122: Gods

The night was as dark as ink, completely swallowing the mountains and the temple. In the total silence, the first slapping sound rang out abruptly—

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Heavy slapping sounds smashed hard against the closed wooden door. The force was so great that the door bolt creaked, and years of dust fell in showers. That was definitely not a sound that could be made by a human palm; it was more like something wet and heavy was frantically slamming against it. The slapping continued, mixed with an ear-grating "Po-po" sound that seemed like the wriggling of mucus, particularly eerie in the dead of night.

However, no matter how frantic the existence outside the door was, the closed doors and windows acted like an invisible barrier, firmly blocking it outside.

The slapping stopped abruptly.

After a heart-stopping silence, a gentle and familiar voice pierced through the door: "Mr. Lin Luo! Are you inside? Quick, open the door! It's dangerous outside!" That voice was none other than Kochou Kanae, and the urgency and concern in her tone were remarkably lifelike.

Lin Luo's heart leaped, and he couldn't help but whisper, "This imitation is so realistic..."

Just as he was about to move, Shinobu's voice rang out from outside with a coquettish call: "Hey! Lin Luo! Open the door quickly, there's something dirty chasing me!"

Lin Luo immediately sat up straight and pointed outside, his voice trembling: "Slander! This is absolute slander!" He was about to get up, but he was held down by the shoulder by Ye Nianyao. He turned back to meet those cold eyes and immediately fell silent.

The voices outside continued to change, with familiar female voices ringing out one after another:

"Mr. Lin Luo, please open the door... I-I'm very scared..." — Kato Megumi's voice carried a perfectly measured tremble.

"Mr. Lin Luo, there is something scary outside." — Yukino Mifuyu's cold voice rarely showed a trace of panic.

"Lin Luo! Please, let me in!" — Kirisu Mafuyu's voice carried a rare fragility.

"Mr. Lin Luo, it's so dark outside... could you open the door?" — Shiina Mahiru's weak plea was enough to soften anyone's heart.

There was even Furuhashi Fumino's shy request: "L-Lin Luo... could you open the door for a moment, I have some math questions I'd like to ask..."

With every additional voice, the temperature in the room seemed to drop another degree. Although Ye Nianyao remained expressionless, the chill radiating from her body was almost enough to condense the moisture in the air. Fine beads of sweat broke out on Lin Luo's forehead. When Shiina Mahiru's voice rang out, he finally couldn't help but stand up again: "I can't let her keep calling out like that!"

"Sit down." Ye Nianyao's voice was colder than ice, and with a slight application of force, she pushed him back to his original spot.

Just then, Tohru's shout, full of Origin Qi, rang out from outside: "Lin Luo! Open the door already!"

Lin Luo's face turned ashen as he struggled to break free: "Sister Nianyao, let me go, I must go and subdue this Prodigy immediately!"

Suddenly, it became quiet outside for a moment, followed by a voice that neither of them expected:

"Lin Luo... open the door."

That voice was cold with a rare hint of softness; it was clearly Ye Nianyao's voice.

The real Ye Nianyao's eyes sharpened, and her long sword suddenly left its scabbard. Before Lin Luo could react, he saw her slash open the closed wooden door with a single stroke.

"I didn't! How is that possible!" Lin Luo hurriedly defended himself.

"I know," Ye Nianyao said, stepping over the threshold with her sword, her voice laced with ice, "but right now, I'd rather cut something down."

Outside, a tall white figure was faintly visible under the moonlight, emitting a subtle "Po-po" sound. The moonlight was like spilled mercury, illuminating that abnormal figure clearly.

She wore a pure white dress, simple in style but exuding an indescribable eeriness. The fabric remained motionless in the night wind, as if it weren't an ordinary textile. Beneath the hem, a pair of calves were revealed, as pale and bloodless as a corpse that had been submerged for too long.

The most unsettling part was her head—a massive white wide-brimmed hat almost completely covered her face, allowing only a glimpse of blood-red lips from beneath the brim, curled into a weirdly wide smile. In the deep shadows of the brim, where the eyes should have been, there was only a profound darkness, yet one could clearly feel a greedy gaze firmly locked onto the two people inside.

She stood quietly in the moonlight, her tall body casting a twisted long shadow. A faint "Po-po" sound echoed softly with her breathing; it didn't sound like a human voice, but rather the sound of a thick liquid bubbling from a container. Although she was currently motionless, that inhuman sense of oppression was even more hair-raising than when she had been frantically slapping the door earlier.

Lin Luo gasped: "This is Hachishaku-sama?"

Ye Nianyao's sword edge glinted with a cold light in the moonlight, her voice frigid: "Playing tricks."

Those blood-red lips curled even wider, as if she were laughing silently.

Her figure was like lightning, the sword light drawing a sharp arc under the moon, passing over Hachishaku-sama's neck in an instant.

The sword edge passed through with surprising smoothness, as if it weren't cutting a solid object. However, not a single drop of blood splashed from the wound; instead, a mass of black mist as thick as ink surged out from the cut, roiling and wriggling. A second later, the hideous gash rapidly closed under the shroud of the black mist, returning to its original state, with even the white dress remaining perfectly intact.

The blood-red lips under Hachishaku-sama's hat brim curled even wider, emitting a weird "Po-po" laughter filled with deep mockery.

Ye Nianyao's brows furrowed slightly, and her sword stance changed again. In an instant, a thousand sword shadows appeared, enveloping Hachishaku-sama like a violent storm. Limbs, torso, head... the sword edge tore through that pale body again and again, but each time, the black mist would surge out, and the wounds would heal instantly. Hachishaku-sama didn't even try to dodge, simply staring at Lin Luo with that greedy gaze, as if admiring a prey that was about to be caught.

"Physical attacks have limited effect." Ye Nianyao's cold voice carried a hint of solemnity. She was skilled at slaying demons, but against this kind of almost Law-based supernatural existence, her sharp sword techniques seemed somewhat powerless.

Just as Hachishaku-sama let out a mocking "Po-po" sound, Lin Luo stepped forward, a blazing thunder light already condensing in his right palm: "Let me try!"

The Palm Thunder erupted with a roar! The purest Yang lightning transformed into a roaring silver Dragon, accurately striking Hachishaku-sama's chest.

"Sizzle—!"

The moment the thunder light exploded, Hachishaku-sama let out a shrill shriek. Her white dress was charred and broken under the thunder strike, and deep, bone-deep burn marks were left on her pale skin. The surrounding black mist boiled and dissipated violently as if it had met its bane. This time, the healing speed of the wounds became noticeably sluggish.

The darkness under Hachishaku-sama's hat brim fluctuated violently; she realized that this man possessed the power to truly harm her. Her tall body suddenly drifted backward, wanting to melt into the night and flee.

"Trying to leave?" Ye Nianyao cold-snorted. Sword light flared up, transforming into an airtight barrier that firmly trapped Hachishaku-sama in the clearing in front of the temple.

Seizing this Opportunity, Lin Luo's finger seals changed, and a massive golden bell descended from the sky, completely enveloping Hachishaku-sama. Thunder light flickered across the surface of the golden bell, emitting a heart-palpitating crackling sound. Compared to the sharp sword light, this purest Yang thunder power made Hachishaku-sama not dare to even try to break through.

Just as Lin Luo was preparing to summon True Fire, the 'cicada song collection' actually floated out from the pendant on its own. The pages turned without wind, and countless chains shimmering with runes emerged from the blank pages, easily penetrating the golden bell and wrapping around Hachishaku-sama layer by layer.

"Po—! Po—!"

Hachishaku-sama let out a terrified wail, and thick negative emotions transformed into rolling black smoke, which were continuously extracted and swallowed by the chains. Her tall body twisted and deformed under the restraint of the chains, and the black mist surged frantically in an attempt to resist, but she was forced back step by step under the dual suppression of the wounds left by the Palm Thunder and the containment power of the 'cicada song collection'.

Finally, after a long and unwilling "Po" sound, her massive body was completely pulled into a streaming shadow and disappeared into the pages of the book. A simple sketch of a woman in a white dress and a wide hat appeared on the page, and ink flowed beside it, slowly condensing into the characters for "eight feet".

The pages closed, and the 'cicada song collection' gently fell back into Lin Luo's palm, glowing with a warm luster.

"You have quite a few treasures." Ye Nianyao returned her sword to its scabbard, her gaze passing over the title page, "I'm afraid most of the Lin family's hidden heirlooms are in your hands now."

Lin Luo coughed lightly and tucked the book back into his robe: "When away from home, one must have some protection items to feel at ease. Besides, this 'cicada song collection' was personally handed down to me by the old man; it's not like I secretly swiped it." As he spoke, he suddenly let out a small gasp, and with a thought, the book appeared again, its pages turning without wind to the "eight feet" page.

A soft white light flowed out from the book page, slowly condensing into form beside the two of them. The previously sinister and terrifying Hachishaku-sama had now undergone a great change in appearance—she still maintained her tall stature of nearly two meters, and her bosom remained as generous, but that uncomfortable cold aura around her had completely vanished.

Her pale complexion had become healthy and rosy, and the wide-brimmed hat that had covered her face was gone, revealing a gentle and delicate face. She stood quietly beside Lin Luo, her eyes lowered and a smile on her lips, looking for all the world like an elegant and quiet Yamato Nadeshiko.

Ye Nianyao's eyes moved slightly, her gaze lingering on that submissive face for a moment before sweeping over the other's overly prominent curves, finally landing on Lin Luo's face: "This book of yours... is quite good at renovating things."

Lin Luo rubbed his nose, looking at eight feet whose temperament had changed so much, unsure for a moment how to evaluate it. The purified yokai stood quietly in the moonlight, as if she were born with this gentle appearance.

"Master." eight feet felt Lin Luo's gaze and bowed submissively.

Lin Luo was slightly surprised; the previously subdued Hanako and Mary were both treated as sources of negative energy and continuously drained by the 'cicada song collection'. As another urban legend, Hachishaku-sama was actually different?

eight feet lightly gestured with her slender hand, and the 'cicada song collection' in Lin Luo's hand floated into her palm. She gently stroked the pages and said softly, "I was originally a Mountain Deity who protected children, but I was later polluted by grudges and fell into a haunting urban legend."

"Now that Master has drained the grudges from my body, those negative emotions have all become sustenance for this book. And I have also found a blessing in disguise, becoming the Book Spirit of the 'cicada song collection'." She raised her gentle eyes, "This is good; I am finally no longer in a muddled state. Please take good care of me from now on, Master."

Her voice was soft and pleasant, a world away from the hair-raising "Po-po" sound from before. These words gave Lin Luo a great shock—had he accidentally subdued a true deity as a servant?

Ye Nianyao, on the other hand, appeared very calm: "The Japan of old claimed to have eight million gods. A deity that can be easily polluted is no different from a yokai. We have encountered this kind of situation before."

Lin Luo nodded in realization, then thought of something: "Then this kind... do I need to hand her over?"

"Usually, I just slay them directly." Ye Nianyao's tone was indifferent, "The Special Affairs Department has already thoroughly researched this type of existence; they no longer have any research value."

Hearing this, eight feet's slender body trembled slightly, and she instinctively leaned closer to Lin Luo's side. She lowered her head slightly, her submissive posture showing a bit of unease as her eyes, which had just regained their clarity, peeked at Ye Nianyao before quickly looking down again.

Lin Luo felt his sleeve being gently tugged and turned to meet eight feet's timid gaze. Her tall figure now appeared exceptionally fragile, a world away from the urban legend that had radiated a cold aura earlier.

"Since she's already become a Book Spirit, let's just keep her." Lin Luo coughed lightly and said to Ye Nianyao, "It's at least more useful than slaying her directly."

Ye Nianyao's gaze lingered on eight feet for a moment, watching as this newly restored being hid behind Lin Luo like a startled fawn, before finally looking away indifferently: "Suit yourself." "}]} , "new_glossary_terms": [{"zh": " Thor", "en": "Tohru", "entity_type": "person", "gender": "female"}, {"zh": " Palm Thunder", "en": "Palm Thunder", "entity_type": "technique", "gender": "neutral"}, {"zh": " Mary", "en": "Mary", "entity_type": "person", "gender": "female"}, {"zh": " Book Spirit", "en": "Book Spirit", "entity_type": "class", "gender": "neutral"}, {"zh": " Neon", "en": "Japan", "entity_type": "location", "gender": "neutral"}, {"zh": " Yamato Nadeshiko", "en": "Yamato Nadeshiko", "entity_type": "other", "gender": "female"}, {"zh": " Mountain spirits", "en": "Mountain Deity", "entity_type": "other", "gender": "neutral"}, {"zh": " Kiss", "en": "Po-po", "entity_type": "other", "gender": "neutral"}, {"zh": " True Fire", "en": "True Fire", "entity_type": "technique", "gender": "neutral"}]}