Chapter 207: The Child

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Taiso-ji Temple. In just two days, the number of practitioners imprisoned here had increased by more than ten thousand.

“Minamoto Nagasawa!”

Accompanied by a murderous voice, two jailers walked into the cell and dragged Minamoto Nagasawa out.

“I want to see His Majesty!” Minamoto Nagasawa tried to shake off the jailers’ iron hands with his shoulders. “What right does that kid Minamoto Kiyomoto have to interrogate me with a shikigami!”

The reason why there was egalitarianism in the world was because there was inequality. In the eyes of many practitioners, shikigami were not people, but slaves. To be interrogated by a shikigami was a great shame.

A samurai once said that that experience was psychologically equivalent to letting a dog urinate on one’s head.

Because of this, back then in Hakone, when a practitioner suggested that Minamoto Kiyomoto be interrogated by a shikigami to confirm the authenticity of the “Dainichi Nyorai Spell” he had announced, Himegami Izayoi had directly killed him.

On a night after a deep exchange, while chatting, she said that she did it for him to see, to let him know how good she was, to obediently abandon the darkness and turn to the light, to leave the Divine Medium and enter the embrace of the Ise Miko.

Unfortunately, at that time, Minamoto Kiyomoto had no idea what it meant to be interrogated by a shikigami.

As a clan elder of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto Nagasawa was both a noble and a minister. How could he easily accept the interrogation of a shikigami?

But he did not dare to use his divine power. His struggle with only his physical strength was like a drowning person trying to raise his head to take a last breath of air—those who had resisted the interrogation with their divine power before had been beaten unconscious.

With healing spells, the jailers were merciless. Once they disobeyed, they would face a fate worse than death.

The officer had dealt with criminals all year round. He could see his strong exterior but weak interior and ignored him. He nodded to the official in the red robe beside him.

The red robe held a spell seal.

“Gods of heaven and earth, your power is magnificent.”

Dirty water dripped from the roof of the prison.

A shikigami crawled out from there. At first glance, it looked like two people.

One white and one green, both had only the upper body, and their feet were connected. It was a bit like a Tai Chi diagram, but without any of the mystery of a Tai Chi diagram.

It had claws, was tall and thin, and the most terrifying thing was its tongue, which was long and thin, and saliva dripped from it continuously.

The practitioners imprisoned in the cell, especially some of the women, were so scared they shrank into a corner.

“Minamoto Nagasawa,” the red robe said, “with your status and knowledge, you should know this shikigami, right?”

“Taste,” Minamoto Nagasawa’s face was ugly and gloomy.

This kind of shikigami could “taste” whether a person was lying. In other words, whether they were lying or not, they would be licked.

Among the many torture shikigami, it was also the most disgusting type.

“It’s good that you know,” the red robe took out a pen and paper and began to interrogate. “Minamoto Nagasawa, do you know about Minamoto Kiyohiro’s assassination plan?”

Minamoto Nagasawa stared at the “taste” that was laughing strangely like a demon, pursed his lips, and did not speak.

“Speak!” a jailer’s whip lashed out fiercely.

Minamoto Nagasawa staggered. Before he could fall, he was grabbed by the back of his collar by another jailer and pulled back.

“Speak!” several jailers shouted at the same time.

In the dark prison, this voice was like a judge’s question.

“…I don’t know,” Minamoto Nagasawa endured the pain, gritted his teeth, and squeezed out the sound from between his teeth as if tearing a piece of meat.

The two tongues of ‘taste’ fell with a ‘slap’, like two snakes falling from a beam.

The saliva-filled tongues “sniffed” at both sides of Minamoto Nagasawa’s cheeks.

After a while, the white tongue slid across his face.

The tongue was retracted, and the white ‘taste’ let out a strange laugh as if it had tasted something delicious.

The red robe wrote in the record, “I don’t know about Minamoto Kiyohiro’s assassination plan.”

“Minamoto Nagasawa, did you participate in any action that was unfavorable to Lord Shinto?”

“I said I don’t know about Kiyohiro’s matter. Isn’t the interrogation over?” Minamoto Nagasawa said angrily.

“Behave yourself. Answer whatever I ask you!” the jailer said and swung the whip in his hand again.

Minamoto Nagasawa grunted in pain but still did not speak.

“Minamoto Nagasawa,” the red robe’s face was expressionless, “if you don’t answer, according to the rules, you will be treated as guilty. You think it over yourself.”

“You want me to answer? Fine,” Minamoto Nagasawa sneered. “Let Minamoto Nagatoku come over and be interrogated with me! If Kiyohiro really assassinated Minamoto Kiyomoto, I’ll let you do whatever you want with me!”

“Stubborn. Beat him!” the officer waved his hand.

“Wait.”

The jailers who were about to act, as well as the officer and the red robe, quickly turned around and bowed to the entrance of the prison interrogation hall.

“Lord Shinto!”

The two pairs of eyes of ‘taste’ glanced at the person who walked in. He was wearing a magnificent black robe, a golden crown, and a gentle smile on his face.

Such a charming person, ‘taste’ was so scared it almost drilled back into the ceiling, but it couldn’t run. It could only roll up its tongue like a quilt and put it back in its mouth.

“Lord Shinto, we were wronged!”

“Lord Shinto, Kawachi has long since cut off contact with us!”

The people in the cell immediately rushed to the cell door and shouted for justice to Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Silence! Silence!” the jailer didn’t even look and swung his whip towards the most crowded place.

With a ‘slap, slap’ sound, the few people who were hit wailed loudly.

The crowd was so scared they quickly left the cell door.

Minamoto Kiyomoto glanced around and walked to Minamoto Nagasawa.

He waved his right hand, and the jailer released Minamoto Nagasawa.

“Minamoto Kiyohiro did attack me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto also looked at the people in the cell. “And all of you who were arrested here are the direct relatives of the assassin and are related to this matter.”

“What about my son? Let him out. I want to ask him myself!” Minamoto Nagasawa pressed his burning shoulder.

The physical pain and the shame he had suffered all turned into fuel for the anger in his eyes.

“He’s dead,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“What did you say?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto had no intention of answering a second time. He said to the red robe:
“You only need to ask if it’s related to the assassination. You don’t need to pursue other matters.”

“Yes,” the red robe lowered his head and bowed, and replied respectfully.

“Don’t be hypocritical here. What about my son?!” Minamoto Nagasawa shouted and rushed forward.

The jailer was quick and fiercely pressed him to the ground.

“I have no ill intentions towards you, nor have I ever hated anyone,” at this time, Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his gaze to him. “In this matter, I have already made enough compromises.”

“Compromise? A condescending compromise?” Minamoto Nagasawa raised his head with difficulty, his breathing rapid with anger.

“You should be glad that it’s not a condescending hostility.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t waste his breath on him. He said to the officer, “Let him go.”

“My lord, this Minamoto Nagasawa doesn’t know your grace. If you let him go, I’m afraid he will be like his son and try to harm you,” the officer said.

“You can’t punish a person for a crime they haven’t committed. Let him go. If he really plans to take revenge, I will personally send him on his way.”

“Yes.”

Many people were arrested. They thought that Minamoto Kiyomoto was going to carry out a major purge and that they were doomed. Who knew that they would be saved from a desperate situation?

It didn’t take long. Except for a few who were really related to this matter, the rest all left Taiso-ji Temple safely.

This matter also caused discussion among the practitioners.

In the Shinjuku Gyoen secret realm, in the cliff-like building, there were the Onmyoryo, a weapon shop, and a spell shop. Many practitioners lived inside.

In a tavern with beast-like female shikigami and angel-like male shikigami, some practitioners were discussing this matter.

“Have you heard? The Honshu Shinto Lord arrested more than ten thousand people this time.”

“I expected it long ago. Which big shot doesn’t clean up his opponents when he comes to power?”

“Didn’t they say it was an assassination?”

“Assassinate the Coral Demon Moth? I asked my dog who likes to eat shit. It shook its head and said no. Even a dog wouldn’t do such a thing.”

The crowd burst into laughter.

“So, the Honshu Shinto Lord is really attacking his political enemies?” a person took a bite of roasted pork belly.

“Then why did he let them go again?” another person asked with a wine cup in his hand, puzzled.

“The most hated person has been killed. He arrested the insignificant ones and then hypocritically let them go. What do you think it’s for?”

“Practitioners should cultivate well and honestly subjugate yokai. Why are there so many things?”

“I think this matter is not a simple party struggle. It’s a new Shinto sect, existing within the government in a new way.”

“Shinto sect?”

“Isn’t the standard for determining whether it’s a Shinto sect based on ‘whether they subjugate yokai’?”

“His confidant has already begun to refuse this responsibility.”

“That’s for the survival of more people.”

“It sounds nice. Didn’t the nine groups of the Shinto sect also use the name of protecting their families? This is the new Shinto sect!”

“But in fact, many people were indeed saved, and the casualty rate was reduced.”

“First arrest people, then release them. It’s just a pretense of kindness.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s fanatical followers would not doubt it, but some neutral people vaguely felt that something was wrong with this matter.

And every time they discussed it, someone would always say: Why would these people assassinate the Coral Demon Moth?

The secret of the three divine artifacts was only known to a pitifully small number of people. In the world of most practitioners, the county level was the strongest yokai.

Who knew that the seemingly reckless assassination was actually a cover for the Ogosho to use the “magatama”?

As for the new Shinto sect, it only circulated among some opponents.

Minamoto Kiyomoto knew who had spoken ill of him, and who had maliciously slandered him behind his back, but he didn’t know if these were spontaneous or instigated by the Ogosho or the Taiko.

He didn’t care about these things either.

On the last day of January, at noon, he came to the courtyard to rest.

By the pond, there was a pavilion that was open on all four sides like a gazebo, but as large as a palace.

Kamibayashi Miko sat at the innermost part of the pavilion, where she could overlook the mountain scenery and also feed the carp.

Shirako and Little Butterfly sat in the center of the pavilion, drawing for her.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the painting. The Kamibayashi Miko in the painting was neither overlooking the mountain scenery nor feeding the carp. She was just sitting there.

It could be seen that she was forced to sit like this.

Thinking of Kamibayashi Miko being pulled by the sleeves by Shirako and Little Butterfly, with a helpless look on her face, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mouth curved into a smile.

He raised his head and looked at the person in the painting.

In the afternoon sun, the most beautiful ray of light gently covered Kamibayashi Miko’s face.

The fairy in the sun also smiled.

“Lady Miko!” Shirako shouted.

The fairy put away her smile and turned back into the beauty in the painting.

Minamoto Kiyomoto stood beside Shirako and Little Butterfly, quietly watching her. Time quieted down and became gentle, with only the pleasant rustling of the paintbrush.

After watching for a long time, Minamoto Kiyomoto left the pavilion and took a walk in the courtyard.

A pine tree transplanted from the ‘Katsura Imperial Villa’ in Kyoto attracted his attention.

He stood under the pine tree, looked at the pond, looked at the back of Kamibayashi Miko in the distant pavilion, and then looked at the white clouds between the branches of the pine tree.

“The green mountains are originally unmoving, and the white clouds come and go on their own.”

I don’t know if it was his heart or the world that had changed. Minamoto Kiyomoto found that everything was gentle and intimate.

“Father, Jindai is here!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was shocked. Who could get so close to him without him noticing? He looked up.

Between the vigorous branches of the pine tree, a little girl in a kimono, like a fairy, was riding on it.

“Whose child are you?” he asked curiously, and felt that he had seen those eyes somewhere before.

“Idiot! Father is an idiot!” the little girl giggled, and the sound was like the collision of jade.

She stood up and jumped down from the branches of the pine tree towards him. The red kimono was like a red leaf out of season.

“Father, catch me!”

“Be careful!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t know why, but he was extremely nervous, worried that this child would get into trouble.

He opened his arms and tightly hugged the red leaf that had gracefully fallen. The little girl hugged his neck and laughed for a while, then became still.

He didn’t know the little girl in his arms, and he couldn’t feel her weight.

“What’s wrong?” Himegami Izayoi walked over from behind and looked at him with confusion, asking with amusement.

Minamoto Kiyomoto lowered his head. His arms were empty, and the pond was gurgling.

“Jindai,” he murmured.

“Jindai? The descendant of a god? Did you find out who is the descendant of a god, or are you planning to shape someone into a descendant of a god?” Himegami Izayoi said with a laugh.

“No, it’s the name of our child.”

“‘Jindai’—” Himegami Izayoi savored the name. “Do you hope that she will be loved by the gods, or is it a kind of expectation for your future, wanting to become a god?”

“It’s not the name that determines fate.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto finally came back to his senses. He turned his head to look at Himegami Izayoi.

“It’s the fate of this child that she can only be called Jindai,” he said with a brilliant smile.

“Hmm?” Himegami Izayoi tilted her beautiful neck and looked at him with confusion.

Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t have the mood to explain these things. He picked her up and walked towards the bedroom.

“Ah! What are you doing? Put me down!” Himegami Izayoi patted his chest in his arms.

“There’s an emergency,” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked quickly.

“What emergency? Hurry up and put me down. Someone will see!”

The preparatory shrine maidens and maids along the way either lowered their heads, turned their backs, or bowed to them, all holding back their laughter.

Himegami Izayoi first hit Minamoto Kiyomoto, and then simply buried her face in his arms and pretended to be asleep.

Arriving at the bedroom, Minamoto Kiyomoto threw Himegami Izayoi onto the bed and skillfully stripped her clean.

“Now why aren’t you hitting me?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked with amusement as he tore off her kimono.

Himegami Izayoi pouted and “humph”ed, pulled the quilt over her fair and alluring body.

“Who hit you? You’re the one who bullied me, and now you’re going to bully me again, you bad person.”

That little woman’s alluring appearance, a posture of refusing yet not refusing, made Minamoto Kiyomoto unable to wait any longer.

He nimbly took off all his clothes, threw the quilt on Himegami Izayoi to the side, and pounced on her.

“Be gentle!” Himegami Izayoi patted Minamoto Kiyomoto’s shoulder and then affectionately hooked his neck.

When the matter was over, Himegami Izayoi panted slightly and asked him, “What’s wrong? So crazy all of a sudden?”

“I have it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto hugged her smooth shoulder.

“What do you have?”

“Here,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand gently placed on her lower abdomen.

Himegami Izayoi’s bright eyes, still with a hint of moisture, widened slightly, looking at him with some disbelief.

“How do you know?” she asked in confusion, her hands subconsciously placed on her lower abdomen.

“This child told me. You’ll have to work hard from now on,” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s lips pressed against her neck, and he said in a murmur.

“No!” Himegami Izayoi suddenly sat up. “I’m going to check.”

“Check what?” Minamoto Kiyomoto pulled her back. “I’m here.”

Himegami Izayoi leaned against his arms, still a little disbelieving, “Really?”

“Hmm.”

“A child, in my belly?”

“Hmm, her eyes are very much like mine.”

“Why like you?”

“Girls look like their fathers.”

“How do you know it’s a girl?”

“I’ll tell you slowly.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto pulled the quilt over them. In the quilt, the two of them whispered gently.