"I've heard that Mr. Saito frequently travels abroad, so I wanted to ask if you happen to know of a certain forest in Japan."
"Oh? There are quite a few forests in Japan, so I have no idea which one you're talking about."
Qiuyun Yuhe paused slightly in thought, then continued, "The forest I'm looking for has snow."
"Still too vague. Why are you looking for a place like that?" Saito shook his head.
*Fat chance, of course it's vague! I only know this much, I can't exactly blurt out that I'm looking for the forest with the entrance to Sanguinem.*
Qiuyun Yuhe complained inwardly, but put on a completely different story out loud.
"Before my father passed away, he traveled alone for a while. When he came back once, he was exhausted, looked terrible, and said he'd been bitten by a bat." Qiuyun Yuhe offered a silent apology to his cheapskate father in his heart and started spinning fabrications.
"The most important thing is that his wedding ring dropped there at the time. When my mother asked him where he lost it, he said he probably lost it in that snowy forest, likely inside a cave."
"But he refused to tell the exact location of that place."
Hearing this, Saito seemed to recall something, yet remained composed.
"So, you want to go help your father retrieve his wedding ring?"
Qiuyun Yuhe put on a look of eager anticipation, nodding vigorously. "Mm-hmm! It's been five years since my father died, and my mother's health has been getting worse and worse because she misses him. I think finding this ring will make her condition better!"
Saito fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "More than five years have passed, the ring must be long gone by now. Besides, how do you even know about your father's business from five years ago? You weren't even a year old then."
"A guest came over to our house once, and I found out when I overheard Mom chatting with them. I still have to try and look for it. That place seems pretty remote, and I want to give Mom a surprise." Qiuyun Yuhe's expression didn't change at all.
"Having filial piety is a good thing, but you're only six years old. Even your father was bitten by a bat—let alone a child like you?" Saito wore a worried look.
"Don't worry, Mr. Saito, I'll use a family trip as an excuse to go with Mom, and my uncle's family will be coming too. There won't be any danger." Qiuyun Yuhe patted his chest to assure him.
"You have an uncle?" Saito was clearly surprised, because based on his previous investigations, Qiuyun Yuhe's family shouldn't have any relatives at all.
Then again, upon second thought, what normal family doesn't have a relative or two? Could he have just popped out of nowhere? He hadn't investigated too thoroughly beforehand, so a few discrepancies were normal.
Looking at the boy in front of him, who was pounding his chest so hard he started coughing, Saito's gaze sharpened. Pondering something internally, he said, "If you have adults accompanying you, then I suppose there shouldn't be any problem. I do know of two places that match your description."
In truth, ever since he heard about the encounter Qiuyun Yuhe's father had suffered, he knew exactly where it was—the surface world above Sanguinem, the third city of the Vampires.
Qiuyun Yuhe's father must have run into a wandering vampire while traveling. Honestly, could Krul's subordinates not even spare a single ordinary human?
The reason he gave two locations was because Saito didn't particularly want Qiuyun Yuhe to run into vampires too early. Naming the wrong place was rather like getting the wrong drop in a gacha pull, but he still provided a pity-system backup—a tiny bit of malicious amusement on Saito's part.
"Really? Can you tell me where they are?" Qiuyun Yuhe looked thrilled.
In fact, he *was* thrilled. He had successfully fished the information out! Thank you, non-existent uncle!
***
Leaving the orphanage, Qiuyun Yuhe returned home and impatiently dug out a map of Japan to start searching. Before long, he circled two locations with a red pen.
Both places were covered in snow during the winter: one was in Kyoto, and the other was Shirakawa-go.
Qiuyun Yuhe had basically confirmed it was the forest in Kyoto, because Miku had already popped up the map of Kyoto the moment Saito gave him the locations!
Quite convenient, really.
"The next problem is how to come up with an excuse to leave for a few days and get out there."
At this thought, Qiuyun Yuhe felt a fresh wave of a headache coming on. Right now, he was merely a six-year-old child; there was no way his mother would let him go off alone.
His current location was in Shibuya, and getting to Kyoto would take at least two or three hours.
"Looks like I really have to get Mom to take me on a trip to Kyoto."
Qiuyun Yuhe secretly made up his mind: he would absolutely not let his mother die from the Apocalypse Virus!
Three months later, at the foot of a snow-covered mountain in Kyoto.
"Hello, ma'am. Are you looking to check in for a stay?" the guesthouse owner asked with a smile.
"Yes, it's just me and my child," Qiuyun Nayuki replied with a nod.
Qiuyun Yuhe, standing right beside her, kept his head down as he studied a map.
Only then did the owner notice Qiuyun Yuhe.
"I didn't expect your child to be this big already, ma'am. I thought you had just gotten married recently. My, what a cute little boy!"
"Hello, ma'am!" Qiuyun Yuhe raised his head to give a perfunctory greeting before dropping it right back down.
He gazed at the snow-mountain map he had acquired from completing a mission two days prior, searching for a location that could be the entrance to Sanguinem.
This trip hadn't come easily—he had even resorted to acting spoiled.
His mother had agreed to travel here for three days and would head back the day after tomorrow. He wouldn't be able to slip away during the day, and nighttime was the only time he could make his move, meaning he only had three nights.
The guesthouse happened to be right at the foot of the mountain, which saved him any wasted time on travel.
"Oh! What a stunning woman. Hello, madam, my name is Yamamura Koushi. Would you care to join me for dinner?"
A bespectacled man about 1.7 meters tall, wearing a traditional kimono, walked up to Qiuyun Nayuki. He wore a smile as he gallantly issued his invitation, though his eyes kept roving up and down Qiuyun Nayuki's body.
Her silver-white long hair was tied back, her skin was delicate, and the cold weather had brought two rosy flushes to her cheeks, adding a touch of cuteness. Combined with her height of around 1.65 meters and her generous proportions, she was more than capable of fixing most men's eyes in place.
Qiuyun Nayuki was just about to politely refuse when a voice cut her off.
"Get lost! If you don't know how to use your eyes, go play with them like glass marbles. Keep staring and I'll make sure your parents end up with one less son and one more daughter."
Yamamura Koushi froze at those words. Lowering his gaze, he saw an exceptionally striking boy staring at him with a look reserved for garbage.
The sheer chill running down his spine from the boy's gaze made him feel as though he were being watched by a wild beast; for a moment, Yamamura Koushi didn't dare utter a single word.
A six- or seven-year-old boy terrifying an adult into silence—the scene possessed an indescribable sense of incongruity.
"Yuhe, you mustn't be rude. Apologize to Mr. Yamamura," Qiuyun Nayuki recovered first.
Qiuyun Yuhe turned his head away, clearly unwilling to apologize.
Seeing this, Qiuyun Nayuki had no choice but to apologize herself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Yamamura, the child doesn't know any better."
As Qiuyun Yuhe's gaze shifted away, Yamamura Koushi snapped out of it and waved his hands frantically.
"No, no, no, *I'm* the one who should apologize. I was being too presumptuous. Since the madam is busy, I won't disturb you any further. Bye-bye."
With that, he fled as if running for his life.
"Is Mr. Yamamura really that afraid of children? Yuhe, you scared him off with just a single sentence," Qiuyun Nayuki said, somewhat puzzled.
*Intimidation.*
This was the reward from Qiuyun Yuhe's very first mission—essentially a weakened version of Conqueror's Haki. He hadn't had a chance to use it until today, his first time trying it out. The results were decent.
The trigger condition was simply making eye contact with him.
"Mom, next time you run into a guy with impure motives like that, just destroy his crime-committing tool."
Qiuyun Nayuki's face showed sheer astonishment as she stared at her precious son in disbelief. She had never seen Qiuyun Yuhe speak so crudely.
In her memory, Qiuyun Yuhe had always been an obedient child, but today's events completely refreshed her understanding.
Yet, her heart still felt warm; she could clearly feel how much importance her son placed on her.
"Alright, we'll listen to Yuhe."
Qiuyun Nayuki pulled Qiuyun Yuhe into a hug, a smile on her face as she pressed him against her chest.
"M-Mom, I'm about to... suffocate..."