Do Not Disappoint Me!

The surroundings suddenly returned to normal.

The field of view was filled with eerie scarlet. The ground was covered in scattered chunks of corpses, severed limbs and broken arms lying every which way, soaked in thick, sticky gore. The blood pooled into crisscrossing streams and little puddles, leaving almost nowhere to step.

The heavy stench of blood rushed straight to Gu Mo's head, making his stomach, which had only just settled down, churn violently again and cramp faintly.

He had already found this concentration of gore hard to accept and needed time to adapt, but the illusion had interrupted that process for a moment, deceiving his senses... and now that the illusion had been shattered, his real sensory perceptions had returned.

It was like one of those old horror movie tricks. If shocking scenes kept appearing without pause, the scares might seem dense, but because a person's nerves remained tightly strung throughout, they would develop psychological defenses and brace themselves for the constant stimulation. The actual degree of fright would be manageable.

But if things suddenly stopped halfway through, everything seeming calm and peaceful, making one think the tense and exciting part was over, allowing the mind to relax and the taut nerves to loosen... then a sudden scare at that moment would often break through a person's psychological threshold.

That was exactly it. Gu Mo clenched his teeth tightly and barely managed to suppress the urge to throw up.

The black-haired girl beside him did not like the sight either, her brows faintly furrowed. Though she bore part of the responsibility for causing all this, even she had never before seen demon and ghost corpses piled up to such a density.

But setting aside those unimportant matters, she looked around at the enormous quantity of spirit stones with surprise and had been deep in thought ever since.

She had known beforehand that spirit stones were hidden here, and that there were a great many of them. That was why countless demons and ghosts had come here to fight over them. But she had not expected "a great many" to exceed even her expectations... These spirit stones might not all have originally looked this way. After all, those main crystal clusters, each over ten meters tall and turning this place into something like a crystal forest—

For a colossal spirit stone of that scale to condense enough essence at once, one could not imagine how many people would have to die on a massive battlefield. And even if such a thing had truly happened, it would have been impossible to transport it unnoticed into the deep mountains of Mino and store it in a place like this.

Yet giant spirit stones like these were everywhere. At a rough glance, there were more than ten enormous crystal clusters, each over ten meters high... Like huge spikes growing from the earth, they slanted across the entire cavern, taking up a considerable portion of what had originally been a spacious area.

It was probably due to the nature of spirit stones themselves. They looked like crystals, but they were actually essence solidified into matter. So when many fragmented spirit stones accumulated together, their essence would gradually flow, merge, and gather into one whole over time, becoming a larger spirit stone.

Creating the scene before them could not have taken merely a month or two... Her father had likely begun collecting spirit stones and burying them here a long time ago...

Hidechiyo considered it carefully and could not help letting out a soft breath.

Tokichiro had been right earlier. They truly should not have brought those irrelevant soldiers inside; they were not suited to knowing about this... Over the years, she had encountered many cases while slaying demons, all involving rural villagers who had been bewitched and abused the power of spirit stones.

These things possessed a strange magic that bewitched the heart. Even demons and ghosts would fight madly over them. As for ordinary people...

Wait!

Suddenly remembering something, the slightly distracted black-haired girl hurriedly turned to look at someone, only to find that his complexion was terrible. His fists were tightly clenched, his expression somewhat twisted... Oh no! Had so many spirit stones truly stolen his mind and bewitched him?

Hidechiyo pressed her lips together. Humans were easily bewitched, and demons and ghosts often were as well, but she had never felt much toward them. She did not know whether it was because of the bloodline she had inherited or because, as a Half-Yokai, she stood on the boundary between the two.

Thus, she had not felt it particularly strongly and had not reacted immediately. Only afterward had she remembered this possibility.

Still, it should not be too serious. Having one's mind bewitched was merely the first step. As long as she stopped him from coming into further contact with or using the spirit stones, he would quickly shake off the bewitchment and return to normal. He would not completely lose his reason and fall into becoming a demon or ghost...

As she thought this, she stepped forward, preparing to knock him unconscious and carry him out. Bewitched people were difficult to communicate with, and she could not speak right now anyway.

"I'm fine, don't worry..."

Noticing the girl approaching, Gu Mo, who was not in great shape, saw the expression on Hidechiyo's face and assumed she was worried about him. After all, his complexion had to look awful, and the waves of nausea made it hard for him to contain himself. He did not notice the girl lightly clenching her little fist.

He waved a hand, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and forced out a smile. Putting on a brave front, he said, "Don't worry. It's just this little bit. I don't care about it at all..."

Over this period, he had gone from an ordinary person unable to bear the sight of a murder scene to an ordinary person capable of actively creating one. But the leap before him was still far too great—this battlefield was genuinely disgusting. The chunks of corpses and bloody gore assaulted all his senses, visually, by smell, and by touch.

Still, everyone had this bad habit of pretending to be strong, especially when they did not want to expose their weakness before others.

No matter what happened, they would insist, "I'm fine," "I've seen this plenty of times," or "Something this minor can't bring me down"—

Gu Mo was no exception. He could accept that Hidechiyo, a frail young girl with A-rank strength and speed, was far stronger than him, and accept the fact that he had been relying on her protection and riding her coattails. But he did not want to admit that he could not even stomach a little bloodshed, acting especially "delicate" and "fragile" in front of her.

Hidechiyo tilted her head slightly. Was that really so?

Just then—

"Well said!"

A thunderous shout of approval suddenly rang out across the blood-soaked battlefield. The voice was vigorous, somewhat unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar as well.

Gu Mo and Hidechiyo both turned instinctively, only to see the stone wall at the far end slowly begin to shift aside with a dull rumble under the power of some turning mechanism, revealing a hidden passage behind it...

Several figures emerged from within one after another.

At their head was a robust, bald old man who was still full of vigor. It was none other than Saito Dosan.

Not even the faintest trace of their presence had leaked out earlier. Not only had they concealed themselves in the hidden passage, but they had also used certain Mystic Arts in conjunction with other arrangements to completely mask their auras. With such thorough preparations made beforehand, even Hidechiyo had failed to notice that people were hiding behind the stone wall only a wall away.

Gu Mo opened his mouth. Why had the old man suddenly appeared here...

Right, in the original story, he had also pushed Axiu into a hidden passage, staying behind to hold off the endless army of demons and ghosts rushing toward him... In other words, aside from the hidden passage in the residence above, there really was another secret route here that led out of the mountain.

If that was the case, perhaps the old man had not remained inactive. He had simply come to Sagiyama Castle earlier without letting anyone know, bypassed everyone, entered Viper's Divine Realm through another hidden passage, and quietly arranged everything here?

"That's right, exactly as you thought..."

Seeing the boy standing there dumbfounded, Saito Dosan burst into laughter. At last, he felt a surge of satisfaction in his heart. He had finally outmaneuvered this detestable brat.

"As you can see, this place regularly attracts many demons and ghosts, but they are dealt with promptly at regular intervals... This time, however, I changed my mind. I moved everyone on the mountain out through these secret passages beforehand, then let the demons and ghosts run wild, and sent several trusted retainers down the mountain to inform you..."

Watching the old man look so delighted that he seemed ready to slap his belly, then recalling the soldier from earlier who had acted like a terrified broken record, Gu Mo felt his teeth itch.

So it had been a setup from the very beginning. No wonder there had been so many demons on the mountain without a single person in sight. Not only had everyone fled ahead of time with incredible speed, but even after searching the entire mountain, they had not found anyone hiding anywhere—not even one corpse.

It was not as if he had failed to notice the problem. But just as Tokichiro had subtly suggested back then, Gu Mo had been inclined to think the mountain soldiers might have stolen from their own ranks, that everything had been premeditated, and that after succeeding, they had fled far away to some unknown place. Who could have imagined it had all been arranged by this old man...

"But you really did well, boy. You did not disappoint me!"

Saito Dosan withdrew his smile and spoke with great seriousness.

"Well said. It is merely such a thing, nothing worth taking to heart! Unfortunately, the people of this world are foolish and cannot see this truth. They always believe it is a shortcut, blindly pursuing and even abusing its power. That is why the fires of war never cease across this land!"

"...Um, what are you talking about?"

Gu Mo thought seriously for a moment and felt that he might not have meant anything of the sort.

Saito Dosan's gaze grew distant. Looking at the countless massive golden crystals, he let out a long sigh. "Ability and skill are only secondary things, and they can be tempered gradually. But one's disposition is different, and so are the paths one chooses..."

Those who walked different paths could not make plans together.

Where spirit stones were concerned, this was the aspiration Saito Dosan had struggled for all his life, the promise he had made together with the person he loved most, and the bottom line on which he would never yield.

"You truly did very well. You may be the most resolute person I have ever seen... I will not go back on my word either. I will certainly do everything in my power to help you!"

Fixing his gaze on the boy again, Saito Dosan no longer looked at him with open disdain. Instead, his eyes shone with appreciation and vigor. He repeated his promise with great seriousness and solemnity.

"Uh, no... I'm going back. You don't need to help with that, and you can't help me anyway."

"Of course I know. Even if you seize the realm and level the land beneath heaven, you would still be far from your ambition. This little foundation of mine is nothing..." Saito Dosan nodded, unconcerned. "But helping you a little is still helping you. Besides, I never go back on my word."

Everyone had seen how quickly the other party had escaped his inner interrogation just now, how he had not yielded to his deepest desires and allowed the spirit stones to completely bewitch his mind.

Perhaps... he really was the person who could inherit Mino and fulfill his ambitions in his stead.

With that thought, Saito Dosan had more or less made up his mind. If Yoshitatsu had no objections, then it would be decided... He was not making this decision solely based on his own opinion. He had also sought Saito Yoshitatsu's thoughts. It was precisely because his daughter had not expressed any preference that he had previously considered giving the domain to Oda Nobunaga.

Right, speaking of Yoshitatsu... Saito Dosan hurriedly turned his head.

"Hey, I... forget it."

Gu Mo opened his mouth from the side, but ultimately sighed. It had nothing to do with him anyway. It felt as though an electric current had run through his mind. Fragmented static appeared and rang in his ears, as if the scene evaluation had been completed and settlement had begun.

Since this scenario had also been completed, he needed to find a way to run off next. No matter what, he had to return to reality.

He would take it as payback for the old man's setup. He could let him cling to his misunderstanding while Gu Mo slipped away without explaining anything.

With that thought, Gu Mo felt at ease and stopped dwelling on it. Instead, he looked over there—

Two identical black-haired girls, as though reflections of one another, had been staring at each other ever since. Neither had spoken, yet some unusual emotion flowed through their eyes, as though both were struggling to restrain their feelings.

Compared with the other girl, who had been observing from the hidden passage for some time and had already calmed down, Hidechiyo's agitation and confusion were obvious.

She stared blankly at the person before her, as if she were looking at another version of herself. Perhaps it was the resonance of their shared bloodline, or perhaps some indescribable connection between twins, but she felt that the other girl should have been the person closest to her. Yet at this moment, she also felt so unfamiliar.

"Ahem, you two sisters... get to know each other properly. Yoshitatsu, this is your elder sister, Yoshihide... no, Hidechiyo." Saito Dosan coughed softly. Perhaps he had remembered something, or perhaps old age had made him sentimental, but his eyes grew slightly moist and glistened. His poor daughters—why had both of them suffered such bitter fates?

—From the day Yoshitatsu was born until now, she had never seen her mother even once. Not even when that woman died...

—And Axiu had been taken away from him by her mother at birth. After her mother died, she had been forced to live alone. Who knew how much hardship she had endured over the years? She had even lost her voice and forgotten her original name...

The Viper let out a long sigh, then could not resist glancing at a certain unpleasant-looking boy, recalling what Monkey had said before.

Though he really disliked this fellow, Axiu had him by her side... Looking at it this way, he did not need to worry too much about this daughter's future. So long as this brat did not disappoint him! Hmm, if even Mino was handed over to them, then how should Yoshitatsu be arranged afterward?