What Can Be Done / A Calm Prelude

"Maybe I should go back and make the clothes first."

Miko thought, then felt a little warmth on her shoulder.

She looked at that little brat again. His drool had soaked her clothes, but he still hadn't noticed and smacked his lips.

"..."

Fine. She took back what she'd said earlier. Her little brother wasn't cute at all.

What She Could Do

The mountain had no name, and the directions on her phone didn't match the surroundings at all. Yotsuya Miko couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

She glanced at the automatic navigation on her phone. The destination was right. It was here.

There was a shrine here?

Ever since she'd encountered that strange shrine during her last trip through a tunnel, Miko had been paying a little more attention to shrines like it. Taking advantage of a free weekend, she'd specifically searched for directions to nearby shrines. To her surprise, there really was a hidden shrine nearby.

Her Spiritual Sense swept over the mountain before her. Ghosts were densely scattered throughout it, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still, out of caution, she decided not to enter. Her reason for searching for the shrine had only been to make it easier to avoid places like this.

Rather than recklessly walking in herself, she might as well ask the nearby residents if they knew anything about the place, such as the mountain's history. A dense aura enveloped the entire mountain. Such a scene probably wouldn't appear unless many people had died here. Its history was worth investigating.

But even if she asked around, it wouldn't be today.

Miko glanced at the fish in her hand and silently turned to leave. If she got the chance, she'd be willing to visit the shrine on this mountain—once she was absolutely sure she could handle it. Today was still a day for making talismans.

She turned and left, making a mental note of a man who was also gazing at the mountain.

He was a strange man. His clothes alone gave him an odd air, yet his expression was one of detached sorrow. Most importantly, he had Spiritual Power inside him.

After coming into contact with Spiritual Power—or what she'd initially called the energy of prayer beads—she'd gradually become able to sense this kind of energy with her Spiritual Sense. She'd even realized that the so-called high-end prayer beads in department stores might hold far less energy than the low-end ones beside them. The next time she went to buy prayer beads to help suppress the Soul Devouring Tribulation, she was broke again, so she began using her Spiritual Sense to pick out the cheaper ones. She also found herself missing the string of beads Godmother had given her. It had been incredibly rich in energy.

She shook her head, setting those thoughts aside. She needed to deal with this fish in an alley as soon as possible. If it went bad, it would be completely wasted.

Whatever connection that man had to the mountain, and whatever fate she might share with the shrine, she wasn't in a position to meddle in it just yet...

"Meow—!"

A cat's wail rang out from the alley she'd entered. Yotsuya Miko stared expressionlessly at the middle-aged man holding a bloodstained tool and the battered kitten at his feet. She gave the man a Soul Collision Art—its mildest version.

To be honest, she hadn't used this technique in a long time. It was only a desperate measure for when she had very little Spiritual Power. Many other techniques were more useful than the Soul Collision Art and had no side effects. But when it came to making someone feel pain, none of them worked as easily.

As the black light drilled into the middle-aged man's body, the intense pain quickly overwhelmed his mind. He let out a series of agonized screams, so loud that people outside the alley could hear him. While screaming, he released the mechanical tool in his hand. The bloodstained metal device clattered to the ground with a sharp, grating sound. Then the pain held him in its grip, and his whole body trembled like someone with Parkinson's. He couldn't even pass out.

"What happened?"

The black-haired man dressed like a magician arrived first. Several women and their partners followed, and soon they realized how bizarre the scene was.

"I don't know... I heard a cat yowling and ran over. Then that man suddenly started going crazy."

Yotsuya Miko forced down her fear and spoke in a trembling voice. She pointed toward the man, who was on the verge of passing out.

"But... he was abusing the cat."

Even her outstretched finger trembled just enough to convey her great unease.

The bystanders soon recovered from their shock.

"I heard someone around here was killing cats. Could this be the guy? But what's wrong with him?"

"No idea. Maybe... some illness flared up..."

Murmurs spread through the crowd. A few people with a sense of decency pulled out their phones to call for an ambulance, while continuing to watch the man's fit.

The show didn't last long. Before long, the man who'd abused the cat passed out. He and his weapon fell to the ground with a dull thud, as if announcing the end of something.

"..."

The magician slowly walked over to the unconscious man and checked his breathing.

"He's just unconscious."

That was his first sentence. Then the man walked over to the cat and looked at its injuries.

"It's dead."

That was his second sentence, and with it, the matter was settled.

Miko silently lowered her eyes and said nothing. She wasn't especially fond of animals, but the sight before her had somehow stirred up anger in her—so much that she wanted to kill the man who'd abused the cat.

But if torturing a cat was unforgivable, what about killing a person? No matter how evil someone was, she didn't seem to have the right to kill them. She wasn't someone who had the authority to decide who deserved to die.

Perhaps it was a kind of rule that held her back.

The ambulance siren blared. The medical staff arrived in a hurry and carried the man into the ambulance, barely sparing the cat on the ground a glance. They were only puzzled by what had happened, but saving the living was their priority. The police arrived afterward and took a detailed account of the whole incident. Yotsuya Miko and the magician—whose real name, she learned, was Rom—went to the police station.

"That's what happened."

Miko repeated what she'd seen and waited for a response. Then she was shown out of the police station.

"Surprised?" Rom asked with a smile beside her, watching her gloomy expression. The fish in the girl's hand had probably given him some idea of what was going on.

"The police won't care about something like this, but public opinion will. That guy... whatever his reason, he won't be able to live in society anymore."

Rom tried to comfort her. He took a stone from his hand and held it out to Miko.

"Here, take a stone. It'll bring you good luck."

Good luck?

Miko looked at the stone, which was full of Spiritual Power, but didn't reach out for it.

"A stone can't save a cat."

The anger that hadn't yet faded rushed toward the stone he'd offered her. Only after she'd said it did she realize what she'd done.

"Sorry, I got a little too emotional."

"No."

Rom took off the hat on his head, revealing his unruly black hair. He smiled sadly and put the stone away.

"You're right. A stone can't save a cat, or a person."

"..."

Yotsuya Miko sighed too. She looked at the fish in her hand, which was almost past the point of being usable, and felt a rare sense of helplessness.

"Tell me about that mountain, Mr. Rom."

"About the shrine on it."

At least there was something she could do.

The Calm Beforehand

A mountain was a burial ground.

Countless souls had died and attached themselves to the mountain, forming a rare ghostly realm. Put more simply, it was a place where large numbers of Ghosts gathered. Such places usually weren't ruled by powerful Ghosts. Occasionally, a powerful Ghost would pass through and devour a few of them.

A ghostly realm with a powerful Ghost was a Ghost Domain. A ghostly realm was still weak; a powerful Ghost might one day take a whim and devour every Ghost within it, causing the realm to vanish completely. A Ghost Domain, on the other hand, had a powerful Ghost guarding it, and serving as its dwelling place.

In the Xuanhui Realm, the powerful rulers of Ghost Domains were called Ghost Kings, or perhaps Great Demons. Things might be different in this world. At least, the ruler of the Ghost Domain on the mountain before Yotsuya Miko was called a Ghost King. Great Demon wouldn't be an appropriate title.

"The Mountain God...?"

"Yeah. The Mountain God."

Rom gazed toward the distant mountain, where the invisible shrine stood. It was a sad story from long ago.

"It's powerful. Incredibly powerful."

Even after seeing the girl display her supernatural abilities, Rom didn't intend to tell her everything he'd gone through. He only warned her, just as he'd been warned when he was young.

"It's no ordinary person—or, no matter how powerful a psychic is, they still can't defeat it. So we'd better pretend we don't see it."

Rom smiled and put on his magician's hat. His face still carried a look of dejection. A tangle of black hair completely covered one eye, while the other was dim and lifeless. And yet he kept smiling, going through life in a way Yotsuya Miko couldn't understand.

He called himself Prodigy Rom.

Despite the faint sorrow on his face, which never seemed to fade, he seemed like a cheerful person. He showed himself off with his unconventional manner, seeking the attention of others.

Even though Yotsuya Miko had already demonstrated her abilities, the magician acted as though he knew nothing. He continued selling the stones in his hands and even tried to promote his YouTube channel to Miko.

"..."

Yotsuya Miko felt rather helpless. All she could do was watch him walk away, leaving her with his retreating figure.

"Doesn't want to drag other people into this? Or... does he want to solve it on his own?"

After interacting with this strange man, Miko's instincts told her that he wasn't as optimistic and carefree as he seemed. On the contrary, every move he made was like a clown's act, using a clown's persona to hide the loneliness inside him.

And he was kind, too.

Yotsuya Miko held out her hand and gazed at its clearly defined knuckles and fair skin. She fell into a brief spell of confusion. The feelings she'd had after seeing the cat tortured to death had already faded with time, leaving only emptiness. Though she'd briefly felt an urge to go confront the shrine on the mountain, she couldn't bring herself to do it now.

"Am I not strong enough? Or..."

She could do far more than ordinary people. But when she'd witnessed a living creature's death, she'd suddenly realized that she was still the same ordinary high school girl as before. She cultivated the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, stumbling and staggering along until, without realizing it, she'd finally become capable of holding her own against somewhat stronger Ghosts. And yet, even so, her attitude toward those Ghosts remained unclear.

The fish in her hand gradually felt heavier. Yotsuya Miko looked at it and sighed again, pulling her thoughts away from the aimlessness of life and back to the small matter at hand.

"What should I do with this fish...?"

She wandered through the alleys, deciding to give the fish away. It was her way of making amends.

Several pairs of eyes cautiously peered out from the darkness, drawn by the smell of fish. But they were still afraid to come out of the shadows. A few faint meows sounded in the quiet.

Miko slowly pushed the fish into the shadows, only to be suddenly scratched. Blood soon welled up on the back of her fair hand, leaving several marks. She acted as if nothing had happened, pulled back her right hand, and wiped away the blood with a tissue.

She took a look, then silently turned and left.

They were so pitiful.

As she thought this, her heart finally settled into complete calm. She paid no attention to the scratches on her hand and kept walking until she reached her front door.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Sis."

Yotsuya Kyosuke was watching a TV show. He glanced toward the door when he heard her voice, then went back to watching his show.

"You're home late again today."

"Yeah, I went to feed the cats."

Yotsuya Miko set her backpack on the coffee table in front of the sofa and slumped down beside Kyosuke, her voice low and listless.

"What's wrong?"

"A cat scratched me."

"A cat..."

Yotsuya Kyosuke paused, then looked at her hands as if he'd realized something.

"Where did it scratch you?"

As he spoke, he noticed the scratch and frowned.

"That cat was so mean."

"No, it was my own fault."

Yotsuya Miko shook her head.

"Don't blame them."

"But you go feed them every day. Aren't they even a little grateful?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke didn't understand. He thought his sister was probably upset because the cats had repaid her kindness with hostility.

"That's awful of them."

Miko didn't reply. She knew the truth: she'd never gone to feed cats before. Today had probably been her first time, and it would likely be her last.

There were human misfortunes, too, beyond the cats' suffering.

After walking all that way, she finally understood where her feelings had come from. Deep down, she hated misfortune. It didn't matter whether it happened to her, someone else, or a poor stray cat. Her empathy for them nearly suffocated her.

Just like back when she'd seen Ghosts but had been powerless to do anything.