Chapter 639: Shrine Maiden Disguise In Progress (Double Number)
As the sun rose from the other side of the sea, Su Jiu roamed the city’s streets and alleys once more, reaping many monsters. However, due to many of them being spiritual entities, she only obtained six low-grade magic crystals, with not a single mid-grade one. Unlike physical monsters, the magic crystals of spectral monsters were not located within their spectral bodies but rather within their vessels or corpses. Killing a spectral monster only rendered it extremely weak, not dead.
“No wonder these monsters can reappear repeatedly. It’s probably related to their inability to find their vessels…” Master Su, after a busy night, felt as if the sky was falling when he realized his harvest was barely enough to sustain E Huo and himself for daily meals. He swore he’d rather go fishing at sea than do this job.
With a “dead fish eye” expression, exuding an “ethereal aura,” he concealed his presence and returned to the Yama House. Su Jiu had not forgotten her role as a substitute. Upon entering the main hall, she bumped into Yama Natsu, who had woken up early and was waiting. Yama Natsu held a set of shrine maiden attire and bowed respectfully, handing it over.
“Miss Su, this is the attire sent by the Yin-Yang Bureau. You’re a bit taller than me, but kimonos are quite loose, so it shouldn’t be a problem to wear it.”
“Good, today I will go to the temple to learn singing and dancing in your place.”
Yawning, Su Jiu casually glanced at the shrine maiden outfit and noticed it was different from those of other shrine maidens. The overall white and red color scheme seemed more traditional. Scanning it with her mental power, she detected faint traces of alchemy. This attire was an alchemical garment, and its effect seemed to be the core of some formation.
Su Jiu smiled. “So, the temple priest started this mess first.” If she were to be a shrine maiden, then this shrine’s order would be dictated by Su Jiu. She wouldn’t act normal if there was trouble to be made, especially since those people wouldn’t dare make a move against her beforehand.
Seeing Su Jiu’s increasingly brilliant smile, Yama Natsu felt a bit apprehensive. As if remembering something, she suddenly picked up her phone and opened the news interface, asking, “Miss Su, last night there were rumors of a mysterious swordsman who killed nearly seventy percent of the monsters. That was you, wasn’t it?”
Blinking, Su Jiu didn’t deny it. “What’s wrong?”
“The president of the Adventurer’s Guild believes someone saw an injustice and wanted to distribute the reward to all the heroes. So, this morning, those who accepted guarding missions received many rewards.” Yama Natsu glanced at Su Jiu, looking at her ethereal appearance, and swallowed. She felt that this person might not need it, or perhaps was unable to claim it due to their identity.
Wiping the ethereal aura from her face, Su Jiu’s eyes fixed directly on Yama Natsu. She then grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently, wailing, “Damn it, you should have said so earlier! I wanted it~ I wanted it~ Who said I don’t need it!”
“Uh, Miss Su, I feel a bit dizzy…” Yama Natsu was bewildered by this erratic personality. She didn’t realize that Miss Su had to support a family and was serious when it came to magic crystals or money. After shaking her for a while, Su Jiu obediently changed into the shrine maiden attire. After all, the reward had already been distributed, and she had Yama Natsu tie the shrine maiden hair ornaments for her. Then she used the fox mask to conceal her “ethereal aura.” Finally, she lured E Huo with magic crystals to attach to her hand as a bracelet, and she stepped out in her stiff wooden clogs towards Mount Minano.
Su Jiu’s figure was similar to Yama Natsu’s, and the shrine maiden sacrificial clothes were obvious. As she walked out the door, many neighbors looked over with surprised expressions. Even when she reached the street, the shop owners she passed suddenly became enthusiastic, greeting her. “Little Natsu, I have delicious food here, come and have breakfast.”
Su Jiu naturally didn’t refuse. Her gaze swept across the shops, and she grinned. “I can eat quite a lot, so you don’t mind if I take some more, right?”
“Of course, there’s no problem. It’s fine even if you take everything in the shop.” The shop owner was stunned and then generously waved his hand, indicating she could take whatever she wanted. These stall owners discovered that the girl who had resisted them to the death had actually accepted her fate. Their moods brightened considerably, and they displayed all the delicious food on their stalls. As long as they appeased this sacrificial shrine maiden, these were small expenses.
“These fish roe gunkan… no, pack up everything else!” Su Jiu pointed around the entire eatery and chuckled. This was E Huo’s reserve food.
“You…” The shop owner turned green and slammed the table. The curse was about to burst out of his mouth.
“Oh dear, I don’t think I’ve eaten enough. I can’t learn today’s dance and song.” As if her legs went weak, Su Jiu slowly covered her head, supporting herself on the counter of the shop, feigning low blood sugar. In the end, under the threatening gazes of other stall owners, the owner was conquered by this clumsy performance and handed over all the food.
Towards the passing stalls, Su Jiu’s attitude was unified and methodical: taking large bags of food – a scorched-earth policy. If her hands couldn’t carry it, she used the storage bag. They were all adults, and she knew the ulterior motives of these stall owners by the ‘rear.’
This resulted in a bizarre scene: when Su Jiu passed a snack shop, she would pack up almost the entire shop’s food, entering a state of “one willing to hit, one willing to be hit.” The shop owners’ faces turned green, but they dared not show it, only managing to put on expressions worse than crying. After Su Jiu had completely left, they began to curse at each other.
“You damn bastard! She’s deliberately retaliating against us innocent citizens!”
“Heh, let her be smug. She only has two more days to live.”
“Anyway, I’m not opening for business for these two days. She knows she’s going to die, so she’s lashing out.” They didn’t dare to offend Su Jiu easily, worried that if they prevented her from being sacrificed, it would be a great sin. They would just endure for two more days.
On a distant telephone pole, several people dressed in Onmyoji attire stood. The leading young man was Endo Saka, who had interacted with Su Jiu before. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking down silently. One of his subordinates, responsible for surveillance, couldn’t help but slightly raise an eyebrow as he watched Su Jiu extorting the merchants and said softly, “Lord Endo Saka, should we stop her? This is extortion, right?”
Glancing at his subordinate, Endo Saka slowly shook his head, his eyes showing a hint of pity. “The citizens owe her. Trading a life for this food isn’t too much.”
…
On the road, Su Jiu held large bags of food, occasionally feeding E Huo, who was in bracelet form. After taking a few detours, she finally arrived at the mountain road staircase leading up the mountain, which was near the Adventurer’s Guild.
“Is she the legendary sacrificial shrine maiden?”
“I didn’t expect her to come only now, but it’s good that she came. I thought the government would have to tie her here.” When Su Jiu arrived at the staircase, many people dressed in kimonos were looking and pointing at her, but they didn’t dare to speak too loudly, fearing that the sacrificial shrine maiden might go back on her word again.
Su Jiu felt nothing about these whispers. Instead, she leisurely walked up the steps, admiring the mountain cherry blossoms along the way, like a tourist. Her pace was not fast. About half an hour later, an archway surrounded by lanterns appeared in her field of vision.
“Are they dancing?” Looking inside through the archway, Su Jiu could see a group of shrine maidens dancing in the center. In front of the dancers was a teacher dressed differently, guiding their movements.
“None of these people’s mental power exceeds Battle King Level. I can’t wait to have some fun.” Su Jiu scanned the area with her mental power and grinned, a mischievous smile appearing under her mask. She took a few more steps forward and seemed to trigger a warning formation, causing the sound of “ding ding” wind chimes to ring out suddenly.
“Yama Natsu is actually willing to come and learn?” The sound of the wind chimes drew the attention of almost everyone. When they saw Su Jiu’s attire, their eyes behind the fox masks widened in surprise. The leading dance teacher understood something and nodded at Su Jiu, beckoning her to come in. He said softly, “You must be Yama Natsu, right? Come and learn together. We need to perform a sacrifice to the gods later.”
“Teacher, I’m here!” Waving, Su Jiu strode forward with a smile, completely unfazed by the moss-covered path under her feet, as if walking on flat ground. The dance teacher looked at Su Jiu wearing wooden clogs, walking on the bluestone mountain path, yet still maintaining a steady pace, and couldn’t help but show a trace of regret in his eyes.
“She’s a good prospect for practicing dance, but it’s a pity she’s about to be sacrificed.” When Su Jiu reached him, the dance teacher came back to his senses, looked her up and down, and asked softly, “Do you know how to dance the prayer dance?”
After thinking for a moment, Su Jiu didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took out her phone, opened “NetEase Cloud Music,” and clicked on “Senbonzakura,” then asked with a blink, “Is it this one?”
“What?” Hearing the rhythm, the dance teacher was completely bewildered. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly looked up and met Su Jiu’s blood-red eyes. His eyelids felt slightly heavy, and he slowly replied, “Exactly. This song must be learned. If the entire dance is not performed, it is very likely to displease Lord of the Gods.”
Hearing the other person speak so earnestly, Su Jiu suddenly let out a light laugh. This mind control was rare to use, only effective against War General Level, but as long as it disrupted the sacrificial rhythm, it would be fine. Then, a shrine maiden behind her called out indignantly, “What are you laughing at? You just started practicing, can you keep up with the rhythm?”
Turning to look at the shrine maidens, Su Jiu’s lips curved. A hint of red flashed in her eyes, and she silently took out her wooden guitar, saying seriously, “The teacher just said that I’m responsible for playing, and you’re responsible for dancing…”
“Yes, only we have to dance.” Meeting Su Jiu’s eyes, the shrine maidens were stunned for a moment, then nodded and returned to their original positions, awaiting the teacher’s command. The teacher turned to look at Su Jiu…
“Come on, do a dance.” Then, Su Jiu sat on a stone stool, put on her headphones, chuckled, propped up her feet, and gently strummed the silver strings while holding her guitar.
In a distant maple forest, a figure in samurai attire sat on a tree, gazing at the mountain temple. He tapped his iron wrist guard with his fingers and said softly, “Ibaraki, the sacrifice for this Yin hour and Yin day has agreed to be sacrificed.”
“Heh heh, when this seat breaks free, you won’t be short on benefits.” Beside him, a short boy stood on a mass of black mist, also looking in that direction, squinting slightly, as if enjoying something.
“Listen, those foolish mortals are praising this seat with songs and dances that glorify the gods, hahaha.” The figure in samurai attire looked with some seriousness at the road leading to the Yama House, stopped tapping his fingers, and muttered quietly, “Last night, who was that?”
