T/N: As I promised I will upload 10 chapters today
"Hey hey~"
Shuten Douji cautiously waved her hand towards Ibaraki Douji on the other side.
"Ibaraki, look over there!"
"..."
Ibaraki Douji poked out half of her head and looked down the corridor outside.
"Eh? Another Onmyoji?"
"Ibaraki, you noticed it too, huh!"
Shuten Douji said as she looked at the Onmyoji ahead.
"Say, should we follow him?"
Ibaraki Douji shook her head.
"I do not know."
"I will follow your lead. If you say we should follow, I will follow."
The choice suddenly returned to Shuten Douji.
She looked at the back of the Onmyoji who was gradually moving away, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to risk following him.
Shuten Douji certainly knew that oni and Onmyoji were extremely hostile to each other.
But with no other usable information at the moment, following him was the only choice for the two oni.
"Ibaraki, let's go!"
"Yes, I understand."
[You didn't know what Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji encountered on the other side.]
[Because your attention was currently all on Fujiwara no Tokuko.]
[Because you noticed that something was a little off with her.]
"Madam."
Abe no Taishin asked Minamoto no Raiko beside him without changing his expression.
"Have you noticed... that she seems a little strange today?"
Minamoto no Raiko naturally understood that the "she" Abe no Taishin was referring to was Fujiwara no Tokuko.
After learning what she had done to the Retired Emperor, Minamoto no Raiko, who held the rank of General, no longer showed her respect in private with Abe no Taishin.
"There is indeed something. I feel like she..."
"Is very anxious," Abe no Taishin added the second half of the sentence.
"Yes," Minamoto no Raiko nodded.
Consistent with the consensus the two had reached, Fujiwara no Tokuko seemed very anxious today.
It could even be said that something was wrong with her.
"Madam, has anything happened recently?"
"No."
Minamoto no Raiko cautiously looked at Fujiwara no Tokuko, who was still receiving the court officials.
"But recently, she has been like this the whole time."
"Like this the whole time?"
"Yes."
[You realized that the situation in Heian Palace was somewhat different from what you had thought.]
[You vaguely felt that the Fujiwara no Tokuko before you was also bearing some pressure.]
[You had a risky idea to go out and take a look.]
"Madam, may I leave for a while?"
"Eh?"
According to common sense, Minamoto no Raiko shouldn't have allowed Abe no Taishin to do this.
However—
As his lawfully wedded wife, Minamoto no Raiko could sense that her husband had thought of something.
She didn't hesitate and directly took out the Minamoto clan's token and tied it to the Grand Onmyoji's waist.
"I understand."
"Husband, go do what you think is right."
"I will handle the situation here."
Everything was said without needing many words.
The Minamoto couple exchanged a glance and had already completely trusted each other.
[You temporarily left the court council hall.]
[This should not have been allowed.]
[But Fujiwara no Tokuko didn't seem to have time to care about you—she really looked very anxious.]
[You walked through the silent Heian Palace.]
[You began to think about everything.]
Abe no Taishin always felt that this series of events was somewhat inconsistent.
It was certainly true that Fujiwara no Tokuko wanted to participate in politics.
However—
Using an Onmyoji who could connect with the spiritual world to set up a formation in Heian Palace like this wasn't a good method.
After all, this was an extremely risky behavior.
As the number one Onmyoji in Kyoto, he could have noticed all of this at any time.
The Grand Onmyoji hidden behind Fujiwara no Tokuko naturally wouldn't be unaware of this.
So—
This meant that he had the confidence to continue things in an orderly manner even after being discovered.
Should this be called confidence?
Or should it be called arrogance?
In addition, there was one more thing that Abe no Taishin was very concerned about.
Why did Fujiwara no Tokuko wear a veil to cover her face?
Could there be... some secret in this that couldn't be known to others?
[You were thinking about these questions.]
[And Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji's tracking continued.]
Oni and humans were different.
As creatures that survived by relying on "thought," oni could easily hide their presence.
This was also the reason why the profession of Onmyoji was born—the common people needed people who could ferret out the hidden oni.
And as oni with outstanding abilities, Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji naturally also knew how to hide their presence.
So even if they were following the unknown Grand Onmyoji at such close range, the two oni wouldn't be discovered.
"What a clumsy Onmyoji."
Shuten Douji looked at the figure of the Onmyoji ahead and couldn't help but comment.
"If it were Mister, he would have definitely found us by now."
"Yes."
Ibaraki Douji nodded.
"If it were Abe-sama, he should indeed have discovered us."
"Eh?"
Shuten Douji turned her head to look at her friend.
"Abe-sama?"
"Ibaraki, when did you start using that title?"
"Hmm... I just thought of it," Ibaraki Douji answered very seriously. "Because I thought it was very suitable for addressing him, so I called him that."
"Shuten, should I not use that title?"
"You..."
Looking at Ibaraki Douji's sincere and undisguised gaze, Shuten Douji's face turned red.
"Whatever you want."
"It's your freedom how you want to call Mister!"
"I don't care!"
"Yes," Ibaraki Douji nodded. "That's good then."
"..."
"..."
Shuten Douji turned her face away.
"Alright, let's not talk about this! Let's hurry up and follow that Onmyoji ahead!"
"Okay."
It was quite a coincidence.
Although Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji followed slowly, they were always able to stay close to the Grand Onmyoji ahead.
The two little oni passed through most of Heian Palace like this.
"Where is he going anyway?"
Looking at this seemingly endless journey, Shuten Douji couldn't help but mutter to herself.
She began to wonder if there was something wrong with her judgment.
Could it be—
Did this Onmyoji really not know anything?
Shuten Douji was a little puzzled.
But at this moment, something unexpected happened.
Ibaraki Douji spoke up at this time:
"Shuten, he's gone."
"Eh?!"
Shuten Douji came back to her senses from her thoughts and found that the Onmyoji the two oni had been following had indeed disappeared before their eyes.
"This... where did he go?"
They had clearly been able to keep up no matter what just now.
How could he have disappeared after just turning a corner?
Shuten Douji felt that something was wrong.
She put away her previous carefree attitude and said to Ibaraki Douji beside her:
"Ibaraki, be careful."
"I feel like something is wrong."
"..."
Although Ibaraki Douji didn't respond directly,
Her clenched fist indicated that she had taken Shuten Douji's words to heart.
"Then what should we do now?" Ibaraki Douji asked.
"..."
The Oni King of Mount Ōe returned to her super serious combat mode.
She looked around vigilantly, paying attention to anything that might cause an accident.
"Ibaraki, let's look around here first."
"Maybe we'll find something."
[Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji began their own investigation.]
[And at the same time, your thinking also reached a stage result.]
Face.
Thinking about Fujiwara no Tokuko's veil, this word floated into Abe no Taishin's mind.
Wearing a veil certainly couldn't be for beauty, and it was even less likely to create some sense of mystery.
The only purpose it could serve was to conceal Fujiwara no Tokuko's face.
But—
Why conceal it?
That must be something that definitely couldn't be made public.
Then—
Why couldn't it be made public?
Fujiwara no Tokuko was, after all, someone with status and reputation, right?
Why would she even need to conceal her face?
Abe no Taishin pondered this question hard, his head constantly filled with the meager information he had obtained from Fujiwara no Tokuko.
"I."
This was the same self-reference as Tamamo no Mae, and it was one of the few pieces of information that Abe no Taishin had kept in his mind.
Wait.
Abe no Taishin suddenly realized that he had fallen into a thinking trap.
Just like how Tamamo no Mae, who referred to herself as "I," wasn't actually a wicked demon,
The relationship between Fujiwara no Tokuko and that hidden Grand Onmyoji might not be as it appeared on the surface either.
Thinking this way—
It wasn't Fujiwara no Tokuko who invited this Onmyoji.
Rather, this Onmyoji sought out Fujiwara no Tokuko.
No.
It wasn't just to this extent.
Judging from the situation where he could hide in Heian Palace and even set up an Onmyōdō formation, it was probably not as simple as just "seeking out."
The more likely result was—
"Decide."
Because they could "decide" who the new Fujiwara no Tokuko was at any time, they couldn't let her show her true face to avoid suspicion.
Continuing to think along this line of thought—
The current anxiety of "Fujiwara no Tokuko" had a reason to be explained.
She was about to be "replaced."
To put it in a more understandable way, it meant death.
The moment he realized all of this, Abe no Taishin understood that the key to the problem lay with the Grand Onmyoji.
He had to find him quickly.
And the moment this thought was born in his heart, Abe no Taishin suddenly felt his heart tremble violently.
He looked into the distance.
Someone had activated some kind of Onmyōdō technique at this time?
[You rushed towards the direction from which that feeling came.]
[At the same time, Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji's investigation also had new progress.]
[But it wasn't an ideal result.]
"What... are all of these?"
Shuten Douji looked at the scene before her, and cold sweat couldn't help but break out on her forehead.
She and Ibaraki Douji had opened a door and found a huge room.
And here, corpses were hanging everywhere.
What was even more terrifying was—
These corpses were exactly the same.
Even Shuten Douji, who was the Oni King of Mount Ōe, couldn't help but be shocked by the scene before her.
And at this moment, a figure appeared behind the two oni.
"Evil oni, have you seen enough?"
Hearing these words, Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji turned their heads at the same time.
Standing at the doorway was the Onmyoji they had lost track of earlier.
At this moment, he was looking at the two oni before him with a sinister smile.
But what Shuten Douji cared about wasn't that smile, but his appearance.
How could he look so similar to those corpses?
No!
It couldn't be said to be similar.
They were simply identical!
Shuten Douji confirmed the other party's appearance again and again.
And the other party, as if he had already known Shuten Douji's thoughts, said:
"No need to guess."
His gaze swept across the room.
"These are all me... just imperfect versions of me."
"Imperfect versions of you?"
Shuten Douji looked at the Onmyoji before her vigilantly.
"Who are you? What are you doing?"
"Oh... I forgot to introduce myself."
The Onmyoji bowed towards Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji.
"I am Ashiya Dōman."
"The most powerful Onmyoji in Heian-kyō."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ibaraki Douji's rebuttal came over.
"You are not the strongest Onmyoji."
"Abe-sama is."
"Abe?"
The Onmyoji who called himself Ashiya Dōman turned his head to look at Ibaraki Douji and suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha hahahaha!"
"He is just a nobody who is active in Heian-kyō while I haven't shown myself."
"Shut your mouth!"
"The Onmyoji recognized by Shuten doesn't need you to deny him!"
Ibaraki Douji directly pounced on him.
It could be seen that at this moment, she really disliked what Ashiya Dōman had just said.
However—
Facing the menacing Ibaraki Douji, Ashiya Dōman just raised his hand and conjured a large earth barrier out of thin air, sending her flying.
Shuten Douji realized that the Onmyoji before her could also control the five elements.
And his strength wasn't weak.
Ibaraki Douji, who had been knocked away, rolled several times on the ground before stopping after hitting a wooden wall.
"Ibaraki!" Shuten Douji shouted.
"No need to rush to shout," Ashiya Dōman sneered, "You will soon be lying there just like her."
"And then—"
"You will become an even more powerful version of me in this room."
"..."
Thump thump.
Knowing that this was the enemy, Shuten Douji's heart began to beat violently.
Flames began to burst out of her body—this was a manifestation of her magical power being released.
In an instant, the Oni King of Mount Ōe released a large amount of heat.
The huge room became warm.
"You bastard!"
Shuten Douji took a step and directly lunged towards Ashiya Dōman with a punch.
"Useless."
"An oni like you can never defeat me."
Turbulent currents of water appeared around Ashiya Dōman—this water had been forcibly drawn from the He River near Heian-kyō.
His mastery of the five elements had reached a terrifying level.
Sizzle sizzle.
Flames and water came into contact, emitting bursts of white smoke.
Boom!
Shuten Douji was also knocked away, hitting the wall and then falling to the ground.
"What a waste of time."
"Two ignorant little oni."
Ashiya Dōman used "metal" to create a large number of sharp blades.
"Don't stop me from doing my important work."
The sharp blades flew out, preparing to kill Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji.
But the next moment, flames surged from all directions, melting all these sharp blades.
Immediately after, Abe no Taishin appeared in the corridor not far away.
He looked at Ashiya Dōman, his eyes extremely cold.
"You maggot."
"What do you think you're doing to my Shuten and Ibaraki?"