I Am a Heroic Spirit

"How could this be possible?" the old man said in disbelief. After all, if there really was the smell of blood and evil spirit in there as Zhang Luo said, then the victim would only be his daughter, but his daughter had already been married in the afternoon.

"Just go in and take a look, and you'll know clearly." Zhang Luo looked at the old man with sympathy. With his ability, he would never be wrong. Someone must have died in this room within a day, and it was most likely the old man's daughter. As for who got married, don't ghosts have the ability to change?

"Please." The old man sat down against the wall, trembling, his face full of sadness. Although he said it was impossible, the old man knew in his heart that Zhang Luo, as a truly capable Yin Yang Master, would never deceive ordinary people like them for no reason.

Zhang Luo shook his head, walked forward and pushed open the door. Suddenly, the smell of blood became stronger, but this was only for Zhang Luo. For ordinary people, it was just a very faint odor.

The room looked very tidy and there seemed to be nothing unusual. There were some special tools. Although Zhang Luo didn't recognize them, he could tell from the cloth next to the tools that they were used for weaving.

"All those who are about to fight are arrayed before me. Show your true form before me, as fast as the command!"

Zhang Luo made seals with his hands and chanted a spell. The magic power gathered the evil spirit and resentment in the room, forming an illusion in front of Zhang Luo.

In the illusion, first there appeared a lovely woman as beautiful as a poppy, sitting where the weaving tools were and weaving. A few minutes later, a familiar ghost knocked on the door of the room, tricked the woman into opening the door with a gentle voice, then took the woman to a persimmon tree and smashed her to death, peeled off her skin, transformed himself into the appearance of the woman, and then made the woman's meat into a delicious dish and tricked the old grandfather and grandmother into eating it, and finally married her as the woman.

Chapter 157 Himeji Castle

"No! My child!"

Two shrill cries sounded from behind him. Zhang Luo turned his head and saw the old man and old woman who had taken him in were holding their chests and looking at the illusion created by Zhang Luo's spell in agony. Soon they rolled their eyes and fainted on the ground.

"Ugh!"

Zhang Luo sighed, then had the servants outside take the elderly couple out and settle them down, his heart filled with sorrow. For ordinary people like these, the Heian period was probably the worst of times, with the possibility of death at any time. Just a few minutes after arriving, he encountered a couple who had been treated the same way by Ji Chang. He wondered if they still had the courage to survive.

After sighing, Zhang Luo turned his gaze towards the direction of the illusion, stretched out his hand to dispel the illusion, and sighed deeply again.

Tianxie Guilu, this n-level little monster actually dares to attack humans. It seems that I have underestimated this era.

Zhang Luo had already recognized the monster in the illusion. It was not a big monster, but just a member of the Tianxiegui family, Tianxieguilu, a weakling among the small monsters.

However, Zhang Luo inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen today's events somewhere.

Shaking his head, Zhang Luo didn't think too much about it. After all, it was just a Tianxie ghost, a monster that could be killed instantly with ease. There was no need to consider anything else.

After Zhang Luo left the room, the old couple woke up from their coma and seemed to be fine. However, their faces, haggard due to sadness, exuded a bit of death, and it seemed that they would not live long.

"Father-in-law, the truth is clear. The young lady in your family has been killed by the evil ghost Tian Xie and replaced." Seeing the expressions of the old couple, Zhang Luo's heart sank, so he spoke frankly.

"My dear Guaziji! Why did you leave like this? Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." As soon as Zhang Luo opened his mouth, the old lady burst into tears in grief, and couldn't stop crying.

"Master Onmyoji, please help us avenge my melon seed princess and kill that monster," the old man said, holding back tears, his eyes filled with hatred. He picked up a package from the ground beside him and handed it to Zhang Luo, pleading sincerely, "This is all my wealth. Please."

Zhang Luo hesitated for a moment, his eyes swept across the old couple's faces, then he closed his eyes, sighed, and took the package handed over by the old man.

Zhang Luo said, "Don't worry. Slaying demons and eliminating evil is the duty of an Onmyoji. I'll set off now."

Seeing Zhang Luo accept the package, the old couple felt relieved. They turned to the middle-aged servant beside them and said, "Sanlang, you should take the Yin-Yang Master to catch up with the wedding procession. We can't let the King get killed."

The middle-aged servant also agreed, with a sad look in his eyes.

After the middle-aged servant Sanlang took Zhang Luo out of the village, Zhang Luo had an idea and turned around to look. He saw fire rising in the middle of the village under the night sky and faint wailing sounds.

Zhang Luo was not surprised. He just put his hands behind his back and stared at the flickering fire.

As early as when he accepted the old couple's request, Zhang Luo had already seen the death intent in the two old people's eyes. At that time, Zhang Luo did not say anything or make any attempt to stop them. It was not because Zhang Luo was too indifferent, but because Zhang Luo could not think of any way to make the old couple who had eaten their daughter's flesh and blood with their own mouths give up death.

The servant Saburo also shed tears, looking sadly at the fire not far away. The old couple's behavior was so obvious that he already knew that they wanted to commit suicide.

……

On the way to Harima, Zhang Luo finally remembered where his previous sense of déjà vu came from. It was from "Princess Melon Seeds," one of the famous ancient Japanese ghost stories.

Born from a melon seed, Princess Guazi was adopted and raised by a childless elderly couple. But on the eve of her wedding, the demon demon Tianxiegui, while the elderly couple were away, came to meet Princess Guazigui. Using clever tricks, Tianxiegui tied her to a tree, then transformed himself into her. However, a bird tipped off her, revealing her evil deeds. Tianxiegui was killed and chopped to pieces, while Princess Guazigui was rescued and married safely.

This is the most widely circulated and accepted version of the perfect ending, where everyone is happy. However, there is more to the story of Guaziji: Princess. There is also a darker and more tragic ending, which is the one that just happened. Humans were defeated by ghosts, and Guaziji was killed by Tianxiegui, and her skin was peeled off. She disguised herself as Guaziji and successfully married the king.

After a long journey, the two finally found the wedding procession, which was still on its way. According to the servant Saburo, it was less than halfway to Himeji Castle, the main city of Harima Province. It seemed that the wedding procession was planning to travel overnight and return to Himeji Castle.

"The wedding procession ahead, please wait a moment."

Zhang Luo's feet were as fast as the wind. With a light jump, he flew over the wedding procession, blocking its way.

Zhang Luo's unique appearance made the wedding procession nervous.

The five guards drew their swords and stepped forward, looking at Zhang Luo warily, but their slightly trembling legs revealed the fear in their hearts.

"Are you a human or a ghost?" the warrior captain asked loudly, regretting his decision to travel at night very much, as he had clearly known the dangers at night.

"Don't be nervous, I am Zhang Luo, an Yin-Yang master from the Tang Dynasty in the East, not a ghost." Zhang Luo said coldly with a sullen face, his eyes fixed on the sedan chair that was emitting a faint demonic aura.

"Onmyoji-sama?! What can I do for you?"

When they heard Zhang Luo call himself an Yin-Yang master and saw how he was dressed, the five warriors quickly put away their swords and did not dare to show any disrespect.

"My Lords!" At this time, the servant Sanlang also ran over breathlessly. He ran all the way behind Zhang Luo and shouted, "My young lady was killed before she got married. Now the ghost who killed my young lady is sitting in the sedan chair. This gentleman is my master..."

Before the servant Sanlang could finish his words, he saw the sedan chair behind him suddenly break apart, and a green evil ghost ran out of it. It killed a sedan bearer with one claw and then ran towards the nearby forest.

"Ah! It really is a ghost!"

The warriors screamed in shock, but they managed to stand. The followers and sedan bearers were so frightened that they were pissing their pants.

"I respectfully invite you to descend, all the gods and immortals! Bind the ghosts and subdue the evil! Eliminate all the demons! Hurry and obey the command!"

Seeing that Tianxie Gui was about to escape, Zhang Luo sneered, took out a talisman from his body, and silently recited a spell. The talisman shot out like a flying knife, piercing Tianxie Guilu's head, and then Tianxie Guilu's body turned into ashes.

After Tianxie Guilu was defeated, his followers and sedan bearers were also found. Zhang Luo, who killed the ghost with one blow, became more and more noble in the eyes of the warriors. In order to express his gratitude and also to find a bodyguard, the warrior captain invited Zhang Luo to visit Harima Province. Zhang Luo also agreed. After the servant Saburo completed the task of leading the way, he also returned to the village alone.

The distance between the village and Himeji Castle, the main city of Harima Province, was not far. If they walked, it would only take about three hours. When they caught up with the wedding procession, they had already gone half the distance. Now that they had abandoned the sedan chair, they began to speed up their journey. Not long after, they arrived at Himeji Castle.

As soon as he entered the main city, the king who lived in the main city had sent people to greet him at the city gate. The people who greeted him had already communicated with the warriors, looked at Zhang Luo with a hidden gaze, and hurriedly invited Zhang Luo into the city lord's mansion.

After some pleasantries with the king, Zhang Luo felt a little annoyed, because the king's words were meaningless, and there was even a condescending tone in his voice. This was understandable. After all, in the Heian period, no matter how high the status of an Onmyoji was, it was not higher than that of the king. It was just that his fiancée had just died, but now he looked as if he didn't care. This made Zhang Luo even less interested in continuing to talk to the king.

Chapter 158 Ashiya Doman

Before the king could hint at wanting Zhang Luo to stay and serve him, Zhang Luo spoke up in time, "I've heard that among the many mages in Harima, there's an Onmyoji named Ashiya Doman. He's said to be a master of magic."

"Michimitsu Ashiya?"

When Zhang Luo said the name Ashiya Doman, the king frowned and it took several seconds for his brows to slowly relax.

It seems that Ashiya Doman is not very popular with the lord, but this is not surprising. According to legend, this lord often accepted money to perform magic, poison and other magic on people, and also used spells to curse others. Therefore, compared with Abe Kiyomizu, his reputation is much worse. I think the lord is also troubled by Ashiya Doman's willingness to accept money to perform curses. After all, although he also has a few Yin and Yang masters, none of them can compare to Ashiya Doman, let alone remove the curse. If Ashiya Doman attacks him, he will have no chance of survival.

"Yes, it's Master Doman. I want to go visit him." Zhang Luo nodded and said affirmatively that in Harima Province at this time, only the founder of Hanakaiin, who could be compared with Abe Kiyomizu, could arouse Zhang Luo's interest.

"That guy now lives in the mountains outside Himeji Castle. You can rest in my house for one night. I will let my servants take you there tomorrow." When the name of Ashiya Doman was mentioned, the king's attitude became cold, but for Zhang Luo, the king's mood could not affect him at all.

"Thank you very much." Zhang Luo nodded slightly.

The next morning, the king's servants took Zhang Luo out of Himeji Castle and entered the mountains not far from Himeji Castle.

I don't know when I found myself in a fir forest. Ancient fir trees, so tall they could be hugged by one or two men, towered towards the sky. The air was refreshingly cool. Because the fir branches blocked the sunlight from reaching the forest floor, even though it was still morning, it felt dark all around.

Traces of human footprints and stone steps were faintly visible, and the path in the forest stretched out, winding upwards. The two walked for a long time before finally stopping at a platform.

"That's it, Onmyoji-sama."

The servant pointed up a few steps and said to the front of the path, "An old roof can be vaguely seen among the trees."

"That's the residence of Lord Ashiya Doman, but you have to go there by yourself for the rest of the journey." The servant said nervously, seeming a little reluctant to go to Ashiya Doman's residence.

"You can leave now."

After looking at the buildings in the woods, Zhang Luo waved his arm, signaling the servants to go back.

After receiving Zhang Luo's reply, the servant hurriedly walked back the way he came and walked away quickly, as if there was a ferocious beast chasing him.

"It seems that the reputation of this Mr. Ashiya Doman is really not that good." Zhang Luo glanced at the servant's back thoughtfully and his eyes fell on the path ahead.

With his keen eyesight, he could clearly see that this path was not that simple and must have been cursed by Ashiya Doman.

After two or three steps onto the path, Zhang Luo felt that he was covered by a wave of magical power. No, it should be said that the path leading to Ashiya Doman's residence was covered by Ashiya Doman's Yin-Yang magic. Once you set foot on it, you will be affected by the Yin-Yang magic. However, there was no murderous intent in it, so it should not be an attack type of Yin-Yang magic.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Luo noticed that there were snakes in the bushes on both sides. They were two poisonous snakes. Although he couldn't tell what kind of snakes they were, he could tell from their appearance that these snakes were very poisonous.

However, Zhang Luo ignored the poisonous snakes that were slowly crawling towards him, and continued to walk towards Ashiya Doman's residence.

The poisonous snake left the bushes and approached Zhang Luo, wrapping itself around his ankle. It hissed from time to time and pointed its exposed fangs at Zhang Luo's leg, looking like it was about to bite.

Zhang Luo ignored the movement of the poisonous snake and continued walking forward.

In response to Zhang Luo's reaction, the poisonous snake shook its body and did not continue to bite. Instead, it slid down Zhang Luo's leg and re-entered the bushes without Zhang Luo even looking at it.

After walking a few more steps, when passing the corner, a tiger appeared in sight.

The huge tiger was lying lazily on the road leading to Ashiya Michiman's residence. After Zhang Luo appeared, it stood up from the ground, roared, and exuded a fierce aura all over its body, and pounced towards Zhang Luo.

If it were an ordinary person, even a warrior, he would not be able to remain calm when being attacked by a giant tiger and would definitely turn around and run away, but Zhang Luo would not be affected.

"What a powerful illusion, it's much stronger than mine."

Zhang Luo kept walking forward, staring at the giant tiger pouncing in front of him, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

That’s right, this tiger was created by an illusion. Not only that, the poisonous snake before was also an illusion. I think Ashiya Doman used it to scare away civilians who accidentally entered this place and guests he didn’t want to entertain.

However, the illusion here should have been set up casually, without spending much effort or infusing much spiritual power, so although Zhang Luo could not see the flaw, he was able to eliminate the influence on himself with power far beyond that of ordinary Yin-Yang masters.

When the tiger was about to pounce on Zhang Luo, it disappeared with a "bang", and at this time Zhang Luo happened to walk through the middle of the tiger's body.

Since the tiger disappeared, no other hallucinations appeared. A minute later, Zhang Luo arrived in front of Ashiya Doman's residence.

This is a dilapidated temple. The roof is rotten, and parts of the walls are peeling off. It looks like no one has lived here for at least ten years. It's hard to imagine that a legendary Onmyoji, who is said to be comparable to Abe Kiyomizu, would live here. Even ordinary farmers would live in a better place than here.

When Zhang Luo was about to go in, a figure suddenly appeared inside.

She is a woman, an ordinary woman of about forty years old, at least on the surface. But the only people who appear here now, besides Zhang Luo himself and Ashiya Doman, are probably Ashiya Doman's Shikigami.

"It must be the Onmyoji from the East." The woman said in a low voice, as if muttering to herself.

"Yes." Zhang Luo nodded and agreed.

"The master is waiting for you." The woman said, turning sideways and inviting Zhang Luo in.

Zhang Luo walked into the room and saw an old man sitting there. He had unkempt white hair and was dressed in the filthy, grimy, unwashed clothes of a nobleman. His face was a dark red from sun exposure and grime, deeply etched with countless wrinkles. He had a snub nose. His eyes, gleaming yellow, were as sharp as a bird of prey.

"You are here, Zhang Luo, the Yin-Yang master from the Eastern Tang Kingdom." The old man raised his head and said.

"You knew I would come a long time ago. Did you predict it?" Zhang Luo walked forward, waved his sleeves, and a breeze cleared a clean area. Then he sat down on the ground and called out the old man's name, "Ashiya Doman-sama."

"It was yesterday evening when I performed a divination and discovered that this already chaotic time and space suddenly had a variable. After continuing the divination, I found that this variable pointed to the Tang Kingdom across the sea. Then I performed another divination at night and found that the name of this variable was Zhang Luo, and he would come to visit me today." said Ashiya Doman.

"That's amazing, you're worthy of being Master Daoman." Zhang Luo said with admiration. He was able to discover his existence the moment he traveled through time and space, and he was also able to grasp his information even faster. Zhang Luo was afraid that he would not be able to use this level of divination within a hundred years.

"Variables? What does chaotic time and space mean?" After admiring, Zhang Luo's face became serious. He suddenly realized that Ashiya Doman seemed to have said something extraordinary.

"Didn't you notice? You are still too young." Ashiya Doman laughed, as if he didn't take what he just said to heart.

"About a month ago, I divined and discovered that the original timeline had been misplaced. The time twenty years from now had been mixed up with the present. Not long after, something seemed to have happened to Abe Kiyoaki. I unexpectedly realized that there were actually two Abe Kiyoakis in this world. It was truly terrifying. Suddenly, there was another Onmyoji as talented as Abe Kiyoaki. Later, I received news from Heian-kyō that Abe Kiyoaki seemed to have lost his memory or something..."

Ashiya Doman kept on talking nonchalantly, as if he had no idea how serious his words were to the world.

"Please don't make such a terrible thing sound so easy." Zhang Luo was really speechless about Ashiya Doman's character. Could it be that all powerful Onmyojis are like this?

"Hahaha! It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. There's an old saying in the East that things will work themselves out when the time comes. No matter what happens, it will be solved naturally when the time comes." Ashiya Doman said with a laugh.

"Abe Haruaki, I'm new in Japan. I don't know the origins of this Lord Abe Haruaki." Zhang Luo asked.

Although he had played the Onmyoji mobile game before, this world was obviously not just a mobile game world. There were some things that needed to be understood clearly. For example, Abe Kiyomizu in Onmyoji did not know Minamoto no Hiromasa before he lost his memory, but he remembered that Abe Kiyomizu and Minamoto no Hiromasa were very good friends when they were young. Moreover, not many monsters in Onmyoji knew Abe Kiyomizu. It was said that Abe Kiyomizu's strength at that time was not that great, but he could already divide himself into two halves of good and evil. It was really confusing.

"Abe Kiyoaki, that kid is a disciple of the great Onmyoji Kamo Tadayuki, the nephew of the great monster Tamamonomae, the son of the great monster Kuzuha and the chief physician Abe Yoshizai. He is born with powerful spiritual power comparable to that of ordinary great monsters. After being trained by Kamo Tadayuki, he became a master half a year ago. Now, at the age of only twenty, he has surpassed his master." Ashiya Michiman said with emotion. When he was born, Abe Kiyoaki was already far ahead of most Onmyojis, and now he can be compared with a great Onmyoji like him.

"Is that so?"

Zhang Luo murmured, deducing in his mind based on the information he had obtained. Abe Qingming, a young Yin-Yang master who had just started his apprenticeship half a year ago, had developed evil thoughts in his mind due to his lack of experience and youthful vigor when dealing with ghosts and monsters. The demonic nature inherited from the great monster Ge Ye continued to nourish these evil thoughts, which made Abe Qingming extremely frightened. He used the spell of separating Yin and Yang to separate his evil thoughts.

It seems to be the case, but there are still some suspicious points. Even if there are evil thoughts growing in his heart, Abe Kiyomizu would not separate his evil thoughts without even asking for help. Even if others don't say it, Kamo Tadayuki, as his teacher, would definitely have a better solution if he knew about this. In any case, he would not let Abe Kiyomizu do such a stupid thing as separating yin and yang.

"That's right." Ashiya Doman suddenly clapped his hands, as if he remembered something.

"What?" Zhang Luo asked.

"When I was fortune-telling suddenly, I didn't just predict you." Ashiya Doman said with interest.

"Is there anything else?" Zhang Luo asked again.

"It's like the sky has split open, and something has come in from outside, and it looks hostile." Ashiya Doman scratched his messy hair and said with a bit of embarrassment.

Chapter 159 Eat Melon

Tsukumogami does not refer to a specific object, but is a general term for old and discarded objects in the home that have been abandoned for a long time and transformed into spirits.

"Yin Yang Miscellaneous Notes" states: "After a hundred years, objects can transform into spirits, deceiving people. People call them tsukusangjin (gods of mischief). Therefore, there's a custom in the world: every year before the beginning of spring, every household clears out old household items and discards them by the roadside. This is called sweeping away soot. This way, one can avoid the calamity of the tsukusangjin (gods of misfortune) that arrives within a year of a hundred years."

Japan claims to have eight million gods, and this mourning god can be considered one of the gods.