She wants to face the disaster with dignity.
Then tell fate that it is not even a mayfly!
Only if she defeats fate can she bring Yunhe to defeat the other side.
……
In a forest somewhere in Musashi Province.
The air was filled with the smell of blood.
Countless small snakes bit the pieces of meat and jumped into the water to create a scarlet pool of blood for their king.
Beasts, humans, and even monsters of the same kind.
The entire forest was reduced to death.
"That abominable human priest actually dared to place such a seal on me. If that's the case, don't blame me for being rude. When I revive, I will destroy everything within a radius of ten thousand meters."
A huge demonic figure rose from the center of the blood pool. He bathed in the blood and continued to recover his strength. This was not enough, he needed more and more lives...
Ten times or even a hundred times, he can't wait any longer.
……
Musashi Province, Hikawa Shrine.
"The Fushimi Miko hasn't been here for a few days."
Suyue and Xizhao sat side by side on the steps above the shrine, their chins resting on their hands, looking down expecting to see a figure wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume.
However, until sunset, there was still no one there.
Instead, my stomach couldn’t take it anymore and I felt hungry.
Beside her, Chun was studying a difficult-to-understand notebook, and was not staring blankly with her two senior sisters. Although the knowledge left by the predecessors was too difficult to digest, she was not worried. When the Fushimi shrine maiden arrived, she would be able to solve her doubts, and she could also use this opportunity to have her stay by her side.
Even if it's just less than half an hour.
However, this is what Chun is most looking forward to, even if she has to put in several or even dozens of times the effort.
At the bottom of the shrine, a red and white figure suddenly appeared.
Suyue and Xizhao stood up suddenly, but when the figure got closer, they sighed, because that was not the Fushimi Miko, but a senior.
"Iori-senpai..."
Su Yue was about to say hello.
"Suyue, Xizhao, is the palace master here?"
The miko Iori stepped forward and asked.
"...Master is still in this temple."
Xizhao didn't understand what he meant, but answered anyway, and then saw the shrine maiden Iori running straight into the shrine, obviously there was something important.
Chun sat there. To be honest, everything that happened just now was over before she could react.
……
Hikawa Shrine, main hall.
The miko Iori pushed the door open and shouted, "Palace Chief!"
"Iori, have you found anything?"
The Qinghe priest obviously knew the other party's intention.
"We found some clues. There are frequent snake-demon disasters near the eastern forest. They collect blood, apparently preparing to feed a certain existence."
The miko Iori explains.
"What about the interior of the forest?"
Priest Qinghe asked about the follow-up.
"I don't know. That guy's perception ability is still terrifying even though he is sealed. I'm not sure if he will notice us if we go deeper. I can only report to you first, but I am 90% sure that the monster we are looking for is among them."
Said the miko Iori.
"Well, go inform the other palaces and temples and ask them to assist us."
Priest Qinghe said in a commanding tone.
"I see."
The miko Iori immediately accepted the order, but before leaving, she turned back and asked, "Should we inform Junior Sister Yunhe about this matter first?"
"If it's a problem we can solve, there's no need to disrupt her normal life now."
The Qinghe priest still wanted to try to prevent Yunhe from being involved.
"Yes."
Unlike the other older shrine maidens, Niyi, as a shrine maiden of the same generation as Yunhe, naturally does not want the latter to bear the so-called fate.
Just because she had drawn the Ten-fist Sword in the past, she still had to bear the responsibility even after she stepped down as the shrine maiden. This was too unreasonable.
After the priestess Iori left, the priest Qinghe looked at the altar in the main hall, on which was enshrined a sacred sword.
The authentic Tentsūtra sword, the sacred tool of Susanoo.
Standing up, the priest Qinghe walked forward, took down the sacred sword, and pulled it hard but to no avail. He was not qualified and could only sigh to himself.
……
Overnight, after all the Reiseki provinces and even famous temples in the Kanto region received the news from Hikawa Shrine, their chief priests and even abbots rushed to the shrine from all directions.
Ichinomiya Samukawa Shrine in Sagami Province, Ichinomiya Futarayama Shrine in Shimotsuke Province, Ichinomiya Kanzen Shrine in Ueno Province, Ichinomiya Kashima Shrine in Hitachi Province, Ichinomiya Tamamae Shrine in Kazusa Province, Ichinomiya Awa Shrine in Awa Province, plus Hikawa Shrine in Musashi Province and Ichinomiya Katori Shrine in Shimotsuke Province.
Representatives from the eight major shrines in the Kanto region gathered together.
In addition, there are the Second Palace, the Third Palace, and the abbots and chief monks of Buddhist temples in various places.
Among these chief priests, deputy chief priests, abbots and chief monks, Qinghe, as the chief priest of Hikawa Shrine which enshrines Susanoo, is ranked among the top three in terms of strength.
The Katori Shrine, which enshrines the god of the power of swords, has its chief priest Hirohiko who is also among the top five in terms of strength.
The abbot of Xinsheng Temple is undoubtedly the first.
After all, it is the headquarters of Eastern Esoteric Buddhism.
However, no matter who they were, they only reached the upper limit of SR level. In decades, the only human who broke through to a higher level was the witch Qingyun.
Because of this, her status as the “strongest” is unshakable.
"Have you found the monster that crossed the sea from Shenzhou?"
The chief priest of Sagami Province asked.
"We have discovered something." Priest Qinghe informed him of all the information he knew.
"Now that we have found it, when do we take action?"
This time it was the turn of the chief priest of Hitachi Province to ask questions.
"Please wait a moment. We can't do this rashly."
A palace attendant in a white robe raised his hand and motioned for everyone to follow his lead.
"That evil beast is causing great harm and cannot be allowed to stay!"
The representative of Kanda Shrine turned his head and looked at the priest who had just spoken, and suddenly asked, "By the way, who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"
"I'm the chief priest of Yahiko Shrine." The chief priest in a white robe glanced at the representative of Kanda Shrine.
"Isn't Yahiko Shrine an Ichinomiya in Echigo Province?"
Although Echigo Province is close to Ueno Province and Shimotsuke Province, it is itself a central region, so the representatives of Kanda Shrine were naturally confused.
"The monster first landed in Echigo Province and then hid in the Kanto region. This is our negligence. We will naturally take responsibility for it. But before that, listen to me first."
The chief priest of Yahiko Shrine continued, "I learned from the sorcerer from Shenzhou that the reason why the monster came to Japan was because he stole the secret treasure of his own tribe. The secret treasure is said to come from the ancient gods. Even if it is only a tiny part, it has the same power as the monster, so we must find out the situation..."
……
After challenging various shrines one after another, Miojin expected to break through the level of the skill "Fox Hunting World" today, so he came to Ichinomiya Tamamae Shrine in Kazusa Province with great expectations, but...
"Master Palace Master and the brothers left yesterday. I don't know how long they will be back."
Said the priestess who was in charge of guarding the mountain gate.
Helplessly, Yuzhongjin had to say goodbye and leave, and went to Ichinomiya Awa Shrine in Awa Province instead. However, the result was just like the previous Ichinomiya Shrine, with all the chief priests and powerful priests and shrine maidens such as Niyi coming out.
Yu Zhuanjin asked about the specific reasons, but the disciples who stayed behind knew nothing about it.
In the end, they could only go to second- or third-rate shrines and temples to find worthy opponents to compete with.
It took me a whole morning to find one that met the standards.
At noon, Yu Zhuanjin returned home disappointed and decided to go back tomorrow to check the situation. However, after returning home, he saw Yunhe talking to a man.
"What happened?"
Yuzhongjin realized that the man was just a villager looking for help, so he went up to him and asked.
"Miko-sama..."
The villager in simple clothes informed the situation.
It turned out that there was a sudden snake plague in their village for some unknown reason. The snakes attacked in an organized manner at night, hunting their cattle and dogs in the dark.
Cows are the most important animals of this era. They are responsible for reclaiming wasteland. There may be only one cow in a village, and this cow is killed by a snake bite.
Not only that, when it was discovered, it had been drained of blood. Ordinary snakes naturally cannot do this.
Except, monsters.
"Where is your village?"
Yu Zhuanjin asked again.
The villager gave an address.
Hearing this, Yuzhong Jin frowned and then said, "I remember your village should be close to Kanda Shrine, why don't you go directly to them?"
"Of course I looked for them, but for some reason, the powerful priests and priestesses left yesterday. I had no choice but to..."
The villager lowered his head and explained.
The chief priest of Kanda Shrine, Kazuki, has also left?
Yuzhongjin couldn't help but feel confused.
"Don't worry, we will resolve this matter."
Yunhe accepted the commission.
“…Thank you! This is a gift from our village. Please accept it.”
After saying that, the villager took out a purse, but it was not very heavy, after all, it was just a small village.
"No need for that. Use the money to buy a cow in the city. Exorcising demons is our job."
Naturally, Yunhe refused the commission reward.
"Yunhe, I'll take care of this matter."
Yu Zhuanjin did not want Yunhe to participate in the retreat because that might lead to the latter's death. Even if the probability was very small, he had to act to be on the safe side.
"No, I've been at home for seven days, so I have to go out and move around."
Yun He did not agree, but asked: "Or, Yu Zhuanjin, you don't want to act with me? It turns out that I am holding you back."
"…How could that be? That's not the case!"
Yuzhongjin immediately denied it.
"that would be great."
Hearing this, Yun He laughed out loud.
"Huihui, Lulu, Shoushou, the three of you must behave well at home~"
Yuzhongjin instructed the little foxes as usual, then looked at Kikyo and continued, "We will be back soon, and you must take good care of Feng."
"no problem!"
