Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Xiao Che glanced at the toad stone carving fragments on the ground. Zhu Ying, the shikigami passed down from their ancestor, was not so easy to deal with. It would be more accurate to say that Zhu Hai fused with it rather than ate it.

Zhu Hai was already born with congenital deficiencies due to premature hatching. He only survived by fusing with a centipede demon, but this also polluted his bloodline. Now, with the fusion of Zhu Ying, his bloodline has become even more diluted, making it even more impossible for him to complete the mission of connecting to the new Yellow Springs.

However, this was exactly what Xiaoche wanted.

It's hard to say whether this was the initial consideration when he confined them in this space.

"It seems you've been quite affected by human resentment." Xiao Che shook his head.

"That's not human resentment! It's my boundless pent-up resentment!!" Zhu Hai gritted his teeth. "Over the years, I've wanted nothing more than to devour your flesh and gnaw on your bones!"

Xiao Che looked directly at Zhu Hai's ugliness: "I'm here today to take you out."

"Heh. That sounds nice, but you just want to use me for something. I've seen through you long ago. Hypocritical, wavering, and naive. You're good for nothing except your talent! The Dao Man family's centuries-old mission has fallen into your hands, and it's all gone to waste. Dao Man Xiao Che, you've let down your ancestors!"

"Michimitsu Shigemitsu was truly blind to pass the position of family head to someone like you. I was even more foolish to have chosen to follow a beast like you."

Zhu Hai spoke with extreme sarcasm, circling around Xiao Che and sneering.

This is clearly not right. When Zhu Hai broke out of the subway and saw Higashiyama Shin using the Crimson Demon Slayer and mistook him for Doman Akatsuki, his expression was one of extreme fear. He was clearly terrified of him. How can he be so arrogant now?

"If I don't teach it a lesson, it probably won't obey my orders." Higashiyama Shin typed out this message.

The level of skepticism barely increased, which suggests that Xiaoche's opinion is quite prevalent.

He paused for a moment, then slowly nodded: "I'm not asking you, I'm ordering you."

Having said that, he cut his wrist and dipped his pen in the blood.

Zhu Hai was horrified when he learned what the other party was planning to do. He tried to escape by manipulating his folding fan, but this space was Xiao Che's territory, so where could he escape to?

The next moment, Xiao Che grabbed it with one hand, unfolded the fan, and Zhu Hai's name appeared on it.

What he did was simply draw a horizontal line across the real name on it.

He paused, let out a muffled groan, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Zhu Hai went even further, his entire body instantly sprang out of the folding fan, crashing to the ground, his limbs twisting wildly, howling in pain, and covered in blood.

This scene made He Ye, whom Xiao Che had just subdued, tremble with fear and fall silent.

In less than half a minute, Zhu Hai gave in and begged for mercy.

"I was wrong, sir! I was wrong! I was blinded by the resentment of humans, which is why I acted as I did just now. I know I was wrong! Please forgive me, I beg you to have mercy—"

It's clear that this punishment is extremely painful and torturous.

Xiao Che stared coldly until a minute later, when he erased the stroke, his face pale.

Zhu Hai's bizarre body, composed of a centipede's tail, a snake's body, and a toad's face, finally stopped struggling, panting heavily, and the blood that flowed out stained the entire ground red.

"I don't want to hear your dissenting opinions a second time. You just need to abide by my decisions."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Zhu Hai's voice was barely audible.

Xiao Che opened his hands, and the family heirlooms scattered around, such as the Demon-Slaying Crimson Talisman, the Snake Bone Amulet, and the Demon-Slaying Bag, all fell into his hands.

Since the past cannot be escaped, let us choose to confront our sins and find our own path to redemption.

Xiao Che packed his things, put the half-dead Zhu Hai back into his folding fan, and left the space.

He didn't seem to be heading straight to the nursing home his master had mentioned. Instead, he planned to first wander around Edo and deal with the demons and monsters that were roaming the area.

It was this detour that allowed Higashiyama Shin to roughly figure out the current time, which was 1677.

Exactly 20 years have passed since the great fire of 1657, and Edo Castle has yet to fully recover.

Even now, Xiaoche has no public connection with Mount Fuji.

However, Shinichi Higashiyama could guess that Mount Fuji was the designated location for the reconstruction of the Yomi ceremony, and when the time came, the legacy left by the ancestors in the bloodline would guide Akatsuki Doman to it.

Those members of the Doman family mentioned earlier were likely guided to Mount Fuji in the final stages of their lives.

If we start counting from 1220, the year the game began, then Doman Akatsuki or the next generation will be the last head of the Doman family to carry out the plan to rebuild Yomi.

But it's obvious that Daoman Xiaoche has no intention of passing it down.

Higashiyama Shin suspected that his exceptional talent was not purely a coincidence, but rather that his bloodline had been manipulated, just like that of Doman Hikami, who officially began inheriting the Doman surname.

Xiao Che spent half a month clearing out a round of monsters around Edo before setting off towards the northeast region.

"Only ten years have passed, and the number of demons outside has decreased so much? Heh, it seems these guys really can't exploit human resentment." After eliminating a Tang-style umbrella-wielding monk blocking his path, Zhu Hai swallowed the tiny creature and snorted.

"In fact, many monsters can feed on resentment, and some are even born from it, but..."

He Ye, the lowest-ranking of the wild demons, took the initiative to educate the public.

"Even if they can feed on resentment, they still need a certain amount of spiritual energy as a foundation. But now the spiritual energy is dissipating too quickly, and they can't even maintain their foundation. It's already a blessing if they don't dissipate. As far as I know, many powerful demons who can't eat other monsters have simply tried to seal themselves away to try and get through these difficult times."

It left unsaid that during the one or two hundred years when the number of cultivators had drastically decreased and the area was most suitable for the survival of demons, a mysterious family of Onmyoji (yin-yang masters) went around exorcising demons. Wherever they went, demons were cut down like weeds, one crop after another.

Of course, now that it knows that the family is the ancestor of Daoman Xiaoche, it wisely swallowed the second half of its sentence.

Xiao Che didn't speak, but silently quickened his pace.

At this time, famine was a serious problem in Japan, and the Tohoku region was particularly hard hit.

When Xiaoche passed through the fields of the village, the scene was shocking.

Even though it's almost autumn harvest time, the millet ears in the fields are sparse. The grains that should be plump are shriveled and grayish, and only a few small, grayish-brown fruits hang on the branches, clearly indicating that the area has experienced a severe drought.

The ragged farmers stared blankly at the parched land. Some children, their bellies swollen like frogs but their limbs withered and thin, were held in the arms of their pale and emaciated mothers, their eyes looking around in confusion.

As evening approached, he was not far from the nursing home and planned to stay in a nearby town so that he could return his master's ashes the next day.

As more pedestrians appeared on the road, it finally regained some vitality.

At the street corner, he found a group of people gathered in a dense circle, bustling about, seemingly doing something he couldn't tell.

"Master, if it doesn't rain soon, we really can't live like this!" an old farmer said, his voice trembling with tears in his thick local dialect.

"As long as we can pray for rain, several villages are willing to pool our money to renovate the nursing home!" another man with a gruff voice shouted urgently.

It turned out that villagers from several nearby villages had surrounded a monk dressed in robes, pleading with him to perform a rain-praying ceremony.

Praying for rain is indeed a core practice in Shingon Buddhism, so if this monk is indeed from a nursing home, then he hasn't made a mistake in asking the wrong person.

The monk surrounded in the center looked helpless, put his hands together, and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "Amitabha, it is not that this humble monk is unwilling to pray for rain. It is only because this natural disaster is caused by evil spirits. If we do not find and suppress those troublesome evil spirits, even if we pray for rain, it will be in vain."

One villager said in despair, "We've already captured three monsters in our village, how can there be more?! Why are these monsters specifically targeting us to cause trouble?!"

"Waaaah, which village hasn't found the monster yet? Don't let us all starve to death!" a woman cried out.

"Qiu Shang Village! It must be Qiu Shang Village!" someone suddenly shouted from the crowd. "Qiu Shang Village has never caught a single monster! They must have hidden the monsters and are in cahoots with them!"

The shout was no different from water splashing into a pot of oil, instantly causing an uproar among the crowd.

All eyes immediately turned to those villagers from Qiushang Village.

The men's faces flushed red instantly, and they waved their hands and backed away nervously, saying, "No, no! We really haven't seen any monsters in our village! Absolutely!"

But in the heat of the moment, who would listen to their explanations?

Just as the people of Qiushang Village were about to be pushed and beaten, the monk suddenly spread his arms wide, using his body to separate the crowd on both sides, his sleeves being torn askew.

"Amitabha, esteemed benefactors!" He raised his voice, surveying the crowd with a stern face. "Since you have not personally witnessed any demons in Qiushang Village, how can you be so certain? Buddhism emphasizes seeing is believing. Do not let momentary anger lead you to wrong innocent people and create unnecessary karma!"

The monk's words calmed the enraged crowd slightly, but the desperate sighs and sobs continued unabated.

The village chief of Qiushang Village turned pale and then red with embarrassment and anger. He took a deep breath and bowed deeply to the monk.

"Thank you, Master. But since everyone is so suspicious, in order to prove the innocence of Qiushang Village, we beg the Master to have the compassion to come to Qiushang Village tomorrow and perform a ritual to examine it. This will convince everyone and dispel their doubts."

The monk, fiddling with his prayer beads, hesitated for a moment before finally nodding slowly, "Excellent. So be it."

Upon hearing the promise from the village chief and the monk's agreement, the crowd slowly dispersed, still carrying with them deep worries and lingering resentment.

The monk sighed and was about to leave when he saw Daoman Xiaoche standing there.

At this moment, most of Daoman Xiaoche's equipment was stored in a self-made spatial barrier gourd, and he was carrying a Demon Slayer Crimson Sword, pretending to be a samurai.

With his current strength, he is not afraid of being investigated.

"Sir, are you here on important business? I am a monk from a nearby temple and would be happy to serve you."

The monk took two steps forward, put his palms together, and spoke first.

“Yes, I’m from Kyoto.” Xiao Che didn’t reveal his identity.

"So you're a gentleman from Kyoto. Your accent is quite proper." The monk became even more respectful, his voice deliberately mimicking a Kyoto accent. "This humble monk is Fashan. If you are looking for a place to stay, I know a good place that might satisfy you."

This monk seems a bit too eager, but aside from some powerful demons, Dongshan Shen can't think of anyone with Xiaoche's strength who could outwit him.

"Thank you, please lead the way."

"please."

Fashan led Xiaoche to a rather grand-looking mansion, knocked on the door, and someone quickly came out.

It turned out that this was the home of a believer at the nursing home, and Fashan always stayed at his home whenever he came here.

During dinner, Fashan also invited Xiaoche to visit Qiushang Village the next day to witness the exorcism ceremony.

Xiao Che was already out there exorcising demons, so naturally he wouldn't refuse Dongshan Shen's orders.

He also wanted to see how skilled the monks from the same temple as his master were in their spiritual cultivation.

Chapter 233: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva of Prolonged Life

The next morning.

A thin mist shrouded Qiushang Village. The monk Fashan, dressed in a kasaya and holding a tin staff, solemnly set up an altar in the open space of the village.

Daoman Xiaoche, holding Zhan Guixinghong, stood below the altar, his gaze fixed on her.

The villagers held their breath, forming a semi-circle in awe, while the host nervously rubbed his hands together, sweat beading on his forehead.

The onlookers included not only villagers but also some from other villages. They seemed quite familiar with the process and even had the leisure to quietly explain to others the special significance of each step.

Although this is mostly unverified and pure hype.

Fashan muttered incantations, made mudras with his hands, and brandished his staff with wide, sweeping movements that were both imposing and mysterious.

However, in Xiao Che's eyes, the flowing magic power was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind, and the so-called true words and incantations were even weaker. Let alone communicating with heaven and earth, it probably couldn't even summon the wind.

Suddenly, Fashan's face darkened, and he pointed his staff at the roof of a thatched hut on the edge of the village, shouting sharply, "Demon, reveal yourself!"

The thatched roof rustled slightly, and a wild cat, entirely black, appeared out of nowhere. It arched its back, its emerald green eyes flashing with ferocity in the mist.

"Meowhaas!"

It let out a shrill scream, leaped off the roof with extraordinary speed, and crashed headfirst into the window of a neighboring house.

"Chase!" Fashan shouted, leading several tense village men in a rush.

Xiao Che followed behind, a vague guess forming in his mind.

Fashan burst through the door with a large foot. The room was simply furnished, and a little girl of about seven or eight years old huddled in a corner, her face pale with fear.

She seemed to want to say something, but her body suddenly stiffened, her eyes rolled back, she made a strange hoarse sound, and she landed on all fours, her posture as bizarre as a cat with its fur standing on end.

“A demon has possessed him!” Fashan cried out in anguish. “This is the Nine-Lives Cat Demon’s clone, which specializes in possessing children’s hearts, livers, and blood to strengthen its demonic power. It is its mischief that has brought about the drought and brought disaster to the region.”

He slapped the talisman in his hand onto the girl's forehead.

The girl's body suddenly convulsed violently, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed unconscious. But apart from Xiao Che, no one noticed that a wisp of black energy entered Fa Shan's robe from the girl's forehead.

The girl's parents were an elderly-looking farmer. The mother cried her heart out and hugged Fa-sun's legs.

"Master, please! Kyoko just fainted from hunger! She can't be a monster, I know that better than anyone!"

The girl's older sister also cried and hugged her, not wanting her younger sister to be taken away.

Fashan remained unmoved and firmly shook his head: "Demons are masters of disguise. Her heart meridian has been corrupted by demonic energy. Only by bringing her back to the temple and protecting her heart meridian with Buddhist light can she be saved. If you stop me, you will harm her! You will also harm everyone. Do you want the drought to continue?"

These words were clearly directed at the other villagers. Upon hearing this, they all became anxious and quickly and roughly pulled the girl's mother away. Then, two of them snatched the girl from the older sister's arms and followed Fa-sun.

Xiao Che observed the whole thing coldly and did not take any immediate action.

Judging from the faint trace of possessing evil energy, the so-called nine-lives cat demon was nothing more than a low-level spirit with a little intelligence, and their clumsy cooperation could only fool these mountain villagers.

And the truth of the Dharma, which has no foundation, is already very clear.

Although it's still unknown what they intend to do with these children, it's certainly not a good thing.

He sighed inwardly, wondering how a pure and upright practitioner like his master could come from such a filthy place.