The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"Have you never tried having someone use the Shikon Jewel to lure the monster away?"

"We tried, but we could only divert some of them. We also had to protect the villagers here, so we were forced to come back in the end."

As she spoke, she saw Inuyasha outside struggling against the demons, his situation dire. She became anxious and pleaded, "Kenshin-san, could you go out and help Inuyasha and the others? They're about to be overwhelmed."

"of course."

After saying this, Su Qi drew his sword and rushed out without hesitation.

Actually, his original plan was to observe from the outside first to see what Naraku was up to before making a decision, but he saw that Inuyasha and the others were about to collapse, so he had no choice but to enter the arena ahead of time.

But it doesn't matter. Even if there are dangerous ambushes and traps, you can figure them out by reloading the save a few times. Now you just need to go all out. That's the confidence of a cheater.

"Gilded gold, oh, open, oh, crack!!"

With a loud shout, Su Qi charged fiercely into the demon horde, his longsword flashing wildly, unleashing dozens of sword waves that instantly chopped the surrounding demons into pieces.

But these monsters are creatures whose instincts outweigh their reason. Such a bloody spectacle did not frighten them; instead, it fueled their ferocity. They surged forward like a tidal wave, fearless of death.

Not long after, Su Qi ran into trouble.

Although he could indeed be considered a strongman, capable of single-handedly slaying even dozens of ordinary monsters with his sword, though it would be tiring, the current number of monsters was overwhelming, hundreds and thousands, and even he felt powerless to stop them.

Since killing Soichiro and mastering his swordsmanship, Su Qi had been living a smooth life except for losing to Sesshomaru once, until today, when he finally encountered another challenge.

During the battle, there were too many monsters, all kinds of creatures, some of which had special abilities. In order to defend against their attacks, his mind quickly became exhausted.

At the same time, his body was still ultimately made of flesh and blood, and even if he approached the limits of humanity, he still couldn't compare to the scaled and clawed monsters. Therefore, he needed to strengthen his body with spiritual power, enhance his swords with spiritual power, and circulate his sword techniques with spiritual power in order to contend with the monsters, but all of this had its costs. And the more intense the battle, the more it was consumed.

Therefore, although his spiritual energy quality was already top-notch among humans, it was quickly depleted to a dangerous level, and if it continued, it would be difficult to maintain a normal combat state.

laugh! !

Finally, Su Qi was ambushed from behind by a monster with a human face and a monkey body, and his first wound was torn open on his back.

The next moment, without turning his head, he pierced the latter with his sword, sending several attacking demons flying like cannonballs. Then, his gaze swept across the battlefield, revealing that the exhausted Sango had been forced to hide in the barrier. Apart from himself, only Inuyasha was left, surrounded by a circle of demons and struggling to hold them off, barely able to protect himself.

Looking around, hundreds of strangely shaped monsters were spread out, eyeing him and the house menacingly, ready to pounce and tear everything to shreds at any moment.

The situation is dire. Breaking out shouldn't be a problem, but holding out is almost impossible. These monsters are stoneheads driven by desire; they're impossible to persuade...

With a lightning-fast thought, Su Qi instantly assessed the situation and, without hesitation, seized the opportunity to retrieve the Shikon Jewel shards. He placed two on his body and two on his sword. This was the maximum limit of control he and Kikyo had determined. Four shards were enough to maintain basic composure in battle; any more and he would be rendered incapacitated.

"Come! No monster can get past my sword!"

Instantly, Su Qi's combat power surged, and he charged into the horde of demons like a whirlwind. His blade whirled like a meat grinder, stirring up a storm of blood and gore. Incidentally, despite previously declaring he would never again make empty promises, his actions betrayed him, leading to another death.

A moment later, Su Qi, covered in blood and having almost wiped out all the monsters, stood alone on the mound of corpses, his gaze slowly sweeping across the battlefield. His voice was tinged with weariness as he said, "It's finally over... just kidding, I don't believe that old bastard Naraku's plan was so simple."

Before the words were finished, a strange wind swept across the battlefield, and hundreds of monster corpses rose from the ground, standing like a forest of corpses, crowding the dilapidated village.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Curse

Corpse Dance? Kagura?

Leaping down from the gradually writhing and resurrecting mound of corpses, Su Qi's gaze swept over the resurrected remains, instantly connecting the scene to a certain character from the original work.

No, according to the original story, Naraku's demonic power only increased after he obtained the Shikon Jewel collected by Inuyasha and the others, enabling him to create clones like Kagura and Kanna. Why is he appearing earlier now? Could it be that, like Saimakatsu's ability, the plot has changed and Naraku's strength has increased?

As they pondered, one after another, "resurrected" monsters, dragging their horrifying bodies—some with their heads split open, some with their bodies severed, and some with their bellies ripped open and blood flowing freely—rushed forward.

He frowned slightly, spun around, and swung his sword, a circle of blade light flashing around him.

The next second, centered on him, everything within a three-zhang radius—the air, the walls, and the living corpses—was cleaved in two at the waist. At a glance, the walls collapsed, and the surging demonic corpses fell in droves like wheat being harvested.

But before long, the corpses that had fallen to the ground and been cut in two began to wriggle back together, reassemble themselves, and rise again to join the surging army of undead.

This is going to go on forever; we need to find Kagura first. And to control so many corpses, she must be hiding not far from here…

Thinking of this, Su Qi was too lazy to waste any more energy on a group of corpses, so he jumped onto the roof and looked down at the surroundings.

Look around and see if there are any places nearby where you can hide...

His eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze sweeping across the surroundings. He quickly made a guess and swung his knife to strike.

boom!!

A massive wave of blades shot out, slicing through the ground and cutting a residential building in two from a distance of more than ten meters away.

That's not it……

Su Qi glanced around the room but didn't find his target. He immediately leaped out and, while still in mid-air, swung his sword in a series of slashes.

Boom boom boom boom boom...

From near to far, he cleaved through the wooden houses in mid-air, destroying them all the way to the fifth one. Finally, a figure escaped and squeezed into the horde of corpses outside.

There it is!

Su Qi's eyes lit up. He landed just in time, took a step, the ground cracked, his afterimage lengthened, and a shockwave exploded behind him, rushing towards the figure like a cannonball.

bang bang bang bang...

The ground shattered, dust billowed, and a dozen or so living corpses in a straight line were all knocked away like bowling balls, scattering in all directions.

The next second, he was already in front of Kagura.

"Dance of the Wind Blades!"

Kagura waved her folding fan, and dozens of crescent-shaped wind blades sliced ​​through the air, swirling out and swarming towards Su Qi, who was only a few feet away.

Ding ding ding ding ding...

In an instant, arcs of light flashed wildly, and dozens of wind blades were all knocked away.

The latter advanced further, now within two meters. This distance was already within a swordsman's attack range; life or death would be a matter of a single breath.

I'm going to be killed!

Looking at the expressionless face opposite her, and those cold, icy black eyes, Kagura froze, alarm bells blaring in her mind, as if she could hear the instinct of a demon screaming for her to flee immediately.

"Corpse Dance!!"

Having just been born, having just seen this world, and not even having enjoyed a sliver of freedom in life, how could it possibly die here so easily?!

In a flash, a strong sense of resentment exploded in her heart, helping her temporarily escape the other party's overly sharp killing intent and forcibly regain control of her body.

Then a sudden gust of wind arose, and his demonic power surged. The nearby living corpses were forcibly pulled in like puppets, colliding and squeezing in front of him, instantly forming a thick wall of flesh and blood.

This should buy us some time...

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she was about to run away when, in the next instant, a slash of cold light descended. The seemingly solid wall of flesh was cleanly cleaved in two before her eyes, and a pair of cold eyes appeared on the other side through the bloody gap, meeting her gaze perfectly.

Immediately following, a streak of light appeared, and the gleaming tip of the blade materialized before Kagura's brow as if teleported.

At that moment, she felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen. But then she realized that she was not dead, that she was still alive, and that she was still standing there perfectly fine.

“Kagura, right…” Su Qidao pointed at Kagura and said, “Are you interested in making a deal with me? The reward is your life and your freedom.”

……

Meanwhile, in a small shrine not far from the village, Naraku was talking to another woman across from him.

The woman was dressed as a black witch, with a bewitching face, flowing silver hair, and a white snake with two horns coiled around her shoulder. Her aura was as cold and sinister as a venomous snake.

"Begin, Tsubaki. Use that Shikon Jewel, and use your best curse techniques to curse that man to death."

"Why that man?" Tsubaki said with an unfriendly expression. "Naraku, I'm not your subordinate! Don't forget, I only reluctantly cooperated with you because you said the enemy was Kikyo."

"Hehe, don't be in such a hurry, Black Witch Tsubaki. Don't you want to see Kikyo in even more pain?"

"Will doing this cause Kikyo more pain?"

“Of course.” Naraku, dressed in a baboon skin, smiled. “Cursing Kikyo directly would only cause her a momentary fear. Having already died once, she might not even feel fear anymore. So killing her companion in front of her, leaving her helpless, would be more tormenting to her soul, wouldn’t it?”

The black witch laughed after hearing this, "Very good, you're right, then let's do it this way for now. I'll kill that man right in front of her."

After saying that, she turned around and was about to walk towards the altar in the center of the shrine to cast a spell, but Naraku stopped her again, "Wait, Tsubaki, you'll need to use poison to cast the spell later, right?"

"That's right, what do you want to say now?"

“Use this.” The latter took out a small wine bottle and handed it over. “It contains miasma toxins that I, Naraku, personally refined. Just one drop is enough to kill dozens of demons. It’s perfect for cursing.”

"Hmph, you're really well prepared."

Chun narrowed her eyes slightly, and finally took the bottle. She walked up to the altar and came to the offering table surrounded by shimenawa ropes, where a mirror, incense burner, white paper, dolls, and the Shikon Jewel were placed.

"Kikyo, this time I will definitely avenge the arrow that killed me back then."

After speaking softly to herself, she calmed herself down, burned incense and prayed as instructed, then opened the bottle given to her by Naraku. While chanting incantations and activating her spiritual power to perform a secret technique, she slowly poured out the poison from the bottle, dripping it onto the Shikon Jewel placed on a plate.

The next moment, the pitch-black venom came into contact with the Shikon Jewel. The jewel seemed to be soaked in ink, and large patches of black shadow rapidly spread across the Shikon Jewel from the part that came into contact with the venom.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Sudden Darkening

The village was in ruins, with hundreds of zombies surrounding Su Qi and Kagura, but under the latter's control, they remained motionless like wax figures.

Now that she could be killed with a single thrust of her knife, she certainly dared not make any rash moves.

"Wait! How do you know my name?"

After the initial shock subsided, Kagura calmed down and noticed something amiss.

"That's not important. What's important is whether you crave freedom."

"free……"

She was startled, her suspicions growing stronger. How could this person know her name so quickly after just one meeting? Even know what she was thinking?

Kagura is a wind-manipulating demon, and her nature, like the wind, yearns for freedom, rather than being bound by Naraku's life and forced to live a life of hiding in dark corners. Therefore, although she is Naraku's incarnation, she despises and even hates him the most, and wishes he were dead whenever she had the chance.

This intelligence, of course, was something Su Qi learned through the original work, and now he could use it to turn Su Qi against Su Qi.

I don't understand what you're talking about.

However, after a moment's hesitation, Kagura gave this answer with a stern face. She knew very well that Naraku's most powerful warrior was currently monitoring the situation, and she knew absolutely nothing about the man opposite her. How could she easily entrust her life to him?

"Afraid of being monitored by Naraku?" Su Qi saw through Kagura's thoughts at a glance and smiled, "Don't worry, my senses are very sharp. There is no most powerful being within a radius of three zhang, so it's fine if we just talk quietly."

Should we trust this man? If he's real, this is a perfect opportunity to plot against Naraku, but if he's fake...

Kagura hesitated, but ultimately, the desire to break free from her constraints prevailed. She decided to take the risk and gamble her life on the table.

Since I'll likely be killed anyway if I don't tell, I might as well take a gamble. Besides... maybe I can use this as an excuse to deal with Naraku's questioning...