Shopkeeper Neko and his party left Iyodai Mountain and planned to return to Oeyama Castle first.
The traveling cat team went on a long trip, and because they were accompanied by two kings of the ghost clan, they encountered no obstacles on their way to Iyo.
Logically speaking, the return trip should also be smooth sailing.
There are two configurations of the Aragami traveling around the world, but any wild monster with some intelligence is unwilling to get close to them and cause trouble.
However, just when Maomao and his party were about to leave Iyo Mountain.
"Abba whining!"
The little old man's body suddenly gave an early warning.
At about the same time, a strange thick fog filled the front of the road.
Boom! Boom!
In the milky white mist, there was a sound like a taiko drum.
The drumbeats are dull and distant, and each drumbeat is like a heavy hammer falling on a hard stone slab.
Soon, some silhouettes appeared in the mist, and slowly approached. There were many silhouettes looming in the mist, and they seemed to be a team acting together. And among the team approaching, you could see
arrive--
At the head was a magnificent, arrogant big cat, with its head held high and striding at the forefront.
Behind the big cat, there floated a female ghost with a blind eye on her head, and a small beast with a vague outline.
Further behind is a huge demon car.
It looks like an ox cart, but there is no animal pulling the cart in the front part, but a large female face with curly hair, angry eyes, and a wide mouth, with an expression full of despair.
Several large red paper lanterns were hung on the demon car, swaying in the wind. The swaying red light was refracted and diffused by the fine mist droplets around it, making it hazy, like countless scarlet eyes peering in the dark.
The demon car just rumbled up and down in the thick fog, its wooden body made a dull "squeaking" sound, and rolled aggressively over the road.
On both sides of the vehicle were burly soldiers wearing heavy armor and holding sophisticated weapons, lined up in a row, marching forward in an orderly and powerful manner.
On both sides of the team of soldiers guarding the demon car, there is a guard who is obviously the leader. One is burly and strong, and the other is charming and enchanting...
"Meow?"
After roughly seeing the outlines appearing in the mist on the opposite side, Shopkeeper Cat sat down and tilted his head in confusion.
The oncoming team, although every figure in it was obscured by thick fog, so it was impossible to see it clearly, but it felt like a complete replica of our own team.
Of course there are obvious differences.
For example, there is no drummer in your team, and it will not make a sound similar to beating a taiko drum.
Also, among the piracy team that appeared in the fog, there seemed to be no silhouette corresponding to the body of the little old man.
Maybe something is imitating yourself?
But because the little old man's concealment level was too high, the other party didn't notice it?
That's really a poor imitation...
The two ghost kings at the back of the team arrived behind Maomao immediately.
"What are these things blocking the road?"
The golden bear boy's heavy iron chain dragged the floor, and the head of the chain was like a poisonous snake spitting messages, swaying against the ground, ready to move.
"I don't know. It looks similar to us."
Star Bear held the red wine bowl in his hand and shrugged lazily.
She thought what appeared before was quite interesting.
However, it's just fun.
Star Bear did not feel any obvious threat from the front. Even if there were any enemies blocking the way, they were definitely not strong ones.
"Hey! You're just pretending to be a ghost!"
Unlike Shopkeeper Cat and Star Bear, who were calm and composed at this time, Golden Bear had always had a hot temper.
It's also possible that the former two are waiting for the latter to take action to see what happens next.
Golden Bear swung his right hand violently, and several chains wrapped around his arm, and the chains were like whips and hurled towards the thick fog in front of him.
Whoosh!
Several chains were drawn into the mist, roaring through the air, colliding with each other, and making sharp metal vibrations.
The effect is also immediate.
Not only has the dense fog dispersed somewhat, but the dull thumping drum sound has also weakened.
At the same time, you can still hear the howls of wild beasts in pain.
"Ouch——"
"Ouch——"
The howling and mourning sounds were very messy, and sounded a bit like dogs or foxes.
The next second, the outlines in the fog that imitated Cat Shopkeeper, Golden Bear, Star Bear and others all changed and became clearer.
They all turned into mysterious creatures of different sizes with dark brown fur.
Some are like foxes and some are like raccoons, but their bodies are more rounded and furry, and their limbs are relatively short.
These strange beasts all have big heads, broad foreheads and round cheeks. Their muzzles are white, and their cheeks and eyes are covered with black down, which is light on top and dark on the bottom, making their faces look like pirates.
face mask.
raccoon dog.
If we look at the appearance of these beasts from a biological perspective, they should be considered canine raccoons.
However, an animal that can move around in the ordinary world is definitely not a normal animal.
They are monsters and ghost stories.
The group of raccoon dogs in front of them, roughly thirty or forty in number, looked like humans, some were wearing straw hats, and some were wearing leaves on their heads. In their hands, they were holding wine bottles, tobacco pots, pots, umbrellas and other random things.
Among them, about a dozen were whipped by the Golden Bear, screaming and rolling on the ground.
The rest may not have reacted for a while, and some were even waving their claws to slap their bulging abdomens, and finally stopped when they heard the screams of their companions.
On the abdomens of these raccoon dogs, there are black lines that look like magatama.
When they raise their paws and tap, they will make a drumming sound.
This is how the sound of the taiko drum is made, and the sound of the drum seems to be used to create illusions.
To call such a group of animals "racoon dogs" is obviously to look down upon them too much.
In traditional Japanese ghost stories, raccoon dogs that become spirits and have spiritual power are generally called "raccoons", or simply "raccoons".
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Tanuki is widely popular among Japanese monsters, and its status is similar to that of fox monsters.
It is said that raccoons generally have the ability to transform into the image they need by placing leaves on their heads.
In addition, fox demons also have the ability to transform.
And in Japanese perception, the level of transformation of raccoon dogs is even better than that of foxes, so there is a saying that "the fox changes seven times and the raccoon eight changes".
In addition, in Japanese folk monster culture, generally speaking, the image of the fox is relatively cold, while the image of the raccoon is relatively honest. In many traditional ghost stories, the fox changes to harm people, while the raccoon changes to tease people.
.
Tanuki likes to see humans being fooled around.
Of course, these are just human beings' impressions of these two benevolent phantom beasts.
…
The transformed raccoons blocking the road ahead were pulled out of their prototypes by the Golden Bear with a simple wave of their chains.
It collapsed with one blow.
The golden bear seems to look down on these monsters.
He smacked his lips: "Tsk, raccoon dog?"
Before the separation of the eternal world and the present world, Golden Bear also had dealings with individual raccoon demons or fox demons.
In his opinion, although they are both spirits who are good at changing, the fox demon is a sinister, self-respecting and noble person who is very annoying and good at putting on airs.
The raccoon demon is a very nasty and nasty guy.
When the Golden Bear was young, before he became the king of the country, he once competed with a male raccoon dog.
Under the bulging belly of the raccoon demon, two huge balls hung nakedly between its feet.
It calls the two fleshy ball bags under its crotch the "Light of the Moon". They can stretch and deform, such as turning into a large net for fishing, or turning into a balloon to fly into the sky, or even turning into various weapons.
fighting.
In short, the male Golden Bear felt that Tanuki's behavior of showing off and using the "Light of the Moon" was not worthy of publicity.
Because of his childhood fighting experience, he didn't really want to fight a male raccoon demon again if it wasn't necessary.
It's simply an insult to ghosts!
Among the group of raccoons in front of us, there are obviously several with the "light of the bright moon" hanging down.
"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"
The golden bear roared loudly.
Those raccoons seemed to realize at this time that they had offended someone they shouldn't have offended, and they howled and scattered like birds and beasts.
"snort!"
Seeing the raccoons disperse, the golden bear took back the chain.
What a bunch of reckless people, they dare to attack our Gao Tianyuan!
Ah, no, you actually dare to attack the ghost clan of our country!
"Meow."
Seeing that the road ahead was clear, the cat showcase swung its tail, barked softly to greet the team members, and set off again with high head and head.
If those guys were just playing pranks, the proud cat wouldn't want to waste time arguing about anything.
It’s business to quickly deliver [Ni’s relics] to the hands of the master craftsmen.
As long as you complete this task, you will definitely be praised by the master.
"Meow~"
I am the most useful cat!
"Um……"
Star Bear Boy took down the Star Bear Cup with his backhand and thought for a moment.
She also had no intention of chasing those transformed raccoons.
However, Xing Xiong was a little surprised that Golden Bear didn't waste time on those raccoons.
She didn't know about the "special experience" of the golden bear in its early childhood.
I just thought maybe the golden bear also started to grow a brain?
Although the raccoon looks a bit simple in appearance, its cunning is not inferior to that of the fox.
Judging from the current situation, there seems to be a gathering of raccoon dogs around Iyo Matsuyama.
I don’t know how many raccoons there are here, and I don’t know if there is a more powerful leader among them.
If you delay here, you may be plotted against.
Xingxiong is not afraid of these raccoons, but just like Shopkeeper Cat, the most important thing now is to send the [Ninadao's relics] back to his own forces smoothly.
Obtaining this thing means that the construction of the Hachishanu shrine can start soon.
It’s better to settle for safety.
…
"Ouch——"
Although the swollen beasts are short and thick in body, they are extremely agile in their escape speed.
Moreover, they also know the terrain here in Songshan very well.
"I'm not chasing you!" "I'm not chasing you!"
After running far away and confirming that there were no pursuers behind them, the raccoon demons stopped and gathered together.
Among these dozens of civets, one is as big as an adult wild boar, and he is their leader.
It was also this "big raccoon dog" just now, with leaves on its head, transformed into the most difficult to imitate the appearance of a hazy car.
"It seems they have no intention of taking care of us." The big raccoon scratched a leaf above his head, "The team of ghosts... and some other monsters is really a strange combination."
I don't know whether it sounded happy or regretful.
Probably both.
"A strange combination." "Did they kill Ni Jindao?" "Did they really kill him?"
The little raccoons gathered around were chattering away like boiling water.
"Probably, Nirudao is no longer here."
"Good thing?" "Bad thing?"
"It's hard to say right now."
The death of nuns after entering the Taoism is not necessarily a bad thing for the raccoons in Matsuyama.
After all, that person who entered the Tao was not in the same group as them.
Nijindo was formed by the condensation of the souls of the two races, raccoon and fox, who died in the Songshan area a long time ago.
But the raccoon and the fox don't fight each other. It's not an exaggeration to say they are mortal enemies.
Like the raccoons who occupy the top of the mountain here in Songshan, they are strictly guarded and do not allow any foxes to enter the territory.
Therefore, that nun has the characteristics of both raccoons and foxes, and does not belong to either side of the two races.
However, the strength of Nijindo is not weak. Whether it is the raccoon dog guarding Matsuyama or the fox wandering outside Matsuyama, both sides seem to have the idea of using it, and they have also worshiped Nijindo in private.
The occasional worship by monsters is also the only source of Ni's faith in Taoism.
After this back and forth, some kind of strange balance was reached between the three parties.
But now this balance is broken.
"Where did those ghosts come from?" "The helper the fox hired?" "Help the fox steal our 'Big Bright Moon'?"
The little raccoons were still chattering.
The noise gave the big raccoon man a headache.
"After all, we don't even know where the 'Da Mingyue' is right now. Besides, I don't feel like they were brought here by foxes."
"I can't tell." "It's hard to tell." "What should I do now?"
"Anyway, let's go back and tell Mr. Yabairi about the situation here."
The raccoons were noisy and headed deeper into the forest.
And a few minutes after they left.
"Aba whined."
A little old man dressed as a void monk, holding a shakuhachi in his hand, jumped from the branch of a pine tree here, fell to the ground, rolled around twice, patted the monk's robe and got up again.
It seems that I heard some very interesting information.
Eight hundred and eight raccoons.
This should be the leader of the raccoons here in Iyo Matsuyama.
Or maybe, the scout just heard a raccoon mention something about the "Great Bright Moon".
Don't know what it means.
But it seems that there is something that the raccoon demon and the fox demon are fighting for each other here.
The little old man, who had a fairly rich knowledge of ghost stories, naturally knew what the "light of the bright moon" meant by individual male raccoons.
Bags of their offspring.
Therefore, the so-called "big bright moon" should not be a pair of larger "lights of the bright moon", right?
That's a bit funny.
"Abba."
The little old man pushed the deep black hat on his head.
Things here in Iyo Matsuyama seem quite interesting.
In short, let’s first report what happened here to the master.