From the God of Lies to the Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 291 features a great demon named Tamamo-no-Mae.

What is the Killing Stone?
Basically, anyone familiar with Japanese mythology knows that it is a special stone that indiscriminately kills all living things around it, maintaining its killing intent and desire!
The essence of this stone is not some special "treasure", but rather the physical manifestation of the great demon "Tamamo-no-Mae", who is famous throughout the entire East Asian continent!

According to many legends, after Tamamo-no-Mae was defeated by Abe no Yasachika, she was pursued by soldiers sent by the enraged Emperor Toba, and was eventually surrounded and killed in Nasuno!

Even so, she did not die completely, but turned into the Killing Stone, remaining in the same place and becoming a nightmare for this area!
It wasn't until several hundred years later, when the first abbot of Aizu Gengenji Temple, Gen'o, took action, that the enormous Sesshō-seki was finally destroyed. Even so, the Sesshō-seki only shattered into countless small stones, which flew all over the country, rather than dying completely!

There is even a legend that these Killing Stones contain the resentment of the great demon Tamamo-no-Mae. Once someone collects all the Killing Stones, this great demon will be reborn and transform back into the beautiful demoness, fox spirit, and nine-tailed fox demon—Tamamo-no-Mae!

Kurahashi Seiji wasn't really interested in this kind of thing. After all, he was just an apprentice onmyoji, and compared to great onmyoji like Abe no Seimei and Abe no Yasachika, he was far beyond comprehension.

"Huh?" Hearing Kurahashi Seiji's words, the Zashiki-warashi tilted its head curiously, seemingly not quite understanding what he meant, and handed the stone over again, "Here you go!"

Having no other choice, Kurahashi Seiji had to take the stone. Not daring to hold it with his hands, he could only unfold the painted fan in his hand and let the little girl-like zashiki-warashi slowly place the stone in his hand on the fan ribs.

This scene also caught the attention of the group of police officers. They stared in astonishment at the sight, and watched as the Zashiki-warashi, whose spirits had soared after placing the stones, hopped away from the area.

As they walked, they sang a nursery rhyme:

"A little girl, a little head, sob sob!"

"A little girl, and a big head, sob sob!"

"A little girl, and a severed head! Waaah!"

"The little toe at the bottom of the rice jar, the sound of chopsticks falling in the middle of the night..."

"Three grains of rice in the corner of the storage room, scattered with the footprints of wooden clogs on a sunny day..."

"Quickly close the window and let the child go home. Look, the red rope is floating into the bird's nest..."

This ballad contains both terrifying songs of revenge for girls and tales of the legendary benevolent spirits, such as the Zashiki-warashi.

It traveled through the air and reached the ears of everyone present, causing them to momentarily lose their senses.

“Master Seiji!” Hayato Shiratori stepped forward and said with great respect, “Why don’t you subdue it? It has killed so many people…”

"Subdue it?" Kurahashi Seiji shook his head. "It's a benevolent spirit. If it weren't for the intense hatred here, it wouldn't have appeared in the first place!"

"Zashiki-warashi are supposed to be yokai that bring people both confusion and good fortune... Why did you try to subdue them?"

Kurahashi Seiji didn't finish his sentence, nor did he intend to continue. In fact, he didn't think the other party had done anything wrong. Yokai don't need to follow the law, so killing is even more unrestrained.

Besides, this family truly deserved to die!
The principle of reaping what you sow works everywhere.

After finishing all that, Kurahashi Seiji used his fan to support the stone and walked outside, saying as he went, "There are no other yokai in this house, so you can clean up those corpses now!"

Watching the Onmyoji's retreating figure, the group of police officers barely managed to snap out of their daze, their eyes filled with astonishment.

After all, unlike those charlatans, the scenes and special effects just now didn't seem like a scam!
They looked at Hayato Shiratori and exclaimed, "Captain, you're amazing! You even managed to find an Onmyoji like that?"

"Yes, Captain! I heard that the director and his team visited many temples and shrines but couldn't find any solutions, so they had no choice but to leave. You found a real Onmyoji so quickly?"

"Yes, now we can finally settle down in the city without worry. With the Onmyoji here, Kyoto is still the same Heian-kyo!"

"Didn't someone die?" one of the team members asked curiously.

"This family deserves to die! So many little girls, whose daughters are they? They're just dying here like this, don't they deserve to die?" someone said angrily. "Didn't you see that even the Onmyoji didn't seem to care?"

This statement resonated with everyone. Murder is a sobering experience, and the idea of ​​a monster committing murder is even more unacceptable to many. However, in cases where the victim is far more wicked than the perpetrator… well, let them be. It might even bring some peace.

The basic values ​​are what most people possess, so many people nodded slowly in agreement.

Suddenly someone said, "Hey... I've heard that Zashiki-warashi can bring good fortune to a household. How about I open the windows when I get home today to welcome her?"

"Aren't you afraid she'll attack again?"

"Oh, what's there to be afraid of! The Onmyoji said she's a benevolent spirit. If this family hadn't been so wicked, things wouldn't have turned out like this..."

"Captain, you know this Onmyoji master, do you think this is acceptable?"

Hearing these words, Shiratori Hayato was momentarily speechless. He'd met an Onmyoji? Perhaps…

"It should work, right?" he said casually. "But didn't you smell a single odor? Hurry up and get the evidence department here to collect evidence and clean up the scene!"

The weather isn't too cold yet, and the sun is still providing some warmth. If the bodies here aren't cleaned up soon, they'll start to rot!
Thinking about it this way, they even began to miss what they had seen at the official's villa that morning. At least there, the monsters were killed and buried, and the murder and cremation were handled in one go, which was much better than the current situation!
……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Kurahashi Seiji, who had just stepped out of the house and was about to go back to rest, suddenly heard a strange, alluring voice in his ear:

"What an interesting person! You share the same bloodline as me... You are a descendant of the spirit fox!"

Upon hearing this, Kurahashi Seiji looked up sharply. "Who?"

He abruptly closed the fan in his hand, holding it protectively in front of him. He took out the bell, and even the book "The Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit Collection" was held in his hand. Only the stone remained, which he threw down.

"Oh dear... what a heartless man, just like those others! I can't move right now!"

The voice continued to appear, and Kurahashi Seiji keenly detected that glimmer of spiritual energy. He stared at the Sesshoseki before him, "It's you? Tamamo-no-Mae?"

"It's me, hehehe!" A seductive chuckle rang out, causing the young Onmyoji to abruptly turn around and leave.

"Hey, don't go!" the woman's voice sounded a little anxious. "If you don't take me with you, then I'll have to find someone else, okay? That policeman was pretty good!"

Upon hearing this, Kurahashi Seiji turned away helplessly. He was a good person, so he had to be threatened with such words.

I have to admit that what the other party said is right. If I don't take this stone, then ordinary people will have to bear the risk.

The stone was placed on the fan again, and he decided to put it in the shrine of the Yin-Yang Bureau for safety.

The voice continued, "Don't be so nervous, I just want to talk to you! Don't you want to know about the current situation of this country? I know!"

"What are your conditions?" Kurahashi Seiji asked slowly after a long silence.

"Of course it's revival!" The woman's voice was filled with resentment. "I was captured by those people simply because I wanted to live on a piece of land, and they wanted to hand me over to their king... I refused, so they sent people to hunt me down!"

"I've been in this state for so many years, of course I want to recover! Once I recover, I'll leave here and go back to my own land!"

Upon hearing this, Kurahashi Seiji didn't believe it at all. This woman was rumored to be a great monster who roamed all of Asia. If she didn't really have some ulterior motive, why would she end up here?
However, considering what the other party had just said about the "same kind" bloodline within him, the young Onmyoji ultimately chose to agree. "I will allow you to reside in the Onmyo-ryo for the time being, but I will not help you revive. You are not some obedient girl, and those who died because of you will not think so!"

"Hehe! You've caught me, but I'm not angry, because you... have the scent of my own kind!" The woman's voice was slow and graceful.

The great demon Tamamo-no-Mae makes her grand entrance!

P.S.: How did this chapter take four hours to write...? Amazing!
(End of this chapter)