On a late autumn night, the lights in the hospital corridor were as dim as beans.
The night shift nurse was slumped over her desk in a deep sleep, her breathing unnaturally steady—this was the effect of the Sleep Incantation from the dark bible.
Kanjuro was like a phantom in the dark night, silently pushing open the door to the ward.
Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the blinds, casting mottled shadows on his handsome face.
Yukinoshita Yukino woke up with a start on the hospital bed.
When she saw the face of the visitor clearly, her pupils suddenly contracted, and her slender fingers tightly gripped the bedsheet, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"You... why are you still coming?" Her voice carried an uncontrollable tremble, and the sutured wound on her abdomen seemed to throb with pain again.
Kanjuro walked closer slowly, the "Eye of Truth" swirling with dark light over her.
He could clearly see the fear and desire intertwined in her soul; it was a pathological attachment to his body, an eternal brand left after being pierced by the "spear of longinus."
"I came to tell you one thing."
He reached out and tore open her hospital gown; the sound of the fabric ripping was exceptionally piercing in the silent ward.
"Let go of me!" Yukinoshita Yukino struggled, but she went weak all over the moment Kanjuro touched her.
That familiar feeling came again, like the craving for drugs during withdrawal, making her involuntarily sink into it amidst her hatred.
Since obtaining the talent of the "spear of longinus," Kanjuro had become completely reckless.
This ability caused every woman who joined with him to develop a deep physiological dependence, like an instinct carved into their very marrow.
The long night played out a twisted entanglement on the hospital bed.
Yukinoshita Yukino's tears soaked the pillow, her consciousness repeatedly tearing between sinking and a sense of guilt.
"Kanjuro... please stop..." Her voice was already hoarse, and her eyes were as hollow as a doll's, "What else do you want?"
Kanjuro stopped his movements, a wicked smile appearing on his handsome face: "You shouldn't have let your brother provoke me. Now, I need you to do something for me."
He whispered in her ear, but his warm breath made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
"No! I will never do that!" Yukinoshita Yukino shook her head in terror, "You are simply a madman!"
"Don't you crave it?" Kanjuro's laughter echoed in the ward.
Yukinoshita Yukino discovered in despair that her body was betraying her will.
That craving deep in her marrow made her feel so ashamed she had nowhere to hide, yet she was unable to resist.
Kanjuro stood up and walked to the window, the moonlight draping him in a layer of silver. "The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming; it is a day for reunions in the China," he said softly. "I hope your Yukinoshita Family can... truly have a reunion."
He took an exquisite handgun from his trench coat's inner pocket and blew on it lightly: "You can choose to do it yourself, or... I will."
Yukinoshita Yukino curled up on the hospital bed, tears soaking her cheeks. After a long time, she tremblingly reached out her hand and hugged Kanjuro's waist.
"I... I understand."
In this moment, Kanjuro clearly saw the last light in her soul completely go out.
The poison of desire had already gone deep into her marrow, making her willing to betray everything for a moment's satisfaction.
How ridiculous. Kanjuro looked at the bright moonlight outside the window, a hint of mockery rising in his heart.
When faced with desire, women are often even more pathetic than men.
Three days later, Yukinoshita Yukino was discharged from the hospital.
In the police station, Yukinoshita Kiyomasa looked at his sister with concern: "If this matter really is related to Kanjuro, I will never let him go. Even if the law cannot punish him, I will finish him myself."
"Brother," Yukinoshita Yukino sat in her wheelchair, smiling gently, "can you accompany me to the riverside to watch the sunset?"
"Of course."
In the distance, Kanjuro watched this scene through the crystal ball of the dark bible, a cold smile curling on his lips.
He put on his black trench coat, donned his sunglasses, and set out silently like a hunter waiting for his prey.
The setting sun dyed the Tamagawa River a golden yellow.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat in her wheelchair, the river breeze gently blowing her long hair.
Yukinoshita Kiyomasa pushed the wheelchair, the siblings' shadows stretching long under the sunset.
"Although the family wants me to inherit the business, I think you are more suitable than me," Yukinoshita Kiyomasa said mildly. "I am destined to be a policeman for the rest of my life."
Yukinoshita Yukino did not answer.
Her gaze crossed the shimmering river surface and fell on that familiar figure in the distance.
Kanjuro stood on the opposite bank, his black trench coat flapping in the wind. His gaze from behind the sunglasses pierced the distance like a physical substance, falling on her.
In that moment, scenes of their entanglement from countless nights flashed through her mind.
That soul-consuming experience was something she found hard to forget even in her most sober moments.
"Seiga? You don't look too well." Yukinoshita Kiyomasa keenly noticed his sister's abnormality.
In this very instant, Yukinoshita Yukino pulled a handgun from her sleeve, her movement faster than could be imagined.
Bang!
The gunshot startled the water birds by the riverbank.
Yukinoshita Kiyomasa dodged to the side with the reaction of a well-trained policeman, while simultaneously quickly pinning his sister's gun-holding hand.
"Where did you get a gun?" He looked at his sister who had fallen to the ground in shock, his voice full of disbelief.
Yukinoshita Yukino slumped on the grass, her tears falling like broken pearls: "Kanjuro... I've already done as you said... what more do you want from me..."
Her crying was heart-wrenching.
"Don't act like you're so innocent; you're just a slut who betrayed her own family for desire, even making a move against her own kin. Tell me, are you already beyond saving?" Kanjuro's chilly voice rang out.
Yukinoshita Yukino felt as if she had fallen into ten thousand feet of ice.
She hated Kanjuro.
But she also couldn't refute him.
Kanjuro continued to walk over, still smiling, "So, Seiga, the one who is wrong isn't me, but you yourself. Why couldn't you control the desire in your heart?"
Yukinoshita Kiyomasa snapped his head up, only to see Kanjuro slowly walking over from the opposite bank.
The hem of his trench coat fluttered in the autumn wind. He casually took off his sunglasses, revealing a handsome face that was nearly demonic.
Yukinoshita Yukino's body was shivering, "I am a failure," she murmured to herself; she had turned dark.
Kanjuro's voice carried a chilling laugh, "Seiga, you can't even kill a person properly. If I want you to kill your whole family later, wouldn't that make it even more difficult for you?"
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