Flowers on the Wind Grow Cold

Night fell, and the air carried the faint chill of a light rain.

After downing several cups of liquor stronger than anything he would normally drink, Ashiya Xia Xia gripped the banister and climbed to the second floor.

Looking down from upstairs, he saw the Flower Market lit as brightly as day.

Laborers in short work clothes, servants he saw often, and senior members of his clan strolled along the street of pleasure beneath oil-paper umbrellas.

Oil-paper umbrellas. People spent their whole lives sheltering under umbrellas, as though raising one could keep out every storm and dark cloud they would ever face, turning their tangled thoughts as gentle as a soft breeze.

But that was wrong. It was a lie.

Children never considered what would happen next, knowing only to enjoy the moment. Their elders never understood the suffering of the young, offering blame and control instead.

All he could see was the rain of disillusionment.

Silver could not buy affection, but it could buy a beauty at his side.

Silver could not buy true love, yet it was more worthy of a lifelong commitment than love itself. Those dry scraps of silver could not speak, could not utter hurtful words or do anything that broke his heart. Silver was only silver.

He had known that all along.

There was no need to consider what Ashiya Xia Cheng would do in the future, either. At least this day had taught him a lesson.

So naive it was laughable.

Ashiya Xia Cheng understood everything.

It was he, the older brother, who could not see clearly.

Lately, he had wasted far too much time exorcising cursed spirits and fulfilling commissions. Time. Time waited for no one.

Rather than waste his life here, he should do something meaningful. At least, in the end, he would not feel he had squandered his days or find himself regretting them when he reached a dead end.

Perhaps I should go to Kyoto.

The Fujiwara Clan was said to welcome talented people from far and wide. Perhaps it would be a good opportunity. Perhaps he would gain even more.

Before leaving, he had to settle the Ashiya clan's affairs.

At that thought, Xia Xia's fingertips trembled slightly. His mind had never been so clear.

So many friends and relatives bound to me by blood.

It would be a waste of my abilities not to put them to good use.

Very well. Before heading to Kyoto, I'll secure a few trump cards that could save my life. It's about time this clan estate surrounding the mountain was stained with a little red.

Apart from this street, I might as well leave no one alive.

No time like the present.

Ashiya Xia Xia rose, leaped out the window, and vanished into the night.

That day, the Ashiya clan was exterminated.

In the main family's estate above the Shinto Shrine, not a single man, woman, or child survived. Apart from those stationed far away, most of the branch families also failed to escape the calamity. The town at the foot of the mountain, however, suffered little damage.

What happened during that time was not something to be told to outsiders.

I'll leave the ordinary people in the town at the foot of the mountain alone. Sustainable development. I can deal with them once I find a sensible way to use them.

Early the next morning, carrying the hopes of his entire clan, Xia Xia packed his belongings and set off for Kyoto.

With so many relatives placing their hopes in him, he could not let their sacrifices go to waste. Whatever it took, he had to make a name for himself there.

Xia Xia looked at the cursed spirits still struggling in agony within his shadow and felt nothing.

He would never be lonely again.

His family was all right here.

From that day onward, the average standard of the Ashiya clan's jujutsu sorcerers reached an astonishing Grade 1.

As for why-

It was probably because the clan had such a thriving population.

For instance, its most outstanding member, Ashiya Xia Xia himself, was a bona fide Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Ah, what can I do? I'm just that gifted.

What genius in this era could not reach Grade 1? If they could not, how could they be called a genius?

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Kyoto's social landscape was nothing like the emptiness of the Ashiya clan. Nobles and daimyo, clans and shrine establishments all played off one another. Its tangled web of relationships did not turn Ashiya Xia Xia into a mediocrity.

He always kept a low profile.

So low a profile that he became the Chief Court Jujutsu Sorcerer.

He also gave himself a new name.

"Ashiya Doman."

The Ashiya clan no longer existed. The man whose name now resounded throughout Kyoto was a Great Onmyoji of unparalleled talent, a formidable figure who could stand on equal footing with those people in the east.

Lord of a Hundred Demons, Daimyo's Advisor, Imperial Capital's State Preceptor.

Some said the Millstone Kingdom's current state preceptor was an ancient monster wearing human skin, who loved to venture out in the dead of night and dig out children's hearts and livers to concoct elixirs of immortality.

Others claimed the state preceptor was hideously ugly, or that his face had been disfigured in his youth. That was why he always wore that violet copper Demon Mask, with its blue face and jutting fangs, so he could appear at court.

The state preceptor himself offered no comment on these rumors.

He appeared and disappeared like an elusive dragon.

Occasionally, he intervened to save the common people from disaster.

Never mind where those disasters came from.

That day, Xia Xia looked at the most unusual presence in his shadow: the special cursed womb that had accompanied him from the very beginning when he returned to this time. Wrapped in an amber membrane, it resembled a translucent cocoon. The figure within was hazy and dreamlike, but it had already grown hands and feet.

"Myriad Karma."

Myriad Karma had been watching this bizarre world through Xia Xia's eyes all along, yearning desperately to be born while also hating the world so deeply.

As long as what this world meant to cursed spirits remained unchanged, Myriad Karma would never have a chance to be born.

Myriad Karma's very existence was a fallacy, a paradox.

If one day...

"Lord State Preceptor, someone requests an audience."

The attendant outside the door delivered his report.

"Who?"

Ashiya Xia Xia shifted his gaze to the door. The moment it opened, he cautiously examined the person outside with his cursed energy.

"My lord, it is a woman."

"A woman?"

Xia Xia recalled the people he had encountered lately, but could not remember anyone who fit. His vigilance rose another notch.

"Yes. We cannot stop her. She is an honored guest of the Fujiwara Clan, and she carries a letter of authorization from its head."

"I see."

Xia Xia waved his hand, and the guard dissolved into a puddle of viscous black liquid. Then he opened his sleeve and, in an instant, refined away the mass of constructed cursed energy.

"When did you notice?"

A scantily clad woman walked in from outside. She wore only a loose robe, leaving plenty of skin exposed, and her hair was twisted into distinctive, unruly horns.

"I could tell from the start."

Xia Xia shook his head.

For someone as suspicious as him, it was already fortunate that he did not pull the "I like killing people in my sleep" routine. Even if he did not personally handle every aspect of his daily life, he at least never allowed a living person within three paces of him. Since this guard was not a puppet, someone must have replaced it.

What an idiotic trick.

Did she not investigate before coming? Young people these days really lacked sincerity-and patience.

"To think the illustrious state preceptor of the Millstone Kingdom wasn't some blue-faced, fanged monster, but a handsome young man all alone in his room..."

"This visit turned out to be interesting."

Smiling, the woman sauntered closer, ignoring Xia Xia's furrowed brow as she rudely inspected the incense altar on his table.

"What, you even have memorial tablets?"

"You really do have time on your hands..."

"Since an honored guest has come calling, let us dispense with the tedious pleasantries. What brings you here?"

Xia Xia cut off her rambling and rose from his chair. An ominous aura was already spreading around him.

He intended to kill her.

Anyone who could break into my residence in the dead of night couldn't be a minor player. You pushed through all those killing moves and traps with your body alone. You're certainly ruthless.

In that case, I can't let you live.

"I only came to look around!"

"First, I was curious what you really looked like. Second, someone as lonely and powerful as you is just so captivating! Hahahahaha..."

The woman laughed heartily, utterly ignoring Xia Xia's murderous intent, and pointed at the copper mask he had set aside.

"In that case."

"You will leave your life here."

Xia Xia was already prepared. Without giving her a chance to react, he summoned several powerful cursed spirits to carry out his will, which gave him a little more confidence.

This woman is strange. She probably has other killing moves. Whatever the case, I'll send a few Grade 1s to test her first.

It would be best if they killed her. If not, I still have other options.

"Well, well. Such a young, handsome boy, and such a temper. I have a letter of authorization from the head of the Fujiwara Clan, and you still dare attack me? How very brave."

"Then... state your name. Ashiya Doman does not kill nameless opponents."

Xia Xia did not stop. Instead, he pressed the attack, ordering the cursed spirits to seal off all her escape routes.

"I will settle accounts with the Fujiwara Clan later. It has been a long time since I made a public appearance. It seems certain petty vermin have lost some of the respect they ought to have for me."

"Very well. Once you reach hell, do not rush to reincarnate. I will do my best to send your clan head down to join you, and see whether he regrets today's insolent provocation."

[Domain Expansion: Wish-Illuminated Hirasaka]

Crimson red spider lilies spread across the carpet, and a long, narrow river slowly flowed beneath their feet. At some point, their surroundings had shifted from the room to the hellscape of the Underworld.

"You certainly live up to your reputation."

The woman seemed to realize she had landed herself in serious trouble. Unable to escape for the moment, she circulated her cursed energy and summoned droplets of black liquid that gathered into a vortex.

Then the drifting crimson petals touched her body, bringing pain that pierced her heart and bones.

Wherever the petals touched, flesh vanished.

Blood poured out.

These petals were far sharper than blades, because they did not even need to cut. Mere contact forcibly twisted their victim's cursed energy, turning it into swords that gouged their own flesh.

In other words, the greater someone's cursed energy and the stronger they were, the faster-and more horribly-they would die within this domain.

"I think I'm falling for you."

"My name is Yorozu. Please remember it."

The woman gave her true name, then summoned even more cursed energy. Even if it worsened her injuries, she had to do it...

She did.

The few steps between them seemed as vast as an impassable chasm, but despite the wounds covering her body, she got her wish-her hand touched Xia Xia's face, as gently as a lover's caress.

"How rough you are, Mr. Dōman."

"But you're so lonely, so powerful, and you even created such a romantic setting for your confession. How could I possibly not fall for you?"

"Feel my love."

Ashiya Xia Xia stared at the woman he had pierced with his short sword, his brow deeply furrowed. He felt a little sick.

He had killed the good and the bad, the strong and the weak, but never anyone this deranged. He seriously wondered whether this madwoman would become even crazier if she turned into a cursed spirit.

There's no taking back an arrow once it's loosed, but you win, you lunatic. You've successfully disgusted me out of wanting to kill you. I really don't want to dirty my hands.

With that thought, Xia Xia dispelled his domain, leaving only sturdy chains of cursed energy to bind the madwoman tightly.

"Tell me. What did you really come here for?"