Don't force me to use my right fist.

Although she was somewhat interested in the pure Shikon Jewel at the time, Tamamo-no-Mae wasn't the kind of yokai who would steal other people's things without having the strength to secure a victory.

Snapping her fingers, Tamamo-no-Mae felt that her hints were clear enough.

"Stop hinting. You're just urging me to deal with the monsters in that area you mentioned, but you should at least tell me the location first, right?"

Sōyū waved his hand, saying that this was something he himself had brought up, so it was only right that he handle it himself.

"You're setting off right now? Don't you need to prepare? Or perhaps you'd like to enjoy the splendor of the world first? You know, with my status, I could even introduce you to the current princess."

Even she hadn't expected Saku to be so enthusiastic. Looking at Saku, Tamamo-no-Mae thought he would make some unreasonable demands or conditions. Was it really that easy to talk things out?

If it weren't for the obvious absence of the demon clan's signature horn on Sōyū's head, Tamamo-no-Mae would have thought she was dealing with one of those straightforward guys.

No wonder Yongyi said she really liked this kid; he was indeed very pleasant to deal with.

No, I'm in a hurry.

Zuo You shrugged. How beautiful could girls be in this era? He didn't even care about the stunning beauty before him, so why should he care about those who didn't even wear makeup?

Tamamo-no-Mae was still somewhat confused. Judging from his behavior just now, he didn't seem to have any particular interest in homosexuality. If he didn't like women or men, what could he possibly like?

"I never said I didn't like beautiful women, I just didn't have the interest or time. When it's time to work, I'll work hard; when it's time to fight, I'll fight hard. I'll just do my job well."

Sōyū rolled his eyes. Only a fox with such an unpredictable personality could come up with something like suddenly inviting him to go see beautiful women when they were having a perfectly good discussion about how to deal with the monsters.

"Then I don't see you showing any special feelings towards me or Yuugi. Was my original appearance not attractive enough to you?"

Tamamo-no-Mae lowered her head and approached Saya. Her face quickly transformed into that of the fox-eared girl Saya had seen before, and she gave him a teasing smile.

It's alright, but now, could you take me to that place with the youkai that supposedly possesses the power of the Shikon Jewel shards? I really don't want to drag this out.

Saku pushed Tamamo-no-Mae's face aside, complaining to her irritably. He felt like she just wanted to make him laugh. This was a matter concerning demons; couldn't she take it a little more seriously?

It seems that her later lazy nature had already begun to show signs from this point on. Things that have been decided will be fine.

Seeing that Saya was indeed getting impatient, Tamamo-no-Mae quickly calmed down. She had only been curious about how Saya had won Yuugi's favor, and now that he was getting down to business, it was no longer appropriate to continue joking.

"If I give you the specific location, can you get there by yourself? I'm actually in a bit of a rush, too. We need to prepare well for the Great Harvest, otherwise it would be a waste of so much faith. Go and take Zuoyou to that place."

"I don't think it's feasible. Don't you have anyone you can trust to take me? My sense of direction is, how should I put it, my only weakness."

Saya scratched his head. Unless Tamamo-no-Mae could pinpoint exactly how many meters he needed to change direction, given his terrible sense of direction, even if he knew the location, it would be extremely difficult for him to find the right spot.

"...Alright, then I'll see you off. Don't let me down."

For a moment, Tamamo-no-Mae, unsure of how to respond to Saga, sighed and poured the tea in front of her directly onto the ground in front of Saga.

The tea reflected Saya's figure, and after Tamamo-no-Mae casually waved her hand above, the mirror-like surface of the water rippled, and space itself distorted within the reflected scene.

"Can this move be learned without demonic power?" wh

Zuoyou looked up at the yokai Onmyoji in front of him with the same expectant look as a curious child. He had been craving teleportation skills for countless years. For someone who was terrible with directions, that would be an absolute god-tier skill, almost like a bug.

Standing behind Saya, Tamamo-no-Mae casually pushed him into the strangely shimmering water, adding a comment as she did so.

"Once you get there, you'll know where the things are. I'll come pick you up once I'm done here. Just wait for me where you are."

Chapter 412 The Strange House

Sōyu quickly understood why Tamamo-no-Mae said she would know where the place was once she arrived.

Sawa, who was thrown from a height of 100 meters, casually adjusted his position and accurately placed a bucket of water under his feet before landing steadily on the ground.

Looking at the enormous mansion that seemed to have sprung from nowhere in the mountains, aside from everything else, the massive cherry tree within it, which seemed to blot out the sky, was enough for Sōyū to know what his purpose was.

After quickly tidying himself up, Saya picked up his Crescent Blade and walked towards the house. He had a strange sense of déjà vu.

There's no doubt that the monster Tamamo-no-Mae mentioned is lurking in this house, but the steps leading up the mountain feel strangely similar to those at Ryudou Temple, which I climbed before.

As Saya frowned and walked up the stairs toward the somewhat eerie and desolate-looking house, he also noticed the strange things that happened along the way.

The higher you go, the less you can feel the wind and grass around you. Not to mention birdsong, even the chirping of insects can't be heard halfway up the mountain.

There was only deathly silence.

This poses a significant problem for the surrounding forest environment.

While ordinary monsters can also create such commotion, it requires deliberate effort. If birds and insects are already avoiding it passively, it can only mean that the monster's power is absolutely of no benefit to living beings.

As Zuoyou watched the various small and wild animal skeletons that began to appear as they rose upwards, his brows furrowed even more.

Judging from the corpses of these creatures, Sawa could be certain that they were not attacked and killed by anything. If anything, it was more like they had anticipated their death and came here specifically to die, treating this place as a graveyard.

Without stopping his upward journey, Saya continued walking towards the house with the huge trees.

Even stranger things gradually came to light. The mountaintop, which looked lush and green from the foot of the mountain, turned into a field of withered trees and yellow leaves after Saya arrived.

The most dramatic change was probably to the cherry tree that, from the outside, looked incredibly lush and full of life, peeking out from inside the house.

When Sōyū looked up, the tree seemed to have died long ago. Its dense leaves had vanished, leaving only brown branches that, like withered bones, had blocked out the sky and drooped helplessly to one side.

Forget about feeling any vitality; this tree looks like a corpse that has long since withered and died, with only its shell remaining.

"Has vitality been stripped away? This is getting stranger and stranger."

Sōyū glanced down at the status bar beside him and, to make sure he hadn't been affected for the time being, picked up the Jugetsu Blade from his backpack just to be on the safe side.

In case of any special circumstances, the sword that allows you to double jump and block projectiles is definitely the best emergency weapon.

As Saya continued uphill, he soon arrived at the entrance of the house, and the scenery here was completely different from what he had seen at the foot of the mountain.

Countless skeletons were piled up on both sides of what appeared to be cleaned steps. Not only were there the skeletons of large wild beasts, but Sawa even saw the corpses of some strange animals that were practically equivalent to monsters.

The trees that should have surrounded the house had long since been corrupted black by some unknown force, and their twisted branches and trunks exuded an eerie aura, resembling withered bones.

"Do not go any further, young swordsman. This is not a place for living beings."

An old voice came from the entrance of the house, which aroused a sense of curiosity in Sōyū.

How could there be other people in such a gloomy place? And judging from the way he said it, he seems to be the kind of person who is relatively friendly to humans?

Sōyū, who couldn't believe that anyone good could come from this environment, shrank back and took another step forward, wanting to see clearly who was talking to him.

However, a sword aura flew out from the direction of the mountain gate, leaving a sword mark on the steps in front of Zuoyou, as if telling some final warning.

"Although I don't know why you're stopping me, I have my own reasons for needing to go in." whl

Sōyū glanced down at the sword mark blocking his path, gripped the hilt of the Jugetsu Blade, and stepped over the sword mark once more, walking towards the gate of the house.

Although the other party might have meant well in stopping him, Sawa felt he still couldn't accept such good intentions.

Just as Sawa was standing at the gate of the house, feeling like a minor character in a horror movie rushing to his death, he saw a sword aura attacking him once again.

It wasn't fast, but if he continued forward, he would most likely be split in two by this sword energy.

Fortunately, Sōyū was not an ordinary human, and he was not forced back by such a sword aura. He drew the Jugetsu Blade from its sheath, and after gliding through the air in a pinkish-cherry blossom-like trajectory, he blocked the incoming sword aura.

"Oh? It's a good knife."

Seemingly surprised by Saya's move, an old man with a white beard, dressed in a green swordsman's uniform and carrying two swords, one long and one short, walked out from behind the main gate of the house. He looked at the Tsukuyomi sword in Saya's hand and said...

"It's a pity, though. It's a fine sword, but if it's in the hands of someone who doesn't understand swordsmanship at all, then it's a waste of a precious resource."

Seemingly feeling sorry for the Tsukuyomi Blade in Saya's hand, the old man sighed silently before looking at the boy in front of him with his eyes, which were no longer those of a normal human and consisted only of white.

"So it's not too late to leave now; this is really not a place for the living."

The white-haired old man slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the long sword at his waist, crouching slightly as he gave Sōyū a final warning.

Chapter 413 Learning Teleportation, Now Learning Swordsmanship

The other party spoke with great conviction and made a lot of sense.

Unfortunately, Sawa is not someone who can accept this principle right now.

Having finally arrived here, and having promised Tamamo-no-Mae to handle the matter concerning the Shikon Jewel fragments, leaving like this would be tantamount to Saya. Furthermore, as the old man before him fully unleashed his aura, Saya finally realized a crucial issue.

This thing isn't human, which is one thing, but why does it feel like there's the aura of a Shikon Jewel shard within its body?

What puzzled Saya even more was that the aura of the Shikon Jewel was clearly corrupted, but the old man in front of him seemed completely unaffected. He not only maintained his rationality but also kept urging Saya to leave.

But no matter what, if I don't leave, this battle is probably unavoidable.

After a moment's thought, as if to show respect to the old man, Saya also gripped the hilt of the Yuzuki Blade and half-squatted down. Since they were both swordsmen, let's prove our resolve with our swords.

Although Sawa wasn't exactly a swordsman, and didn't even know any kind of swordsmanship, swordsmanship is essentially a killing technique. If you're fast enough and strong enough, that's enough.

At least that's what Saya himself thinks.

After warning Saya, the old man, who hadn't spoken again, understood Saya's meaning after seeing his actions. A slight smile appeared on his lips, and he transformed into a streak of green light and disappeared from the spot.

A metallic clang, like the sound of metal striking metal, came from in front of Sōyū. The pink Yuzuki-no-Tsurugi and the longsword with a pink tassel at the end of its hilt collided and bounced apart.

The old man's speed was faster than Saya had expected, and Saya wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like he was slightly faster than his opponent. However, that last sword strike...

Before Saku could even figure out why this was happening, the longsword, which should have been deflected by the impact, swung towards him again at an extremely strange angle.

Not only that, the old man also held a shorter dagger at his waist, and the trajectory of the long dagger followed immediately, heading straight for Saya's chest. At this moment, Saya felt that the Crescent Moon Blade in his hand had become an obstacle preventing him from dodging. Not only could he not retract his sword to parry, but he was also prevented from even reaching out to block the attack because he was holding the hilt.

"Is this swordsmanship?"

Sōyū sighed inwardly. It seemed that he had encountered a master swordsman this time. He could usually make up for his lack of swordsmanship by relying on strength and speed, but if he really fought against these sword masters, his weaknesses would be magnified infinitely.

Fortunately, Saya doesn't rely on swordsmanship as his primary attack method; his katana is just one of his many offensive techniques. His yuzuki-no-tsuki vanished into thin air, replaced by a shield as large as a board, blocking the two attacks that weren't fatal to him.

Mengdi, having retreated to a relatively safer location, moved his shield aside and looked at the white-haired old man who had stopped attacking because he had left the entrance to the mansion.

I admit, you're stronger in kendo. That's all.

"I've already said it, the sword is a good sword, but if you haven't thoroughly understood your sword and treat it purely as a tool, you're just wasting its potential."

Slowly sheathing his two long swords, the white-haired old man patiently explained to Saya, as if he were educating a younger generation, pointing out the reasons for his failure.

"To enter the house, do I have to break through your defenses in swordsmanship?"

Sōyu nodded in agreement with the old man's words. Of course, he knew that profound swordsmanship required one's own sword intent, but no one had taught him this, and it was something that could not be comprehended by one person alone.

"No, you only need to prove your strength. At the very least, you need to prove that you can avoid being devoured by the monster inside and instead provide it with extra nourishment."

The old man's tone was contradictory, as if he were guarding something in the house while simultaneously hoping someone would end it all.