Tokyo: Proving one's position from behind the scenes

the next day.

The morning rush hour in Tokyo hadn't completely passed, and the Shibuya intersection was already packed with people. Office workers in suits, students in school uniforms, and tourists dragging suitcases converged on both sides of the pedestrian crossing, forming two mixed-color crowds. The moment the green light turned on, the two crowds intersected, weaved, and diverged on the zebra crossing, like a giant machine operating according to some precise program.

Just minutes ago, a short video was rapidly spreading across the countless mobile phone screens on this machine.

The video quality is very poor, clearly taken secretly from a distance with a mobile phone. The image is shaky, as if the person filming is shaking violently. The top of the screen is a gray-blue sky, and the bottom shows streets and buildings. In the very center of the screen is a gray four-story building with a large, burned hole in the stainless steel roller shutter door of its main entrance.

The person filming was clearly standing in the crowd outside the police line. The roar of helicopter rotors can be heard in the footage; two military helicopters hover above a building, six ropes hanging down, and a dark figure rapidly sliding down one of them. Then comes gunfire—not the crisp bangs of a movie, but a duller, more muffled sound, like someone forcefully pounding a thick blanket.

Then a figure appeared on the screen.

She was very small, wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, and dragging a dark red sword in her right hand. The sword was about the same length as her height, and its tip drew a thin line of fire on the ground. The fire line appeared as a blinding white in the scene, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding gray street scene.

What happened next was almost impossible to see clearly.

The small figure moved too fast among the black shadows, so fast that it appeared as a blurry trail on the low frame rate of the phone screen. Dark red arcs of light flashed across the screen again and again, and with each flash, a figure fell. The photographer's hand trembled even more violently; the image almost became a blurry mosaic of colors, with only the photographer's own breathing faintly audible—rapid, heavy, and filled with an overwhelming fear.

The video is only forty-three seconds long. The last few seconds show the small figure running towards the Arakawa River, leaping into the water, and splashing white water everywhere. Then the video ends.

This short video started appearing on several major short video platforms around 7:15 AM. The titles varied widely, ranging from "US Special Forces vs. Superpowered Individuals" to "A Shocking Real-Life Swordsman in the Streets of Tokyo" and "Military Operation Fails, Suspected Supernatural Event." The uploader IDs were different, but judging from the angles and shaking frequency of the footage, it was likely filmed from different angles at the same location, or filmed by multiple people in the vicinity and uploaded separately.

The comment section exploded within minutes of the video being posted.

"Is this real? The special effects are so rough."

"You call this special effects? Look closely at the trail of fire left by the sword on the ground. The marks on the ground are real, not like they were added in post-production."

"American special forces? Why would American special forces be in Tokyo?"

"Did you just get online upstairs? Have you ever heard of the US military base at Yokosuka, the US military stationed in Japan?"

"Who's that in the hoodie? He looks like a kid."

"It's not a child, it's a monster. Didn't you see the news about that case in Adachi Ward a few days ago? More than thirty people were killed, and it was this kind of thing that did it."

"My relative lives in Ayase. He said that building is still sealed off, and you can smell a fishy odor when you pass by at night."

"Stop talking, stop talking, I have to work overtime tonight and I'll be passing by there..."

"The video has been deleted? It's gone after I refreshed the page."

"I can't get it to load either, it's been blocked."

"Where's the screenshot? Does anyone have it?"

"The screenshot is gone too, and the picture I just saved has turned into a black screen."

"Even PR firms can't be this fast."

Around 7:35, search results for related keywords on all platforms had become completely blank. Several accounts that uploaded the video were deleted, and users who had shared it received system notifications that "the content violated community rules." Posts discussing the video's content in the comments section were also cleaned up one by one, leaving only a few lonely questions like "What just happened?" hanging on the page, which would soon disappear as well.

But screenshots and screen recordings had already spread in private chat groups. People were forwarding the 43-second video or screenshots of keyframes in Line group chats, Twitter private messages, and even some company internal communication groups. The scope of the spread was neither huge nor small, just enough for a few million people to know "something seems to have happened," but not enough for anyone to know "what exactly happened."

This ambiguous state is more unsettling than anything else.

Adachi Ward, afternoon.

Akira Nagayama stood in front of a shelf in a small supermarket, holding a bottle of mineral water. His gaze fell on the screen of a middle-aged man's phone next to the shelf, which displayed a Line group chat history where someone was forwarding screenshots of that video.

He looked at it for two seconds, then looked away and took a sip of water.

He didn't follow Nobuko Yoshida after she left the hospital last night. He had already planted the seed of the Vajra Wrathful Form technique within her, and the Demon-Slaying Heavy Sword was forged based on her destiny. If he wanted, he could sense her approximate location through the weak connection between his magical power and her destiny, and even use the [Bi Yue] in his own destiny to enter Nobuko Yoshida's dreams in the moonlight.

Arakawa Ward's sewer system is relatively old compared to other 23 wards of Tokyo, with narrow pipes and complex branches; some areas aren't even marked on the ward office's underground sewer map. A fourteen-year-old girl, wielding a burning greatsword, hiding in such a place is not a long-term solution.

She doesn't need a long-term plan right now; she just needs to evade the Americans and the Metropolitan Police Department's first search.

Akira Nagayama screwed on the bottle cap, paid for the mineral water, and turned to walk out of the convenience store.

His fingers twitched in his pocket. The phantom images of three copper coins flashed between his fingertips and vanished. The divination was clearer than yesterday—the imagery of the spark iron's "beak fire" perfectly matched Yoshida Nobuko's destiny, and the "Vajra Wrathful Form" was functioning well within her.

But this is not what Akira Nagayama is most concerned about right now.

He needs to find the next person. Tudor.

Among the Five Elements, Earth occupies the central position, bearing all things. Water virtue created a barren land, Wood virtue came into being, Fire virtue came into being, Metal virtue is itself, and next comes Earth virtue. The existence of Earth virtue cultivators can transform the disturbance of spiritual energy from linear to network-like—the characteristics of Earth are "gathering" and "concealing," able to collect, settle, and then release scattered spiritual energy, like a huge buffer layer, preventing the changes in spiritual energy from dissipating too quickly.

Akira Nagayama walked north along the streets of Adachi Ward, through a residential area, past a closed izakaya (Japanese pub), and through a narrow alley. At the end of the alley was a small shopping street with faded plastic flower garlands hanging from an arched roof. The transparent plastic panels of the roof had been repeatedly eroded by rain and sunlight, turning a murky yellowish-white. Half of the shops on both sides of the shopping street were closed, with "Shop for Sale" signs sprayed on their roller shutters. The other half were open, but there were very few customers.

Akira Nagayama walked into the shopping street at a leisurely pace, his gaze sweeping over the shops on both sides. An old shop selling dried goods had several plastic baskets filled with dried squid and kelp displayed outside. Another shop selling daily necessities had boxes of toilet paper and laundry detergent piled up outside. A shop selling fruits and vegetables had bananas and apples displayed on shelves outside, next to a handwritten price tag.

The hexagram becomes clearer here.

He stopped, his senses extending from his dantian, spreading forward along the ground of the shopping street, probing the image of Tu De, which appeared in the seafood shop.

The shop wasn't large. Several white styrofoam boxes stood at the entrance, filled with ice and various kinds of fish. The ice had begun to melt in the afternoon sun, and water seeped from the gaps in the boxes, forming a thin stream that flowed into the drain at the entrance. Inside, there were several larger tanks containing live eels and crucian carp. The water in the tanks wasn't very clean, and visibility was low; only blurry fish shadows could be seen swimming slowly at the bottom.

The owner was a man in his fifties, wearing a dark blue apron covered in fish scales and water stains. Hearing someone enter, he looked up, then gestured with his chin towards the sink.

"The live ones are inside, the ones outside are frozen."

Akira Nagayama did not answer, his gaze falling on an inconspicuous styrofoam box by the door.

The styrofoam box was placed in the far corner, a size smaller than the others. Several catfish swam in the water, about seven or eight in total. They were not large, the longest being no bigger than an adult's palm. Their color was darker than that of ordinary catfish, and the skin on their backs had a dull, almost black sheen in the sunlight, while their bellies were grayish-yellow.

The guidance of the divination fell into this styrofoam box.

Akira Nagayama crouched down, his gaze sweeping over the catfish. His senses extended with an extremely faint intensity, probing the life force within each catfish. The first catfish was ordinary, possessing only a very weak, living essence, devoid of any elemental characteristics. The second was also ordinary. The third was also ordinary.

Article 4.

His gaze lingered on the catfish. It was slightly larger than the others, with a darker back, almost black, and a grayish-yellow belly interspersed with a few lighter stripes. It swam slowly in the murky, icy water, its movements more steady and unhurried than the other catfish.

The aura of destiny emanates from it, faint but clear.

[Stomach Earth]

The stomach is the official in charge of granaries and the proper position of earth. The "receiving" aspect of the virtue of earth signifies the ability to bear, contain, and transform. Catfish live in the mud and feed on organic debris in the mud and sand; their body structure and way of life naturally carry the imagery of the virtue of earth.

Moreover, the divination indicates that this catfish's destiny also involves the element of "wall water".

【Wall Water】is the virtue of water, referring to underground water, which governs the storage of water, and it also aligns with the virtue of earth. The catfish's habitat is the mud and sand at the bottom of the water, the boundary between water and earth, making the imagery of 【Wall Water】 entirely natural. The stomach earth provides support, and the wall water provides nourishment; water and earth complement each other, perfectly matching the earth virtue characteristics that Nagayama Akira needed.

He pointed to the box of catfish and asked the shopkeeper to weigh out two jin (1 kg), which included that special catfish.

Akira Nagayama didn't return to the Inari Shrine. Instead, he walked along the embankment of the Arakawa River to a secluded spot under a bridge. The arch was wide, and the concrete walls were covered with grayish-white limescale stains left by years of flowing water, running in streaks from the arch to the ground. The soil was wet, leaving shallow footprints when stepped on.

He took a small porcelain bottle from his storage bag. A label with the character "土" (earth) was affixed to the bottle, and the wax seal on the opening was intact. Pulling back the stopper, a warm, earthy aroma wafted out, carrying a faint, sweet, fishy smell of rotting rice straw. It was the distinctive scent of rice paddies, the aroma of soil, water, and rice roots fermenting together.

【The Qi of the turbid soil beneath the rice paddies】.

This is a type of Earth Virtue True Qi, of a low rank, fourth grade. It is the soil beneath rice paddies, constantly soaked in water, repeatedly penetrated by rice roots, and layered with the humus of rice stalks. This soil is not pure soil, but a product of the fusion of water and soil. For those with a "Stomach Earth" destiny involving "Wall Water," this True Qi is perfectly suited.

Akira Nagayama poured the catfish out of the plastic bag. The catfish landed on the damp mud under the bridge, paused for a moment, and then began to wriggle towards the water. Akira Nagayama reached out and pinched the tail of the one that was unusual, pulling it out of its half-buried state.

He took out the "two-faced Su Nuo" finger.

Withered fingers were pinched between Nagayama Akira's left thumb and forefinger. He held a catfish in his right hand, its mouth opening and closing as it breathed in the damp air. He brought his fingers close to the catfish's head, and the catfish's tentacles gently brushed against the skin on his fingers. As if it had smelled something, its body tensed slightly.

Akira Nagayama put his finger into the catfish's mouth.

The catfish's mouth wasn't large, but its fingers were even thinner. After the withered finger was inserted, the catfish's gills swelled slightly, and the shape of the finger could be seen protruding from its body. It began to writhe violently, its body tumbling in Nagayama Akira's palm, its tail slapping against his finger, making a series of soft, smacking sounds.

Akira Nagayama did not let up.

His magical power surged from his dantian, flowing along his meridians to his right palm and seeping into the catfish's body. What he was about to do was different from what he had done to Yoshida Sho and Hoshimiya Akira—Hoshimiya Akira was human, and Yoshida Sho was also human; they had complete meridians and dantians. Nagayama Akira only needed to guide the true qi along the correct path, and the rest of the cultivation method would operate on its own. But the catfish was not human; it didn't have a meridian system like humans, nor did it have a dantian.

In the cultivation world of the past, there was a path called "demon cultivation." Plant spirits, birds, and beasts—any living being with sentience—could cultivate. However, demon cultivators and human cultivators did not follow the same path. Human cultivators used their dantian as the core, while demon cultivators used their "inner core." The inner core was innate—or rather, it was the core formed from the demon cultivator's first wisp of magical power. Without the inner core, a demon cultivator could not circulate their magical power.

Akira Nagayama didn't have any techniques for demons, but he had another path.

That severed finger.

The finger is a fake "demon finger," but it has been tempered by Nagayama Akira's [Demon Gold] magic, allowing it to store and channel magic power. If the finger is inserted into the catfish's body and the magic power is used to connect the finger to the catfish's physiological structure, making the finger act as the catfish's "inner core," the catfish can draw in Qi and circulate magic power like a human cultivator.

Brutal, but effective.

The warm, sweet-smelling aroma of rice straw flowed from the bottle, permeating the catfish's body. Nagayama Akira's magical power traveled along the meridians on his fingers, guiding the true energy to slowly circulate within the catfish's body. The catfish's body began to change; its color shifted from dark black to a deeper, almost blackish-brown, and fine golden spots began to appear on its grayish-yellow belly, like minerals crystallizing beneath its skin.

The catfish stopped wriggling. Its body settled in Nagayama Akira's palm, like a lump of wet mud being held in his hand. Its eyes, which were originally small, shiny black dots like those of a catfish, now had a faint golden light deep within their pupils, like a tiny lamp lit in the darkness.

Early stage of Qi cultivation.

The first demon in this world.

Akira Nagayama squatted on the edge of the bridge arch, beyond which lay the Arakawa River. The river water shimmered grayish-white in the afternoon sun, flowing slowly, with a few withered leaves and one or two plastic bottles floating on the surface. He stretched his hand above the water and loosened his fingers.

The catfish leaped from his palm into the river.

The sound of the catfish hitting the water was very soft, a soft splash that created a small ripple on the surface. After entering the water, the catfish swam around on the surface for a moment, as if unsure of where it was going, before plunging headfirst into the muddy riverbed. Its tail flicked across the murky water, leaving a tiny splash, and then it disappeared.

Akira Nagayama stood up, brushed the dirt and fishy smell off his hands, and turned to leave the underpass.