I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 343 The Celestial Fox Pendant, a token of a Six-Star True God! I...want to walk this path with you!

Uesugi Tetsu stopped and looked up again.

There were no trees or rooftops overhead, or even within a ten-meter radius.

Only scattered red specks remained against the dark sky.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced again at the three women beside him who were completely unaware of the pendant that had suddenly appeared.

It's understandable that Karuta and Nisha-sama don't know, but Minamoto Shizumi...

They didn't even notice!

This pendant...

"What's wrong, Uesugi-kun?"

Almost the instant Uesugi Tetsu stopped, Minamoto Shizumi also stopped.

Several seconds later, she finally spoke to Uesugi Tetsuya and asked him a question.

"Oh, it's nothing," Uesugi Tetsu replied casually, pointing to the pendant on the ground.

He glanced at Yuan Jingshui again and found that she had only looked at the pendant twice in a normal way.

"I saw a fox pendant on the ground; it would be a shame not to pick it up."

He bent down and casually picked up the four-tailed fox pendant with its eyes gleaming with an extremely conspicuous golden light from the ground: "I picked this up from the ground, so I'll just take it as a free souvenir."

Yuan Jingshui nodded, without suspecting anything.

Uesugi Tetsuya felt a chill run down his spine and stuffed the pendant into his pocket.

—Likewise, she couldn't see the light in the pendant's eyes! Nor could she perceive its mystique!

"Just keep walking."

As he spoke, he stepped out of the sacred grounds of Fushimi Inari Shrine.

In fact, the red and white panel of the pendant had already popped up in front of his eyes.

【Celestial Fox Pendant】

[Quality: Legend]

Uesugi Tetsu blinked.

Celestial Fox?

Shouldn't it be "Inari God"?

Even if it's uncertain which Inari deity it refers to, it shouldn't be related to a "fox."

With his passable knowledge of the gods, Uesugi Tetsuya told him that there was no "fox god" among the Inari gods.

Moreover, what on earth is this "Heavenly Fox"? It's clearly not part of the same series as "Three-Tailed Fox, Six-Tailed Fox, Eight-Tailed Fox," etc.

Because this pendant only has four tails, it is not called a four-tailed fox.

Uesugi Tetsu continued reading.

[Effect: Can serve as a temporary vessel for the will of the righteous god Tenko within Fushimi Inari Shrine, allowing for brief communication with him.]

Perhaps... it could also be used as a token of love?

[—Those who cultivate supernatural powers, preserve incense offerings, and obey the mandate of heaven are called celestial foxes.]

Righteous God.

If he remembers correctly...

Uesugi Tetsu walked along the edge of the nearly deserted main road, recalling his memories of the first wave—

Dissociative Love

[Quality: Myth]

[Effect 1: Can be used as the core material for a six-star god to be promoted to a seven-star god.]

That's right, the true god is the six-star.

It is an existence above the Wild God who can "see" him to death at a glance and the even more terrifying Great Wild God!

Can't go wrong.

The mysterious being who "saw" him with his will just before he was about to leave the Fushimi Inari Shrine's sacred area must be this six-star deity, Tenko!

The god worshipped at the Night Palace Festival... exists!
The reason this true god has not shown himself is likely because the current sea level is too low for a true god to reveal himself in the mortal world.

Even appearing in the realm of gods wouldn't be able to do that.

To put it more vividly, the present world is a lake, and the Aragami are small boats that can barely be supported by the current sea level of the present world.

However, when the Aragami release their power, they glow, revealing their coordinates and location—similar to the demons and gods before the first wave.

The true god is a magnificent ship; if it were to fall into the present world where the sea level is not high enough, it would be directly "stranded".

Of course, the above is just Uesugi Tetsuya's personal analysis based on what Nanjo Manami said to him before the first wave and the current situation.

—In fact, the Heavenly Fox may have already "appeared" in another form at the very beginning of the Evening Festival, but they simply couldn't see it with their eyesight.

It was because he had deliberately hung the travel token on his waist before leaving that the celestial fox, who had appeared early on, noticed him.

This conjecture is quite reasonable.

Next...

"Supernatural powers, incense offerings, and destiny."

Uesugi Tetsu murmured to himself.

He understood the first two—supernatural powers refer to strength, while incense represents faith.

But [fate]...

When the word flashed through his mind again, Uesugi Tetsu felt a sense of unease.

Forget it, I'll just try not to think about this for now.

Beings of the level of true gods are still far beyond my reach, so there's no need to worry about them.

After walking a while longer, Uesugi Tetsu saw the Gen family's MPV that had brought them over that morning.

He smiled at Yuan Jingshui.

"Miss Yuan, let's part ways here."

"it is good."

Yuan Jingshui didn't ask him how he was going to get back or when he was leaving. She simply bowed slightly and said, "Uesugi-kun, both of you, have a safe journey."

As he watched Yuan Jingshui, whose demeanor had become even more serene and tranquil, get into the car, Uesugi Tetsu knew...

—By the time I see Minamoto Shizumi again, she may have already achieved godhood based on her swordsmanship.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the roadside shops that had already closed and sighed softly.

He originally wanted to buy a box of red bean paste daifuku. Although it's sweet, it's really delicious and can replenish sugar, plus it has a local flavor...

Unfortunately, Kyoto-style shops don't operate 24/7.

After walking a while longer, Uesugi Tetsuya saw the special agent car that he had called half an hour earlier.

After leading the young master and Karuta into the car, Uesugi Tetsu gave a wink to the chauffeur who was acting as the driver.

The latter understood immediately and activated the privacy mode for the back row.

Then the special affairs vehicle slowly started moving.

Seeing the two women's questioning gazes, Uesugi Tetsu smiled and said, "Please wait a moment."

He took out the Heavenly Fox pendant from his pocket and stared at those gilded eyes for a moment.

Wow.

As if his soul had left his body, Uesugi Tetsu felt his will being briefly pulled away from his physical body and falling into a mysterious space.

But what's amazing is that he can not only feel any sensations coming from his body, but he can even develop a small God's-eye view centered on himself.

For example—the moment Karuta's will was taken away, his pupils shrank, revealing a look of fear, horror, and confusion.

The two men, Erchida and Kaga Kiyomitsu, were completely unaware of what was happening. Erchida even came over to confirm that he was "unconscious" before boldly climbing on him and poking his cheek with his finger.

The crimson eyes on Qing's sword hilt revealed a wary expression as they met his gaze from his current God's-eye view.

Yes, Qing, who has lived for a thousand years, is indeed the most reliable.

With his gaze focused, Uesugi Tetsu used his will to speak in this mysterious space.
"Nice to meet you, Lord Tianhu."

The will of the unseen realm did not react with any extra emotion to this statement; instead, it replied knowingly,

"So it really is a walking machine..." "I never thought that in this day and age, there would still be walking machines in the world."

"Oh, and there's also Lord Qing and that unknown, incomplete god..."

The source of the laughter was unknown, yet it appeared directly, making Uesugi Tetsuya extremely alert.

"Alright, little one, I won't tease you anymore."

The androgynous voice became serious: "Changshi Xing, chosen by Huojin, is this our first meeting?"

"My real name cannot be revealed for now; you may simply call me 'Celestial Fox'."

—It sounds like the Heavenly Fox doesn't mean any harm.

After a moment's thought, Uesugi Tetsuya asked, "Then, Lord Tenko, what is the purpose of your contact with me?"

After a long silence in the space, the Heavenly Fox continued.
"Even I never imagined that there would actually be walking beings in this world."

"Originally, I thought that after that person disappeared without a trace, everything would..."

Uesugi Tetsu was listening intently to the most crucial part when he discovered that Tenko stopped there and abruptly cut off the conversation, acting as the hateful "broken chapter fox"!
I'm so angry...

After letting out a slow breath, Uesugi Tetsu realized that Tenko had only seen the Traveling Command Token and wanted to test him.

But to their surprise, upon closer inspection, he was indeed walking, and he even carried a large amount of the aura of the God of Calamity!

After another period of silence, Tianhu finally asked,

"Huojin, are you alright?"

"Lord Mokujin is in very good condition."

Uesugi Tetsu answered truthfully—"Now, in Mokuzu, there's soda to drink, all sorts of snacks to eat, tons of games to play, and anime movies to watch. He's living the life he could ever want."

He could hear it, and Tianhu breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems this person has a good relationship with Lord Mokuzu?

Weird.

Theoretically speaking, this celestial fox should have absolutely no connection with Huojin.

One side governs bountiful harvests, grains, and industry, while the other side deals with pure disasters and calamities. It would be good enough if they weren't hostile to each other...

But their relationship was beyond just being good.

That's also unbelievable.

"Alright, it's almost time."

Tianhu paused, his tone changing slightly.

“Walking, I do have something I want you, the one and only, to accomplish... but you are not a follower of Inari, and you have not had much contact with me before.”

Therefore, if you encounter such a situation, you should help out if you have the means, and the pendant will change at that time.

If we don't meet, then so be it.

I will not force you.

Tianhu said, "But if I can accomplish this, then... I will owe you a favor."

Uesugi Tetsu immediately replied, "As long as I have the capacity."

"Ha ha……"

The celestial fox's laughter gradually faded away.
"Walking... I hope that when we meet again, you will be able to see my true form and know my name."

The great will of the Heavenly Fox disappeared, allowing the will of Uesugi Tetsu to return to his physical body.

The two-foot-tall adult who was fiddling around immediately retreated to his seat when he saw Uesugi Tetsu's eyelashes flutter, took out his phone and chuckled to himself, looking every bit like a screen addict.

Uesugi Tetsu, who had witnessed the whole thing, opened his eyes and smiled at her.

The man with the two feet also moved his phone away, and smiled somewhat guiltily.

Bang! Bang!
After two consecutive chops, the two-foot-tall man covered his head with a sob and stopped laughing.

Uesugi Tetsu said with a smile in a low voice, "Two feet, don't think I can't see you, okay?"

"Lord Che! We were wrong!"

Knowing that she was just making a verbal mistake, Uesugi Tetsuya was too lazy to say anything more. He shook his head and looked at Karuta, whose heart was pounding and whose heart rate was close to 190.

"Lord Uesugi..."

Karuta's face turned deathly pale, and he swallowed hard. "What was that just now?"

"You felt it?"

Uesugi Tetsuya was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized.

—Karuta is the god of possibility, the "incomplete god" in the words of the Heavenly Fox, which can be considered a god by rounding up.

It's fine to be able to sense the presence of the corresponding person.

Since that's the case, there's no need to hide it from her.

Leaving aside topics like Lord Mokuzu that are best left unsaid, Uesugi Tetsu explained his conversation with the Heavenly Fox and its identity to Karuta.

This falls under the category of telling the truth.

After listening to the song for a while, even more sweat appeared on his forehead.

"The Celestial Fox... is even more powerful than that factory owner Z..."

She simply couldn't imagine it.

"The celestial fox in the shrine has no ill intentions towards you, Lord Uesugi; on the contrary, it has a high degree of goodwill towards you, which is a good thing."

Qing, who had been silent for a long time, spoke from the depths of his heart: "I haven't said much just now because I didn't want to draw the attention of this being whom we cannot control..."

"I didn't expect you to produce a token, sir."

After listening to Ao's words, Uesugi Tetsuya pondered for a moment, then apologized to him with a look of remorse.

"I'm sorry. I was reckless."

After the Night Palace Festival began, Qinglian did not utter a single word in her heartstrings.

In other words, what Tianhu sees as a true god might not be much different from whispering to someone else.

If you want to hear it, then of course you can.

Ao was doing this to prevent this hidden god from doing anything detrimental to Uesugi Tetsuya, because things would get out of hand then.

Uesugi Tetsu didn't think that much about it.

He remembered that Nanjo Manami had recommended him to Fushimi Inari Shrine, so this place must not be associated with any danger, especially since it was located in Kyoto.

Fortunately, we were lucky this time.

Tianhu and Xingxing have a decent relationship with Lord Huojin.

After remembering these two lessons, Uesugi Tetsu looked at Karuta again.

He thought for a moment, then pulled a temporary connection to Karudo—it was still inconvenient to say what he wanted to say directly in the Special Affairs Department's car.

“Songs remain many.”

Hearing the voice resonate directly in his mind, and seeing Uesugi Tetsu's earnest gaze, Karuta instinctively sensed that what was about to be said might be very important.

She sat up straight, her eyes serious, and replied forcefully, "Lord Uesugi, I am listening."

"As you can see, I am walking."

Uesugi Tetsu calmly recounted, letting his voice resonate through every heartstring: "I am perhaps the only one left to walk in this world."

After that, I might... no, I definitely will encounter many wild gods, like the celestial fox just now, or even more terrifying true gods, and even the eight sufferings that can make people wish they were dead.

It's also possible that you'll encounter situations far more terrifying than losing consciousness, more terrifying than death...

Uesugi Tetsuya told Karu many facts and disadvantages about following him, and that with her weak fighting ability, she probably wouldn't be able to take her life into her own hands.

"But if you leave me, Karuto, you will most likely live a peaceful life from now on. Anyway, if the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up."

Uesugi Tetsu shrugged, then composed himself and whispered to Karuta, who was standing close by.
"Karyudo, now is the time for you to make a choice."

"Live peacefully..."

Karu lowered his eyes, pondered those words for a moment, and then smiled.

"If it weren't for Lord Uesugi risking his life to save me, how could I be sitting here discussing life and death with you?"

The pink ends of her hair were tucked behind her ears, and her eyes shone with a deep, clear blue light.
"if you can."

Karuta reached out her slender, soft hands, still trembling slightly, and grasped Uesugi Tetsu's hand with all her might.
"My lord, please allow me to join you in becoming that tall person who can hold up the sky!"

(End of this chapter)