Whose personality mask's power comes from the heroic spirit?

She finally understood that she was a rookie in the industry and it would be better to leave professional matters to professionals.

"Is there any restriction on the use of your cloak?" Iwanaga Kotoko, who took the burden on her own initiative, looked at Taichi and asked.

After Taichi had made contact with Jeanne through silence, he responded with a heavy face.

"It's fine to use this thing to force purification by whipping, but if you use it like you just did, it will consume some physical strength and vitality."

Chapter 37: New Tiao Qian: Bring the tools to be prepared

The flashlight that Taiyi carried in his backpack finally came in handy.

There is no light source inside the Katashiro Shrine, and the door paper is also completely opaque for some reason, making the interior completely dark.

The collapsed area is towards the right edge, and the light leaking from the gap cannot illuminate the interior of the main hall of the shrine.

There were three flashlights. Taichi was responsible for illuminating the direction of advance, Akane Shinjo was responsible for illuminating the sides, and Kotoko Iwanaga directly illuminated the ceiling with the flashlight, trying to diffuse the light so that the surrounding environment would not be submerged in the pitch-black darkness.

"Don't disperse. No one knows if there is an evil spirit lurking in some dark corner, ready to attack us at any time." Taiyi walked in the front and did not forget to remind the people behind him.

"Oh, stop talking!" Xin Tiao Qian was horrified by his words, "I got goose bumps."

Fang Xili's hands were shaking a little.

"I used to encounter the kind of scary things you mentioned four or five times a day." Iwanaga Kotoko's mouth twitched slightly, and then she said expressionlessly, "Although those bastards said that they wanted to train my courage...but when I was very young, I was kidnapped by a group of weird monsters and became their god of wisdom, but I never shed a tear? Do I still need to train my courage?"

I don't know what switch was turned on in Iwanaga Kotoko, but she started complaining about those 'assholes' non-stop.

It was not until Taiyi turned into the corridor at the side and was about to leave the main hall which seemed harmless that the flashlight just happened to illuminate the shadow of a spirit at the end of the corridor which was trying to crawl into a room.

"It seems we have encountered a familiar spirit." Looking at the spirit of the child who turned his head with a terrified expression, Taiyi's face blossomed with a bright smile, "Finally, we can let these stinky kids who like to play games ascend to heaven."

As if hearing Taiyi's muttering, the little boy's spirit crawled into the room faster.

God had mercy on them. The spirits of these three children were unstable after being impacted by the hymn, and they couldn’t even hide their bodies.

Since they became evil spirits, there has never been a moment when they hated their own weakness as much as they do now.

"…Is there something wrong?" Fang Xili tilted her head in confusion as she looked at the spirit crawling into the house as if escaping for its life.

Normally, shouldn't it be the evil spirits chasing them?

Why are those who are chasing and those who are fleeing lost now?

"Don't think too much. Thinking too much will cause serious pressure on your mind." Xin Tiao Qian patted Fang Xili's shoulder and comforted her.

The four of them entered the small room where the spirit had entered.

As a result, as soon as Taiyi shone the flashlight inside, he was so scared that the flashlight almost fell out of his hand.

In the dark little room, dolls with black as the main image are placed everywhere.

They vary in size, some are life-size, and some are more than ten centimeters. Each one is carved like a life-size person, neatly arranged, and their eyes are all looking towards the door.

"Well, you better prepare yourself mentally when you come in. The Japanese dolls here look a bit creepy."

In order to avoid the three girls behind him from screaming, Taiyi reminded them in advance.

When the three girls turned their eyes in, even Iwanaga Kotoko, whose heart had been trained to be unusually strong, almost stopped breathing.

"Those three brats just got into this room, right?" After coming to her senses, the smile on Iwanaga Kotoko's face began to turn ferocious. "Very good. I can't remember how many years it has been since I last suffered such a mental shock. I really have to thank them very much."

"But... I can't see any trace of those three spirits." Fang Xili, who was using 'Shadow Vision' and a projector to move the camera around, frowned slightly.

"Is it inside the doll? Or..." Shinjo Akane moved her mind towards the shrine near the door.

Below the shrine, there is a huge hole with extremely wide space.

The missing person in the game - Baibai Lai Chunhe is locked in a box in a huge hole.

"Taiyi, the important task of inspecting the shrine is now left to you!" Akane Shinjo gave Taiyi a thumbs up.

Although she used to be a 'monster creation expert', she was still not very good at things like 'evil spirits hidden in the darkness'.

"Don't focus all your attention on this side." Taiyi squatted beside the shrine and was about to lift the curtain covering the interior when he suddenly looked up and warned, "Be careful of those three playful brats who might suddenly come out from behind you."

"Stop talking!" Xin Tiao Qian waved the flashlight around in frustration, looking for any place where the three little ghosts might be hiding.

If she faced it head-on like before, she wouldn't be afraid, but once these things were hidden in the dark... then the fear would arise spontaneously, and she couldn't stop it even if she wanted to.

The curtain was pulled up, and inside, a hole appeared on the floor that was sealed with wooden boards but still had several gaps.

"The marks are still fresh." Taiyi rubbed the wooden board with his fingertips, then held it under the light of the flashlight for a few seconds before looking up at everyone, "This hole was sealed not long ago."

"...What kind of person would do such a thing in a place like this?" Iwanaga Kotoko looked at the brand new board and muttered in confusion, "Could it be that the evil spirits on this mountain have bewitched his mind and made him do such a thing? But what does it mean to dig a hole and seal it with wooden boards?"

"Do you want to dig it up?" Akane Shinjo suddenly looked at Taiyi with shining eyes, and took out a claw hammer from her backpack and handed it to Taiyi.

"...What did you bring?" Taiyi took the claw hammer speechlessly and aimed the 'V' shape at the nails on the board...

"It's called being prepared." Xin Tiao Qian explained, scratching her cheek a little embarrassedly.

As the nails were driven out one by one and the wooden boards were pulled out, a hole that could accommodate two people at the same time was revealed to everyone.

"There's actually a wooden staircase underground... It looks like someone walked on it not long ago." After shining the flashlight into the cave entrance, Taiyi saw footprints on the wooden steps at a glance.

"...Strange, this wooden staircase has not been corroded." After taking a look at the situation in the cave and clearly seeing the pool of water, Iwanaga Kotoko frowned, "I'm afraid it's not simple in here, why don't we not go in?"

"After all, this cover doesn't look like it was nailed up last night. It's unlikely that Miss Kurosawa is underneath there."

Fang Xili pursed her lips and was about to speak when she was interrupted by Taiyi.

"You three stay up there and keep an eye on it. I'll go down and take a look at the situation first."

Chapter 38: Mordred's return after a major nerf

pat.

As soon as his feet stepped into the pool of water in the cave, Taiyi couldn't help but stretch.

Taiyi didn't notice it before because of the light and environment, but now he has noticed it.

The water here comes from the night spring in the underworld.

Just standing in the water, Taiyi felt that his physical strength bar suddenly increased by several bars, and it was as if a backup energy source was installed in his body, and something was continuously emerging from his body.

Well, then the shadow of Mordred appeared next to Taiyi.

"Hmm - it doesn't feel right." This Mordred actually spoke, "It's not a complete form, but a greatly weakened state."

"Taiyi, there is not enough 'water' here." Mordred looked at Taiyi, "We need more water... or the higher quality Night Spring Water."

"Are you alone?" Taiichi looked around but did not see Minamoto no Raikou and Jeanne d'Arc.

"Well, the amount is not enough. It can only support me in this state." Mordred replied, "... and, have you noticed that the water under our feet is decreasing?"

"...absorbed by you?" Taiyi looked at the wet marks on his trouser legs and asked.

"You could say that." Mordred nodded and replied, "If I fully absorb the night spring water here, I can probably maintain this state for about fifteen hours."

"Fifteen hours? That's enough." Tai nodded. "Let's go to the nearby lake or waterfall and see if we can fill you up to your best state. Or we can materialize Raikou and Jeanne as well and extend your existence."

"But now... let's check if there are any living people in these boxes." Taiyi pointed to the boxes placed randomly in the hole in front of him that was illuminated by the flashlight.

"Wait, before that..." Mordred drew out the King's Sword and pointed it at the darkness deep inside the cave, "First, let's get rid of those...perverted witches who may come to harass us at any time!"

A witch... or rather a bandit girl.

This is the witch with the most tragic experience among all the ritual camps.

Unlike those high-ranking priestesses who were placed in the boxes with their bodies intact, their gifts and abilities were relatively weak. After being labeled as bandit girls, their limbs would be broken and they would be placed in a cramped bandit room.

Their rationality is the thinnest among all the witches, and their negative consciousness is mostly distorted by hatred and pain.

Therefore, they are also the most aggressive evil spirits among the witches.

The flashlight shone around them, and the faint light revealed their ghostly bodies in Taiyi's sight.

"Mordred, I'll take care of them." Taiyi held Jeanne's cloak in one hand and said to Mordred, "Go check the inside of those boxes to see if there are any people who were lured in but still have vital signs."

Taiyi said that he couldn't bear to see the cruel scenes among the bandits, so he could only ask Mordred, who had been on the battlefield before, to do it for him.

"...Okay." Mordred clenched his fists, had to admit that he really didn't have much strength at the moment, and gave up the fight with a pout.

The cloak of forced purification was occasionally thrown over the spirits of the witches.

Taichi didn't know if he was hallucinating, but he felt that along with the shrill wails of the evil spirits of the priestesses who were forcibly purified, there was also a trembling "thank you".

"Taiyi! There is still a survivor here!" Mordred's surprised voice came from the side.

Taiyi's gaze couldn't help but shift over there.

A box about 80 centimeters long, with the top spread out to both sides. Mordred was putting his arms inside, as if he was going to carry the person inside out.

This was also the last box to be opened.

Then, a young woman dressed in modern casual clothes and soaked in black water was taken out of the box by Mordred.

"She's a little weak, but her vital signs are clear," Mordred nodded to Taiyi as he explained the girl's condition.

The girl seemed to be awakened by Mordred's voice, and she slowly opened her eyes.

It's just that he doesn't look very well and seems to be distracted all the time.

"Move her out, I'll cover you." Tai gave the order immediately.

Without saying a word, Mordred put the girl under his armpit and ran towards the stairs of the cave.

Although there is still some water on the ground, there is no rush to absorb it now.

The water from the Night Spring that she had already absorbed was enough for her to move around for ten hours.

"Hey! The one up there! Come and give me a hand! Take this girl over!" When he was about to climb to the entrance of the cave, Mordred shouted to the outside of the cave.

The unfamiliar voice startled Fang Xili so much that she immediately raised the projector.

Akane Shinjo and Kotoko Iwanaga connected the voice with Mordred and rushed over in surprise.

Fang Xili almost thought that these two "seniors" were confused.

It was not until a girl who was in a bad condition and soaked all over was pulled out of the cave by two people that Fang Xili nervously went over to help.

Just now, Xin Tiao Qian's flashlight shone on the girl's face, and Fang Xili recognized this face.

It was on the photo commissioned by 'Searching for the Hidden Man' that was sealed by Mika Kurosawa.

There is another girl standing with her in the photo, both wearing school uniforms.

"Hoo—hi, long time no see, Akane and Iwanaga Kotoko!" After crawling out of the cave, Mordred took off his helmet and raised his hand to greet the two acquaintances.

"Mordred! It's really you!" Kotoko Iwanaga was the first to rush over with joy to check the condition of this powerful bodyguard.

Fang Xili, who was not coming, hugged Bai Baise Haruka, who was slumped on the floor, and looked at the unfamiliar face with a confused look on her face.

Why was it Mr. Taiyi who went down the cave, but someone else came out?

But Taiyi, who crawled out of the cave shortly after her, dispelled her confusion.

Oh, it’s not that Mr. Taiyi was a different person when he went down and came up, but that there were two more people in the cave.

"So, this is the survivor you rescued from down there?" Iwanaga Kotoko looked at Momose Haruka who was not in a good mental state, and then looked at Taichi, "And Mordred's condition has not yet adjusted to the best?"

"Yes." Mordred nodded, "We plan to get in touch with the water on this mountain next to see if we can restore my condition to its best."

"Haha, that's great!" Iwanaga Kotoko agreed happily. "If we have the cooperation of you and Lord Raikou, the safety of our operation this time will be greatly improved."

Chapter 39: The Girl Who Goes with the Flow

After leaving the girl in the sun for a while, she began to respond to external stimuli as if she had just woken up.

"This is...you are..." The girl's voice sounded extremely weak.

It seems that although the water from the night spring ensured that her vital signs did not decline, the hunger and thirst caused by not having a drop of water or a grain of rice for a long time made her body unable to recover for a while.

Taiyi took out a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and handed it to Fang Xili, who was supporting the girl, indicating that she could give the girl some water to drink.

As for bread, it would not be appropriate to give it to her now.

After all, no one knows how long the girl has been hungry in that box.

"Are you Bai Baise Haruka?" Fang Xili asked after giving the girl a few sips of water.