Hunting God Era

Chapter 220 A Disguised Trip to Luoyang
A human-shaped balloon was placed in the sky above Kagoshima City by Li Ye, where it drifted, but in the dark night sky, it was difficult to make out its details.

One night of fermentation is enough to sustain this pollution.

Li Ye had no qualms about this, and Erica was even less bothered.

His hometown is a place of great suffering, with far more extreme cases than this, so it's become commonplace.

Moreover, Li Ye wouldn't allow the pollution to become too severe; releasing just a small amount would be enough.

At this time, according to the monk's method, the people contaminated by the controlled human head balloons should have fled here by now.

As the moon sank and the sun rose, people who came out of their homes finally saw the balloons floating in the sky, and they all looked terrified and cried out in fear.

The human head balloons drifted all night, dispersing enough pollution to instantly lock onto those people. Li Ye, who was high up, saw that from their heads, a tiny wisp of gas floated out, forming lines like human head balloons as it rose.

On the lines, balloons began to form, but they had not yet taken human shape; they were only in the initial stages, which only aroused more panic among the crowd.

They all knew about the human head balloon; it had appeared in various films and comics in the early years, though in different forms, but everyone knew it was a harmful demon.

Chaos erupted in the area, with everyone frantically fleeing and trying to escape.

Meanwhile, those who had fled from the town were also spreading panic. They were all victims of the human balloon attack, and some of them had relatives in the city. After seeking refuge with their relatives, they spread the word about the tragedy in the town. The news spread like wildfire, and in just half a day, many people in this small city already knew about it.

Most importantly, it attracted the attention of local shrines and temples.

Li Ye had previously located the shrines and temples from the air. Sure enough, they sent people out, but ignored the balloons floating over the city and headed straight for the mountain town.

"It's done."

Li Ye smiled and simply waved his hand, gathering the pollution from those balloons that were beginning to take shape but had not yet transformed into human heads, which then dissipated like smoke.

He couldn't handle balloons that were completely contaminated and shaped like human heads, but he could easily deal with those that hadn't yet become contaminated but were already on a large scale.

As long as mortals are not completely locked in, there is no problem.

Not only that, but they also managed to clean up the pollution spread by the human head balloons.

As for the polluted balloon with the human head that Li Ye brought, he took it away again, and it disappeared with him as a gust of wind, heading to the mountain town.

The main battlefield is the main battlefield. Some people have no worries on the main battlefield, but others have no need or intention to torment these people.

But if someone is unlucky enough to be locked in by the contamination and then a new human head balloon is generated, then Li Ye has no say in that.

This isn't his home.

Li Ye was naturally faster than the others, and soon arrived at the mountain town. He put the human head balloon back into the air in the open space in the center of the town.

The balloon with the human head on it broke free of its restraints and instinctively began to drift towards the city.

It has already been to the city and found more pollutants; its instinct will make it drift there on its own.

"what?"

The monk was chanting incantations within the protective barrier when he suddenly saw another human head balloon appear in the sky. He was puzzled, as he had spent the entire night controlling the human head balloons in the town, and now another one had suddenly appeared.

But he didn't think much of it and continued chanting incantations and using talismans to pull the human head balloon down and seal it inside the barrier, continuing to chant incantations to remove the pollution.

Does it really work?

Erica, who was also brought into the wind by Li Ye and was watching all this, frowned and said, "The pollution is locked. Those people are beyond saving. Even if we want to remove the pollution, it can't be done by one person alone. How can he eat and drink by himself? If no one brings him food, he probably won't last long."

Such examples do exist, and there are similar cases in China as well. However, these cases are usually handled by the National Security Bureau, which then hands them over to the military or handles them themselves. The contamination is sealed inside a restricted area, where dedicated personnel work day and night to remove it.

But it was less about removing pollution and more about centralized surveillance, since it was connected to human lives. As long as they watched over people for a lifetime and let them die peacefully, that would be considered removing pollution. At that time, the demons would have nothing to threaten people.

But these are all long-term plans that require continuous relay of work and should be treated as a job.

Even if one person were to achieve this, it would require immense perseverance; a weak will is essential.

"The fact that he came alone shows that he was well prepared. Now it's up to the others to step up their game."

Li Ye saw everything, but simply smiled and waited.

About half a day later, the people from the shrine and temple drove to the mountain road, stopped, and then walked to the town.

The town was deserted and deathly silent, except for Xuanjin, who stood within the barrier.

The shrine and the temple each sent two people: a shrine maiden and an onmyoji. The temple sent a guardian monk with a naginata and a monk similar to Gentsu.

When they spotted their target, Genjin also noticed them. They started talking incoherently, and what began as a calm argument gradually turned into a fight. Eventually, the four of them couldn't help but start fighting.

The people in these shrines and temples are also at the second realm, but they have just broken through and are not as good as Xuanjin. Moreover, this monk's demon-slaying skills are quite good. Although the opponent has many people, he can fight back and forth.

However, the four people's target was not Xuan Jin. Seeing that they could not suppress him, one of the guardian monks made a sudden move, rushed into the barrier, and with a flick of his naginata, he shattered all the human head balloons that were being suppressed.

"Yame!"

Genjin let out a classic Japanese roar, clearly furious. He then attacked with rage, pointing two fingers and his talisman and prayer beads shone brightly, forming the shape of an angry lion that charged towards the four.

The four men didn't linger. After joining forces to resist, although they were at a disadvantage, nothing serious happened. They even managed to escape from the town.

Unable to catch up, Xuan Jin could only kneel down in anger, raise his fist, and slam it into the ground. Then, he stared blankly at the now empty barrier, his expression one of utter bewilderment.

"Okay."

Li Ye emerged from the wind, pointed his finger, and he and Erica descended, creating two gusts of wind on the ground before landing and revealing their figures.

The sudden appearance made Xuan Jin instinctively on guard, but he relaxed again when he saw who it was.

"It's too late."

He spoke in Chinese, his face pale and filled with resentment, "Those people weren't targeting me at all, but those demons."

“Of course it wasn’t you.” Li Ye laughed. “I brought over a balloon with a human head on it, and they immediately noticed the problem. So they came to deal with the balloons here. After all, if they didn’t deal with it, the others would cause a bigger commotion once they were safely down.”

Xuan Jin was stunned. "You did this? What do you mean? No, you're not an ordinary person. What's your purpose?"

Li Ye didn't hide anything. He wanted the goal, not the means. Sometimes, it's better to say something than not to say it.

"The purpose, you know?"

Li Ye smiled, turned around, and without speaking first, asked, "What are they doing here?"

Genjin smiled wryly: "At first, they questioned me about why I did it."

Those four people represented the local power, while Genjin was just a wild monk. For a territorial entity like Japan, even the demons that appeared there were considered property.

When they come here, they will indeed question Genjin about why he did such a thing.

Xuan Jin was initially confused. He was a wanderer, but he only dealt with minor demons. Although he noticed something was wrong after a while, he just thought that the higher-ups were not doing their jobs.

But now, this wrongdoing has finally erupted.

They considered this their territory and believed that the wild monk shouldn't meddle in other people's business. Xuanjin asked him what was wrong with slaying demons and monsters, but was only told that the wild monk had no right to do so.

They started fighting after exchanging only a few words. What was initially thought to be a dispute over qualifications turned into a violent confrontation when the other side actually knocked out the life-or-death balloons, which enraged Genjin.

He didn't understand.

"Why? Shouldn't human lives be the priority? Is a competition for qualifications more important than human lives? My master taught me from a young age that slaying demons is our duty, and protecting ordinary people is our mission. Why are they different?"

"It's very simple."

Li Ye laughed and said, "The teachings you received are different from theirs. You emphasize protecting ordinary people, while they only care about profits. This town is their target. If you are here to exorcise demons, how will they take over this town?"

"Under the protection of certain skins, although they are not as primitive as before, there is not much difference in reality. In the past, they would collude with mountain bandits or openly rob during times of chaos. Now they rely on the skin of demons to rob in secret."

"Surrounded by mountains, there must be something else that has caught their attention. Either they are raising demons, or they have discovered resources. They will not be satisfied until this town is eliminated or this real estate is acquired."

"Otherwise, what a coincidence it would be, with both human head balloons and Tu Bi blocking the mountain road."

Li Ye said, "You're blocking their way, but you seem insignificant. You haven't even seen their core members; they're just some shrines and temples, and you can't even handle them."

"Who are you?" Xuan Jin stared intently at Li Ye. "You are not just a martial artist from Shenzhou."

Does it matter who I am? What matters is whether you can see through the essence of this place.

Li Ye spread his hands. "The higher-ups are inactive? No, the higher-ups themselves are part of this network of interests. The higher-ups you perceive are no different from demons. If the truth isn't enough..."

Suddenly, a chain appeared in Xuan Jin's hand and was placed there.

"Let's go take another look. Go to Kagoshima and take another look. Once you've seen enough, you'll understand what you want. I'm giving you these chains to give you the power to fight back in desperate situations. When you've figured it out, just come find me, guided by these chains."

He chuckled and said, "I can help you."

call!
After he finished speaking, another gust of wind blew, carrying the two figures away.

Genjin, clutching the chains, stared blankly at the deserted town. After a moment of silence, he stood up again, wrapped the chains around his arms, and slowly made his way towards Kagoshima.

Meanwhile, in a torii shrine on a mountain near Kagoshima, Li Ye and Erica appeared.

As soon as the person appeared, the people stationed at the Torii Shrine noticed him. Just as they were about to question him, Li Ye casually waved his hand, turning the person into smoke and dissipating.

Erica.

"I come."

Erica touched her earlobe, summoned a bow and arrow, and instantly unleashed a rain of arrows, wiping out everyone inside and clearing out the torii shrine.

This is the land of demons, and it is very ancient. Even after so long, it is still polluted. The demon realm has not been cleaned up and still produces its resources.

Li Ye didn't waste any time; he opened his mouth and inhaled, clearing away the demonic domain and leaving it inside the torii gate.

"Will he find out on his own? What will he find out?"

Erica asked疑惑地问道：“Is there any other opportunity?”

"You're good at observing the Primordial Era and the Demon Realm, but you're still lacking in observing human nature."

Li Ye laughed and said, "You probably haven't seen the evils hidden beneath the city and in the darkness. There are even more demons appearing at night, targeting not only mortals but also skilled martial artists."

"In terms of nourishment, martial artists have more. Some people will use these people as guinea pigs for cultivation. As long as the demons appear in time, they won't cause any problems. And the methods of raising demons are being guided by these people."

“Just wait, he will come, and he may bring some others with him. I didn’t give him those chains for nothing. Now he has greater power and a desire to seek the truth, so he will definitely take action.”

The painted skin incident that occurred in Ningjiang City would be even more brutal here, almost blatant.

It's not even about guiding anymore; it could turn into those people forcing the martial artists who are meant to be nourishment to automatically go into the mouths of demons and get nourishment from them. Or, to be even more extreme, it's not impossible that they would be skinned, dismembered, and swallowed alive.

These people are best at so-called rituals and sacrifices, and the martial artists who are used as nourishment, those from the lower classes, are naturally unwilling to accept it once they are implicated and discover the truth.

As long as you give them hope and let them see the true nature of things, they will definitely follow.

Using these people as a front, and then dealing with the local powerful families, once Satsuma is completely thrown into chaos, we can directly take Nijo Castle and then wreak havoc throughout the entire Japanese territory.

"This can be considered a disguised form of going to Luoyang."

Li Ye cleared the prayer mats in the shrine, sat down, and swept away the shrine where people were worshipping.

“Monks rebelling? Ha, there are precedents in Japan, it’s not surprising,” Li Ye laughed.

(End of this chapter)