Yotsuya Miko Becomes A Devilish Cultivator

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

Miko thought, then felt a warmth on her shoulder.

Looking back at the brash kid, his drool had soaked through her clothes. He was still oblivious, smacking his lips.

"..."

Fine, she retracted her previous statement. This little brother was not cute at all.

Chapter 43: What Can Be Done

An unknown mountain, with navigation that completely failed to match, caused Yotsuya Miko to raise an eyebrow.

She glanced at the automatic navigation on her phone; the location wasn't wrong, it was here.

There was a shrine here?

Ever since her last encounter with a strange shrine in the tunnel, Miko had become a little more attentive to such places. Taking advantage of a weekend, she specifically searched for navigation to nearby shrines and unexpectedly found a hidden one nearby.

Her divine sense perceived the mountain before her. The ghosts within were densely distributed, and there was nothing unusual. However, out of caution, she still didn't plan to enter the place. Her purpose in searching for shrines was merely to avoid such places more easily.

Rather than foolishly entering herself, it would be better to ask the surrounding residents if they knew anything about this place, such as the origin of the mountain. A dense aura permeated the entire mountain. If many people hadn't died here, such a situation likely wouldn't have occurred. Therefore, its history was worth investigating.

But even if she were to ask, it wouldn't be today.

Glancing at the fish she was carrying, Miko silently turned to leave. If possible, she would be willing to confront the shrine on this mountain once she had absolute confidence. Today, however, was still a day for making talismans.

With that, she turned and left, making a mental note of a man watching the mountain.

A strange man, his attire displayed peculiar characteristics, yet his face held a look of indifferent sorrow. Most importantly, he possessed spiritual energy within him.

After encountering spiritual energy, or what she initially called prayer bead energy, this energy could gradually be perceived by her divine sense. This led her to realize a fact: the energy from the so-called high-end prayer beads in department stores might be far less than that of the cheaper ones next to them. Her impoverished self, when she came to buy prayer beads to help suppress the Soul Devouring Tribulation, began using her divine sense to pick out the cheaper ones. She also fondly recalled the Godmother's set of prayer beads, which had an extremely abundant amount of energy.

Shaking her head, she silently pushed the thoughts aside. She needed to quickly dispose of the fish in a small alley, otherwise, by the time the fish wasn't fresh, it would be completely ruined.

Regardless of what connection that man had to the mountain, or what fate she had with the shrine, she was not yet capable of meddling too much...

"Meeeow--!"

A cat's pained cry came from the alley she entered. Yotsuya Miko looked expressionlessly at the middle-aged man holding a blood-stained tool and the already badly injured kitten at his feet. She rationally cast a Soul Collision Art at him—the mildest version.

Honestly, she hadn't used this technique in a long time. After all, it was a last resort when spiritual qi was scarce. Many techniques were more effective and had no side effects compared to the Soul Collision Art. However, when it came to making someone feel pain, the Soul Collision Art was still quite effective.

As the black light entered the middle-aged man's body, he was quickly stimulated by intense pain, causing him to let out continuous wails, so loud that people outside the alley could hear them. With his wails, he released his grip on the tool, and the blood-stained metal object clattered to the ground with a crisp sound, exceptionally jarring. Afterward, he was completely trapped by the prolonged pain, trembling all over like a Parkinson's patient, unable to faint.

"What's wrong?"

The first to arrive was the black-haired man dressed as a magician. He was followed by several women and their partners, who quickly realized the strangeness of the situation.

"I don't know... I heard the cat's cry and ran over to look. That man suddenly started acting crazy."

Yotsuya Miko, suppressing her fear, spoke with a trembling voice, and pointed to the man who was close to fainting, "But... he was abusing the cat."

Even as she pointed, her finger trembled slightly in mid-air, showing her extreme unease.

Soon, the onlookers reacted to the strangeness of the event.

"They say someone around here has been abusing cats. Could it be this guy? But what happened to him?"

"I don't know, maybe... his illness flared up..."

Muttering voices arose. Those with a bit of conscience took out their phones and dialed for an ambulance, while continuing to watch the man's erratic behavior.

However, this good show didn't last long. After a very short period, the cat-abusing man fainted, falling to the ground with his weapon, making a dull thud, as if declaring the end of something.

"..."

The magician slowly walked towards the unconscious man and felt for his breath.

"He just fainted."

This was his first statement. Then, the man walked to the cat and looked at its injuries.

"It's dead."

This was his second statement, thus concluding the matter.

Miko silently lowered her eyelids, remaining silent. She wasn't someone who particularly loved animals, yet the scene before her had uncharacteristically stirred anger within her, so much so that this anger made her want to kill the man who abused the cat.

However, abusing cats was an unforgivable act. Then, what about killing a person? Even if that person was extremely wicked, she didn't seem to have the right to kill them, because she wasn't in a role that allowed her to kill such people.

Perhaps it could be called a rule-based restraint.

Urgent sirens wailed, and medical personnel quickly arrived, carrying the man's body into the ambulance. They didn't even glance at the cat on the ground, only feeling surprised, but saving the person was the priority. The police who arrived later took a detailed record of the entire incident. Yotsuya Miko, along with the magician—oh, his real name was Rom—went into the police station.

"That's how the incident unfolded."

Miko repeated the scene she had witnessed once more, awaiting a response, and was then asked to leave the police station.

"Surprised?"

Rom smiled beside her, looking at her somber face. He likely sensed something from the fish she was carrying.

"The police won't bother with such matters, but public opinion will. That guy... no matter what his intentions were, he's already unable to establish himself in society."

Rom comforted her, taking out a stone from his hand and offering it to Miko.

"How about a lucky stone? It'll bring you good luck."

Good luck?

Miko looked at the spirit-energy-filled stone before her, but didn't reach out to take it.

"Stones can't save cats."

The anger that hadn't yet dissipated poured out towards the stone being offered, but after speaking, she realized what she had done.

"Sorry, I got a little too emotional."

"No,"

Rom took off the hat on his head, revealing his messy black hair. He smiled sadly and took back his stone.

"You're right. Stones can't save cats, and they can't save people either."

"..."

Yotsuya Miko sighed along with him, looking at the fish in her hand that was nearing its expiration time. She felt a rare sense of powerlessness.

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

"About the shrine on that mountain."

At least, there was something she could still do.

Chapter 44: The Calm Before the Storm

Mountains are burial grounds.

Countless souls die and attach themselves to mountains, forming rare ghost realms. Or, in simpler terms, places where a large number of ghosts gather. These places are often not ruled by powerful ghosts, but merely have powerful ghosts passing through and consuming some of the lesser ones.

A ghost realm with a powerful ghost in charge becomes a ghost domain. Because the ghost realm is still weak, or because a powerful ghost might, on a whim, devour all the ghosts within it, the ghost realm will completely dissipate. A ghost domain, however, is guarded by a powerful ghost who has claimed it as their habitat.

In the Xuanhui Realm, those powerful rulers of ghost domains are called Ghost Kings, or sometimes Great Demons. However, in this world, the situation might be different. At least, the ruler of the mountain's ghost domain before Yotsuya Miko is called a Ghost King; Great Demon wouldn't be appropriate.

"A Mountain God...?"

"Yes, a Mountain God."

Rom gazed at the distant mountain, at the unseen shrine within it. It was a story of past sorrow.

"It's powerful, incredibly powerful."

Even after witnessing the divine abilities the young lady before him had displayed, Rom didn't intend to tell her everything he had experienced. He merely issued a warning, just as he had been warned when he was young.

"That's no ordinary being. No, even the most powerful psychic wouldn't be able to defeat it. So, it's best if we pretend we don't see it."

Rom smiled and put on his magic hat. His face still held a look of decadence, one eye completely obscured by his messy black hair. The remaining eye was dull and lifeless. Yet, he was still smiling, living his life in a way Yotsuya Miko couldn't understand.

"Child Prodigy Rom," he called himself.

Compared to the faint sorrow that seemed to emanate from his face, a sorrow that couldn't be dispelled, he seemed like a cheerful person, displaying himself in his own unique way, seeking the attention of others.

Even though Yotsuya Miko had shown her strength, this magician still acted as if he knew nothing, selling the stones in his hand and, on the side, recommending his YouTube channel to Miko.

"..."

Feeling quite powerless, Yotsuya Miko could only watch as this fellow walked away into the distance, leaving his retreating figure.

"He doesn't want to involve others? Or... he wants to solve it all by himself?"

After interacting with this peculiar fellow, Miko's senses told her that he wasn't as optimistic and open-minded as he appeared. On the contrary, his every action was like that of a clown, using a clown's demeanor to conceal his inner loneliness.

And, very kind.

Yotsuya Miko held out her hand, looking at her distinct knuckles and fair skin. She fell into a brief daze. The emotions she had felt due to the cat's brutal murder had long since faded with the passage of time, leaving only emptiness behind. Even though she had impulsively wanted to cause trouble for the mountain shrine, she found she couldn't.

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

Compared to ordinary people, there were many things she could do. Yet, witnessing the demise of a living being, she suddenly realized she was still the same ordinary high school girl. She practiced the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, stumbling and faltering, but unconsciously, she could finally contend with stronger ghosts. However, even so, her attitude towards those ghosts remained ambiguous.

The fish she held in her hand gradually became heavier. Yotsuya Miko looked at the fish in her hand and sighed again, shifting her thoughts from her lost life goals back to the small matter at hand.

"What should I do with this fish?"

She wandered through the alley, deciding to treat the fish as charity. This was her atonement, perhaps.

From the darkness that smelled the fishy scent, several pairs of eyes poked out, but they still held fear and were reluctant to emerge from the shadows, letting out a few faint calls.

Miko slowly pushed the fish into the shadows. Suddenly, a claw scratched her, and blood quickly welled up on the back of her fair hand, leaving several scratches. She acted as if nothing had happened, retracted her right hand, and wiped away the flowing blood with a tissue.

She glanced at it, then silently turned and left.

They're so pitiful.

Thinking this, her heart finally felt no ripples. She ignored the wound on her hand until she reached her own doorstep.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Sis."

Yotsuya Kyosuke looked up from the television program when he heard her voice, glanced towards the door, and then returned to watching his show.

"You're back late again today."

"Yeah, I went to feed the cats."

Yotsuya Miko placed her backpack on the coffee table in front of the sofa, slumping down beside Kyosuke, her voice weak.

"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 saw the scratch mark and couldn't help but frown.

"That's so mean, that cat."

"No, it's my fault."

Yotsuya Miko shook her head.

"It's not their fault."

"But you feed those cats every day, don't they feel any gratitude?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke couldn't understand. He thought his sister was probably sad because the cats were ungrateful.

"Those guys are terrible."

Miko didn't respond. She knew her own business; she hadn't been feeding any cats. Today was the first time, and probably the last.

Compared to the misfortune of cats, there was also the misfortune of people.

All the way here, she finally understood the source of her emotions. She genuinely hated misfortune. Whether it happened to herself, to others, or to a poor stray cat. That feeling of empathy was almost suffocating her.

It was like how she used to be, seeing ghosts and being powerless.