But Kikyo was never good at these things, and she never... disdained them!
Just then—
"Don't you dare hurt Sister Kikyo!"
A childish voice came from the direction of the shrine.
Kaede rushed out again.
With her hair in twin tails and wearing patched clothes, she wore only one straw sandal on her feet, the other having been lost somewhere.
She ran to Kikyo's side and spread her arms, shielding her elder sister.
A seven or eight-year-old girl stood before two priestesses who had received formal training in spiritual power and techniques.
"You aren't allowed to bully my sister!"
"Kaede—"
Kikyo wanted to pull her back, but more footsteps rang out.
From various parts of the village, from those low wooden houses, and from the paths between the fields.
The villagers arrived.
It wasn't just one or two.
It was the entire village.
The elderly leaned on canes, men in their prime carried hoes, and women held their children.
There was confusion and fear in their eyes—after all, three unknown priestesses stood outside, and there were traces of battle on the open ground.
But they did not hide in their houses; they came out.
They stood by Kikyo's side.
"Lady Kikyo has done nothing wrong."
The first to speak was an old farmwoman. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was firm: "She has always been protecting us."
"Those things she killed certainly weren't human."
Another elderly woman said,
"We all heard the commotion just now and saw it through the windows—those things' mouths were split to their ears and their nails were half a foot long. You call that human?"
"Exactly! If Lady Kikyo wanted to kill people, would she have to wait until midnight?"
"She saved all our lives!"
Voices rose one after another, noisy and chaotic, but their message was unanimous.
They were all directed at Kikyo, all standing on Kikyo's side.
Momiji was stunned.
Botan was also stunned.
Their Senior Sister said Kikyo was a fallen priestess, that she conspired with demons, and that the villagers were being deceived by her.
But—would deceived villagers rush out in the middle of the night to shield a priestess with their own bodies?
Could the trust and gratitude in those eyes be faked?
Momiji's Hand Seal froze in mid-air, and Botan's Talisman Paper slipped from her hand.
Kikyo was also stunned.
She looked at the villagers surrounding her, looking at the expressions on their faces.
It wasn't like this before.
In the past, although she was well-loved, the villagers felt more awe—both for her spiritual power and even more so for her status.
A priestess was a sacred existence, an inviolable guardian.
The villagers respected her and made offerings to her, but they also kept their distance.
Never had a villager rushed out to speak for her when she was being questioned.
Never.
Before Kanbe Hikaru came, she had always shouldered everything alone.
The heavy pressure of the Shikon Jewel, the endless demons, the lonely battles—all alone.
But today was different.
"..."
Kikyo lowered her head slightly, her jet-black long hair falling to cover half of her face.
Kaede still stood before her, her small body shielding her from the three priestesses. The young girl glanced back at her sister and whispered, "Big Brother taught us this."
"...What?"
"Before Big Brother left, he told the villagers that if anyone came to cause trouble for Sister, they shouldn't just shrink back into their houses."
Kaede's twin tails swayed as she spoke: "He said Kikyo has protected you for so long, it's time for you to help her."
"He also said Sister doesn't have to carry everything by herself."
"He is here, and everyone else is here too."
Kikyo's fingers trembled slightly.
She looked up, and something was flowing within her pitch-black eyes.
It certainly wouldn't be tears.
Kikyo would not cry in front of others.
She simply smiled. It was very faint, almost imperceptible, but she was indeed smiling.
It was a smile of relief.
Watching this scene, most of the anger on Momiji's face had faded, replaced by confusion and wavering.
Botan bit her lip, not knowing whether to believe her Senior Sister or the scene before her eyes.
While Tsubaki was in a wretched state, she became even more infuriated... infuriated by this group of damn, ignorant masses.
Kikyo then immediately looked toward her.
Although she was very grateful to the villagers, in truth... she didn't need them to prove anything for her. She had her Kanbe Hikaru, and she had long since ceased to be easily shaken.
"Tsubaki, you want an explanation... unfortunately, I have no obligation to explain anything to you."
Kikyo spoke.
Her voice wasn't loud, and her tone was indifferent.
Tsubaki's performance froze along with it.
She thought Kikyo would retort, would defend herself, would eagerly present evidence to prove her innocence. No matter what Kikyo said, she could counter it—she had prepared too many rhetorical tricks, too many traps.
But Kikyo did not step into that trap.
She didn't even touch the edge of the trap.
When those pitch-black eyes looked at her, there was only one thing inside.
Indifference.
Pure, undisguised indifference.
Like an adult looking at a child throwing a tantrum on the floor—not angry, not helpless, just feeling that there was no need to respond.
Tsubaki's expression darkened.
Fine.
Since the soft approach wouldn't work—
"Momiji."
Tsubaki quickly changed her strategy, her voice becoming even softer.
She walked toward Momiji, reaching out to take her hand.
Those upturned eyes were full of earnestness, like a bullied elder sister seeking help from her younger sister.
"You believe your Senior Sister, right? From childhood until now, when has Senior Sister ever lied to you?"
Her fingers were about to touch the back of Momiji's hand.
"You can also feel the aura in those ashes, they were indeed human—Kikyo didn't even try to heal them, she just directly—"
Snap.
An extremely subtle sound.
Like an extremely fine silk thread being plucked and broken.
Tsubaki's outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, her entire being seemingly hit by a pause button.
On that glamorous face, the gentle expression froze—not because she wanted it to, but because her body suddenly stopped obeying her.
It was spiritual power.
Her spiritual power was sealed.
It wasn't scattered, nor was it suppressed, and it wasn't trapped by any Barrier.
Instead, it was wrapped in another layer of spiritual power 'cocoon'—like a silkworm locked inside the silk it had spun, unable to move.
Her hands could still move, her legs could still walk, and her mouth could still speak.
But her spiritual power—not a single shred of it could be mobilized.
Tsubaki's pupils constricted.
She whipped her head around to look at Kikyo.
Kikyo hadn't even raised her bow.
She wasn't even looking at her.
Just at the moment she walked toward Momiji and reached out—Kikyo had released her own spiritual power.
That spiritual power did not turn into visible light, did not explode, and did not flicker.
Across a distance of thirty zhang.
With absolute precision, it locked and severed.
"You—"
Tsubaki's voice changed.
All the gentleness, concern, and earnestness collapsed in this instant.
All that remained was terror.
Pure terror when facing an absolute gap in power.
She was also a priestess.
She knew better than anyone what had just happened.
Kikyo hadn't touched her, hadn't looked at her, and hadn't even made any obvious movement.
Just from a distance of thirty zhang—she had directly sealed the flow of spiritual power within her body.
This level of spiritual power.
This degree of control.
This understanding and application of spiritual power.
They simply weren't existences on the same level.
They never were.
Her self-righteous calculations, her carefully choreographed rhetoric, and her layer upon layer of disguises—in the face of this pure, overwhelming power.
She was like a toddler trying to trip a mountain.
Laughable.
Pathetic.
Tsubaki was terrified, and she panicked!
Boom!
Almost simultaneously, the sky suddenly exploded.
Purple lightning struck down from between the dark clouds, landing directly beside the Torii at the village entrance.
The ground cracked, and mud splashed everywhere.
The flash of thunder illuminated all of Kaede Village, casting a deathly pale light on everyone's faces.
The majestic Demonic Qi startled both Momiji and Botan, left Tsubaki dazed, and caused the villagers to look up, though they showed no fear.
Kikyo paused, and once again, a smile appeared on her face.
It was a much more noticeable smile.
The moment the lightning hit the ground, a figure stepped out from the light.
Grey robes, long pale hair.
A Crimson Oni Mask covered his face, and the eyes visible beneath it glowed with a scarlet light.
His left hand rested on the hilt of Muramasa, while his right hand hung at his side, purple electrical arcs crackling between his fingers.
The scent of dust from a long-distance journey still lingered on his body, mixed with blood mist and thunder.
Kanbe Hikaru.
He was back.
"It seems I've returned just in time."
Amidst those words.
Tsubaki's expression tightened slightly as she suddenly realized that a thin mist had risen around them at some unknown point.
It was a thin mist like blood.
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