Gojo Arashi Was Dead!?

Early the next morning.

The mountain mist had yet to clear, its wisps clinging to the treetops, tinted pale gold by the rising sun. Birds chirped on the branches, their clear calls seeming to wake the entire mountain.

Kashimo walked along the mountain path, holding the Ruyi Staff in one hand and carrying the Soul-Devouring Blade over his shoulder with the other.

After a few steps, he stopped and glanced back.

A figure followed closely through the mist.

She had changed her red robes, no longer wearing the bloodstained rags from the night before. Her hair had also been tied up again in a high ponytail that swayed gently behind her as she walked.

Fenghua.

She was only an ordinary female sorcerer, yet she was absurdly stubborn.

An hour had passed since they left the inn, and she had followed him without saying a word. When he sped up, so did she. When he slowed, she slowed. When he stopped, she stopped too, standing a dozen or so paces away and staring at him with those red eyes.

Kashimo looked away and continued onward.

Their footsteps echoed through the mist, one ahead, one behind.

As for Rinko.

He had left her at the inn.

Before leaving in the early hours, he had stood outside her door and listened for a while. It was quiet inside, save for the sound of steady breathing. She had not woken. Perhaps she had, but had remained silent. He did not know.

He had not knocked.

He had simply left.

She had found her own strength.

She no longer needed his protection.

With the blade on his shoulder and the staff in his hand, Kashimo walked deeper into the mist.

Behind him, that red figure still followed closely.

The Zenin Clan.

In the seat of honor, Zenin Sawa rested his chin on his hand, leaning slightly forward like a statue frozen in place.

Morning light filtered through the paper windows, casting light and shadow across his face and obscuring his expression.

The clan elders and attendants stood on either side with their heads bowed, hardly daring to breathe.

The silence had lasted a long time.

Long enough for some to start swallowing nervously, for knees to begin aching, for even the birdsong outside to sound grating.

"This matter of Gojo Arashi placing a curse on Kamo Fuji."

Zenin Sawa suddenly spoke, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet unusually clear in the silent hall.

He raised his head, sweeping his gaze over those present.

"What do you think?"

The elders exchanged glances. None dared to answer first.

After a few moments, an old man with graying hair and beard finally took half a step forward and bowed.

"Regarding this matter..." He weighed his words, speaking slowly and cautiously. "Though there is little we can say for certain, the information did indeed come from the Kamo Clan. And the head of the Kamo Clan passed away yesterday-"

He paused.

"The dead cannot testify."

The hall fell silent again for a moment.

Zenin Sawa said nothing, merely turning his gaze to someone else.

Zenin Yuichi stepped forward.

"Whatever the case," he began, his tone much more decisive than the elder's, "this has certainly made the Gojo Clan a target of universal condemnation."

He raised his head and met Zenin Sawa's gaze.

"We could certainly take in those factions that have broken away from the Gojo Clan because of this news."

Another elder stepped forward, his hair and beard bristling, his face filled with barely contained excitement.

"Yes, Clan Head!" His voice rang through the hall. "Now that the Gojo Clan has become everyone's target and the Kamo Clan has fallen into complete decline, this is the perfect opportunity for the Zenin Clan to rise to true prominence!"

As soon as he finished, several others chimed in.

"Exactly!"

"We cannot let this opportunity slip away, Clan Head!"

"A heaven-sent opportunity-"

"Shut up."

Zenin Sawa's voice was quiet, but it struck them like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads.

The hall instantly fell utterly silent.

The shadows beside him suddenly stirred. The Divine Dogs emerged soundlessly from the darkness, one black and one white, and sat at his feet, their throats rumbling with low, restrained growls. The sound echoed through the silent hall like a dull blade scraping bone, making the elders who had been so eagerly agreeing moments before unconsciously shrink back.

Zenin Sawa slowly swept his gaze across their faces.

"I always thought you were a bunch of idiots."

He spoke calmly.

"Turns out I was right."

No one dared to respond.

He leaned back in his chair and tapped the armrest twice.

"If Gojo Arashi really did this..." He paused. "Then why would he go after Kamo Fuji, who had virtually no power?"

His gaze settled on the elder who had been the most excited.

"What would he gain from it?"

The man opened his mouth but could not get a word out.

Zenin Sawa looked away and turned toward the window. The morning light was bright, casting mottled shadows of the courtyard trees onto the paper doors.

"What if the information was leaked by an undercover agent of the Gojo Clan?"

He murmured, almost to himself.

"Just to lure us into making a move."

Bang!

The doors were flung open, slamming against the walls on either side with a deafening crash.

An attendant stumbled inside, his face deathly pale and his forehead drenched in sweat, as though he had run the entire way without stopping. He staggered to his knees, gasping for breath, but rushed to speak before he could recover.

"Clan Head! My lord!"

Zenin Sawa frowned.

"The Edo festival has been suspended on an emergency basis! Of the Shogunate's two Princesses, one is dead and the other is missing!"

A stir swept through the hall. The elders exchanged looks and began murmuring among themselves.

But the attendant was not finished.

He raised his head, his face even paler than before, his lips trembling.

"And... Gojo Arashi..."

Zenin Sawa's frown deepened.

"What about Gojo Arashi?"

He had a bad feeling.

The attendant swallowed, his voice shaking.

"Gojo Arashi... has been killed!"

The hall fell silent in an instant.

It was no ordinary silence. It was an eerie, suffocating stillness in which even the sound of breathing seemed to have been cut off.

It lasted a long time.

Until a fan slipped from someone's hand and clattered to the floor.

"Gojo Arashi is dead!?"

Zenin Yuichi was the first to react. He lunged forward, seized the attendant by the collar, and hauled him off the floor. The attendant's eyes rolled back as the collar choked him, but he dared not struggle.

"Yuichi."

Zenin Sawa's voice came from the seat of honor, neither loud nor soft.

"Hold on."

Zenin Yuichi's hand stiffened, then slowly released its grip. The attendant fell back to the floor, clutching his throat and coughing violently.

Zenin Sawa rose and walked toward the man, one step at a time. He lowered his head and looked at that deathly pale face.

"What you said." He paused, his voice dropping very low. "Is it true?"

The attendant nodded frantically.

"Yes! Absolutely!" His voice was hoarse but urgent. "The Gojo Clan sent people to retrieve his body yesterday! The funeral is in a few days!"

Zenin Sawa straightened.

He raised a hand and touched his face.

There was little expression on it.