Tamamo-no-Mae had fulfilled her lifelong wish - to taste Ye Xing, this professional exorcist.
She did taste him, though not in the way she had wanted, but...
She did taste him.
And she even swallowed eagerly.
...
Meanwhile, inside the power station in the Reverse World.
"The power supply has been restored."
Hearing Soichiro Yagami's report, both Rio Futaba and Mai Sakurajima finally breathed sighs of relief.
Restoring electricity meant that from the very beginning, the Supernatural Society, which had been passively defending, had finally taken the first step toward counterattack.
But this was only the beginning.
During the power station repair, Soichiro Yagami had officers investigate the surrounding area.
Five dead, all from the first batch of workers who came to repair the power station.
The condition of the bodies... was gruesome, torn apart, with blood and fragments scattered everywhere. Without a forensic expert, it was impossible to even reassemble the victims' bodies.
The officers didn't know the truth of the matter, thinking it was the work of some kind of wild beast.
However, Soichiro Yagami, along with Rio Futaba and Mai Sakurajima, knew this must be the work of evil spirits.
If they were just ordinary evil spirits, that would be one thing.
But according to the information transmitted by Miko Yotsuya, there had already appeared monsters like the Ushikubi-no-Onna - entities fused with human bodies that could ignore the laws of observation and freely slaughter humans.
What should they do?
Before Ye Xing returned from the Reverse World, should they just passively defend like this, allowing the enemy to move freely within Kyoto?
"Chief Yagami."
Rio Futaba walked up to Soichiro Yagami and spoke softly.
"Please have the officers hold their positions here for now. If there's any unusual activity, please contact us via walkie-talkie."
"Understood."
Soichiro Yagami nodded slightly and responded in a deep voice.
Rio Futaba and Mai Sakurajima left the power station and came to a concealed area several hundred meters away.
"Mai-senpai, Rio."
Seeing the masked Mai Sakurajima and Rio Futaba approach, Miko Yotsuya initially wanted to stand to greet them, but she frowned slightly and ultimately remained seated on the ground, abandoning the idea.
"Miko."
Rio Futaba, who had known Miko Yotsuya the longest, quickly approached with concern when she saw the other girl slumped on the ground, looking completely exhausted.
"Are you seriously injured? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Miko Yotsuya patted Rio Futaba's hand and smiled reassuringly.
"I'm fine, just used up too much spiritual power."
"That's good..."
Rio Futaba breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes showing complex emotions as she couldn't help murmuring to herself.
"If that guy were here... just having him do that thing... your power would recover..."
"Please spare me from that."
Miko pouted, seemingly disagreeing with Rio Futaba's suggestion, her face slightly flushed.
"If I had to do that with him in this situation... I'd probably die..."
"That's true too."
Meanwhile, Mai Sakurajima walked up to Hina Amano, first observing the exposed skin on her neck and arms before asking with concern.
"Hina, are you alright?"
"I'm completely fine"
Hina Amano replied with a smile, using an intentionally light tone.
"I wasn't using my own power anyway, so I'm totally OK."
"That's good."
Rio Futaba looked at the exhausted Miko Yotsuya, thinking about how she had just experienced such a dangerous situation where she had almost died. Even the normally rational and calm Rio couldn't help feeling a surge of intense anger.
"What should we do next? Did you gather any information?"
Miko Yotsuya forced herself to perk up and replied.
"That strange type of Gate probably won't appear again for a while."
Then, Miko recounted what had happened inside the power station, frowning slightly as she appeared to be thinking seriously.
"Judging by the Ushikubi-no-Onna's behaviour, she seemed to know that there would be a Gate capable of causing earthquakes appearing in that power station."
"Even if it believes that Hina and I don't possess the power to close that Gate, if I were in its position, I would definitely ensure to kill the enemy or use myself as bait to lure the enemy away from where the Gate appears. That would be the safest approach."
As she spoke, Miko Yotsuya's golden eyes flickered, and she began to explain slowly.
"The enemy's weakness might be this."
Rio Futaba instantly understood Miko Yotsuya's meaning and said thoughtfully.
"You mean... the disaster that triggered the earthquake, the mass slaughter of humans, and creating powerful evil spirits in the Reverse World to kill the trapped Ye Xing - because the evil spirits fused with humans have gained high intelligence, they value their own safety more than achieving their goals?"
"Exactly."
Miko Yotsuya's golden eyes shone with unconcealed killing intent as she whispered.
"Since they're different from ordinary evil spirits and possess emotions like fear... then taking the initiative is our best option."
"Taking the initiative?"
Hearing this, Mai Sakurajima frowned slightly and said hesitantly.
"But... wouldn't that be too dangerous?"
"There would indeed be danger..."
Rio Futaba seemed to agree with Miko's plan.
"If we stay entrenched at the power station, we'd have to face all the evil spirits in the entire Kyoto city. We don't know how many evil spirits the enemy can control. Although they're just ordinary evil spirits, we're not like Ye Xing - we can't recover our power through devouring while fighting. There's ultimately a limit to our endurance."
"But if we follow Miko's suggestion and take the initiative, since those monsters fused with humans have emotions like fear and self-preservation, they would definitely gather all their strength to protect themselves when threatened."
"Moreover, ordinary evil spirits can't interfere with reality or directly attack ordinary humans. Only we psychics would have to face these creatures. Staying at the power station waiting for the enemy to gather more evil spirits for an attack isn't wise."
"Taking the initiative, constantly moving, preventing those creatures from having time to damage the power station or gather evil spirits in one place for an attack, minimising our numerical disadvantage - this is indeed the best strategy."
Miko Yotsuya also stood up and said slowly.
"Ye Xing said that evil spirits are just prey. The initiative in battle lies with us psychics."
Hearing that both Miko Yotsuya and Rio Futaba had reached the same conclusion and provided their reasoning, Mai Sakurajima naturally didn't object.
"In that case, let's first hand over the Metropolitan Police Department radios provided by Chief Yagami to Yui and the others. If we're going to start a hunting operation, we must maintain communication among ourselves. This is one of our advantages, too."
...
Half an hour later, in the Reverse World on the other side.
Tamamo-no-Mae stroked her smooth, flat abdomen, still looking somewhat incredulous, as if in a dream.
Of course, this gesture wasn't because she had been filled up.
That wasn't where she had been filled.
Tamamo-no-Mae was just very surprised.
That severe injury... even for her, it would have been an irrecoverable fatal injury, yet just by swallowing... it could instantly restore her completely to normal?
Moreover, Tamamo-no-Mae could clearly feel that after swallowing the milk, her power had become even stronger than before.
Wait a moment...
Milk?
So this is what Hachishaku-sama meant by the most delicious milk in the human world!?
Tamamo-no-Mae's pretty face flushed slightly as she realised she had naively assumed the milk being referred to was just ordinary milk.
She looked towards Ye Xing, who was resting against the corridor wall of the school building, and noticed his arm still hadn't regenerated. A worried expression appeared on her face as she said:
"Ye Xing-kun... your arm... can it not be restored?"
"Not that it can't be restored," Ye Xing replied lazily with his eyes closed, his tone casual and indifferent.
"It's just that I've just fused with the pale ghost hand, used Domain Expansion, and exhausted all my spiritual power to attack that evil spirit with compressed pure evil spirit power. Right now, there's not a single drop of spiritual power left in my body. It'll take at least a day to return to normal and regenerate my right arm."
At this point, Ye Xing opened his eyes and pointed to the damaged Onimaru Kunitsuna beside him, smiling at Tamamo-no-Mae.
"Including Onimaru Kunitsuna, it'll need several days to recover. Until then, I'll have to rely on you to protect me, just an ordinary human, in this perilous Reverse World."
"You..." Tamamo-no-Mae's expression showed hesitation as she spoke uncertainly.
"Why did you stake all your spiritual power? That was too risky..."
"Risky? No, no." Ye Xing completely disagreed with Tamamo-no-Mae's opinion.
"In that situation, not going all out would have been the foolish move."
"If I couldn't maintain the Domain, that evil spirit might have connected with the black mist, gaining the ability to continuously revive by drawing power from it."
"So I had to completely destroy it within the Domain where I could sever its connection to the outside world, concentrating all my power to deliver the strongest attack before I exhausted too much energy maintaining the Domain Expansion. This wasn't risky - it was actually being cautious."
Tamamo-no-Mae nodded noncommittally without replying, instead looking at Onimaru Kunitsuna lying quietly on the ground with several deep notches in its blade, and at Ye Xing leaning against the wall with his empty right sleeve, resting while seated. A complex light flashed in her eyes.
What he said was probably correct.
Tamamo-no-Mae knew very well how terrifying the power of that massive evil spirit formed from human fear of earthquakes truly was.
Even she, nearly restored to her peak state with her soul's true form released, would have been completely overwhelmed facing that monster.
Ye Xing had indeed won, but clearly not easily.
Right now, he was just an ordinary human, even needing her protection in this dangerous Reverse World...
Tamamo-no-Mae realised something.
Just his milk alone had not only healed her injuries but also elevated her power by an entire level.
If...
She directly devoured his flesh and blood?
Ye Xing's current condition was far from optimal.
The spiritual object Onimaru Kunitsuna had clearly reached its limit, with no remaining strength to protect its master.
Thinking of this, a resolute expression surfaced in Tamamo-no-Mae's eyes as she finally made her decision. She abruptly stood up and quickly walked before Ye Xing.
Pressing her lips together, she slowly began to speak.
"Ye Xing-kun."
"What is it?"
"This humble one wishes... to amend the contract between us."
"Oh?"
Ye Xing examined Tamamo-no-Mae with interest, chuckling lightly.
"How exactly would you amend it?"
Tamamo-no-Mae took a deep breath, her ample chest rising and falling with tension as she softly said:
"This humble one shall use the contract as binding, pledging never to harm you in any way, whether mentally or physically, through any means. Furthermore, when you require assistance, you may summon this humble one, who will spare no effort to provide help."
Ye Xing smiled and countered:
"Then what do you wish to gain in return?"
"Eh?"
This question rather stunned Tamamo-no-Mae.
"This... this humble one doesn't know..."
"Not even knowing what you want in return, yet proactively proposing such unfavourable terms for yourself..."
Ye Xing looked at Tamamo-no-Mae and lightly teased:
"You couldn't possibly have fallen for me, could you?"
Tamamo-no-Mae's pretty face flushed slightly. Instead of answering the question, she righteously declared:
"As the saying goes, 'A wise man does not stand beneath a dangerous wall.' You are currently weak in power. Using the contract's force as binding to let you know this humble one will not harm you is what will put your mind at ease. Just as when Guan Yu escorted his two sisters-in-law and sought instructions for every matter along the journey, it follows the same principle as this humble one's current approach."
Hearing these words, Ye Xing couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:
"Ho, you've even read the Three Kingdoms? Quite the cultured ghost."
Tamamo-no-Mae wore an expression of speechless exasperation, unable to resist rolling her eyes as she retorted irritably.
"Are you suggesting I appear to lack refinement? In any case, let us establish our contract now... As for what you can provide me, that shall be at your discretion."
Tamamo-no-Mae had already resolved to become Ye Xing's ally.
However, now she wished to take their relationship a step further.
This wasn't due to the milk consumption - after all, Ye Xing wasn't some male succubus with mind-altering milk.
Tamamo-no-Mae was someone who remembered kindness well. During her moment of crisis, Ye Xing had saved her, and because of this, he had become trapped in the Reverse World.
Moreover, compared to most evil spirits, Tamamo-no-Mae had always been among those more favorably disposed toward humans.
From her creation until today, she had never killed a single human, nor had she even devoured many evil spirits.
Tamamo-no-Mae wanted to find a way to repay Ye Xing for saving her life.
Merely protecting him during his period of lost power was far from sufficient.
"In that case..."
Ye Xing stood up, gently stroked Tamamo-no-Mae's head, and spoke with a smile.
"I shall exchange regular feeding for this contract."
"Feeding..."
Tamamo-no-Mae certainly understood that this "feeding" didn't refer to evil spirits.
Truthfully, she didn't particularly enjoy consuming evil spirits either. Unlike Hachishaku-sama, Tamamo-no-Mae maintained a certain elegance and restraint.
But when it came to drinking milk...
That was another matter entirely.
Through this recent incident, Tamamo-no-Mae had come to deeply realise she wasn't strong enough.
Tamamo-no-Mae wanted to become stronger.
Moreover, she wanted to taste more of Ye Xing's flavour.
"In that case, the contract is established."
...
Meanwhile, in Kyoto City, within the abandoned building that Ye Xing had previously visited.
"Ye Xing... came here to eliminate a Gate... and that's why he became trapped in the Reverse World..."
Yui Yuigahama and Hachishaku-sama, accompanied by Menma and Shoko Makinohara, stepped into the dimly lit building together.
After Mai Sakurajima, Rio Futaba, and Miko Yotsuya found them and explained the situation, both Menma and Shoko Makinohara had voluntarily asked Yui Yuigahama and Hachishaku-sama not to worry about them, stating that cleansing Kyoto of evil spirits was the most urgent matter.
Neither the human nor the spirit wanted to become burdens to the Supernatural Society.
Yui Yuigahama walked at the front, while Hachishaku-sama followed behind Shoko Makinohara and Menma, ensuring that even if unexpected circumstances arose, she could immediately protect Shoko and Menma.
Just as they reached the empty top-floor hall of the building, an eerie, inexplicable laughter echoed from the darkness.
A sliver of moonlight shone through a broken window, illuminating the crimson-clad figure ahead.
"My luck is truly remarkable."
The Ushikubi-no-Onna emerged slowly from the darkness, her blood-dripping eyes fixed on Yui Yuigahama's group, her expression showing excitement.
"To think that after missing one psychic's body, two more psychics and two creatures who look quite delicious would deliver themselves to me. How thrilling."
The moment Hachishaku-sama saw the Ushikubi-no-Onna in her crimson attire, she recognised this was the same evil spirit Miko Yotsuya had described encountering at the power station - the one fused with a human.
"Shoko... notify Futaba and the others."
Shoko Makinohara obediently nodded, took out a walkie-talkie from her pocket, and transmitted her location and the situation of encountering the Ushikubi-no-Onna through the dedicated channel.
Meanwhile, Yui Yuigahama, who was usually gentle by nature, now wore an expressionless face with slightly narrowed eyes, staring directly at the Ushikubi-no-Onna's terrifying visage without the slightest trace of fear in her gaze.
"Oh? You seem to hate me quite a bit."
The Ushikubi-no-Onna sneered twice before slowly speaking.
"Could it be that unfortunate fellow we sent to the Reverse World was your lover or something? How pitiful and tragic to lose your lover at such a young age."
"Give him back."
"Huh?"
As soon as this single word left the Ushikubi-no-Onna's mouth, she saw Yui Yuigahama instantly appear before her, with a nearly two-meter tall monster materialising behind the girl - its upper body that of a beautiful woman while its lower half resembled a serpent.
Yui looked at the Ushikubi-no-Onna, her eyes revealing unconcealed, intense killing intent that even made the Ushikubi-no-Onna feel a wave of fear at this moment.
"Give him back to me!!!"