Watching the child walk step by step towards him, Mo Chuan continued to feign unconsciousness, doing nothing but observing what this female ghost wanted.
As the child approached Mo Chuan, their cold little hands cupped Mo Chuan's face and then slowly moved closer…
“Baka yarō!! Let him go!” The mark on Mo Chuan’s neck flashed, and Abe Haruko, ignoring the damage to the spiritual body film, rushed out, quickly transforming into her ghost form and landing a Ghost King Fist on the child’s face.
Bang—
The gate, just sealed by ice, was burst open by the child flying backward. Mo Chuan felt Shuten-doji forcefully breaking the seal to protect him, so he immediately opened his eyes, placing Shuten-doji behind him. “Why did you break out so forcefully?! Is your spirit body alright?!”
“It’s fine… Looks like we have a compatriot here… This temperature… this technique of absorbing yang energy, it’s very familiar…” Shuten-doji pushed Mo Chuan away slightly and walked towards the child embedded in the gate. “Am I right, Yuki-onna?”
Hearing this, the child pulled themselves out of the door. Their long white hair was now dusty and grimy. Gritting their teeth, the child pointed at Shuten-doji and said, “Who are you?! With such pure ghost power, this is definitely not something these Chinese ghosts can cultivate!”
“Heh heh…” Shuten-doji shook their head with a cold smile, pointing at the child. “I remember it’s only been a few decades since I last saw you, hasn’t it? You don’t even recognize me anymore?”
As they spoke, the phantom image of a giant gourd appeared behind Shuten-doji. They flexed their wrists, loosening their hands, and said, “Shall I help you remember?”
Mo Chuan felt that the surrounding ghost energy and aura were very likely to attract the Japanese female attendant and the guards outside. Thus, he directly raised his left hand and made a grasping gesture towards the child. “Abyssal Hell.”
The three instantly vanished from their spot.
…
When the child opened their eyes again, they found themselves lying on the ground.
The surrounding breeze was exceptionally cold. The child frowned – this was not a normal phenomenon. After all, the child's contracted Shikigami was Yuki-onna, the summoner of ice and snow.
“Chiko, open the seal. Something is wrong here,” Yuki-onna’s voice echoed in their mind. Her tone sounded slightly anxious. “This wind is the Yin wind that can chill the soul. In Nippon, only the great goddess Izanami, residing in the Yellow Springs, can control such a wind.”
“You mean… we’re in the Yellow Springs?” The child rubbed their head, which ached from having Yuki-onna possess them for so long, and asked, “So, we’re dead…”
As they spoke, the child performed hand seals to open Yuki-onna’s seal while observing their surroundings.
In the foreground were faint green ghost fires and pale ground, truly giving a sense of the Netherworld’s Yellow Springs. In the distance were shattered palaces, floating ruins, and even more vigorous walls of ghost fire.
A flash of white light appeared on the child’s body. Their white hair and beard returned to black. Beside them, a woman with flowing white hair and an ethereal aura floated in mid-air, scattering ice crystals with every movement. Her beauty was so profound it seemed unreal.
“No, we’re not dead yet.” Yuki-onna also frowned, observing their surroundings, and said, “This is more like… a barrier that infinitely approaches the Yellow Springs…”
Just as the two were warily observing their surroundings, a bell-like laugh broke the silence. They looked over and saw Shuten-doji, leaning on a sake gourd, laughing heartily on a broken stone staircase not far away, seemingly amused by the two.
“Shuten-doji?!” Yuki-onna’s pupils constricted. Her ice-cold pretty face was instantly filled with surprise and confusion. She pulled the child back, creating distance from Shuten-doji, and said, “Aren’t you dead? Aobozu himself confirmed it!”
“Strictly speaking, I am indeed dead,” Shuten-doji nodded at the words, carrying their sake gourd and walking step by step towards Yuki-onna and the child. “But how did you two arrive in this Yin, Cao, Di, Fu?”
The last few words were spoken by Shuten-doji almost syllable by syllable. Yuki-onna would have been living in vain if she couldn’t detect the mockery and sarcasm in them.
“What exactly is going on? What is your current situation? Where are the other seven Lords? Where are we? Are you still the Ghost King?” Yuki-onna grabbed Shuten-doji’s shoulders and fired off numerous questions. “Great Ghost King, do you know that Nippon has suddenly lost all eight of you Great Yokai? Now the entire Hyakki Yagyo of Nippon cannot be organized, the amount of ghost energy has drastically decreased, and people’s living areas are shrinking on a large scale…”
“Alright, alright, stop shaking me, calm down.” Shuten-doji did not directly answer Yuki-onna’s questions but instead asked, “Why are you in Nippon? Shouldn’t you be staying put in Mount Fuji…”
Yuki-onna first calmed her agitated emotions before replying, “After the eight of you disappeared, Mitoshi-no-kun, Aobozu, and Lord Suzuka learned from the Ghost King’s succession that a new Ghost King was born in the Dragon Country after the Ghost King’s challenge battle. Therefore, they reached an agreement with the Nippon authorities and sent me to the Dragon Country under the guise of Chiko’s Shikigami to inquire about the situation and scout ahead. Afterward, Aobozu and Lord Suzuka will come here to find the new Ghost King…”
Shuten-doji listened to Yuki-onna’s words with surprise and fell into silence. Finally, they called out behind them, “Kawa-chan, come out. These two are here for you.”
To the disbelief of both the person and the ghost, the one Shuten-doji called out to in such an intimate tone was none other than Mo Chuan, who had been providing security for the child. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
“Little Daoist priest? I…”
“Stop.” Mo Chuan raised a hand to interrupt. “First, I’m not little. Second, why did you drug me?”
“Uh…” Yuki-onna awkwardly touched her chin and slowly replied, “As a yokai, I need to absorb yang energy… And I haven’t eaten for several days. Besides those officials around Chiko, you have the most yang energy, so I planned to absorb some after you fainted… and then cast some illusion magic on you to make you forget about it…”
“Is it harmful if she absorbs my yang energy?” Mo Chuan, unsure if Yuki-onna had absorbed any yang energy just now, turned to Shuten-doji and quietly asked.
“Let me put it this way, even if she were fully sated, she could only absorb one-tenth of what I absorbed from you in one go.”
“…”
Mo Chuan couldn’t help but glance back at Shuten-doji. Damn, why hadn’t he heard this little perv mention this before… Wait a minute… No wonder she became a spiritual body after just one time. So it was this dead ghost sucking her dry!
“Uh… that…” Chiko tentatively raised a hand and asked, “Where exactly are we now…”
“Here,” Mo Chuan revealed a harmless smile and said, “Welcome to Abyssal Hell.”