Becoming a Devilish Cultivator's Miko

Yuria's gaze lingered on me for a while before she finally withdrew her prying eyes. Only then did I feel a little better, and I no longer felt so awkward about Hana's behavior.

Honestly, she's too timid.

My gaze towards Hana turned amused again. Hana always managed to bring me joy. After all, she was a genuinely innocent and cute girl, unlike me.

Yeah, unlike me.

After walking a bit further, Hana deflated again. She let go of my hands and sat down on the ground.

"I can't do it anymore, my heart can't take it."

"Then what should we do? Are you going to give up?"

"No, I don't want to give up the donuts."

Yuria didn't understand why Hana, who wasn't afraid of the Cursed Building, was afraid of a haunted house, but she still tried to comfort her.

"I think it must be almost over."

"Yeah, it has to be."

I agreed, and Hana reluctantly stood up from the ground, responding weakly.

"I'll keep trying."

As soon as she spoke, the board behind her made a sound. When the three of us looked over, a Killer wielding a chainsaw stood behind Hana. He revved the chainsaw.

"Waaaaah--"

"..."

After a few seconds of silence, Hana screamed, wrapping her arms around Yuria's neck, and then dragged Yuria away.

Seeing that, Yotsuya Miko could only follow them.

Hana is just too timid.

Due to my Spiritual Sense, I wasn't particularly affected by any of the scares in the haunted house. While dodging the various Killers that appeared, I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the two of them.

It'll be a good souvenir.

Although the photo wasn't very clear due to our running, their terror was still evident, especially Hana's expression.

Well, I guess I should scream a little too, symbolically.

Thinking this, I put away my phone and let out a scream from my throat, a scream I had never made before.

"Aaaah--!"

It wasn't so much a scream of fear as it was a cry towards the morning sun, the silent forest, and the vast open fields.

As the sound left my mouth, I suddenly felt lighter, as if I had finally done something I had always wanted to do but never had.

I haven't had such a cathartic scream in a long time.

I thought, joining my friends as we yelled loudly.

Even my Spiritual Sense probably didn't notice when Yurikawa Hana's lips curled up slightly before she resumed her terrified expression.

"Help me!"

Hana shouted, her fear mixed with a tiny bit of something else.

Chapter 51: Urban Legends Don't Exist

When we finally walked out of the haunted house, Yurikawa Hana had declared her demise.

But when she received her donuts, she was resurrected.

"Is this the weight of life?"

Hana marveled as she took the donuts, only developing such a unique sentiment towards food after being scared half to death in the haunted house.

"It's not that light at all," I retorted. My own regard for life was far greater than this small box of donuts.

Still, this haunted house experience wasn't too bad. I had vented my fears loudly like an ordinary girl, releasing all the pent-up emotions inside.

In that moment, I had forgotten I was a Devilish Cultivator.

Until... I saw a Ghost among the people playing Killers and instinctively sent a black light towards its face.

"..."

The moment the Ghost turned to ash, I snapped out of that illusory feeling.

Regardless, at least I had fun with my friends.

I had given up on using the Iron Pellets as detectors after Tono Zen discovered the one I had placed on him. He went home after school, but the Iron Pellet went in a different direction, likely thrown into the trash.

Once tonight passes and the Spiritual Qi in the Iron Pellet dissipates, this Iron Pellet will be lost forever.

However, I didn't really care much about it anymore.

My shoulder bag was filled with a whole box of Iron Pellets, all inscribed with Talismans. I had originally planned to use other items as carriers, but since Spiritual Qi could process metal, I used metal as the carrier. Cheaper iron products could be smelted into many Iron Pellets using Spiritual Qi.

Currently, buying fish still accounted for the largest portion of my Talisman crafting expenses. However, the "ink" made from fish could be used to draw many Talismans, especially the master-template Talismans, which rarely resulted in failed Talismans. This way, I had accumulated a large number of Talisman-inscribed Iron Pellets over a period of time.

It's true... a large batch of Iron Pellets were wasted due to her recent reckless behavior.

Even though she hadn't considered what kind of situation such actions would bring about at the time, Miko felt a slight pang of heartache now when she thought about the money spent creating those Talisman Iron Pellets. After all, those Talisman Iron Pellets weren't single-use; they could be used repeatedly after being infused with Spiritual Qi.

"Hey, have you guys heard of the Guardian of Silver Pellets?"

"That urban legend you're talking about?"

On her way home, after saying goodbye to Yuria and Yurikawa Hana, Miko absently listened to people talking, even though she already knew the whole story from a certain social media platform.

It was less the Guardian of Silver Pellets and more like bizarre iron pellets.

Yeah, her Talisman Iron Pellets.

In fact, a considerable number of people were possessed by Ghosts, and she had been going door-to-door, targeting those possessed individuals, distributing Talisman Iron Pellets and using the power of Spiritual Qi to quietly place them into their pockets.

Although these Talisman Iron Pellets were small, they weren't so insignificant as to be completely overlooked. Many people discovered the iron pellets, which were one millimeter in diameter. Along with the iron pellets, they also discovered improvements in their mental and physical condition. After all, these Talisman Iron Pellets were meant to eliminate the Ghosts possessing them, and those Ghosts had severely damaged their bodies through prolonged possession. It was only natural that they felt much better after the Ghosts dissipated.

At first, no one thought much about the connection between the iron pellets and their improved health. However, someone posted about this coincidence online. After a period of fermentation, the relationship between the two gradually became clear. It then became a relatively popular urban legend, respectfully referred to as the "Guardian of Silver Pellets."

Many netizens showed great enthusiasm for this urban legend, while others felt it was just a charade. Yotsuya Miko silently watched the trending topic on her phone, feeling an indescribable emotion. She found it amusing that such a thing could become popular.

"What is this... it's just... a few iron pellets."

Among the highly-rated topics, the affected individuals expressed their joy and relief. Miko hadn't paid much attention before, but looking at it now, her emotions became subtle again.

[I'm truly grateful to the divine being. I was dragging my tired body to work when suddenly the Silver Pellets appeared, and my spirit instantly felt much better. I narrowly avoided a car accident. If not for that, I might have been hit by that out-of-control bus and sent to another world. That would have been terrible. (Forced smile)]

[Isn't that a good thing? (Laugh)]

[No way. (Angry)]

Scrolling further down the comments, netizens had already brought the Silver Pellets into another world, even debating whether it was a god in this world fighting against gods from another world to pull people over. It could only be said that comments rarely stayed normal anywhere.

The "affected individuals" also expressed their gratitude towards the Silver Pellets. Some recovered from colds, others got promotions at work. Such lucky occurrences were all attributed to the Silver Pellets, turning them into treasures that could grant any wish in the legend. It was like the Holy Grail.

[False Holy Grail: A cup of black mud (Image) True Holy Grail: Small metal spheres (Image)]

"This is... quite interesting."

As Miko scrolled, she felt that the Talisman Iron Pellets she had sent out had gained new meaning, not just a whim born of her temper. The feeling of being able to help others made her recent gloomy mood feel a little better.

However, she soon realized a problem.

"Those iron pellets have no markings on them."

In other words, if someone wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the "Guardian of Silver Pellets" and make money selling some ineffective iron pellets...

"...I shouldn't do this kind of thing anymore."

Yotsuya Miko fell silent for a moment, put her phone in her bag, and continued walking.

Anyway, she had only sent out so many iron pellets in the end. After a while, this urban legend would completely disappear from people's sight, merely serving as a topic of conversation for the time being.

And she, herself, had absolutely nothing to do with such a legend, just an ordinary high school girl.

With that thought, Miko returned home, preparing to finish drawing the new talisman she hadn't completed yesterday.

"Sister, did you hear about that urban legend? The Guardian of Silver Pellets."

"I don't know, maybe it's fake."

Miko replied.

"Anyway, after a while, such rumors will disappear."

Chapter 52: The Urban Legend That Seems to Be Spiraling Out of Control

"As expected, the Silver Pellets can't be used by others..."

The female teacher thought, picking up an iron pellet from the trash can next to Tono Zen's desk, and slumped onto her coffee table.

Her impression of Tono Zen had changed from a stoic, handsome ice prince to a gloomy man due to his act of discarding the Silver Pellet. The moment she saw him throw away the iron pellet, she knew she and Mr. Tono Zen were completely incompatible.

"Moreover, it was discarded by him... Tsk, doesn't that guy have any imagination?"

Silently holding the iron pellet in her hand above her head, the female teacher couldn't help but sigh.

"I had hoped the Silver Pellet would help my father's illness get a little better, but I didn't expect it to be useless."

Her father, due to his old age, had accidentally injured his bones and muscles during an outing. He had been receiving treatment in the hospital for several months, but his recovery work was still ongoing, and a large sum of medical expenses fell upon her.

For a female teacher like her, it was undoubtedly a huge disaster. It was only natural to place her hope in an urban legend like the "Guardian of Silver Pellets."

"Or maybe this really doesn't do anything."

She pinched the iron pellet in her hand, thought for a moment, and then quietly put it in her pocket. Today, she had specifically visited her father in the hospital and kept the Silver Pellet beside him for a long time, yet the iron pellet showed no reaction whatsoever. However, she felt she was too hasty today and should let her father keep the iron pellet by his side for a while longer.

"Please, please make my father get better."

The young teacher prayed silently, "If you make my father get better, I will definitely fulfill my vow."

She made a reasonably decent vow, then silently flipped through her lecture notes, preparing for tomorrow's class, and finally lay down in bed late at night after being busy.

However, even if she prepared to fulfill her vow, Yotsuya Miko couldn't hear such wishes, as she was not a god.

Miko was drawing new talismans in her room until one or two in the morning, when she finally finished drawing the new talisman.

"That's troublesome enough."

After finishing all that, she checked the time on her phone and realized it was still quite early, not even 2:11 AM.

"Should I go check on that tracking point?"

She thought, the Iron Pellet that was supposed to be tracking Tono Zen hadn't run out of Spiritual Qi yet, so she could track its location.

"Maybe there will be some new discoveries."

With that thought, she grabbed her shoulder bag from the windowsill and leaped down.

She was already incredibly skilled at this, easily dodging several cameras before quickly using the eaves to speed towards where the Iron Pellet's signal was coming from, taking down a few Ghosts blocking her path along the way.

Even though Miko was now a Devilish Cultivator, one who cultivated Spiritual Sense at that, it didn't stop her from using certain incantations and Talismans to give her body strength far beyond that of a normal person. After dealing with the Kimono Ghost, she had the idea to strengthen herself. Relying on the incantations she had cultivated and the Talismans she had learned, her current physical condition had reached a monstrous level, comparable to that of a god or demon.

Knocking over a speeding car with a single punch was probably not a difficult task.

Although it was useless against Ghosts.

After about ten minutes of travel, Miko arrived in front of an apartment building, standing on a utility pole next to a windowsill of one of the units, looking slightly surprised.

"It was actually taken by someone?"

Although she didn't know what had happened in the meantime, it was good that it wasn't just discarded in a junkyard.

"Never mind, now that I know where the Iron Pellet is, I should head back."

Shaking her head, Yotsuya Miko, who was about to leave, suddenly became curious as to why this person had taken the Iron Pellet.

"Did they also hear about that urban legend?"

She wasn't surprised by Tono Zen's carelessness at all; after all, judging by his expression, he was a very rigid person.

"So, did she also run into some trouble? But if it's not a Ghost, I can't help."

After some thought, she decided not to meddle further in this matter. After all, things like the "Guardian of Silver Pellets" would disappear soon anyway.

"So, even if I replaced her Talisman Iron Pellet now, it wouldn't cause much of a stir."