Grass Flower and Grass Fruit
The next morning, an autumn rain had washed Mount Katsuragi clean, leaving the cedars across its slopes so green they looked almost black.
The mountain stream had swelled overnight. Water rushed through the valley below, mingling with birdsong in the treetops and lending the whole village a fresh clarity.
The Tsuchigumo Clan's council hall stood at the deepest end of the village, a large dwelling carved partly into the mountainside.
There were no unnecessary furnishings inside. A heavy cypress table stood in the center, its surface polished dark by years of use.
Woven spider-silk scrolls covered the walls, each recording the name of a past Tsuchigumo Clan leader.
En no Gyōja sat at the head of the table, hands folded over his staff. His aged fingers tapped its tip again and again.
Hotaru sat to his left, and three clan elders to his right. All three were over sixty, their wrinkles as deep as Mount Katsuragi's ravines.
When Sōji entered the hall with Ye Tong and the other three, En no Gyōja raised his eyes.
He looked first at Utakata, and the two exchanged a brief nod.
Utakata had tied his long hair back today, revealing his delicate features. He looked far healthier than he had yesterday.
The old man said nothing. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he nodded to Sōji.
"Everyone's here."
En no Gyōja tapped his staff lightly against the floor. "Sōji, I read the proposal you sent over with Utakata last night."
"You say the Tsuchigumo Clan should take control of Kusagakure. Can you tell us exactly how you plan to do that?"
The three elders turned their eyes on Sōji. There was no hostility in their gazes, only the caution of generations.
The Tsuchigumo Clan had hidden for so