Finally.
"Then, Mr. Mo, please guide me until I've had my revenge!"
After an internal struggle, Tomoe Gozen finally convinced herself and agreed to join Mo Shuying and Shuten Doji in finding the mastermind.
Mo Shuying had no objections. The situation in Nihon was still unclear, and an extra helper would be very useful.
"So, where should we go next to find this mastermind?"
Mo Shuying frowned. Nihon wasn't small, nor was it particularly large, but finding someone in such a vast place was truly difficult. If the other party wanted to hide, it would be even harder to locate them.
"The Blood Realm is almost complete. We must find and stop him before it finishes, otherwise… we'll be the ones eliminated."
Tomoe Gozen understood that their time was short. Once the Blood Realm was complete, the mastermind would become invincible.
"Actually, there's another way."
Shuten Doji said with a smile, a spark of wisdom glinting in her charming eyes.
"What way?"
Mo Shuying was surprised. What kind of mischievous idea did this demon girl have now?
"Hehe~ Look, what's that?"
Shuten Doji pointed to the sky. The two followed her gaze, and besides the blood-red pillars of light reaching into the heavens, there was nothing else.
"Look at what? The pillars?"
Mo Shuying asked, puzzled.
"Exactly! These light pillars are actually the twelve pillars of the Blood Realm. Amakusa Shirō previously split them and gave them to the Twelve Oni Generals to collect Soul Blood for them. Now that all the Oni Generals are dead, these pillars are masterless. If we can destroy just one of them, the Blood Realm won't be completed! Then… the mastermind should reveal himself automatically."
Shuten Doji declared confidently.
Mo Shuying's eyes lit up when he heard her. It made so much sense!
"Impressive! That's brilliant! Only you could come up with that!"
After saying that, Mo Shuying reached out to pat Shuten Doji's head, even giving her two cute demon horns a little squeeze.
Shuten Doji froze. She never expected Mo Shuying to suddenly make such a small gesture. By the time she reacted,
"Ah! What are you doing! Get away! You're disgusting!"
Shuten Doji slapped Mo Shuying's hand away, turned, pulled out her gourd, and began washing her head with sake. However, beneath the alcohol, Shuten Doji's face had completely flushed, and the lingering warmth of his hand on her horns made her legs weak.
"Stingy… Is it really that bad? Fine, fine, I won't touch them next time."
Mo Shuying also didn't expect her to use sake to disinfect herself just from his touch. That was too much!
"Alright, both of you, stop messing around. Let's get back to the point. Lady Shuten said to destroy one of the blood-red pillars… This, to my knowledge, is very difficult. Those pillars are almost indestructible from the outside. Even if Mr. Mo is powerful, he probably can't do anything about it, at least not in a short amount of time."
Tomoe Gozen, the voice of reason, delivered a harsh dose of reality to them both.
"Hm? Is that so? Then it's not going to be easy…"
Shuten Doji's expression returned to normal, and she turned, frowning, as she spoke.
But Mo Shuying was deep in thought.
"You said… how can one enter these light pillars?"
"It requires the controller's permission."
"Couldn't those Oni Generals go in and out freely?"
"The Oni Generals were authorized and had the qualification to enter and exit the pillars, so they weren't obstructed. Besides the Oni Generals, Kiyohime could also, but Kiyohime is… Apart from the Oni Generals and Kiyohime, no one else has the authority to enter freely."
Tomoe Gozen explained that she herself had previously entered and exited the pillars with the Oni Spirit Songstress's permission. Now that the Oni Spirit Songstress was dead, no one could grant her permission to enter or exit.
"I see… So if I find another Oni General, I can open the pillar and enter?"
Mo Shuying felt like he had found a blind spot.
"Find another one? Haven't all Twelve Oni Generals been wiped out? This isn't something you can just accomplish by finding any random yokai."
Tomoe Gozen said with a frown, but then she saw Mo Shuying smiling mysteriously and shaking his head.
"No, no, no… Actually, there's one Oni General who isn't dead!"
"Huh??"
Qing Nü felt like Nihon might be doomed.
Ever since Mo Shuying had released her, Qing Nü had decided to hide her identity and start a new life.
She pretended to be a homeless, wandering girl and fainted at the entrance of Kisuisō, where she was then taken in by the cold-faced but kind-hearted proprietress.
Qing Nü had a reason for choosing Kisuisō.
The mountains weren't safe. As the saying goes, the greatest hermit hides in the city. As long as she concealed her aura and lived among humans, it would be difficult for others to discover her.
Furthermore, this Kisuisō was where she had met Mo Shuying before. Based on her understanding of men, they were fickle creatures. After her little stunt, he hadn't experienced the joy of the hot spring, so he wouldn't have many thoughts about the hot spring or Kisuisō in the future.
This way, Qing Nü could safely hide! Hide until the end of time! Just thinking about it made her happy!
But that was just a thought.
Not long after Kisuisō took in Qing Nü, a bloody Boundary Field unfurled across the sky. Soon after, a power capable of extracting Soul Blood enveloped the area, beginning to absorb the Soul Blood of ordinary people.
The proprietress of Kisuisō was quite old; how could she endure such a thing? She fainted on the spot! If Qing Nü hadn't secretly used her demonic power to isolate the entire Kisuisō, the proprietress might have been drained to death.
However, while Qing Nü saved the people of Kisuisō, she couldn't save more. Moreover, Qing Nü was very worried that by using her demonic power to protect Kisuisō, she might inevitably be discovered by those with ulterior motives!
Thus, the thought of quietly slipping away sprouted in Qing Nü's mind. But soon, as the suction intensified, Qing Nü, on the verge of tears, gave up the idea of leaving. She resigned herself to maintaining the demonic power Boundary Field and protecting the people of Kisuisō.
And this protection lasted a long time. As the suction showed no signs of receding, Qing Nü's demonic power was nearly exhausted.
Just as Qing Nü gritted her teeth, about to give up,
"I never thought there were good ones among demons."
Tomoe Gozen recognized Qing Nü and saw that she had been protecting the people nearby. Her gaze towards Qing Nü held a touch of approval and admiration.
"Who's there?!"
Hearing the voice, Qing Nü immediately became alert. The excessive consumption of her demonic power had dulled her senses, so she hadn't noticed Tomoe Gozen's arrival at all. But upon looking up and seeing Tomoe Gozen's appearance, Qing Nü's heart immediately sank!
Tomoe Gozen! She knew her—Amakusa Shirō's subordinate! Her presence here clearly meant she knew about Qing Nü's treacherous survival! She was here to execute a traitor!
What to do? Run immediately? But what about the people of Kisuisō?!
As Qing Nü's thoughts raced, wondering whether to run or not,
"Well done."
A familiar voice rang out. Qing Nü froze, then looked up! She saw Mo Shuying leap from a spaceship, pass through the demonic power Boundary Field, and land in front of her.
"L-Lord!!"
Qing Nü hadn't expected to see Mo Shuying again. Was this man still not willing to let her go?
Just as Qing Nü's eyes welled with tears, her heart heavy with sorrow,
"Come with us. We need your help with something."
Mo Shuying spoke, and Qing Nü was stunned.
Help? So he wasn't here to silence her after all!
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read 777+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------