Swallow Return

Liu Yun took out a bag of copper coins and told them to move out of the mountain and live in a better place.

He then said that he was about to go deeper into the mountains and forests, and it would be inconvenient to bring the small packhorse, so he simply gave the animal to the poor old couple.

The old man hesitated at first, feeling embarrassed to accept the gift, but after thinking about it, he shamelessly took it and kowtowed on the ground to express his gratitude.

The old woman, probably feeling guilty, was completely submissive and obedient, barely daring to breathe beside her husband, and quickly kowtowing in thanks. Then she diligently cleaned up the iron pot that the old man had overturned in his anger and the fire that he had kicked apart.

Saito Asanobu didn't seem to intend to help, but seeing Ryuun's behavior, he also summoned two humanoid imps from his bosom and ordered them to take his packhorses and help the old couple move, and then return to Echigo.

His ghost-controlling technique is truly effective.

Then Liu Yun stopped caring about the old couple's affairs.

After all, he was just a kind passerby, not some neighborhood committee member or an elderly person who wasn't responsible for providing psychological counseling.

What interested Liu Yun next was the method used by Saito Asanobu, the "Echigo Zhong Kui," just now, so he asked, "Do all demons and monsters harbor resentment in their hearts, and can we achieve twice the result with half the effort if we treat them correctly?"

Saito Asanobu nodded and said, "Of course. I only managed to deal with the monsters by using these methods. If we're talking about real... cough cough... real skills, I'm far, far inferior to you."

Liu Yun then asked, "The old woman wasn't completely transformed into a demon just now, so she was able to break the curse. What if she had already become a demon?"

Saito Asanobu replied, "True yokai, whether they are transformed from humans or created out of thin air, can only be subdued. By mastering the 'nen' that yokai rely on for survival and shaking it, one can... cough cough... weaken the yokai and make it easy to deal with."

After pondering for a moment, Liu Yun asked again, "Do you know Suzuka-san Daio Ōtakemaru?"

Saito Asanobu smiled and said, "Of course I know! He is one of the most famous great demons. Although he is not as powerful as the Great Tengu, Shuten-dōji, and the Nine-Tailed Fox, he is still... cough cough... a very powerful being."

Liu Yun then asked, "Does such an extremely powerful demon also have a corresponding 'Nian'?"

Saito Asanobu nodded: "Yes! For example, Suzuka Ōtakemaru, his 'spirit'... cough cough... his 'spirit' is one with Suzuka Mountain. If someone flattens Suzuka Mountain and turns it into a plain, then Ōtakemaru will immediately disappear on his own. Or... cough... or if you can use words to shake his mind and make him no longer firmly believe that he and Suzuka Mountain are one, then Ōtakemaru will gradually disappear."

Liu Yun suddenly realized what this meant and quickly memorized it.

After a moment of silence, Saito Asanobu suddenly said, "Lord Sasaki, you... cough cough... aren't you curious about the red-clad female swordsman they mentioned earlier, the one who helped them settle here?"

Liu Yun thought to herself, "I almost forgot," and asked in return, "What are your considerations?"

Saito Asanobu frowned and said, "We're already very close to the so-called 'Poison Island.' I have a feeling that the red-clad female swordsman might be related to our purpose... Maybe... cough cough... maybe she's a very special monster."

Liu Yun didn't care: "Didn't you say before we set off that this 'Poison Island' was an extremely dangerous place? Since it's already extremely dangerous, a little more trouble won't matter. Compared to that—I'm more interested in your methods of subduing demons."

Saito Asanobu shook his head: "Actually, it's not a particularly complicated technique. As long as you treat the symptoms correctly and understand the corresponding 'Nen' of various yokai, that's enough. But just to inherit this knowledge, my face is covered in scars, and my internal organs... cough cough... my internal organs have all suffered irreversible damage. No matter what rare and precious medicines are made from, they can only alleviate the symptoms, not cure the root cause... cough cough..."

Liu Yun frowned: "If you were to pass this knowledge on to the next generation, would these symptoms continue?"

Saito Asanobu nodded: "My lineage has been passed down for seventy-four generations, and each generation has been the same."

Liu Yun sighed, "Being a disciple of your sect is too much work."

Saito Asanobu smiled wryly: "Aside from Buddhism having its own methods, no matter which school of secret arts it is, if you want to achieve any results, you have to... cough cough... you have to pay a price. You're from Omi, so you should know Lord Takenaka Shigeharu. When you have time... cough cough... when you have time, you can ask him how he got his heart ailment."

Liu Yun pondered, "Could this be why Onmyoji gradually lost their power?"

Chapter 81 The Illusion of Poison Island

On the fifth day after departing from Naoetsu, following Saito Asanobu through mountains and valleys, Ryuun finally learned the origin of the name "Poison Island".

After leaving the old couple's thatched hut, two hours later, they arrived deep in the mountains of Ueno Province.

Along the way, they encountered a group of "Red Oni" with dark red skin, resembling giant apes and with sharp horns on their heads. They attacked anyone they saw. However, they were not difficult to deal with. Ryuun swung his sword and killed four of them, while Saito Asanobu took care of two more.

Then, after going further and crossing a hill, you'll see a large area of ​​sunken valley.

Generally speaking, valleys in mountain ranges are considered auspicious places for living.

but--

The valley in front of them was covered by green swamps and filled with a yellowish mist, with a pungent stench that could be smelled from afar.

Saito Asanobu coughed twice, then pointed: "This swamp is about fifty cho (five kilometers) in circumference, and in the very center... cough cough... in the very center is a small island called 'Poison Island'. Humans can't survive here, so it has become a place where poisonous insects, ferocious beasts, and evil spirits roam."

Liu Yun immediately understood the implication and smiled, "Judging from this, you must have been inside once, right?"

Saito Asanobu nodded heavily, sighed, and said, "Indeed. I went there three years ago. At that time, I brought eight followers. Four of them were elite hatamoto of the Uesugi clan, and four were... cough cough... Jonin of Xuanyuan Village. But of the nine of us who went in, only four returned, and the other three all died of illness within half a year. Only... cough cough... only I am still alive. If it weren't for my trust in the intelligence of the Oda clan, I would never have wanted to come again."

As he said this, a look of loneliness and sorrow appeared on his scarred face.

Liu Yun breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head, and asked, "Why did you go into such a dangerous place back then?"

Upon hearing this, Saito Asanobu hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "There's no need to guarantee anything now. Back then, we received intelligence that Tsukahara Bokuden... cough cough... Tsukahara Bokuden and Kamiizumi Nobutsuna both underwent trials on this poison island, received the inheritance of the ancients, and broke through their bottlenecks to become... cough cough... become peerless sword saints."

Liu Yun asked, "So the news turned out to be false?"

Saito Asanobu shook his head: "It's not entirely false. The two sword saints did indeed... cough cough... did indeed come to Busu Island, but there was no so-called trial, let alone any so-called... cough cough... ancient inheritance. The reason they became sword saints was due to their own talent and hard work."

Liu Yun sighed, “Ordinary people often think that their achievements are all natural and inevitable, while others’ successes are all due to chance and coincidence.”

Saito Asanobu smiled wryly: "You're right! We were also blinded by greed back then, thinking that we could really obtain... cough cough... some powerful inheritance on that poisonous island. In the end, we only encountered a snake demon that was ten feet long."

Liu Yun asked, "Your teammates died at the hands of the snake demon?"

Saito Asanobu said, "We had tried our best to kill the snake demon. Then we searched the poisonous island for a whole day and night, but we made no progress. But we didn't expect... cough cough... we didn't expect that the snake demon would actually come back to life... At that time, everyone had been in the poisonous fog for too long and was already weak and powerless. As a result, we suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to flee."

Liu Yun then asked, "What kind of 'thought' was that snake demon formed from?"

Saito Asanobu said, "It is two desires: 'gluttony' and 'immortality.' At first, I only saw the first one, so I was careless and unprepared... cough cough... unprepared for the resurrection of the demon."

eternal life?

Upon hearing this word, Liu Yun felt that something was amiss.

Is there any similarity between Takeda Shingen's life-extending magic array and this snake demon's desire for "immortality"? Using living people's lives for evil sacrifices seems to be related to the concept of "gluttony."

At least they appear to be related.

Finally, Ryuun revealed the truth: "As far as we in the Oda family know, there is a magic circle on Busu Island that is related to the life of Takeda Daizen (Takeda Shingen).

Saito Asanobu's eyes widened: "Destroying the magic circle can kill Takeda Daizen? I knew the information would be astonishing, but I didn't expect it to be this astonishing..."

In his excitement, he didn't cough and managed to say everything in its entirety.

Liu Yun said, "To find out whether it's true or not, we still need to go in and see."

Saito Asanobu reached out to stop him: "Wait a minute." Then he took out two pills from his pocket, gave one to Ryuyun, and said: "After returning from the poison island last time, I studied it carefully for a long time and made this medicine. It should... cough cough... should greatly alleviate the harm of the yellow poisonous fog. It's a pity that the materials are too rare. I only... cough cough... only made a few pills in total, otherwise I could have brought more people."

Liu Yun reached out and took it without suspicion, then neatly tossed it into her mouth.

……

Walking on swampy land is a very dangerous thing. If you are not careful and fall into a mud pit, you will lose your footing and even the strongest person may drown.

Fortunately, Saito Asanobu had been here once before and knew the terrain.

Liu Yun has extremely sharp senses and is very agile. He noticed that the ground beneath his feet was a little soft and was able to dodge immediately.

The two kept a close eye on the giant snake demon, ten zhang long, that Saito Asanobu had mentioned, which could come back to life.

But as we walked in, we didn't encounter it.

I only saw a lot of strange animals such as flies and crawling insects, or miniature monsters. They were generally not aggressive and would only run away in panic when they heard human voices.

As for the yellowish toxic fog, although it smells terrible and affects visibility, it doesn't seem to have many other harmful effects.

I wonder if the antidote Saito Asanobu gave me was really effective, or if Liu Yun's own abilities were so strong that he was not afraid of the poisonous fog?

After walking cautiously for half a day, we finally reached the so-called "island" in the center of the swamp, but we still couldn't find any trace of the snake demon.

It was a tiny island, only a hundred paces in circumference.

The island is covered with thick, solid soil that gives you peace of mind when you step on it, unlike the surrounding swamps.

This area, within a hundred paces of the ground, was shrouded in a yellowish mist, just like the outside world.

The difference is that the swamp has many aquatic plants, with vines, branches, moss, and weeds intertwined and forming a thick green layer of one or two feet.

But the so-called "poison island" is all flat land.

The land was devoid of any greenery, only some seemingly random stones and sand piles, perhaps some kind of unique decorative art. (The author explains that this is a Japanese "dry landscape garden"; you can look it up online for more details.)

What's even stranger is that there's a man-made building in the very center with a style completely different from its surroundings.

It looks like a small palace from the Heian period, only very small in size; more accurately, it should be a side room or guest room within a palace.

As for the so-called "longevity array" and "thousands of human sacrifices," they were nowhere to be found.

Liu Yun was very puzzled when he saw this.

Not to mention Saito Asanobu, he was completely dumbfounded, muttering to himself, "Completely different from the last time I saw him..."

Liu Yun calmed down and carefully sensed that the palace exuded a strong demonic aura.

That seems like obvious.

If the inhabitants of this "poison island" are not monsters, are they humans?

Besides, Liu Yun had a vague and ethereal feeling that seemed to come from nowhere, as if he were not in the real world, but in a dream.

At this moment, Saito Asanobu took out a bunch of compasses and talismans and performed them in a serious manner before speaking with a heavy expression: "We seem to... cough cough... we seem to have entered an illusion."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun suddenly realized why he felt a sense of unease, as if it were both real and unreal.

But the question is, how do you break the illusion?

Saito Asanobu frowned and said, "This illusion is very strong. It will be difficult to break it by force. However, all illusions... cough cough... all illusions have flaws. Once you find the flaw, it will break on its own."

Liu Yun pointed and said, "Does that mean we should go inside and talk to the residents?"

Saito Asanobu nodded: "This is probably the fastest way."

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Chapter 82, First Layer of Illusion, Faceless Warrior

Saito Asanobu's expression was very serious when he arrived at Busu Island for the second time.

According to him, although the terrifying giant snake demon from last time is no longer visible, the situation is actually more dangerous.

Liu Yun remained remarkably calm, asking only one question: "Are you planning to turn back?"

Obviously not.

Having come all this way, and knowing that Takeda Shingen's longevity formation might exist here, how could we bear to leave empty-handed?

So Liu Yun walked up to the small palace with the odd style of the building and opened the door.

Then they discovered that the room, which was more than three zhang long and wide, was completely empty, without any furniture or decorations. There were only walls, a roof, and a floor.

There stood only a tall samurai, clad in old-fashioned black armor, wielding a black-scabbard katana, his face hidden behind a black mask.