Demon Capital Slayer

Chapter 6 The Fox Spirit Summoned
"Are you crazy?" Sayaka's eyes widened as she blurted out the words.

Yu Jian did not answer, but Bai He Xiang cast a calm gaze at her, again and again, until it finally gave out.

"Sorry, I was too loud."

Under the loving gaze of the Bodhisattva Aizen, who sees children as foolish, the gyaru instinctively bowed deeply, apologizing in the Tsugaru dialect.

"Nogizaka-san, besides the notes left by the previous president, are there any other documents here?" Mitsurugi asked.
"No, I only learned about this through this notebook." Nogizaka lowered his head guiltily.

"I don't understand, why do we have to hold another ceremony?" Sayaka asked, mustering her courage.

Aizen Yurika and Mitsurugi exchanged a glance. Their expressions were surprisingly similar, calmer than sixteen-year-old high school students.

"Name," Yu Jian said briefly.

"To obtain the name of that spirit," Aizen Yurika added.

"Instead of waiting passively, we should try to fight back." Yu Jian took a few slow steps around the classroom. He was used to doing this when he was thinking, as the steady and rhythmic pace helped him to think more clearly.

“The current situation is that we are trapped in the old school building and could be attacked at any time,” said Yuriko.

"Also, have you noticed that it's getting colder and colder?"

"This...it seems to be true." Nogizaka touched his arm, only then realizing that something was wrong.

As they spoke, white mist continuously billowed from their mouths and noses, a phenomenon that only occurs when the temperature drops to a certain level.

"If the temperature continues to drop, we may fall into a coma due to hypothermia, and then we'll be at the mercy of that evil spirit," Lily said, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"In addition, the previous problem with the ritual was most likely due to the materials. It seems that as long as we use normal materials, we can summon the real Kokkuri-san."

"According to the notes, the theory behind this ritual is to use spirits to communicate with the underworld for divination, and the answers do not all come from the knowledge possessed by the spirits themselves. In other words, there is a certain probability of obtaining the name of an evil spirit through this method."

"After that, I will try to exorcise the evil spirits using the methods in the notes."

After pausing for a moment, Yuriko asked a question out of politeness.

"What do you two think?"

"I second that! I can't think of any other way anyway, it's better than sitting and waiting to die." Nogizaka gritted his teeth and raised his arm high to show his agreement.

"Hey, are you serious? How dare you hold that terrifying ritual a second time? What if you summon evil spirits again? I, I don't want to do such a dangerous thing!" Sayaka took two steps back, clenching her hands tightly in front of her, looking extremely resistant.

“The ceremony requires three people,” Yu Jian pointed out the crux of the problem.

"Isn't there still you?" Sayaka asked, biting her lip.
Yu Jian exhaled. He usually couldn't be bothered to waste words on teammates who were caught up in their emotions.

“Miken-kun will be there as a backup. With him there, if the ritual goes wrong again, such as summoning evil spirits, at least someone will intervene to prevent the situation from getting worse,” Aizen Yurika patiently explained.

Seemingly remembering something, she turned to look at Yu Jian and gave him a knowing smile.

"After all, you can't gamble everything at once."

"...Hey, what do you think of human life?! You're colder than the frozen fish at the bottom of the freezer!"

Sayaka looked at Yurika in astonishment. Yurika was a high school girl the same age as her, yet she spoke such cold words.

“It’s not cold-heartedness.” Yu Jian shook his head. “It’s rational judgment.”

“I agree.” Nogizaka Ruka mustered her courage: “Grandma said that as an investor, no matter how much you like a project, you can’t put all your money into it, just like the saying goes, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

"Furthermore, I have confidence in Mitsurugi-san and everyone else; we will definitely resolve this matter smoothly!" Nogizaka said earnestly.

"They're all crazy, completely crazy!" Sayaka glanced back and forth at the three of them, and seeing their solemn and serious expressions, she gradually fell silent.

"Count me in." Muttering in a strange Tsugaru dialect, she was the last to raise her hand.

"I'll prepare for the ceremony." Nogizaka Ruka got to work, but his petite frame made even moving a table difficult.

Seeing this, Sayaka sighed, wiped the makeup off her face, rolled up her sleeves, and stepped forward to lift the desk.

"You city pampered young master are really no good."

"Thank you so much, Sayaka!"

"Thanks so much, but please add more money. It's compensation for emotional distress; I really lost out this time."

"It's not impossible, how about 100,000 yen?" Nogizaka Ruka scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"I spent too much money on materials earlier, so this is all the pocket money I have left this week."

Mikasa was taken aback. This Nogizaka-san's money management skills were really high. The average office worker's monthly salary was only 200,000 yen, but this person's weekly allowance was probably more than that.

Sayaka was also shocked. The girl from Aomori Prefecture, dressed as a delinquent, stood frozen in place, then glared at Nogizaka with annoyance.

"500 yen is a lot! Also, don't casually reveal how much pocket money you have, or you'll easily get blackmailed by bad people."

“There aren’t many people like that in school, and I trust Sayaka.”

"Ugh, you're such a nuisance!"

Watching the two bickering while doing their work, Yu Jian couldn't help but sigh.

"Too youthful."

"Here we go again, it's Grandpa from Yujian speaking." Yurika covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Is it old-fashioned?" Yu Jian shrugged.

"It's just a little emotional."

The two weren't idle either; Yurika began examining the writing on the blackboard, seemingly with other plans in mind.

Yu Jian then walked purposefully to a corner of the classroom, the place where he had fought with the ghost earlier. It was now in a mess, with various debris and fragments scattered everywhere.

After searching carefully for a while, he indeed did not find the coins and paper used in the last ceremony, but there was a small piece of something that looked very suspicious, with burn marks left after it was burned.

At this point, the truth of the matter became increasingly clear.

While Nogizaka46 possesses immense wealth, their lack of discernment makes them highly susceptible to being deceived by malicious individuals, likely purchasing ritual materials of dubious origin from online forums. This causes the originally relatively safe Kokkuri-san ritual to malfunction, summoning dangerous evil spirits from the spirit world.

But can evil spirits really enter the mortal world so easily? If that were the case, the world would have been in chaos long ago. I feel there must be other reasons...

I don’t know if Japan has any agencies that specialize in handling this kind of thing, but considering the amazing efficiency of the local civil servants, I think it’s best not to have too high hopes for them.

On the contrary, Yujian had great confidence in their bottom line, after all, some precious things have no bottom line, especially in places like Rijima where people are good at bowing.

You still have to rely on yourself.

Reaching the door, Yujian picked up the broom he had used to jam the door shut. Like the old school building, it was an old object, not a modern product made of lightweight aluminum alloy and plastic, but a traditional broom woven from wood and thin bamboo branches.

After removing the bamboo branches, the approximately 70-centimeter-long solid wood stick is more resilient than hollow aluminum alloy. Holding the stick with one hand and gently swinging it downwards, the air immediately explodes with a whooshing sound.

When the mortal world and the underworld merge, they form the 'eternal world'...

It really does look like my dream...

As he became familiar with the feel and weight, Yujian swung the wooden stick slower and slower, but the sound of the wind became louder and louder.

Finally, he unleashed a vertical slash to his side.

The sound of the wind suddenly disappeared.

Instead, a silent yet exceptionally powerful tremor followed.

"Mi-Miken-kun, what are you doing?" Nogizaka's stammering voice came from inside the classroom.

"Did I disturb you? Sorry." Glancing at the wooden handle in his hand, Mitsurugi stopped what he was doing. He had already figured out the limits of this makeshift weapon. "No, but the ceremony is ready." Nogizaka swallowed hard. The commotion just now reminded him of the roar of a sports car speeding by.

"Then let's get started."

The three of them sat down, and Aizen Yurika, Nogizaka Ruka, and Sayaka all pressed down on the coin at the same time.

This is an ordinary five-yen coin. Because the word "five" sounds similar to "en" (缘, meaning fate or destiny) in Japanese, people usually put this denomination of coin into the offering box when they go to a shrine to pray for good fortune and blessings from the gods.

The people caught up in the paranormal event are currently in dire need of luck.

"Lord Silver Immortal, please come out."

The three of them recited the opening verses of the ceremony in a soft voice, their attitudes exceptionally serious.

Repeating this three times, the coin placed below the torii gate pattern indeed began to move slowly, stopping on different characters one after another, until the complete message was pieced together.

"I am A-Yin, a fox spirit who is elegant, nimble, kind, knowledgeable, beautiful and lovely." Lily slowly read out the message conveyed by the coin.

"It really is Gintoki!" Nogizaka cheered.

"Don't believe it easily." Sayaka said this, but her breathing clearly began to quicken.

Yu Jian, who had been standing with his arms crossed against the wall, suddenly straightened his back, leaned forward slightly, and stared intently at the three of them.

There was nothing unusual in the scene before my eyes, and I didn’t hear any strange sounds, but a sense of déjà vu returned, as if something invisible and intangible had suddenly appeared in the room.

However, instead of the unsettling chill of the last ceremony, the temperature rose, much like the inexplicable sense of peace one feels when near a burning bonfire.

This is a crucial moment, and everyone needs to be on high alert.

"Gin-sen, could you please write a few lines on the blackboard?" Yurika suddenly asked.

"..." The summoned spirit fell silent, as if surprised by this strange request.

Nogizaka and Sayaka looked nervous; this seemed to have gone beyond the scope of 'answering questions' and was also beyond their previous expectations.

Then, the coin suddenly began to drift rapidly, like someone performing a high-speed sliding kneeling dogeza on a smooth floor.

"I'm so sorry, it's such a distinguished guest... Hmm, why did it suddenly stop?" Nogizaka managed to utter two sentences following the coin, but the drifting coin suddenly stopped moving.

"there."

Yu Jian was the first to look at the blackboard, and the others followed his gaze. They saw a piece of chalk moving on its own without any wind, floating on the blackboard and writing several lines of ancient poetry.

"A traveler sets up a shrine to offer sacrifices, and a fox comes to sit beside him. Recalling the past, he cannot bear to leave, and the cry of apes echoes through the empty mountains."

The bright moon shines on the high pavilion, and colorful maidens lift the silk curtains. Songs and dances rise above the azure clouds, and the sound of flutes fills the beaded curtains.

A blue phoenix descends upon the South Sea, two white cranes soar in the sky. Flying ten thousand miles in unison, they yearn for the joys of the emperor's court.

"Although I can't understand it, it feels like a very lively and festive poem," Nogizaka sighed.

"It's alright." Yu Jian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hmm, the handwriting is different from before, it's most likely the real Kokkuri-sen." Yurika nodded.

"Huh? You two are actually focused on this. Wow, the top student and the mysterious transfer student, just as I thought..." Sayaka's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, and she couldn't help but shrink back.

Mikasa ignored her, but Yurika responded with a smile, making Sayaka feel an urge to immediately perform a dogeza (a form of prostration).

"I'm sorry, esteemed guest, but the world you are currently in is located in the shallowest of the shallow layers, so we can't offer much help. We can only perform the simple divination function assigned by the ritual." Ah Yin continued to manipulate the chalk to write a series of words.

"In that case, would you please tell me who the evil spirit was that was summoned in the previous ritual?" Lily said.
"Please wait a moment, we will perform a divination."

Ah Yin's attitude was unusually good. Yu Jian, who was watching from the sidelines, had a subtle feeling that the person opposite him was not a mysterious fox spirit, but a customer service girl who had to keep smiling no matter how much work pressure she was under.

It's like being a corporate slave who's exhausted but suddenly encounters a big client and has to force themselves to stay alert.

Speaking of which, who is this distinguished guest that Gugure! Kokkuri-san is referring to? Surely it's not that Nogizaka Ruka's money power is also effective in the Netherworld? Do youkai need money too? Mitsurugi thought half-jokingly, giving Yurika a deep look before his attention was drawn to the subsequent developments.

"Distinguished guest, our investigation has concluded that the other party is a malevolent spirit that committed the crime of murdering its own kind. It was previously killed by an avenger, and its real name is..."

Bah!
A sharp scraping sound suddenly echoed in the corridor, as if some kind of sharp object was rapidly scraping against the glass window. Immediately afterwards, a series of loud crashes of shattering glass followed.

"Distinguished guest, that fellow has fully descended into the mortal world, and his full name is Shinichiro Togo!"

"Please be careful. The ceremony has been disturbed and we are unable to continue providing services. We look forward to your next visit. Goodbye... chirp!"

Before the people performing the ceremony could react, the five-yen coin, which served as the medium for communication, moved swiftly beneath the torii gate pattern, while the chalk that was floating and writing rapidly fell to the ground with a thud, moving as fast as someone clocking out on time.

"The fox spirit just ran away like that?" Nogizaka said in disbelief.
"Prepare for the expulsion ceremony." Yu Jian reacted quickly and immediately stepped forward to block the classroom door.

"I understand." Lily nodded and picked up the knotted rope.

These are the materials prepared beforehand for the exorcism ritual. The ropes, connected end to end, are tied into a loop and tied with white, serrated strips of paper, similar to the shimenawa (sacred rope) at a shrine. According to Shintoism, this kind of ornament, called 'shidare,' symbolizes the cleansing power of lightning and can drive away and isolate evil spirits and impurities.

At this moment, all the glass windows in the outer corridor were shattered. Deep darkness poured in like mist, and a faint figure disappeared into it, constantly emitting low laughter, holding a blood-smelling iron hammer in its hand.

"hide and seek……"

"Found it..."

"The loser... shall... be... punished!!!"

With a piercing scream, the figure vanished completely into the mist, while the deep, dark mist transformed into surging waves, rolling and crashing towards the people in the classroom.

Nogizaka and Sayaka huddled together in fear. They weren't expected to do anything anyway; just not causing trouble would be considered good behavior.

Yu Jian gripped the wooden stick in his hand and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Having experienced the Shura Dream filled with bloodshed, slaughter, and pain, he has become familiar with the thing called battle. Although he has not completely abandoned fear in his heart, something colder and harder can completely suppress negative emotions such as fear.

It can be called courage or murderous intent; it is a strong emotion that humans generate from the depths of their hearts in order to maintain their existence in the world.

The solid wooden stick creaked as it was squeezed, his muscles tensed and stretched his clothes, and even the strands of hair on his head stood up as if blown by the wind.

At that moment, Aizen Yurika stepped forward and stood side by side with Mitsurugi. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the girl's figure remained completely still.

Yu Jian suddenly realized that, unlike the tragic loneliness of the Asura Dream, he was not alone at this moment.

And this feeling of not wielding the sword alone...

very good……

No, it's absolutely fantastic!!!

In the mortal realm, a special area where the spiritual laws of the underworld and the material laws of the mortal world work together, the human heart is the strongest force.

In an instant, Yu Jian had a sudden realization, and an unstoppable aura soared into the sky, as if he were holding not a wooden stick, but an incomparably sharp and peerless sword!

A glint of light flashed deep within the pupils of the white-haired, blue-eyed boy, burning with a steely and unwavering will.

Even though they were still several meters apart, the dark fog suddenly cracked open, as if it had hit an invisible iron wall that prohibited passage!
Upon seeing this, Lily immediately held up the knotted rope and coldly called out the evil spirit's real name.

"Shinichiro Togo".

In an instant, the black mist froze and stopped abruptly.

Aizen Yurika's chest heaved as she spoke again.

"Get out!"

(End of this chapter)