Gan Tian Village.
This was a small village of over thirty people, located in remote mountains, so poor that even bandits didn't bother to come.
However, thanks to these factors, this remote small village had always been peaceful.
But, not long ago…an anomaly occurred.
"…Kikyo-sama, that demon is too wicked!"
An old man, leaning on a walking stick, his skin covered in wrinkles, his cloudy eyes filled with rage, constantly tapped the ground with his stick.
"Stealing our village's grain was bad enough, but he also raped a woman from our village, causing her to become pregnant!"
Saying this, he turned to look at the villagers behind him, then his gaze fell upon a village girl.
The village girl…had a noticeably bulging abdomen.
"…"
Kikyo followed the old man's gaze, briefly glanced at the village girl, then lowered her eyelids slightly and asked,
"Has anyone seen the demon's true form?"
"No, none of us have seen the demon's true form." The old man shook his head with a mix of regret and relief, "We only discovered traces of the demon's activities, but we have never seen its true form."
"…I understand." A gentle, shallow smile appeared on Kikyo's beautiful face, "I will find a way to exorcise the troublesome demon."
With that, she gave Baal a look of Hint beside her, then gracefully walked into the village.
Seeing this, Baal also tacitly followed behind Kikyo.
The villagers scattered, making way for Kikyo and Baal to enter the village and investigate the situation.
In this era of war and rampant demons, people held Miko, who possessed the power to exorcise demons, in high regard.
Even if Kikyo had a purple-haired beautiful girl by her side who didn't look human, no one would question it.
Moreover, Kikyo was highly trusted in this area.
Even if Kikyo brought a strange existence, people would probably consider it something similar to a Shikigami.
To give an example, it's like the compassionate Guanyin descending, accompanied by a child with horns on its head who can breathe fire, and people wouldn't feel afraid.
After all, how could a child by the side of the compassionate Guanyin be evil?
Even if it was evil before…it would have been enlightened by Guanyin.
*
*
Inside the village.
"Do demons also…take an interest in human women?" Baal curiously observed the small village, while also asking Kikyo, "Don't humans and demons have racial segregation?"
"Actually, most demons' standards of beauty are quite similar to humans."
Kikyo walked slowly, patiently explaining to Baal.
"Humans and demons can give birth to mixed-blood offspring, just like the legendary Abe no Seimei, who was a hybrid of human and fox demon."
"That's truly a tragedy then." Baal shook her head, her voice a little regretful, "The lifespans of humans and demons differ too much."
At this point, she suddenly realized something.
"Kikyo, if your lifespan is as short as a human's, then when you die…who will protect me?!"
Although she would also diligently train to become stronger, under normal circumstances, it takes an extremely long time for a demon to accumulate power.
That is to say, Kikyo might die of old age before her strength becomes significant, after all, the average lifespan in this era was only thirty or forty years.
It's even possible…that they might die before turning thirty.
"There's nothing that can be done about it." Kikyo glanced at Baal with her beautiful eyes, answering calmly, "A human's lifespan is too short for a demon."
"Is there no way to extend one's lifespan?" Baal frowned slightly, asking seriously, "For example, cultivating to become an immortal, or eating an elixir that extends life?"
"I don't have a method to cultivate to immortality." Kikyo shook her head gently, answering calmly, "As for an elixir of immortality, that's even more precious than a method to become an immortal. Perhaps one would have to go to…Ming Kingdom to have a hope of finding it."
The cultivation methods passed down in Japan did not have a systematic way to extend lifespan. Although she knew many methods for extending life,
those were closer to unorthodox paths.
For example, solidifying one's soul in the body after death, waiting for the corpse to transform into a Corpse Demon, or using the power of demons to become a half-demon. There were actually quite a few methods, but none of them were righteous paths.
Moreover, she didn't want to…stop being human.
"…"
Listening to Kikyo's calm tone, Baal sensed that perhaps Kikyo didn't have much desire for immortality.
"I don't want you to die, that way I would…be lonely."
She said this to Kikyo.
She knew very few people in this world. Even if she had many friends in the future, she still didn't want the people around her to pass away.
If given the chance, she hoped Kikyo would always be by her side.
"…"
Kikyo was silent for a moment, then her beautiful eyes looked at Baal beside her, reflecting Baal's sincere expression.
"There's still a lot of time…we can consider it slowly."
After speaking, she shifted her gaze to a wooden house not far away.
"The demon is hidden inside. Baal, be careful and don't wander around."
"…Mm."
Without unnecessary words, Baal nodded seriously. Although her current strength was still relatively weak, she was determined not to be a burden.
At critical moments, she had to be serious.
Seeing this, Kikyo walked slowly to the wooden house. Immediately after, a woman's shrill scream came from inside the house.
Then.
[Killed Spider Demon, obtained reward…ten points.]
Baal heard the system's prompt and her delicate face showed a bewildered expression. She definitely hadn't killed the Spider Demon.
However, without a doubt…she received system reward points.
And the source of these reward points, as expected, should be from leeching off the experience points Kikyo gained from killing the demon.
Although, she also didn't know how the system determined it.
But, what was certain was…it seemed she could cling to the Big Daddy, and level up as a sidekick.
Although the reward points obtained weren't many, accumulated…over time, the gains would be sufficiently abundant.
Wait, speaking of which, if Kikyo beat a powerful demon half to death, and then she went to kill it…would the gains be even richer?
She felt…a little tempted.
"…"
Kikyo walked out at this moment, looking at Baal a little strangely, wondering why Baal was so excited.
However, she didn't intend to ask.
"…Is this how you exorcise demons, Kikyo?"
Baal walked to Kikyo's side, looking at the arrow Kikyo held in her slender hand, with a black spider the size of a fist impaled on the arrowhead.
That should be…the demon Kikyo had exorcised.
"Mm, it's just an ordinary Spider Demon." Kikyo slightly lifted the arrow, habitually explaining to Baal, "It's a demon formed from the resentment of a deceased woman. If she were allowed to continue collecting 'fear' for a while, she would likely start harming people."
"So it's a female demon then?" Baal blinked, asking with a strange expression, "Then how did she get someone pregnant?"
"Human hearts…are also demons." Kikyo lowered her eyelids slightly, giving a somewhat vague answer, "However, once the demon is exorcised, the demon hidden in the human heart will also be exorcised."
"…Is that so,"
Baal nodded slightly, as if she understood something.
Subsequently, the two walked together towards the village entrance, announcing to the villagers that the demon had been exorcised.