The Goshinboku?
Inevitably, he thought of the giant tree on the back mountain of the Higurashi Shrine. Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be much difference between that tree and this cherry tree... other than the species, the trunk thickness and other features were remarkably similar.
Could it be that tree?
Their eyes flickering, Sū ěr, Think, and Jibril all thought of the same thing simultaneously. If that Goshinboku was indeed the ancient tree corresponding to this cherry tree, then they might have found the lead they were looking for regarding the cause of the temporal shift.
But before that, the matter of the time portal had to be kept from Yukari. Sū ěr wasn't at all curious about what would happen if two Yakumo Yukaris met.
"Take us there," Think said calmly. "To the place you mentioned that corresponds to this cherry tree."
Silently, Yukari picked up the pink-haired girl clinging to her arm and put her back in the room. She then pulled open a gap leading to the outside world. Across the gap stood a giant tree.
One glance was enough to identify it. Sū ěr had already spotted the shimenawa [sacred straw ropes] in the familiar positions on this Goshinboku, though they looked brand new compared to how they appeared centuries later.
Truth be told, Sū ěr group was already more familiar with this patch of the Higurashi back mountain than the house he rented. There wasn't much there, and the old well was quickly found. Then, Sū ěr face darkened.
Huddled together like a swarm of ants, yōkai were flocking toward that well, trying to crawl inside. Further away, Sū ěr spotted some humans watching. Leading them was an... elderly priestess?
He felt no strong spiritual energy from her; the priestess outfit seemed like a mere decoration. A priestess appearing here—was she the predecessor of the Higurashi Shrine?
Relying on the old farmers with hoes and sickles behind her to physically drive away yōkai seemed a bit optimistic. Could she even be considered a priestess?
"What's going on here?" Sū ěr asked Yukari, finding the gathering of misshapen yōkai quite disgusting.
"This is the Yin land," Yukari said, covering her nose and mouth in similar distaste, though she wasn't surprised by the scene. "The cherry tree at the Yang site is personally maintained by the Saigyouji family, but the Goshinboku at the Yin site is maintained by yōkai."
"...Passively," Yukari added with a cynical smile. "Just as a taro grows in the mud, this Goshinboku bears sweet fruit. The spiritual energy crystals precipitated from the ley lines, which only form in Yin land, are a great tonic for any yōkai... but there is only one every fifty years."
"How could an array that changes the seasons for centuries exist without cost or burden?" Yukari recounted everything she had investigated while trying to save Yuyuko. "Yōkai craving power follow the trail here to slaughter each other. In the end, only one yōkai takes the prize, and all the others who die here become part of the Saigyouji monk's plan... a part that fills the deficit of this land."
One in, one out. One loss, one gain. One Yang, one Yin.
"It's an open scheme. Even if many yōkai see through the Saigyouji monk's ploy, those seeking power and full of self-confidence will eventually choose to step into this trap. They don't even need to do anything specific; they just need to fight here," Yukari laughed bitterly. "Impressive, isn't it? A human even I must praise, who forcibly snatched the choicest meat from the hands of yōkai."
"That's not all, is it? As long as this tree is here, the cherry tree on the other side can never become a yōkai," Think said casually while checking the array, which was entirely different from the one in the future. "The shockwaves transmitted through the ley line from the yōkai slaughter every fifty years are enough to erase any vague consciousness born within that cherry tree."
The vision and executive boldness of the Saigyouji monk forced even Think to offer praise. To accomplish such a feat silently in a world dominated by yōkai made her glance at a certain someone beside her.
Are humans all like this?
Every now and then, a hero like this pops up.
"Hey! Hey? Hey!"
As Sū ěr and the others chatted while waiting for Think, the sole intellectual, to reach a conclusion, a strange shouting came from somewhere. The voice seemed to be calling them?
Did the fighting yōkai have the leisure to give greetings?
"Ah, I know who that is," Yukari suddenly remembered a certain interesting little fellow she had seen during her previous scouting. "There's a dog demon sealed on that tree by someone. Perhaps his appearance is just too ridiculous; though I don't know when he was sealed there, no other yōkai has been kind enough to let him down. Plenty have passed by to mock him, though."
"Hey!!! I heard that!! Old Hag!!" The voice from over there was clearly angry, deliberately using a title that dealt critical damage to women.
It didn't affect Yukari at all, though.
"Age is the symbol of a yōkai's strength. If a little squirt like you understood that, you probably wouldn't be sealed here so pathetically~" Yukari replied with a smiling, raised voice.
"A dog demon? Sealed on the Goshinboku?" Sū ěr was instantly interested. He spotted the yōkai: white hair, dog ears on his head, wearing a red robe.
He looked much, much weaker than Sū ěr imagined... was there really a need to seal such a creature?
Anyone with a bit of spiritual power could probably just kill him, right?
Wouldn't it be better to spend the effort sealing some immortal monster instead?
With a flick, Sū ěr "deleted" the yōkai still fighting nearby. Except for Think, who was uninterested in the weak dog demon and still studying the ley line array, the others walked to the base of the Goshinboku. From here, they could see the little demon had been shot through the chest with an arrow and pinned to the tree. Quite a wretched sight.
"Hey, what did you do to get sealed here?" Sū ěr threw a stone that hit the dog demon on the head. The demon had deliberately closed his eyes, intending to ignore them.
"You looking to die?!!!"
The dog was barking.