Interrogation

Among the Three Great Clans, the Minamoto Clan was skilled with Shikigami, a fact known to all, and their methods of creating Shikigami, as well as their views on Shikigami and Yokai, were no secret; after the incident with the Tengu, the Minamoto Clan was the first to fall under suspicion.

In the Onmyoryo, Minamoto no Mitsunaka and Kamo no Tadayuki spoke alone for a long time; afterwards, upon returning home, he immediately ordered his son Minamoto no Yorimasa, who specialized in covert operations, to conduct a thorough investigation of all clan members, but the final result somewhat surprised him.

“None? Are you sure you’ve checked everything? No omissions?”

“Father, Yorimasa would not dare to be lax or negligent in the task you entrusted.” Looking at his father, Minamoto no Yorimasa’s expression was as serious and unwavering as ever, leaving no room for doubt.

Hearing Minamoto no Yorimasa’s words, Minamoto no Mitsunaka frowned; he silently stroked his beard, seemingly deep in thought for a long time without speaking, until Minamoto no Yorimasa was the first to ask.

“Father, does Kamo no Tadayuki truly suspect that the Tengu incident is related to us?”

“It’s not just him who suspects, many others do too…” Hearing Minamoto no Yorimasa’s question, Minamoto no Mitsunaka said in a deep voice, indicating that his earlier experience in the Onmyoryo had not been pleasant.

“Merely based on spiritual power residue and lost talismans, this matter cannot be attributed to us, can it?”

“If it were just that, it would be fine, but the Demon-Suppressing Talismans the Tengu brought as evidence were not ordinary; they clearly bore traces of our Jutsu-shiki.” Minamoto no Mitsunaka continued, explaining that due to the method of transmission in Onmyodo, even the same type of talisman would have subtle differences when held by different families.

“Clearly belonging to us…” Hearing Minamoto no Mitsunaka’s words, a hint of surprise flashed across Minamoto no Yorimasa’s face.

“Exactly, so I suspected if someone in the clan was privately involved in this matter, but from your investigation results, it seems not to be the case…” Minamoto no Mitsunaka continued, and Minamoto no Yorimasa, after a moment’s thought, immediately added.

“Then could it be those ‘buyers’?” Minamoto no Yorimasa was referring to collaborators like Ishikawa, organizations of mystics not under the jurisdiction of the Onmyoryo.

“Although I don’t believe those sorts have the guts to provoke Kakuhanbo, this is currently the most likely possibility.” Hearing his son Minamoto no Yorimasa’s words, Minamoto no Mitsunaka nodded slightly, then continued.

“Very well, your main direction of investigation from now on will be this; you must get to the bottom of this matter for me!”

“Yes.”

…

Minamoto no Yorimasa left Minamoto no Mitsunaka’s elegant room and walked straight down the long corridor of the mansion, proceeding forward under the respectful gazes of the surrounding servants, until a familiar figure turned the corner at the end of the hallway.

“Brother Yorimitsu…”

Seeing Minamoto no Yorimitsu, whom he had met in the narrow corridor, Minamoto no Yorimasa nodded slightly in greeting; just as their paths crossed, Minamoto no Yorimitsu spoke with an indifferent expression.

“Regarding the Tengu incident at Sugo Ungo, have you made any progress?”

“I apologize, Brother Yorimitsu, but currently, there is no valuable information; I am re-establishing the direction of investigation according to Father’s wishes.” Stopping his steps, Minamoto no Yorimasa slowly replied, his eyes not directly meeting his brother’s.

“Re-establishing the direction? Does that mean… you’ve finished investigating the clan members?”

“Yes, no clan member was found to have any unusual circumstances.”

“Are you sure everyone has been checked?”

“Of course…”

Hearing his younger brother’s reply, Minamoto no Yorimitsu silently took two steps closer to Minamoto no Yorimasa, lowering his voice to speak softly.

“Then, what about the investigators themselves?”

Hearing Minamoto no Yorimitsu’s words, Minamoto no Yorimasa’s pupils contracted slightly; after pausing for two seconds, he immediately replied with a smile.

“Brother Yorimitsu is right to remind me; my subordinates should also be thoroughly investigated, and I will see to it later.”

“That’s good… This matter is very strange; I can sense a hint of something amiss.” With an unusual tone, Minamoto no Yorimitsu slowly spoke to his younger brother.

“The Great Tengu Kakuhanbo is a very ancient Yokai Lord, always known for his prudence and composure, yet this time he merely relied on a small amount of spiritual power residue and a few talismans to send people to Heian-kyo to demand an explanation, even wanting to search us directly; this is too inconsistent with his rumored way of doing things.

“According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, Kakuhanbo has not set foot outside Sugo Ungo for nearly ten years, remaining completely silent and inactive, yet this time he suddenly made such a move, hah… this is truly interesting.” Minamoto no Yorimitsu chuckled softly; as someone who had always been a manipulator behind the scenes, he seemed to be at the heart of the current situation.

“Brother, do you mean…”

“I don’t mean anything specific; I just want to tell you to handle this matter well… remember… prioritize the family above all else.”

Having said that, Minamoto no Yorimitsu walked directly past Minamoto no Yorimasa’s side and continued forward.

“Yes, Brother…” With an unusual glint in his eyes, Minamoto no Yorimasa stood in place and replied.

…

Darkness enveloped the sky, and night once again descended upon Heian-kyo; the gradually rounding bright moon in the sky seemed to possess an invisible power, nurturing the demonic energy of the earth and increasing the strength of the people of the night.

Tonight was a good time for Yokai activity, even for deities disguised as Yokai.

Miketsu had already begun to establish her own power in the demon realm; every night, Nura Rihyon would lead the Yokai in attacks, ambushing villains or evil spirits, executing the justice she had ordained.

As the Owl’s reputation grew higher and higher, more and more Yokai gathered under the Owl’s name; even after expelling a group with strong man-eating tendencies, there were still many, and these Yokai were almost all orderly and well-managed under Nura Rihyon and Tamamura, especially Nura Rihyon, whose outstanding leadership as a young Yokai truly exceeded Miketsu’s expectations.

Generally, Miketsu, as the boss, did not participate in Nura Rihyon’s daily “chivalrous acts”; only when encountering a more important target would she personally step forward to oversee the situation to prevent unforeseen circumstances, and she usually wouldn’t take action herself, as was the case tonight.

Miketsu stood on a high branch, her figure hidden in the darkness, her eyes looking down at the human procession moving below; in the bushes on the ground around her were countless Yokai already lying in ambush.

This was a team of demon hunters from Echizen, composed of mystics such as Shugenja who had emerged from the mountains, renegade monks, and sorcerers; they had captured many deep-mountain Yokai and were preparing to transport them to Heian-kyo.

Among Miketsu’s subordinates, Nura Rihyon and Tanuki were responsible for Yokai management and direct operations, while Konkiku and Cat Shop Owner handled financial intelligence and logistics; Makoto would also occasionally appear to assist and supervise various aspects.

Paved by both financial resources and reputation, various intelligence channels slowly opened up; after the Ishikawa incident, the Inari foxes also began to gradually expand their range of activity, and Miketsu’s intelligence network was gradually being established in Heian-kyo, bringing her all sorts of valuable information, such as that concerning the team before her.

The reason they were given such importance by Miketsu was that, according to the collected intelligence, there were Onmyoji from Heian-kyo mixed among these people, who had unclear connections with a certain Onmyo family in Heian-kyo, and seemed to be secretly carrying out some mission.

The collusion between unofficial Mystic groups and Onmyo families immediately reminded Miketsu of Ishikawa and the Minamoto Clan; thus, with a sense of ill will towards the Minamoto Clan, Miketsu decided to take a good look at what secrets this team was hiding.