Hogwarts Summoning Guide

Having successfully struck up a conversation with Song Quan, Song Quan removed his black mask. Upon closer inspection, Bai Lin discovered that he was only around thirty years old, with his face covered in black tattoos arranged in the shape of an array. Bai Lin guessed that this was probably the source of his power.

The two searched the monastery and finally found a pile of human bones in a small monk's cell. They were probably the original monks of the monastery, but it was unknown whether Master Fuyuan was among them. The two dug a pit behind the monastery to bury them, as a small expression of their compassion. The monks had traveled thousands of miles to the east, only to tragically lose their lives in a foreign land, which was truly heartbreaking.

Bai Lin, having nowhere else to go, accompanied Song Quan. The two chatted as they walked and quickly became acquainted.

Similar to the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty, due to the Huang Chao Rebellion, forced the central government to allow local armies to fight against the rebels, ultimately leading to regional separatism and the rise of numerous warlords. In 907 AD, Zhu Huang accepted the "abdication" of Emperor Ai of Tang, Li Zhu, and established the Later Liang Dynasty. However, the Later Liang Dynasty only lasted for 16 years. In 923 AD, Li Cunxu, the son of Li Keyong, the Prince of Jin, who was based in Taiyuan, established the Later Tang Dynasty and destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty in the same year. In just over a decade, the dynasty changed hands twice, and many civil and military officials were reduced to bandits along with the changing dynasties.

Song Quan's father was a minor official at the city gate during the reign of Emperor Ai of Tang, but his family was under the control of the Southern Chu. When the city was breached by the Later Liang, the family fled eastward. After arriving in Yingzhou, they managed to obtain a minor official position. However, when Song Quan was a teenager, he encountered a "demon incident" in which all but Song Quan of his family perished. Song Quan then vowed to slay demons and avenge his family by killing the demons. He joined the "Demon Slayer Corps," which had a semi-official status.

At this time, war raged in the East, and Japan was also in turmoil. It was the Heian period, a time of political instability, numerous factions, and widespread hunger and oppression among the common people. In Song Quan's words, the yang energy of the entire island was waning, and demons and monsters began to emerge.

Even though the city of Yingzhou was Kyoto during the Heian period, it was not like a large city like Luoyang or Chang'an of the same era. It was more like a European city. The city walls and castles were only the core of Kyoto, surrounding a small hill and protecting the homes of the emperor, nobles, and ministers.

In ancient times, when city walls were built, high-ranking monks or Taoist priests would perform rituals, or they would bury things to defend against demonic energy in the foundation of the walls, such as salt, iron skewers, peach wood, and dog blood. Ordinary demons with weak magical power would find it difficult to enter the city, while powerful demons would enter the city and trigger the entire defensive system formed by the city walls, alarming the sorcerers in the city. Therefore, there are basically no legends of large numbers of demons attacking cities in any Eastern dynasty.

In contrast, the civilian areas of Yingzhou lacked the protection of city walls. As night fell, the deserted streets became places where monsters could freely enter and exit, creating a terrifying scene of a hundred ghosts roaming at night.

Eating people is the greatest desire of monsters, and murders happen every day. So the Japanese government commissioned two organizations to handle monster incidents. One is the Yin-Yang Bureau, which was originally responsible for astronomy and divination, and the other is the Demon Slayer Corps, which is composed of civilian samurai (often survivors of monster incidents). Song Quan is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps. He is quite famous in Japan because of his high level of martial arts and fearlessness.

"Demonic energy?" Bai Lin pondered as he walked, thinking that the reason for the large-scale appearance of ghosts and monsters was likely the "source of chaos" he was looking for.

Song Quan's trip was not for the "broken monk," but for a mission to hunt down a monster called "Hair-Eating Demon." His encounter with Bai Lin was purely by chance. However, due to his longing for the Tang Dynasty, Song Quan felt a great sense of kinship with Bai Lin, even though Bai Lin claimed to be a subject of the Later Tang (which actually had little to do with the Tang Dynasty anymore).

"Hair-eating demon, doesn't sound like a vicious monster?" Bai Lin said as he walked.

"I haven't heard of any cases of it eating people, but it ate the hair of two young ladies from the Komatsu family, and the two ladies, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide together," Song Quan said in a somewhat heavy tone.

"Um, losing hair isn't enough to warrant suicide, is it?" Bai Lin, being a 21st-century person, was quite puzzled.

"Both young ladies are of marriageable age, which is a great disgrace to the Xiaosong family. No matter what the reason, the Hair-Eating Demon is the culprit, and I will kill him!" Song Quan said hatefully.

Bai Lin didn't answer. He felt there was something strange about the matter, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Has anything major happened in Kyoto lately?" Bai Lin asked cautiously.

Song Quan glanced at Bai Lin, thought for a moment, and said, "Brother Bai, are you planning to go to the capital to find a job?"

Bai Lin immediately adopted the demeanor of a young swordsman, saying, "We men should wield our swords to right injustice!" He paused, then continued, "For a seafarer like me, without a respectable identity, it wouldn't be easy to move around Yingzhou, would it?"

Song Quan nodded. No matter how skilled you are in martial arts, you still need to eat. He then said, "Brother Bai can try his luck at the Yin-Yang Bureau or the Genji residence."

Bai Lin's face lit up with joy. It was like playing an RPG game. He seemed to have triggered an information setting, and the next step was to follow this clue and find a place to go.

"The Bureau of Onmyō, ah..." Bai Lin thought with amusement. At this time, the Bureau of Onmyō was a very famous organization in Japan, not only because they had transformed from a simple ritual department serving the royal family into a violent agency that patrolled the four directions and dealt with ghost incidents, but also because this era was home to the most famous Onmyōji in Japanese history—Abe no Seimei.

Meanwhile, the Minamoto clan also had a general, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, and his "Four Heavenly Kings of Yorimitsu," who controlled the central army in Japan, forming a three-way power struggle with two other powerful ministers, Fujiwara no Michinaga and Fujiwara no Akimitsu.

However, Bai Lin would not help the Genji conquer the country or work for these powerful people. His goal was to find Seimei, who should have more information about demonic energy.

Having made up his mind, Bai Lin bid a reluctant farewell to Song Quan and set off for Kyoto. However, without an anchor point, Bai Lin could not directly teleport there, but could only jump tens of kilometers at a time, finally arriving at the outskirts of Kyoto before nightfall.

Since there was no outer city wall, Kyoto did not have a very clear outer boundary. However, as more and more houses appeared along the roadside, the residential buildings became connected, the roads widened considerably, and there were many more ordinary people coming and going, which proved that Kyoto had been reached.

Bai Lin was tall and dressed strangely (he was also wearing a short-sleeved shirt and casual pants). People pointed at him on the street and made way for him, looking at him with deep awe.

Bai Lin wanted to ask someone for directions to find out where the Yin-Yang Bureau was, but seeing the commoners keeping their distance, he gave up. However, someone soon came knocking on his door: a small troop of cavalry approached from a distance. They spotted Bai Lin, who stood out from the crowd, and came to greet him.

Japanese horses are not as tall as Mongolian horses, but they are still very strong. The riders on these horses are also much taller than ordinary people. They are probably the "elite troops" of Japan, which are strong and robust men selected from wealthy families, similar to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

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