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

No matter what, you must never complain of being tired!

PS: There should be a third update... yeah, probably.

Section 51, Chapter Fifty-One: The Problematic Village

On the quiet official road, Qingshui Chaoyang and Qingnufang walked side by side.

The two would occasionally exchange words and conversations, but since Qingnvfang would not take the initiative to start a conversation, it was mostly Shimizu Asahi who talked and she listened.

"Oh, right, the Green Maiden's Room."

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Shimizu Asahi turned his head slightly and looked at the blue-haired girl beside him.

Do you know why monsters suddenly launched large-scale attacks on humans?

Although monsters and humans are hostile and wary of each other, and remote villages far from cities are often attacked by monsters, such a large-scale operation has never occurred.

Why did these monsters suddenly act together?

At first, Shimizu Asahi speculated that this was a conspiracy by the Demon King. After all, only the Demon King, who reigned over so many demons, could command them.

But after careful consideration, he felt it was unlikely that the Demon King was responsible.

If the demon kings want to attack humans, they should just openly lead their troops to fight. This hesitant behavior is not their style.

Moreover, the demon kings can only command the demons living within their respective territories. In other words, even if they adopt this hesitant approach, it is impossible for it to have such a wide impact.

Unless... the demon kings join forces.

However, this is impossible.

As regional overlords, each of the demon kings is powerful enough to rival Heian-kyo. Unless they are truly determined to destroy Heian-kyo, they have no need to join forces.

But if it wasn't the Demon King who did it, then who was?

Who has the ability to control so many monsters?

"do not know."

Faced with the young students' questions, Qingnvfang quietly gave a single answer.

After speaking, the girl paused slightly, then turned her pale yellow eyes toward the young student.

"You want to find out the reason behind this?"

“Yes, although the situation in Heian-kyo is relatively good now, we can’t solve this problem at its root without figuring out the reasons.” Shimizu Asahi nodded gently.

"Yeah....."

"Although I don't know the reason for this, I have a clue."

After calmly glancing at the clear water and rising sun, Qing Nufang said, "Before arriving at that village, I passed through more than a dozen villages and encountered eight monsters."

"Although they are all different races, I felt that they were all somewhat excited."

"Excitement?" The young student blinked, muttering the word with some confusion.

"It's like longing for something."

"Desire?" Shimizu Asahi was taken aback for a moment, but then his expression turned grim. "You mean...murder?"

"I don't know. My task for Kamo Tadashi was to protect the village; nothing else was my concern."

The girl looked away and replied casually.

"I see..."

His grim expression gradually softened, and the young student murmured thoughtfully, "However, this is also a direction. If we encounter monsters, we can try to investigate from this angle."

"Thank you, Qingnufang, you've been a great help."

"There's no need to thank me. You would have found out even if I hadn't said anything."

"That being said, if you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have considered it in that direction from the beginning."

The two talked as they traveled, and before they knew it, two hours had passed, and they arrived safely at the second village.

This is a relatively large village. Although it is not as prosperous as the ancient wine village, it still has basic infrastructure such as hotels and taverns.

After entering the village, Shimizu Asahi led Aonobo to stay at an inn.

After putting down his luggage, he opened the window and looked out over the entire village.

Unlike the previous village, this village was very peaceful, with happy smiles on the faces of every villager. Upon entering, Shimizu Asahi seemed to be infected by the peaceful atmosphere.

He took a deep breath and said with relief, "Great, it seems there's no problem here."

"Let's rest here for a while. When it's almost time, I'll go set up a barrier around the village. Once the barrier is complete, we'll head to the next village."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to reach the next village by tonight."

"Okay, whatever you say." Qingnufang gave a soft "okay."

She sat quietly in her seat, her pale yellow eyes seemingly casually glancing out the window.

The monster's body endowed her with features far exceeding those of ordinary people, allowing her to clearly see the scenery outside the window even while sitting on a wooden chair.

The sky was very blue, like a blue gemstone, and the dazzling sun shone in the sky, as if adorning this huge gemstone.

Qingnufang had never seen such a blue sky.

Although the girl's gaze wasn't particularly focused, the young student still sensed a faint longing in her eyes.

His gaze unconsciously drifted towards the girl—although the girl deliberately looked away, Shimizu Asahi still noticed.

Then, the boy smiled.

He stretched and left the room, saying, "I'm going to buy some food. You get some rest."

As the door slowly closed and the students' footsteps receded into the distance, a hint of joy appeared in Qingnu Fang's pale yellow eyes. Then, she arrived at the spot where Qingshui Chaoyang had just been standing.

She enjoys being in nature.

For many of her, nature is the most beautiful thing in the world. Every plant and tree in it holds beauty that has never been discovered before, and the occasional, unintentional discovery will make her smile with joy.

The azure sky over the village revealed a beauty she had never seen before, and without realizing it, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Just then, a refreshing breeze blew in from afar, and the feeling of it brushing against her skin made her squint her eyes in comfort.

The atmosphere here is...so nice.

But suddenly, an imperceptible pain swept across her face.

Qingnufang, who was enjoying all of this, suddenly opened her eyes, a look of confusion and astonishment showing on her face.

"What was that just now...?"

Sensing something amiss, the girl frowned and narrowed her eyes, trying to find the fleeting aura that had just passed by.

Three minutes passed quickly. She felt nothing.

She had focused all her attention on this, confident that she would sense anything amiss. But now, in this situation...

Is it just my imagination?

She murmured to herself.

At that moment, the door was gently pushed open, and Qingnu instinctively turned her head to look—the young student who had entered the room closed the door and said softly:

"There's something wrong with this village!"

PS: This is the third update, and it's finally over.

Section 52, Chapter Fifty-Two: Help Me Change My Dressing

What did you discover?

Looking at the young students who walked in, the blue-haired girl asked with a slightly puzzled and cool tone.

"Something's not right with the villagers here."

The young student placed his things on the wooden table, glanced out the window, and then gave the girl a meaningful look.

The girl narrowed her eyes slightly and turned her gaze back to the window.

She glanced at the village with an expression of 'appreciation for the village,' then her pale yellow pupils narrowed slightly.

"Are the villagers... watching us?"

The girl turned around, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Yes, I noticed it by accident when I went out to buy something."

Qingshui Chaoyang interlaced his fingers, rested his chin on the back of his hands, and looked thoughtful.

"At first I thought they were just curious about me, an outsider. After all, this village is far from the city, and the people coming and going are mostly villagers from the surrounding area. So, all the faces here are familiar."

"It's normal for them to be curious when a new face suddenly appears."

"But after a while I suddenly noticed that the villagers' vision was too well concealed."

"They're not watching us out of curiosity, but rather for other purposes."

Yes, that's the key to the problem.

Shimizu Asahi is an Onmyoji (yin-yang master). His five senses are much stronger than those of ordinary people. If someone is staring at him, he will quickly realize who is watching him.

But this time, he didn't feel like he was being watched.

If it weren't for chance, he wouldn't even have noticed that the villagers were watching him.

They were clearly looking at him out of the corner of their eyes, but he just didn't notice... It's weird, so weird.

This eeriness made Shimizu Asahi feel a deep sense of unease.

So he immediately rushed back.

"So, you think there are monsters here?" The girl sat down opposite Qingshui Chaoyang and revealed her guess.

"Yes, that's what I think."

While it might be a stretch to conclude that there are monsters in the village based on this reason alone, these are extraordinary times, and Shimizu Asahi has no choice but to take this matter seriously.

At this point, the young student paused slightly, then spread his palms with a hint of distress. "However, I haven't sensed any demonic energy... If my guess is correct, then there's a great demon hiding here."