Chapter 20: Shadows on the Shrine
“No way, it wasn’t me, don’t make stuff up!” Riko frantically waved her hands, denying everything.
“That’s odd,” Seimei said with a smile. “How’d my hand end up over there?”
“Because our fingers were interlocked, so who grabbed first is anyone’s guess,” Riko shot back, echoing his earlier words.
“Hm, not admitting it? That’s fine, I’m in no rush.”
Riko: “…”
As they bickered, the colorless villagers trudged out to work, faces heavy with exhaustion.
“Let’s go check the Inari Shrine,” Seimei said, his gaze following them.
“But we don’t know where it is.”
“We’ll ask her.” Seimei nodded toward Qianxi Nü, lingering at the village entrance.
He dropped the barrier, and Qianxi Nü’s eyes lit up, zipping over. “I looked for you all night!”
“We were in a barrier, so you couldn’t see us,” Riko explained.
“Oh, that explains it.” Qianxi Nü perked up, clutching her cheeks in a dreamy daze. “Another lovely day, my lord. If you want to explore, I can guide you. I’ve been here a month.”
“Strange, didn’t you hate this place? Why stay so long?” Riko asked.
“No boats,” Qianxi Nü said, pinching her chin. “The sea’s too wide to fly across. I hitched a ride here, but they left before I could go back.”
“Who’d come to a place like this?” Riko asked.
“Bad people,” Qianxi Nü replied. “They kidnap islanders to sell to nobles for big money.”
Riko frowned.
“When I was human, I thought demons were evil. But after becoming one and seeing things humans don’t, I realized people can be just as bad.”
“Good and bad exist in both humans and demons,” Seimei said coolly.
“Exactly!” Qianxi Nü tossed him a flirty wink.
“Do you know where the Inari Shrine is?” Riko asked.
“Yup, but it’s boring,” Qianxi Nü grumbled.
She floated ahead, leading them to a grand torii gate.
Like everything on the island, it was drained of color, a stark black arch.
Behind it lay a ruined shrine, where islanders struggled to repair it with wooden beams.
But the newly fixed pillars collapsed instantly, kicking up dust.
Despair flashed across the islanders’ faces as they tried again.
“It’s like this every day,” Qianxi Nü said. “No matter how they build, it never holds.”
Seimei watched the silent, ant-like islanders thoughtfully, then turned to Riko. “Try connecting with the gods— Where’s Little Riko?”
Riko stood by the torii, staring intently at a pillar.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lord Seimei, my name’s here too.” She pointed to a deeply carved inscription: Shimizu Rikako.
It looked aged, just like the one before.
Seimei brushed the carving, noting it was made by someone taller than him.
“Hm, I sense strong emotions here,” Qianxi Nü said, floating up and touching the marks.
“Why?” Riko asked.
“It’s my demon skill,” Qianxi Nü said, lifting her chin proudly. “I can feel emotional fluctuations—anger, joy, whatever. Even objects someone touched carry their mood.”
Riko’s forehead twitched.
What a useless skill for a fight.
Qianxi Nü caught her thought. “You don’t get it. When I spy on handsome men and get caught, I can instantly read their mood and decide whether to keep peeking.”
“Usually it’s panic, right?” Riko finally blurted out.
Qianxi Nü choked. “It’s a unique skill, and it’s accurate. I can gauge emotional bonds too. Like, you both rank me as ‘ding’—the lowest. But between you two…”
Riko and Seimei cut her off in unison. “I don’t want to hear it.” “Not interested.”
Qianxi Nü shrugged. “Your loss.”
“Your name keeps appearing on torii gates. That’s strange enough,” Seimei said, returning to the topic.
“And the emotions feel old,” Qianxi Nü added.
“It was carved long ago,” Seimei said, touching the marks.
“Could it be my brother?” Riko guessed, same as last time.
Seimei pondered, then raised a barrier, isolating Qianxi Nü. “Put that aside for now. Try connecting with the gods. I’ll guard you. Don’t answer anyone.”
The shrine was in ruins, just a torii left.
With nothing to glean from the wreckage, they pinned their hopes on the strange voice.
Riko clasped her hands, chanted the ritual verse, clapped three times, and closed her eyes.
Silence enveloped her.
“Hey, Ichimoku Ren? What brings you here?”
“Heard the news? All the demons locked in the Asura Path escaped.”
“No wonder demons are popping up everywhere. Isn’t there a great gate?”
“They say the lock on it went missing.”
“That lock’s no ordinary thing. It’s a deity from the dawn of creation. Without it, no gate could hold those fiends.”
“I saw it once—round, with five tadpole-shaped grooves.”
“Bet every ghost and god is hunting for it now.”
“Exactly.”
Riko’s heart surged with shock.
The conversation painted a vivid picture.
It sounded like the object in her bell.
Before she could process it, another voice broke through.
“You’re here! I sensed you. Give me that thing.”
The voice was chaotic, frenzied.
Riko’s heartbeat faltered, her head spinning.
She answered instinctively, “How do I give it?”
“See that ruined shrine? Put it on the abandoned altar.”
“Little Riko, wake up!”
Seimei’s voice snapped her back, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry, my fault. I was greedy, hoping your ability could solve my questions,” Seimei said, guilt-ridden.
He pulled out a small glass vial, poured mint juice into her mouth, and drew a cleansing sigil on her forehead.
Riko steadied, no longer shaking. “How’s it your fault? I wanted to help. Why was it worse this time?”
“Probably because you’re near the ruins—the place that voice wanted you to come to. What did you hear?”
Riko skipped Ichimoku Ren’s talk, only relaying the voice’s instructions.
“She told you to give her the thing? She sensed you?” Seimei fought to keep his voice steady, but it trembled.
Riko nodded, glancing outside the barrier where Qianxi Nü was idly braiding her hair.
“Lord Seimei, should we listen to her?”
“We will.”
Seimei dropped the barrier.
“Finally out! I knew you were whispering behind my back,” Qianxi Nü said, swaying with her hands behind her.
Seimei ignored her, turning to Riko. “Wait here.”
Riko knew he was going to place the white fur on the altar and nodded.
Qianxi Nü, ignored, kept braiding her hair.
Watching her weave braid after braid, Riko suddenly asked, “What were those levels you mentioned about me and Lord Seimei?”
Qianxi Nü laughed. “Knew you were curious. He’s at ‘yi’ for you, and you’re at ‘bing’ for him.”
Riko’s eyes flickered, about to ask what yi and bing meant, when Seimei returned.
She shut her mouth.
“Let’s leave,” Seimei said.
“Where to?” Qianxi Nü asked.
“Just wandering,” Seimei replied.
“Oh,” Qianxi Nü said, tugging at her chin. “I won’t follow then. I’ll find a place to nap. It’s daytime, but still too sunny.”
She zipped off with a whoosh.
“Lord Seimei, where are we wandering?” Riko asked, turning to him.
He didn’t answer, leading her past the islanders repairing the shrine to the back of the ruins.
They hid in the shadow of a wall, Seimei’s figure shielding her.
Confused, she froze as he pressed a finger to her lips, whispering in her ear, “Don’t speak.”
His warm breath grazed her ear, making her flush.
Seimei’s eyes were fixed on the shrine’s altar.
A figure slowly appeared, sneaking toward it.
The face, caked in makeup, belonged to Qianxi Nü, who’d just claimed she was going to nap.