The tides of time crashed against the reefs with a thunderous roar.
In the vast void, Yan Lanyu curled up with all his might, panting frantically, trembling. In the tearing pain and despair, he slammed his forehead repeatedly against his knees.
Why me?
Why must I relive all of this?!
Why must the ugly past, already buried deep in my soul, be cruelly dug up and displayed for all to see?!
His forehead was broken, and blood flowed down his nose to his cheeks. His face twisted in spasms, letting out hoarse, shrill cries of pain that sounded inhuman.
Let me out.
“—Let me out—!”
—Boom!!
The colossal body of the demon dragon swiftly moved, instantly sweeping away a row of vermilion wooden pillars along the outer corridor of the great hall. The pillars crashed down, shattering into countless pieces on the ground. Several frantically rushing shrine priests stumbled and nearly had their heads smashed by the airborne logs.
Chu He raised a hand. Behind him, the collapsing wooden pillars seemed to be lifted by an invisible force, slowly returning to their upright positions.
“Who are you?” The shamans’ eyes couldn’t see the demon dragon circling above their heads. They stared in horror at the young man before them: “How did you get here? What are you doing?!”
Chu He didn’t answer, narrowing his eyes as he looked up.
A streak of snowy light tore through the sky, irresistible as a meteor, then exploded into a dazzling flash!
“Maha—!” Zhou Hui’s roar, deafening amidst the booming, overpowered everything: “What the hell are you holding?!”
Zhou Hui’s body plummeted, landing firmly with a thud. He stood up abruptly and yelled furiously, “That brat’s sword is too overpowered; it can summon wind and lightning directly from the sky. Do you know what it is?”
Chu He rubbed his brow in exasperation: “That’s the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, an ancient divine artifact said to control the weather, and together with the Yata no Kagami and the Yasakani no Magatama, it’s one of Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures… Hurry up and throw Maha back to the Blood Sea, deal with this dragon, and leave quickly. Isn’t it chaotic enough already?!”
Zhou Hui was furious: “That little brat is too despicable! No, I’m going to snatch his sword!”
Chu He: “…”
The shamans nearby were stunned. Those who reacted quicker immediately rushed forward: “Where did you come from, daring to trespass into the inner palace that only Imperial Highnesses can enter?! Retreat at once!”
Zhou Hui immediately turned and whispered, “Really? Only royalty can enter?”
Chu He: “More or less. This is a special ritual ground for the Japanese Imperial Family. Yoshinobu Aida and the others probably snuck in…”
“Hey?! Then shouldn’t there be a lot of treasures here?!”
“Shut up!” Chu He was utterly flustered. “Don’t add to the chaos at a time like this!”
The shamans were almost dying of anger. However, the shrine’s defenses, both inside and out, weren’t primarily human-based. The number of shrine priests was extremely limited, and most were shrine maidens with no combat ability. In the vicinity of the inner palace, there were only a few of them on duty. At this moment, even calling the police wouldn’t bring anyone, leaving them utterly helpless.
“If you still don’t leave, don’t blame us…”
Before the shaman could finish speaking, an incredibly massive bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the night sky! Maha’s cold voice echoed amidst the crackling electricity: “You mortals, begone—!”
—Boom!
In the nick of time, Chu He raised his hand and pushed horizontally through the air. A gentle, surging force swept up the shamans by their waists, pushing them dozens of steps away in an instant. At the same moment the shamans barely landed, a waterfall of electricity crashed down, instantly splitting apart the area they had just occupied, along with the main hall’s front gate!
The shamans cried out in unison. Amidst the violent tremors, Zhou Hui staggered a few steps, nearly hit directly on the head, and couldn’t help but curse, “That damn kid plays too rough, doesn’t he?”
Chu He slapped Zhou Hui’s hand just as he was about to draw his sword and charge. With his other hand, he raised it against the strong wind. A string of pure green Buddhist beads instantly flew from his wrist. Then, the beads shattered and transformed in a flash of light, becoming a short glass dagger, which he grasped with his slender fingers and wielded towards the direction Maha was attacking from.
The blade formed a fan-shaped greenish light, fiercely ascending against the wind, striking the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in Maha’s hand with great force and sending it flying!
This series of movements was utterly fluid and irresistible. Half of Maha’s body was jolted backward, and he said angrily, “Mother!”
“Stop messing around.” Chu He reached out to Maha and said, “Come here, I’ll take you back to the Blood Sea.”
“No! Why do all of you interfere with my actions?! Why do all of you side with the human world?!”
Chu He shook his head and said, “It’s not like that. I know you’re trying to compensate for your missing divine essence by devouring souls…”
Chu He wanted to continue reasoning, but at that moment, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, having flown into the air, carved a bright arc, suddenly drawing countless interwoven electric sparks from the gathering dark clouds. Then, the electrical grid crisscrossed, converging into a beam of lightning, which gently touched the sword tip pointing high into the sky.
Chu He: “Huh?”
A sudden change occurred, captivating everyone with this strange celestial phenomenon. Under everyone’s gaze, the moment the lightning touched the sword tip, it was like cold water poured into a pot of boiling oil—with a boom, the entire sky exploded!
“I told you already—!” Zhou Hui shouted into Chu He’s ear, “You were still trying to educate that big bird! I told you this sword is valuable! Just grab it and use it ourselves, that’s it!”
Chu He couldn’t say a single word.
A waterfall of electricity cascaded down, like a torrential downpour. In this magnificent curtain of light piercing the heavens, the demon dragon finally revealed its enraged form!
—If the demon dragon’s body was in a parallel space just now, invisible to mortal eyes, then in this rare celestial illumination, it had completely broken free from the shackles of both human and demon realms, projecting its image into the human world.
The shamans’ mouths hung open, watching it reveal itself in the sky. Its head rose hundreds of meters high, its entire body coiled like mountains, and its massive tail even touched the ground.
“This… Is this a dragon? Is this really a dragon?!” The shamans shook their heads, trembling as they retreated. “Why is a dragon here?!”
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the demon dragon seemed agitated. Its mountain-like head swayed left and right, and its three blood-red, lantern-like vertical pupils slowly scanned the air, as if searching for something.
Maha, still airborne, had no intention of acknowledging it. The Peacock Wisdom King paid no attention to things he couldn’t eat. Moreover, with Zhou Hui right in front of him, his hatred for his father overshadowed his concern for these trivial Japanese matters. Even if this dragon killed everyone present now, it wouldn’t be his problem.
Maha only wanted to continue fighting Zhou Hui. He turned and swept towards the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
—However, at that moment, the demon dragon’s three eyes high in the sky suddenly converged, all looking straight at him.
“…”
Maha felt something was wrong and looked up, meeting the demon dragon’s gaze.
The gale swept his cascading silver hair. His gaze was cold yet bewildered. At that moment, through the Peacock Wisdom King’s violent soul, the giant dragon seemed to sense a familiar aura, and it suddenly raised its head, forming a coiled, inverted U-shape, poised to strike.
“…?”
Is it going to attack me?
Maha hadn’t even reacted when, the next moment, the giant dragon descended from the sky, ramming into him with lightning speed!
“—Ah!”
Maha was caught off guard, flung sideways, spitting out a mouthful of silvery-white blood!
What the hell is going on? Why is it suddenly coming after me?!
Maha couldn’t understand why the demon dragon suddenly targeted him among so many people present, but there was no time to think now. He hadn’t yet recovered from the dizziness caused by the impact when the demon dragon opened its terrifying fangs and, like a giant train, roared down, smashing Maha from mid-air to the ground!
With a loud crash, a giant crater several meters in diameter appeared out of nowhere.
Maha lay at the bottom of the pit. Before he could get up, he saw, amidst the swirling dust, the demon dragon’s massive, scaly claw roaring down to stomp on him!
—If it were a mortal, this blow would not only pulverize them but would leave not even bone fragments, instantly turning them into dust.
The Peacock Wisdom King’s fury instantly flared.
He staggered to his feet, let out an extremely sharp, prolonged cry, and then a golden light suddenly erupted around him. His entire body transformed within the golden light, and in the blink of an eye, he became a magnificent, gem-like giant peacock!
“What’s going on?” Chu He took a step forward, but Zhou Hui grabbed him. “Wait, don’t go!”
Chu He turned back and saw Zhou Hui narrowing his eyes, carefully observing the continuously attacking demon dragon. After a moment, he said, “It’s not trying to attack Maha… it’s looking for someone.”
“—Looking for someone?”
“Mhm, it’s looking for Yan Lanyu,” Zhou Hui said. “Do you remember how Maha used his barrier to trap Yan Lanyu inside?”
Chu He was stunned.
The Peacock spread its wings and tail feathers, engulfed in roaring golden flames, sweeping past the demon dragon, instantly cutting a long wound on the dragon’s body wherever it passed. Black blood and scales rained down, but the Peacock dodged them all, charging forward and ramming fiercely into the dragon’s seventh inch!
Bang!
The giant dragon’s body was knocked back several zhang, and the Peacock took the opportunity to flap its wings and soar high into the sky.
The Peacock Wisdom King’s true form possessed formidable combat power. He was about to deliver a severe blow to the dragon when he suddenly felt an almost imperceptible tremor deep in his heart.
This is…?
A hint of confusion flashed in Maha’s eyes, followed by continuous vibrations transmitting from his nerve endings.
—He suddenly understood it was the barrier.
It was his Peacock Wisdom King’s barrier, shaken by the demon dragon’s violent impact, and now beginning to collapse.
In the alternate dimension, the world was like a collapsing house. First, tiny dust motes fell, then fragments of bricks and tiles, and finally, crumbling ruins crashed down like an earthquake. As the alternate dimension collapsed, the memory images hidden deep in the soul were also shattered, turning into countless fragments that surged and receded like a tide. Amidst the loud noise, Yan Lanyu let out an unheard cry of pain, as if rapidly surfacing from the deep sea, and with a whoosh, broke free from the boundless barrier space!
At the end of the void above his head, a line of white light finally appeared, leading to the real world.
And at his feet, the last fragment of memory spun and plummeted into the abyss.
—Eighteen years ago, Tokyo.
In an ordinary apartment building, a gentle breeze carried sunlight through the curtains. In the cradle by the bed, a baby kicked its legs, opening its bright, watery eyes to look at a smiling young couple.
“Honey, look, he’s smiling, he’s smiling at me!”
“Good boy, come to Daddy…”
The baby in the cradle was picked up, but for some reason, at that moment, it suddenly began to struggle without warning, making cooing sounds, and then burst into loud sobs.
“Ah, what’s wrong? Did he wet himself?”
“Good boy, be good, come to Mommy for milk…”
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang. But at the same time, the baby cried and struggled even more fiercely, letting out piercing wails with unimaginable strength. The young father couldn’t hold him, only able to hastily put the baby back into the cradle, while the mother rushed to open the door.
At that instant, the baby reached out to his mother, seemingly trying desperately to grasp her. However, he was too small, his tender fingertips brushing past his mother’s clothes, leaving no trace.
“May I help you… Ah!”
“Honey! Honey, what’s wrong?! Who are you… Help! Quick, help!”
With a splash, blood splattered, the cry for help abruptly ceased, followed by a heavy thud as something hit the floor.
Several men in plain clothes stepped inside. The one leading them walked directly to the cradle and looked at the baby.
“Hello,” he said, “We meet again.”
The baby had stopped crying. A few drops of blood had splattered on his swaddling clothes, one of which was slowly trickling down his tender white cheek. His dark pupils reflected the man’s smiling face, a truly familiar face.
—Amenozume-no-Mikoto.
“It is truly a great fortune to see your return in my lifetime.”
Amenozume-no-Mikoto politely bowed by the cradle, reached out and picked up the baby, then turned to his subordinates and said, “Work’s done, let’s go back.”
One whose soul is pure and unyielding can refine a worldly soul.
One whose worldly soul dies with a grievance, endures the suffering of Avīci Hell and a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, and whose spirit returns to the human world, is called an underworld soul.
The Heart of the Yata no Kagami is capricious and can illuminate both divine and demonic paths; only one who possesses both yin and yang aspects of the soul can serve it.
Years passed in the blink of an eye, fleeting like a transient light.
Five years later, Tantric Sect.
Sunlight, like golden gauze, filtered through the trees. The cicadas of early summer chirped repeatedly along the shaded path. In front of a large mansion with the flavor of the Heian period, a bamboo pipe filled with water, then clanged against a moss-covered stone with a dong sound.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto stepped onto the veranda, shielding his eyes from the brilliant sunlight with his hand, and squinted as he looked around.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here,” Yoshinobu Aida said with emotion beside him. “Ever since the Master fell ill and went into seclusion, he hasn’t set foot here again. It’s been several years now…”
“Me too,” Amenozume-no-Mikoto chuckled.
“Well, Senior Brother Amenozume, what do you think the Master means by calling us here this time?”
Sensing the intense gaze beside him, Amenozume-no-Mikoto maintained his customary smiling face, his expression calm and serene: “Won’t all these things become clear once we meet the Master? I can’t guess at all.”
A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Yoshinobu Aida’s eyes, but he said nothing.
Ever since the Master fell ill and went into seclusion, and his health steadily declined, the overt and covert struggles between these two senior disciples became more apparent. Now, they could only maintain a facade of harmony.
“Then, Senior Brother Amenozume, since you admire the scenery here, please enjoy it slowly. I’ll go ahead.”
Yoshinobu Aida walked purposefully forward without looking back. Amenozume-no-Mikoto seemed deaf to the sarcasm in his words and nodded with a smile. By the pond, small lotus buds began to bloom. A dragonfly landed on a lotus leaf, then flew into the blue sky in an instant, disappearing without a trace.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto slowly walked off the veranda, passed through the garden, and headed towards the main hall. He suddenly caught sight of a child of four or five sitting on the wooden steps in front of the mansion.
“—Hm?”
He didn’t notice at first, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped abruptly.
The child had long hair and was wearing a black kimono. He gazed at the shimmering pond in the distance, his tender face bearing a serenity ill-suited for his age. A red string pendant hung from his chest, reaching his knees because of his small stature and seated position. It was, clearly, a grayish-white fragment.
“…”
Amenozume-no-Mikoto narrowed his eyes, meticulously studying the child’s face, as if trying to find overlapping light and shadow from memory in his features. However, the child sat motionless, seeming very detached from everything around him. After a long while, he moved ever so slightly, lifting his head and meeting Amenozume-no-Mikoto’s gaze.
At that instant, the cicadas’ chirping faded, and the surroundings became a dense silence. The New Year’s Eve bells rang with fireworks, and the light instantly illuminated the depths of darkness, then vanished into the boundless long night.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto walked forward, smiling as he spoke in Chinese:
“Hello again, Lecturer-kun.”
The child looked at him indifferently, his eyes like a deep pool of stagnant water.
After a long while, he finally spoke: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He stood up, turned, stepped onto the wooden stairs, and walked into the mansion.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto was momentarily stunned, the usual nonchalant smile on his lips disappearing. After a moment, he shook his head and walked up the steps.
Outside, the sun was bright and the grass was green, but the mansion was dim and gloomy. All four windows were covered with dark paper, and the air was filled with the lingering scent of years of brewed medicine, an oppressive, lingering aroma, as if a moldy, sickly smell had deeply permeated even the walls and floors.
Two young attendants stood outside the inner room’s door. Seeing Amenozume-no-Mikoto, they bowed deeply and slid open the paper door.
Inside, the smell of medicine was even stronger. A frail old man lay slumped on his sickbed, and Yoshinobu Aida knelt beside him, his head deeply bowed. The child sat expressionlessly in the corner of the room, his hands gently placed on his knees. From his angle, he should have seen Amenozume-no-Mikoto enter, yet he didn’t even lift his eyes.
“Amenozume has also arrived, so let’s discuss serious matters.”
Amenozume-no-Mikoto walked to Yoshinobu Aida’s side, knelt down as well, and bowed slightly, saying, “Master.”
The Master’s wrinkled lips twitched weakly.
“The Tantric Sect has prospered in recent years, and my time is steadily running out. I wish to entrust my affairs to a trustworthy person before I depart. After much thought, both of you are my disciples, and any decision would be unfair to the other.”
The Master paused, coughing hoarsely a few times. The foremost Onmyoji of his early years had been hollowed out by years of illness. His face was ashen, clearly aged, his cloudy eyes half-closed. His body seemed to be just a layer of skin hanging on a skeleton.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto lowered his eyes, glancing at the child in the corner.
The Master’s health had begun to decline six years ago, when he began refining the yin and yang souls. In the winter the young man died, the Master used many forbidden arts to break through the chasm between the yin and yang realms, and later used his own life as a price to divine where the reincarnated soul would land. From then on, his health steadily worsened, beyond recovery.
This might be the price, Amenozume-no-Mikoto thought.
From the moment the first card fell, everything began to collapse in succession, all karmic ties leading to the worst possible outcome, until there was no room for redemption.
“The Master is not seriously ill; with a little rest, he will surely…”
The Master waved his hand, and Yoshinobu Aida’s voice abruptly stopped.
“I have considered for a long time and decided to entrust the right of choice to the Yata no Kagami.” The Master paused and said, “Lanyu, come here.”
The child rose and walked forward, bowing slightly towards the sickbed as a salute, then knelt down again, remaining silent.
“His name is Yan Lanyu. He is the one whose Four Pillars and Eight Characters, and whose dual yin and yang souls, are all compatible with the Heart of the Yata no Kagami. I intend to leave him to the next Master as a page.”
The Master coughed a few more times, and said hoarsely, “Lanyu… you may choose one to serve.”
Yoshinobu Aida had not expected this turn of events at all. His face instantly changed color, but then he suppressed it. Even Amenozume-no-Mikoto was greatly surprised, and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
The room was dim and cool, and the indistinct chirping of cicadas came from outside the window. The incense in the corner emitted wisps of white smoke, and from the tea room behind the screen, the faint gurgling of boiling medicine drifted, carrying an unshakeable bitter, salty taste.
Yan Lanyu’s profile was utterly still. He only lowered his gaze, staring at his hands placed on his knees. His fingertips were almost transparent, seemingly glowing with an almost imperceptible, very subtle luster in the dim light.
No one spoke. For a moment, the air seemed to halt, and suffocating silence engulfed everyone like a tide.
Yan Lanyu’s body moved, shifting slightly, and he bowed towards Amenozume-no-Mikoto’s direction: “I choose to serve this lord.”
As if a time bomb had reached zero, Yoshinobu Aida’s face instantly changed color, and he abruptly rose: “Wait! I cannot accept—”
However, the Master’s aging voice rang out at this moment, subtly laced with a threat: “Aida.”
“…” Yoshinobu Aida gasped violently, and after a long while, he finally managed to calm his constantly rising and falling chest, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to sit down.
When Yan Lanyu uttered those words, Amenozume-no-Mikoto was initially somewhat surprised, but in an instant, the surprise turned into keen interest. He scrutinized Yan Lanyu from head to toe, as if meeting him for the first time, not missing even the slightest expression on his face; however, Yan Lanyu’s face showed no expression at all. He gazed at the floating dust motes in the air, then after a long while, closed his eyes.
The Master slowly said, “Since it is the Yata no Kagami’s choice, then so be it. —Amenozume.”
Amenozume-no-Mikoto bowed his head: “Yes.”
“After I am gone, you shall succeed me as the Master of the Tantric Sect.”
Outside the Heian period mansion, the sun was still bright, and the grass was green with birds chirping. A gentle early summer breeze rustled through the branches, and sunlight cast mottled tree shadows on the bluestone steps.
Amenozume-no-Mikoto stepped over the high threshold, squinted at the sun for a moment, then suddenly turned back without warning: “Wait—”
He smiled as he looked behind him and said, “You still owe me a New Year’s gift, Lecturer-kun.”
Behind him, Yan Lanyu stood inside the threshold, preparing to close the paulownia wood door. The light inside the room was very dim, and his face was somewhat indistinct in the boundary of light and shadow. Amenozume-no-Mikoto quietly and smilingly watched him, as if a very long time passed, until even the cicadas’ chirping faded into a vague background.
“My name is Yan Jing,” he finally said, after an unknown amount of time, his voice very calm.
“Jing, as in thorns.”
Author’s Note:
The chaotic battle scene got a bit fast. To prevent confusion, simply put: the Master turned into a dragon, started attacking Maha fiercely, then Maha’s barrier couldn’t withstand it and completely collapsed, releasing the beautiful Xiao Yan~
