Countless white robes were filled with broken flesh and blood, and stood up unsteadily from the deep pool.
Kamiyagawa's guess is probably correct, they should all be shrine maidens of the Tsuchimikado family.
The young bodies reassembled from the minced meat were either standing on the water and swaying, or they were floating in the water, and it was impossible to tell how many there were.
Their long black hair and blood-soaked miko uniforms stuck to their bodies, exposing large areas of red, white, and watery skin.
"Woo-"
The witches howled and cried.
Red ropes can be seen wrapped around their bodies.
It was not the thin red line that connected Kamiya and Onizuka, but red hemp ropes as thick as a wrist. Those rough ropes bound the hands and feet of the shrine maidens, and they squirmed like wild snakes.
"Woo-"
The crying and wailing continued, hysterical and painful.
Then, the group of people turned their necks stiffly in synchronization, and their eye sockets enlarged until they were lifeless, and they all turned straight to the location of Kamiya River.
Strong resentment and murderous intention.
Those wet black hair and red ropes were entangled with each other, stretched as hard as they could, and swept in like cannonballs!
"Ah——Hum——"
Fighting was inevitable, Kamiyakawa breathed in and out.
The left hand that was not holding the knife was raised towards his side, and the emerald green thunder light beat in the palm of his hand, condensing into a shining and dazzling thunder spear.
The lightning pierced the waterfall filled with water vapor, and the electric arc sputtered, whipping around like a whip. The powerful thunder smashed the water droplets in the air into pieces, and evaporated into curls of white smoke and heat waves.
Zila——!
The green jade-like thunder gun was thrown out with great force by the Kamiya River. The thunder undulated like a dragon breaking through the waves and sputtered rapidly, hitting the curtain wall woven with black hair and red rope in front of it.
The turbulent green shattered the entangled red and black, and then crashed into the deep pool of blood.
There was a thunderous explosion that was enough to cover up the sound of the waterfall and the howling of the witches.
The thunder gun shattered into a tree-root-shaped electrical grid, and thunder roared in pursuit. The dazzling lightning completely swept away the white-clothed and crimson men in the pool.
And in the clear emerald light, there is another sword that is as bright as a star, and a gloomy ghost-like sword, buzzing in symphony, and violently crashing out with the violent wind and waves!
Kamiyagawa, who had already summoned Onigiri, charged into the enemy's formation with Doji Kiri and Onikiri in hand.
"Can fight!"
His black hair was stained with moisture and flying freely.
The black pupils that were condensed to the extreme reflected the white-clothed feathers falling down one after another.
The determination and sharpness emanating from these eyes are so sharp that they are not far behind the blades of the two famous demon-slaying swords.
Although there are no shikigami to fight with us now, the brave one wins when we meet on a narrow road!
Kamiyagawa also wanted to investigate carefully and find clues about the missing bronze mirror fragments.
But the space he was in didn't give him a chance to use his brain.
There are so many of these shrine maidens who are suspected of being members of the Tsuchimikado family. Why did they die miserably here?
Judging from the state when they first appeared, these young witches, without exception, had turned into broken pieces of flesh floating in the deep pool waterfall. Who then cruelly chopped them into pieces?
have no idea.
No clue at all.
But since they want to fight, according to Kamiya’s idea, they should fight first and then talk!
Thinking optimistically, maybe there is a piece of bronze mirror you are looking for under this strange deep pool?
…
In the gloomy and miasmatic village of Tsuchimikado.
call!
Blazing fireworks soared from a ferocious undead body.
The fire light fluttered like soft ribbons, and the small and illusory golden talisman symbols shrank and spread in the heat wave. In the center of the flame, the hottest and brightest part, contained infinite power, constantly surging upward.
In a matter of seconds, the undead trying to break free will be burned to ashes.
"Hmm... I still haven't left any evidence that I can channel the spirit."
Onizuka Kiriho puts out the talisman fire on her knuckles.
While exploring the village following the traces of Teito Toshima, the little miko encountered attacks from several undead spirits one after another.
Of course, it was cured without much effort.
The undead encountered in the village were equally ferocious and unrecognizable, but their clothes could be roughly seen. They were all simple linen jackets and trousers. They looked like the attire of the working people during the Taisho period, or even longer ago.
The little miko estimated that these undead souls should have been villagers of Tsuchimikado Village when they were alive.
"Although I am not psychic, I can still feel that these villagers suffered great pain before they died. When this village disappeared from reality, some major event that was unknown to the outside world must have happened."
Onizuka held onto Yuri Sakai's missing person notice a little tighter.
Ahead, the traces left by Teshima Toshima once again appeared.
After following Toshima for a while, the little miko came to a large mansion. Although the mansion was also decayed and shrouded in a ghostly aura, it was much more imposing than the short thatched wooden houses seen along the road.
few.
However, the surname on the sign at the door is "Tachibana", not "Tsuchimikado".
Standing at the gate, Onizuka Kiriho's palms flowed with concrete spiritual power, and once again wrapped the missing person notice.
She sensed a psychic scene, and Teto Toshima must have encountered something here...
…
In February 1997, Teto Toshima came to the area near Mount Kiyomizu in Kyoto in search of his missing lover, Yuri Sakai. Whether it was an accident or a wish, he was involved in the Tsuchimikado Village that had long since ceased to exist in reality.
He undoubtedly loves Yuri deeply and is willing to take risks for his lover.
However, Teito Toshima overestimated his mental endurance.
This village is really weird.
On the surface it looks deserted and abandoned, but there are some terrifying things that seem human and inhuman wandering around inside...
"Hu-ha-hu-ha-"
Wearing a leather jacket, Teito Toshima was breathing heavily and stumbling around.
Although he couldn't see anything when he turned around, he knew that the twisted and ferocious humanoid monster that appeared out of nowhere just now was still chasing him.
Plop.
Perhaps he was running too fast. When he rushed to the door of Tachibana's house, Toshima Teto's feet stumbled and he fell to the muddy ground.
Just as he was struggling to get up, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"ah!"
Toshima was frightened, but when he turned his head, he saw a very familiar face.
The expression on his face changed from horror to joy.
"Yuri?"
"Shh."
Yuri Sakai signaled her boyfriend to be silent, and then pulled him into the door of Tachibana's house.
The reunited lovers embraced each other in a gloomy old house, and then quickly separated.
"Tate, why are you here?"
"I'm coming to find you."
Sakai Yuri shook her head with a bitter expression: "You shouldn't have come, and now you are even trapped here."
"I'm coming to find you!" Teto Toshima just repeated so firmly.
"Ho ho..."
Outside the house, the hoarse roar of the humanoid monster sounded again.
The couple looked horrified, holding each other's hands tightly and quieting down.
After hiding like this for a while, Sakai Yuri spoke again: "I found something here."
She obviously didn't intend to delve deeper into why her boyfriend came here.
Now that something has happened and the surroundings are so dangerous, the most important thing now is for the two of them to escape together.
Sakai Yuri fished out a photo and several folded manuscript papers from her pocket.
She has been trapped in Tsuchimikado Village for about three days and found something here.
The photo is a very old black-and-white photo, of a man in his thirties who looks elegant and wearing glasses, and a handsome young man in his early twenties.
"I found the photo here." Sakai pointed to the man wearing retro glasses in the photo, "This is my great-grandfather, Toshiya Sakai. When my grandfather was still alive, I also saw photos of my great-grandfather at his place.
"
"Your great-grandfather?"
Toyoshima knows something about Sakai's family.
Sakai's great-grandfather, Toshiya Sakai, was a... how should I put it, a folklorist from the old days?
It is said that Sakai Etoshi disappeared together with one of his assistant students when he was in his thirties, and there has been no news about him since.
Then it was the great-grandmother of the Sakai family who raised Grandfather Sakai who was still young at the time.
"My great-grandfather came here before he disappeared, the village of Tsuchimikado. And this, I just found it-" Sakai Yuri opened the manuscript papers, "This seems to be left by my great-grandfather. He
It recorded the cruel and inhumane folk rituals in this village."
[Tsuchimikado]
[... From the Tsuchimikado clan, there are onmyojis who occasionally come to Kyoto for activities.]
[In the village, apart from the Tsuchimikado clan, there are also Tachibana, Kawai, Takehara and other families, all of whom are branches of the Tsuchimikado family. The hierarchy in the village is strict, except for a few members of the family, the rest of the villagers are not allowed to go out. Tsuchimikado
The village has been isolated from the world for many years...]
[Amado Shaman Festival]
[The Tsuchimikado family controls village festivals and selects a girl from the village every five years to become an Amado shrine maiden. The selected shrine maiden will become a living sacrifice at the Tendo shrine maiden festival. The specific details are unknown.
But it is speculated that the ritual process was extremely bloody, ignorant and cruel.]
[It has been half a month since I entered the village with my assistant Kanemaru Shizuji, and we had not learned about the content of the shaman festival before. Late next month is suspected to be the starting point for the Tendo shaman festival...]
[Amado Bronze Mirror]
[The ritual utensils used in the witchcraft festival have been kept by the head of the Tsuchimikado family for generations. It is said to be a spiritual creature that suppresses evil spirits and protects the village here...]
[...Before the Tendo Shaman Festival begins, the bronze mirror ritual vessel and the selected shrine maiden will be used to wash the obscurities in the Wanxi Pond to the west of the village.]
What Yuri Sakai found was that the contents of her great-grandfather's notes were not complete, so they were fragmented, with information skipping around and unclear words.
"Well, Taito. I don't know what happened in this village, but we all saw that there are real ghosts wandering here. So this 'Amado Bronze Mirror' recorded by my great-grandfather is probably something that can really suppress ghosts.
."
Yuri Sakai points to the content related to the "Amado Bronze Mirror".
"If we find this bronze mirror, maybe we can leave safely?" Teto Toshima followed his girlfriend's thoughts, "Let's go and see that Wanxi Pond?"
"Although I'm not sure, I think so."
"Then let's do it now..."
Teito Toshima wanted to take his girlfriend and leave now, but then he realized belatedly that Yuri Sakai was in something very wrong.
Her face was pale, there was cold sweat on her forehead, and her body was shaking constantly.
Toshima raised his hand to touch Sakai, then withdrew his hand with a worried look on his face: "You have a fever? Your forehead is so hot."
"Well……"
Probably because she had been trapped in this strange village for too long, without any decent food and water supplies, and because she had been frightened all the time, Sakai Yuri became very ill.
Just now she was able to pull Teto Toshima in from the door. She must have mustered up her energy and tried her best.
"The ghosts outside didn't come in directly, so it's probably safer here than outside. Yuri, wait for me here, I'll go get that Amado Mirror back, and then we'll leave together." Teito Toshima quickly made a judgment.
"Wait for me, Xi Li. Wait for me to come back to you."
…
This is the end of this channeling episode.
It contains a lot of information, but it all poured into Onitsuka's mind in an instant.
With the strength of the little witch's spiritual power, this level of information can be easily absorbed.
"Toshima Taito and Sakai Yuri reunited here."
"The Tsuchimikado family...the ritual of sacrificial maiden...the Amado Bronze Mirror..."
With the help of clues obtained through channeling, the little miko obtained a lot of information. The fog in Tsuchimikado Village was lifted a little, but a deeper darkness seemed to be exposed from it.
"Amado Bronze Mirror, is this what Achuan and I are looking for?"
Onizuka's exploration is going well so far, and she plans to visit the west side of the village.
Thirty years ago, Teto Toshima probably went there after finding his girlfriend.
Before setting off to find the bronze mirror, the little miko explored the Tachibana family house again, but unfortunately she found nothing.
The black-and-white photos I saw during the channeling process and the incomplete manuscripts of Toshiya Sakai are not here.
"Go and see the west side."
Compared to Toshima and Sakai who were once trapped in Tsuchimikado Village, the little miko can move freely in the village. For this ordinary couple, any undead wandering here is enough to kill them.
But the little witch had a smooth journey and only encountered sporadic enemies. In other words, it only cost one talisman paper, not even the talisman paper, to directly ignite things that could be solved with a touch of spiritual power.
Soon, she arrived at the west side of the village.
And found a deep and quiet pool. The edge of the pool was surrounded by a continuous rope, and there were many rusty bells hanging on it.
Stepping here, Onizuka felt something again.
There are undead spirits here.
And the obsession and resentment are very strong.
Clang clang clang!
The cold wind mixed with resentment stirred Onizuka's shrine maiden uniform, the continuous rope beside the zodiac pond swayed, and the bells rang loudly.
Ahead, a twisted figure wearing a thin jacket and covered in blood appeared.
"Xi Li...Xi Li..." The figure lowered his head and murmured unconsciously.
Toshima Taito.
It's not the psychic traces he left behind that I saw before.
It's the undead spirit that lingers here that he can't get rid of.
It seems...
Thirty years ago, Toshima Taito, who wanted to save his lover, died in front of the Wanxi Pond.
He died at the end of his search for the Amado Bronze Mirror.