Chapter 31: The Cat Catches the Mouse
If you look at it from a normal person's perspective, without considering the emotional halo, the Matou family's residence, apart from its large area, is disappointing in every way, and does not seem like something that could be built by a person with normal aesthetic tastes.

On the ground was a path paved with dark gravel.

There are bare poplar trees beside the path, and there are no leaves on the branches of the poplar trees. It may be because it is early winter, or it may be because the Matou family’s house is too dark.

The surrounding buildings are mostly the same color.

Deep black, blood-like red, and gloomy gray are the main colors of the buildings in the Matou family's house.

The air here is also very bad.

Although a lot of green plants were planted, the air was filled with a rotten and unpleasant smell, like the smell of an insect habitat, damp, dark, and unpleasant.

However, Jianchen Matou looked around at everything in the Matou family house with an attitude of enjoyment.

The building surface that was built with black, dark red and dark gray, the bare poplar trees that had no vitality, and the rotten and unpleasant smell that sounded like an insect habitat all made Jianchen Matou feel familiar and enjoyable.

No matter what, this is his home.

And he is about to become the seventh generation head of the Matou family and restore the glory of the Matou family!

Following the path paved with pitch-black stones, Jianchen Jiantong walked slowly into the stone pavilion in the courtyard.

The stone pavilion is square in structure, simple and elegant, with ventilation on all sides. There is a large stone table in the middle and four marble seats next to the table.

Jianchen Matou walked up and sat down in a seat.

"Matou Zouken, or should I call you Machiri Zorgen? It's nothing important, why don't you come out and talk?"

There was no wine or tea on the stone table. Jianchen Matou leaned his arm on it, feeling really bored.

There was a rustling sound, followed by a buzzing sound.

A group of insects appeared out of nowhere, and then gathered together to form the appearance of Matou Zouken.

He walked to the seat opposite Jianchen Jianchen and sat down on the stone seat.

"You are not my grandson, who are you?"

His dead-like face was paler than ever, but there was a gleam in Matou Zouken's eyes, which was the most energetic part of him.

Looking at his bulging temples and listening to his irrepressible tone.

In his interactions with Matou Zouken, Matou Kenshin, who had always been at a disadvantage, enjoyed it particularly.

"In this situation, at this moment, there should be wine, preferably hot wine, or at least tea, preferably black tea. What a pity, what a pity..."

Without answering Matou Zouken's question, Matou Kenshin expressed some emotion.

"Haha." Matou Zouken smiled, "You are in a really good mood. My servant is not around, so you just don't take me seriously?"

The crutch held in one hand tapped the ground lightly. If Jianchen Matou didn't have something to lean on, the sound of tapping the ground would definitely ring in his heart.

"Grandpa," Jian Tong Jianchen did not feel ashamed to call him that. He had called him that many times, but this time he felt different from before. "Do you still remember your original dream?"

"Oh?"

Matou Zouken moved his mouth, as if asking you to continue.

The bulging veins on the back of his hand holding the crutch told of his inner unrest.

"To be honest, I know very little about you. I don't even know your experience as Machiri Zorgen. All I know is that you were once a magician who pursued 'justice'. 'Companion of Justice'.

How touching are these five words when you hear them now? "

"Hehe." Matou Zouken's expression did not change. "People will change. With the passage of time, life, gods, and even magic will disappear, not to mention something as illusory as ideals."

"Since you still call me grandpa, I will tell you the truth. Machiri Zorgen is dead. He has been dead for more than 500 years. I am now just Matou Zouken, a magus who desires your body, nothing more."

"Really?" Jian Tong Jianchen nodded, "That's good."

"Come……"

Before he finished speaking, Jianchen Matou's eyebrows were already raised. He lowered his head and looked at the place where he sensed that the corpse of an insect was slowly disappearing.

He raised his head and looked at the instigator of all this - Matou Zouken.

"Are you giving me a lesson? A required course for a magician."

Muttering to himself, Jianchen Matou slowly stood up and took the Red Sky Sword placed on his legs in his hand. He grasped the scabbard with his left hand and drew out the blade with his right hand. "The battle has begun, my dear grandfather, the great magician Matou Zouken."

"Hehehe, a protective measure for the Heroic Spirit?"

Matou Zouken's body had already transformed into a bug and disappeared into the air, only his voice was still ringing.

"The Scarlet Sky Sword? It really summoned a remarkable Heroic Spirit. However... as a Master in the Holy Grail War, isn't it a bit too arrogant to choose to let the Servants stay where they are and challenge me alone?"

"Of course not." Jianchen Jianchen shook his head. "As a great magician who has lived for more than five hundred years, there is really no one in this world who knows you better than me, my grandfather."

"No one knows how dangerous you are better than me, and no one knows your attainments in magic better than me."

"Hehehe, then why did you do this?"

"Why?" Jian Tong Jian Chen smiled contemptuously, "Don't you already understand? Otherwise, why would you hide and not dare to show up?"

Silence, deathly silence.

After Jianchen Matou finished speaking, there was no more sound in the air.

Matou Zouken, who had sounded confident just now, did not utter another word.

Jianchen Jianchen left the stone pavilion. He held the scabbard in his left hand and the Chixiao sword in his right hand, and leisurely played the game of cat and mouse in the Jiantong house.

He was a little anxious - because Sakura was waiting for him and he was afraid that Sakura would worry.

He was not in a hurry either - Ying was under the care of Liu Bang and would not be in any danger.

In this world, there are only two people he truly cares about, Rin and Sakura.

Now, Rin has been taken to the Zenjo family by Toosaka Tokiomi for refuge. The danger that Rin would encounter in the original work will obviously not happen at this time, and Sakura is under the protection of his heroic spirit, so he can be said to be free of worries at this moment.

The carefree Matou Kenshin is driving through the Matou residence, slowly capturing the equally carefree Matou Zouyan.

The only difference is that Kenshin Matou has no fear in his heart, while Zouken Matou is deeply afraid of death.

In the cat-and-mouse game that takes place in a fixed location and can only be carried out in the Matou family residence, Matou Kenshin has the absolute initiative and advantage.

(End of this chapter)