Chapter 11 The Summer of Death

“As a result, without a doubt, in that summer… you died at Chongjiu Elementary School.” While narrating, Tsukamoto began to paste the prepared talismans one by one onto the four walls of the room.

“So… how did you get involved in this matter?” An Yueqin asked at the opportune moment.

“Simple, the police asked me to come.” Tsukamoto replied, “After all, you are six living people with all sorts of social connections. If you're missing for too long, someone will definitely report it. Plus, your six names were specially registered with the government, so… on the fourth day after you disappeared, someone found me…”

“So, you had already been here six years ago and had contact with us?” Xiao Tan also asked.

“Yes.” Tsukamoto replied, “At the time, you hadn’t been ‘lost’ here for too long. You remembered everything from your lives, and… you also remembered that missing piece of memory from your childhood.”

“That day… I acted with your help and guidance, so everything went smoothly, even the magic circle was drawn.

“However… just as we were about to activate the magic circle to destroy it, ‘it’ came…

“Logically speaking, ‘it’, in its sealed state, could deal with ordinary people like you, but with me, an Onmyoji, present, ‘it’ wouldn’t have much of a chance either; but… when cornered, ‘it’ was also desperate.

“‘It’ sacrificed its ‘liver’, ‘spleen’, and ‘lungs’ as a price, forcibly mobilizing its power to extract a part of my soul from my body…

“If an Onmyoji’s soul is incomplete, their cultivation will be greatly damaged, and I couldn’t find a solution for a while…

“Helpless, I could only abandon the ritual and escape alone. And I made a promise to you… that when I recovered, I would come back and save you.”

At this point, Tsukamoto shook his head, “I just didn’t expect… this wait to be six years, so I said to you when we met—sorry, I’m late.”

Having said that, everyone was silent for a moment.

“Then…” Xiao Ling then asked, “Your soul… is it okay now?”

“No, it’s not.” Tsukamoto replied coldly, “Didn’t you feel that I’m a little too ‘calm’?”

Now that he mentioned it, it was true…

“Yeah… indeed, calm to the point that it reminds me of another guy.” Gui Xiao muttered, squinting.

“Actually, this isn’t my original personality.” Tsukamoto continued, “It’s because a part of my soul was lost…” He paused, “No matter how long it’s been, the stolen part of my soul cannot be repaired with a substitute; so, in these six years, I haven’t been looking for a way to repair my soul… but have been studying Taoist methods that can exert power even in an incomplete soul state.” Speaking of this, his eyes became exceptionally firm, “Today… we must succeed; as long as we destroy ‘it’, everything can be set right, not only can I be restored… you, and all the lost souls trapped here, unable to enter reincarnation, can be freed.”

…………

At the same moment, the “Yang Illusion.”

“It’s here.” Tsukamoto Shota led Jue-ge and Ruo Yu out of the school and onto a mountain path outside, stopping in front of a red torii gate, “Passing through that torii, you can return to the ‘yin’ side.”

“Are you coming with us?” Ruo Yu looked up at the torii in front of her and then turned back to ask.

“Of course.” Tsukamoto replied, “You can’t escape with your own strength.”

“This is a bit strange…” At this time, Feng Bujue also turned around and looked at Tsukamoto, “Since you know that you can pass through this torii, why didn’t you come and find us yourself earlier?”

“You think I didn’t want to…” Tsukamoto replied, “In these six years, I have crossed into another illusion more than once, but that’s useless, ‘it’ will quickly find me and send me back… and, each crossing causes me great harm.” He sighed, “Now, my strength is very weak. If I did as you said, I might have been controlled by ‘it’ before I even saw you.”

“Oh…” Jue-ge followed his meaning, “So you used your last bit of strength to guide us here, contact you first, and then go over together with us.”

“Yes.” Tsukamoto nodded in response.

“Hmm…” Feng Bujue pondered for a few seconds, “Then… without further ado, let’s set off.”

With that, the three of them passed through the torii gate in front.

In that instant… the light suddenly dimmed, and the temperature plummeted.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them were trapped in darkness.

Pa—

The next second, Feng Bujue calmly turned on the flashlight he had already taken out.

Immediately afterward, the “night version” of the Chongjiu Elementary School teaching building's first-floor corridor… appeared before their eyes.

“Oh… so we’re in this position after teleporting…” Jue-ge immediately looked back. At this time, behind them was the shrine, but…

“Eh? Where’s the puppet?” The moment their eyes met, Feng Bujue noticed that the puppet in the shrine was gone.

“‘It’ is naturally acting in my form…” Tsukamoto’s face looked very bad at this time, and he was leaning against the wall, looking like he was about to fall over.

It seemed that what he had said earlier about “crossing would cause me great harm” was true.

“Come on, let me help you walk.” Feng Bujue still looked calm and collected. He took two steps forward and reached out… steadily supporting Tsukamoto, “Where should we go next?”

“They must be in the warehouse on the second floor…” Tsukamoto replied, “The formation to break the seal is there, quenched by ‘it’ with the blood of everyone who died here… I have tried to destroy that formation more than once, but each time I was stopped by ‘it’… and, every time I see that formation, I find that its completion has improved…” He gasped for breath and continued, his face pale, “If ‘it’ lures your companions into the formation and starts the ritual, then all four of them will become sacrifices… In the real world, they will immediately die from blood loss… And their blood will ‘restore power’ to ‘it’s three organs; then, it will have enough power to break through my master’s seal.”

Hearing this, Feng Bujue immediately looked up and exchanged glances with Ruo Yu.

Ruo Yu also understood immediately and turned on her flashlight, leading the way; Feng Bujue supported Tsukamoto, trying to keep up as quickly as possible.

The three of them… went to the warehouse on the second floor…