After that, a young man emerged from the crowd. He was dressed in light-colored linen and looked cool. He waved to Yuzhongjin and said, "Miko-sama, please come this way."
"Ah."
Yu Zhuanjin followed and carefully sensed the surroundings. The dark evil aura was still pervasive, and in his spiritual vision, it was as if he was shrouded in deep smog.
There could be many reasons for this phenomenon, but there are only two most reasonable explanations: either the monster that caused the rebellion is very powerful, so the lingering demonic aura is particularly strong, or the monster is still hiding in the village.
But judging by the professional qualities of Qinghe Priest, even if she was given an experience, she would not leave any hidden dangers that might harm the villagers even in the slightest.
"right here."
Finally, the young man who led the way pointed to the withered grass in the distance and said, "Where the monster appeared, even the grass and trees lost their vitality. It's so vicious."
"Indeed, the demonic aura here is more obvious. It seems that we can trace the monster."
Different from the evil aura lingering in the village, the atmosphere here faintly smelled of burning. Yu Zhuanjin examined it carefully for a long time, but heard strange noises coming from the side.
"who is it?!"
The young man shouted like a frightened bird.
"No, no, wait, it's me."
A young woman suddenly appeared from behind a tree. She was covered in dust and smoke and smelled burnt. Her collar was wrapped high around her neck, which looked quite strange.
"Sister-in-law Xiangzi! Why are you here? And why are you like this..."
The young man recognized the other person at a glance and was immediately surprised.
"Oh, I accidentally overcooked the fire this morning while cooking, and the whole house was filled with smoke. Then I thought of coming here to wash clothes, and that's why you guys came over."
The woman named "Xiangzi" explained.
"Sister-in-law, you are so confused. There might be monsters around here. Why did you come here?"
The young man's reaction was obviously anxious.
"Ouch~"
While the young man was talking to the woman, Fu Fu, the young fox from Yuzhuanjin, came quietly and whispered in her ear, apparently having discovered a clue.
Having seen everything that should be seen, there was no need for the villagers to lead the way for the rest. Yu Zhuanjin left alone with Fu Fu and came to a place about a hundred meters behind the village.
"It's a barrier formation."
There were obscure spells carved on the tree, and Yu Zhuanjin immediately recognized that it was the meaning of "killing evil", a demon-repelling barrier that would instantly generate enormous power once triggered.
Needless to say, Yuzhong Jin knew that the person who set up the formation was only the Qinghe priest. As a means of protecting the villagers, the structure of the barrier was slightly simple but effective. Only powerful priests or Onmyojis had such ability.
The traces of the spell are clear, it should be the formation that was temporarily set up yesterday, and the lasting effect is also not good. Although it is powerful and feels that it can purify the evil spirits of the lower-level demon king in an instant, it will become ineffective in at most fourteen or fifteen hours as time passes, and its power is also gradually weakening.
"The trigger condition is the perception of monsters. Once a monster sneaks into the formation and reveals its evil spirit, all the magic power left in the barrier will burst out to repel the monster."
Yu Zhuanjin analyzed the function of the barrier, and at the same time realized that this journey would probably be extremely difficult, so he returned home and decided to observe more in the village.
"Mistress, you are back. We have prepared food. How about sitting down and resting for a while?" The woman Xiangzi came over after changing her clothes to entertain Yuzhujin. However, this dress still had a high collar. Was it a new trend in this era? There was still a burning smell.
"We feel relieved as long as the miko is here."
A villager nearby interrupted the conversation and spoke flatteringly.
Then everyone started to make a noise, and the scene became very lively.
“Wait a minute…”
But Yuzhong Jin couldn't stand such enthusiasm. He responded and quickly left the crowd. Before running out, he suddenly noticed a figure passing by, and there seemed to be a red rope hanging around the figure's neck.
One.
As he walked around the village, Yuzhongjin focused on this and found other villagers with the same characteristics.
"Two, three."
While muttering the number, Yuzhong Jin suddenly bumped into a figure when she turned a corner. Before she could step back, the other person had already fallen to the ground.
"Eh? Miko-sama."
It was the young man who led the way before.
"You're just in time. Can you take me to see the villagers who were attacked by the monster?"
Yuzhongjin said bluntly.
"...Yeah, of course."
Although the young man was confused, he still nodded slightly.
Walking into the thatched hut at the edge of the village, a man in his thirties was lying on the quilt with his eyes closed. His hands were folded on his chest, and he was clenching a pure white talisman. The runes on it were holy, and at first glance it looked like an "exorcism", but Yu Zhongjin, who knew this very well, knew that it was a "seal"!
How can it be? !
It's not an exorcism but a seal.
Yuzhongjin quickly looked at the other person's neck, and sure enough, there was also a red rope, a deep red color...
"Ouch!" It's the smell of blood.
The young fox reported immediately.
"It's troublesome."
These weren't the victims at all, but evil monsters. The scarlet mark was a demon mark, and there were more monsters hiding in the crowd. Yuzhongjin immediately asked seriously, "How many people are there in the village?"
"Eh? Miko-sama, is there something wrong?"
Seeing Yu Zhuanjin's solemn expression, the young man realized that the situation might be serious, so he hurriedly recalled, and said as he thought: "There are a total of 43 households in the village, and they are all acquaintances. If we talk about the total number of people..."
"One hundred and fifty-three people, including the one in front of me." Yu Zhuanjin counted based on her memory. These were the only villagers she had seen in total.
"No, there are a total of 177 people. Six families left the village and went elsewhere after seeing the monster. The rest are almost the same number you mentioned."
The young man answered seriously.
"... Phew, that's good."
Hearing this, Yu Zhuanjin heaved a sigh of relief.
In this case, there are only three monsters disguised as humans hiding in the village. It is not difficult to deal with them, not to mention that there is also the barrier left by the Qinghe priest that can be used.
The only problem is...
Yuzhongjin took out a golden arrow from the quiver behind him and shot it along the red line on the neck of a villager named "Taromaru".
"Miko-sama! What are you doing…"
But before the young man could finish his yelling, he saw a floating human head open its eyes, glaring at him with a ferocious look. If it weren't for the effect of the seal, it would have probably jumped up and hurt people.
“…What is this?!”
The young man was trembling and unable to speak.
"The flying head monster is a monster that parasitizes the human body. Even if the person being parasitized remains conscious, they are unaware of the fact that they are already dead. The monster only gives them the idea that they are still alive. They are extremely vicious, and when they hide inside a human body, even a Yamabushi sorcerer can hardly tell them apart unless they reveal their true form."
After saying this, Yu Zhuanjin tightly grasped the arrow and stabbed it directly into the center of the human head's brow. Finally, he "pulled out" the corpse so that its soul could enter the underworld safely.
Image: "Daily Fox", Location: "Images/"
Volume 73 Inuyasha (Part ): Chapter Chapter : Gathering of Monsters [Please vote! ]
……
During the intermission, Yu Zhuanjin did not alert the enemy, but went to the home of the woman who was going to entertain her, that is, the sister-in-law of the young man who was following her, Xiangzi.
The food was placed on the table. Yu Zhuanjin remained calm and composed. However, the young man squatting next to him couldn't stop his hands from shaking, and he was extremely panicked inside.
"Jiro! What's the matter with your hands shaking while you eat?"
The middle-aged man sitting in the main seat shouted loudly, and his aura made him look like the head of the family.
"Father, don't be so harsh on Jiro. You should know that my brother was almost attacked by a monster some time ago. He was so scared that he hasn't recovered yet. He will definitely recover after the witch defeats the monster."
Another young man nearby defended Jiro.
"Yes, my husband, what Taro said is right. This monster scares people so much that they will inevitably lose their souls. How can they recover in three to five days?"
Another woman echoed.
"I just wanted to tell Jiro to stop being so out of control. There's a miko sitting next to him."
The head of the family held his forehead with his hand and sighed.
"Yes, I understand, father."
The man with the common name "Jiro" was the young man who had led the way for Yuzhongjin before. He lowered his head and did not dare to look directly at his relatives in front of him, just because of the red marks on their necks.
His father, mother and even brother, the only three monsters, were all by his side. This made Jiro's expression extremely complicated, with fear mixed with grief, and he was a little speechless.
"Why are you still crying? This child..."
The middle-aged woman handed Jiro a handkerchief, and the true feelings she revealed could not be faked.
Feitouman is an extremely special kind of monster. The conditions of its birth are unknown. It may be born with this ability, but it is more likely that it is a parasite. The host lives like a normal person during the day, and in that state, they don’t even know that they are monsters.
Until late at night, the separated heads began to cause chaos, but most of the flying head barbarians just floated unconsciously and returned to their bodies naturally at dawn.
Jiro knew very well that his parents and brother were normal people before this, but they had gone out once a week ago. After they came back, strange things started happening in the village. He thought something must have happened during that period.
"By the way, Jiro, the priest who came before seemed to have said that he would take you to the shrine to stay for a few days. Oh, could it be that you have a talent for priests? Then our family really has an extraordinary person."
Jiro's brother is deeply proud of him.
"No, maybe not that."
However, Jiro knew that perhaps the priest had already seen through the truth and was just letting him take refuge for a few days.
"There's another meal to be prepared. I'll go serve it."
The virtuous Xiangzi got up and went to the kitchen.
"..."
After hesitating for a moment, Jiro stood up and prepared to go to the kitchen with him. He remained silent and kept his head down.
“…Is that enough?”
Yuzhongjin asked.
She was waiting, waiting for Jiro to say goodbye to his family, and then she would go to defeat the enemy. To be honest, when Yuzhong Jin saw three targets appear in a room in a row, she could only feel sympathy for Jiro's situation.
It's a real tragedy.
"Is it still useful to say this now? My family is gone. They are just a bunch of fakes with memories." The lost voice is a true reflection of Jiro's inner thoughts.
"What are you talking about, Jiro!"
The head of the family, who was sitting in the main seat, immediately asked.
However, Jiro went to the kitchen without saying a word.
What followed was a standard soap opera.
……
"Jiro? What you are doing is wrong. I am your sister-in-law. Don't touch me..."
In the kitchen, Jiro grabbed Xiangzi's hand and wanted to quickly get away from this place of trouble. The latter, who was completely unaware of the situation, thought that the other party had lost his moral integrity, so she kept resisting.
"Hurry, follow me, there's no time to explain!"
Jiro is quite manly.
"…Jiro, what are you doing?!"
However, the noise was too loud and Jiro's brother soon discovered something was wrong.
Seeing this, Yuzhongjin finally stood up, took out a bow and arrow and a cooking knife from the corner of the room, and stabbed them into Taro's chest, who was becoming increasingly agitated.
"Why do I feel like a villain?"
The person involved, Yu Zhuanjin, couldn't help but mutter.
"Miko, Miko-sama, what are you doing?"
The middle-aged man and woman were both horrified and did not understand Yuzhongjin's behavior.
