"Ho...... Ho ......"

Outside the gate, the Earth Imperial Gate Necromantic Group let out a heavy wheezing sound like a beast, chanted a spell in a low voice, and poured into the ancestral hall like a tide.

In front of them, the spirit of the bellflower talisman began to appear.

As the Onmyoji of the Earth Imperial Gate, even after death, their ability to control the bellflower spell is still good enough.

Swish!

The trail of the head of the earth royal gate Taifu was erratic, his cloudy and hollow eyes flashed with a dangerous red light, and the blood-stained long sword in his hand once again slashed from an unexpected direction, mixed with the sound of whirring and breaking the air.

Onizuka Kirita focused all her attention.

In her sight, the bloody blade was constantly enlarged.

Syllable.

The toes of the footbag stepped across the sticky floor, and the white-clothed hakama was swept away by the blood-soaked white hakama.

She leaped sideways like a lithe spirit fox, avoiding the oncoming blade.

The slender body spun around in the air again, and stayed in the air for a short time.

Countless thin red threads stretched out from Onizuka's side, brushing the hem of her sleeves and clothes, and converging into a sinuous red longbow in her hand.

Click.

The blood-stained and slippery foot bag kicked the bow handle made of red ropes, and Onizuka Kirita used her body as a support, the bowstring humming and tightening to the extreme.

The red bow of the young woman in mid-air was pulled to the full string!

The demon-breaking arrows created by spiritual power shot out as quickly as lightning, and the sound of the arrows breaking through the air was sharp and clear.

Along with it, several thin red lines whizzed out.

"Ho Ho ......"

Tsuchigomon Taifu swung his sword again, and the golden arrows constructed by his spiritual power were accurately slashed by him.

And those red lines, but they actively avoided the edge of the blade, wrapped around his body, and spread and dragged it to smash it against the wall with a "bang".

The thin red threads with the scorching energy of the sun scorched into his spirit, burning a foul stench.

Even the Onmyoji Necromancers who poured into the room were blocked by the red lines that stretched in all directions.

“…… This bow? ”

The fact that the bow of the young lady could show such an effect was completely beyond Onizuka's expectations.

She felt that at the life-and-death juncture just now, her connection with this divine weapon seemed to be a little closer.

"Ho-ho!"

Taifu Tsuchimon, who was fixed to the wall, writhed and struggled, and the thin red thread that wrapped around him broke most of it in an instant.

There are also those onmyoji necromancers of the Tuyumen family, who did not hesitate to break through into the room at the cost of being burned by the red thread.

Onizuka's battlefield judgment is very fast.

She knew very well that if she was surrounded by these necromancers and blocked off the space for movement, no matter how powerful the red bow in her hand was, it would be useless.

She lowered her gaze to the wooden windowsill a few meters away.

Almost without thinking about it, three steps and two steps to crash into it!

Syllable!

The wooden window was shattered, and Onizuka first hit the eaves that extended from the second floor, rolled twice, and then slammed into the desolate and dilapidated courtyard outside.

"Hmm...... It hurts ......."

Ignoring the heart-rending pain in her body, she got up from the ground with her hands and feet and rushed towards the gate of the Tsuchigomon Mansion without looking back.

The last fragment of the Tiandu Bronze Mirror has arrived, and what we need to do now is not to entangle with the necromancers.

Instead, go back to the cave!

Onizuka rushed to the gate of the Tsurumon Mansion, and the wails of the dead behind him came and went.

Those Onmyoji necromancers are chasing after them.

"Whew...... Call...... ...... over there."

Fortunately, Onizuka Kiritaru's exploration of the Tsuchigomon village is quite thorough, and he is generally familiar with the terrain here.

She had to get out of here in the shortest possible time.

The streets of the village are still covered with a thick green miasma, so thick that it hinders progress.

After running for a while, Onizuka suddenly felt a familiar aura coming from ahead.

"Stay!"

She heard the familiar whispering of a woman's moaning.

Wet clumps of black hair poured out like a tide from the corner of the road ahead.

In the center of those hairs, Chikako Takehara stood in a shrine maiden costume, wearing a golden crown on her head, and her face covered with a mask.

The witch's necromancer clutched the old black-and-white photograph tightly in her hands, her eyes under the golden mask flashed with frenzied hatred, and her hair, which was attached to strong resentment and obsession, was like a sharp blade, slashing towards the onizuka!

"Is it because I wounded her that you seek revenge on me? Why at this time!? ”

Onizuka Kirita's heart tightened.

But now there is no way back.

Chikako Takehara stopped in front of the exit leading to the village, and behind her was the Onmyoji Necromantic Group headed by Taifu Tsuchimon.

The onizuka rushed towards each other towards the wave of black hair that struck like a high wall, and the golden demon-breaking arrows carried several red lines in the air in a sharp and complete arc.

Whew!

The Demon-Breaking Arrow tore a gaping hole in the black-haired wall.

Thin red threads deftly weaved through it, wrapping around Chikako Takehara's body and penetrating the black-and-white photograph in her hand.

In the photo, the figure of Shizuji Kanemaru is simultaneously wrapped in a slender red.

"Shizuji ......"

Chikako Takehara froze in place.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Onizuka jumped out of her side with light and dexterity.

The moment she brushed by the witch of the Takehara family, she felt a certain change in the aura on the other party's body.

Although it was still a frenzied and violent necromantic atmosphere, it seemed to have a little more indescribable deep sadness and anger.

"Give him back to me......

Chikako Takehara, who was left behind by Onizuka, wailed hysterically in place.

But her aura didn't keep up, but moved away a little.

Onizuka Kirita, who kept walking, turned her head to observe, but saw Chikako Takehara's black hair swept all over the sky, and then rushed into the thick fog behind her.

She wept and slammed into the pursuing Earth Imperial Gate Onmyoji Necromantic Group.

"Chikako Takehara, she ......"

Onizuka didn't bother to observe the wailing and fighting of the dead behind him, but just ran towards the outside of the village with all his might.

Then, although she did not take the initiative to channel, only two or three minutes later, those memories and experiences belonging to Chikako Takehara automatically melted into her mind through the carved hairpin on her body.

Onizuka Kirita Hotaru did not affect her actions because of the emergence of these memory information, but she knew very well that Chikako Takehara, who rushed towards the onmyoji of the Earth Imperial Gate, had already dissipated-

……

Night.

The moon and stars are scarce, and everything is silent.

A white full moon weighed heavily over the village of Tugomon, and the silhouette of the moon shadow seemed to be much larger than usual.

Bright, yet oppressive, heavy enough to breathe.

It's not a few days before the time of the Tendo Witch Festival.

Chikako Takehara didn't sleep tonight, sitting in a dark room in a daze.

She didn't know why she was the way she was.

The thought of the Tendo Witch Festival made me feel distraught, and my chest swelled with indescribable emotions.

It seems to be reluctant, unwilling.

I just think it's a pity to die like this......

Chikako had never been like this before.

She closed her eyes, and unconsciously sketched the delicate young figure in her mind.

"Mr. Kanemaru......"

Chikako was stunned.

Mr. Kanamaru had already left the village of Tsuchigomon yesterday.

I should never see him again.

It's a shame that I didn't have the opportunity to go with him to see what the outside world is like.

Tuk-tuk.

At this moment, there was a soft knock on the door and window of the room.

Chikako came back to her senses with a surprised expression, and she got up to open the window.

Later, I saw her unforgettable delicate figure appear in the window.

Shizuji Kanemaru, he was standing on the eaves outside the window.

The full moon hung in the night sky behind him, and the soft moonlight shattered on the ends of his hair and shoulders.

Chikako Takehara wanted to speak, but couldn't speak.

She didn't know if she was hallucinating.

Until Shizuji Kanemaru entered her room through the window and grabbed her hand.

"Kanemaru...... Mr? ”

Chikako wanted to withdraw her hand, but she didn't know why she didn't do it, so she let the other party pinch it.

The real touch coming from the palms and backs of her hands told her that it wasn't a dream.

Chikako stared at the other party's face, and finally came back to her senses: "No, no, wait a minute...... Aren't you gone? ”

"Yes, I went to Kyoto. We found an acquaintance of the teacher, but no one was willing to help us. So, so I can only come back quietly on my own. Shizuji Kanemaru seemed to be anxious and tired, and the original youthful sharpness on his face was no longer visible at this time.

"But why did you come back? If someone finds out......"

"Miss Takehara, I can only beg you now. Please tell me where my teachers are locked up by them, and I know you are different from them. ”

"You said Mr. Sakai, he ......"

Chikako understands that Shizuji Kanemaru is back for his teacher.

She couldn't say why, but she felt a little lost.

In fact, Chikako finally learned something about the human pillar sacrifice after Mr. Sakai and Kanamaru Shizuji were placed under house arrest by the villagers.

After all, since she was born, there has never been a remedial ceremony of human pillar sacrifice in the village.

She only thought that she would still be alone in the need for live sacrifices at this year's witch festival.

"I'm sorry, I'm ...... I do not know. Chikako Takehara shook her head.

Kanemaru Shizuji's tired face showed obvious frustration, which made the witch of the Takehara family unconsciously feel a little worried.

But then, the teenager squeezed her hand a little tighter: "Miss Takehara, listen to me. Come with me, go outside the village now, and when I find the teacher, we'll leave here together." ”

Bang bang.

Chikako Takehara's heartbeat was a few beats faster: "I can't leave, everyone in the village needs me." ”

"Do you need to die? I know about the rituals in this village, it's unreasonable, Miss Takehara...... Chigako! It shouldn't be like this! ”

"But, the night ......"

"Nobody has ever seen the night tick, has they? Perhaps, this is just a lie made up by the Tuyumen family, using such a bloody ritual to make the whole village obey and make everyone listen to them. And, even if Night Moment really exists, why should you and the teacher be sacrificed? ”

Shizuji Kanemaru became excited, and tried to suppress his angry voice:

"What bullshit do you want to stop, the people of the Tuyumen family, that old bastard of the Tuyumen Taifu, why didn't he die himself? Why does he regard other people's lives as if they were mustards, and why is he holding on to other people's lives, like an inconsequential object, in charge of life and death? ”

Can people be treated and used like objects?

Can a person's fate be arranged by others in a step-by-step manner, and even life and death can be left to the table?

Shizuji Kanemaru thought this was unreasonable and ridiculous.

"Chikako, come with me and escape together." Shizuji Kanemaru was extremely serious and repeated it word by word.

For a moment, Chikako Takehara's heart was shaken so much that she almost wanted to agree to the other party's proposal.

But then, the two in the room heard the sound of chaotic footsteps downstairs.

It must be someone from the Tsuchigomon family.

Chikako's mind finally returned to the cold reality.

When Shizuji Kanemaru returned to the village, how could the people of the Tsuchigomon family not find out?

Don't talk about taking Mr. Sakai away, let alone taking himself away, I'm afraid he won't be able to escape tonight.

He really shouldn't have come back.

Chikako withdrew her hand from the palm of Shizuji Kanemaru: "Mr. Kanamaru...... Let's go. I'll stop the people of the Tsuchigomon family, I'm a shrine maiden, and they won't do anything to me. ”

"No, I ......"

"Mr. Kanemaru...... Shizuji! Chikako said in a crying, almost pleading tone, "Count me begging you, hurry up, get out of here, and never come back." ”

Downstairs stumbling footsteps approaching.

"Your teacher, Mr. Sakai, I don't know where he is. There's a dungeon under the warehouse on the east side of the village, and I don't know if he's there, but there's no way you can take him anywhere. Please...... Now, get away. ”

Shizuji Kanemaru still didn't run away after all.

Perhaps he also realized that he couldn't leave.

Maybe when he came back this time, he would have been ready for a certain degree of awareness.

It was a strategic move.

But Shizuji Kanemaru couldn't help it, even if he asked for help to no avail. He still doesn't want to leave behind Sakai Toshiya, who treats him like a father, and he also doesn't want Chigako Takehara to be brutally killed by the people of the Tsuchigomon family because of an inexplicable sacrifice.

It's a pity that as an ordinary person, he can't do anything.

Before the people of the Tsuchigomon family rushed into the room, he just hugged Chikako Takehara, who was crying and trembling, and said some words of comfort.

Until the two were separated by the angry Tuyumen people, until he was knocked to the ground and taken away.

After that, Chikako never saw Shizuji Kanemaru again.

He probably probably died.

The witches sacrificed by the Tendo Witch should not have emotions and should not have memories of the world.

Just like the shrine goddess ancestor god Tenden, he probably shouldn't have fallen in love with Saruta Hikomei.

The red line of marriage between them, after Saruda Yan's fate fell into the Yellow Spring and turned into a yin god, he was also dragging Tiandian's life towards the abyss of decay and depravity.

The love marriage between this pair of gods was so heavy that Tiandian did not hesitate to kill herself, breaking open her body and cutting it off.

And after that full moon night, Chikako Takehara was destined to become a shrine maiden.

The subsequent Tendo Witch Festival, of course, also ended in failure. (End of chapter)