Hunting God Era

Chapter 217 Head Balloons and Wall Painting

Japan is a long and narrow country with a small land area, but it is full of mystical and supernatural stories. Even in the smallest areas, the legends are different.

Li Ye landed at Satsuma, a southern island in the western part of Japan.

He doesn't need to deliberately memorize geography; with the help of satellites in the sky, it's not difficult for him to roughly know his location.

He simply doesn't know the specific details, but he doesn't need to know those details.

I'm not here to investigate geography.

"Li Ye, there."

As soon as they reached the coastline, Erica pointed to the ocean, where a tentacle could be faintly seen extending out amidst the churning waters. However, upon touching the land, it seemed to be electrocuted and retracted.

"This is."

Li Ye walked over curiously, reached out and touched the boundary between the coastline and the ocean. With a flick of his finger, the space, which should have been a seamless and unobstructed expanse, was stirred into a ripple.

"I see, it's an array or a barrier." He nodded.

To conquer Japan first, he carefully reviewed the historical materials that matched the legends.

During the Heian period, Japanese warriors, in order to deal with demons both within their own country and those from the sea, used some unknown means to employ the art of sealing. Although they could not completely eliminate those powerful demons, they did obtain a barrier that could isolate them from the sea.

From today's perspective, Japan meets the conditions for 'ascension'. To some extent, it can be considered a kind of demonic realm, but its purity is far from sufficient.

Ascension is conditional. No matter what you do, those from small countries cannot ascend. No matter how many Primordial Gods destroy them, it will be useless. A small country means insufficient influence, and insufficient influence means poor dissemination.

Current research suggests that in ancient times, only four major nations in the world were capable of ascending to immortality.

China, Babylon, ancient Bharata, ancient Nile.

These are places with extremely high dissemination and inherent conditions for ascension.

But by now, Babylon has long since perished, and the ancient Bharata has mutated during its long period of invasion, greatly reducing its reach and no longer qualifying for the title.

Ancient Nile did have influence, or rather, the Western world that Ancient Nile integrated into was qualified to do so.

The world, which integrates the three religions of Abraham, spread very widely. During the century when China was weak, it was the only place with the qualifications for ascension.

But now, China has not been cut off after all. It has risen up and regained its influence. Meanwhile, the world of the three religions of Abraham has gradually begun to split and has all been concentrated in the Star Ring Federation.

Currently, there are only two places where one can ascend, and these two places also have clearly defined routes.

One side wanted to unite the primordial forces, creating a situation where only the strong could ascend, regardless of what would happen to the world afterward, abandoning ordinary people.

The other is not to abandon ordinary people, but to take them with them to ascend to heaven.

Determining which is better or worse cannot be achieved by mere words; in the end, only actions will prove their worth.

The simplest way is to break this kind of barrier.

Such a barrier must have nodes. Normally, it can be broken by destroying the nodes, but Li Ye doesn't need to go through that trouble. He can break it easily. Although he won't destroy the entire country, as long as he breaks this barrier, he can create an opening in this island of Japan and let the demons in the sea in.

There's no need for that.

He lowered his finger, letting the ripples disappear into the air, then turned and left with Erica.

The distance from the coast to the city isn't too far; with their speed, they can reach it in a short time even without deliberately speeding up.

Their destination this time was Kagoshima, the central city of Satsuma. However, during their journey, Erika suddenly stopped and pointed to the sky opposite from a high slope.

There's something there.

Looking down from the high slope, you can see a small town. Although it is not large, it should have some inhabitants. But at this moment, even though it is daytime, the town is inexplicably gray and desolate.

And in the sky above this town, there were some things that looked like balloons floating around.

Li Ye looked over and was slightly taken aback.

The things floating around the town weren't balloons at all; they were enlarged human heads.

Its head had a blank, lifeless face, but it wasn't painted on. Its material was no different from a real head, and it didn't drift in the wind; it just swayed in the sky above the town.

Erica instinctively reached for her earlobe, but Li Ye waved his hand, "Don't touch it, it's already contaminated. If you touch it and kill the balloon, anyone who looks like it will die too."

Erica looked over in confusion.

She only had a superficial understanding of the demon system in China, relying solely on her innate holiness, let alone the demon system in Japan.

"The human head balloon is one of the representative modern monsters of Japan, and it has even been featured in a movie."

Li Ye said, "I don't know how it came out, but once it's reached this point, and the balloon has completely simulated a human head, it means it's bound to that person. No matter who it is or what means they use, if they break the balloon, it means that person's life is over."

"But if we don't break it, the balloon will find its main body. See the line below? That thing sucks away life force. If you poke it, the person will die, and the balloon will rise into the sky and explode."

"Unless you forcibly pop it from the beginning when it's just a balloon, then there will be no pollution and nothing will happen."

He glanced at the desolate town. "The people inside are either staying indoors waiting for rescue, or they have escaped by some means and left the contaminated area. As long as this balloon doesn't burst, the person won't die."

It's not impossible to escape. If you can withstand the pursuit of the balloons and wear strong protective gear, you still have a chance.

That line only works on skin, not on other materials. As long as it doesn't stick to the skin, it can escape. However, even if it escapes, you still need to worry about whether someone will pop the balloon.

Erica nodded and said, "My hometown has something like that too, but it's a mirror."

"The same principle applies to the Mirror Demons of the Star Ring, especially in the glass display cases of shop windows in the city. Once the pollution is too heavy, the reflection of a person will be ruined. The Mirror Demon will try to pull the person into the mirror, but the mirror itself has no passage, so it will only smash the mirror. Once it is smashed, the person will naturally shatter."

Pollution is pollution, and from the moment it occurs, it is irreversible.

In China, preventing pollution from spreading is the most basic principle. No matter how much trouble the martial artists cause, that's their business. But allowing demons to spread pollution will lead to serious consequences.

The fact that these human-shaped balloons could develop to this extent in populated areas is completely unacceptable in China.

"Let's go, let's go to the city."

Li Ye was too lazy to care, and didn't have the ability to.

His demon-eating technique involves consuming demons and sucking them in, which is also destructive; if the balloon is gone, the person will also be gone.

In this situation, the only thing to do is to spend time managing the situation, find a way to capture and protect these balloons, and then work on removing the pollution. After five or six years, perhaps the pollution from these balloons will recede and things will return to normal.

Of course, this is only theoretical. This only applies to the purest form of resentment. If it is mixed with other types, even more mountain spirits or demons with legendary concepts, this will not work.

And the only country capable of doing this is China.

It takes five or six years of effort to monitor and remove pollution, and also to take care of ordinary people. This cost is not low.

Small governments have neither the means nor the obligation to do so.

Japan has a small government, and wealthy families and conglomerates are all integrated. They would never do such a thing. A small town has a lot of people. If it were just one or two people, they might do it for publicity.

If there are too many people, it is clearly not cost-effective.

"This has clearly been abandoned."

Looking ahead, Li Ye saw that the road leading from the town all the way to the mountain, but it was blocked by piles of stones at the mountain pass.

Natural phenomenon?

If it's a natural phenomenon, then we'll find someone to dig it up.
Towns like this have clearly been abandoned; those with influence and connections have evacuated, leaving the rest to die.

Without transportation, and with demons running rampant, they would die if they went out, and starve to death if they stayed.

And such deaths go unreported.

Perhaps in a few years, the demons will disappear, and this place will be discovered, and then an investigation program will be made. Or perhaps the resentment of the dead inside will not dissipate, forming a demon land, which will then be killed by people who come specifically to see if they can obtain any magical treasures.

After observing the town for a while, Li Ye led Erica towards the mountain path, stopping only when they reached the entrance where the path was blocked by piles of stones.

"Li Ye."

As soon as she got close, Erica sensed something was wrong and stared intently at the stone barrier.

The stone barriers are irregularly piled up, but upon closer inspection, they appear to be a single unit. Several cracks on the barrier facing them resemble human eyes and mouth.

"interesting."

Li Ye laughed and asked, "And how did you get here? Was it placed here intentionally, or did it grow naturally?"

As he spoke, the two slits on the stone barrier, which looked like closed eyes, suddenly opened and flashed red light. The slit with the mouth also opened, revealing stone fangs, and bursting out with a sound like a mountain earthquake.

“It’s ‘Tu Bi’,” Li Ye shook his head.

One of the ancient demons of Japan, its main body is made of mountain rocks. It often blocks mountain paths at night with invisible walls to form closed spaces. The walls will move and extend infinitely with the movement of pedestrians. Those trapped often fall off cliffs or die from unconsciousness due to fear.

Because it is made of mountain stone, ordinary weapons are not very effective against it. It was quite troublesome in ancient times, but gunpowder is still useful in modern times.

Firearms couldn't penetrate it, but the gunpowder used to blast the mountain was enough to destroy it.

Are you God?

Li Ye raised his hand and slashed, shattering the roaring stone barrier into pieces and automatically opening up the path.

Nurikabe is a demon that combines resentment and nature. It is a demon formed by the combination of resentment generated by human labor and the overexploitation of nature. In Japan, it is regarded as a warning from the mountain god to humankind.

There are similar phenomena in China, generally called "ghost wall," but there are no legends combining these elements.

Mountain gods are also gods.
But when he struck, Li Ye didn't sense any power; it was just an ordinary demon.

"Fine, I'll give you a way out."

Li Ye glanced back at the town and continued walking forward.

Once the mountain road is opened, those trapped in the town will eventually find their way out if they want to live. As for whether they can escape or survive, that's up to fate.

Although these people were just ordinary people, Li Ye already had a bit of a dislike for them, so sparing their lives was a sign of his kindness.

Li Zicheng was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see people trapped and killed by demons, so he left them a way out, depending on their abilities.

"However, this wall doesn't seem to be naturally formed. Otherwise, it would have been there long ago when this town was formed."

Li Ye thought for a moment and then laughed, "Sure enough, they discovered it a long time ago, but they found it too troublesome, so they simply surrounded the people and pretended nothing had happened."

The area of ​​China is expanding, and so is Japan, but compared to each other, their proportions remain unchanged.

The only change is the population. The existence of demons in the world also means that humans can eat demons to strengthen their bodies and reproduce more.

However, the population of Japan is not much different from that of his hometown back then, around 100 million, which is less than the current population of about 2 billion in China.

The land area has increased, but the population has remained relatively unchanged, indicating that a significant number of people have died.
For example, in a town like this, no matter how small, there are hundreds or even thousands of people. If so many people died at once, in China, not only the local authorities but also the provincial-level disinfection department would be in serious trouble.

However, it's impossible for demons to develop to this extent after being discovered.

Even the powerful clans and families of Shenzhou wouldn't dare to be so daring in the mortal realm. Some might secretly raise demons, but they do so cautiously and meticulously, never daring to go all out at once. Otherwise, they would have been wiped out long ago for such a provocative act.

Not to mention they're using another demon to block this place, what kind of nonsense is that?
If someone asks later, can I find another excuse?

This is complete nonsense, but that's how the world works.

Li Ye still cared, but Erica didn't care at all.

This kind of work is considered child's play in her hometown.

Even if they were discovered and a protest broke out, it wouldn't concern the upper class. In fact, they encouraged the protests, as they saw them as a business opportunity that could summon demons.

After the parade, the mob vented their anger and naturally left. If the casualties and resentment generated during this process could produce demons, that would be the best outcome. If a new species were discovered, that would be fantastic. We could study it, try to cultivate it, and see if we could develop magical artifacts after cultivating it.

Nobody really cares about these ordinary people; they're just consumables anyway, so let them cause trouble.

The parade is taking place below, while people above are drinking and watching. This kind of thing happens all the time.

After seeing it so many times, I got used to it. On the contrary, I found Shenzhou's way of doing things to be completely incomprehensible and unbelievable, belonging to the category of bragging.

How could anyone go to such lengths? It's fake.
Such a division also exists.

As for whether it's a living hell, you'll get used to it and won't think about it anymore.

Erica was used to it and didn't feel anything was wrong. On the contrary, China, where she studied, had a strange kind of beauty.

(End of this chapter)