"As I thought, there was something wrong with that strike."
Xia Yu detected another force at AShu's throat, most likely the residual resentment left behind by Kashin Koji.
This force prevented the self-healing of AShu's throat, making it so she could only make sounds but couldn't speak words.
"Tsk, that old geezer."
Xia Yu frowned slightly, not because of this bit of residual resentment, but because of the lingering malice of Otakemaru, who was Kashin Koji before death.
As the resentment of Otakemaru, Kashin Koji's reason for existence was to take revenge on humanity, provoke endless wars, and plunge the world into misery.
He could use the power of his Guardian Spirit to corrupt human minds, stir up negative emotions, or directly possess them, amplifying the three poisons of the human heart: greed, anger, and delusion.
Unless Kashin Koji's soul and form were completely annihilated, he could absorb the world's resentment and make a comeback at any time.
Of course, for Xia Yu, destroying a collection of resentment wasn't hard; the difficulty lay in finding him. Kashin Koji had the ability to teleport and possess others, rooting himself directly in the soul, making him extremely difficult to detect.
However, since he had played the game, he could actually predict who Kashin Koji would possess.
"Better deal with that trouble sooner rather than later; leaving it be is asking for problems."
"Hmm?"
Seeing Xia Yu suddenly talking to himself, AShu, who still had her mouth open, looked a bit confused.
"It's nothing, I just spaced out for a second." Xia Yu snapped back to reality and smiled, "Wait a moment, it'll be done soon."
As he spoke, he used spiritual power as a blade to gently sever that bit of residual resentment from AShu's throat.
The residual resentment tried to fight back, but Xia Yu directly formed a cage with spiritual power, trapping the resentment and pulling it out of AShu's mouth.
As the purple-black resentment was pulled out by the spiritual power, AShu suddenly felt her throat lighten significantly. She curiously reached out to touch the spot Xia Yu had just touched.
"Alright, you can close your mouth now."
After putting away the resentment, Xia Yu gently patted AShu's head. A trace of Healing Holy Light was channeled into her body, accelerating the healing of her throat.
The Healing Holy Light was a result of Energetic Xia Yu's studies; he was about to graduate from the Priest's training and was currently planning to find a Druid to learn nature spells.
Feeling an itch in her throat, AShu obediently closed her mouth and looked at Xia Yu curiously, her violet eyes full of wonder.
After waiting for a few seconds, Xia Yu smiled and said, "I've healed your throat. Try to speak."
"Speak... words..."
AShu tried to open her mouth, mimicking Xia Yu's words to make a sound. Although it wasn't smooth, she did manage to utter broken words.
"I... can..."
Seeing that she could truly speak, joy flickered in AShu's eyes. She desperately wanted to say a complete sentence fluently, but over ten years of being mute had caused her to completely forget how to speak.
"Don't rush." Xia Yu patted AShu's head and comforted her, "I'll teach you how to speak. Take it slow, no need to hurry."
"Mhm."
"Right, one more thing." Xia Yu slapped his forehead, remembering another piece of business, "Can I take a bit of your blood? And a part of your Yokai power."
Hearing this, AShu didn't hesitate at all and nodded earnestly. Then, two demon horns resembling elk antlers appeared on her forehead, and her violet eyes instantly turned azure blue.
This was the form AShu took when using Yokai power normally. If she used it further, she would manifest her true Yokai form.
Compared to her human form, her Yokai form was stronger and more powerful, but because the Yokai power was too overwhelming, she couldn't control it properly, making it very easy to lose control after transforming.
Usually, when she revealed this appearance, ordinary people would be frightened and view her as a monster, fearing her.
But Xia Yu was an exception. Not only was he not frightened, but he also didn't distance himself from her like others, nor did he think of her as a violent monster.
Therefore, without realizing it, AShu had placed Xia Yu in the most important position in her heart and gave him her full trust.
As AShu raised her palm, purple Yokai power condensed. Usually, she paired this with the Soul Cores of other Yokai, using her own Yokai power to unleash their abilities.
Of course, she occasionally used her own Yokai abilities, but it consumed quite a bit of Yokai power, so she didn't use them much.
Xia Yu looked at the purple Yokai power before him and reached out to touch it. Although it wasn't the first time he'd seen AShu's Yokai power, it was the first time he'd touched it with his own hands.
Previously, he was an ordinary human and naturally didn't dare to do so, as he didn't know if Yokai power would be harmful to the human body.
Upon contact, the Yokai power tried to cling to Xia Yu's finger. Xia Yu didn't resist, simply feeling the Yokai power enter his body.
However, as soon as the Yokai power entered, before it could do anything, the other energies in Xia Yu's body swarmed around it.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the Yokai power seemed to pause for a moment before silently shrinking into a ball. Compared to the other energies, this bit of Yokai power seemed weak and helpless.
Hmm... he could try to refine it, but he wasn't a Yokai, so refining it wouldn't be of much use.
After sensing the Yokai power huddled in a corner of his body, Xia Yu took out a painless arterial blood sampler from his waist, grabbed AShu's arm, and directly collected some blood.
The blood was bright red, just like a human's; it wasn't a different color just because she was a Half-Yokai.
A moment later, after collecting a tube of blood, Xia Yu pulled out the sampler, and the wound from the collection healed instantly.
"Alright, AShu, go and get some rest. You don't need to go to a swordsmanship teacher anymore; I can teach you."
"Mhm..."
AShu expressed her distrust of Xia Yu's words quite bluntly. Based on her understanding of Xia Yu, he was someone who needed to rest for a long time after walking just a few miles; how could he know swordsmanship? Besides, she had never seen him practice.
To this, Xia Yu smiled without a word. With those martial arts memories and his current physical fitness, he could completely dominate all the swordsmanship in this world.
Whether it was outrageous swordsmanship or normal swordsmanship, he could use it all. If he still couldn't teach AShu with that, then... then it was simply impossible.
After all, although the martial arts in Nioh were outrageous, they weren't so outrageous that they completely defied logic.
Seeing that Xia Yu didn't say more, AShu was puzzled but didn't ask further, since she couldn't even speak clearly yet.
However, she was indeed a bit tired, so she didn't return to her own quarters. Instead, she walked straight to Xia Yu's bed, took off her armor, and lay down in just her undergarments.
This scene made Xia Yu's eyelids twitch. Should he be a beast, or should he be worse than a beast?
Hmm... feelings grow over time; let's take it slow. Better distract himself before his 'little brother' becomes the 'big boss'... [Nioh 2] posted a [Half-Yokai Blood] Red Envelope.
[Nioh 2]: AShu's Yokai power and Half-Yokai Blood are inside. By the way, who are the researchers? Does anyone want to study this?
[resident evil]: Leave it to me. By the way, does anyone want to become a Half-Yokai?
[Nioh 2]: No thanks, being human is fine.
[Sekiro]: Plus one. Besides, we're all cultivating immortality now, why would we specifically want to become Half-Yokai?
[resident evil]:... [resident evil]: Then what the heck am I researching for?