The truth is everywhere within range!

"At the beginning, I was just a seed."

"I don't know where the birds brought it to the ground, take root, and sprout."

"At that time, there were still dignitaries living in the castle next door. Warriors came and went on the street, saying things I didn't understand."

"Later, fewer and fewer people were riding horses, and more and more people were sitting in steel-made cars."

"For monsters like me who had not yet truly awakened their spiritual consciousness at that time, the passage of time is difficult to perceive. Only by looking at humans can we recall time."

"At this moment, I met that gentleman."

"He looks different from everyone else, like a guest from an alien world."

"At that time, Songjiang City had been occupied by another group of people, and the old officials and nobles in the past were missing. Outside Songjiang City, all kinds of people came and went, but no one would stop and look up at my flowers."

"Only he will stop when he passes by occasionally, look up at my branches, and say words I don't understand."

"Sometimes, I will see him being with some monsters and spirits."

"But I have never seen him walk with anyone except his wife."

"Later, I realized that he was a spiritual master, and the name of Kazuyaku is Koizumi Yakumo."

"Every spring, Mr. Koizumi will come here to enjoy the flowers. Even if he is not in this city for a while, I can still see him slowly walking, stopping and looking in my direction on a warm sunny day."

"Until one year, the winter was very long, Mr. Koizumi returned to the city in autumn and stayed until early spring."

"I was about to truly transform into a monster at that time. On an early spring afternoon, Mr. Koizumi suddenly came to this alley. He didn't just watch it as usual."

"Mr. Koizumi came to me, put his hand gently on the trunk, and said."

"'I have been with me for so long, and you should have your own life. What a pity. I will go to Tokyo tomorrow and I can't see you blooming. It's said that when the cherry blossom demon truly awakens, the blooming flowers are the most beautiful. Unfortunately, I can't witness them with my own eyes."

"'But it doesn't matter. I will draw a painting and record the blooming look I remember, just treat it as a memory of this period of time."

"'After saying so much, you may not understand. Anyway, thank you for your company during this time."

"He said so, and then left."

"At that time, what I thought was to wait until he comes back and truly bloom."

"I didn't expect that year after year, until I had the power to change into a human form, I never saw Mr. Koizumi again. Even his residence had changed everything."

"Now it seems that he was just talking casually at that time. After all, I am just a little monster with spiritual consciousness in ambiguous state, but he is a famous spiritual eliminator for life."

The old lady finished speaking and sighed.

Qiao Qiao's eyes crossed the old lady's shoulders and looked behind her.

That withered cherry blossom tree.

There is no green leaf on the branches, which looks out of place with the surrounding trees.

In front of the tree, a sign was hung with the statement about the tree.

The cherry tree, which is more than a hundred years old, has never bloomed in the past 100 years and is now on the verge of death. Although botanical scholars have tried various efforts, they still cannot delay the process of their death.

“This is so unfortunate.”

Sayazi said.

Tears flowed down Qiao Qiao's eyes.

His cell phone rang at this time, and the Kagura ringtone was quiet and far-reaching.

Qiao Qiao answered the phone while sucking his nose with a tissue.

"Hey, President Ii? Well? It's okay, I didn't cry, there's no problem, huh? Is there any result? OK."

While crying, he put down his cell phone and turned on le.

There are several pictures sent by Masaji Ii.

: These are the paintings related to Koizumi Yabuki that have been recorded in Tokaido and Matsushima. I have sent them all to you.

Qiao Qiao looked at it and found that there were not many, only six.

The first two are landscape paintings decorated by Koizumi Yabu.

From the fourth picture, Qiao Qiao felt a little surprised.

Because the fourth one is an oil painting.

Yes, when Koizumi Yabumi lived in Europe when she was young, she naturally learned the Eastern painting techniques, but oil painting.

After seeing the sixth picture, Qiao Qiao's hand stopped.

The theme of the sixth painting is cherry blossoms.

In the warm spring, the cherry blossoms bloom.

Although it is the thick and rich color of oil paintings, it presents a fresh and elegant tone under the painter's pen.

It can be seen that the painter devotes himself to the painting.

However, this painting has not been finished.

Except for the cherry blossoms, no coloring was completed in other places.

Even the cherry blossoms have not been completely painted, and they always give people a feeling of being in bud.

: This painting was found in the dormitory of Yakumo Koizumi. He died of a heart attack in the autumn of the year when he came to Matsushiro University. This painting should be regarded as his last work. It has been preserved by the school and hung in Yakumo Koizumi at the end of the Sakura Road.

Facing Qiao Qiao's inquiry, Masaji Ii replied.

Qiao Qiao looked at the painting again.

Zoom in, and you can see an English comment in a corner.

Translated, the general meaning is to commemorate the days under the cherry blossom trees and the birth of a friend.

Perhaps, Koizumi Yakumo did think about completing the painting at that time. One day, when he returned here, he would see him again with the Sakura Demon who already had complete spiritual consciousness.

However, things in the world are impermanent, diseases took away his life, and no one knew about the agreement. To this day, if it weren't for Qiao Qiao and Xiao Yezi's help, perhaps when the cherry blossom tree completely died, no one would remember that time again.

Qiao Qiao handed the phone to the old lady.

The moment I saw that painting.

Sayako seemed to see a woman in a sakura kimono smiling at herself.

"Mr. Koizumi, he really kept his promise."

The woman smiled.

"well?"

Xiao Yezi saw that a petal fell on his shoulder.

One piece, two pieces, countless pink petals are falling slowly.

I looked up and saw that the ancient tree that had already withered actually bloomed in this autumn.

When the cherry blossom demon truly awakens, the blooming flowers are the most beautiful.

Xiaoyezi remembered what she had just heard.

“So beautiful”

Passersby who happened to pass by could not help but stop.

"But it's autumn now, why do cherry blossoms bloom?"

There are more and more people, and this secluded alley has never had so many visitors.

Everyone stopped and looked up to admire the cherry blossoms blooming in late autumn.

Among the crowd, Qiao Qiao held Xiao Yezi's hand and said softly.

"In Koizumi Yakumo's "Strange Talk", there is an article called "Six Sakura".

"In the Edo period, a samurai grew a cherry tree in her home. Every spring, the cherry blossoms bloom, and the samurai and friends gathered under the cherry blossom trees to gather."

"The years pass, the warrior gradually grows old, and his family and friends leave him one by one. When he grows old, he is alone, but he is still enjoying the cherry blossoms in spring. It seems that this cherry blossom tree has become his only friend."

"But one day, the cherry blossom tree withered and died. The warrior was very sad and felt that life had lost its meaning and fell ill in bed."

"In the winter of the next year, on January 16th, the warrior felt that his life was over. He came to the withered cherry blossom tree and said that he was about to die. He begged the gods to let him take a look at the blooming appearance of the cherry blossom tree before he died."

"So, the cherry blossom tree bloomed beautiful flowers in the heavy snow in winter, and after seeing this flower, the warrior passed away with a smile under the tree."

"Since then, this sixteen cherry blossoms have only bloomed on the snowy January 16th."

Qiao Qiao saw what happened later in the newspaper.

A cherry blossom tree that has not bloomed for a century suddenly bloomed outside the Koizumi Yabu Memorial Hall.

In just one night, all the cherry blossoms on the street were in full bloom.

But the next day, when people went here again, they found that the cherry tree had died.

In the distant Tokyo, the original unfinished cherry blossom paintings hanging on the wall of Koizumi Yabuki Research Office in Mine Castle University, seemed to have been completed overnight by someone.

The cherry blossoms in the painting bloom with all their might in the spring, showing a moving vitality, just like they are truly alive.
Chapter completed!