Chapter 897: Family Scandals Should Not Be Made Public
Perhaps it’s a story from another universe.
...
...
The mountain path is treacherous and uneven.
Towering trees can be seen everywhere, with sunlight streaming down, presenting a scene of layered peaks, lush and verdant.
However, the terrifying roars echoing through the mountains, unlike human howls, break this tranquil scene’s silence, somewhat disrupting the atmosphere, adding a tinge of bloodiness that makes it less suitable for a spring outing.
"Since ancient times, people have regarded treacherous mountain ranges or paths as the boundary between humans and demons..."
Walking along the rugged mountain path, the young man in white with black hair gently waved the green branch in his hand that he casually broke off from the roadside. In the same casual manner, he killed one attacking Demon Ghost after another.
"... Once upon a time, both sides built impregnable gates to prevent each other’s invasion, which deepened the divide between humans and demons."
The roaring suddenly ceased.
It was as if an audio track was abruptly paused by someone pressing the pause button.
Those robust and burly demons originally thought there was a fresh human feast delivered to them, smelling the scent brought by the mountain breeze, they roared excitedly from their hiding place in the forest, charging out with foul odors or the scent of blood, even with effects of flame, frost, and other attribute energy.
They appeared to be unstoppable—
Then they were struck head-on by a whip, scattering into black smoke and dissolving into the air, crisply and neatly, like the small soldiers in those mowing games, coming in as many and as ferociously as they may, all proving pointless, merely to highlight the character’s bravery, a unit to embellish the battle scene...
Due to dying so suddenly and unprepared, these Demon Ghosts didn’t even react and didn’t know what happened before being sent away.
"This place is also a microcosm of that chaotic era. The origin of Suzuka Sando can be traced back to the early Heian Era, where a fierce human-demon war occurred, leveling the entire village, and even the arriving army was wiped out..."
Gu Mo didn’t pay much attention to these small episodes. Unless these guys exploded with something valuable, even if it was just trash material, that’s when he’d spare an extra glance.
Otherwise, no apologies, he simply wouldn’t bother taking note of the specific situation of these small monsters. After all, for a seasoned player, who has time to remember how many pieces of bread they’ve eaten... ah no, it’s remembering how many small monsters they’ve killed?
It’s entirely senseless, even if the game keeps stats, one would generally ignore them... players often demonstrate remarkable disregard in this aspect.
"Fortunately, this demon disaster was ultimately contained and immediately curbed, and there was a woman who ran tirelessly throughout, after successfully resolving the issue, people chose to commemorate her achievements by naming this place after her..."
Gu Mo went on talking to himself, introducing them to the scene’s background story information, while casually waving the green branch in his hand carelessly to dispatch another unaware of danger and peculiarity, eagerly rushing in to meet its end.
That figure, at first glance, appeared human, but upon closer look, one would see it was actually a gigantic rat resembling a human in physique, just standing upright, and dressed in a bizarre monk’s robe and a Buddhist bead necklace, of unclear origin.
—That’s the Iron Rat.
—Legend has it, it’s a gigantic rat demon formed from a monk who died with grievance...
This claim seems somewhat believable because its external features appear quite distinct. However, although such demons are quite rare, they aren’t too easy to deal with. Because, even if just a normal rat, mysteriously growing to human size would be quite intimidating.
Let alone having Extraordinary Power as a demon.
Terrifying muscle density, claws capable of slicing through iron as if it were mud, bristle-like jagged tails, along with possessing some magic given the monk’s demonic nature... Overall, it is indeed a rather troublesome Demon Ghost——
Of course, that’s only troublesome for ordinary people.
But under that soft green branch, any Demon Ghost is treated equally. No discrimination, hence no special bonuses, but infused with astonishing Magic Power, it simply follows the rule of brute force clearing, universally purifying all beings, usage as simple as pressing the left button to delete enemies,
Behind Gu Mo, Kikyo and Hidechika silently observed, accustomed to it.
Anyway, with that guy paving the way upfront calmly and confidently, they basically don’t need to lift a finger. Although the demon attacks all along the way, in their view, might as well be less than mosquito bites, no need to take them seriously.
"Naming Suzuka Sando as such... must be referring to Suzuka Imperial Lady’s deeds, I’ve heard her name before, unexpected this world has her too."
The white-dressed and red-bowed witch calmly raised her eyes and softly spoke. She gazed at the remarkable mountainous peaks ahead, feeling its uniqueness as they approached. The concentration of Spiritual Qi fosters a place of divine beauty, landscapes everywhere brimming with spiritual charm.
Of course, not everything here is good, certain things hidden in its depths also caused her sharp and powerful Spiritual Sense to instinctively frown.
"There are indeed lots of similar mirror universes, and we’ve visited quite a few too..." Gu Mo walking in front nodded in agreement.
Like parallel worlds, the histories of mirror universes are often similar and repetitive. He was curious if the earliest timelines all derived from a singularity, with adjacent universes emerging from the same basic temporal template.
From the current perspective, it seems possible, though he’s yet to reach a level capable of exploring cosmic secrets or touching those deep mysteries. Therefore, he could only hypothesize for now, speculating the principles behind observed phenomena.
"There should still be some discrepancies, in my memory, Suzuka Imperial Lady is also a Celestial Maiden... much like Kaguya." The witch recalled slightly, pondering.
Her example naturally refers to the original Celestial Maiden Kaguya, not the later imitation Demon Kaguya, but the genuine Celestial Maiden.
"Celestial Maiden... there’s indeed such a saying. Suzuka Imperial Lady was believed to be the Celestial Maiden residing at the mountain’s foot, that’s how this book records it." Gu Mo nodded slightly, then took out an ancient copy from his sleeve; the version of the story he read happened to align with such a saying.
...
"The Ghost God Ootakemaru rampages, leaving the people of Ise Country in misery."
"Thunder descended from the heavens, causing suffering to an army of thirty thousand, and the general was unable to defeat the Ghost God."
"At this time, a woman descended from the heavens onto Suzuka Mountain."
——From "Tales of Tamura," Volume Two.
...
Casually flipping through the ancient copy in his hand, Gu Mo shrugged indifferently:
"Well, let’s just regard it as a dimensional deviation then, since in this world, the Suzuka Imperial Lady is not a Celestial Maiden, but a Ghost Woman, which is a fact that can be confirmed."
As he said this casually, he glanced at the black-haired girl over there.
Speaking of which, is the story documented here about Hidechika’s mother, the Suzuka Imperial Lady, or is it simply Hidechika’s own story?
The black-haired girl, similarly dressed in a witch’s attire, was over there, gently frowning as she examined the abnormal phenomenon of the weapon in her hand.
She was unaware that the name being discussed by someone else was actually her own mother, Miyoshino, so she only held onto the Chu Yeshiwan in her hand. She felt that the Demon-slaying Divine Weapon was humming and vibrating in waves, emitting bursts of sword cries, as if reacting to something in the distance.
In fact——
The group appeared here because of Chu Yeshiwan’s guidance.
Early after taking control of the entire Warring States, Gu Mo had searched thoroughly to find the Chuye Yashou, and from the contemporary leader "Wuming," obtained the other part of the broken Chu Yeshiwan, combining it with Hidechika’s dagger to repair this ancient divine weapon.
It’s just that he was too busy before, and it wasn’t until now that he had time to deal with the story of the third DLC—
Traveling to the early Heian Era to witness the beginning of Chu Yeshiwan’s creation.
Which is also the beginning of the battle between humans and demons.
Well then, to put it simply, it’s a story of helping Ah Xiu go back in time to save her mother-in-law, while casually beating up her brother-in-law... Because it’s ultimately a family matter, the family scandal should not be exposed, so it’s not appropriate to send his subordinates’ Rare People Legion to enforce the law across time and handle it for him.
That’s why they’ve appeared in the depths of these rugged mountains, in Suzuka Mountain, located at the former border of Ise and Omi Countries, where many legends have been passed down since ancient times.
Especially in various stories of Ghost Gods, its status is quite prominent, because it involves one of Japan’s three great transformations, Ootakemaru...
For some reason, perhaps because the name is too masculine and not suitable for feminization, under the impact of information in later generations——
Compared with "Lord of Great River Mountain" Yoshitsune and "Golden-haired White-faced Nine-tailed" Tamamo no Mae, Mr. Ootakemaru’s fame seems to gradually fall behind, relatively becoming somewhat unknown, with a somewhat low sense of presence.
"That thing should be just ahead..."
The witch calmly glanced at the Chu Yeshiwan and said softly.
She could sense that up ahead was a desolate village, where the source of resonance with this divine weapon, seemingly made of Spirit Stone, lay.
"Let’s go take a look..."
Gu Mo smiled nonchalantly and was about to walk forward first.
Just at that moment, an extremely swift shadow came roaring down from a distant peak, like an eagle swooping down to capture its prey, coming fiercely and furiously.
"Hmm?"
Holding the glowing Chu Yeshiwan, the black-haired girl, walking towards the source of resonance, saw this scene and immediately frowned. She gently shook her wrist and swiftly and directly thrust out a blade!
It seemed simple and inconspicuous, but the blade technique was extremely swift, with no unnecessary moves, almost perfectly striking at the opponent’s weak spot, showcasing the most exquisite technique, along with overwhelming speed and power, the sword blade intertwining to form a killing line.
Blood splattered!
The shadow was cut down with one strike by her, pinned to the ground.
"A Crow Tengu, huh..."
Casually glancing over, Gu Mo shrugged, "But this one is too ugly, can’t compare at all to the ones I know... Hmm, wait, Ah Xiu, let me take a picture first."
Just right to take back and scare Wenwen a bit.
...
(PS: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone... Let’s write a side story first to refresh the mind (o゜▽゜)o☆）