From Earthbound Spirit to Tokyo Evil

They drove the car directly towards the witches.

Before Kimoto got off the car, Tachibana Koichi suddenly whispered, "The guy we fought so hard to kill back then shouldn't be as powerful as he is today, right?"

Mu Yuan paused for a moment, then opened the car door and walked towards the Nomiya sisters.

#####

“Not yet a shikigami.”

After carefully examining the spirit rat named Boji, Xia Chuan quickly made a judgment.

No matter how you look at it, the word "Shikigami" has the word "God" in its name. He had specifically asked Kiyokawa Yuriko before and confirmed that one of the major characteristics of the so-called Shikigami is the ability to communicate with the master and think independently. Otherwise, they would not be able to take on the task of acting as assistants to deal with the enemy.

In fact, the so-called Shikigami itself may be a kind of monster, evil spirit, weapon spirit, etc., which are subdued by specific spells and used by clergymen.

However, because the raccoon cat clan does not have the ability to tame powerful aliens, the method they have passed down to obtain Shikigami is to cultivate their own spiritual pets, allowing them to open up some of their spiritual intelligence through the nourishment of spiritual energy and the subtle influence of their masters, and through secret methods allowing them to borrow the power of their masters, becoming incomplete monsters that must rely on their masters to exist and exert their powers.

However, because Nomiya Wakana invested a lot of energy and time in her three spirit rats, the transformation progress of the three spirit rats far exceeded that of everyone else. It can be said that they are only a short distance away from truly becoming shikigami. Especially after experiencing this battle, the spirit rat named Boji should have gained the opportunity to transform.

"Everyone should spend more time on their pets." Xiachuan immediately notified all the magatama holders except Kiryu Ichiryū.

There is no way. Reality has proved that the role of spiritual pets is really too great.

Regardless of the power of the attack, with their current abilities, the result of launching an attack rashly would most likely be like Nomiya Kana, where the enemy easily dodged it, wasting the hard-earned divine power. Although Xia Chuan had no shortage of this spiritual power, it took more than ten seconds, or even dozens of seconds, to prepare an attack, but the enemy easily dodged it. Is that reasonable?

Moreover, what makes Xiachuan a bit headache is that the identities of Inaba Rika and Kawaguchi Rena determine that they have to fight alone. Now it seems that only by cultivating spiritual pets as soon as possible can they have real combat effectiveness.

"Come on, Reina. I hope to see you have your first shikigami soon." Natsukawa said to his most talented miko. "You are the most talented one among your batch. I don't want to see you fall behind anyone."

But when it comes to his chief miko, he immediately becomes another person: "Don't worry, Yui, you've done a good job. You don't have to spend so much time on these things every day. I haven't heard you talk about school recently. Isn't your school festival coming soon? What activities are you going to participate in? Do you have any plans?"

"Natsukawa-kun...am I useless?" Yui Aoki suddenly asked.

"Of course not! Yui, why do you say that?" His words surprised Xia Chuan very much.

"I don't want to be protected by Natsukawa-kun like this all the time, and I want to do my best. But... Natsukawa-kun, you never say that, and never tell me what I can do or what I should do." Aoki Yui seemed to have mustered up great courage, and her body trembled slightly. "This world is obviously not so peaceful. I know that you, Natsukawa-kun, must be fighting something, working hard to protect this world. I know all your efforts, I really know all!

But, not only can I not do anything, but I also need you to comfort me, take care of me, and accompany me again and again... I really feel that I am useless. Not only can I not help, but I am also always holding you back."

Xia Chuan didn't know what to say for a moment.

In fact, he is not as good as Yui thinks. He thinks he is not a demon, but he is probably not a guardian either. Moreover, he is not as busy as Yui thinks. Although he is very busy sometimes, there are also many times when he is just playing games online with Asakawa Manabu and chatting with Kamio Hitomi in her dream.

His silence gave Yui Aoki more courage.

"Natsukawa-kun, if I can't help you with anything, then I can at least work hard to gain the ability to protect myself and not become a burden to you. If possible, I also want to protect everyone in the commercial street and this shrine. Natsukawa-kun, please, just let me try. Maybe I'm not very smart, but I will definitely try my best!"

"I understand." Xia Chuan suddenly realized his mistake.

He thought he was protecting Yui Aoki, and thought he had arranged everything for her so that she could live a carefree and risk-free life.

But he had never thought about it from her perspective. She had experienced family misfortune, almost became a cult sacrifice, witnessed areas that ordinary people could not reach, and her best friend was in danger because of it.

Being like this, can she really accept his arrangements calmly, pretend that nothing has happened, pretend that the world is the same as before, get everything from him with peace of mind, and live a heartless life?

If it was Yui Aoki like that, would he really still like her?

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"Natsukawa-kun?"

"I will no longer decide your life on my own, Yui. You are right. You should have the power to make your own choices, have your own wishes, and realize them through your own efforts, instead of having me do everything for you. Thank you very much for telling me your true thoughts, Yui, and please continue to do so in the future. Please also do not forget that I will always be your guardian spirit. With me, you can always seek help, always have a way out, always be weak, cry, and do everything you want to do but cannot do elsewhere. You can always rest here and set off again when you are ready."

Yui Aoki's eyes were sparkling with tears again, but they were tears of infinite joy after receiving recognition from the most important person.

"Thank you, Natsukawa-kun. I will always remember your words. Thank you!"

Chapter 240: Land of the Dead

Since he had decided to let Yui Aoki face more, Natsukawa simply brought Yuriko Kiyokawa back from the Boso Peninsula.

The reason why she was left there before was because she was really difficult to arrange.

There is no need to doubt the integrity of the useless tanuki, they don't exist at all. Who knows what Takahata and Yoshiyama have said to her these days. These two useless tanuki have no ability, but they have known Natsukawa from the beginning. They know everything about the shrine, Yui, and Sato Kentaro.

It was obviously not appropriate to let her go to the Hai Organization. Similarly, there was no need for the sect, which was currently well hidden, to take the risk of accepting her.

If you think about it this way, bringing her to our company would be the best option.

Anyway, raccoon cats are very home-loving monsters. As long as they have food, internet, computers and video games, it’s no problem for them to stay in the house for the rest of their lives.

The houses next to the shrine were also bought one after another by the Kiryu Group, and they were left empty to keep it secret. Natsukawa simply had the raccoons renovate one of the houses, opened a secret door behind the house that connected to the shrine, and let them live in it.

From then on, they became the exclusive clergy of Natsukawa Main Shrine. Their daily tasks were to clean the shrine, trim the flowers and trees, and at the same time secretly reinforce and repair the houses around the shrine to prevent them from collapsing due to long-term uninhabited.

Takahata and Yoshiyama had been doing odd jobs for many years. They had no other skills, but they could do some work. They also learned some decoration techniques in the process of working. So, under the command of Natsukawa, they began to block the side of the houses around Natsukawa Taisha facing the shrine little by little. They even tried to block the places where a corner of the shrine could be seen.

In this way, even if someone passes by in the future or even enters these houses, it will be difficult for them to discover that the space enclosed by them is actually a small shrine.

Yuriko Kiyokawa also has a special task, which is to teach Yui Aoki about the knowledge of shrine maidens.

Although she has a useless side, she is, after all, a clergyman with the authentic heritage of a miko, so she would not lead the knowledge-hungry Yui Aoki into a ditch.

With the company of three raccoons, Yui should not feel lonely.

Of course, another key point is that with them as comparison, Yui should no longer feel useless and lacking in confidence.

After all, Natsukawa had never seen more useless guys than Takahata and Yoshiyama in his two lives.

With everything arranged, Xia Chuan turned his attention back to the Styx Society.

The monster named Biqiu was killed by the three Nomiya sisters, which not only made them confirm the relationship between the Corpse Organization and the Corpse Society, but also further aroused their anger.

Xia Chuan soon heard the declaration of the Corpse Organization that must be wiped out as soon as possible at the gathering place of the Styx Society that he discovered, and he also soon heard the monsters' plan.

What surprised Xia Chuan a little was that, perhaps because the three Nomiya sisters performed too well, or the Skeleton Society's reputation for evil had already been established, or perhaps these monsters were too afraid of death, he had eavesdropped for several days and had not heard the monsters propose any plan for a large-scale attack on the Skeleton Society. On the contrary, most of the ideas they proposed were intentionally or unintentionally avoiding this issue.

They seemed to have concluded that since the Skeleton Society had set up its organization so blatantly, it must have the means to deal with attacks and even had traps set up long ago. There was no need to waste the Styx Society's precious manpower on the battlefield set up by the enemy.

The only proposal that directly targeted the Corpse Agency building was to use a car bomb, which made Natsukawa immediately determined to have Akasaka immediately set the roads around the Corpse Agency building to be closed to all vehicles except those of the Corpse Agency.

"The best way is to target those Crow Masks!" Luo Shan's voice was still the most threatening. "The Skeleton Society is trying to play its part in front of Akasaka and expand its influence. We can just take advantage of their tricks and set traps to keep them from coming back!"

"That's right! Kill all the Crow Faces and let the Skeleton Society have a taste of our power!"

The monsters said excitedly.

They quickly began to carry out their plan, but they didn't know that Xia Chuan had heard everything.

The plan was a good one, but if the enemy knew about it from the beginning, then no matter how good the plan was, it would become a waste of paper. Not only that, Xia Chuan also heard a lot of the methods they used to set up the scene on weekdays, and what concerned him even more was that they frequently mentioned a new name: Ni Luo.

This monster seems to have the ability to get in touch with the so-called eternal world, summoning evil spirits from there and becoming a weapon for the Styx Society.

This immediately reminded Xia Chuan of the scene when he came into this world.

Could it be that the monster summoned by the cultists came from the ordinary world?

Moreover, when he was undercover as Lin, when they met for the first time, Yu also said: You are not an evil spirit that escaped from the ordinary world.

"That's true." When he asked Kamio Hitomi this question, she said without surprise. "You should know the so-called Everworld, Yellow Spring, Root Country, and Feather Country, right?"

"I've only heard of the eternal world and the underworld." Xia Chuan replied. "There is also the underworld."

"Hell?" Kamio Hitomi looked at him, and Natsukawa suddenly realized that he seemed to have inadvertently revealed very important information.

"Actually, they are all the same, but a little different. They are all kingdoms of the dead. It is said that all beings who died in the world but whose wills remain will eventually go to one of them. The difference is that some kingdoms of the dead are built by strong people, accept their rule, provide them with a constant supply of power, and also have a certain order. Some are completely in a state of disorder, with the strong preying on the weak."

"Heaven?" Xia Chuan suddenly thought of this again. "Hell?"

"It's actually the same concept, but the heaven and hell of Christianity don't exist. They are just lies made up to cover up the truth."

Xia Chuan was no longer surprised by this.

"Almost all ancient gods have their own kingdoms, which are actually a kind of kingdom of the dead. After the death of the believers in this world, they will be led by their apostles into the corresponding kingdoms and continue to be enslaved and used by them for eternity without end." Kamio Hitomi continued. "This is also one of the signs of a true god. After all, owning a kingdom is equivalent to owning a world. As long as the kingdom is not destroyed and the believers are not annihilated, the power will never be exhausted. Compared with this, the so-called gods in Japan are really ridiculous."

"However, as far as I know, since ancient times, the true gods have frequently fought wars over believers, trying to destroy each other's kingdoms. This even led to the arrival of the end of the world and almost destroyed the world. Then... the aliens they created as weapons eventually united and cut off their connection with the world."

"The aliens then replaced the gods and became the rulers of this world. Later, they even began to arrogantly want to become gods, and they fought each other again." Kamio Hitomi said. "History repeated itself, and humans finally became the masters of the world. That's it."

"Will these worlds still be connected to this world?"

"It is indeed possible through certain specific methods, but this usually means huge risks," Kamio Hitomi said. "Because you can't know if a powerful being who was banished to the Land of the Dead will use this channel to return to this world. And to maintain such a channel, a great price must be paid, sometimes even by the caster himself."

Chapter 241 Siege and Killing

"Could the Styx Society's goal be to summon some ancient god?" Xia Chuan suddenly felt a chill.

Kamio Hitomi categorically denied it: "It's impossible. As long as they haven't lost their minds, they can't let those guys out. Moreover, those big demons fought hard to cut off their connection with this world. In order to prevent them from coming back, they did not hesitate to consume the lives of millions of people and created a powerful ban. Even if the Styx wanted to do this, they don't have the ability... Huh?"

Kamio Hitomi suddenly laughed: "Weren't you the one who warned Akasaka that someone was going to revive certain beings? Could it be that even those words were a lie?"

"No, I didn't. Don't talk nonsense." Xia Chuan immediately denied it.

“Hehe…” Kamio Hitomi laughed even more like a fox. “You’ve fooled everyone around. You’re worthy of being the person I like.”

"If you keep doing this..."

"I know, I know. You can terminate the agreement at any time. Anyway, you have already gotten what you wanted from me. Just leave me alone and let me stay like this."

In fact, the two of them had chatted many times in Kamio Hitomi's dreams, far exceeding the once a week stipulated in the previous agreement, and each chat would often last more than the agreed one hour.

It's not that Natsukawa was attracted by her beauty, nor was it because he had let his guard down towards Kamio Hitomi, but... Natsukawa actually needed someone with whom he could have an equal relationship, someone who he didn't know if could be considered a friend, but definitely not an opponent, so that he could vent out some of the things that he had been holding back in his heart.

After all, Yui Aoki is just a mortal, and moreover, just an ordinary high school girl who is trying to become a qualified shrine maiden. It is not that Natsukawa is unwilling to tell her many things, but that telling her will only make her worry and be scared in vain. It will not solve Natsukawa's problems, but will bring new problems.

The same goes for other people. As a high and mighty god, it is difficult for Xia Chuan to face them as an equal, let alone discuss things with them or express his troubles in a subtle way.

Not to mention, as a youkai who has lived for 200 years, Kamio Hitomi knows a lot of secrets about this world. Although she would not directly answer Natsukawa's questions, when the two chatted, she would often casually reveal something worth noting.

"The Styx Society should no longer be paying attention to you, right?" Xia Chuan hurriedly began to change the subject. "I haven't heard them talk about anything related to you for a long time."

"Indeed, I haven't. But it's a rare opportunity like this. Wouldn't it be nice to take a break?" Kamio Hitomi said. "The people in Akasaka are also quite interesting. Kamio Hitomi learned a lot of inside information from them... As expected, good-looking people have privileges at all times."

Is there anyone who complains about himself like this?

Xia Chuan was speechless.

However, this statement also applies to himself, so he actually has no right to criticize others.

"When are you going to release them?" Kamio Hitomi asked. "If there is a chance, let Kamio Hitomi see your miko's heroic figures destroying monsters. Maybe she will be inspired to write a song for you."

"With her courage, she will be scared to death." Xia Chuan said.

"No. Girls are actually like this, timid as hell, but they just like these things. The more scared they are, the more they want to see." Kamio Hitomi said. "Besides, if you don't put some pressure on these monsters, how will you have the chance to follow them and track down more monsters?"

This is indeed true.

Xia Chuan probably already knew where they were hiding, and there was hardly anything new and interesting to hear from their words.

Perhaps it's time to find an opportunity to kill a few of them and force them to seek help from other branches of the Styx Society.

Otomo is most likely dead, but Yu is probably not dead yet. No one knows where Niro, Akagi, Ushiwakamaru, and that Spider Woman are hiding. We can't relax unless we find them and kill them.

So, surprise them before they complete the trap?

"If she survives every fall, won't other monsters find it strange?" Kamio Hitomi suddenly said. "Didn't you say she looks like a skeleton?"

You are such a monster...

Xia Chuan originally wanted to kill Luo Shan first, but it seemed like it would be more interesting to let her survive?

"Wakana, how's the progress?"

"Lord Hailin? I don't know either. It feels like something is missing somewhere. I'm almost touching that place, but I just can't reach it no matter how hard I try."

"Really?" Natsukawa brought the mouse named Boji over again. It actually looked very smart. Most of the time, it no longer stood on all fours, but used its tail to support its body and stood up on Nomiya Wakana.

With the clothes that Nomiya Misa made for these spirit mice trained as shikigami, they looked quite decent. Moreover, it seemed to know that Xia Chuan was the one behind the changes. Although it must be uncomfortable to be carried like this, it did not struggle like an ordinary mouse, but obediently let Xia Chuan manipulate it. There seemed to be a little bit of... flattery in its eyes?

Although the other spirit rats of the Nomiya family had also put on clothes, they still lacked spiritual energy.

But, it was just like Nomiya Wakana said, I don’t know why, it was just a little bit off.

"Get ready." Xiachuan put Boji back on Nomiya Wakana's shoulders and said to the three sisters. "Tonight, we have to take the initiative to attack."

Of course, Kamio Hitomi, who was under the protection of Akasaka, could not actually show up. However, Natsukawa specially called Kiyokawa Yuriko and Kawaguchi Rena, and asked them to hide in nearby buildings and wait, preparing to let them see the performance of their competitors.

The three Nomiya sisters followed his instructions and hid in a car on the roadside and waited.

Monsters are not always planning how to realize their dreams. On the contrary, most monsters are guys with strong desires and cannot control themselves.