How did I, an Onmyoji, become the Lord of Yokai?

A flicker of emotion crossed his usually calm eyes as Ōtakemaru gently turned his head to look at the family member who had served him for three hundred years.

"Young Master, you haven't even had a chance to rest, so how can I?"

"Ha, Haiming, you're still the same. This isn't work time, you don't need to stay with me. Besides... I'll watch for a little longer, you should go back first."

As he spoke, Ōtakemaru turned his head back again.

Gazing at Ōtakemaru's retreating figure, Haiming pursed his lips slightly, a hint of hesitation flashing in his pale eyes, but the next second, that hesitation was replaced by determination.

He paused, gathered his thoughts, and then spoke softly, "Young Master, do you see the shadow of Mr. Shimizu from three hundred years ago in Shimizu Asahi?"

"Ok?"

The sudden words startled Ōtakemaru, who turned around in surprise, "Uminari, you...!?"

“Young Master, before Lord Suzuka left, she spoke to me about that gentleman, so I can understand your feelings to some extent.”

"I see... Suzuka Gozen said that."

Upon hearing Haiming's words, Ōtakemaru finally composed himself. However, he didn't speak again after that. He neither denied nor denied Haiming's question; they both knew the answer even without it being spoken.

Ōtakemaru saw 'himself' in Ōmizu Asahi, just like seeing an object and thinking of a person, he regarded Ōmizu Asahi as 'himself'.

The quiet silence lasted for about two or three minutes, and Ōtakemaru, who had intended to remain silent indefinitely, finally closed his eyes.

"Hai Ming, do you think they look alike?"

“Young Master, although I have heard your story, I have never met you. Whether you resemble me or not, only you and Lord Suzuka know.”

Hai Ming answered softly. He really couldn't answer that question. However, seeing the young master's somewhat suppressed expression, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But, young master already has the answer in his heart, doesn't he?"

"...That's true. If it didn't look like me, why would I be standing here?"

"Hai Ming, do you know what? The moment I saw him, I immediately mistook him for that guy."

“They are so alike… voice, appearance, attitude, aura… even their names are exactly the same. Everything about him is exactly the same as that guy, as if they were made from the same mold… I never knew that there could be people in the world who are so alike.”

"If there's any difference, it's probably the age. When I first met that guy, he was already twenty, while the one in front of us is only sixteen."

A gentle sigh echoed in the night sky, faint memories mixed with the purest longing drifted on the wind. At this moment, Ōtakemaru was like a child missing his family.

He looked at the room with its clear water and bright sunlight, and recounted his story bit by bit.

“Three hundred years ago, he, Suzuka Gozen, and I came here and decided to build our home. During the preparation, we buried a hundred jars of wine together. He said that when the sea kingdom was successfully established and all the sea monsters had a home, we should take out these jars and let everyone drink together.”

"After drinking these drinks, we'll all be true family."

"Actually, these drinks should have been brought out more than two hundred years ago. At that time, Suzuka Mountain already had you, Sasori-onna, Kyukira, Kani-hime, the Seven People's Cape, and many other yokai. Our home had already been established."

“But even though our home has been established, neither Suzuka Gozen nor I have any intention of taking out that sake.”

"Only she and I know that this island is missing a person."

"Young Master..."

Hearing Ōtakemaru's words, Haiming opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something to comfort Ōtakemaru, but the comforting words he used to say came to his lips and then he suddenly stopped... He didn't know what to say.

Shimizu and Chaoyang, Suzuka-yama is a name known to only a handful of people.

Three hundred years ago, this human took Suzuka Gozen away from the island. He spent five years teaching her what family was. Afterward, he brought Suzuka Gozen back to the island and taught her to build a paradise where the sirens could live together.

They worked hard on the island with the still-grown Ootengu. At that time, there were no other people or monsters on the island besides the three of them.

But even under these circumstances, he personally built a ghost ship that made both the siren and the sea kingdom incredibly proud.

Ōtakemaru once asked him why, since sea monsters can move on the sea, they need to build human ships, and this is how he answered Ōtakemaru.

"The ghost ship is the symbol of Suzuka Mountain. No matter which waters they reach, as long as they find the ghost ship, they have found home."

Ōtakemaru still remembers those words to this day.

Besides the ghost ship, he also left behind methods for planting crops, techniques for building houses, and methods for forging weapons. He even left behind books on Yin-Yang arts.

He single-handedly created the Suzuka Mountain we know today.

However, this very person left alone just as Suzuka Mountain was about to rise to prominence.

Nobody knows where he went...

"Haiming, you speak."

Exhaling a soft breath, Ōtakemaru suddenly turned around and asked with a light laugh, "Could he be that guy's descendant?" Chapter 237, Section 240: Shimizu Mio Steps onto the Altar of the Evil God.

The sudden question startled Haiming. He stared blankly at Ōtakemaru for a moment before belatedly realizing what was happening.

However, after realizing what had happened, he opened his mouth but still couldn't give an answer.

"Young Master..."

Admittedly, blood ties can sustain many things that cannot be sustained otherwise. Appearance, personality, and conduct—these things hidden within the human body and flowing in the blood—all require blood ties to connect and maintain.

However, maintaining does not mean carving. Shimizu Asahi is almost 100% similar to Mr. Shimizu from 300 years ago. This is something that blood ties can no longer maintain.

"I know, Haiming, I was just asking casually, you don't need to take it too seriously."

Seeing Haiming still pondering how to answer, Ōtakemaru smiled gently.

He patted the other man on the shoulder and said, "Alright, let's go back and rest. I'm sorry for saying something inappropriate, Haiming."

"Not at all, it is my honor to share the burdens of the young master. It is only ashamed that I can do nothing but listen."

Hai Ming lowered his head, his eyes filled with deep shame and self-dissatisfaction.

"It's just a story, you're taking it too seriously, Haiming."

"Let's go back, we still have things to do tomorrow."

Ōtakemaru suppressed his longing for Mr. Shimizu. Among the many sea monsters of Suzuka Mountain, anyone could become weak because of longing, but he alone could not.

He is the leader of Suzuka Mountain, the nightmare that Suzuka Mountain brings to others. No matter what, he must be strong and absolute, and he will not allow even the slightest thought of longing!

"Yes, young master!"

Respectfully watching Ōtakemaru slowly depart, and only after his young master's figure had completely disappeared, Haiming raised his head and took a deep look at the room where Shimizu Asahi was...

A night breeze blew by unintentionally, and the cool night air was like a pool of clear water, where faint ripples gently appeared. When the night breeze gently stopped, Ōtakemaru and Uminari had already disappeared.

......

Nothing happened that night. The azure night sky quietly disappeared, and the crimson morning sky slowly climbed up the heavens. Gentle sunlight shone through the window and fell into the peaceful room.

Shimizu Asahi and the others were awakened by the sunlight. They woke up around the same time, washed up briefly, and then enjoyed a breakfast unique to Suzuka Mountain.

Once everything was ready, the group headed back towards the deadwood forest.

During yesterday's banquet, Shimizu Asahi told Kamo Keito that the four of them were unable to manage the crew because they had to help Suzukayama resolve its troubles. Therefore, he asked her to take over the management and keep an eye on the crew while he investigated the Suzukayama incident, ensuring that they did not do anything that violated Suzukayama's rules.

Kamo Keito also gave a very serious guarantee, and with her guarantee, Shimizu Asahi felt much more at ease.

Before long, the four of them arrived at the deadwood forest once again.

Standing outside the forest of dead trees, Shimizu Asahi stroked his chin slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Let's split up and take a look first. Although Ōtakemaru may have already searched every corner of this place, we still need to investigate it ourselves."

"What you see with your own eyes is always much clearer than what others tell you."

As mentioned before, there can only be two reasons why Suzuka Mountain is in this situation: either Suzuka Mountain itself is hiding a secret, or someone wants to kill Suzuka Mountain.

Since the possibility of the second reason is almost zero, they focused their attention on the first reason.

"That's true. It might be faster to search from the outside in. How about we do it that way?"

Ibuki squinted and offered a small suggestion.

“Indeed, this will make things easier. Let’s search like this. I’ll be in charge of the north side.” Qing Nufang nodded slightly and confirmed the area she was responsible for.

"Then I'll go south."

"Then I'll head west."

Afterwards, Ibuki and Ari also determined their areas of responsibility, and Shimizu Asahi could only shrug helplessly and say, "Since you've all decided, I can only choose the east."

"Hehe... Well then, everyone, let's get started."

Ibuki rarely raised her arm and giggled, and as her voice rang out, everyone began to move.

The eastern area that Shimizu Asahi was in charge of was actually right here, so after the three girls left, he immediately began searching.

What exactly the secret hidden in Suzuka Mountain is, Ōtakemaru doesn't know, and naturally he can't know either. However, no matter what, he should first find out the suspicious places, and then explore them one by one. If none of them work, then he should think of other ways.

While Shimizu Asahi and the others were exploring the deadwood forest, Ōtakemaru brought Uminari to the other side of Mount Suzuka.

Just as Shimizu Asahi just said, Ōtakemaru and the others have searched every possible place in the Deadwood Forest, but still haven't found anything.

At least for them, they couldn't find any more information.

Therefore, Ōtakemaru and his men turned their attention to other parts of Mount Suzuka.

No one stipulates that the place where the anomaly occurs must have the source of the anomaly. The source of the problem is Mount Suzuka, therefore, there is a possibility of finding the cause in every corner of Mount Suzuka.

Although this reason is far-fetched, so what? As long as there is even the slightest possibility of finding a reason, they will not let it go.

only......

Yunzhi Yun, who had set off with Ōtakemaru, was somewhat puzzled. He looked at Ōtakemaru and asked, "Young Master, why don't you let them explore other parts of Suzuka Mountain? We've already searched the Deadwood Forest; there's no way we'll find anything new."

“Yun, you said it yourself, that’s us, not them.”

“What we care about is not exactly the same as what they care about. Some things that are commonplace in our eyes seem unusual to them. Therefore, no one can be sure that they will not discover new problems.”

Ōtakemaru shook his head and replied very rationally, "In any case, the Deadwood Forest is still the most likely place to find the problem. Sending them there to look for clues is definitely not a bad thing."

"I see... I understand now, young master."

Yun nodded as if he suddenly understood.

"Good, that's good. Okay, let's continue the search..."

Ōtakemaru was about to have Yun continue the search when, suddenly, Uminari's voice came from the side.

"Young Master, look over here!"

The sudden shout drew their attention. Yun and Ōtakemaru turned their heads at the same time, and then a withered little grass came into their view!

"What...what's going on!?"

......