Swallow Return

Liu Yun was puzzled, but he remained calm and led the packhorse inside. He said to the old man, "We are travelers passing through. We thought we would ask you for lodging for the night. You will not be shortchanged on room and board."

"Oh...what a coincidence, someone actually came here..." The old man scratched his head blankly and shook his head, saying, "My house is such a mess, I only have mixed grain porridge and radishes to eat, how can I accept money? Besides, there are no merchants around, even if you give me money, I can't use it."

After saying this, the old man took unsteady, shaky steps and walked into the house.

This is a dilapidated house with no view of the outside world. It is made of bamboo poles tied together as a frame, and leather, thatch and rags are used as filling materials. It can only be said to barely keep out the wind and rain.

There was no floor in the house, just uneven dirt.

In the center was a bonfire and an iron pot with several corners missing. To the left was a messy bed made of bundles of rice, and to the right were a water vat, grains, pickled radishes, and some daily necessities.

There were no other superfluous furnishings.

The old man had just lit a fire and was cooking porridge, which is why smoke was drifting out of the skylight. Now, probably seeing that guests had come in, he grabbed a couple more handfuls of grains and added a ladle of water.

Considering his living conditions, his willingness to share food with strangers is truly an amazing act of kindness.

Although the environment was dirty and messy, Ryuun and Saito Asanobu were not particular people, so they sat on the floor as soon as they entered.

Then the two of them instantly sensed something and exchanged a knowing glance.

Indeed, although the old man was an ordinary person, there was clearly another creature with a strong demonic aura inside the house.

Upon closer inspection, the demonic aura seemed to originate from underground.

To be precise, it was under a bed of stacked rice bundles. Could there be a tunnel?

Liu Yun frowned in thought, not in a hurry to speak.

Saito Asanobu went straight to the point and asked, "Old man, how do you fill your stomach living in such a remote place?"

"Ah?" The old man slowly turned around and said weakly, "I cleared a piece of wasteland behind the mountain and planted millet and radishes, which is enough to eat."

"Oh...cough cough!" Saito Asanobu coughed twice, then asked, "Why did you come to such a desolate mountain?"

"Ha..." The old man chuckled, his wrinkles becoming even more pronounced: "Something happened at home, I couldn't stay there any longer, so I had to come out."

"Hmm...cough cough...cough..." Saito Asanobu nodded, coughed again, and then went straight to the point, asking solemnly, "Is the incident at home related to the monster under the bed?"

The old man was stunned upon hearing this, and the wooden spoon in his hand fell to the side of the pot with a crisp sound. He then trembled all over, stood up in astonishment, and even his usually hunched back straightened up a little. His mouth opened and closed rapidly, but he could not utter a word.

Just then, a person suddenly emerged from under the bed made of straw bundles, shouting, "Are you here to exorcise demons? Just kill me, don't make things difficult for the old man, he's just an ordinary person!"

Upon closer inspection, it was a frail and elderly woman.

It only had a pointed beak on its face, many feathers on its arms, and its feet turned into eagle claws.

At the same time, the old man immediately knelt down and pleaded in a pitiful voice, "Please spare her! This old woman is cursed and has never harmed anyone..."

"Is this really true?" Liu Yun suddenly asked seriously, a flash of red light passing through his eyes.

The old woman, who was half-human and half-bird, and the old man kneeling and begging for mercy were both stunned and answered the questions honestly.

Saito Asanobu, who was standing next to him, was quite surprised. A look of fear appeared on his scarred face, but he quickly covered it up with a cough.

It turned out that the old man and woman were a farming couple from the western part of Kozuke Province, near Minowa Castle. They owned some land and lived a fairly good life, with children, making them a middle-class gentry family.

However, later, the younger brother of a concubine in the city set his sights on their irrigated land—irrigated land was quite rare in Ueno, a place with many mountains and few rivers—and tried to forcibly buy it.

The couple refused.

As a result, one night the old woman was cursed and turned into this strange half-human, half-bird appearance.

When outsiders saw her, they thought she had turned into a monster and were terrified. They all rushed to the city to ask her to "exorcise" her.

Even her children disregarded family ties, showing only disdain and rejection towards their mother.

Seeing this, the elderly couple had no choice but to flee the village in a sorry state.

However, they were just a farming family who had never traveled far from home in their lives, and had no idea where they could go.

Fortunately, a kind-hearted female swordswoman in red happened to pass by. After learning about their situation, she helped the elderly couple build a thatched hut in the desolate wilderness and cultivated some land so that they could live in peace.

I've just settled down and have been living here for almost two years.

In fact, this half-human, half-bird old woman, apart from her strange appearance, had no special abilities worth mentioning, and it was impossible to know how she could harm people.

Hearing about the elderly couple's plight, Liu Yun felt quite saddened.

It is truly touching that they still support each other through thick and thin in such a situation.

Liu Yun immediately asked Saito Asanobu, "Is it possible to turn a person into a monster using a curse?"

Saito Asanobu stroked his beard and said, "That's just a simple technique. It only requires amplifying the dark emotions in someone's heart and guiding the demonic energy to gather. The stronger the dark emotions of the recipient and the denser the demonic energy in the environment, the easier it is to succeed. Cough cough... However, this technique is almost lost because it's really impractical. If used on one's own people, there's a risk that their minds will change drastically after demonization; if used on enemies, there's a concern that they'll become even stronger after demonization... Cough cough!"

Liu Yun suddenly realized, "Then all that's left is the function of framing someone."

Saito Asanobu nodded: "And it can only be used in secluded places. In developed towns and cities, firstly, the people are more knowledgeable and know that yokai are not necessarily aggressive; secondly, with a skilled onmyoji in charge, the curse can be removed in time. Cough cough..."

Liu Yun was pleasantly surprised upon hearing this: "This curse can be removed?"

Saito Asanobu asked, "Do you want to help this elderly couple?"

Liu Yun nodded: "The two old men are having a really tough time living here. If the curse can be lifted, even if they can't go back to their hometown, they can move to another place. It's such a small favor, why not do it?"

Saito Asanobu said, "It's possible. However, the curse has been in effect for so long that to cure it, we must find... cough cough... find the source, which is the reason for the deep, dark emotions in that old woman's heart. But this may not be a good thing for them."

Liu Yun asked in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

At this moment, the elderly couple were still under the control of the "bewitching power," frozen in place, unresponsive to any sound.

Saito Asanobu glanced at the old man and woman, a meaningful smile appearing on his scarred face. He said in a low voice, "This old woman's appearance is that of a human transformed into a sparrow demon, but she only transformed halfway before stopping. It's probably because the Onmyoji who cast the spell to harm her back then was too incompetent. As I told you before, demonic energy must be attached to a person's 'thought' to be able to condense. And the 'thought' represented by the sparrow demon is... cough cough... the regret and guilt of an unfaithful woman. This old man probably doesn't know the truth yet, but if we want to break the curse, we must explain it clearly."

Liu Yun was greatly surprised upon hearing this.

This elderly couple, who seem to be a model of lifelong companionship, how could there be a history of infidelity?

After a moment's thought, Liu Yun hesitated before asking, "Can't we hide it from the old man?"

Saito Asanobu shook his head and said, "According to my analysis, the old man needs to know the details of what happened, and then he needs to sincerely forgive the old woman before this curse... cough cough... this curse can be lifted."

Liu Yun then asked, "What if the old man refuses to forgive us after we tell the truth?"

Saito Asanobu replied, "Then the old woman will completely transform into the sparrow demon, losing all humanity and intellect."

Liu Yun hesitated.

Perhaps the current situation is better for the elderly couple than the fate of turning them into monsters?

Seeing Ryuun's expression, Saito Asanobu spoke again: "I don't have any particular thoughts, but Lord Sasaki is right, it's just a small favor. As long as you make up your mind, I will do my best to help."

Liu Yun frowned, lowered her head and pondered for a while, sighed, made up her mind, raised her head and said, "I would rather give him the cruel truth than false happiness."

Chapter Eighty: The Half-Human, Half-Demon Old Woman (Part 2)

"I would rather give him the cruel truth than a false happiness."

Liu Yun's words were resounding.

Saito Asanobu didn't seem to care much about this, and immediately nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll give it a try."

Liu Yun nodded, took two steps back, withdrew his supernatural powers, and released the mental control.

The old man and woman sat on the ground, opening their eyes blankly, at a loss for what to do.

Saito Asanobu took out a copper bell from his pocket, shook it twice, and asked, "Grandma, is there something you've kept hidden your whole life, something you absolutely don't want to... cough cough... absolutely don't want to tell anyone?"

Upon hearing this, the half-human, half-bird old woman suddenly became agitated, shaking her head repeatedly and saying, "No! No! That's not true!"

The old man was astonished by what he saw.

Saito Asanobu coughed twice, quickening the shaking of the copper bell, the jingling becoming increasingly urgent.

The old woman immediately looked extremely troubled, but still kept her eyes closed and shook her head repeatedly.

Saito Asanobu breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes widened, and he gave a soft shout, his eyes shooting out two beams of light.

Then, countless plumes of black smoke rose from the old woman's body, condensing and swirling above her head, lingering for a long time.

Saito Asanobu then asked, "Grandma, is there something in your heart... cough cough... something you've kept hidden your whole life, something you absolutely don't want to tell anyone?"

This time, the old woman finally nodded painfully and said, "More than thirty years ago, when I had just gotten married, I was sick at home and my husband was out drinking and gambling. It was my neighbor, Ado, who couldn't afford to get married, who took care of me. And then...and then Ado and I...that...that happened a few times. Sigh...Later, when I understood the truth, I really wanted to die...My husband only neglected the family for the first few years, but he's been very good to me ever since. He often goes out to work to support the family..."

"What?!" Upon hearing that he had been wearing the emerald hat for over thirty years, the old man flew into a rage, stood up abruptly, and shouted, "You! How could you do such a thing? How could you treat me like this?"

The old woman lowered her head, sobbing and wiping away her tears without saying a word.

At this moment, the black mist above her head became very unstable, swaying and darting left and right as if it were about to explode.

The old man seemed to be furious. He roared "Ya!" and overturned the iron pot that was cooking mixed grain porridge. He also kicked away the still-burning pile of firewood.

Scalding juice and sparks from the firewood splashed everywhere, landing on the elderly couple, but they showed no reaction, seemingly unconscious.

The old woman continued to sob, lamenting in a low voice, "I'm so sorry, you should have killed me more than thirty years ago."

The old man was panting heavily, his face flushed, his beard bristling with anger, and he raised his arm as if to slap his wife.

The old woman just cried out in deep regret, but she neither hid nor avoided the situation.

The old man held his hand in the air for a long time, but ultimately didn't bring it down. After hesitating for a long time, he finally slumped to the ground, sighed a few times, and said, "Forget it, it was more than thirty years ago. It's also my fault back then, I didn't even know you were sick, and I was still out drinking and gambling... Let's just make do, at our age, can we really break up?"

The old woman continued to cry, but then looked up with an incredulous expression.

The black mist above her head gradually calmed down and became more peaceful, dissipating and diluting slightly.

The old man sat on the ground, sighing deeply, frowning and remaining silent.

The old woman knelt before her husband, tears streaming down her face, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.

Just then, Saito Asanobu shouted loudly, pointed his finger, and released a strong white light that struck the black mist above the old woman's head.

Wherever the white light touched, the black mist instantly dissipated and vanished without a trace.

The strange features on the old woman, such as her pointed beak, feathers, and bird claws, also disappeared.

Saito Asanobu said calmly, "That solves it. It wasn't some powerful person's curse after all; it was just that it dragged on for so long that it became a little troublesome."

Liu Yun, standing to the side, breathed a sigh of relief: "This ending is not bad."

……

After a while, the elderly couple realized that the curse on the old woman had been lifted, and they knew it was the work of these two mysterious guests. They thanked them profusely.

After thanking her, the old woman, now back in human form, couldn't help but show a look of joy. Then, she suddenly remembered that her husband already knew about her loss of virginity, and her face fell into sorrow again.

The old man, staring at his wife, now looked at her with a mixture of heartache and anger.

If there hadn't been outsiders present, I really don't know what would have happened.