Shu, who had donned a disguise, forcefully pulled Maya Natsume into an embrace, his face full of menace as he said:
"No talking, no signals, and no moving."
Having said this, Luo Shu turned his gaze towards Shin Natsume:
"If you don't want anything to happen to your sister, you'd better behave."
"Now, put those swords down!"
At this moment, the captured Maya Natsume looked completely unfazed:
"Put down the sword? Are you joking? Shin would never be stupid enough to—"
Clang.
Maya stared at the Natsume family's ancestral greatsword lying discarded on the dirt road, her entire expression freezing.
She looked up at Shin Natsume in utter bewilderment:
"Hey, Shin Natsume, you bastard!"
"This isn't what you taught me!!"
"Shouldn't the normal approach be to strike with the determination to kill even your allies?"
"That's what you taught me!"
"I was mentally prepared for that, and you pull this shit on me?!!"
Shin raised his hands in surrender, speaking expressionlessly to Maya:
"Maya, when I taught you that, I should have mentioned not to trust the enemy's words, right?"
Maya paused, then said:
"You did, and?"
"Then let me add—don't believe the nonsense your family says either."
Seeing Shin's deadpan expression while spouting such ridiculous words, Maya was both furious and amused:
"You're really something! Pulling this crap now?"
"If I die here, I'll haunt you forever, you bastard of an older brother!"
Nearby, Masa watched their exchange and sighed:
"It seems Shin Natsume has made his choice."
"Then! I can't afford to dawdle either."
As he spoke, Masa's right hand tightened around his sword hilt, his bulging muscles even bursting through his white shirt.
Everyone was startled, mistakenly thinking Masa was about to erupt into violence.
But the next second, Masa hurled his greatsword high into the sky.
The greatsword soared upward, emitting piercing sonic booms.
"Hah!!"
Masa leapt into the air, catching up to the sword mid-flight, then stepped onto the blade and sped away from the scene.
Finally, a distant voice echoed:
"I shall take my leave first."
The three onlookers were dumbfounded.
"No way, he ran?" Maya gaped in disbelief.
Shin simply stared at the greatsword on the ground, muttering: "You can use a sword like that?"
The most stunned of all, Luo Shu, could only remark:
"This guy..."
With Masa's escape, Luo Shu, after a brief pause, turned his gaze to Shin.
Under Luo Shu's scrutiny, Shin silently glanced at the greatsword and said flatly:
"I can't do that."
Masa could pull this off because he was a merman, with racial talents for manipulating wind and air—something Shin lacked.
'I wasn't asking you that...' Luo Shu gave Shin an exasperated look, then smacked Maya's butt.
"What the hell!!"
Maya's face flushed red as she hurriedly covered the spot, only to realise she'd been teased. Her expression turned livid:
"You bastard, I'll detonate my qi and blow myself to pieces right in front of you!"
"That was just a friendly reminder."
Luo Shu was genuinely concerned Maya might lose her temper and take them both out, so he tempered his actions:
"If you don't want anything to happen to your sister, let those venomous bees approach quietly."
Hearing this, Maya Natsume abruptly turned her head and immediately spotted over a dozen venomous wasps swirling around Shin Natsume.
Seeing this, Maya fell silent for a moment before saying:
"Hey, you pervert holding me!"
"As punishment for harassing me earlier, can those wasps sting his face?"
At these words, not just Shin, even Luo Shu was left speechless.
Maya, however, remained utterly unapologetic:
"What are you staring at? He gets to give up, but I don't get payback?"
"Tch, I've met all sorts in my life, but you two are the first siblings like this I've ever seen."
Luo Shu scratched his head, thoroughly baffled by these siblings.
On one hand, their relationship seemed good—Shin would even surrender for Maya's safety...
Yet on the other hand, Maya insisted on making Shin suffer over trivial matters.
These two were truly something else!
"Well then..." Luo Shu glanced at Shin and tentatively asked, "Could you... endure it?"
Shin stared at Maya with dead-fish eyes, but his sister simply beamed radiantly as if celebrating some grand occasion.
"Didn't you say you'd surrender? Then keep surrendering now! Come on!"
Listening to Maya's taunts, Shin took several deep breaths. After giving Luo Shu a long look, he closed his eyes.
'Sorry about this...'
Luo Shu raised a finger, and the swarm of wasps immediately converged on Shin.
"ARGH!!"
A scream rang out.
Maya's smile faltered. Pressing her lips together, she remarked casually:
"Be glad you're not a woman, Shin. If enemies captured you, then... tch, you wouldn't even get to scream."
Shin remained silent, simply kneeling on one knee while clutching his face.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu, still holding Maya, said meaningfully:
"Seems our little silver-haired miss here knows quite a lot!"
Maya didn't respond, only instinctively trying to break free from Luo Shu's grip.
At that moment, Luo Shu leaned close to Maya's cheek and whispered into her ear:
"How about testing that knowledge on me?"
"You!" Maya's eyes instantly reddened.
Just then, tendrils of black mist suddenly appeared nearby.
Noticing the mist, Luo Shu paused before turning to ask:
"Did you catch up with him?"
Luo Shu wasn't surprised that So'unga's puppet was nearby—it would've been stranger if it weren't.
So'unga's tone was oddly strained:
"He was too fast for this puppet to pursue."
"No matter. Just a minor character—won't affect our plans."
"Hmph!"
Luo Shu scoffed coldly before asking:
"Any further instructions then?"
Hearing the sarcastic tone, So'unga paused before replying:
"To Kaede's Village."
"It's time to end this."