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"But you are also human."
"So I am not a human being anymore. Are there any humans living in caves? I am a beast now." The old man was lying on the mat, and while speaking, he proudly crossed his legs and hummed a few lines of a song.
"But what about your granddaughter? Is Sayuri like this too?"
"Why, do you think Sayuri has a bad life? Her face and body are all dirty? But in my opinion, she is cleaner than anyone else. Okay, you are not welcome here. The TAC team is here to protect humans, and there are no humans here who need your protection."
"Can we take a look at that giant salamander?"
"No! There is only Shobei here, not the super beast you are looking for!"
"Okay, Beidou, let's go first." Captain Long said, "Go back first, and we'll talk about the rest later."
Beidou looked at the calm puddle of water. He couldn't tell how deep it was, let alone what was in the water.
He could only nod.
At this time, there was the sound of someone walking in the cave. The sound was not loud, but because it was amplified in the deep cave, it could be heard from a distance.
Captain Long originally thought that Konno and the others could not wait any longer outside the cave.
But not.
It was a girl wearing a miko costume, about 18 or 19 years old, Long, Beidou and the others did not recognize her.
But anyone who saw it would be amazed at its unusually beautiful appearance, as if it were out of this world.
But the person behind the witch was familiar.
"Lingya?"
"Oshima Miko, what are you doing?"
Captain Long uses the name Oshima Miko because Ling is also wearing a shrine maiden costume.
"This is Shimazu Saizu from Sengen Shrine."
Sengen Shrine is also a large shrine. This shrine dedicated to Mount Fuji is familiar to everyone in the island country.
Shimazu saluted TAC and then saluted the man.
"Mr. Hanshin, long time no see."
"Shimazu-sama!"
The old man bowed reverently, without any of the arrogance he had when facing the TAC team before.
Old people of this age do not believe in science, but few do not believe in gods. In the village at the foot of Mount Fuji, the most worshipped god is undoubtedly Asama Okami.
"I haven't seen you at the shrine for two years, Mr. Hanshin. I was wondering if something happened. So you live here. I wonder if your legs are okay?"
"Thank you for your concern!" Hanshin didn't expect that the master of Sengen Shrine would still remember his rheumatism.
Shimazu did remember everything about every pilgrim she had ever met.
She always felt that since the gods could not respond to believers, if they didn’t even care about her, what was the point of this faith?
She is not a god and does not have the power to bless everyone, but at least she can pray for everyone sincerely.
"You can't live in a cave like this with rheumatism. It will make it worse."
If the TAC team had said this, the old man would have scoffed at it. But coming from the mouth of the Shimazu Miko, he found it particularly useful.
He looked up, but when his eyes met the witch's face, he quickly looked away.
It is difficult to measure a woman's beauty with quantitative words, but as for Shimazu, no matter who sees her, the first thing that people notice is probably her graceful and straight nose, but it is not as sharp and aggressive as those in European and American paintings.
Realizing this, most people would retract their impolite gaze. After all, staring at a woman's face is extremely rude no matter how hard you try.
The rest can only be supplemented in the heart, and what is supplemented by imagination is always the most perfect.
Therefore, the beauty of Shimazu is always hazy and even not very real.
"I know it's not good to live in a cave, but Lord Shimazu, I have to take care of these giant salamanders."
"Humans... no one cares about their lives. If I abandon them again, the giant salamanders in Aiying Mountain will not be able to survive!"
As a human being, of course, one must stand on the side of humanity, and Hanshin knows this.
After the dam is built, we don’t have to worry about disasters, we can have a good harvest and everyone’s life will be better.
However, if humans really only know how to take, and no one considers other living beings, one day, humans will regret it!
Therefore, Hanshin was willing to be the odd one out, even if he was not understood, even if he was ostracized by all the villagers and considered a traitor to humanity.
He hopes that at least people will know someone is speaking up for animals, reminding them of human sin, and that they will have a moment to think before taking everything for granted.
If everyone can think for a few more seconds, that's the meaning of his life in the cave.
Shimazu didn't know how to respond, because she didn't know whether Hanshin's decision was correct, but it deserved respect anyway.
So it was Lingye who took over the conversation.
"So do you think you have really protected the giant salamander?"
"What?" Hanshin didn't know why the girl said that, but because she was also dressed as a shrine maiden, he didn't refute her without thinking.
Of course he protected the giant salamander, at least Shobei is alive!
"The giant salamanders in Aiying Mountain became extinct two years ago."
"No, Shobei is still here!" He didn't care about the other party's identity as the shrine maiden. If even the existence of Shobei was denied, then what was the point of his efforts over the past few years?
But the reality is cruel.
"You should know the living conditions of giant salamanders, right? They have very high requirements for water quality. After the dam was built two years ago, the underground river leading to the cave has been diverted."
"Do you think that a creature that can survive in a puddle of stagnant water for two years is really a giant salamander?"
Hanshin was stunned, recalling the scenes of the past two years.
Of course he knew that with the drying up of the underground river, hundreds of giant salamanders here had become extinct. Only Shobei could survive well no matter what the water quality was.
This is abnormal, but Hanshin would rather turn a blind eye to it for the sake of his own persistence.
Can giant salamanders live in stagnant water?
In other words, what kind of thing could survive in stagnant water for two years?
He looked back at the pond and saw that bubbles had begun to appear in the water at some point.
"Hurry up, get out of here!" Captain Long ordered decisively.
Hanshin still doesn't want to leave.
"grandfather!"
"Sayuri, follow them. I want to see what this giant salamander that I have taken care of for two years is!"
Long motioned for Yamanaka to take Sayuri away.
Hanshin had lived by the not-so-deep pond for two years and was already familiar with it, but now it seemed so strange to him.
"Zhuang Bingwei, come out, Zhuang Bingwei!"
"Mr. Hanshin!" Shimazu wanted to dissuade him, but saw Hanshin took out a flute.
Crossing the flute, he began to play a melody.
To be honest, it wasn't a very pleasant melody, it couldn't even be called a song, it was just a few simple scale changes.
But the voice was a little desolate.
The pond was really quiet.
Ling also walked to the pond. The pond was four or five meters deep, and a dark shadow was lying at the bottom of the pond.
"It's asleep."
"Shobei loves to listen to my flute. It has been like this for two years. At least, it didn't lie to me about this."
"But it's a super beast, what do you want to do?"
"Miracle, do you want to hear the truth? The truth is that I hope it can destroy the village at the foot of the mountain and kill all those guys! But you won't allow this to happen, right?"
"I'm sorry, pure miko, I shouldn't have polluted your ears with such dirty things, but I really can't forgive them."
He knocked down his house and exterminated the giant salamanders. From Hanshin's perspective, no amount of revenge would be too much.
Perhaps sensing Hanshin's malicious intent, the giant salamander at the bottom of the pond suddenly moved and shook its tail.
Yamanaka pulled Sayuri out of the cave, followed by Beidou and Long.
"Grandpa! But my grandpa is still in there."
"He'll be fine." Yamanaka consoled him. After all, Ling was also in there, as long as the old man didn't take the initiative to cause trouble.
But it is obvious that Hanshin is the one who likes to take the initiative to cause trouble.
Chapter 310: Shibata's Thanks
"I'm sure that the giant salamander named 'Shobei' is the super beast!"
After hearing what happened to Beidou and the others in the cave, Konno concluded.
Sayuri opened her mouth but couldn't think of what to say. Shobei was her friend, and he had been with her for two years. She didn't want to believe that her friend was an enemy who would destroy the village and kill people.
"But Zhuang Bingwei is usually very well-behaved." She could only argue weakly.
"That's a disguise!" Shan asserted. "The Yabo people like to do this, playing with people's hearts."
"I wonder if this is the case? At first, two years ago, Shobei was really just an ordinary giant salamander." Reporter Shibata suddenly interrupted.
Yamanaka wanted to say what an outsider knew, but he didn't say it because what Shibata said was very likely the truth.
"The water supply was cut off, and the original underground river became a pool of stagnant water. The giant salamanders died one after another, leaving only the last one, Shobei."
Just from the language, one can feel the helplessness of the giant salamanders. If one puts themselves in the human perspective, their homeland has become unsuitable for survival.
Everyone around me died, whether they were relatives, friends, or strangers, they all died one by one, and in the end I was the only one left in the world, also waiting for death to come.
The world of the giant salamander is the underground river, and the world of humans is the Earth. When the Earth is no longer suitable for human survival, what can they do? Leave the Earth and wander around?
It's no surprise that there is such hatred towards the culprit who caused all this.
The TAC members knew that the Yabo people liked this kind of scenario. The hatred was used by the Yabo people to create the super beast.
Beidou squatted down and said to Sayuri: