I Am a Heroic Spirit

Isn't this the Soul? I remember that he had to farm the Orochi every day, but his luck was too bad, so he often farmed the lowest level Soul. After Usudon Sadamitsu and Watanabe Tsuna said this, Zhang Luo understood. The daily Soul farming activities have been released, so when will the Qilin be released?

"This is not a big deal. Since Uncle Raikou can kill the Yamata-no-Orochi alone, then naturally I can do it too." Minamoto no Boya relaxed again, lying crookedly on the table, drinking and saying indifferently.

He believed that he was quite capable. Although he had less experience accumulated over the years than Minamoto no Raikou, his talent and hard work could make up for it.

"Indeed, the remaining soul of the Yamata no Orochi isn't a big deal. The biggest problem is actually the Yin energy, which is stronger than the Yang energy. Recently, many gentle monsters have been transformed into demons due to the increasingly strong Yin energy. Even some powerful monsters have begun to act recklessly. They are the ones we need to pay attention to now."

Usui Sadamitsu explained that generally speaking, big monsters have different identities and most of them have various involvements, so they will not act recklessly.

Moreover, they are arrogant and rarely attack ordinary humans. Nearly 100,000 civilians die at the hands of monsters in Japan every year, but only one-tenth of them die from the impact of battles between big monsters and the anger of offended big monsters. The rest are all killed by ordinary monsters.

After some small talk, everyone dispersed and returned to their respective accommodations bathed in the moonlight.

That evening, a guest came to Abe Haruaki's residence. He was a monk with shaved head and dressed in robes.

"My name is Xuande, and I'm a Buddhist statue sculptor at Huguo Temple." The monk introduced himself while sitting cross-legged on the tatami in the main room.

"Did you come here to talk about ghosts?" Zhang Luo asked bluntly. Ordinary people would not come to Abe Haruaki's place. After all, Abe Haruaki's mansion was well-known in Heian-kyō. It was known as a haunted house where monsters lived, and it successfully scared away many nobles and curious ordinary people.

"Yes, some strange things happened in Huguo Temple. I heard that Lord Abe Haruaki, a disciple of Lord Kamo Tadayuki, Lord Zhang Luo, an onmyoji from the Tang Dynasty, and Lady Bai Bikuni, who is proficient in divination, live here. So I came here hoping to get help." Xuande said respectfully.

"Please tell me, if ghosts are causing trouble, I will naturally have no choice but to help." Abe Haruaki said.

"Four years ago, I was commissioned to carve the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, who guard Mount Sumeru's four directions. The tree I used was an ancient cypress tree that was nearly two thousand years old. Because the thousand-year-old cypress needed to dry in the shade for two years after being cut, I only started work two years ago. It took over a year, and after I had completed the other three statues, when I was about to carve the Western Heavenly King, Guangmu, something strange happened. Each of the four Heavenly Kings was supposed to be stepping on an evil spirit, but the evil spirit statues that Guangmu was stepping on suddenly disappeared on the night the statue was about to be completed."

"It's gone?" Abe Haruaki asked curiously. "Could it be that a thief stole the demon statue? An ancient cypress tree that's nearly two thousand years old is a very valuable treasure."

"I originally thought so, but after examining the statues, I discovered that this was not the case. Because the statues are all carved from a single piece of wood, as for the King of Wide Eyes, the sole of his right foot is connected to the back of the evil ghost he stepped on, yet the ghost suddenly disappeared, and it didn't look like someone had chiseled it away with a chisel." Xuande's face was a little panicked, as if he was recalling something horrible.

Abe Haruaki's expression also turned serious. The ancient cypress, which was nearly two thousand years old, possessed the essence accumulated over the past two thousand years. If it turned into a ghost, it would not be so easy to deal with.

"But at noon the next day, I saw the evil spirit still standing at the feet of the Heavenly King Guangmu."

Xuande was very clear about this. He had confirmed it with his own eyes and hands. The evil ghost statue that appeared during the day was not an illusion, and the empty space under the feet of King Guangmu at night was not an illusion either.

"That night, the evil spirit disappeared again and has not returned until today. I really have no choice but to come to you for help. If the temple gets to know about this, I will lose my job as a Buddha statue sculptor." Xuande pleaded bitterly. He could do nothing but carve Buddha statues. If he lost this job, his future life would be difficult.

"This ancient cypress tree is nearly two thousand years old and has an extraordinary spirit. In addition, it is an evil ghost carefully carved by a highly skilled Buddhist sculptor. Moreover, the evil ghost was completed before the Heavenly King who is stepping on it. This is a very difficult task." Abe Haruaki murmured to himself.

If it were just a 2,000-year-old cypress, it wouldn't be a big deal; it would just take some effort. But with the effort invested by the highly skilled Buddha sculptor and the subtle taboos violated during the carving, the three factors combined make it a problem that can't be easily resolved.

"Please! Lord Qingming!"

Seeing Abe Haruaki looking embarrassed, Xuande knelt on the ground with his knees together, raised his head and chest, and placed his hands on his thighs, sitting upright; then he placed his hands in an inward-facing "Xie'' shape on the ground, leaned forward, and raised his upper body until his forehead hit the ground.

A perfect taxi ride.

"There's no need for that." Abe Haruaki said helplessly. Although he couldn't just refuse in this case, he had no intention of ignoring the matter.

"Because the evil ghost has disappeared, the responsibility may be my own." Xuande said shamefully while keeping his seat.

"Oh?" Abe Haruaki asked in confusion.

"Lord Qingming, do you know about the disrespect of the law?" Xuande stood up and asked.

"Hosunho is a method of prayer that is not dedicated to Buddha and Bodhisattva, but to various other gods. I heard that there are many types. Due to oral transmission and different master-disciple relationships from generation to generation, the methods vary greatly. I have learned about this before." Seeing the confusion on Abe Haruaki's face, Yaobikuni knew that he had forgotten this memory, so she explained it for Abe Haruaki.

"When we started carving the Buddha statue, no matter what kind of Buddha statue it was, the only thing we thought about in our minds was that Buddha statue. But when we were carving the King of Vimalakirti, I neglected this link, which led to this incident." Xuande said in a low voice.

"Does it also involve prayer?" Abe Haruaki's expression became more serious.

"Anyway, please take care of this matter!"

The monk Xuande left Abe no Haruaki's house after leaving behind the original address of the ancient cypress.

"Well, I seem to have heard about this matter." Yuan Boya, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"Hmm? What do you know?" Abe Haruaki asked Minamoto no Hiromasa.

"It's on that path Xuande mentioned. Lately, many people have encountered a boy there. The boy asks, 'Do you want to pass this way?' If you say yes, you'll be pinned to the ground until morning. If you say no, the boy will make way, but you'll be lost until morning," Minamoto no Hiroya gloated. "Several officials and nobles have also fallen victim to it. They wanted me to help eliminate the boy monster, but I refused."

"Why do you want to refuse?" Zhang Luo asked puzzledly.

"Because I have to leave for a while." Yuan Boya said.

】 -

Chapter 188 Sakura

"Seimei! Seimei! Come out here!"

Suddenly, a woman's roar was heard, her voice full of anger and resentment.

Zhang, Yaobikuni, and Kagura's eyes all fell on Abe Haruaki at the same time.

"From the sound of her voice, she must be a beauty, Qingming. You wouldn't abandon her and end up looking for her at your door." Zhang Luo said jokingly.

"How is this possible? Why would I do such a thing? Maybe someone else is here to ask for help." Abe Haruaki coughed twice, then stood up with a wry smile.

"Is this the tone you would use when asking for help?" Yaobikuni looked at Abe Haruaki with suspicion.

"There must be some misunderstanding. Let's go out and take a look and we'll know." Kagura spoke up to help Abe Haruaki.

As he was speaking, Abe Haruaki walked out the door first, and Zhang Luo, Yaobikuni, Kagura, and Xiaobai quickly followed him out.

As soon as he walked out of the room, Zhang Luo saw a beautiful woman in red rushing towards Abe Haruaki with a face full of anger. Cherry blossoms surrounded the woman in red and turned into darts that flew towards Abe Haruaki as the woman in red moved.

"Yuan Zhu is really true! Hurry up and obey the command!"

Abe Haruaki quickly chanted a spell, and a barrier was erected in front of Abe Haruaki. The cherry blossoms collided with the barrier with a tinkling sound, splashing layer upon layer of ripples, but they could not break through Abe Haruaki's defense.

When Abe Haruaki was fighting with the woman in red, Abe Haruaki's Shikigami stood leisurely on the side, looking like they were enjoying the show. It seemed that they had made the same guess as Zhang Luo from the attitude of the woman in red.

Zhang Luo and eight hundred nuns and others stood at the door of the room, with no intention of intervening.

"Please calm down, Mr. Ji, I don't seem to know you."

While resisting the crazy attack of the woman in red, Abe Haruaki loudly persuaded.

This kind of deep hatred and resentment was like he had really abandoned her after having an affair with her. Bah! No, it was like he had a grudge against her, but he didn't even know her.

Abe Haruaki wondered in his heart.

"Seimei! Kill you! Kill you!"

The woman in red seemed to have gone mad and completely ignored Abe Haruaki's words. Pink cherry blossom petals flew all over the sky and fell on Abe Haruaki's barrier like red snow, leaving 490 traces one after another.

The crazy attack of the woman in red made Abe Haruaki's barrier more and more fragile. Abe Haruaki had no choice but to take action, otherwise, he would be in trouble when the barrier was broken.

At this time, Abe Haruaki no longer expected the people who were watching the show to help him out.

"Spiritual restraint, prohibition! Hurry and obey the command!"

A talisman turned into a stream of light and passed through the red-clothed woman's attack, hitting her heart. The red-clothed woman paused and was about to use her demonic power to attack, but was sealed. The demonic power backfired on the red-clothed woman, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, then fell to the ground.

"Haha, you are so cruel to destroy the flowers, Qingming." Qingxuande sat on the branch of the double cherry blossoms and laughed playfully, and the paper and pen in his hand had already started moving.

Abe Haruaki looked at Aoandon helplessly, knowing that Aoandon had started to make up his own story again.

"Wuwuwu... Lord Zhongyi... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." The woman in red lowered her head, tears dripping onto the ground. She sobbed intermittently, her words filled with sorrow, "If I hadn't appeared in front of you... you would... definitely still be... happy now..."

Before she could finish her words, the woman in red fainted due to the backlash of her demonic power and her intense grief.

"It seems that she has lost consciousness." Eight Hundred Bhikkhunis walked forward, squatted down to check the condition of the woman in red, and then said to everyone.

"What's going on? They want to kill Lord Qingming as soon as they come in..." Xiaobai said indignantly.

"I don't remember what she said at all...but judging from the power she showed just now, she should be a monster transformed from cherry blossoms." Abe Haruaki frowned and said calmly.

"Speaking of cherry blossoms..." Zhang Luo looked at the double cherry blossoms in the middle of the yard.

Following Zhang Luo's gaze, everyone's eyes also turned to Yaezakura.

"Oh! The cherry blossoms growing in the Onmyoji's home turned into a monster and fell in love with the Onmyoji, but the Onmyoji's master opposed it, so the Onmyoji's memory was sealed. The cherry blossom monster was also deceived and hurt by the Onmyoji's master. The cherry blossom monster misunderstood the Onmyoji and thought that the Onmyoji had betrayed it, so it came back to seek revenge on the Onmyoji."

Qingxuande showed an excited smile on his face, and his fingers started moving, listing the outline and character settings on the paper.

Although Aoandon could see that Yaezakura had not developed any intelligence, so what?

"Stop messing around, Aoandon, Yaezakura can't turn into a monster." Abe Haruaki said with a frown.

"Maybe it's the cherry blossom monster outside," Zhang Luo said deliberately in coordination with the Qingxuandeng, "I remember there's a cherry blossom forest not far away. The last time I went there, there were many people admiring the cherry blossoms there. Like the nearby peach blossom forest, it's also a famous scenic spot."

"Stop joking, this can't be the case," Abe Haruaki was not sure now, but subconsciously wanted to deny what Zhang Luo and Qingxuande said.

"No! The name that the Sakura monster called out was clearly Zhongyi, and when he called Qingming's name, he showed resentment." Kagura stood in front of Abe Haruaki and glared at Zhang Luo and Qingxuande with dissatisfaction.

"That's right, the lover of that Sakura monster should be the loyalty she mentioned!" Although Abe Haruaki was distracted by Zhang Luo and Qingxuande's antics, he reacted after Kagura said this.

"Maybe Zhongyi was your previous name." Although he knew it was impossible, Qingxuande still insisted, without stopping his hands for a moment.

But Abe Haruaki ignored Aoandon's words and began to think carefully.

"According to the Sakura Monster, it seems that I hurt her lover Tadayoshi, so she came to me for revenge. But I haven't seen the Sakura Monster recently, nor have I had any contact with anyone named Tadayoshi." Abe Haruaki slapped his palms with the bat fan, his heart full of doubts.

"Didn't Zhang Luo say there was a cherry blossom forest nearby? This cherry blossom monster should have come from there. Maybe if we go there and take a look, we can find out why Qingming is suspected." Kagura thought about it and put forward a suggestion.

"Being suspected...? Is that really the case?" Ibaraki Douji swaggered in from outside the yard with a malicious smile on his face.

"What do you mean, Lord Ibaraki Douji?" Xiaobai looked at Ibaraki Douji and asked angrily.

"Just like Qingxuande said, didn't Qingming lose his previous memories?"

As Ibaraki Douji spoke, he glared at Xiaobai fiercely, which scared Xiaobai so much that his fur stood on end and his body curled up into a ball.

"In that case, it's possible that you did this before."

"..." Abe Haruaki fell silent, his expression becoming complicated. He had guessed what Ibaraki Douji said before, but he didn't think he would have done such a thing before he lost his memory.

"Ibaraki Douji, don't say anything more." Kagura frowned and said to Ibaraki Douji.

Ibaraki Douji sneered disdainfully and ran over to sit next to Yae Sakura without any concern.

"I can't deny you... But speaking of it, we can't just leave her here like this."

Abe Haruaki's face grew increasingly heavy. After a while of reflection, he realized that it was indeed as Ibaraki Douji had said. After all, monsters never looked at a person's appearance, but only at the aura of the soul. While appearance could be changed, aura could not.

"If you want to go to the cherry blossom forest to investigate, please leave this place to me," Yaobikuni said. "She looks a little mentally unstable. Someone needs to take care of her."

“…Sorry, I’ll leave it to you, Yaobikuni.” Abe Haruaki nodded to Yaobikuni.

"I want to go too, to prove Haruaki's innocence." Kagura glared at Ibaraki Douji again, then said to Abe Haruaki.

"Then, Yaobikuni will stay in the courtyard to take care of the cherry blossom demon, Qingming, Kagura and Xiaobai will go to the cherry blossom forest to investigate the situation, and I will go to investigate the situation of the evil ghost." Zhang Luo said.

"Okay, I'll leave the evil spirit to you. Kagura, Xiaobai, let's go."

Abe Haruaki nodded, agreeing to Zhang Luo's arrangement, and then left the courtyard with Kagura and Xiaobai.

After Abe Haruaki and the others left, Zhang Luo said goodbye to Yaobikuni, called Ibaraki Douji, and walked out of the courtyard.

Thick and fine water vapor filled the atmosphere. Listening to the gurgling sound of the Kamo River on the left, Zhang Luo walked alone on the wet grass. Ibaraki Douji entered the spiritual form. After all, he was a Berserker, and the magic power consumption was too high. It was okay when he didn't have to fight, but he might encounter a battle soon, so it was better to save some magic power.

I was about to leave the sound of running water behind me and climb up towards Kamigamo Shrine.

Kamigamo Shrine, although its name is very similar to Kamo Tadayuki's, actually has no connection with Kamo Tadayuki.

Kamigamo Shrine, officially known as Kamogareijinja Shrine, enshrines the god Bezurei. As a natural deity, no deity statue is enshrined within the shrine. The ancient, over a thousand-year-old cypress used to carve the demons and the Four Heavenly Kings is located on a hill not far from Kamigamo Shrine.

The fog rose, and like some kind of omen, it suddenly appeared in the field.

Zhang Luo walked in the fog with a torch in his hand to light the way.

The fog only covered the surface of the ground, the sky seemed to be clear, and looking up, you could see the hazy, dim moonlight.

Zhang Luo was walking in this strange moonlight. If he had not sensed the presence of the Yin and demonic energy, he would have thought that a crack in the underworld had appeared, or that there was some demon watching from the side.

The road unknowingly turned away from the Kamo River and began to climb towards Kamigamo Shrine. Gradually, the path entered the mixed forest where the cypress tree, said to be over a thousand years old, was located.

Zhang Luo stopped and looked into the distance. About a hundred meters away, there was a low hill. On top of the hill, roughly near the top, there was a large cypress stump. It should be the thousand-year-old cypress tree that was cut down.

A faint white object could be seen squatting on a cypress stump. The trees were sparsely populated nearby, and the blue moonlight streamed down from the sky.

With Zhang Luo's eyesight, with the help of the moonlight, he could see a child squatting there, his whole body as if drenched by the watery moonlight.

Looking closely, it was a naked boy. He wasn't completely naked, though; he had a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist. But other than that, he was completely naked. His snow-white bare feet were visible.

He was about nine or ten years old, with a boyish hairstyle. Even at night, you could see the corners of his mouth were red, slightly smiling. In the moonlight of this dark night, it looked particularly eerie.

"Izuki, is that the evil ghost?" Zhang Luo couldn't help but lower his voice and asked.

"Indeed, it seems that he is very powerful. Should we say that it is worthy of the Heian period? He can encounter such powerful monsters just by walking around. With my status as a servant, I am afraid that I can't dominate this era." Ibaraki Douji's voice sounded in Zhang Luo's ears.

Monster-type heroic spirits are different from

】 -

Chapter 189: King Makura