Miss Heber is fighting her way out of the Lostbelt!

The loud sound of bells reached the foot of the mountain, the roaring artillery fire was about to die down, and the special forces members who were about to run past Sakata Kintoki slowed down for no reason.

Sakata Kintoki, who had been completely beaten to pieces by the artillery fire, laughed.

His left hand had exposed red bones, and his right arm was strangely twisted. His heroic face was covered in blood and shrapnel, with only his two ghost horns sticking out from his messy hair intact, looking ugly and terrifying.

The Ghost King suddenly raised his bony left hand and held it straight in front of his chest.

"For this reason, the righteousness is revealed and the evil is destroyed."

Sakata Kintoki placed the axe in his hand at his side, and his disfigured face revealed a solemn aura.

He is closely associated with the Wrathful-eyed Vajra King in the Buddhist temple.

The moment he slammed his axe into the ground, the soldiers who were about to pass him suddenly slowed down. There was no physical object hindering their progress, but it was as if a mountain was pressing down on their backs, and every inch of movement required a lot of strength.

The Ghost King didn't move at all, as if he ignored them.

The bruised body stood in the middle of the mountain road like a pagoda, but the invisible pressure fell on the special forces team, forcing them to crawl.

Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes were almost bulging out - he couldn't imagine that there was a creature that could rely on its own body and will to withstand the bombardment of dozens of autonomous cannons, and after enduring so much damage, it was still able to perform the magical methods of Buddhism.

He knew it was a secret technique called "Niohritsu." It required the practitioner to maintain a standing position, forming hand seals, and creating a sphere centered on themselves. Anyone who entered would be subjected to a terrifying pressure. This pressure came not only from their bodies, but also from the depths of their hearts.

The practitioner needs to bite the tip of his tongue and use the blood in the tongue as the key to activate the method.

"Amazing, so powerful." Takasugi Shinsaku's hands trembled as he loaded bullets into his pistol one by one. "I'd call you truly invincible... Even though you were seriously injured, you were able to completely hold my troops here—and yet you still lost!"

He pointed his pistol at the Ghost King's chest. "You've turned yourself into a target! What I'm about to fire are the nickel-iron bullets used by the United States Federation to hunt non-human species! How many more bullets can you take?!"

Takasugi Shinsaku spoke sternly, he was a little excited and a little uneasy.

The Demon King's expression remained contemptuous. Takasugi Shinsaku had previously ignored it, but things were different now. Even the calmest commander would feel self-doubt after such a heavy sacrifice.

Fortunately, this nightmare is about to end!

"Goodbye, Yugayama Demon King—"

Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes suddenly hurt, and the strong smell of blood blurred his vision, making him howl in unbearable pain.

It was the Demon King! He spat the blood in his mouth into Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes!

Realizing this, Takasugi Shinsaku fired repeatedly, but the Demon King, who had taken the initiative to cancel "Niohritsu", dodged the bullets with a sudden movement.

Sakata Kintoki stretched out his big hand and grabbed Takasugi Shinsaku's head.

"Now recite your haiku." The Ghost King's voice was low.

"..."

Takasugi Shinsaku said nothing. He slipped a sword from his sleeve and stabbed it into the wound on the Ghost King's chest.

The Ghost King pulled hard with his palm.

He pulled out Takasugi Shinsaku's head along with the spine.

The Ghost King held the human head hammer in his left hand and grabbed the axe that fell on the ground with his right hand, and smashed and chopped at the special forces members on the ground.

After a few breaths, he finished the work.

The Ghost King once again slammed the axe in his hand to the ground to support his body which was riddled with holes.

Another figure appeared at the end of the mountain path.

She has a pair of fox ears and several tails wagging behind her.

The Ghost King grinned, then remembered his miserable appearance at the moment and quickly wiped it with his hand.

When Heber officially walked into this tragic battlefield, the Ghost King, standing among the corpses, showed a relieved expression.

Eastern Volume: 114 Gains

Sakata Kintoki had thought about his meeting with Tamamonomae many times.

When he was very young, he had doubts about his appearance: Why did the people around him have black hair and black eyes, but he had long golden hair and two pointed horns?

When he grew up, his adoptive father told him his whole life story.

Sakata Kintoki then realized that he was actually the youngest son of the Northern Akuro King, Ōtakemaru. After the Akuro King's death, he was rescued by the Demon King Shuten-douji. However, not long after, Shuten-douji was defeated by the general's sword, and Mount Oe was ravaged by thunder and turned into ruins.

From this perspective, the general should indeed be his sworn enemy.

But Sakata Kintoki did not have any hatred towards the general - he had never even seen the general, so how could he hate him?

The vengeance of the ghost clan was far away from him.

Apart from his unusual appearance, Sakata Kintoki didn't think he was any different from a human, until a few wandering hungry ghosts arrived outside the village, seeking the sweet flesh of living people to satisfy their failing hearts.

——Even though Mount Oe was destroyed, not all the demons were eliminated immediately.

After killing the two hungry ghosts, Jintoki realized that the difference between himself and ghosts might be greater than the difference between himself and humans.

He... sincerely felt disgust and hatred for the demon bloodline.

Let the demon bloodline end once and for all with me. That’s what the young Kintoki thought at the time.

He abandoned his sense of belonging to the demon bloodline, and no longer considered himself the son of Otakemaru or the successor of Shuten-doji, but what followed was the loneliness brought about by his strength.

He once again found his adoptive father, who was already seriously ill. This time, his adoptive father finally told him everything.

——The one who brought Kintoki out of the ruins of Mount Oe in the past was Tamamonomae, who was revered by the world as the Nine-Tailed Fox Daigongen and Inari Daimyojin.

The amulet hanging around his neck was also a gift from Tamamonomae.

If Sakata Kintoki's life in the previous decades was like groping in the dark, then when he learned of Tamamonomae's existence, his world finally had light - even if this light was only as bright as a lamp in the darkness, it was enough to point him in the right direction.

At that time, Sakata Kintoki had a very distant admiration for Tamamonomae.

As he grew up, he dug out more memories from his blood. Kintoki began to realize that his view of Tamamonomae was perhaps too one-sided, and that the fox demon was not a perfect image suitable for being an idol.

But by then, Jintoki no longer needed an idol - he was no longer at the age where he needed role models to inspire him.

Later, Kintoki discovered that the amulet on his chest contained the power to kill him as a child.

For a while, Jintoki felt very lost.

This is a very long process, just like a river clam producing pearls.

What really helped him complete the transformation was the wandering Zen Master Saga who told him many stories about Tamamonomae himself.

During this process, Jintoki figured it out: just as he himself hated those hungry ghosts, wouldn't Tamamonomae be more wary of the descendants of demons?

If he were to degenerate into a hungry ghost like that, it would be better for him to die.

No, perhaps by then, a quick and clean death would be a luxury.

Later, the amulet gradually faded - in fact, it no longer had the power to erase it, but Kintoki still wore it out of habit.

Ghosts are a chaotic race, but Sakata Kintoki spent five hundred years putting himself in shackles.

He lived within the rules he set for himself, yet gained true freedom.

In the end, Sakata Kintoki no longer cared about his identity as a "ghost".

Whether he was called the Demon King, Kintaro, or just his name, he gladly accepted it.

——That’s all me.

The sun rises and the moon sets, the clouds roll in and out, and the flowers in the mountains bloom and fade.

The faded amulet still hung quietly on his chest. In the eyes of the world, the Demon King of Mt. Yugayama was a true hero.

Who would have thought that in the Heian period, demons were still synonymous with violence, fear and destruction?

A thousand years later, Sakata Kintoki looked back.

He still wanted to meet Tamamonomae.

It is just that we no longer regard it as sacred, but as an old friend, whom we have never met but with whom we have been friends for a long time.

......

Heber frowned slightly as he looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground.

She and Takasugi Shinsaku entered the border almost at the same time, but by the time she arrived, the situation here had almost settled.

It seems that Mount Yujia is also a border with a "special time velocity difference." In the Aurora cultural circle, this type of border is often referred to as "Lan Ke".

According to legend, a woodcutter from Zhendan went into the mountains to chop wood and saw two boys playing chess under a pine tree. After watching the game for a while, he found that the axe handle had rotted. When he returned home, a hundred years had passed.

In contrast, Cape Asuka, which is also located on the border, does not have this special rule.

The fox demon stared at the Ghost King across the mess on the ground.

Heber's gaze fell on the faded amulet, and there was a hint of shock in his eyes.

It turns out that the orphan of the ghost clan was actually Sakata Kintoki.

The Ghost King, who was covered in wounds, also looked at Heber carefully, and a smile gradually appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Ha, haha, hahahaha..."

His laughter grew louder and louder, and more and more cheerful.

There was clearly no other movement, but it was as if the last layer of shackles on his body had been taken off.

Sakata Kintoki had many questions when he was young, but those questions were answered over the years.

"Let's go!" The Ghost King leaned on his axe with both hands and looked over Heber's head. "I can see that you are also confused. The answer is at the top of the mountain."

He had a smile on his lips and closed his eyes slightly, as if he was taking a nap after being too tired.

Hebe passed him in silence.

She saw clearly that Sakata Kintoki's life was coming to an end.

——As the last pure-blooded demon in the world, every time Mount Ogi connects with reality, it will accelerate the death of Sakata Kintoki.

In other words, even without this thrilling battle, Sakata Kintoki would not have survived more than a few months.

This is not a disease that can be cured by any medical technique.

What's more, Heber could read the Ghost King's subtext from his expression.

——The Ghost King doesn’t want Hebe to treat him.

Heber chose to respect Sakata Kintoki.

She was even shocked from the bottom of her heart.

"Saga left me crucial hints over the past millennia. Sakata Kintoki transcended the shackles of demon blood and became a truly free man. The raccoon clan, with whom I made a contract, is deliberately trying to put an end to it..."

Hebe climbed the path covered with blooming mountain flowers.

She realized that time can change many things, and the future she had planned in the past might not be accepted by everyone.

They are not chess pieces in his hands, but real living people.

While Heber was thinking silently, Ryunosuke's figure appeared before his eyes.

The old man was so tired that he was out of breath, but he still climbed up stubbornly.

When he saw Hebe, he was horrified and asked about the Ghost King's situation immediately.

Heber was silent for a moment and then told the truth.

Ryunosuke was not surprised to hear this. He hesitated for a while, but still walked up.

"Aren't you going to see Jinshi?" Heber asked him calmly.

"The Ghost King doesn't like that," Ryunosuke replied, tears already streaming down his wrinkled face. "Given his personality, he'd definitely say, 'Hey, old man, why are you crying? I hate that sad face. Smile for me now!'"

As Ryunosuke walked up, he pulled the corners of his mouth, trying to smile.

But the more he did this, the more his tears couldn't stop flowing.

He remembered that the Ghost King had proudly boasted about his strength: I can bear everything that belongs to you!

Now the Demon King has really fulfilled his promise, but Ryunosuke wishes he was just bragging.

The old man finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

Heber silently left the old man behind her. She saw the Buddhist temple shaded by the cherry trees, saw Li Xi standing blankly at the door, saw the majestic golden statue standing there, and the rice plant on the altar.

The rice plant was placed on a soft silk cloth, as if someone had just picked it.

It is as bright and shining as if made of gold.