Xun Ya

Although Fangshan Castle is located deep in the mountains, it is still situated by a road. At noon, a convoy of several ordinary ox-carts arrived at the foot of Fangshan Castle. Due to the main gate's road being destroyed, most of the convoy had to stop at the mountain's base. The people disembarked and walked up the mountain, carrying many items. Taira no Kageyori even led numerous samurai down to greet them.

When Taira no Kageyori saw a splendidly dressed, slightly plump man, the two began to exchange pleasantries.

All of this was observed by Kamo no Yasunori, who stood atop the mountain.

“Lord Yasunori, it seems to be merchants,” an Onmyoji beside Kamo no Yasunori said. Judging by the style of his kariginu, although he held the same Junior Assistant rank as Kamo no Yasunori, his demeanor was very respectful due to Kamo no Yasunori's additional status.

“Hmm... it seems the Taira clan wants to complete some transaction in this castle...”

Gazing at the situation below, Kamo no Yasunori continued.

“And for the security of this transaction, he even wrote directly to Father, requesting guards. It seems the content of this transaction is not simple.”

After realizing that the first group sent by the Onmyoryo was unreliable, Taira no Kageyori directly wrote to Kamo no Tadayuki, hoping he could send truly capable Onmyoji as guards. Kamo no Tadayuki, in turn, sent his own son, accompanied by two subordinates.

In Kamo no Tadayuki's view, having his son—who, despite being a Junior Assistant, possessed the strength of a Senior Assistant—along with two other Junior Assistants, was sufficient to handle any situation.

“By the way, did you just go and ask? What exactly happened here before? Why is it so damaged?” Kamo no Yasunori turned his head and asked another Onmyoji attendant.

“We've already asked. According to the ashigaru in the castle, a group of yokai attacked the castle last night. The current situation is due to a secret family technique performed by an Onmyoji who arrived earlier?” The questioned Onmyoji replied with a somewhat strange expression.

“An Onmyoji who arrived earlier? Secret technique? Have the other two clans also sent people?” Kamo no Yasunori was visibly startled after hearing his subordinate's words. Upon hearing 'secret family technique,' he instinctively thought of the Minamoto and Fujiwara clans.

Such immense destructive power could only come from the secret family techniques of the Three Great Clans. Taira no Kageyori clearly already had powerful guards, so why did he specifically ask Father for more Onmyoji assistance?

One must know, the Onmyoryo does not dispatch Onmyoji as guards for free...

“No... I heard them say that the Onmyoji is a young girl, and her name is Asakura Hao.”

“Asakura Hao... it's her!?” Kamo no Yasunori reacted with astonishment after a moment of stunned silence. His memory immediately flashed back to the night of the selection trial, to the mysterious girl who had dealt with the Demon-Faced Centipede.

...

Meanwhile, Taira no Kageyori had already escorted his distinguished guest all the way to the main hall of Fangshan Castle.

It was a splendidly dressed, corpulent man with narrowed eyes. Beside him stood several burly guards armed with swords, and behind him were a few strong men carrying boxes.

“Lord Gonnosuke, please wait here for a moment. We will bring the items up now,” Taira no Kageyori said politely to the corpulent man.

“Very well, then I shall trouble Lord Kageyori,” the man named Gonnosuke said to Taira no Kageyori with a kind smile.

Before long, several samurai together carried up a large birdcage. Inside, Itsumaden sat, staring blankly around.

Seeing this, Gonnosuke's eyes lit up. He approached the cage and eagerly scrutinized Itsumaden within, while Itsumaden simultaneously avoided Gonnosuke's gaze.

“Display your feathers,” Taira no Kageyori, standing by, said in a low voice to Itsumaden in the cage. However, Itsumaden paid him no mind, remaining silently seated within the birdcage.

“I told you to display your feathers! Are you deaf?!” Seeing Itsumaden's attitude, Taira no Kageyori couldn't help but shout loudly. Just as he was about to reach into the cage, Gonnosuke stopped him.

“Lord Kageyori, don't rush. If the feathers are damaged by accident, it would be a loss. I have a way.”

Smiling, Gonnosuke stopped Taira no Kageyori. As he spoke, under the bewildered gazes of everyone, he took out a small, palm-sized feather fan from his person, adorned with short, bright yellow feathers. When Itsumaden saw the fan, her eyes widened.

“This treasure... it's worth two or three castles,” Gonnosuke chuckled, looking at the surrounding gazes.

Muttering a few words, demonic power began to surge from the small feather fan in Gonnosuke's hand. Several feathers on it immediately began to emit golden light, scattering specks of glitter. At the same time, Itsumaden's own feathers involuntarily radiated demonic power, and her Golden Feathers appeared and shone brightly, their dazzling interplay astonishing everyone present.

“Golden Feathers can resonate with each other, you see,” Gonnosuke said with a smile, shaking the small, glittering golden fan. He was very pleased with the reactions of those around him.

“Those feathers... where did they come from? Why are they so small?” Itsumaden murmured, her eyes fixed on the small fan in Gonnosuke's hand.

“Heh heh, where from? Of course, from you all. As for why they're so small? It's a bit regrettable, actually. To think, this was my first windfall...” As he spoke, Gonnosuke held the small feather fan before his eyes.

“I remember I stumbled upon them in the mountains in southern Awaji. They were two young Itsumaden chicks whose parents were nowhere to be found. When I saw these birds from legend, I was overjoyed, truly overjoyed... so much so that... I lost my head...” Gonnosuke said, a look of vexation appearing on his face. He then continued in a tone of extreme regret.

“I was so blinded by the value of the Golden Feathers at the time. Since I didn't know how to distinguish ordinary feathers from Golden Feathers back then, I plucked all the feathers from their bodies in one go. Not long after, those two little ones passed away... Oh dear... what a pity. If only I had raised them, they could have produced even more Golden Feathers for me!” As he spoke, Gonnosuke turned his gaze to Itsumaden, a kind smile on his face.

“But don't worry, I won't make the same mistake twice. I will raise you well, so you can grow the most, the most Golden Feathers for me...”

Watching Gonnosuke's smile, Itsumaden's eyes blazed with fire. She instinctively clenched her sharp talons.

...

On the south side of Fangshan Castle, ashigaru soldiers were reassembling the remaining stones and wood from the ruins into temporary defensive fortifications, to prevent the southern side of the mountain castle from being completely undefended.

This was Taira no Kageyori's order, stating that the mountain castle's safety must be ensured today. The Fangshan Castle garrison, which was not originally directly under him, was forced to do this manual labor.

It was arduous physical labor. From morning until now, every one of these ashigaru soldiers was drenched in sweat, continuously cursing and complaining about Taira no Kageyori under their breath while continuing to work. A fence made of stone and wood had already been erected at the site.

An ashigaru stood on a large rock, gazing into the distance. At this moment, he suddenly noticed a dark figure moving upwards at the far end of the ruins below the mountain, getting closer and closer to them.

“Hey! Uninvolved person, stop immediately! This is not where you should be!” the lookout soldier shouted loudly, but the dark figure continued to advance.

“Did you hear me?! No loitering here!” the ashigaru continued to shout, while also picking up his bow and nocking an arrow, aiming at the approaching figure. His shouts attracted the attention of the other ashigaru present, who all gathered before the fence, curiously watching the figure not far away.

“Leave immediately! I'm going to shoot!” the ashigaru warned one last time, but the being beneath the black robe paid no attention, continuing to advance.

The lookout ashigaru finally, in a fit of pique, released the arrow from his hand, shooting directly at the intruder.

Miketsu, from beneath her black robe, drew her tachi, which transformed into a giant blade. With a mid-air slash, she cut the incoming arrow. Then, concentrating demonic power on the blade, she swung it into the air again. A strong gust of demonic wind, sweeping sand and stones, blew out, sending the astonished ashigaru by the fence and on the large rock flying into the distance.

Immediately after, Miketsu once again raised the giant blade in her hand towards the temporary fortifications before her, silently murmuring.

“Come, Xun Ya...”

Raging demonic power emanated from the giant blade, and the wind pressure of the demonic energy formed at the blade's tip. Miketsu brought the demonic blade in her hand straight down.

“Wind Scar...”