Chapter 21 - The Demon-Rearing Ground.

The direction of the Demon Gate? Where are they taking us? testing

After hearing Yura's words, a slight worry rose in Miketsu's heart, but her steps did not slow.

The sun in the sky drew closer to the horizon, and dusk was about to fall. The group of adepts and onmyoji gradually moved away from the city district, finally stopping at an intersection where many roads converged.

At the wide intersection, many ox-carts were arranged neatly, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

These ox-carts had no canopies, and their frames were wide, unlike the palanquin-style ox-carts used by high-ranking officials and nobles on the streets of Heian-kyo. The ones before Miketsu looked more like they were specifically for transporting goods.

In front of the neatly arranged ox-carts stood another group of onmyoji. Their leader was a thin, middle-aged man with small eyes, a messy beard, and a gloomy expression. His kariginu was adorned with far more patterns than the other onmyoji, and his black lacquered cap had extra decorations and was slightly taller.

"Lord Yasuharu, everyone is here." Kamo no Yasunori stepped out from the group and bowed to the middle-aged man, who nodded.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Yasunori." After speaking, the middle-aged man's gaze swept over the crowd. With his hands behind his back, he announced solemnly.

"I am Ono no Yasuharu, the examiner for this selection trial. Now, everyone board the carts as instructed by the guards." Ono no Yasuharu's statement was direct and to the point. After giving his instructions, he flicked his sleeve and turned aside to chat with Kamo no Yasunori. It seemed neither of them was willing to speak more than a single word to this group of country folk.

As soon as Ono no Yasuharu finished speaking, the warriors beside him began to act, organizing the current candidates to board the prepared ox-carts in groups. "Ono? Are they also an onmyoji family?" Miketsu whispered to Yura beside her.

"Yes. It's said their family specializes in the Demonic Arts and Underworld Affairs." Yura gave a simple reply and said no more, as it was now their turn to board the ox-cart.

Miketsu was very happy to have a ride. Her feet were aching after walking all day in wooden clogs. She let out a long sigh of relief after sitting down next to Yura.

After seeing everyone seated on the ox-carts, Ono no Yasuharu nodded to Kamo no Yasunori. Yasunori immediately took a paper doll from his sleeve. After he threw it, the paper doll burst into an eerie blue flame. The flame gradually expanded, and when it finally dissipated, a man appeared in its place.

With gray wings on his back, dressed in tight black attire, his long black hair tied in a ponytail, and two bright red marks on his face, the man knelt on one knee before Kamo no Yasunori in a respectful posture. The adepts on the carts who witnessed this scene through their Spiritual Vision couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Is that a shikigami? A humanoid shikigami that can take physical form!?"

"To have such a high degree of materialization... As expected of the Kamo clan."

"I'm so jealous..."

...

Amidst the many whispers, Miketsu also curiously activated her Spiritual Vision and saw the summoned man. *Is materializing so impressive?* she thought. *My Tsuruha is quite resistant to taking a human form.*

"Whether one can materialize or not isn't a measure of strength..." Beside Miketsu, Yura's voice was clearly tinged with indignation.

"Yosuzume... begin."

"Yes, Lord Yasunori!"

Following Kamo no Yasunori's command, the Yosuzume flapped its wings and rose into the air. Its eyes glowed as it looked down at the crowd on the ox-carts. With a powerful beat of its wings, it scattered countless feathers.

The Yosuzume's feathers drifted down slowly, then turned into black smoke and dissipated into the air. A series of gasps erupted from the ox-carts below.

"What's happening! I... I can't see!"

"So dark! So dark! What happened? I can't see a thing!"

"This... It's a Yosuzume!"

...

A commotion broke out on the ox-carts. Some people moved about blindly and fell off, while others fumbled around for their weapons and tools.

"Silence!" Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

Kamo no Yasunori's shout, infused with Onmyodo, momentarily suppressed the chaos.

"The place we are taking you to next is a secret realm belonging to the Onmyoryo. You are not qualified to know the way there. I will release the spell once we have arrived."

Kamo no Yasunori's explanation quieted the scene considerably. The frightened people returned to their seats. Ono no Yasuharu glanced around before boarding his own official ox-cart, waving his hand to signal their departure.

The procession of ox-carts began to move out in order. All those seated on the carts were unable to see anything. The people who had fallen off in their panic were completely abandoned.

"Perhaps I should have prepared some dried lamprey..." Beside Miketsu, Yura, whose pupils had lost focus and whose eyes were pitch black, said half-jokingly. But Miketsu was in no mood to respond.

Because at that moment, she could see everything clearly.

What's going on? Based on the reactions of those around me and what that Kamo clan member said, shouldn't I be unable to see anything too? But why is my vision so clear right now?

'Hmph, how could a Yosuzume's blinding spell possibly affect you, Lady Uka.'

Just as Miketsu was wondering, a familiar voice sounded from the bottom of her heart.

Tsuruha!?

'Lady Uka, please do not be alarmed. I am currently attempting to transmit my voice to you through our Divine Messenger's Pact. You can now converse with me simply by clearly forming sentences in your mind.'

Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu paused, then did as she was told.

'So this was possible? Then why didn't you use it sooner?'

'My deepest apologies, Lady Uka. It has been several hundred years since I last used this ability. Furthermore, the pact between us only began to gradually recover and strengthen after you awakened. The pact's previous strength was insufficient for such a conversation. I only just succeeded in my attempt.' Tsuruha's words echoed in Miketsu's mind, allowing her to understand the situation.

'I see... By the way, you just said the Yosuzume's spell doesn't work on me because I am a god?'

'Yes. A god of your stature, Lady Uka, absolutely cannot be deceived by any sort of trickery. A mere blinding spell from the likes of a Yosuzume could never have an effect on you.'

Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu came to a realization. It seemed that although she couldn't use her divine powers, she had retained some of a god's basic traits, such as the ability to burn yokai and this immunity to negative status effects.

Understanding why she was unaffected by the Yosuzume, Miketsu relaxed and leaned back in the cart. She watched the passing scenery with open eyes, silently memorizing the route the ox-cart was taking. In any case, she was wearing an ichime-gasa, which conveniently concealed any abnormality in her eyes.

The ox-cart traveled for a long time. After countless turns, it entered a hidden path so narrow it could only accommodate a single cart, forcing the entire procession into a long, single file line moving forward.

In Miketsu's eyes, the trees around the procession grew denser and taller. The sunlight grew dimmer, with only a little filtering through the gaps in the leaves. It seemed they had entered a forest and were gradually going deeper into it.

As the procession ventured deeper into the forest, the surrounding temperature began to drop, and a chill slowly spread through the air. Miketsu observed that paper talismans began to appear on the increasingly tall trees, and as the group continued forward, the talismans on the trees became more and more numerous and dense.

'Lady Uka, please be careful. The yin energy here is growing heavier.' Tsuruha said from within her sleeve. In truth, Miketsu could have noticed the problem even without Tsuruha's warning.

Although she was in the Human Realm, she now felt as if she were in the Demon Realm.

After the procession passed through a dilapidated torii gate, it arrived at a large clearing that had been forcibly carved out of the forest. The group, which had been traveling for nearly an hour, stopped one by one in the clearing. Kamo no Yasunori was the first to jump down from his own ox-cart. He summoned the Yosuzume and dispelled the blinding spell.

Upon seeing their surroundings, the crowd, whose sight had been restored, immediately broke into a flurry of discussion. Kamo no Yasunori gave them no chance to talk, directly ordering everyone to get off the carts and gather together.

"Such heavy yin energy..." Yura, her sight just restored, remarked after observing her surroundings. Then, her eyes fixed on something in front of the crowd.

"This is..."

There, at the edge of the clearing, stood even taller trees. These trees were not simply adorned with paper talismans like the ones before. Instead, the entire trunk of each great tree was engraved from top to bottom with dense symbols and incantations, as if each tree itself was a giant talisman. These engraved giant trees stood in a row, stretching neatly like the posts of a fence to the far end of the clearing and continuing on out of sight. There was only this single row of giant trees, and the forest behind them emitted an unusually thick yin energy that washed over Miketsu and Yura.

This row of giant trees carved with incantations was a spectacular sight, and beyond it lay the source of the forest's yin energy.

At this moment, Ono no Yasuharu also leisurely disembarked from his ox-cart. Looking at the crowd, who were stunned by the scene before them, he spoke unhurriedly. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

"This is the Onmyoryo's Demon-Rearing Ground, and it is also the site of your selection trial."