The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, the three of them set out again.
“He really turned back into a yōkai!
Amazing!” Kaede, sitting in Kikyo’s arms, poked her little head out and stared at Kamamara, who had returned to his silver hair and golden eyes.
Her eyes were full of shock.
“Well?
Jealous, little brat?” Kamamara raised his brows at her proudly, his tone teasing.
“Bleh!” Remembering how he had tricked her last night, Kaede made a face at him and quickly shrank back into Kikyo’s arms, deliberately turning her head away and refusing to look at him.
After traveling together for a day, the unfamiliar distance between the three of them had gradually faded.
Kikyo looked at Kamamara, who had returned to his original appearance, with a trace of curiosity in her eyes.
“So you truly regain your demonic power at sunrise.
Seeing the change with my own eyes is still rather surprising.” Perhaps worried that Kamamara might be sensitive about his half-demon identity, she immediately added, “But compared to your appearance at night, only your hair and eye color have changed noticeably.
You don’t have many yōkai traits.
“Except for the demonic power inside you, you look more like a human.” “Probably because the yōkai blood in me is too weak, while my human blood is too strong.
The two sides suppress each other, which is why my yōkai features aren’t obvious and why I lose my demonic power so often.” Kamamara explained calmly.
Ever since transmigrating, he had been thinking about why he turned human so frequently.
Unlike Inuyasha, who lost his demonic power only on the night of the new moon, Kamamara became human every night.
The explanation he currently found most convincing was that his yōkai blood did not come from some great demon, so that side of his bloodline was not especially strong.
Meanwhile, his mother had been a priestess powerful enough to fight yōkai, so her bloodline was far stronger than that of an ordinary human.
The two sides were evenly matched and restrained each other, ultimately creating his state of being a yōkai by day and a human by night.
In contrast, Inuyasha’s father was the Great Dog Demon, a legendary daiyōkai who stood at the peak of strength, while his mother had been a human princess with no spiritual power.
His human blood was too weak and was completely suppressed by his yōkai blood.
Only on the night of the new moon would his demonic blood fall silent.
In fact, because the yōkai blood inside Inuyasha was too powerful, he needed Tessaiga to suppress it and prevent its wild nature from devouring his reason.
After listening, Kikyo turned to look at him and asked tentatively, “May I ask you something?” “What do you want to ask?” Kamamara looked curious.
Kikyo hesitated for a moment before finally asking, “Was your father human, or was your mother human?” “What you really want to ask is where the spiritual power in my body comes from, right?” Hearing Kikyo’s question, Kamamara immediately understood what she was thinking.
He smiled and answered frankly, his expression calm.
“My mother was a shrine priestess.
My spiritual power comes from her priestess bloodline.” “…” Seeing that his expression was calm but clearly hid something more, Kikyo did not continue asking.
For a time, only the sound of hooves striking the road remained, and the atmosphere grew slightly heavy.
“Ah!
It’s so lively up ahead.
It looks like a town!” Just then, Kaede’s excited voice broke the silence.
Kamamara and Kikyo raised their heads at the same time.
At the end of the road, on the other side of the riverbank, many buildings stood in uneven rows.
Shops lined the streets, and plenty of vendors had set up stalls by the roadside, calling out to customers.
On the wooden bridge over the river, travelers carrying bundles came and went, entering and leaving the town.
It was a bustling scene.
“Let’s go in and look around.
We can buy some dry rations and feed for the horses while we’re there,” Kamamara suggested.
“Sis, let’s go take a look!” Kaede also looked up at Kikyo with anticipation in her eyes.
“All right.
Let’s go.
We are running low on food.” Seeing both of them looking at her, Kikyo nodded lightly in agreement.
After making their decision, the three urged their horses forward and soon arrived at the town entrance.
Kamamara and Kikyo dismounted, each leading a horse as they crossed the wooden bridge and stepped into the noisy streets.
The clamor of voices and vendors’ calls immediately washed over them.
“There are so many people here, Sister!” Kaede sat on horseback, excitedly looking around at the crowded streets.
“Yes.
This should be a waystation town established by the local lord.” Kikyo kept an eye on their surroundings as she explained.
“Although, I think we’re being stared at,” Kamamara said lightly, feeling the gazes coming from all around them.
“They’re staring at you,” Kikyo said helplessly, glancing at him.
“That’s right!
A suspicious person carrying a weird weapon!” Kaede looked at the enormous iron club on Kamamara’s shoulder and felt the surrounding eyes focus on them.
Somewhat embarrassed, she quickly agreed, clearly wanting her sister to keep a little distance from him for now.
“Nothing I can do about it.
I can’t just throw it away, can I?” Kamamara naturally knew the weapon on his shoulder was far too eye-catching, but his expression remained calm.
“Wouldn’t it attract even more attention if I let it float behind me?” Perhaps because they saw that Kamamara had no intention of hurting anyone, or perhaps because Kikyo, dressed in priestess robes, was beside him, the monks and wandering priests who occasionally passed by only cast strange looks at him.
None of them acted rashly.
Like that, the three of them endured the stares of passersby and bought the supplies they needed for the road, including food and horse feed, loading everything onto the horses.
Finally, they ate a simple meal at a roadside teahouse and prepared to leave.
Just as the three were about to exit the town, Kamamara suddenly paused.
He carefully sniffed the scent in the air, then turned toward a stall by the street.
Beside the stall sat a pale-faced middle-aged man.
In front of him were mountain goods such as gathered herbs, wild vegetables, and mushrooms.
Judging by the look of him, he was likely a mountain forager who often went into the hills to collect things.
But Kamamara’s gaze did not stay on those items.
Instead, it fell on a brightly colored plant.
The plant had several small flowers blooming on it, but what truly drew attention was that its stems, leaves, and even blossoms were all a clear, vivid red, as if carved from red crystal.
It was strikingly beautiful.
The mountain forager had carefully planted the strange plant in a clay pot and deliberately placed it at the center of his stall.
Clearly, he valued it greatly and hoped to sell it for a good price.
Kikyo noticed Kamamara’s reaction and stopped as well.
Following his gaze, her eyes were also drawn to the unusual plant.
She observed it carefully for a moment, then frowned slightly.
She quickly walked to the stall, crouched down, and carefully lifted the clay pot containing the strange plant.
Then she looked up at the stall owner and asked in a grave tone, “Where did you get this?”