Chapter 142: Kagura Trapped

"What are you staring at? Hurry up and go inside to wake that girl up." Hu Guozheng felt a bit unbalanced seeing Du Bin acting so lazy and spoiled; he felt he had to give this fellow something to do.

Du Bin mumbled a response and opened the bedroom door. Just as he pushed it open, a pillow flew accurately toward his face, striking him squarely. He saw Tong Xiaoguo storming out of the room, glaring daggers at him as she passed by. The latter was left completely dumbfounded—what on earth was going on?

"Did you take advantage of me by pretending to help me change my clothes while I was unconscious?"

Du Bin was clueless about her accusation: "How did I take advantage of you? Your clothes were..."

"Those were..." Seeing that Sha Sha was about to admit she had changed them, Hu Guozheng immediately shot her a meaningful look. He was inwardly delighted; naturally, he wouldn't let slip such a wonderful opportunity to mess with Du Bin. He cleverly interrupted Du Bin, coughing awkwardly before saying, "Ahem, well, actually, I wouldn't know if old Du took advantage of you or not, but he definitely was the one who changed your clothes."

"You dead fatty..." Du Bin almost coughed up blood. Of course, Hu Guozheng wasn't about to give him a chance to clear his name. "What do you mean 'what'? Old Du, I never took you for that kind of man—dare to do it, have the guts to admit it."

"I..."

"What 'I'? Despicable." Just as Du Bin was about to explain, *slap*, a crisp sound echoed as a heavy slap landed. Tong Xiaoguo gave a cold huff and angrily sat down at the dining table, ignoring him completely and denying him any chance to explain. What kind of nonsense was this? Something he had never done was turned into absolute fact by that dead fatty in just a few sentences. Seeing the smug, triumphant look on the couple sitting across from him, Du Bin felt utterly furious.

"I didn't do it! What do you want me to do so you'll believe me?"

"Explanation is just cover-up, and cover-up means you're good for nothing," Hu Guozheng suddenly chimed in with another infuriating remark.

Tong Xiaoguo, who had been half-doubtful, now genuinely believed it. "I wouldn't believe you no matter what. Don't tell me they're all framing you! Who on earth would believe that?"

"Professor, you know the truth best. Can you explain for me?" Knowing that his own explanations were not only useless but would merely invite Hu Guozheng to add fuel to the fire, Du Bin could only pin his hopes on Professor Huang Shaojun.

Feeling the gaze of all three parties upon him, Huang Shaojun wore an awkward expression. "Well, as for the romantic matters of you youngsters, I am an old man and shouldn't say too much. After all, young people are full of vigor, and it's inevitable to make mistakes—that is quite understandable."

*Puff!* This time, Du Bin really wanted to smash his head against a wall. This explanation implicitly sealed his guilt whether he was truly guilty or not. Since it was inconvenient to use her Violet Flame in front of an ordinary person like Tong Xiaoguo, she simply picked up a cup, drank a sip of milk, and washed down her bread.

This breakfast was eaten with an immense sense of grievance. What on earth was going through Hu Guozheng's mind? He truly was someone who only wished for chaos in the world.

Meanwhile, Ye Lan had also arrived in Tokyo, East Island. Upon reaching the Nakajima residence, she discovered that the direct bloodline of the Nakajima family had been overthrown, and the main household had been usurped. The new head of the family was none other than Nakajima Laoer's half-brother, Nakajima Heijiro.

As a woman and the eldest daughter, Laoer ordinarily possessed no right of inheritance to the Holy Light Jade, which was a sacred power passed down exclusively through generations.

Because Heijiro was cruel by nature, deeply cunning, and obsessed with power, Nakajima Shiki feared he would stray onto a destructive path and cause irreparable disaster. Thus, Shiki had bypassed him and chosen Laoer—a genius maiden renowned throughout the nation—as the new successor. Having lost his right to inherit the Holy Light Jade, Heijiro harbored deep resentment and had secretly plotted multiple times to assassinate Laoer as she traveled to participate in the Death Tournament.

The plan had been flawless, but unfortunately, an unexpected twist occurred when Ye Tang was hunted down by the Esper Alliance. To avoid exposing themselves, they had no choice but to halt the operation. Now, seeing Laoer go missing and the family head falling deathly ill, Heijiro sought to forestall any prolonged complications. Collaborating with three of the Four Great Families and the maternal relatives of his mother's lineage, he seized the opportunity of a vacant successor position to launch a dual-pronged rebellion, usurping power within the Nakajima family.

Upon receiving the news of her father's critical illness in Zhuhai, Kagura returned to East Island. Realizing a rebellion was underway, she was ambushed by clansmen during the funeral and sustained severe injuries. Protected by her loyal retainers, she broke through the encirclement and went into hiding somewhere in Tokyo. Having acquired this intelligence from underworld organizations, Ye Lan understood that Heijiro was so desperately hunting Kagura down because of the Holy Light Jade she possessed; with the Jade in his possession, he would become the undisputed, legitimate master of the Nakajima family.

Up on a shrine-covered mountain, Kagura sat alone in a room on the tatami mats in the traditional kneeling posture, gazing out the window. Her lips were painted with bright red lipstick, and she wore a vibrant red kimono adorned with numerous cherry blossom patterns. Her small hands gently gripped a small round fan, her hair neatly bound—the very picture of a demure and refined young lady.

Sensing that Laoer inside her mind was about to break free, she said helplessly, "What is it? You want to come out? Let me tell you, this isn't just your affair alone—it's both of our affairs. Whether you come out or not changes nothing."

"Father was in perfect health; how could he suddenly fall gravely ill? I don't believe it for a second. There must be something fishy going on," Laoer said, resting her chin in her hand with a suspicious expression as the two conversed within the depths of their shared consciousness.

"How would I know? This Heijiro is truly ruthless; to think he actually managed to secure the support of the other three families. If it weren't for my formidable strength, we would have been killed long ago. I'm severely injured now, otherwise you wouldn't have woken up to fight me for control of the body."

As they spoke, Laoer wore a look of intense dissatisfaction. "During the short time I was asleep, I really have to hand it to you—you actually fell in love with that boy. I do not approve."

"You don't approve? That's true, after all, since we share the same body, it's quite normal for us to fall in love with different boys. How about this, I'll take a loss and share him with you." Kagura used her small fan to conceal the lower half of her face, her laughter laced with teasing.

Llaoer was so angry she felt like committing murder. Yet, since control of the body currently lay in another's hands, she could only curse her own bad luck for losing her first kiss. Inside their shared consciousness, she sprawled facedown on the ground, pounding the floor repeatedly to vent her inner frustration: "I won't have any of it! You have no idea how clingy you were acting when you two were together—coaxing him and calling him 'Big Brother' this and 'Big Brother' that the whole day long. It gave me goosebumps! Especially when you kissed him—every time I think of it, I feel like vomiting. Oh, my first kiss, just like that..."

"Heeheehee, gone is gone. If you can't even handle this much, what would you do if I were to *hehehe* with him?" Kagura chuckled mischievously. Hearing her malicious intent, Laoer was so frightened her entire face turned pale green. "You dare! I'd rather commit suicide than let you ruin my purity like that."

Kagura spread her hands and shrugged, wearing an innocent expression. Faced with her utterly harmless look, Laoer was filled with fury. "What is there that I wouldn't dare? Besides, right now we're taking refuge in the household of our old retainer, the Saitou family. That family doesn't harbor any good intentions either; they're actually trying to take advantage of our Nakajima family's internal strife to force me to marry their son so they can increase their political backing. If I refuse, they'll betray our hiding place. When you strip it all away, they're after the Holy Light Jade too! As long as offspring are born, the descendants of both sides will inherit the bloodline of the Holy Light Jade, allowing the Saitou family to legitimately acquire it. They sure know how to calculate a profitable scheme."

"That's precisely why the Holy Light Jade has always been passed down through daughters rather than sons. Father was worried about Heijiro, which was why he was forced to entrust the Holy Light Jade to me. Now that we've been backstabbed by the Saitou family and our supernatural powers are suppressed, what are we supposed to do now?" Composing herself, Laoer rested her cheeks in her hands with a sorrowful expression.

"What do you mean, what do we do? We just marry the same husband, of course," Kagura covered her mouth and giggled softly.

"Could you please stop joking around?" Laoer rolled her eyes at her. Given the current dire situation, she actually had the mood to crack jokes: "I honestly can't understand how the Holy Light Jade managed to produce a negative personality like you."

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Do you have any way to contact your two masters?"

"No. Master Akai of the Hozoin-ryu is all the way in Kyoto—far too far away. As for the Yagyu family of the Shinkage-ryu, they are indeed in Tokyo, but I doubt they would offend the current Nakajima family just for someone like me who has neither power nor influence."

"How do you figure?" Kagura asked doubtfully.

"They have coveted the Holy Light Jade for centuries. Seeing me fall into distress, they're naturally clapping their hands in joy. They are the ones I worry about most right now."