Chapter 119: White Hannya, Two-star! Two-star Gacha Pool, Startup!
I didn’t expect the Hina Doll Curse, a purely negative item like this【】, to have such a hidden attribute. It really brought quite a surprise.
But upon careful thought, Shangshan Che realized that this “extremely compatible” was very reasonable.
Because whether it’s Dolls for Girls’ Festival（Hina Doll） or White Hannya, their births stem from being abandoned, forgotten, or killed by loved ones, gradually birthing grudges.
All born from love turning to hate.
From this point, the only difference in their experiences is their names.
Shangshan Che stored the black teardrop-shaped Hina Doll Curse back into his Storage Bag.
Outside, Huiming the little acolyte was still waiting for him. Using it now might directly max out White Hannya’s upgrade progress and cause unnecessary misunderstandings or trouble.
It wouldn’t be too late to use it when he was alone later; a few hours wouldn’t matter.
“This trip to Yokohama has yielded quite the harvest.”
Shangshan Che sighed, about to step out of Yako’s House’s entrance hall, when he suddenly sensed danger and leaped back fiercely.
The next moment, the already shaky sturdy anti-theft door crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up dust and wood chips everywhere.
If Shangshan Che had still been standing there and taken that blow, his head would definitely have been dizzy for a while.
He didn’t think much, stepped on the anti-theft door, and prepared to walk out of the entrance hall.
Then, his gaze involuntarily fell on the pool of scarlet bloodstains piled up at the doorway, not flowing away.
If an ordinary person stepped on it unprepared, they’d likely get a brutal beating from the stone staircase steps, possibly ending up in the ICU.
Followed by a breathing tube malfunction— this smooth little combo could easily take out an ordinary person.
“This bad luck is right on schedule, huh…”
Shangshan Che’s mouth twitched slightly. He covered his foot with a layer of scorching Corona Qi and stomped down, burning the bloodstain completely.
Immediately, the stone staircase at the doorway, which had withstood wind and rain for twenty or thirty years without issue, cracked faintly. Then, the cracks rapidly multiplied and expanded in a very short time.
Crack!
This large section of steps collapsed with a boom, rubble falling and revealing a direct path down to the first floor.
Shangshan Che, who had already gone downstairs before this, stared at the scene and tsked: “It’s got a real eerie vibe, like Final Destination Neon version.”
Though these near-unsolvable kills for ordinary people barely affected Shangshan Che right now, to avoid absurd incidents like “plane to the face,” he still needed to use up the Hina Doll Curse quickly.
He’d greet Huiming and the others later and then leave.
Fortunately, Shangshan Che hadn’t seen any residents or unrelated people in the building, or innocents would have been hurt… Huiyang, who came alone before, had done a decent job with basic evacuation.
As soon as he stepped out of the apartment building’s main door, he spotted Huiyang the monk struggling to get up beside the silver Mazda, shouting things like “Let me go” and “I want to help.”
Of course, there was also Huiming the little acolyte holding him down to prevent rash movement, along with his Koma-inu.
Yako, who had run down earlier, was staring intently at the apartment building. Seeing Shangshan Che emerge, she clearly relaxed, the panic on her face gradually fading.
The Koma-inu barked loudly twice, making the two monks on the ground look toward him.
Huiming patted his chest: “Shangshan Benefactor! I knew you could do it!”
Shangshan Che nodded to him from a distance: “The Princess Doll in the room has been exorcised by me. This matter should be over now.”
Huiyang, whose wound was still oozing blood, froze at the words, stopped struggling, and thought about how only a few minutes had passed since the Koma-inu appeared.
In such a short time… this young boy surnamed Shangshan had nearly unscathed exorcised that eerie and terrifying Hina Doll.
Huiyang didn’t smile.
He closed his eyes and sighed slowly in his heart: “Even if I train through the scorching summers and freezing winters, abstain from all entertainment, the gap between what I can achieve and these talents is still immeasurable.”
No matter.
He should use this incident to face reality.
—Perhaps he, Huiyang, was simply not suited for this path of cultivation from birth.
From now on, staying in the temple to protect one side’s peace would suffice.
“Huiyang, catch.”
Shangshan Che tossed the Awakening Spirit Mist bottle with one drop left to Huiming, then said: “Give it to your senior brother to drink, or I think he might not last until the ambulance arrives.”
“Oh! Got it, Shangshan Benefactor!”
Huiming didn’t think twice, pried his senior brother’s mouth open, and poured the drop of Awakening Spirit Mist into Huiyang’s mouth.
Immediately, the extremely weakened Huiyang felt a warm current surge through his body, spreading to his limbs.
He opened his eyes again and gratefully lowered his head toward Shangshan Che in the distance.
“This guy’s pretty decent.”
Shangshan Che waved, letting the Koma-inu run to his side. Looking at Huiyang, who was severely injured and too weak to stand by the Princess Doll, he shook his head slightly,
“Just a bit brainless… no accurate grasp of enemy and ally strengths.”
This type of guy in manga would be the kind who never dies, rambling about friends and beliefs to turn the tables in desperate moments—a hot-blooded idiot role.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t some fictional manga.
If he hadn’t come this time, or arrived a bit later, Huiyang might have been directly killed by the Princess Doll.
Hopefully he’d do fewer stupid things in the future.
Shangshan Che thought, then had the Koma-inu bring Yako over from behind the car.
Yako had two braids, old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses on her nose, and wore a thick cotton jacket, nervously following behind the Koma-inu.
Shangshan Che sized her up briefly and found she had typical rural village girl attire.
Before he could speak, Yako bowed first.
The girl looked somewhat dazed, smiling dryly and stammering,
“Th-that… um, thank you!”
She clearly hadn’t recovered from the bizarre scene of her family’s Dolls for Girls’ Festival coming alive, nearly killing her along with the monk Huiyang who came to save her afterward.
Such eerie and terrifying, life-threatening supernatural events were quite a sensory shock for ordinary people.
So Shangshan Che softened his tone as much as possible: “You’re Yako, right.”
“Ah… yeah!”
Yako nodded vigorously, her glasses slipping halfway down.
Shangshan Che asked seriously: “Besides the Court Lady Doll and Princess Doll, did you keep any other Dolls for Girls’ Festival before?”
This was important.
Because while some Dolls for Girls’ Festival, like the “Princess Doll” that appeared later in Yako’s home, were bought individually by parents.
But since even a “Court Lady Doll,” which was impossible to buy singly, appeared, it proved Yako’s parents bought her a full set as a child.
A full set of Dolls for Girls’ Festival includes fifteen dolls total: Emperor, Empress, Court Ladies, musicians, ministers, and servants.
If they all came alive due to grudges… it’d really be beating the small ones and drawing the big ones.
“Don’t know where they went.”
Yako shook her head, saying with some fear: “My parents bought these dolls for me when I was very young, but then they both died. I came here alone for school and work, forgot about them, and never took them out again.”
“It was only recently when my old home was to be demolished that I went back to sort through my parents’ belongings and found these two dolls, brought them home as mementos, and didn’t really take care of them afterward… I didn’t expect this to happen.”
Yako clenched her hands: “As for the other dolls, they were already gone when I returned to my old home; I couldn’t find them.”
Shangshan Che pressed: “Not even a clue?”
Yako shook her head: “None at all.”
Gone missing.
Well, great.
Shangshan Che gritted his teeth and said to Yako: “If you have nothing else recently, you’d better stay at Hongyuan Temple or the Special Affairs Office in Tsuzuki Ward.”
Though he wasn’t sure if Tsuzuki Ward had a Special Affairs Office branch, mentioning it couldn’t hurt.
These weird Dolls for Girls’ Festival coming for him was fine; Shangshan Che could one-shot them, maybe even farm curses to upgrade White Hannya.
But targeting this college village girl would be bad; she had no means to survive against these two-star-ish Hina Dolls.
The girl had tried so hard, so Shangshan Che didn’t mind giving her a heads-up to help.
Protecting a village girl he’d met once for extended time? No way. But pointing her to a safe path was no big deal.
“Ah… thank you.” Yako bowed again, thinking for a while before recalling the name Huiming mentioned, “Shangshan Jun, thank you.”
“No problem, good luck.”
Shangshan Che waved, pretending to leave.
“—Shangshan Benefactor, after your long journey, why not rest at the temple?”
Huiming’s call made Shangshan Che turn back.
He glanced at Huiyang gasping for breath in the car, the defenseless Yako, and the little acolyte, then shook his head,
“I have things to do later, so I’ll head out first.”
—White Hannya still needed upgrading soon, and more importantly, if he got in that car, given the bad luck earlier, who knows if a fully insured semi-truck would come flying at them.
He’d dodge it, but the other three in the car would suffer.
Without waiting for Huiming’s reply, Shangshan Che waved to dismiss the Koma-inu, walked out of sight in a few steps, and vanished around a corner.
“Shangshan Benefactor truly acts on his own whims.”
Huiming sighed, settling back into the driver’s seat.
……
【You have used the Hina Doll Curse; the persistent bad luck has dissipated!】
【Your Demon Incarnation·White Hannya’s promotion time has been greatly reduced!】
【”White Hannya（Youth Body）” upgrading: 99%】
Isn’t that just minutes away from reaching two-star?
Walking down the street, Shangshan Che’s mouth curved up slightly. He looked around and picked a budget hotel to enter.
After spending several minutes checking in, Shangshan Che headed to the elevator.
As for why simple check-in took several minutes…
He recalled the front desk girl hinting at exchanging contacts throughout, and shook his head: “Should wear a mask when going out next time.”
Riding the elevator to the fifth floor, as Shangshan Che was about to enter his room, he glanced aside toward a nearby couple.
The man was in a suit, looking like an elite success story; the woman wore shiny black thigh-high stockings and a bright red dress.
They were arm-in-arm in the hotel aisle. Shangshan Che overheard their talk, winced helplessly, and pushed open his room door.
Since they seemed mutually willing and affectionate, he had no need to meddle.
If he intervened in every slightly off situation, he might as well rename himself “Daddy of All Neon.”
Shangshan Che sat on the big bed, quietly watching the progress bar crawl to the end, awaiting this exciting moment.
A few more minutes passed, and the prompt quietly popped up—
【”White Hannya（Youth Body）” upgrading: 100%!】
【Your Demon Incarnation·White Hannya（Youth Body） has finished upgrading!】
【You have obtained Demon Incarnation·White Hannya（Adult Body）!】
The promotion completed silently, no wailing ghostly winds, no extra Spiritual Power Fluctuations.
Only the endless hot warmth surging from within his body, and the sharper world before his eyes, told Shangshan Che that White Hannya had broken through to two-star.
Since the physique and willpower attribute boosts reflected on his main body weren’t huge, Shangshan Che adapted to the new growth in just a minute.
He pulled up the attribute panel—
【Physique: 30→32】
【Willpower: 14→16】
【Charm: 9】
【Spiritual Arts: 23→24】
The gains weren’t massive, but steadily rising. The 2-point physique change wasn’t negligible, bringing about roughly ten percent power increase for Shangshan Che.
If he used Corona Breathing Technique now, that ten percent growth’s boost to the body should more than double.
And the main body’s attribute changes were just the slightest tentacle of this promotion.
No pinhole cameras in this hotel room, so after casually drawing the curtains, Shangshan Che stood alone and transformed into White Hannya.
【Shangshan Che（White Hannya Incarnation）】
【Physique: 32→72】
【Willpower: 16→28】
【Charm: 9→0】
【Spiritual Arts: 24→30】
Physique and willpower attributes excluding charm instantly reached a terrifying level, totaling a full 100 points!
Shangshan Che stood still, carefully twitching a finger.
Whoosh—
Wind howled, knocking the mineral water bottle from the table corner to the floor.
“This…”
Shangshan Che didn’t dare move rashly; he needed time to adapt to the suddenly surging power.
He exhaled lightly, sat carefully on the bed, and began quietly checking White Hannya panel changes—
【White Hannya（Adult Body）】
【Quality: Epic】
【Rank: Two-Star】
【Rank Cap: Three-and-a-Half Star】
【Talent: Ghost God（Weak）, Greed Anger Ignorance, Berserk, Fear of White】
【—Greed, anger, ignorance, hate, love, evil, desire all laid under the blade.】
This time, skills didn’t change much, but the “weak” after Greed Anger Ignorance was gone.
Meanwhile, White Hannya’s final description line changed to one related to the Greed Anger Ignorance skill.
Shangshan Che expectantly clicked the faintly glowing “Greed Anger Ignorance” with focused thought.
Last time White Hannya gained Fear of White on promotion, the Demon Incarnation description didn’t change.
Detailed annotation popped up.
【Greed Anger Ignorance: Deals extra damage to targets generating any emotions. More accumulated, greater fluctuations, higher damage.】
Greed Anger Ignorance’s description shifted from “damage to targets with negative emotions” to damage against all emotion-generating targets.
Shangshan Che was delighted.
Almost no Demons and Monsters lack emotions; it’s like saying “one slash adds free extra damage.”
And now, one slash added more than just extra damage.
Kaga Kiyomitsu’s Slash, Thrust Enhancement, Blazing that harms body and mind, highly effective Sorrow of Parting on single hit…
Plus current Greed Anger Ignorance.
Four buffs on one slash; even the toughest demons would suffer, three-star Great Demons included.
Just a few characters changed, but Greed Anger Ignorance’s boost was immense, elevating White Hannya Incarnation’s overall strength another level.
One day, he’d be the man whose one slash brings 99 buffs.
As for the unchanged “Ghost God（Weak）” talent, Shangshan Che guessed it’d fundamentally evolve when White Hannya becomes Red Hannya or reaches three-star.
From two-star to two-and-a-half star minor change, he’d bet on a new talent added.
Shangshan Che satisfiedly closed White Hannya’s panel and took a deep breath.
Next up: the two-star Gacha Pool he’d saved over 3000 Soul Ash for…
【Detected your Willpower Attribute exceeds 15 points; State of Mind cultivation system follow-up info unlocked.】
Hmm?
Willpower over 15?
Shangshan Che pondered briefly and realized.
This referred to his main body’s Willpower breaking 15, not the incarnated demon’s.
As for State of Mind cultivation system… Shangshan Che first thought of Lili Zi’s Clear Sword Heart, and the Buddhist Six Realms he browsed recently.
Only after did he recall shortly after first meeting Lili Zi, her advice led him to comprehend “Kendo State of Mind·Calm as Still Water.”
That breakthrough then added precious 2 Willpower.
That’s it.
Shangshan Che looked down.
【Beginner·Calm as Still Water.】
【Intermediate·Unity of Man and Sword（Like Mirror, Hundred Refinements, Return to One）.】
【Advanced·Clear Sword Heart】
【Transcendent·?】
【Current State of Mind Rank: Beginner·Calm as Still Water】
【Note: Raise Willpower Attribute to 20 to reach Intermediate·Like Mirror.】
“20 Willpower, huh.”
Shangshan Che rubbed his chin, thinking this concrete requirement beat Lili Zi’s mystical talk.
Before, he couldn’t grasp what Lili Zi meant, so he’d skipped State of Mind cultivation.
“Really helpful.”
Shangshan Che clicked “Intermediate·Like Mirror,” but the prompt was 【Current State of Mind Rank insufficient; cannot display】.
Tsk.
He swiped to close the prompt and exhaled.
“Three days east of the river, three days west…”
His Storage Bag held Dissolving Love for tempering Willpower. Carrying that high-grade material would quickly bag the mere 5 points needed.
“Bound to learn eventually; no need for riddle-man act.”
Griping again at this “explore later areas later” design, Shangshan Che cleared his worries, inhaled deeply, and eyed the final prompt page.
【Your Demon Incarnation·White Hannya has reached two-star; Two-Star Limited Summoning now open!】
【Two-Star Limited Summoning: Edo Castle Suburbs!】
Edo Castle?
Shangshan Che’s eyes sharpened—last one’s-star pool Wasteland Shrine was in Edo Castle; this pool also tied to it.
Were pools connected somehow?
Shangshan Che narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the Gacha Pool background after “Edo Castle Suburbs.”
Gloomy sky, rows of familiar Gassho-zukuri packed tightly; various demons wandering aimlessly on streets.
Rōnin, Cong Yuan Huo, Jorōgumo, Ashigaru…
Viscous black surged on the ground, splashing mud; demons occasionally collided, fighting.
Plus Edo Castle’s urban hallmark: endless fine rain threads drifting down.
No doubt, demon numbers seemed high, but this was definitely the Edo Castle he’d visited.
【Each Summoning costs 150 Soul Ash.】
【First Ten Summons at 70% cost!】
Same two prompts appeared, then the solid background faded from CG-like clarity to true semi-transparency.
A pitch-black round ball bounced into the Gacha Pool center.
As Shangshan Che leaned to inspect, a scarlet pupil abruptly opened on the ball, locking onto his gaze.
Before he could guess the demon, dense scarlet pupils emerged on the black ball.
Corresponding prompt popped quickly—
【Hundred-Eyed Demon】
【Quality: Rare+】
“Hundred-Eyed Demon…”
Shangshan Che pulled the Hundred-Eyed Demon’s Single Eyeball from his Storage Bag; his last encounter with the name was this item.
It helped plenty back then, but now it was somewhat redundant.
—Time spent releasing Hundred-Eyed Demon Eyeball might as well be spent personally scanning from a high vantage.
Without extra Spiritual Power Fluctuations.
“But this Hundred-Eyed Demon looks way too ugly.”
Shangshan Che smacked his lips. If incarnating Hundred-Eyed Demon didn’t drop Charm, he couldn’t imagine a black ball with dense pupils at 9 or more Charm points’ aesthetic.
But as if reading his mind, the dozens or hundreds of scarlet pupils blinked, then closed in unison, leaving two on the visible surface.
Next instant, the black ball liquefied, stretched, reshaped… soon forming a long-haired black-haired loli hugging her knees, floating mid-air.
She slowly opened her eyes, revealing two crystalline pupils redder and more bewitching than rubies.
Swish swish swish—
Edo Castle Suburbs background faded again, while piles of stacked gear and items appeared beside the quietly kneeling black-haired loli.
Armor, shiny marbles, rubies, jewels, candles… diverse, plentiful.
Shangshan Che clicked the most striking majestic full black torso armor set.
【Samurai General Armor】
【Quality: Rare+】
Shangshan Che blinked, clicking a few more eye-catchers.
【Soul Incense Candle】
【Quality: Rare+】
【Essence of Ashigaru】
【Quality: Normal】
【Five Thunder Pearl】
【Quality: Rare+】
Gacha Pool items averaged high quality, but peak was only “Rare+”; even Demon Incarnation·Hundred-Eyed Demon was just that, one grade above original Three-tailed Fox.
Yet a two-star pool at 150 Soul Ash per pull with no Epic+ items…
“Seems Epic quality incarnations, gear, or items are all rare.”
Shangshan Che mused—his two incarnations hitting Epic involved luck: one via superior demon encounter, the other first wave boost.
Thus, the blacksmith shop’s thousands-of-Soul-Ash Epic gear wasn’t expensive, even affordable.
“Whatever, not dwelling.”
Eyeing the lively Gacha Pool mattered more.
Shangshan Che saved so much Soul Ash to ten-pull the instant a pool appeared.
He mentally double-clicked “Summon Ten Times” wrapped in crystalline blood-red casing.
1050 Soul Ash consumed!
Ten-pull, activate!
Rumble…
Entire Edo Castle Suburbs shook; countless street-wandering demons halted warily, looking around.
But no grand spectacle or lights.
Only the Gacha Pool’s central black-haired loli lazily yawned, her bare white foot splashing into muddy ground, bending to rummage the treasure mountain.
This pull’s animation: pool’s Demon Incarnation·Hundred-Eyed Demon personally fetching items.
“Animation’s pretty creative.”
Shangshan Che watched the black-haired loli dig through treasures, occasionally tossing items his way, chuckling and shaking his head.
Soon, ten items tossed before him, piled into a small mountain.
Acquisition prompts followed—
【Soul Incense Ash（Small）】×3, 【Soul Incense Ash（Medium）】×4, 【Soul Incense Ash（Large）】, 【Hundred-Eyed Demon’s Single Eyeball】, 【Soul Incense Candle】.
“Two-star pool and still exploding Soul Incense Ash piles.”
Though overall grades rose with pool level, this outrageous drop rate begged complaint.
Shangshan Che sighed: “Fine, call it pre-farming experience bars.”
Of ten items, he skipped viewing Small（） and Medium（） Soul Incense Ash; mere pool-polluting Experience Bottles, with Small even salvageable from half-star pools.
Large（） Soul Incense Ash was good—one equaled 250 experience, satisfying even as pure Experience Bottle.
But no need for panel check.
What caught his eye: last two items.
First, Hundred-Eyed Demon Eyeball… duplicate name pulled.
Shangshan Che’s first such occurrence.
He withdrew it, staring at the ruby refracting cold white light, noting differences from prior.
【Hundred-Eyed Demon’s Single Eyeball】
【Quality: Fine】
【Use One: Equip on Demon Incarnation】
【Use Two: Use on Demon Incarnation·Hundred-Eyed Demon.】
【—Edo has ghosts, born with a hundred eyes. So… losing one or two eyeballs accidentally is normal, right?】
Added a use, but no solo release.
Per description, this eyeball reinforced Hundred-Eyed Demon Incarnation.
But equippable on any Demon Incarnation?
Shangshan Che whimsically equipped both eyeballs front-and-back on White Hannya Incarnation.
Instantly, normal vision warped into abstract twisted 360 panorama, like a distorted full-circle camera view.
Shangshan Che shook his head lightly, feeling the world spin wildly.
He stopped quickly, removed both Hundred-Eyed Demon eyeballs, tossed them into Storage Bag,
“Better save for later.”
After recovering, Shangshan Che pulled what was likely the heaviest hitter from this Edo Castle first ten-pull.
Plop.
A translucent fifteen-centimeter candle landed in Shangshan Che’s palm.
Instantly, an odd fresh scent wafted, calming his State of Mind in a moment.
This effect!
He stared fixedly at the candle.
【Soul Incense Candle】
【Quality: Rare+】
【Effect One: Essential Consumable for Demon Incarnation from three-star to four-star.】
【Effect Two: Calms mind, quiets breath, repels evil.】
【Effect Three: Light during Shikigami Promotion to assist.】
【—Extremely rare incense candle from Eternal World; useful lit or unlit.】
Good stuff.
With this Soul Incense Candle, Shangshan Che needn’t fear Dissolving Love’s overinfluence; Willpower gains would accelerate.
It was even essential Consumable for Demon Incarnation three-to-four-star, key to Ghost God level hurdle.
This one candle fully worth 1050 Soul Ash.
Shangshan Che held the candle carefully, inhaling deeply; ears cleared, mind refreshed, world broadened.
Nearly half the effect of Tiny（） Soul Incense Ash—but former consumed item with time limit, while Soul Incense Candle worked just carried.
Clear winner.
Soul Ash reserves now at 2217.
But Shangshan Che wasn’t rushing another ten-pull; eyes on 【Special Salvage: Fishing Master】.
Right, he’d planned to hit Fishing Master again post-White Hannya two-star—maybe snag 300 Soul Ash for immediate second ten-pull.
“Alright, here we go.”
Shangshan Che focused thought on 【Startup Summoning】, but before clicking, the door was pounded hard.
A terrified voice came from outside,
“—Help! Save me! That’s a monster in human skin, aaaaaah!”
