The next morning.
The rising sun had just climbed into the sky, and pale golden light pierced through the thin mist, spilling over this remote village in Musashi Province.
Kobe Hikaru pushed open the wooden door of the guest house.
The air was faintly cool, carrying the scent of soil and morning dew.
Last night’s demon raid seemed to have already become a thing of the past.
The farmers in the village carried hoes and baskets on their backs, walking in small groups toward the fields.
When they passed by the guest house, they saw the young man standing at the doorway.
He was not wearing that fierce crimson oni mask.
His skin was pale, his white hair hung loose, but he had the face of a young man.
The villagers paused slightly, their eyes darting away.
There was fear, curiosity, and finally, one stiff nod after another before they hurried off.
Life had to go on.
Hikaru did not mind them.
He raised his head and looked toward the shrine.
Above the vermilion torii, the leaves of the massive sacred tree rustled in the morning wind.
On the platform beneath it stood a figure in white kosode and red hakama, facing the rising sun in the east.
It was Kikyo.
She was not holding her bow.
Instead, her hands were folded around a kagura bell tied with white paper streamers.
Ring—
The clear sound of the bell carried far in the stillness of morning.
Her eyes were closed, her feet moving in ritual steps, and her body flowed with the rhythm of the bell.
The wide sleeves of her white kosode lifted with each movement, almost translucent beneath the morning light, faintly outlining the slender yet resilient line of her shoulders and back beneath the cloth.
Whenever she turned, the scarlet hakama spread open like flowing water, fitting around her waist and hips.
For an instant, it traced a breathtakingly rounded curve before the fabric fell again, hiding it in the shadowed folds.
That was not a dance.
It was cultivation.
Hikaru could sense it, faintly and vaguely.
With her movements, tiny wandering specks of weak light gathered toward her, merging into that seemingly delicate body before transforming into a vast power that burned every demon and monster it touched.
That was the source of spiritual power.
Pure, immense, like the sun hanging high in the sky.
Hikaru stood there and watched for a long time.
It was beautiful.
Not only the person herself, but also the flow of spiritual power.
From Hikaru’s perspective, it carried a rhythm that seemed to harmonize with heaven and earth.
It was completely different from turbid, chaotic demonic energy.
The exact opposite.
He simply watched.
And waited.
Only after a while did the bell gradually fade.
Kikyo put away the kagura bell and slowly breathed out a mouthful of turbid air, the stirring aura around her settling back into calm.
She turned, and her gaze passed over the long stone steps before landing on Hikaru below.
Hikaru walked up.
Twenty-seven steps passed beneath him in a moment.
“Morning.”
Hikaru greeted her.
Kikyo nodded slightly.
“How did you sleep last night?”
“I’m a yokai.
I don’t need sleep—”
Hikaru answered.
Kikyo paused, as if realizing she had forgotten that point.
But looking at the “young man” before her, it was not strange that she had forgotten.
Then Hikaru continued, “Of course, if you mean whether my demonic energy recovered, then thanks to you, I’m quite full.”
He told the truth.
Last night’s offering really had been very filling.
Kikyo did not continue on that topic.
She only looked at him quietly, as if waiting for him to explain why he had come.
But Hikaru had not actually come to Kikyo with any specific purpose.
More accurately, he had come because of the Shikon Jewel’s affection.
Only now, after watching Kikyo’s morning practice, an idea suddenly emerged in his mind.
A rather absurd idea.
He did not drag it out.
“I want to learn.”
The oni samurai with the face of a young man pointed at the kagura bell in Kikyo’s hand, then at her.
“I want to learn spiritual power.”
The wind stopped.
For who knew how many times now, an emotion called “astonishment” appeared in Kikyo’s cool eyes.
“You are a yokai.”
She quickly spoke, stating the obvious.
“Spiritual power is the power of demon purification.
It is the natural enemy of demonic energy.”
Kikyo looked at him as if she were looking at a madman.
“If spiritual power is born inside a yokai’s body, it would be like swallowing burning coal into the stomach.
Apart from self-destruction, it serves no purpose.”
“That’s for ordinary yokai.”
Hikaru’s expression did not change.
“This body of mine may be a yokai’s body, but this mind, this consciousness, is still human.”
“Besides, who says water and fire can’t coexist?” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated.
I need to at least understand how to deal with this stuff, so the next time I get shot by one of your arrows, I can dodge a couple more times.”
Kikyo fell silent.
The reasoning was strange.
But…
She looked at the young oni samurai before her.
His eyes could not be called clear, but there was no malice in them either.
Only pure curiosity.
That was a look she had not seen in many human spellcasters.
However, he was a yokai.
A very strange yokai.
“Consciousness is indeed important.”
After a long while, Kikyo spoke.
She placed the kagura bell on a nearby stone stand.
As if she had agreed to Hikaru’s request, she suddenly began explaining.
“The energy between heaven and earth is divided into clear and turbid.”
“Turbid energy sinks, gathers, and becomes demonic.
It governs the body, desire, and obsession.”
“Clear energy rises, condenses, and becomes spiritual.
It governs the soul, will, and belief.”
Kikyo’s voice was cool and clear, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, echoing through the open shrine grounds.
Hikaru listened very seriously.
The original story had never explained these theories in such detail.
“Ordinary yokai have chaotic souls.
They only know slaughter and devouring, so they can only absorb turbid energy to strengthen their demonic bodies.”
Kikyo looked at Hikaru.
“You are indeed somewhat different.”
“Your soul… is very complete.”
“Even sturdier than most ordinary people’s.”
That was true.
After all, he was a transmigrator who had already experienced life and death.
If his mentality had been unstable, he would have collapsed long ago.
“That’s why I want to try,” Hikaru said.
Kikyo pondered for a moment, then seemed to make a decision.
“Give me your hand.”
Hikaru extended his right hand.
Kikyo raised her hand.
She did not directly touch him, but stopped three sun above his palm.
“Close your eyes.”
“Sense your intent.”
Hikaru closed his eyes as told.
In the next instant, he felt a warm current flow down from above his palm and enter through his arm.
That was Kikyo’s spiritual power.
Hiss—
Hikaru frowned slightly.
It really did hurt.
It felt like scalding water being poured directly over his nerves.
The demonic energy inside him instinctively tried to counterattack, but before Kikyo’s extremely pure spiritual power, it was instantly suppressed.
“Do not resist.”
Kikyo’s voice sounded beside his ear.
“That is your body’s instinct.
Use your ‘intent’ to control it.”
Hikaru gritted his teeth and forcibly suppressed the urge to strike back.
“This part is wrong.”
Kikyo suddenly stepped forward.
Very close.
In the simulated breath produced by his demonic energy, Hikaru could even smell the faint scent on her body.
He did not need to breathe, but he could breathe, just as a corpse should not move, yet he still moved.
He could also smell that Kikyo’s scent was not the rouge of an ordinary woman.
It was the lingering scent of burned incense mixed with morning dew.
It was not especially fragrant, but it was clean to the extreme.
One hand pressed against his lower abdomen.
Even through his battered armor and clothing, Hikaru could clearly feel the warmth of that hand and the shape of her palm.
Slender, yet strong.
“Your energy is too chaotic.”
Kikyo’s voice had no fluctuation.
“Your demonic energy is rushing everywhere.
Your ‘intent’ has not unified it.”
She lifted her other hand and pressed it against Hikaru’s back.
Front and back at once.
Two streams of spiritual power entered at the same time, forming a cycle inside his body.
“Feel this path.”
She said.
Hikaru opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was that stunningly beautiful face, close enough to touch.
Her skin was fair as porcelain and flawless.
Her long lashes lowered, hiding the emotion in her eyes. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Their breaths almost intertwined.
Although Hikaru’s breathing was simulated, it still existed.
He was a head taller than Kikyo.
As he lowered his eyes, his gaze slid down uncontrollably.
Past the slightly open collar, he saw the delicate, almost translucent line of her collarbone, and below that… the snow-white rise and fall held tightly beneath her white kosode, trembling faintly with each breath.
Further down was her hand pressed against his lower abdomen.
Because she was standing too close, the fabric of her red hakama brushed against the side of his thigh.
Through the cloth, he could vaguely feel the warmth and softness of a woman’s leg beneath it.
He could even imagine the long, taut legs hidden deep beneath the layered fabric, and the deep shadows outlined by those folds.
Hikaru’s throat moved.
He was a normal man.
Even if his body was cold now, his heart was still hot.
With this posture and this distance, saying he had no thoughts at all would be the same as claiming he was a eunuch.
But no expression appeared on his face.
Even his eyes showed not the slightest ripple.
At this moment, the dead-face trait of an oni samurai played an enormous role.
“Focus.”
Kikyo seemed to notice the slight disorder in his breathing and raised her eyes to glance at him.
That look was faint.
But sharp.
As if it could see straight through the skin and into all those improper thoughts beneath.
“Your demonic energy is flowing too quickly.”
She pointed it out.
“The spiritual power entering my body is stimulating it.”
Hikaru lied without changing his expression.
“It hurts a little.”
Kikyo did not expose him, nor could she.
Perhaps to her, this really was just the rejection reaction of a yokai body toward spiritual power.
She did not withdraw her hand.
Instead, she increased the output of spiritual power, guiding that faint trace of “clear energy” through Hikaru’s body.
“Then continue.”
Kikyo said, “Close your eyes and try to sense it yourself.”
Hikaru closed his eyes again.
This time, without Kikyo’s guidance, he could only rely on the feeling from that brief moment and fumble his way forward.
It was difficult.
Extremely difficult.
That clear energy was like a star in the night sky.
He clearly knew it was there, yet no matter what he did, he could not grasp it.
And the demonic energy inside him kept interfering with his senses.
Time passed bit by bit.
The sun gradually rose higher.
Hikaru’s temple twitched.
That was a side effect of demonic energy and spiritual power clashing inside him.
“That is enough.”
Kikyo’s voice rang out.
“We stop here for today.”
Hikaru opened his eyes.
He could feel that his body was in terrible condition.
The demonic energy inside him had been stirred into chaos and was rushing everywhere.
“Your demonic energy is disordered,” Kikyo said.
“You will need a few days of rest to recover.”
“…Mm.”
Hikaru nodded.
Although he had failed, he did not feel disappointed.
He had not expected to succeed on the first try anyway.
Besides, that period just now…
Cough.
Better not think about it.
“Go back and rest.”
Kikyo stood up and lightly brushed dust from her clothes, though there was no dust on them.
“Are we continuing tomorrow?” Hikaru asked.
Kikyo glanced at him.
“You still want to continue?”
“Of course.”
Hikaru said it as if it were obvious.
“I said I wanted to learn.
How could I give up after one try?”
Kikyo was silent for a moment.
“…As you wish.”
She turned and walked toward the shrine.
Her white kosode and red hakama were especially striking beneath the sunlight.
Hikaru watched her back.
Although his goal in learning spiritual power was indeed to become stronger, if it meant he could be this close to Kikyo every day…
That was not a bad deal either.
He shook his head and suppressed that thought.
Then he turned and walked toward the empty house near the village entrance.
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