I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Autumn leaves walk toward the shrine.

"Are we just going to walk in like this?"

Lu Ban followed behind her.

What did I just say to you?

Hongye paused slightly and turned her head to ask.

"Good luck?"

Lu Ban immediately replied.

"barrier."

Red leaves, helpless.

“I’m using a barrier spell now. Normal priestesses can’t see us, as long as you get close enough, just like before.”

"I see!"

Lu Ban thought this ability seemed quite convenient.

If I could master this ability, wouldn't I be able to ride roller coasters indefinitely without having to wait in line?

He couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

Lu Ban and Hongye walked hand in hand toward the worship hall.

The shrine was indeed deserted at night; the offering box stood empty and forlorn. Momiji arrived at the front of the hall and looked around.

“Strange, even at night, there should still be shrine officials on duty at the shrine.”

The imposing building now resembled a monster, baring its fangs and casting shadows that were chilling.

Behind the pillar, under the shimenawa ropes, and behind the ema (votive plaques), it seemed as if something was spying on the two, waiting for its chance to strike.

"It seems like no one has been here for a long time."

Lu Ban reached out and gently touched the top of the donation box. He had just glanced at it and there was indeed no money to take.

The fingertips were covered in a thick layer of dust, not like someone had cleaned them.

"You just said that when was the island of Sakae first shrouded in fog?"

"A month ago..."

Hongye seemed to have thought of something, and pulled Lu Ban along quickly toward the main hall.

Then, Hongye and Luban witnessed that despairing scene.

The shrine maidens, dressed in white robes and crimson hakama, sat in a row along the roadside, facing each other.

They were all wearing masks of the society's patronage, and remained motionless.

Behind the priestess stood a person dressed in a white hunting robe, with the same mask covering their face, equally motionless.

These people seemed to be performing some grand and important ceremony, giving off a solemn and dignified feeling.

At the end of the road, on a platform, sat a priestess.

The witch was not wearing a mask, revealing her face.

It was a face that was pale and bluish-black, seemingly devoid of life.

She remained seated upright, and that's how she died.

Lu Ban was also very clear at this moment that everyone present was already dead.

They have been dead for a month.

From the very beginning, when the Uncertain Fog invaded, everyone in the Utajima Shrine had already perished.

Their bodies were left untouched and left to rot without anyone moving or handling them.

"So……"

Lu Ban thought to himself.

"Who was the magistrate who inspected us when we arrived on the island?"

Chapter 104 The Fog Has Risen

Before answering Lu Ban's question, Hongye realized something more important.

"It's getting foggy."

A faint mist rose from the corpses.

These mists looked no different from the mountain mists, but Lu Ban's intuition told him that they were dangerous.

Ultimately, it's highly suspicious that the bodies of these people, who died a month ago, have remained uncorrupted.

According to his limited knowledge of biology, after a person dies, the microorganisms in the body should begin to decompose the body. A body that has been in the wild for a month, in such a humid environment, would have long since become unrecognizable without preservation treatment.

But the bodies were perfectly intact.

Lu Ban could only think that all the microorganisms in these corpses and in the air had died.

So, what can do that?

The fog began to dissipate, drifting towards Lu Ban and Hongye with the wind.

"It's time to run away."

Lu Ban immediately grabbed Hongye's wrist and dragged her outside.

However, outside the shrine, a thick fog seemed to be enveloping them as well.

"Try not to breathe in this fog, cough cough."

Hongye coughed and covered her mouth with her sleeve.

She and Lu Ban exchanged a glance, and seeing that the pure white mist was about to envelop the road down the mountain, they rushed straight towards it.

Lu Ban casually scooped the bottle into the fog and quickly put the cap back on.

The two entered the fog.

Unlike normal fog, this fog doesn't feel moist; when it hits your face, it feels like a sandstorm with a distinct grainy texture.

Even with his mouth and nose covered, Lu Ban still inhaled a little mist. Instantly, he felt a burning sensation in his throat and lungs. The fine particles in the air combined with the alveoli, blocking their oxygen intake channels. Instead, the mist flowed into his bloodstream, triggering further changes.

Lu Ban's eyes were bloodshot, as if they were about to overflow. He glanced at Hongye beside him. This priestess also had bloodshot eyes, and the whites of her eyes were full of blood vessels. However, a faint light emanated from Hongye's body, which seemed to form a barrier to prevent the fog from invading.

"Is this the 'technique'?"

The supernatural system of this world seems to be based on spells and barriers centered around the prayers of priestesses. Lu Ban and Hongye rushed out of the mist and returned to the mountain path full of torii gates in a rather disheveled state.

The mist continued to swirl around the mountaintop, like a wild beast. Lu Ban could even see the mist rising and falling like breathing. However, most of the mist quickly gathered and disappeared.

The faint light on Hongye's body disappeared. She coughed for a while, spitting out a few mouthfuls of dark blood. When she turned her head, she saw that Lu Ban was already lying on the ground.

"Cough cough, cough cough..."

Lu Ban coughed incessantly, the sound like his throat was being torn apart. This persistent and violent cough was enough to cause the muscles in his back to cramp. He curled up into a ball. When Hongye approached, she saw that dark blood was flowing from Lu Ban's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

"Erosion...it's the erosion of filth..."

Momiji had no idea that the Kazushima Shrine had completely fallen, and even the shrine maiden in charge had died. This meant that the shrine administration on Utajima was completely paralyzed, and the ordinary people on the island would have no power to resist the influence of the filth on the sea.

No, perhaps she should have realized that when she saw that bloody, fleshy monster rushing into the street, Momiji should have understood that the island had undergone unimaginable changes. It was just that the shrine magistrates responsible for the initial investigation made her lower her guard. After all, as a shrine maiden of the island shrine, Momiji knew very well how difficult it was to control a shrine on an island.

She could never have imagined that her proud Wajima Shrine would be so utterly vulnerable in the face of that power whose true form was yet to be known.

But now is not the time to dwell on faith. As Hongye reached out, preparing to use a purification spell to treat Lu Ban, she saw the man's cough turn into vomiting. He bent over and vomited out a filthy, black substance.

The thing was the size of a palm, shocking to the eye, making Hongye's eyelids twitch.

If the corrosion reaches this level, Lu Ban's life might also be in danger...

Upon closer inspection, as she tried to discern what kind of internal organ it was, she discovered that the filthy thing was actually a clump of grass.

Like a clump of grass that a cow has eaten and then ruminated on, that sticky, disgusting stuff really is a clump of grass.

Lu Ban vomited a second vomit, a third vomit, and so on until he vomited a tenth vomit. Only then did the coughing and vomiting subside slightly, and the violent trembling of his body calmed down.

Hongye saw that Lu Ban's arm was pierced by thorns, his body was covered with ivy-like plants, and several twigs hung from the corner of his mouth like saliva.

"...Why are you backing away?"

When Lu Ban saw that the shrine maiden suddenly took several steps back and adopted a defensive posture, he asked her a question.

Are you alright?

Hongye asked in a deep voice, staring at Lu Ban with a slightly wary look.

This appearance is far beyond the degree of erosion; it's no different from those humanoid monsters that have been severely polluted and mutated... Any further down, and it'll probably be real filth.

Kureha had witnessed her parents, the villagers she knew, and her familiar friends being corrupted and transformed into monsters by the filth, begging her to kill them in agony. After becoming a shrine maiden, she also saw people who originally had their own lives, their own dreams, and lived ordinary lives, but were turned into mindless monsters by the unintentional passage of natural disasters.

Seeing Lu Ban's appearance, Hongye felt a surge of emotion, but she immediately suppressed it.

"No problem, it's a pity there's no sun right now, otherwise it would heal even faster."

As Lu Ban spoke, he pulled the twigs out of his mouth one by one. The twigs were very long, as if they were flowing back from his stomach, mixed with gastric juices and black, foul blood.

"Don't worry, I'm just an ordinary person. These are my friends who help me digest, you know? Just like chickens eat stones to help grind their feed, turtles also eat stones to help digest. That's what they are."

He explained earnestly.

"...You call this an ordinary person?"

Hongye glanced at the branches on the ground that were still trembling and crawling like worms.

"By the way... are you alright?"

Lu Ban seemed to remember something and looked to the side.

This made Hongye take another half step back, because there was no one by Lu Ban's side at all!

Who are you talking to?

Hongye immediately asked.

"My air friend, and doesn't everyone on the island have an air friend?"