Chapter 21: The Truth of the Fallen Shrine
Qianxi Nü reached into the altar, grinning as she pulled out a pine-patterned sachet.
Unaware of Riko’s shocked gaze and Seimei’s cold stare from behind the ruins, she opened it eagerly. “Huh, it’s empty?” Her face fell.
“Of course it’s empty. What were you expecting?” Seimei stepped forward slowly.
“You’re the strange voice?” Riko asked, incredulous.
“Where’s the treasure?” Qianxi Nü’s makeup-caked face twisted. “It’s still on you, isn’t it? I can feel it.”
Seimei smiled faintly. “Your ability is useful after all. You sensed my urgency, my attachment to something precious, and guessed we carried a treasure. Then you tricked Little Riko into placing it on the altar while she connected with the gods.”
“When did you figure it out?” Qianxi Nü asked.
“I didn’t. I only knew when I saw you reach for the altar,” Seimei said.
“Then why place an empty sachet?”
“I’m not foolish enough to hand over a treasure just because a voice says so,” Seimei said, his lips curving.
“There is a treasure,” Qianxi Nü snarled, tossing the sachet to the ground.
“But with so many evil spirits, why was it her voice I heard?” Riko asked.
“Maybe because your name’s carved on the torii,” Seimei said. “Qianxi Nü wasn’t entirely lying. She’s indeed stuck here with no boat to leave.”
“I think one day she was at the Inari Shrine, lamenting her stranded state, and you caught fragments of it. When you responded, it startled her, which is why her voice cut off.”
“She kept waiting here to talk to you, hoping to lure you to the island so she could hitch a ride back. That’s why you heard her say, ‘Come to Cat Island.’”
“By chance, we came here because of the Rain Woman. She’s been climbing trees daily, watching for newcomers, which is why we ran into her right away.”
“If she already achieved her goal of us coming here, why pretend to be that voice?” Riko asked.
“Because she sensed something special on me and got greedy,” Seimei replied.
“Talking like I’m not here? You underestimate me!” Qianxi Nü snapped. “Since you know, I won’t hold back. That treasure’s mine!”
She leapt, her hands sprouting sharp iron hooks like beastly claws, honed from years of wall-climbing espionage.
Riko, seeing the attack aimed at her, sighed and tossed a lightning talisman halfheartedly.
Demons always pick the soft target.
The talisman sparked a thin bolt, zapping Qianxi Nü with a crackle.
She shuddered, her hair standing like steel wires.
Riko stifled a laugh, ducking behind Seimei.
“My ability tells me you’re mocking me!” Qianxi Nü shouted, pointing furiously.
“Isn’t it obvious I’m laughing at you? You need your ability for that?” Riko peeked out.
“Damn it, so damn annoying!” Qianxi Nü stomped, her neck stretching toward Riko.
Seimei chuckled, stepping aside. “She’s not that strong. Try handling her yourself.”
Riko froze as the space cleared, Qianxi Nü’s head now inches away.
With no time to think, she stumbled back.
“Haha, scared now?” Qianxi Nü taunted.
Riko quickly formed a seal, and buried curtains from the ruins shot up, twisting like snakes to bind Qianxi Nü, yanking her back.
“Ugh, you’re happy now, huh?” Qianxi Nü clenched her fists, but the curtains tightened, pinning her.
She could only stretch her neck, chasing Riko while broadcasting her emotions.
“What a useless demon,” Riko said, circling a pillar. “I met one of your kind—a nine-tailed fox. She was nothing like you. That one’s a real powerhouse, not some amateur.”
“Argh, mocking me with contempt?” Qianxi Nü’s neck, chasing Riko, tangled around pillars like a bizarre cat’s cradle, her tongue lolling out.
“Here.” Seimei tossed Riko a folded talisman.
She opened it, and a brilliant beam shot toward Qianxi Nü, who couldn’t retract her tongue in time.
She turned to ash in the light.
The ashes scattered, drawn into the bell as glittering specks.
The bell chimed melodiously, then fell silent.
The hall grew quiet again.
Outside the barrier, islanders kept hauling wood, as if nothing had happened.
That’s it?
Riko glanced where Qianxi Nü had been tangled.
“Are you a bit reluctant?” Seimei asked, studying her. “For some reason, I see a trace of sadness on your face.”
Maybe seeing Qianxi Nü reminded her of home.
“Huh, Lord Seimei’s picking up her skills now?” Riko teased, dodging the topic.
Seimei smiled faintly. “Either way, I never planned to let that demon go.”
“Why?” Riko asked, surprised.
“If she reached the mainland, word of our Cat Island trip might spread.”
“True.” Riko frowned, then brightened. “Lord Seimei, the strange voice is dealt with. Shall we head back?”
Seimei gave a soft “hm,” pulling out the white fur and staring at it.
“We still don’t know its origin,” Riko said, eyeing the fur. “It’s why we came.”
“Yeah,” Seimei sighed. “Maybe the Rain Woman just used a Cat Island sachet by chance. Its origin might not be here.”
He closed his palm, about to pocket it.
The bell chimed suddenly, clear and resonant.
The white fur glowed, ripples of light spreading like water, passing through their bodies, the barrier, and outward endlessly.
“What’s…” Riko’s eyes widened, but before she could ask, a woman’s silhouette appeared in the light.
She cradled a baby, her eyes full of love, gently rocking.
At her feet knelt faceless people, hands clasped, mouths moving in prayer.
The woman vanished, and heaps of gold and jewels appeared before the praying crowd.
A man stepped forward, kneeling. “The villagers took the money and the Styx water. They sprinkled it on the crops and wept before the Hitachi governor, claiming the Inari God cursed the village. The crops lost color and the scent of grain.”
“Understood,” a deep voice echoed from the void. “Now they can destroy the shrine.”
A miniature shrine appeared in the air.
The crowd smashed it with hoes, defiling it.
As it collapsed, black water surged from beneath, and the people writhed in agony, their light fading fast.
The gold and jewels in their pockets turned to centipedes and crawlers, slithering out.
The vision stopped abruptly, the silhouettes vanishing, leaving only the now-dim fur in Seimei’s hand.
Riko, still shaken, patted her chest softly. “Lord Seimei, what was that?”
Seimei’s face was icy. “The Inari God’s divine memory. It knew what happened before its fall, so it recorded this. Someone bribed the villagers with gold to taint the crops with Styx water, then framed the Inari God for the curse before the Hitachi governor.”
“Then they had the villagers destroy the shrine. No one knew it sealed a Styx outlet.”
“The Styx water flooded the island, stripping its color. The governor, thinking it was the Inari God’s curse, sealed Cat Island and reported to the Emperor, requesting the Onmyoryo eradicate the Inari God.”
“Didn’t the islanders speak up? Even the treasure was fake,” Riko said.
“By then, the Inari God was branded an evil deity. All its shrines were razed overnight. No one would listen. Besides, slandering a god is a grave sin. Living colorless is better than death, right?” Seimei said coldly.
“No wonder the villagers wail at night, still worshipping the Inari God, trying to rebuild the shrine,” Riko said softly.
“They’ll never rebuild it,” Seimei said, his voice chillingly flat. “The god has fallen. There’ll be no shrine.”
Riko looked outside, where villagers now knelt in droves.
The ripples from the Inari God’s memory had spread across the island, and they thought it was a divine sign, rushing over in joy.
If they prayed, would the kind god forgive them?
Why not forgive? We were deceived.
You’re a god—you should love the world.
The villagers raised hopeful faces, awaiting the return of color.
Seimei blew his whistle, summoning the sea monk’s boat to leave Cat Island.
As the octopus boat sank beneath the waves, a kneeling shadow in a distant void bowed low. “The shrine ruins on Cat Island showed a strange divine sign.”
On a towering throne, a faceless man smirked with interest. “Who could it be? Who do you think, Shimizu? Oh, right, I hadn’t met you when I did that. It was that big fox called the Inari God—I brought it down. But now someone’s noticed.”
His smirk faded, and a sinister voice emerged. “Whoever it is, anyone who interferes with my plans must die.”
He grinned again, voice light. “Right, Shimizu?”
The shadow kept its head bowed, not daring to look.
“Mm, you heard me. Do it. Find and kill them,” the man said gently to his subordinate.
“Yes.” The shadow retreated on its knees.