ushernet Chapter 293 Meeting
Chapter 293 Meeting
A long-awaited meeting.
This was the initial idea that came to mind.
That's not actually accurate.
Because the time wasn't really long—not long for humans, and even more so for ghosts, a brief moment that could be easily ignored within a long span of time—not enough for anything to change. The river's flow remained the same, the moon's angle remained the same, and the mountains and rivers were still the outlines of their memories.
Therefore, it's inaccurate; it hasn't been that long.
It's not that it's unbearable.
Even before the moment of meeting arrived, time was actually ignored, as were memories and thoughts. Before actually seeing that face and feeling that aura, all memories seemed to be locked in a sealed box.
But when the heart senses before the eyes, when breathing changes faster than the heartbeat, when silence descends once more, thoughts become withered vines that grow wildly, tightly entwining the heart and spreading throughout the body along the blood vessels.
Rinko stood there, completely frozen in place.
The footsteps were clear, one after another. In such a quiet night, any sound would be amplified infinitely, especially since the other party had no intention of hiding. The uninvited guest seemed to be the true owner of this place at that moment.
Bathed in moonlight, I shattered the tranquility.
They're preparing to destroy everything here.
"Rinko. Did you have fun?"
A sudden sentence, without any preamble or greeting, bypassed the man lying on the floor and turned to the boy sitting to the side.
Muzan wore his usual faint smile, which Rin had seen before. It wasn't genuine happiness; there was no joy in it. It was just a habitual pretense, more ironic than a blank, indifferent expression.
He could hear the underlying, deliberate flippancy and irony in her words, making the actual utterance almost an undisguised mockery.
"Yes. I'm happy."
Rinko nodded gently, her eyes lowering, no longer looking at the elder's face, but at the floor, displaying a respectful and obedient attitude, the proper attitude one should have towards an elder.
Words spoken enter the mouth and reach the ears.
The unspoken words fell to the ground, lighter and more silent than snow.
"What a disappointment, Ubuyashiki. The man I've been searching for for so long is lying here so ugly, his days are numbered. So ugly, so pathetic, so foolish to have entrusted his trust to someone, and not even realizing his mistake until this very second."
Is this the end of the greeting? Is he no longer needed to participate in the subsequent conversation? Can he go about his own business now?
Rinko pondered, taking a moment to think before Ubuyashiki could answer.
As for Muzan's words, his comments and ridicule of Ubuyashiki, and his silent revelation of him, he didn't care or care.
When Ubuyashiki responded, Rinko stopped talking. Children shouldn't interrupt adults, and at least when Muzan was speaking, Rinko shouldn't participate or interrupt.
The boy just sat there, his hands frozen for a moment, until he realized that the focus of the conversation had shifted and that Muzan was no longer talking to him, but to Ubuyashiki. Only then did he find his breathing rhythm again from his stiffness.
What Ubuyashiki and Muzan talk about is not something Rinko is interested in. He has been used to this for a long time. No matter who Muzan is with or what he says, it has nothing to do with him. He is the one who will be arranged differently, the one who will be placed last, outside the plan, outside the arrangement, but by Muzan's side.
The tiny bottle fell into the tiny bag, next to the butterfly. The bag wasn't big; the opening was tied up, and the remaining part of the rope was just enough for Rinko to tie the tiny bag to his own wrist.
This seems to be a suitable position. It won't cause any obstruction or collision. As long as he's a little careful, he can protect it in his hand when needed, and when he's busy, it will only hang on his wrist instead of falling off. It's definitely safer than hanging it on his belt.
The weight on my wrist wasn't noticeable, and the feeling of constraint wasn't clear, but this feeling was almost a familiar yet strangely familiar one.
Actually, hanging things on your wrist isn't the safest option. Bottles are fragile and can break if they come into contact with anything. But for some reason, he felt that hanging them here was fine, as if the bottles wouldn't break as long as they were hanging here.
A strange sense of security that seemed to come out of nowhere.
He knew this feeling, and had even begun to become familiar with it.
Again.
That familiar feeling, that desire to search, but having to give up because the basket was already empty, that feeling of simply accepting reality.
The men's conversation continued, and Rinko occasionally overheard some words. It wasn't that he didn't listen at all, but at times like this, he couldn't understand them very well. In the past, he couldn't understand Muzan's arrangements, nor did he understand the more important plans behind those arrangements, those schemes, those arrangements, and those words disguised as calm but carrying a threat.
The reason I can't understand it now is mostly because what Ubuyashiki says is always hard to comprehend, from beginning to end.
They mentioned gods, they mentioned dreams, and each one of them only left Rinko feeling confused, utterly confused.
gods.
Curse.
Every word sounds so pathetically naive.
There are no gods in this world, nor are there any curses or divine punishments. Humans worship evil spirits as gods and express their wishes, but they never think that these wishes will never be fulfilled.
Humans are such foolish creatures.
They pursued a vague and ethereal existence, believing that such an existence would guide and help them, and that prayer and offerings could change everything.
But such an idea is so foolish, so naive.
Because gods do not exist.
Nothing will ever change.
Even if there really are beings called gods.
Then he would only be a blind, deaf, and incompetent being.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
The snow fell in silence. In a world where only the sound of breathing was clear, the silence became even more profound after the snow fell. The song that broke the silence became almost eerie. It was a girl's song, sung by the two daughters of Ubuyashiki. Rinko still remembered them. The white-haired girl with unique eyes brought him his medicine.
The girls' songs continued, and so did the conversation.
Rinko couldn't understand most of what they mentioned afterward.
But it wasn't all without gains.
such as.
He gleaned a truth from the conversation.
Why do humans hunt ghosts?
"Whoever dares to take the life of my beloved... I will swear an oath to them..."
That's the reason.
Why do humans kill ghosts when they don't eat them?
Because a ghost killed someone.
Because ghosts eat people and kill people, humans kill ghosts.
Such a simple principle.
It's so simple.
The moment Rinko realized it, she almost fell silent.
Realization dawned on him.
In reality, humans don't understand cats or dogs. They don't understand why cats and dogs fight so desperately. It's just that cats don't kill people and dogs don't eat people, so humans don't care, they don't care, they won't seek revenge, they won't kill cats, and they won't kill dogs.
The ghosts posed a threat to them, so they hunted them down, picked up weapons, raised blades, and dealt with the danger.
Without considering the reasons, without thinking further, they simply kill.
Such a simple idea.
Humans are truly strange creatures.
It's always so complicated.
Yet it is so pure.
Simple to the point of being reckless.