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

A faint sense of doubt arose in the minds of the young students.

Inside the cell, the burly man looked at the girl hanging upside down, his eyes filled with envy. "If I could catch a mermaid, I'd be willing to work myself to death for her."

"Hey bro, if she cries just once, we'll be set for life."

"Of course I know, but if we just sit around and do nothing, we'll run out of money. No matter how much money we have, it will all be gone eventually. Besides, who would complain about having too much money? Moreover, once she cries, she'll definitely cry a second and a third time. In that case, we'll decide how much money she wants."

"That makes sense. The first time is often the hardest. Once you get past the first time, it gets much easier afterwards."

The burly man looked at the muscular man's thoughtful expression and burst into laughter.

"Haha, bro, you're not actually dreaming that we'll catch a mermaid, are you?"

"Even if we encounter merfolk at sea, we dare not touch them. You heard about what happened this morning, right? That sea monster caused a huge disturbance today, sinking countless ships and cargo. Unless we have the strength of Lord Minamoto no Mitsuaki, it's best not to mess with merfolk."

"That...that makes sense." The muscular man rubbed his head, then sighed and said, "Those sailors and merchants suffered heavy losses."

"It was indeed a heavy loss, but so what? It has nothing to do with us anyway, since we don't need to go out to sea."

"It's just a bit of a sigh... This siren was clearly brought about by you, sir, and should have been dealt with by you. The losses suffered by the people should also have been borne by you, but in the end, it was the sailors and merchants who suffered."

"Brother, don't talk nonsense. This was all caused by monsters, it has nothing to do with adults."

Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately reminded the strong man.

"Brother, there are only the two of us here. You're being too cautious." The muscular man gave him a slightly amused look.

"Crack!"

As the muscular man uttered those words, a crisp cracking sound suddenly rang out.

The two people who were chatting and laughing suddenly froze, then quickly turned around. The next moment, the heavy wooden door that should have been closed was violently pushed open.

A young man emerged from the secret passage.

His expression was gloomy and cold, his five fingers clenched into fists—his taut skin revealed an uncontrollable rage!

"So that's how it is. It all started because of Genji..."

The young man's calm yet trembling voice echoed in the cell, sending a wave of intense unease through the two men. For some reason, they felt as if they were facing a monster...

The atmosphere, as if even the air itself had frozen, instilled fear in them involuntarily.

"Who...who are you? This is Genji territory! Don't...don't do anything reckless!"

The burly man swallowed hard, a fierce expression on his face, but his uncontrollable trembling betrayed his panic.

Without responding to the burly man's words, the young man took a step forward amidst their trembling gazes.

The moment his foot touched the ground, a deafening explosion rang out—his thin body appeared before the burly man in the blink of an eye, his tightly clenched fist landing on the man's face with a sharp, explosive sound.

"boom!!"

A dull thud sounded as flesh clashed against flesh, and then he was sent flying.

"boom!"

The next second, his body slammed into the wall, a heavy thud echoing through the air, and then he lost consciousness.

"Wait, no, don't... Ah!!!"

The strong man's eyes widened when he saw the burly man unconscious, and he begged for mercy in terror. But the next second, intense pain engulfed him like a tidal wave.

He, like the burly man, also fell into a coma.

After knocking out the two Onmyoji, the anger that had been suppressed in his heart erupted, and Shimizu Asahi's facial features contorted.

He never imagined that an Onmyoji from a large family would do such a thing for the sake of so-called profit.

Torture monsters, bring calamities, abandon the people—doing such things solely for personal gain... Is this what an Onmyoji, who guards a region, should do?

Onmyoji... weren't they created to protect the people?

"asshole!"

The young student swung his arm and punched the solid wall.

The force he applied without holding back shattered the stone wall, but it also tore his flesh.

Blood flowed slowly from the wound, quickly staining his palm red.

The excruciating pain brought him to a slightly clearer head.

Although the anger in his heart made him somewhat unable to control himself, the most urgent task at present was to rescue the girl!

If we can save her, we can appease the siren's wrath.

Shimizu Asahi took a deep breath and then walked up to the girl.

He looked at the girl's injuries, a flicker of heartache and anger... as well as guilt and self-blame flashing in his eyes.

If he had acted sooner...

With her lips pursed, Qing Shui Chaoyang suppressed her anger once again.

"Hang in there, I'll save you right away."

The chains binding the girl are imbued with powerful Yin-Yang magic, which cannot be broken by brute force. The only way to free her is to break the Yin-Yang magic.

An ordinary Onmyoji might not be able to undo this Onmyo magic, but fortunately, Shimizu Asahi is a bit stronger than an ordinary Onmyoji.

After breaking the Yin-Yang barrier, he carefully laid the girl down and then used a small healing spell to stabilize her injuries. Once he was sure the girl was alright, Shimizu Asahi gently picked her up and prepared to leave.

But suddenly, the sound of the artificial hill separating came from inside the secret passage.

The young students were startled.

Someone's here!?

P.S.: Waaaaah, I'll try to update three chapters tomorrow!

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Successful Rescue

In the dark and silent prison cell, an oil lamp burned quietly, its orange flame illuminating everything around it, including the man standing there dumbfounded in the dimly lit passageway.

Seeing the scene before him—two foreign Onmyoji lying unconscious on the ground, their chains broken, and the merman who had vanished—Minamoto no Mitsuki stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief. He even temporarily forgot to breathe.

"N-It's gone!?"

A chill ran down his spine and up to his tingling scalp. Minamoto Mitsuchi rushed to the spot where the merman had been chained, screaming, "Impossible! How could this be?! Why is it gone?! The Yin-Yang magic on the chains was personally inscribed by my brother. No demon or Onmyoji could break them without the strength of a great demon. How could this be?!"

Onmyoji is an official profession without a hierarchical system. Titles like "Junior Attendant" and "Senior Attendant" are merely official ranks and do not represent actual strength. Therefore, there is no concrete hierarchy among Onmyoji.

However, although Onmyoji themselves do not have a division of realms, their opponents, the yokai, are clearly divided.

Long ago, monsters were classified into three levels: minor monsters, ordinary monsters, and major monsters.

"Small monsters" refer to those monsters that have not been born for long and have no ability to harm humans; "ordinary monsters" refer to monsters that have grown up and have the ability to kill humans; and "great monsters" refer to monsters that are capable of causing havoc in a region and making the local people suffer.

However, as is well known, the quality of great demons varies greatly. Some powerful great demons can talk and laugh with gods, or even surpass gods, such as Shuten-dōji and Ibuki-dōji.

Some powerful demons, however, could only live in seclusion, meekly and subservient, and bully the common people.

Later, in order to more accurately define the power of monsters, people classified those monsters that could destroy the world at any time and called them Demon Kings.

Thus, the hierarchy among monsters was divided into four levels: minor monsters, ordinary monsters, major monsters, and demon kings.

Minamoto no Mitsuaki is a great Onmyoji who guards Kyoto Port. His strength is comparable to that of the strongest yokai. Apart from the demon kings of various regions, very few yokai can rival him.

Therefore, only beings at the level of great demons can break through the Yin-Yang magic he has set up.

"Could it be that sea monster!?"

In his panic, Minamoto no Mitsuchika immediately thought of Umibozu in Kyoto Port.

Only it has the ability to infiltrate this mansion and take away the merman.

"boom!"

Damn it!

"What are those guys who're in charge of guarding the barrier doing?!"

The wooden table creaked from the angry fist, and Minamoto Mitsuchika muttered curses under his breath.

If the merman is really rescued by Umibozu, then all their efforts will have been in vain!

"No, we must inform my brother immediately!"

Yuan Guangqin gritted his teeth, preparing to leave the secret room. But at that moment, he suddenly noticed that the chains on the ground... were intact.

"this....!?"

Most demons don't understand Yin-Yang magic, and when faced with this kind of imprisoning Yin-Yang magic, they can only break it with brute force... However, the chains in front of them are intact, showing no signs of being forcibly removed.

It's obvious that this wasn't done by a monster.

"Damn it, is it another Onmyoji?!"

Yuan Guangqin cursed under his breath, and then ran out without hesitation.

Although it's unclear why other Onmyoji infiltrated, whatever the reason, that Onmyoji is doomed!

Minamoto no Mitsuaki went to great lengths to possess the merfolk, and he would never let go of any guy who had designs on them!

As the slight tremor subsided, the gloomy cell fell silent once more.

.....

'Has that guy... left?'

Two or three seconds after Minamoto Mitsuki left the cell, two figures suddenly appeared in the left corner of the cell—Shimizu Asahi and the mermaid girl in his arms!

The young students breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at the dark, silent passageway that had fallen silent once more.

Upon realizing someone had entered, Shimizu Asahi immediately grabbed the girl and hid in a corner.

There was only one room and one passageway, and it was impossible to escape without being seen by anyone who came in. Therefore, he could only use invisibility to hide himself and the girl.

They were trying to avoid the crisis.

However, invisibility is a very basic Yin-Yang technique, and most skilled Yin-Yang masters can see through it at a glance. Therefore, Shimizu Asahi is very worried that her invisibility technique will be discovered.

If he were seen through, he would have no choice but to fight his way out with the girl... Fortunately, the Onmyoji he just met wasn't very skilled and didn't see through his invisibility technique.

However, the crisis was not over yet. The person had already gone to inform Minamoto no Mitsuaki that they had to escape before Minamoto no Mitsuaki could react.