Traveler of the River of Time and Space-Chapter 198 - 2: Rashomon

"Hurry up and leave here."

"The Ghost Gate is about to close. The living cannot stay in the Underworld."

Still reasonable.

After thanking, Su Ziyu headed towards the bridge. As he passed by the Black and White Impermanence, he saw the ghosts tied behind them, all mountain spirits, demons, and vengeful spirits, emitting a series of piercing wails.

It seems the Mortal World here isn't very peaceful either!

A large part of Fusang's culture comes from Huaxia. However, the dominant belief here is Shinto, a pantheistic and polytheistic faith. The core idea of the deities is 'omnipresence,' where all sorts of elves and ghosts can receive offerings from mortals, claiming to have eight million deities. One can imagine how many mountain spirits and specters are mixed in.

In this place, many deities actually have a status similar to demons, with some great demons even having shrines dedicated to them in the Mortal World.

Su Ziyu was still uncertain about the specifics of this world.

But judging from everything seen in the Ghost Capital, even great demons like Aobōzu have their own territories, so other great demons probably have similar situations.

It's called the Ghost Gate, but it's actually just a spatial rift.

After passing through, Su Ziyu immediately saw a ray of sunlight rising in the distance. The spatial rift behind him had already disappeared; he was near a bamboo grove in the suburbs. Not far away was an old stone tablet, beside which stood a small deity with a ferocious human-like head, dressed in human clothes, holding a Square Seal—likely a figure similar to the Fusang Earth God.

The surroundings were slightly desolate, with no sign of the living.

Walking along the bamboo grove for a while, Su Ziyu soon saw a small village, probably with just dozens of households. Farmers and their wives were fiddling with offerings, burning something at a crossroads. After burning, they pulled their children playing nearby to kneel before a mud statue, appearing very devout.

Looking closely,

Su Ziyu noticed that the mud statue looked like a humanoid raccoon dog, though crudely made, it was somewhat lifelike.

They were worshipping the road god, a wild deity.

This was primarily an object of folk Shinto worship, with many wild gods being folk mountain spirits and demons.

Su Ziyu vaguely heard their prayers, which seemed to be related to an epidemic. These farmers were quite wary of outsiders; upon seeing Su Ziyu, they quickly packed up their offerings and began cleaning the sacrificial items.

Sensed a trace of spirituality.

As Su Ziyu turned to look at a small grove in the distance, he saw a shadow flash across the treetops, as agile as a leopard, disappearing in an instant.

"So many demons?" Su Ziyu frowned slightly.

He walked towards the farmers with fearful expressions, casually asking, "Which way to Kyoto?"

"Just keep going straight along this road for half a day," the head farmer said with some trepidation. Su Ziyu's clothes, prepared by Elves, looked somewhat out of place for the era but were extremely exquisite and luxurious, resembling a noble's attire.

Su Ziyu nodded and turned to leave, tossing a Silver Coin casually before departing.

No one was on the road.

He did see some remnants of roadside offerings, suggesting that numerous wild deity rituals had been performed here recently.

Su Ziyu traveled quickly.

By sunrise, he saw an ancient bustling city in the distance, and further away seemed to be a lake, likely Lake Biwa.

This ancient city's shape and layout imitated the capitals of China's Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, and Luoyang, especially resembling Chang'an City. Su Ziyu had already glanced at it last night; the general layout was identical to the Ghost Capital, only that by day many living people filled the streets.

Su Ziyu altered his attire slightly before entering the city.

The population here was substantial.

Su Ziyu saw many dressed as samurai, albeit not as rampant as during the Fusang Warring States Period. Along the way, the Clover Emblem Lady Inid once gave him vibrated several times, indicating that even during the day in Kyoto, some demons were active; however, even Su Ziyu found it hard to distinguish them.

People appeared somewhat panicked.

Most discussions were about 'Rashomon,' as it had recently collapsed at the south end of Kyoto Suzaku Avenue, followed by strange occurrences throughout Kyoto and successive eerie rumors from other places.

Besides, Su Ziyu mostly heard about Abe no Seimei.

Abe no Seimei seemed to be a prominent figure in this area, having received orders from the Fusang Imperial Family last year to conduct a tengu sealing rite at Nachi Mountain.

It was now 980.

Recently, Kyoto's Rashomon collapsed, deemed a bad omen, with many believing Abe no Seimei should step up to resolve the issue. Known as the most famous Yin Yang Master of the era, he was highly valued by the Fusang Imperial Family, reputedly able to command Shikigami, accomplishing feats beyond ordinary people.

"Yin Yang Master? Interesting!" Su Ziyu's figure navigated the alleys, casually finding an inn to stay at.

Northern Kyoto housed nobles and aristocrats, while the south gradually decayed. Su Ziyu stayed in a northern estate last night, intending to see its daytime occupants. However, intrigued by news of Abe no Seimei, he now wanted to meet the Yin Yang Master.

The Heian Era of Fusang resembled late Jin Dynasty Huaxia, outwardly jovial with noble indulgence, yet commoners suffered extreme hardship.

Talk of demons was prevalent among the commoners.

Sitting briefly in the inn, Su Ziyu overheard two merchants discussing demons, particularly a mountain ghost troubling the outskirts near Ōmi, with the right-side merchant claiming firsthand witness of the ghost devouring a living person, vividly describing its appearance.

"An era of rampant demons?" Su Ziyu stood up, heading outside the inn.

He planned to check out the so-called Rashomon.

Approximately twenty square kilometers, Kyoto wasn't large, yet densely populated. What the natives called Rashomon was indeed Luocheng Gate, suddenly collapsing one night with purported howls of a hundred demons, connecting Kyoto to Hell's Underworld, legend says.

"Is this it?" Su Ziyu frowned, surveying the area.

All was quiet.

Few pedestrians ventured near here, seemingly avoiding the area deliberately.

Rashomon's collapsed site bore scattered rubble, and as Su Ziyu approached, he sensed abnormal fluctuations. He noted many Yin Yang Talismans pasted around, with traces of arrays on the ground.

No demons in sight.

The cold wind blowing through had a bone-chilling sensation.

"Who's there?" a low voice asked.

Soon.

A man dressed as a Yin Yang Master appeared before Su Ziyu, seemingly in his twenties, quite handsome, donning traditional Yin Yang robes, holding a folding fan, with a Yin Yang Fish Jade Pendant at his waist.

Abe no Seimei?

No.

This Yin Yang Master seemed somewhat weak!

"Leave here quickly!" The Yin Yang Master before him rudely commanded, "Passage here is forbidden. Leave at once."

"If you don't leave, don't blame me for being rude!"

It seemed he needed to get past this hurdle to see Rashomon's situation.

Su Ziyu glanced at the man, then kicked a stone, sending it shooting like a bullet towards the Yin Yang Master's head.

Bang!

The Yin Yang Master paled instantly, swiftly pulling out a Talisman Paper, rapidly using a Sealing Technique, and shouted, "Guard!"

An invisible Energy Shield emerged.

The stone kicked by Su Ziyu halted before him, falling with a thud as rapid spell incantations caused an armored puppet-like shadow to manifest behind the Yin Yang Master.

.........