I transformed into a demonic spider lily.

Your ability to hold grudges is quite impressive.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Your "Conscience" Has Been Bound Away

Of course, this information alone is not enough. The other shore flower is unsure whether the monk, or the sorcerer, is the exorcist she is looking for.

Even if the other party was someone else, Bi'anhua didn't see anyone behind Langyegan at all. It's estimated that this guy ran too fast and left the person behind, or perhaps the other party never intended to enter the forest. In any case, this matter could only end inconclusively.

Unable to vent its inner anger, the spider lily naturally wouldn't be in a good mood.

She originally forbade humans from entering. If Kikyo hadn't come every now and then, she wouldn't have added the words "without permission" to the prefix of this rule. Next time the other party comes, she must settle the score properly. This matter will not be tolerated by Higanbana without three meals.

So, two days later...

When Kikyo visited the forest again, she noticed that many eyes were drawn to her as she walked. Could it be that they were eyeing her Shikon Jewel?

In fact, not only Kikyo, but the group of demons were also quite nervous. Their strength was insufficient to sense the Shikon Jewel, whose aura was being suppressed by the other party. They were simply carrying out the orders given by Higanbana the day before.

Although they outnumbered and outmatched, exorcists were the natural enemies of monsters, and could easily take on three of their own level, especially the priestesses who could take on ten at once.

The key is that we can still win.

Moreover, the spiritual power of the bellflower is obviously extremely strong. Its residual power alone is enough to intimidate them, so they dare not provoke it. However, they also cannot disobey the orders of the spider lily.

However, to their relief, after only a short while of surveillance, one of the monsters whispered, "This human seems to be the forbidden lover of Lady Higanbana." As if they had been lucky enough to survive, they scattered, fearing that if they stayed any longer, they would be doomed.

But Lady Higanbana is really amazing.

……

"Hua, what's been going on with you lately?"

The spider lily practically wore the words "sullen" on its face, which Kikyo could naturally see. In the past, when Kikyo came, the spider lily would always put on a dignified posture as if it were a superior receiving a foreign envoy. However, today it was lying directly on a huge flower bud in the sea of ​​flowers, as if it were saying "I don't want to try anymore".

No, everything is fine.

The tone of the red spider lily is slightly low.

No, you and your forest as a whole exude a sense of decadence.

"If you're feeling down, how about we go for a walk together?" Kikyo tentatively invited.

Upon hearing this, the spider lily immediately flipped off its bud and stood right in front of the bellflower, its gaze becoming increasingly eerie. However, the eerie feeling was not from the flower itself, but from the other person.

Finally, Higanbana raised her hand, pointed at Kikyo's chest, and asked, "Kikyo! I've noticed that you really don't treat me like a demon lately. Before, at least I had the excuse of helping you exorcise demons, but this time you didn't even bother to make up an excuse. Please put your hand on your heart and ask yourself if you've done right by humans?"

"No, that's not it. I just feel like you're in a bad mood today, and I don't think this has anything to do with whether or not you're being fair to humanity."

Kikyo clearly didn't understand.

"As expected, you heartless bastard."

The spider lily now wears a regretful expression.

"I think I still have it."

Kikyo placed her hand on her chest and said.

"No, you don't have any, they've all been bound away."

With a wave of her hand, Higanbana didn't give Kikyo any time to understand and continued, "Let's go. You must have come here to have me accompany you to exorcise the monster. If we finish it sooner, I can rest a bit more."

If Kikyo understood this, Higanbana might seal her away in a fit of anger, so it's better to quickly change the subject.

Coincidentally, the spider lily also wanted to vent her emotions recently, and a monster that needed to be defeated was the best choice. Hopefully, this monster will be more powerful and not one of those trash monsters that she can target.

"Huh? Oh! Okay."

Kikyo hadn't expected the spider lily to be so proactive. In the past, she always had to coax it away with kind words, but such a decisive action must have some problems.

...The bundle is gone?

Clearly, Kikyo was still pondering the meaning of those words, but she still didn't understand why her conscience had been "bound" away. The language of yokai can be truly difficult to understand sometimes.

……

Down the mountain, the spider lily and the bellflower walked side by side. The former's clothes were mainly black, but some crimson patterns were highlighted. The latter was still dressed in white and scarlet trousers. Standing together, they looked particularly well-matched.

"Did you see that? Lady Higanbana has already taken that priestess into her grasp. Do you even know who that priestess is? You bunch of ignorant monsters."

In the grass not far away, the wolf Yegan, who had returned to the forest, was showing off to a group of monsters beside him, enjoying their worshipful gazes.

"Lord Wolf Wilderness, who is that priestess?"

Sure enough, one of the monsters asked a question.

"That's the strongest priestess around here, Kikyo. You guys have definitely never seen her exorcising arrows. Even I could only barely withstand three of them."

In fact, Wolf King had never met Kikyo; he had only heard other yokai say that she was very strong, so he started bragging without realizing it.

"Wow~"

The group of monsters couldn't help but marvel.

"But now, that priestess has submitted to Lady Higanbana! Lady Higanbana is mighty!" With that, Wolfy jumped up and shouted.

call out--!

Suddenly, an arrow flew past the top of its head, only three-tenths of an inch from its brow. If Wolf Yegan had been thinner and jumped higher, it probably would have been gone. Even so, a large portion of the hair on its head was shaved off.

He went bald, but unfortunately, he didn't become stronger.

The arrow finally struck the tree trunk behind them, and the spiritual power it contained immediately intimidated the group of monsters. They screamed in alarm and fled in panic.

……

"Kikyo, your archery skills have become sluggish."

Even at a distance of only about 100 meters, Higanbana could still hear the group of demons talking, which is why she had Kikyo shoot an arrow in that direction.

How dare they gossip about her?

The real problem would be if it actually hit the target.

When Kikyo was shooting arrows, she didn't actually expect that Wolf would suddenly jump up. She was worried that if she hit the other party, the Spider Lily would be angry with her.

Incidentally, although her five senses are very sharp, she can only hear the slightest rustling of the wind at a distance of 100 meters. Kikyo knows that there are yokai in that direction, but she has no idea what they are talking about.

If she knew, she wouldn't need the other shore flower to tell her what to do; she would shoot an arrow herself and show no mercy.

……

After the spider lily and the bellflower left, the group of demons ran back. They looked at the spiritual power on the arrow, and then at the wolf who was heartbroken over his fur.

"Lord Langye is mighty!"

It can actually withstand three arrows like that.

Is this the strongest monster in the original forest?

It truly lives up to its name as the master of the forest, a title comparable to that of the red spider lily.

The group of monsters immediately shouted loudly.

No, that's not how it is, don't talk nonsense.

Wolfy was terrified. If it had known that the witch was so powerful, it wouldn't have boasted so much and praised her so highly.

If the red spider lily finds out...

It probably won't survive tonight.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Is Demonic Nature Inherently Evil? The Mage Yunhai

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Kikyo came to see Higanbana today because someone sent her a letter last night, asking her to exorcise a monster, so she went to see the person on her way.

Actually, it wasn't exactly on the way, and they weren't even in the same direction. But it didn't matter. As long as she came to the forest of spider lilies under the pretext of taking a walk, she could "go by the way." This was the excuse that Kikyo had prepared first, but before she could use it, the other party had already agreed.

The client was a castle lord, but in this era of "the Warring States period," he was also a daimyo. Of course, it was unknown whether he had two thousand soldiers under his command, otherwise he wouldn't need to find a shrine maiden to exorcise the monster.

"Kikyo, you can go in now. I'll wait for you outside." Higanbana stopped in front of the city and said to Kikyo.

Aren't you coming along?

Kikyo asked the other person a question.

"No way! That city lord? If we met, I'd have to bow and address him with all sorts of respect. Besides, I bet he doesn't even have a few thousand men. I'm a demon, and I'm stronger than him in terms of status and power. I wouldn't even stoop to being his equal. Do you think I treat all humans the same way I treat you? Don't joke with me!"

Upon hearing this, the spider lily immediately bristled and continued, "I guarantee that if that city lord doesn't use the formal 'you' when he speaks to me, not to mention the matter of exorcising the monster, I'll twist his head off first and then kick it up to Mount Fuji."

After saying this, Higanbana felt her image as a monster had returned. Wasn't she fierce? Her aura was extremely intimidating.

“Mount Fuji is a sacred mountain, after all. Even if you don’t respect it, you should at least stop bringing it up all the time, okay?” Kikyo said helplessly.

She understood the other shore flower's thoughts, of course. It was simply that it felt it hadn't treated the other as a monster recently, so it deliberately showed its fierce side in front of her.

“If you didn’t not know Mount Everest, I wouldn’t have used that half-baked peak to describe it,” the other shore flower said softly, turning her head away.

What are you muttering about?

"It's nothing, you can go in quickly."

Having said that, the red spider lily pushed the bellflower into the city.

After exiting the city gate, Biyanhua stood with her arms crossed at the foot of the city wall, next to several guards. They were just ordinary humans, the highest level being no more than level five, no different from ordinary villagers.

They were probably just a group of temporary soldiers who worked as farmers during busy seasons and as soldiers during slack seasons. They had not received any formal training, but once they put on armor and picked up weapons, they were warriors.

Since that's the case...

Bored, the spider lily decided to help the city lord, whom she didn't know, train his troops. So she went over, and the group of guards couldn't help but swallow hard.

— "Succubus," activate!

The corners of the spider lily's mouth turned up slightly, and she swept her blood-red pupils over everyone in front of her. Without exception, they all fell for her charm.

"Since you can't see me as an enemy, why don't you put down your weapons?" The particularly cheerful voice of the other shore flower reached the ears of everyone present.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as several swords fell to the ground. Everyone's eyes were glazed over. They didn't have the strong willpower of the snake demon, and their restless hearts made them unable to resist the allure.

What should we do next?

Start with 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats, then run 10 kilometers? You'll be invincible when you've trained until you're bald.