Supernatural/Anime Crossover: Where Did My Romantic Comedy Go?

The mysterious courtesan smiled, about to speak, when she was interrupted by Kujo Toru:

"You want me to offer sacrifices?"

Asagi Yoshino saw it clearly; the other person's smile instantly froze.

His face turned green, especially after seeing the divine sword that Kujo Toru had already drawn.

"Don't lay a hand on us! We're on the same side! The offerings and all that are just nursery rhymes, don't take them seriously!"

The courtesan quickly released the oar and raised her hands to indicate that she meant no harm.

"I still prefer the unruly way you were back in Soubu High School."

With a flick of his wrist, Kujo Toru sheathed his sword again and took a closer look at the courtesan.

Although their appearances were completely different, the foul smell did not lie; the other party was the unknown monster who had disguised herself as Miura Yumiko at Soubu High School.

At that time, his spiritual power level was still very low, and he could not confirm the other party's strength. He only knew that it was a very powerful monster.

However, it seems that the opponent is far from being a great demon; he is probably only slightly stronger than the Black Fox.

If you throw it at Kikyo, it can certainly hold its own.

"Hehe, I also quite liked how you looked back then, you were better than you are now."

The courtesan muttered something under her breath.

I don't know how this guy did it. When we first met at Soubu High School, his spiritual power was very weak, about the same as this silver-haired girl's.

It's a level she can handle with ease.

However, when they met again in Hachijo City, this guy had already defeated the black raccoon.

Although she had the help of the previous swordsman, at that time she was no longer confident that she could defeat Kujo Toru, who wielded the Nine-Character Mijima Kanesada.

And then there's this time.

This guy has started to become inhuman in the literal sense; he even has a unique scent that only gods possess.

Just standing in front of her made my body tremble.

Especially after seeing the sword drawn, he almost forgot all of Miss Ai's instructions and ran away.

How did they manage to do that in just a month and a half?

However, Miss Ai didn't seem surprised at all.

"Get on the boat, I'll take you there."

The courtesan snapped out of her reverie, took a closer look at the two katanas at Kujo Tetsuo's waist, suppressed her instinctive fear, and began to speak earnestly about the matter at hand:

"The water in the world has been polluted. Although it probably won't cause you any harm, it will still be a bit of a problem. So Miss Ai asked me to ferry you across."

"Then trouble you."

Kujo Toru nodded, then took Asagi Yoshino's hand and boarded the small boat.

The courtesan breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the oars again, and ripples spread across the lake as she carried the two of them toward the torii gate on the opposite bank.

At the same time, the river lanterns also drifted in that direction, following the change in the boat's course.

Above her head were dazzling stars, and in the water was the Milky Way reflected in the water. On both sides were river lanterns emitting warm candlelight. For a moment, Yoshino Asabu had the illusion that she was wandering in the Milky Way.

Her body swayed from side to side with the light boat, and she instinctively grabbed onto Kujo Toru's clothes to prevent herself from falling into the lake.

She had heard clearly that the lake water had been polluted. Although the specifics were unclear, the claim that it wouldn't cause any harm was directed at Lord Kujo.

That doesn't mean she'll be alright if she falls.

"Speaking of which, how should I address you?"

Kujo Toru stood at the bow of the boat, watching the courtesan rowing in front of him.

They didn't pay attention to the "Miss Ai" mentioned in the other person's words.

It's obvious she was just following orders. If she could have explained, she would have done so earlier. Since she didn't, it means she couldn't.

"I can't tell you my real name, just call me Bone Woman."

The courtesan answered Kujo Toru's question honestly.

The true name of a yokai must not be known to others, a fact that Kujo Tetsu was well aware of.

In Shintoism, name is a very important medium in rituals.

Just like the chanting of the name of a deity in certain rituals, and the use of human figures as a medium in folk witchcraft, the names of people are also conditions for performing the spell.

So he simply nodded and asked a question that had been bothering him for a long time:

Do you know what exactly is wrong with Yukino Yukinoshita?

When the two first met, Hone-onna was disguised as Miura Yumiko and stood in the corridor of the Service Club classroom.

Before coming to Fukuoka, Yukino Yukinoshita had another dream related to Misaki Town, and at that moment, Hone-onna appeared again to help her.

It's really hard to believe there's no connection between them.

"I can't give you specifics, but I can tell you it's related to something being suppressed beneath Daiyu Village."

Asatake Yoshino, who had been listening intently to their conversation, interrupted curiously with a question:

"Is it also related to Yatogami?"

The Bone Woman turned around, glanced at her, and shook her head: "No."

Then, looking at Kujo Toru, whose face remained completely expressionless, he asked, unsurprisingly, "You guessed it?"

"more or less."

Kujo Toru rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword, gazing at the approaching torii gate.

Upon arriving here, he finally felt a few scattered traces of foul air and resentment in the air, which actually made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Compared to the previous state of utter stillness and clarity, Kujo Toru actually prefers the current state.

At least it lets him feel that the world is still alive.

In addition, there was a familiar aura lingering here.

The two were speaking in such a cryptic manner that Yoshino Asagi looked to Toru Kujo for help, hoping he could explain it in detail.

At the same time, I felt somewhat frustrated.

As the only shrine maiden of the Asabu family, she should theoretically be the one who knows the most about Daimura and Kurokawa Shrine.

In reality, of the three people present, she was the only one completely unaware of the situation.

Can I really provide information to Lord Kujo?

The silver-haired priestess fell into self-doubt.

"Beneath Daimyo Village lies the underworld, doesn't it?"

Kujo Toru's tone was very confident.

He had suppressed the Wind Cave, the entrance to the Underworld, in the world of Noragami, so he was certain that the aura came from the Underworld.

The Bone Woman remained silent, because, as she had said before, she could not speak of anything concrete.

However, this attitude undoubtedly proves the correctness of Kujo Toru's deduction.

"The Underworld?!"

Asahi Yoshino was startled.

This answer was completely unexpected.

Is the legendary Land of the Dead, ruled by Izanami, located beneath Daimyo Village?!

Whether human, monster, or vengeful spirit, none can remain indifferent to the existence of the Underworld.

The present world and the ordinary world are merely the boundary between humans and non-humans, but the underworld is the opposite of all living beings.

Even gods, after their fall, will still fall into the underworld.

This word itself represents death.

"But isn't the Land of the Dead supposed to be located in Aomori Prefecture?! How come it's in Fukuoka Prefecture?!"

And it's right below the shrine built by their ancestors? Did their ancestors know about this? Was it intentional or accidental?

Asahi Yoshino was about to faint.

She originally thought that breaking the curse passed down through generations of her family was already a challenge beyond her imagination.

After all, Yato-gami is still a god, albeit a demon transformed into a vengeful spirit.

But compared to the existence of Huang Quan, she instantly felt that her perspective was still too narrow.

"Actually, the one in Aomori Prefecture is real too; it's an entrance to the underworld, but it's been sealed off."

The Bone Woman spoke up at this moment, and she was not hesitant to explain anything that could be said.

Ignoring Asagi Yoshino's shock, she was instead quite interested in how Kujo Toru had come to this conclusion:

"How did you guess that?"

"As you know, names are a very important medium in Shintoism."

Kujo Toru didn't show much smugness; instead, he calmly explained:

"The pronunciation of Yomiyama is 'yomi', the pronunciation of Daimimura is also 'yomi', and the pronunciation of Yomi and Youming is also 'yomi', so it's not hard to guess. You just need a little common sense."

With a few casual remarks, a certain priestess who shared information with him was already relegated to the category of someone who lacked common sense.

However, as he said, it's not hard to guess; anyone can guess it if they have a big enough imagination.

However, it is very difficult to confirm a guess.

He came to Daiyu Village in person today, and coincidentally, he had contact with Huang Quan before, which is how he was able to confirm it.

"And there are other clues that corroborate this."

With some distance still to go before reaching the shore, Kujo Tetsu began to explain things to Asatake Yoshino in detail.

As a shrine maiden with spiritual powers, she will inevitably have to deal with these things in the future. If she doesn't understand and make good use of the knowledge in Shinto scriptures, she will suffer sooner or later.

This is also why Kujo Toru always asked Suzumoto Mayu to study the classics of the Seifu Taisha Shrine, and he also asked Iki Hiyori to learn more about related knowledge.

"Do you think there's anything special about the name Misaki-cho?"

The girl frowned, racking her brains, working backward from the conclusion of the Yellow Springs, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her, and she looked up abruptly:

"Dosheng Misaki is Santukawa!"

“Yes,” Kujo Toru nodded: “According to the ‘Ten Kings Sutra on the Causes and Conditions of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Aspiration,’ the dead have three ways to cross the river, hence the name Sanzu River. It is also mentioned in the ‘Japanese Ghost Stories.’”

“The names of Misaki-cho and Kurokawa already tell a lot.”

Pointing to the Bone Woman ferrying the boat, and the surrounding river lanterns:

"So if nothing unexpected happens, the so-called 'water of the eternal world' has been polluted, which means it has been tainted by the aura of the Sanzu River."

"All correct." The Bone Woman praised, her tone becoming much more relaxed: "So we've arrived. You two should prepare to disembark."

Before we knew it, the small boat had passed through the torii gate that was half-submerged in the lake and arrived at the shore.

A stone-paved path leads up from the bottom of the lake and into the mountains, where black-tiled eaves can be faintly seen peeking out from the mountainside.

That is clearly the main hall of Kurokawa Shrine.

Upon arriving here, the previously wispy foul air instantly became extremely dense, finally transforming into the form that Kujo Toru was most familiar with.

In the spiritual vision, the entire green mountain was shrouded in blood-red light, soaring straight into the sky and dimming the countless stars.

"The mission is over, I'll be leaving now."

The Bone Woman's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy; she could finally get away from that monstrous Kujo Toru.

They quickly started rowing and, at a much faster speed than they had come, disappeared into the thick fog, accompanied by the sound of the lake water lapping against the shore.

"Let's go."

Kujo Toru called out to Asagi Yoshino and started walking up the mountain.

We finally arrived at Kurokawa Shrine.

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