I transformed into a demonic spider lily.

The red spider lily murmured to itself, then turned and walked in one direction, turning back to say, "Come with me, I'll take you somewhere."

"……Um!"

Kikyo didn't suspect the other flower's intentions and quickly followed. She noticed that the other flower's clothes were torn because of the arrows, revealing her fair skin. She lowered her head and said, "I will help you sew your clothes back on."

As soon as she finished speaking, the other shore flower paused, and several vines grew from her feet, then climbed onto her body and withered away. The whole process was extremely fast, and the final result was that the torn clothes were quickly repaired without leaving a trace.

"It was originally woven from my flowers and leaves, and it can be repaired without human needles and thread, but I had forgotten about it if you hadn't reminded me."

Having said that, the red spider lily continued to lead the way.

……

Deep in the mountains, after crossing the stream, they walked several kilometers, during which Kikyo didn't say a word, not even asking a question.

Instead, the spider lily couldn't help but say, "Aren't you going to ask me where I'm taking you?"

"Aren't you taking me to find other yokai to ask about things?" Kikyo retorted.

"It's not the goal, it's the destination."

Is there any difference?

"Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything. We've arrived." Looking up, there was a continuous mountain range beyond the forest, and the spider lily had led the bellflower to the bottom of its highest peak.

Instead of continuing to climb upwards, they found a particularly secluded cave in the rugged mountain path, lit a demonic fire with the red spider lily, and went inside.

"Such a strong demonic aura."

Kikyo commented on this.

"Thank you for the compliment."

The red spider lily couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Monsters love hearing this kind of talk.

The deeper they went, the more intense the noise became, until the final cave entrance, where a burning campfire illuminated numerous demonic shadows.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Higanbana went in and greeted the monsters. This was a gathering place for the core monsters of the forest. She had chosen the location as their meeting place, and basically all the R-rank and above monsters living in the forest stayed here.

The group of monsters, each with a different appearance, were surprised that the spider lily would appear here at this time, but they still bowed their heads respectfully. However, as if they were being swayed, they all showed expressions of fear.

Then, the priestess Kikyo emerged from behind the spider lilies and smiled at them. Her seemingly friendly expression now seemed like a curse from the Grim Reaper.

"what--!"

Finally, one of the monsters came to its senses and cried out in surprise.

"Ah, ahhhhhh—!"

This scream triggered a chain reaction, followed by a group of monsters screaming like pigs being slaughtered, and this violent sound caused even louder shouts.

"Unexpectedly, you are very popular."

The red spider lily turned around and joked with the bellflower.

"I don't think this is a welcome sign."

Kikyo was not surprised at all by this result.

You're quite self-aware, aren't you?

The red spider lily continues to smile.

Chapter Six: Territorial Division

"Lady Higanbana! Why is a human priestess here?"

Finally, a monster asked in terror.

This is the normal attitude of a yokai towards a priestess. They are mortal enemies, and once they meet, it's either you or her. On the contrary, those who are so indifferent to the fate of the spider lily are the odd ones out. Therefore, Kikyo never asks her any questions.

"Isn't it obvious? I brought the priestesses here. What are your opinions? I will take some of them into account and have them engraved on your tombstones."

The red spider lily has exercised her tyranny.

There are no clear rules among monsters; the weak must obey the strong. Therefore, when the words of the Spider Lily fell into place, no monster dared to question her decision.

However, he was still trembling in the corner.

It wasn't a particularly powerful yokai to begin with, so it didn't dare to move in the face of the shrine maiden Kikyo, whose spiritual power was extremely high but which it couldn't fully control and whose aura was constantly leaking out.

"Don't worry, I'll just ask you a few questions."

The spider lilies could also sense that trace of spiritual energy, but they didn't look down on them. They continued, "Have you seen any strange and powerful monsters recently?"

After he finished speaking, the group of monsters exchanged glances, then looked at the spider lily together, clearly asking, "Is the monster you're talking about yourself?"

“Think carefully about everything except me.”

The red spider lily couldn't help but roll its eyes.

"I know, a big guy has recently come to the forest. He seems to be a catfish spirit with an exceptional ability to control water!" a monster replied immediately.

"How come I've never seen it before?"

The red spider lily asked a question in return.

"That guy relied on his ability to control water, so he was particularly reckless for a while, and was sealed away by a nearby shrine maiden. It must have happened about four months ago."

"That monster explained."

Upon hearing this, Higanbana glanced at the shrine maiden Kikyo. It seemed that Kikyo was the only shrine maiden nearby, so why did the yokai have to provoke her of all people?

Faced with the undisguised gaze of the spider lily, Kikyo could only turn her head slightly, too embarrassed to look directly at it, but still said, "It's not that."

Of course I know it wasn't that guy!

The timing doesn't match up.

The red spider lily didn't blame the monster, after all, her request was "as soon as possible". For a monster with a lifespan of at least three or four hundred years, four months was quite a short time, just a matter of taking a few naps.

"I need the next two weeks."

So she simply added more demands.

Now the group of monsters were completely stumped. They looked at each other again, but could only remain silent, clearly not knowing how to answer.

"That's it."

The red spider lily turned and told the bellflower.

"No, thank you so much already. You've saved me time searching the forest."

Kikyo thanked her politely in return.

"that……"

Suddenly a monster spoke.

"……explain."

The red spider lily looked at the monster.

"Although it's just hearsay, the monsters under my command have indeed been talking about it recently. There's an outsider monster in the mountains to the east that's been hunting humans in the villages there."

The monster lowered its head, clearly feeling that it wasn't appropriate to say those words in front of a mere priestess, but it still said them to its leader.

As expected, Kikyo's expression darkened, and she resolved to seal the other party even if it wasn't her target, but she didn't lose her composure in front of Higanbana.

"Features, please provide more details."

The other shore flower continued to press for answers.

"That monster came from the west, and he keeps two giant snakes under his command, one green snake and one..."

"A white snake, and then named Xu Xian?"

"No, the other one is a red snake."

"...That's all."

She thought something interesting would happen, but it was obviously impossible. After muttering something in a way that only she could understand, Higanbana turned around and asked Kikyo, "Is this the monster you're looking for?"

"I think it must be her."

Upon hearing this, Kikyo nodded slightly.

"You didn't just change your mind at the last minute, did you? If that guy isn't your original target, we can ask around elsewhere."

Higanbana couldn't help but say that she really thought Kikyo's straightforward answer might be because she knew that the monster was harming people and decided to exterminate it first, just like in the opening scene, where she chased after the monster under her command into the forest for some reason.

To put it simply, I didn't do many main quests, but I took on a ton of side quests.

"No, the yokai that appeared with snakes—that's how the lord who commissioned me described her." This time, Kikyo refuted Higanbana's words.

"I see..."

The other shore flower didn't think that the bellflower was the kind of person who could lie without batting an eye. If she was right, she should at least have remained silent for a moment.

"...Alright, that's all. You can continue what you were doing." After asking the question, Higanbana stopped paying attention to the monsters and left the cave with Kikyo, afraid that they would suffocate if they stayed any longer.

"Huff, huff-ha huff-ha—"

After their leader and the priestess left, the monsters gasped for breath as if a dam had burst. They had been so tense that they had to hold their breath; it was only because they were strong that their hearts stopped.

……

Outside the cave, Higanbana explained the affairs between yokai to Kikyo: "The mountains to the east are not my territory. Just like the countries in your human world, our world has the same concept, but it is also different. Powerful yokai occupy a piece of land, while even more powerful yokai can seize it again. In short, strength is the standard by which everything is divided."

"The monsters currently occupying that mountain range aren't actually that powerful. The only problem is that they exist there as a race, I think they're called the Demon Wolf Clan. Although they can't defeat me even if they're all together, it's still a bit difficult to wipe them out. So I haven't bothered with them. After all, a territory isn't always better the bigger it is. With my current abilities, I'm not yet able to govern a place that's too large."

"If you want to go to that mountain range, I will grant you permission to enter the forest freely from now on, as long as you do not harm the innocent monsters. From here, the path that only monsters know leads to the depths of the mountain range, which should be of help to you."

After speaking eloquently for a while, the other shore flower even pointed to a certain spot at the foot of the mountain, where a faint, rugged path could be seen upon closer inspection.

"Thank you. You're clearly a yokai, yet you're willing to help me, a shrine maiden." Kikyo's lips curled slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Hey! Your thank-you response is really weird. It's like you were prepared to be rejected from the start, but then the other person actually agreed. Your self-awareness is pretty good in a strange way.

With countless words on the tip of her tongue, she remained silent, maintaining her reserved demeanor. She couldn't afford to let her persona crumble right from the start.

Kikyo just chuckled softly, and the two looked at each other until a gentle breeze blew up their hair, causing a few crimson petals to fall.