From Earthbound Spirit to Tokyo Evil

Although I know that Kamio Hitomi is a fan of monster culture, isn't this a bit too exaggerated?

Xia Chuan held the hilt of the knife with his right hand and began to move quickly while thinking about what to do.

Before, he thought these guys were just bandits and bullies, but now it seems that their purpose is very clear, which is to kill him.

why?

Could it be the subconscious of Kamio Hitomi that the demon fox mentioned before, which would drive away intruders?

The dog demon roared and pounced on him. Xia Chuan cut it into two pieces with one sword, and then sheathed the sword again.

At the same time, he has transformed into "Inspector Takashi Kinoshita".

Although I don't know if this will have any effect, this face should at least be able to gain Kamio Hitomi's subconscious trust more than Kamiya Hiroshi's face, right?

The monsters' offensive suddenly slowed down. It was unclear whether it was because he killed the dog monster so easily or because the face-changing technique really worked.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that there was someone not far behind him. After drawing his sword again and killing an evil ghost that was too close to him, he quickly distanced himself from these guys and began to look at this group of people.

A few people rode horses, most walked, and there was a gorgeously decorated sedan in the middle of the team. The samurai who rode in the front looked very heroic, wearing a gorgeous suit with the three-leaf sunflower family crest, and two samurai swords, one long and one short, on his waist. Behind him, in addition to several samurai wearing the same three-leaf sunflower samurai suits, there were three samurai wearing white feathers, white clothes and white pants, which looked very eye-catching.

The monsters began to hesitate, and Xiachuan heard one of the warriors in white muttering something like "what a trouble" in a low voice. The leading warrior jumped off his horse lightly and drew his sword. There was a clear sound of swords, and all the warriors drew their swords.

"My hero, how about we work together to kill these demons?"

"Okay!" Xia Chuan agreed straightforwardly.

This group of people was exactly Kamio Hitomi's group that he and the fox demon were planning to approach earlier. The leading samurai was probably Fujita Koshiro Toshimasa, a samurai from the Mito domain who had some kind of connection with the fox demon. As for Kamio Hitomi, she was probably in that sedan chair.

Although I don’t know what happened to the fox demon, the most reasonable thing to do in the current situation is of course to take this opportunity to join the team.

However, was it that Kamio Hitomi's cognition was biased, or was the world like that at that time, that these samurai showed no surprise or fear at all towards the monsters?

A warrior in white suddenly roared, and suddenly a winged shadow in the sky merged into his body. Then, a faint white aura appeared on his body and sword.

The same thing soon happened to other warriors, and Xiachuan took the opportunity to see clearly the identities of the shadows that merged into their bodies from the air.

Tengu!

"Go!" Someone shouted, and the next moment, except for a few warriors who stayed in place to guard the sedan chair and ordinary people in the team, most of the warriors roared and rushed towards the group of monsters, brandishing their swords to fight with them.

Someone who looked like a priest in the team began to chant some scriptures, and the white aura on the warriors became clearer and clearer.

Xiachuan saw the leading warrior moving among the monsters with light steps, dodging their attacks from time to time and quickly swinging his sword to inflict wounds on them. Most of the warriors did not have such superb sword skills as him, but they relied on courage and strength to fight these monsters.

Soon three or four monsters were besieged and killed, but two warriors were seriously injured. They were dragged away from the battlefield and treated by the priests.

A warrior in white roared and chopped off the head of the killed monster with his sword. He didn't care that his white clothes were splattered with blood. Instead, he excitedly lifted the monster's head and laughed.

These guys... Xia Chuan stopped standing by and rushed towards the nearest monster. He nimbly dodged the huge wooden stake in its hand, jumped up on its knees, and cut off its neck with a single blow.

"Good swordsmanship!" The samurai who was suspected to be Fujita Koshiro praised loudly, and at the same time avoided the attack of the bull-headed monster in front of him, swung his sword to cut a long wound on its belly. The next moment, he did a one-handed handstand and flipped over, deftly avoiding the big knife of the pig monster behind him, and chopped off one of its eyes with one knife, causing it to roar wildly.

Although I don't know what to do next, if I want to gain the attention of Kamio Hitomi and not be ignored as a worthless passerby, I must show strong enough strength.

With this in mind, Xia Chuan began to actively attack the monsters.

Naturally, he had no problem dealing with monsters of this level, and he killed two of them in an instant. His outstanding performance in turn aroused the ferocity of the samurai of Mito Domain. They rushed forward regardless of death and injuries, and frantically launched a siege on the remaining monsters.

One samurai was hit in the sternum and died on the spot, and three others were seriously injured, such as broken limbs. However, the samurai showed no sadness at all, and even the injured were loudly boasting about their achievements. The priest and the child who looked like an assistant were busy treating their injuries, and the civilians in the team began to search the monsters for valuable items, and the people in the sedan chair finally came out and stood beside the sedan chair to look towards the battlefield.

"I am the son of Fujita Toko, Fujita Koshiro Toshimasa of Mito Domain. I wonder if you are..."

However, Natsukawa didn't know who Fujita Touko was. Just as he was thinking about what identity he should use to infiltrate this team, the pig demon that had been chopped to the ground by the warriors suddenly crawled up again. Its sharp fangs directly cut open the belly of the warrior who came to chop off its head. It glanced around the crowd and was finally attracted by the bright figure next to the sedan chair.

"Let's die together!" With a roar, it got on all fours and rushed towards the sedan chair madly, knocking away the warriors who tried to stop it. The warriors were too late to rescue them. The woman who had just got off the sedan chair screamed, and seemed to have been frightened to the point of losing the ability to move.

If it was a fox demon, it should be able to dodge this attack easily, but Xia Chuan couldn't confirm who got out of the sedan chair at this time.

Amid people's exclamations, he chased after the pig monster at an extremely fast speed, jumped onto its back, stabbed its neck with a knife, and nailed its huge body to the ground.

The pig demon's huge body suddenly stopped and rolled in the air, but was pressed down by Xia Chuan again.

The smoke and dust cleared, and a beautiful figure appeared in front of Xia Chuan. The woman's face was painted snow-white, but she was not as weird and ugly as Xia Chuan had imagined. Instead, she had an indescribable beauty.

"I am Kiritsuki, and I would like to thank you, Sir, for saving my life." After a moment, the frightened woman suddenly bowed to him. "May I ask your name, Sir?"

Kiritsuki? Is she Kamio Hitomi's previous life?

Xia Chuan hesitated for a moment, pulled the knife out of the pig demon's body, wiped the blood on its collar, and sheathed the knife: "My name is Kinoshita Takashi, but a wandering warrior!"

Chapter 234 Edo

When saying this name, Xiachuan kept staring at Kiritsuki's face, which made the servants around him couldn't help but scold him for being "rude", but the woman just covered her face with her sleeves and smiled slightly: "So it's Master Kinoshita, thank you for saving my life."

Natsukawa chose this face and this name because if it was Kamio Hitomi, she would probably feel good about this identity, but he couldn't sense anything special about the woman in front of him.

Is she really the previous life of the fox demon?

This made Xiachuan a little hesitant. There were several maids around the woman, but they all looked young. The oldest one looked only eleven or twelve years old. Could Kamio Hitomi be one of them?

At this time, Fujita Koshiro had already rushed over: "Miss Kiritsuki, I'm so sorry, I didn't protect you well enough and frightened you."

"No way." Wu Yue laughed, and her charming smile obviously touched the hearts of all the men around her. "If Lord Li Zhen hadn't insisted on sending me back, we would have been the ones to encounter these monsters here. In that case, I would have passed away long ago. Lord Li Zhen, it was your kindness that saved my life!"

As she spoke, she bowed to Fujita Koshiro, who wanted to reach out to help her, but finally stopped because Natsukawa was beside her.

"With so many demons appearing so close to Edo, what is the purpose of the Demon Guards? After I send Miss Kiritsuki back, I will report this matter to Lords Keito and Keiki and ask them to reprimand these incompetent people in the shogunate!"

"Lord Li Zhen is indeed a pillar of the country. It is my honor to have the opportunity to meet you!"

If it weren't for the outsider Natsukawa being around, Fujita Koshiro might have been even more elated. It was at this time that Natsukawa confirmed that the woman in front of him must be the fox demon herself.

Because no matter how calm a woman is, no matter how dedicated an oiran is, it is impossible for her to act so calmly after just experiencing a life-and-death crisis.

Although no demonic aura could be detected from her, it was not surprising that Kamio Hitomi had the ability to conceal her own aura.

The question now is, is the one in front of him the real fox, or is it Kamio Hitomi who has unknowingly assumed the role of a fox due to the power of the seal? Or is it neither of them?

"Mr. Kinoshita, may I ask you..." At this time, Koshiro Fujita finally remembered the self-introduction that was interrupted by the pig demon.

The other party was not surprised at hearing his father's name, nor did he immediately bow down to him like the ronin he had met in Kyoto before. This made him begin to doubt the other party's identity.

Although most of the ronin were dissatisfied with reality and eager to change and save the country, and therefore resolutely chose to leave the domain and become Sonjo, there were also some despicable people among them who tried to climb the ladder by establishing connections with the bigwigs of the shogunate in order to rise to prominence.

Just like Serizawa Kamo, who had recently left the Tengu Party and went to Kyoto, has now joined the Kyoto guardian Matsudaira Yoshinobu and formed the so-called "Mibu Ronin Team" with the Tennen Rishin-ryu, openly opposing the Sonjō patriots. And Hayami Matashiro, who was appreciated by the shogunate for participating in the killing of Sonjō patriot Kiyokawa Hachiro, is even more of a scum among scum.

This guy in front of him doesn't care about his father, but he has such high swordsmanship. If he is a pro-shogunate member, then it is definitely not good news for the patriots who are planning to expel the foreigners in Edo at this moment.

Xia Chuan didn't know that he had caused the other party to act out so much inner drama simply because of his lack of understanding of this era.

If the demon fox was still by his side, it would be no problem to deal with these things, but Xia Chuan knew very well that he would only make more mistakes if he talked too much. There was no chance for him to stay with Kamio Hitomi at the moment, but fortunately, they had known each other because of saving each other and left each other's names, so he just had to find another opportunity to get close to her.

Moreover, maintaining mystery should also be one of the ways to attract attention.

So, while he was examining the team to see if there was anything out of place or something that shouldn't be there, he said, "I have something important to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

Then, without waiting for Fujita Koshiro to say anything to recruit him, he casually bowed to them and strode away from the team.

"What a rude man!" A Tengu member in white said angrily. "He is hiding his true identity, is there something he cannot reveal?"

"It's not surprising that there are such people in this big world." Fujita Koshiro wanted to maintain his composure in front of his beloved, so he laughed and said, "With his skills, it's impossible for him to remain unknown forever. I don't have the chance to meet him today, but I will meet him one day in the future! Pack up and let's go!"

What they didn't know was that after Xia Chuan walked out of their sight, he disappeared into the mountains and forests, and followed them quietly via crows and other birds that had been implanted with soul jade.

Before entering the city, Fujita Koshiro had already sent people to deliver the heads of the decapitated monsters to the authorities to report his achievement and receive the reward, while he himself accompanied Kiritsuki and his party all the way to Yoshiwara. When he saw Kiritsuki's sedan chair being carried into the teahouse, he turned back in a daze.

"Go check out the guy who calls himself Kinoshita Takaya!"

"Yes!"

#####

At this time, Xiachuan had already used the escape technique to enter Edo Castle and was strolling around with interest. Although he was just a ronin, the clothes on his body and the samurai sword on his waist distinguished him from ordinary people, and no one dared to provoke him for no reason.

It must be said that the dressing up that the fox demon guided him to complete before she suddenly disappeared did solve a lot of problems for him. If she were still around, things would have been much easier.

This city certainly cannot be compared with the future Tokyo, but as an "ancient" city in Natsukawa's eyes, it is already very large. There are very dense residential and commercial areas around the port and the river, and commercial activities seem to be very developed.

What surprised him was that there were monsters with human bodies and animal heads, wearing samurai clothes and carrying samurai swords on their waists walking around the streets unscrupulously, and the civilians around them, although they had a stronger fear of them than when facing ordinary samurai, did not seem surprised.

Although I know it's just a dream, the scene is indeed too weird.

Xia Chuan naturally had no money, but this was not a problem for him. Soon, he stole a purse from a passing merchant, solved his food and lodging problems, and also used it to inquire about some things.

"Who are those guys?"

The vendor who took his money smiled cautiously, fearing that he would be chopped off with a sword if he angered him: "Sir, those are the subordinates of the town magistrate Ishida-sama. I heard that they are the hatamoto samurai of the Echizen domain Matsudaira Keiei-sama."

"Hatamoto samurai?" Xiachuan shook his head. This world was becoming more and more weird.

Chapter 235 Taking by force

With money paving the way and the intimidation of his identity as a ronin, Xiachuan soon learned a lot about what was happening in Edo.

Not only are there many samurai with monster identities in the civilian areas known as "Shitamachi", but there are even more monster samurai in the residential areas of daimyo and hatamoto known as "Yamanotera". Among them, the vast majority are pro-shogunate faction who support the shogunate. In contrast, most of the ronin with human identities are so-called sonnōjō faction.

The shogunate included the so-called Gosanke, Gosanke, and the Echizen Matsudaira family and Aizu Matsudaira family, who were members of the same clan, as well as the famous hereditary vassal clans such as the Maeda clan of Kaga Domain, the Ii clan of Hikone Domain, the Kamhara clan of Tatebayashi Domain, and the Honda clan of Okazaki Domain. The Maeda clan was a dog demon, the Ii clan was a red demon, the Kamhara clan was a water tiger, and the Honda clan was a deer demon. Their ancestors were all meritorious officials who followed Tokugawa Ieyasu to conquer the world, and therefore they also obtained great power that was passed down from generation to generation.

Most of Japan's ports, mines, commercial towns and other wealthy places were under the control of the shogunate and the pro-shogunate forces, who were arrogant and extravagant. In contrast, most daimyo were enfeoffed in remote and poor places, under the surveillance of the pro-shogunate faction, and were increasingly impoverished under the shogunate's closed-door system and the sankinkoku system.

Therefore, taking the arrival of the black ships as an opportunity and using "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians" as an excuse, the princes and samurai from all over the country began to stir, intending to change the pattern of Japan and redivide interests and spheres of influence.

So, something very strange happened. The pro-shogunate faction, which was originally conservative and dominated by monsters, was forced to open the country, while the sonnōjō faction, which was dominated by humans and should have been striving for innovation, advocated isolation. The Mito Tokugawa family, one of the three great families, was excluded from the power center of the shogunate for many years, which gave rise to the so-called Mito-gaku, becoming the birthplace of the sonnōjō faction. The ronin of the Mito domain even assassinated the bigwigs of the shogunate one after another. Not only did they successfully create the "Sakuradamon Incident" a few years ago, successfully beheading the lord of the Hikone domain and the bigwig of the shogunate, Ii Naosuke, but they also tried to assassinate the shogunate elder Andō Nobumasa again a year ago and almost succeeded.

However, at present, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was born in Mito Domain, has been promoted to the position of Shogun, and he and the president of the government, Matsudaira Keinaga, jointly preside over the affairs of the shogunate. The radical behavior of the Mito Domain Ronin are not investigated, and the lord of Mito Domain, Tokugawa Yoshimasa, is indecisive and favors the members of the Tengu Party. It is no wonder that Fujita Koshiro and others speak wildly and act arrogantly in front of the oiran Kiritsuki.

These things have nothing to do with Xia Chuan, a passer-by. Anyway, they are all historical events that have already happened and are destined to be unchangeable. He knows these things just to get closer to the oiran Kiritsuki, who is suspected to be the previous life of Kamio Hitomi, to find out the seal hidden around her and break it, so as to escape from this illusion in time.

However, he was intrigued by the source of power for these monsters and the human warrior class that could fight against them.

In the era he lived in, monsters had been wiped out, and the Onimusha with extraordinary powers had also disappeared. Temples and shrines had all been repeatedly cleansed by the Watchers and Akasaka, turning into purely deceptive places, but in this fantasy world, these powers were real.

The psychic Vera predicted that he would be able to gain an opportunity to increase his strength from this incident, and this is most likely what she was referring to.

If I could gain knowledge and power from this, it would definitely help me leave this fantasy world!

Xiachuan then quickly found a shrine that looked small, changed its appearance, and walked in carefully.

Sure enough, he could clearly feel the presence of spiritual energy as soon as he entered the Torii gate. After he walked to the worship hall, he felt even more clearly that the wishes of the believers were being directly drawn away by some force and sent directly into the main hall.

There are indeed gods in this shrine!

What attitude would He have toward His fellow creatures?

Xia Chuan took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and walked directly towards the main hall.

An ugly ghost spirit wearing armor was sitting cross-legged in the temple with a long sword in his hand and his eyes closed to rest. The believers and clergy around him obviously could not see his appearance, but he did not notice Xia Chuan's arrival either.

This guy Yiyou really did a good thing. How could this body remain undetected in front of ghosts and gods?

Xia Chuan then took a few steps forward. This action still did not alarm the ghosts and gods in the main temple, but it was seen by the priest standing in front of the main temple, who walked towards him angrily.

"Who are you to dare to peek at the body of the Rokumeihan no Jojo Hachiman Daimyojin!"

The ghost in the main hall suddenly opened his eyes, looked into Natsukawa's eyes, and then stood up in surprise, holding a long sword.

Discovered?

Several warriors also came over here. Xia Chuan thought for a moment and asked loudly: "Is this your way of entertaining guests?"

The priest didn't understand what was going on and was stunned for a moment. Then he realized who he was talking to and became even more angry. He rushed towards him with the imperial coin in his hand.

Xia Chuan looked at the actions of the ghost in the main hall, grabbed the priest by the neck, lifted him up and threw him out.

He couldn't always be tied up in this fantasy world. He just happened to encounter such an unknown ghost that occupied such a small shrine and whose power should not be very strong. It would be a waste if he didn't try to compare himself with it.

The warriors were surprised, drew their swords, and rushed over here with roars.

Xiachuan noticed that they seemed to have made contact with the ghosts and gods in the temple through some means, and a force was quickly transferred from the ghosts and gods to their bodies. Just like the Tengu warriors such as Fujita Koshiro before, their speed and strength were rapidly improved, and strange light also emitted from their bodies and the samurai swords in their hands.

However, perhaps because they worship different gods, these warriors emit a dark red light, revealing a strange and ominous aura.

Natsukawa did not draw his sword, but directly grabbed the samurai who was rushing in front, easily snatched the sword from his hand, grabbed his collar and threw him directly into the main hall.

The samurai following behind roared, but their strength was only slightly higher than that of the demon swordsmen, and even weaker than that of Kiryu Ichiryū. Natsukawa simply used the back of his sword to knock them out one by one. At this time, the ghosts and gods in the main hall finally stepped forward and walked out.

"Who are you? Why did you trespass into my divine domain? Do you want to violate the laws of Shinto and become enemies of the gods under the throne of Tosho Daigon?"

"The Law of Shinto"? Tosho Daigongen?