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

"Brother Chaoyang, you're making us feel bad. Senior Brother has told us everything. If you hadn't gone to the Demon Realm and eliminated the vengeful spirits there, we probably would have continued to work hard."

"Moreover, he had just finished dealing with the matter of the Demon Plains when he went to exterminate the monsters that came out of the Demon Plains."

"We're still quite far behind."

"...Now that you say that, I feel a little embarrassed."

Hearing these words, Shimizu Asahi couldn't help but scratch his head, then shook his head with a smile.

"Alright, enough of that. How's the situation on your end? What about the casualties?"

"..."

Upon hearing Shimizu Asahi's words, both Hagoromo and Seimei's expressions changed.

The smile on her face vanished in an instant.

"...I have suffered more than a thousand casualties."

"I'm sorry, Chaoyang, we've also suffered nearly a thousand casualties on my side."

"More than a thousand... that is, two thousand, or roughly three thousand people?"

Shimizu Asahi could understand why Hagoromo and Seimei had those expressions.

More than three thousand people—that would have been almost a third of the population of the Sun Wheel City eight hundred years ago.

"Chaoyang, this incident happened too suddenly. We were unable to contain the situation immediately. In addition, those monsters were hiding too well, and we were unable to carry out an effective extermination."

"Although the complete casualty count is not yet available, a conservative estimate is that it will be no less than tens of thousands..."

Kamo no Yasunori also shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

For the Yamato people, whose army numbered only in the thousands or tens of thousands, the casualties of tens of thousands of people were undoubtedly a major defeat.

Although this is spread evenly across every country and region, tens of thousands of people—the accumulated corpses could form a mountain, and the flowing blood could form a lake.

Just thinking about it makes you understand the danger and horror involved.

Moreover... everyone will feel guilty.

This happened because they failed to fulfill their responsibilities...

After this battle, the Onmyoji Bureau may face the biggest scrutiny in its history.

Qingshui Chaoyang may be fine, but they will definitely be in trouble.

At the very least, Kamo no Yasunori will not escape unscathed.

As the son of Kamo no Tadayuki, he followed in his father's footsteps and became the head of the Onmyōryō (Bureau of Yin and Yang). His original intention was to protect the safety of the people, just like Kamo no Tadayuki. However, during Kamo no Tadayuki's time, not to mention that he won every battle in external expansion, the internal situation was at least as stable as Mount Tai, and there were very few situations that would damage the vital energy.

And what about Kamo no Yasunori? This situation arose not long after he came to power.

He will absolutely take full responsibility for this!

Kamo no Yasunori didn't care about such questions, but he did care about the safety of the people.

He has already decided that this was his mistake, and therefore, this matter will continue to haunt him, making it impossible for him to let go.

He can't get over his own conscience.

"..."

Seeing Kamo no Yasunori's appearance, Shimizu Asahi also fell silent for a while. Although he wanted to comfort Kamo no Yasunori, in the current situation, there was not much point in saying anything.

After rubbing his head, he could only sigh softly and then say nothing more.

The room fell silent for a moment, but that silence was soon broken again.

"Alright, there's no point in saying all this now. Let's get together again after things have calmed down."

"You must be tired now, go back and rest."

Shimizu Asahi only returned to Heian-kyo today, as did Seimei Hagoromo and Kidomaru.

After working hard for almost half a month, they should go back and get some rest.

"...Well then, we'll take our leave now, senior brother."

Shimizu Asahi and Seimei Hagoromo exchanged a glance, then rose to take their leave.

As Kamo no Yasunori said, there's no point in saying all this now; it's better to go back and get some rest.

If there are any problems, we can discuss them every day.

So, Shimizu Asahi and the other three turned and left.

"Well then, Brother Chaoyang, Qingming and I will be leaving now."

After stepping out of the gate, Hagoromo and Seimei said their goodbyes and headed in the opposite direction.

Watching the two figures leave, Shimizu Asahi rubbed his head and then turned his gaze to his close friend beside him.

Compared to the complicated expressions of Shimizu Asahi and the others, Kidomaru was much more relaxed, seemingly not caring at all.

"You're having an easy time too..."

He couldn't help but say that.

"Of course, I don't want you to think about so many things."

"I'll just do my own job; the rest is your problem to worry about."

The red-haired boy said this casually, with a gentle smile on his face.

"Heh, actually it's nothing, but what surprises me is that you actually offered to help..." Chapter 874 A question mark appeared on his forehead?

Kidomaru's help was completely unexpected by Shimizu Asahi. After all, Kidomaru's current situation was not bad, and this matter was too troublesome, so he had no reason to help.

Even if Kamo no Yasunori called him cold-blooded, he wouldn't care in the slightest.

In this country, in this world, there are only three people he cares about.

He didn't care at all about Kamo Yasunori's opinions and views.

It's certainly worth teasing someone who would step forward to help.

"Heh, some guys are just too annoying, so they came out for some fresh air."

The red-haired boy shook his head softly, as if he had no choice but to act. Upon hearing this, Shimizu Asahi understood why.

He immediately burst into laughter.

"No wonder... it's Lady Enmusubi... I didn't expect you to be controlled by Lady Enmusubi. This is unlike you."

Can I take this as you making fun of me?

"You were found out?"

"It's so obvious, how could anyone not notice?"

Kidomaru smiled and shook his head, saying, "Alright, I'm going back too. You should go back and rest early as well. You're more tired than any of us."

"Ah."

The two said their goodbyes and then went their separate ways.

Shimizu Asahi quickly returned home, said "I'm back," and went into the living room.

"Oh, the master is back?"

Ibuki, who was lying in the living room drinking, gently raised her eyes and grinned.

"Hehehe, how did things go?"

"This is terrible..."

He casually sat down at the wooden table, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Our actions were ultimately too late. At least tens of thousands of people have died because of this incident, and there have been a lot of casualties in every village and town."

"This incident will inevitably arouse strong condemnation from the people, and the Yin-Yang Bureau... and all the major families will probably be impacted."

The slight ease I felt when facing Kidomaru just now has completely vanished.

His mood wasn't as relaxed as he had seemed just moments before.

"There's nothing we can do about it. We don't have enough manpower, and this is already the best we can do."

Reiko gently shook her head. She disliked people who didn't cherish life, and she disliked even more the inability to protect the lives of those she wanted to protect. But there was nothing she could do about it.

With so many monsters and so many places, even if they had the ability to create clones, it would be impossible for them to save everyone.

Sacrifice is inevitable.

"I know, but it's still a pity... And most importantly, we've finally managed to get some people to accept peaceful coexistence between humans and demons, and this turmoil will inevitably make the situation even more severe."

Monsters can be good or bad. They have only just been accepted by the people, and this problem has already arisen. Undoubtedly, this situation will be disrupted, and the people may even feel angry, thinking it is a drama that is mocking them.

The future of coexistence between humans and demons will likely be delayed for a very, very long time...

The situation that had been so hard-won has now been completely lost, and even Shimizu Asahi would feel extremely regretful.

Most importantly, the current grudges are bound to erupt into even greater conflicts. When people blame all the faults on the monsters and constantly attack them, the monsters will inevitably retaliate...

With temperaments far more fiery than humans, they would never allow humans to lord it over them like this.

Therefore, the worst-case scenario is... war breaking out.

Once war breaks out, their future will truly be hopeless...

This is something that Shimizu Asahi would never want to see.

"..."

Shimizu Asahi sighed helplessly.

Seeing him like this, the girls guessed what he was worried about, so they all comforted him.

"Don't worry, Chaoyang, there won't be any problems. Even if things really turn out like this, we're still here, aren't we?"

"A little restraint should be enough."

Yokai are a group of little creatures with little cunning. Human anger will provoke their anger, but if they don't hear this anger, they won't react. Besides, although humans may be extremely hostile to yokai because of this, as long as we don't send troops, handle it calmly, and then slightly adjust the wind direction, we can turn this big problem into a small one, and a small problem into nothing.

However... of course, nothing stays hidden forever. The reactions from the humans will inevitably reach the yokai. At that point, if Ibuki and the others can restrain them, they can control the yokai's emotions.

Alternatively, giving the monsters some strange things or holding a banquet can calm them down a bit.