Swallow Return

Then he became even weaker, almost unable to sit up, and could only lie on the grass beast shikigami.

In the darkness, Ryuun instinctively became more vigilant, holding his knife and walking ahead in the direction pointed out by Takenaka Shigeharu.

After walking for a while, I suddenly noticed that deep in the dense forest ahead, there seemed to be dim lights flickering and swaying.

It feels like it's human.

Or at least, it is a monster that takes on a human form and has similar habits to humans.

Otherwise, there would be no need for lights.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Encountering the Demon Ninja Again

Upon seeing these unexpected lights, Liu Yun subconsciously guessed that they might be like him, here to deal with the demons.

The problem is that this area is now under the jurisdiction of Kinoshita Tokichiro of the Oda family, so Sasaki Ryuun and Takenaka Shigeharu, as Kinoshita Tokichiro's subordinates, were entrusted with dealing with the dangerous element.

What motivation would others have to exorcise the monster?

Could it be a kind passerby, or a folk exorcist?

That doesn't make sense. The monster only appeared and committed its crimes around noon during the day; it hadn't appeared before. Besides the local lord, who else could have reacted so quickly?

Liu Yun had a question in his mind, but he did not speak immediately. Instead, he turned to ask Takenaka Shigeharu.

Let's see what advice this "wise man" has.

After a moment's thought, Takenaka Shigeharu said, "The other party came to the deep mountains in the middle of the night. Their intentions are hard to determine. Let me observe for a while."

After saying that, he took out a bird-shaped doll woven from cattails from his pocket and threw it into the air.

The doll immediately flapped its little wings and quietly flew forward.

It's another shikigami woven from cattail reeds.

Takenaka Shigeharu, on the other hand, closed his eyes and concentrated intently.

It seems to be receiving information from the bird-shaped shikigami in some way.

Seeing this, Liu Yun felt a little envious.

Spellcasting is so cool, with all sorts of bizarre and amazing abilities.

A character like myself, who can only use a cleaver to chop, always seems a bit "unlike a protagonist."

but……

At this moment, Takenaka Shigeharu's face suddenly turned pale, and he coughed softly a few times.

Liu Yun instantly realized that spellcasters are often labeled as physically weak.

After all, with a limited total number of points, they all put them into intelligence, perception, or willpower, leaving no energy to allocate to strength, agility, or constitution.

Just by looking at this man, Takenaka Shigeharu, it's clear he's likely weak in the waist and has kidney deficiency.

Thinking about it this way, being a kitchen knife worker isn't so bad.

You need to be physically strong to be a pile driver!

Ok……

Seeing that Takenaka Shigeharu was focused on communicating with the shikigami and completely oblivious to everything else, Ryuun suddenly had a strange thought: if he were to take out a knife to cut him now, would the other party be killed, or would he have a better way to save his life?

There must be another method involved.

It's unreasonable to trust someone you've just met so much.

Of course, Liu Yun didn't really want to cut him down.

But with the knife hilt in his hand, it's inevitable that strange thoughts will occasionally arise.

A moment later, the little bird woven from cattails flew back, and Takenaka Shigeharu opened his tired eyes and said in a low voice, "I saw the other person's face clearly, and the other person also discovered my shikigami. Fortunately, it's someone I know, so I shouldn't have to fight."

Liu Yun asked, "Could it be that you've also come to exorcise the demon? Is he an old friend of yours?"

Shigeharu Takenaka shook his head in reply: "I guess they've mostly come to exorcise demons. However, their origins are very mysterious, so they can't be called friends. They're probably not enemies either—just acquaintances..."

At that moment, a slight movement came from the direction of the lamplight, followed by a mature and magnetic female voice: "Is that Lord Takenaka? It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Upon hearing the voice, Liu Yun's expression changed instantly. He quickly retreated several steps and drew his sword in defensive stance.

Seeing this, Takenaka Shigeharu was very puzzled: "Lord Ryuun, could it be that you and Miss Asagi have some misunderstanding? I can't imagine what kind of conflict you two could have..."

Liu Yun's face turned ashen: "I can't think of any reason to explain why you know the leader of the Demon Ninja group."

"The leader of the Anti-Demon Ninja group?! The Anti-Demon Ninja you mentioned that you fought but the opponent escaped, is that her?"

Takenaka Shigeharu was stunned and speechless, staring in disbelief.

At this moment, three women walked towards them.

The first one was none other than Jinghe Asha, whom Liuyun had met in the dilapidated temple.

She was still wearing her signature purple, form-fitting nightsuit, which accentuated her exaggerated figure. However, several bandages were visible—the marks from Liu Yun's injuries.

What must have been a deep and long wound now appears to have no effect on mobility.

Why can it heal so quickly?

On either side of Igawa Asagi were a girl with a single ponytail who could use escape techniques and a girl with a short bun who could unleash lightning.

Liu Yun has now entered combat mode.

Judging from Takenaka Shigeharu's appearance, the possibility of him colluding with the anti-demon ninja is not high, but considering only the three women on the other side, they are already formidable enemies.

The three women opposite him reacted even more strongly upon seeing Liu Yun, their faces turning pale and their composure completely thrown into disarray.

They instinctively raised their knives and moved closer.

While Igawa Asagi remained relatively calm, the woman behind her, with her single ponytail and short bun, appeared quite terrified and even trembling, her fear evident in her expression.

Since both sides are enemies, there's obviously nothing to say; if they meet, they can only draw their swords against each other.

Shigeharu Takenaka stepped forward with a wry smile.

A wry smile is probably his most common expression. He has the face of a handsome man like Pan An or Song Yu, but he lives like Zhuge Liang, who is worried about the country and its people.

Shigeharu Takenaka first looked towards the lady and slowly said, "Miss Asagi, when we last met, you were probably not a member of the Demon Ninja... and you didn't even seem to have the surname Igawa. At that time, you said you hated swords and were never happy because of your martial arts talent."

Upon hearing this, Igawa Asahi's expression softened slightly, revealing a hint of nostalgia. She lowered her eyes and said, "Since you're with Sasaki Ryuun, my current identity can no longer be concealed. You're right, the Anti-Demon Ninja organization didn't exist back then, and my fiancé was still active as a member of the Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei. As for Igawa, that was actually my father's original surname; he just used an alias before..."

Takenaka Shigeharu asked in surprise: "What happened to Mr. Sawaki?"

Igawa Asahi's face showed grief and indignation: "He was killed by the Oda army several months ago. I know that you, Lord Takenaka, have your reasons for serving the Oda clan, so I do not intend to trouble you for the time being."

Takenaka Shigeharu was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Although the Oda army has been fighting in various parts of the Kinki region for the past few years, it has not clashed directly with Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Is there some misunderstanding regarding Lord Sawaki's death?"

Igawa Asahi replied, "It was Oda's army that took advantage of the chaos of war to secretly plunder, and Lord Sawaki was killed in order to protect the temple property."

"I see..." Takenaka Shigeharu sighed, then quickly asked, "Do you know which Oda clan general killed him?"

Igawa Asagi shook her head with a sorrowful expression: "What good is it to find out? The real culprit is not a military general, but a demon king who deliberately instructed the army to secretly plunder the Buddhist temple."

Takenaka Shigeharu sighed, "So that's why you chose to be an enemy of the Oda clan, and didn't hesitate to take up a sword and become a demon ninja..."

Igawa Asagi said coldly, "That's right. All I ever wanted was the happiness of an ordinary woman, but the Demon King didn't give me that chance, so I had no choice but to pick up my sword again."

Takenaka Shigeharu shook his head and did not answer.

He was clearly very skeptical of Igawa Asagi's words, but wisely did not express it directly.

Liu Yun overheard all of these conversations.

As a transmigrator who had been exposed to a large number of literary and film works, he subconsciously felt that the silly woman, Igawa Asahi, was probably deceived by the thieving monks of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei.

But this matter is insignificant.

Regardless of whether the other party has been deceived or not, it does not change the fact that they are enemies, not friends.

The only right way to deal with an enemy is to completely eliminate them.

No matter how much you desire someone's body, you can only cruelly destroy it.

The problem is that Takenaka Shigeharu, who possesses powerful magic, has an unclear attitude, and there is also the possibility that a powerful demon is roaming nearby.

It's really not a good time to take action.

After a moment's thought, Takenaka Shigeharu gave Ryuun a "don't be impatient" look, and then turned to the three ladies and asked, "Since Miss Asagi... Lord Igawa is now a demon ninja under the Enryakuji Temple of Mount Hiei, you must be here tonight to investigate the Koshoji Temple massacre, right?"

Igawa Asahi nodded, making no attempt to hide anything: "Through a special method within the temple, we learned that Kosho-ji Temple had been attacked by demons, so we immediately rushed here to investigate and tracked them down to this location."

“That would be perfect,” said Takenaka Shigeharu. “Whether we become enemies or friends in the future is another matter. Tonight, we share the same goal: to exterminate the demon. Let’s cooperate for now.”

"Takenaka Shigeharu and Sasaki Ryuun, are you also here to exorcise demons?" Igawa Asagi frowned. "But I suspect that the demons that committed crimes at Kosho-ji Temple were originally summoned by the Oda clan's Demon King, and you are actually Oda clan members... How can anyone believe that?"

Liu Yun couldn't help but roll his eyes and gripped the hilt of his knife.

Since we can't reach an agreement, we have to take action.

But after a moment, Igawa Asahi sighed and said, "However, Lord Takenaka is my father's benefactor... I'm willing to believe you one more time. I don't think you two are the kind of people who would collude with the Demon King. You must have been deceived by him. Tonight, let's work together to exorcise the demon."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun doubted his own ears.

Ikawa Asahi, a woman with superb martial arts skills and special abilities, is far too naive and upright, to the point of being foolish.

He was almost killed last time, how can he still say something like that this time?

She's exactly the kind of saintly female character from literature and film who drags her teammates down!

But Takenaka Shigeharu immediately smiled and said, "It's settled then. We'll cooperate tonight to deal with the demon, and then we'll go our separate ways. As for what to do if we encounter it again in the future, we'll talk about that another time. Lord Ryuun, what do you think?"

Liu Yun hesitated for a moment, considering Zhu Zhong's attitude and thinking that the demons should not be allowed to benefit from the situation, and finally nodded.

A verbal agreement was reached.

Takenaka Shigeharu breathed a sigh of relief.

Igawa Asagi's expression softened.

The single ponytail and short bun behind her conveyed a sense of relief, as if she had survived a disaster.

The two of them instinctively hid behind, away from Liu Yun.

In the last battle, although the sword struck Igawa Asagi, it made her followers fear Sasaki Ryuun as if he were a fierce demon.

At this moment, Shigeharu Takenaka said, "Let's share some information first! The monster we're dealing with tonight is no simple matter."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Victims Who Lost Their Minds