#96 · 96 of 305
Chapter 96
Gojo Masamichi lowered his voice, "『Run.』"
"——And then," he turned his head to look into the distance outside the window, his eyes filled with an indescribable vigilance, "the entire village began to distort right before that investigator's eyes."
"A dense fog rose silently, and in an instant, it swallowed the entire Sugisawa Village into a vast white sea of mist."
"The light within the fog twisted, as if peeling the land away from reality; the terrain blurred, scents became chaotic, and village houses, forest paths, streams… all structures became like reflections in a mirror."
"Since then, the specific location of [Sugisawa Village] has completely vanished from the map."
"The Onmyoryo has tried various methods—divination, spiritual vein tracking, even modern satellite imagery—but all to no avail."
"On the contrary, ordinary people occasionally wander into the village while hiking or passing by on nearby roads. Some manage to return, but many others disappear."
After finishing, Gojo Masamichi brought out an article from a civilian forum and showed it to Qi Xing.
—
55. Anonymous: Posted on: 2017/10/12 (Thu), ID: ajim41aji
This is all true. This is the experience of a senior I met at my part-time job.
He really likes mountain climbing.
That day, the senior went to climb Mount H.
Mount H is very famous in our local area. However, ordinary hikers don't really go there. The senior is a weirdo who thinks going to such places is what constitutes romance.
At first, his climb went smoothly, but he suddenly fell into a dense fog with visibility of less than a few meters.
56. Anonymous: Posted on: 2017/10/12 (Thu), ID: ajim41aji
This situation is very dangerous.
The senior thought so too, but there was nothing he could do.
Then, something even stranger happened.
He suddenly heard a woman's voice. It sounded a bit seductive.
Not long after, a strong wind blew, and the fog dispersed instantly.
The senior was just preparing to take the opportunity to return the way he came, but at that moment he saw that after the wind blew… a village appeared in front of him.
The village was dilapidated everywhere, but there were actually hundreds of young girls in the village.
They were all white-haired women, dressed in white clothes that looked like both burial shrouds and wedding dresses, wearing identical smiles, calling for him to come over quickly.
57. Anonymous: Posted on: 2017/10/12 (Thu), ID: ajim41aji
Their expressions were as if asking what there was to be afraid of.
Their eyes… how should I say this, they were all golden, as if they were glowing.
The senior screamed in terror.
If he were lured over there, he would definitely not be able to return home alive.
He sensed this intuitively, so he immediately ran for his life, running and running…
He didn't know how long he ran, but he eventually fainted from exhaustion.
After waking up, he found himself back on the familiar mountain path.
58. Anonymous: Posted on: 2017/10/12 (Thu), ID: ajim41aji
—Saved.
Just as he thought this, he suddenly heard a voice from behind.
"Do come again."
—
Looking at this post alone, it feels like just another common urban legend.
The problem is—in this world, these kinds of things are basically for real.
"It is not in the present world—nor does it entirely belong to the ordinary world," Gojo Masamichi said in a low voice, "We suspect it has become an isolated [Hidden Realm], also known as the [Inner Realm]."
"Even in the exorcism industry, this is recognized as the highest-level, most dangerous anomaly."
The [Inner Realm], an entire small world logically detached from the system of the present world, is definitely not something a few [First-Class] exorcists can provoke.
"From 1938 until now, the location of this [Inner Realm] could never be found. This time, your Onmyoryo suddenly discovered it from the flow of the spiritual veins—you can actually find it?" Qi Xing frowned.
Gojo Masamichi nodded: "That is exactly the case."
After saying this, he marked the location of the [Inner Realm] found by the Onmyoryo after tracking the spiritual veins on the map for Qi Xing to see.
Even Qi Xing rarely handles [Inner Realm] cases, as such things are very rare in the industry. He has heard of entire buildings or schools turning into [Inner Realms], and he has dealt with Professor Vanstra's cruise ship and that relic of Romanie's. Most of them are limited spaces like that.
However, this time, it is an entire village, and it very likely includes at least half of the surrounding mountain. Such a vast area having completely turned into an [Inner Realm]—he had barely even heard of a scale like this.
Cruise ships, ruins—if pushed to the limit, one could even have the government use missiles to bomb them. But an [Inner Realm] the size of a mountain—what do you intend to use to bomb it? With such a large area of spacetime fault, modern weapons simply cannot penetrate it. Even if they did, it would not be enough to shake its stability.
No wonder after the Onmyoryo discovered the location, they immediately ran to find [Master Leipu] and poured out all the information like beans from a bamboo tube. Because they simply could not handle such an incident themselves.
Gojo previously said, [If one does not look back at the past, one cannot understand today's enemy].
The [Inner Realm] is the Heart Realm. If outsiders want to enter, they must either understand its intent or understand its logic. Qi Xing now knows its history and knows its location, so at the very least, he can go in and investigate.
But this individual who calls herself Ise, calls herself [Amaterasu], and whose true name is unknown and true form unrevealed to this day—now daring to proactively reveal the location, it is likely a trap.
"Fine then." Qi Xing grinned and stood up, "Then I will go and brave this den of dragons and tigers."
"But to prevent falling for her trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain, Elaine, you, the Wolf Lord, and Miss Jingo should all go to the Onmyoryo branch in Aomori first. At least the defense there is more complete, and don't forget to use the communication rune stones to keep in touch."
Elaine did not say she wanted to follow this time and simply nodded.
She certainly knew that if Qi Xing were to truly engage in a god-level battle, she would only be a burden by his side; it would be better to remain in the rear, maintain communication, and be responsible for coordinating support.
Radio is basically useless in the [Inner Realm], and even magical communication is sometimes disrupted or blocked.
Only between Qi Xing and Elaine is there a method of contact that will never fail.
"If something really happens," Qi Xing looked at Elaine, his tone exceptionally serious, "call for me."
Elaine replied with a faint smile: "Okay." Her gaze was gentle, yet carried that trust that remained as firm as the beginning.
Just like that, everything was decided quickly. Everyone began to act. Qi Xing took the map given by the Onmyoryo and was about to step out of the room— "Wait a moment."
A cold, clear voice suddenly came from the doorway.
At some point, Jingo Rin had already been standing quietly at the door. Her expression was as calm as a windless lake, yet her eyes held determination.
"I am going with you too." She spoke slowly, her tone brooking no argument.
"Oh?" Qi Xing frowned, "I, on the other hand, think that to prevent being lured away from the mountain, we should leave one top-tier combatant here. My communication with Elaine won't be blocked, so it is definitely better for me to go."
This might indeed be a rational tactic.
Rin shook her head: "Even you, Qi Xing—are not invincible."
"I am the [Guardian of the North], so I will not let a guest face unknown danger alone." Within her cold, clear demeanor, her words revealed a hint of naive stubbornness.
This made Qi Xing burst into laughter.
"So, you intend to protect me?" After laughing, Qi Xing looked down at her, his tone already half-serious, "Alright then."
"Then today, let me experience—what it feels like to be protected by the [Guardian of the North]. Let's go."
As soon as he finished speaking, thunder rolled, and he had already stepped out the door, like a blooming flash of lightning, heading straight toward the center of the storm.
095: Who told you to speak?
Mount Hakkoda is not far from Shingo Village. The two flew in a straight line and arrived at the location before noon. By the way, Qi Xing was wearing a tweed coat Elaine had picked out for him, while Rin was in her full shrine maiden attire, currently in work mode.
Looking down at the entire mountain from the air, although the legendary [Sugisawa Village] could not be seen, one could indeed discover a place shrouded in dense fog, where even consciousness could not probe inside.
Qi Xing is a semi-immortal cultivator after all, and he has some understanding of Feng Shui. Looking at the direction of the mountain range, he couldn't help but frown: "The Feng Shui in this place is very good."
The term Feng Shui originated from the "Book of Burial" of the Jin Dynasty, which states: [Qi disperses when it rides the wind, and stops when it meets water; the ancients gathered it so it would not disperse, and guided it so it would have a stopping point, hence it is called Feng Shui].
Originally, Feng Shui was only used for burials; it was a technique for those practicing corpse-liberation to become immortals. At least until before the Tang Dynasty, Feng Shui masters were basically craftsmen who built tombs for emperors and nobles.
The evil immortal family that practiced corpse refining, into which Qi Xing transmigrated in this life, played with this kind of thing. Before Qi Xing ran away from home, he had forcibly memorized some of the knowledge.
Later generations expanded Feng Shui, not limiting it to the spiritual veins and acupoints of burials, gradually extending it to the art of geomancy. It not only corresponds below to mountain ranges and water laws, but also above to the sun, moon, and stars, analyzing heaven and earth.
Qi Xing's knowledge is limited, so he only knows how to look at the mountains and water veins, but one look and he knew: "This Mount Hakkoda is actually a main vein."
This place is roughly located in the central position of Aomori Prefecture, and is also the spine of the Tohoku region, the northernmost end of the Ou Mountains… Simply put, this place is actually the end of the mountain range stretching across Japan's Tohoku region.
The movement and undulation of the spiritual veins is the Dragon. To use domestic terms, this Mount Hakkoda counts as the end of a tributary of a Japanese Dragon Vein, and it counts as a crouching hidden dragon.
The ancients believed that a good Feng Shui spot for burying the dead could not only let the deceased rest in peace, but also bless future generations, making the family prosperous, business booming, and the household peaceful—but has anyone thought about why the ancients believed that simply burying the dead well had such an effect? Does the burial really directly affect [luck]?
Actually, it really isn't. The worldview of the ancients was often more logical than modern people think. As early as the Han Dynasty, the ancients believed that good burial Feng Shui was beneficial to future generations, but not because of luck—but because a good burial would make the dead stronger.
You read that right, this is said seriously, although the phrasing might be a bit rough. But people in ancient times really thought this way at the beginning.
The ancestors after death became stronger in the world of spirits, so naturally they could bless their descendants. This is a very simple and reasonable logic. Powerful ancestors themselves would bring benefits to their descendants.
This Mount Hakkoda is a key acupoint of the Dragon Vein in Japan's Tohoku region. Living people practicing here get twice the result with half the effort; dead people buried here, as long as the method is appropriate, should also be able to become stronger, and it is even possible to achieve corpse-liberation and become an immortal. Even Qi Xing thinks this is a good mountain.
It's just a pity that it was occupied by evil heretics.
"Qi moves within the earth, and because of the terrain, it gathers within. No wonder that [Amaterasu] could use cordyceps to draw all the spiritual energy of the entire Tohoku spiritual vein here; this is leveraging the right time and terrain," Qi Xing mused. "That is why she dared to proactively lure me here."
Although Rin does not understand Feng Shui and geomancy, hearing this, she added: "I heard that the [Ba] (Eight) in Mount Hakkoda is an empty reference to [many], and [Jia] (Armor) refers to [shield]."
That would truly be very easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is not a siege war on a physical level, but a confrontation of positional spells on a metaphysical level.
Rin tilted her head, and although she didn't speak directly, she was asking Qi Xing—how do you plan to attack?
There are actually many ways. For example, Qi Xing could also descend and slowly investigate the flaws of this [Inner Realm] on the mountain, but…
"The moment I saw the flow of this spiritual vein, I felt that if this matter dragged on, it would definitely be bad," Qi Xing answered decisively. "Anyway, we already know the location. Let's just charge straight in!"
Rin certainly liked this method!
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