Chapter 120: Kaga Kiyomitsu’s Epic Promotion Quest, The Bone Woman’s Wish
Shangshan Che’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door.
He clicked his tongue and glanced toward the doorway, understanding after a moment.
—The voice was exactly the same as that of the man he had seen in the corridor earlier.
He just hadn’t expected this pair of man and woman to end up right next door to his room, or else the man wouldn’t have knocked on his door the first time.
“The world is so big, so why did you have to mess with me of all people.”
Shangshan Che sighed. He had actually noticed something off about the qi emanating from the other woman when he was in the corridor aisle earlier.
But he originally hadn’t wanted to get involved.
But now that they were making such a racket, ignoring it might lead to more interruptions later.
Helplessly standing up, Shangshan Che opened the wooden door while still maintaining the appearance of White Hannya.
“Th-thank you!”
The man was completely naked, with faint traces of blood on his body.
As soon as the door opened, the man scrambled inside on all fours, rolling into Shangshan Che’s room. He didn’t even notice that the one who had opened the door for him was also a demon.
Nishiyama Ryota leaned against the bed, clutching the small wound on his neck and gasping in terror. Cold sweat dripped from his body onto the hotel’s patterned shag carpet.
He smiled in relief, looking up and staring intently at that sturdy, thick-backed figure with hands casually in pockets.
Nishiyama Ryota thought he had knocked on the right door.
Click, click, click.
But in an instant, the crisp sound of high heels on the tiled floor approached, making Nishiyama Ryota’s sickly pale body tremble violently.
He shouted, “Close the door! Hurry and close the door! That monster is coming!”
“If you don’t want to die, shut your mouth quietly! All that chattering, annoying as hell!”
Shangshan Che snorted coldly. That hoarse, deep, and powerful voice echoed through the room, silencing Nishiyama Ryota behind him like a chick gripped by the neck.
Whoosh!
The moment Shangshan Che spoke, a slender, pale white bone spike shot toward his neck from the right side at extreme speed.
Clang!
Shangshan Che calmly lowered his right arm, brushing off the dust and torn cloth from the Cold Steel Armguards, and lifted his gaze.
Two or three meters away, a woman with delicate features and a fiery figure gazed at Shangshan Che with a charming smile.
She swayed her fair long legs clad in black stockings torn in several places, draped in sheer, gossamer-like silk clothing.
The woman smiled as she spoke, but venom nearly overflowed from her pupils: “Oh my, Nishiyama-kun, I didn’t expect you to have so many friends.”
Shangshan Che took it all in, but felt no extra thoughts, only puzzlement: “This woman… is she human or something else?”
After a simple standoff of two seconds, a prompt popped up above the woman’s head—
【Bone Woman（Two-Star）】.
So it was a Bone Woman.
Shangshan Che recalled the knowledge he had crammed into his mind earlier—
Bone Women are typically demons formed from the skeletons of women, mostly born from extreme mistreatment or torment in life, leading to deep grudges attaching to the bones after death.
Thus, most Bone Women are vengeance-type demons who can achieve Buddhahood after killing their revenge targets.
Of course, a minority of Bone Women’s hatred targets entire eras or society, turning them into indiscriminate killers and high-danger demons that must be exorcised.
It wasn’t yet clear which type this Bone Woman was.
Shangshan Che raised a finger: “Let me state first, I’m not friends with that naked guy behind me. You’re just unlucky to have picked the room right next to mine.”
“If that’s the case, could you step aside?”
Before the Bone Woman finished speaking, another sharp bone spike suddenly burst from the ground, aiming to pierce straight through Shangshan Che’s chin and into his skull.
But now it was frozen midair, unable to advance an inch.
A wary expression appeared on the Bone Woman’s face: “Get out of the way!”
Shangshan Che expressionlessly clenched his fingers, slowly crushing it into a pile of bone dust on the floor, clicking his tongue in displeasure: “I was thinking of talking it over and maybe letting you through…”
“But now.” Shangshan Che clenched his fists and bumped them together, grinning with an emotionless, eerie smile. “I’ve decided to pound you into Soul Ash punch by punch.”
Even clay figures have a bit of temper, let alone Shangshan Che, who hadn’t said anything too inflammatory after opening the door—yet the Bone Woman had twice tried to kill him.
Though such simple, childish attacks couldn’t harm Shangshan Che.
But it was a matter of attitude.
The Bone Woman’s actions made Shangshan Che abandon his original plan to investigate whether the guy behind him was really a scumbag.
“Conveniently, let’s test White Hannya’s physical power after promotion.”
Shangshan Che cracked his neck, producing a series of pops.
Meanwhile, Nishiyama Ryota in the room froze in terror upon seeing Shangshan Che’s profile, then felt warmth in his crotch as he wet a large patch of the carpet.
“Ghost! They’re all ghosts!”
His body shook like chaff as he screamed, grabbing the room phone from the wooden cabinet and dialing the hotel front desk.
Smelling the odor, Shangshan Che frowned and turned back, thinking this room was unlivable now.
The Bone Woman seized the gap, her fingertips suddenly turning into elongated bone spikes that stabbed straight into Shangshan Che’s chest.
Hit!
She stared at the seemingly unresponsive White Hannya, showing joy, wanting to drive the spikes deeper to pierce his organs.
But then the Bone Woman realized she couldn’t push further.
The muscles of this evil spirit with qi similar to hers were like forged steel; her proud sharp bone spikes could only penetrate half an inch before stalling.
“Only increased Physique by 1 point…”
Shangshan Che glanced at the attribute panel and irritably called out, “That’s all the strength you’ve got? Didn’t eat?”
Sighing, Shangshan Che shed his upper clothes and slowly spread his arms toward the Bone Woman: “Come on, try to kill me.”
“You—!”
The Bone Woman’s face twitched. Her arms transformed into long white bone blades as she roared and slashed.
A storm of pale bone blades instantly enveloped Shangshan Che, creating dense bloody marks on his body.
Hot blood splattered the walls, but amid the airtight bone blade trajectories came an unflappable voice.
“Speed’s decent, but power’s way off. Still, not bad—flesh wounds heal fast.”
The muscular, hulking shadow stepped forward, unimpeded through the bone blade and spike defenses, reappearing in the Bone Woman’s view.
“Even at full power, only +12 Physique…”
Perhaps because Bone Women aren’t demons known for high attack power.
Shangshan Che brushed the deepest blood mark on his arm with a fingertip. He shuddered slightly, shaking off excess blood beads, then flexed surface muscles to forcibly close and staunch the wounds.
Instantly, the marks the Bone Woman had left with all her might vanished.
After finishing, Shangshan Che looked down at the stiff-faced Bone Woman, her pupils filled with disbelief, and gave her a slight smile.
“Since you’ve had your turn, it’s mine now, right?”
“—Games should be fair, shouldn’t they!”
Shangshan Che raised his Corona Qi-infused fist and mercilessly slammed it down toward the face below now showing pleas for mercy.
Boom!
Pale bone shards and delicate human skin flew together.
One punch smashed the bone shield the Bone Woman hastily manifested before her face, along with her human skin, into pulp.
“Sorry…”
Boom!
Another punch drove the Bone Woman’s upper body into the hotel wall.
Shangshan Che reached out with a large hand, yanking her tattered head from the dust and smoke.
He stared at the weakly flickering soul flames in her eyes and said flatly, “You’re not sorry. You just know you’re about to die.”
Hearing Shangshan Che’s cold words, the soul flames in the Bone Woman’s pupils suddenly froze.
A faint clarity jumped out from the full cavity of venom.
Am… I going to die?
Dead.
But if dead, she couldn’t kill Nishiyama Ryota.
He would keep living freely in this society, relying on that face and his lies to harm and drive more people to death…
“Can’t die, I can’t die—!”
The Bone Woman roared, dozens or hundreds of bone spikes surging from her body toward the close Shangshan Che.
The roar cut off abruptly.
Snowy blade light faded slowly as the hundred-plus spikes split in two, revealing smooth cut surfaces.
Shangshan Che gripped Kaga Kiyomitsu, looking down at the fallen Bone Woman and saying calmly, “No one in this world is immortal. Not even me.”
Just before Kaga Kiyomitsu fell, Shangshan Che felt his ankle gripped tightly by the Bone Woman.
He suddenly found the voice familiar, so the blade tip slowed for a moment.
“At least… please.”
The Bone Woman rasped, “Kill Nishiyama Ryota.”
Kaga Kiyomitsu scraped past her eye socket into the floor.
Shangshan Che crouched curiously and asked her, “Why?”
It was the first time he’d encountered a demon with somewhat useful dying words—previously, they either ignored him or spewed worthless curses.
But this time, despite not giving her the chance, he heard them unexpectedly.
And the Bone Woman had conveniently been his test subject for White Hannya’s post-promotion combat power.
So spending half a minute to listen was fine.
The Bone Woman seemed surprised to still be alive, pausing before saying, “Nishiyama Ryota killed me—my living self.”
Shangshan Che had expected that. He stared quietly at the Bone Woman, wanting to hear more.
“Nishiyama Ryota was my first love.”
“When he met me, he had already graduated but had no job, not even part-time work. After we confirmed our relationship, he started living off me, staying with me, using my things.”
“Forced by necessity, I took on extra jobs besides school, more and more…”
“—But none of that mattered.”
“Because he said he’d find work and that he wanted to marry me in the future, so I worked desperately for that future.”
The Bone Woman murmured weakly, but the soul flames in her eye sockets grew clearer with her words.
“Until one day, I came home and found him entangled with another woman.”
The Bone Woman said in a relieved tone, “Then he chased her away, knelt and swore never to do it again, promising to job hunt tomorrow.”
“I foolishly believed him.”
“Then, for years, nearly identical things happened repeatedly.”
“In my old home, vows are solemn things… so I chose to believe him every time, but my trust was betrayed every time.”
“Until the last time, I saw a different woman in the same scene, and I finally couldn’t take it.”
The Bone Woman murmured, “But what awaited me wasn’t freedom from him, but an unfamiliar woods, a shovel, and the pain of being buried in dirt.”
“—Nishiyama Ryota, to prevent me from ruining his reputation, lured me to the woods, knocked me out, threw me in a pit, and buried me.”
“I died.”
By now, the venom in the Bone Woman’s tone had completely vanished.
She seemed to have reclaimed her upward-striving former self, pleasantly using polite language: “So please, sir, don’t let that utterly worthless scum go.”
“Of course, don’t pity me and let me go because of this.”
The Bone Woman raised her broken finger to point at herself: “To get close to him, deceive him, torment him, I also killed one of his lovers.”
“Killing someone not deserving of death for my own selfish desires, I’m no good either.”
She stared fixedly at the White Hannya before her and said earnestly,
“Mr. Evil Spirit, that’s all I wanted to say.”
—Love Brain is really harmful.
Shangshan Che’s first reaction was this, but he soon fell into thought—had the Bone Woman really just been a simple Love Brain in life?
What Love Brain lasts for years, still choosing belief despite repeated betrayals?
This Bone Woman seemed, surprisingly, like a good girl in life.
Shangshan Che felt a bit regretful, gazing at the clear soul flames and saying, “Any other dying wishes? If not too much, I’ll handle them.”
“Then, Mr. Evil Spirit, could you let me go?”
“That won’t do.” Shangshan Che shook his head. “Didn’t you say it yourself?”
So the Bone Woman smiled: “True, but if there’s a chance to survive, who wouldn’t take it?”
Pausing, the Bone Woman gave a detailed address, then said softly,
“Then please, Mr. Evil Spirit, scatter my ashes under the cherry blossom tree at home. Don’t worry, it’s a short drive—just an hour.”
“Fine.”
Shangshan Che drew Kaga Kiyomitsu again, aiming at the Bone Woman’s eye socket.
She tilted her head back, as if to see the blue sky through the ceiling: “If only I’d gone to Tokyo from the start…”
The pale blade fell.
……
“Don’t come closer! I warn you, evil spirit, don’t come closer! Special Affairs Office Onmyoji are coming soon!”
In the room, Nishiyama Ryota, wrapped in a white bath towel, waved scissors wildly at Shangshan Che approaching slowly from the doorway.
Hearing “Special Affairs Office,” Shangshan Che couldn’t help laughing.
He dispelled the White Hannya Incarnation state, reverting to human form and gazing quietly at the stunned man, puzzled:
“Why be afraid, Nishiyama Ryota?”
Evil spirit… turned human?
Nishiyama Ryota didn’t react at first, but soon bared a ferocious expression and screamed: “Killing in human society is a serious crime! If you kill me, you won’t get away, even if you can turn human!”
“Then why do you think you can get away?”
Somehow, Shangshan Che was already in front of him, gripping his scissor-wielding wrist tightly, seeing the thick fear and regret in his pupils.
Shangshan Che shook his head regretfully.
“You won’t even bother refuting… even though it’s just her one-sided story.”
Nishiyama Ryota struggled fiercely with his right wrist, trying to free the scissors from the vise-like grip for a counterattack.
“Also, you seem to misunderstand the power gap between us. Is it because my appearance is too friendly?”
Shangshan Che’s right hand tightened slightly, making Nishiyama Ryota’s fingers spasm open with a pig-slaughtering scream.
Shangshan Che released him, looking down at Nishiyama Ryota crumpled like mud on the carpet, clutching his twisted wrist and howling.
“Damn! Damn it—how much did Goto that stupid woman pay you! I’ll give you double, no! Ten times!!!”
Nishiyama Ryota screamed: “Hear that? Ten times the price!!!”
Has this guy’s brain gone bad?
Shangshan Che felt genuine puzzlement at Nishiyama Ryota’s incoherent behavior.
Whatever.
Plenty of people in the world think money solves everything; one more doesn’t matter.
As long as he confirmed the Bone Woman hadn’t lied.
“Still, I have to say…”
Shangshan Che didn’t draw Kaga Kiyomitsu this time, instead pulling out the rusty Cleaver unused for a while.
The blade was dull, but perfect.
“Scum like you deserves to die a hundred times over.”
Screams rose and fell like a rollercoaster.
……
Shangshan Che stowed the bloodied Cleaver and stomped the head full of resentment and terror into pulp.
Then he partially drew Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade, letting “Sorrow of Parting” erode everything related to Nishiyama Ryota.
If Special Affairs Office people really came as Nishiyama Ryota said, Shangshan Che didn’t want to make it too hard for them.
—So better destroy obvious evidence first.
After that, Shangshan Che looked at the earlier prompt.
【You killed Two-Star demon Bone Woman, gaining 265 Soul Ash!】
【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu·Blade of Parting to slay Bone Woman; Kaga Kiyomitsu’s quality slightly improved!】
【Your Kaga Kiyomitsu·Blade of Parting has reached promotion threshold!】
【Next, your Kaga Kiyomitsu·Blade of Parting must slay at least one Three-Star or higher demon to promote to Epic Grade!】
【Note: Soul Slaying talent disabled until then!】
【You obtained Bone Woman Wish（Special Item）!】
“Need to use Kaga Kiyomitsu to slay a Three-Star demon, huh.”
Hearing Shangshan Che, Kaga Kiyomitsu in his hand buzzed joyfully, as if anticipating a big fight.
Three-Star demon.
Conventional plan: enter Edo Castle, catch a not-too-strong Three-Star demon, and go all-out to slay it.
“But since I’m a Special Affairs Office Seed, why bother.”
Tapping the hilt, Shangshan Che thought: “Just a Three-Star demon, not Ghost God level or above… Later, tell Sister Nanjo to half-beat one and I’ll harvest the head.”
Hey, with backing, anything goes.
Though Kaga Kiyomitsu might be disappointed.
Casually checking the minor proficiency gains in his three skills, Shangshan Che took out the 【Bone Woman Wish】.
A white jade small box landed in his hand.
Shangshan Che opened it to find a pile of pure white Ashes inside.
【Bone Woman Wish（Special Item）】
【Usage: Bury “Bone Woman Wish” in the grave she desired; the burier will randomly gain a permanent buff effect.】
【—All she anticipated turned to illusory bubbles, all she hoped for shattered like broken dreams. Her life’s wish reduced to returning her soul to her homeland.】
“Pretty generous.”
Shangshan Che solemnly closed the jade box and stored it in the Storage Bag.
He had planned to bury it on the way back since the drive was short, but the extra reward made him feel obliged to take it seriously.
This made Shangshan Che a bit embarrassed, so he had to treat it properly.
Once Kaga Kiyomitsu turned everything Nishiyama Ryota-related pale, Shangshan Che took spare clothes from the Storage Bag and changed.
Then, leaning on the doorframe, he waited for the Special Affairs Office Onmyoji.
About ten minutes later, Shangshan Che saw a young man in Special Affairs Office uniform, armed with a gun, rushing up the stairs.
But in Shangshan Che’s senses, this Youth Body’s spiritual power was less than One-Star, and his physical strength barely elite human level.
—Yet even his uniform buttons were fastened wrong.
Seriously, Tsuzuki Ward Special Affairs Office branch sends this newbie because they have too many people and not enough payroll?
“Hey!”
Shangshan Che called out to stop him.
The young man jolted, hands instinctively going to his waist to draw his gun.
“First instinct to draw a gun?” Shangshan Che, now across ten-plus meters, pressed the young man’s hand and tsked. “Sure it’s not a Clerk they sent?”
Normally, a startled Onmyoji’s instinct is summoning a Shikigami or defensive Onmyōdō; a Samurai puts hand on hilt…
In Special Affairs Office, only those lacking ability but equipped with exorcism guns—clerical staff—draw first.
“I’m Shangshan Che. Just resolved the supernatural event in the hotel: exorcised one Two-Star demon Bone Woman, no casualties nearby.”
Shangshan Che patted his shoulder: “For extra questions, ask Nanjo Emi, current Arakawa Ward Onmyo Major Official in Yokohama. I’m her subordinate.”
The young man froze long before holstering his gun, bowing deeply and shouting,
“—Yes! Senior!”
This kid’s vigilance is practically zero… he put away his only demon-harming weapon based on those words alone.
“Whatever.”
Shangshan Che shook his head.
Special Affairs Office development here wasn’t his concern; higher-ups like Nanjo Emi would handle it.
Hearing growing commotion around, Shangshan Che left the hotel swiftly, hit the street, and called a taxi via phone app.
—Hotel compensation? Let local Special Affairs Office deal.
……
On the taxi, Shangshan Che surprisingly found the driver an elderly man, wrinkled face, white hair, at least sixty-something.
The old man squinted at the phone navigation for a while before unhurriedly asking, “Yuhara River Town, right?”
“Yes.”
Shangshan Che nodded, spotting the old man’s license nearby: sixty-eight years old.
Damn aging society.
Now seventy’s prime working age.
The old man took ages confirming the route, then chuckled while driving: “Young man, there for tourism? Must try Yuhara River Town’s hot springs…”
“No. Just handling something for a friend.”
Shangshan Che replied flatly, killing the topic in one sentence and silencing the car.
But Shangshan Che enjoyed the quiet.
Constant chat with an old man who takes forever per sentence would be torture.
As the Bone Woman said, just over an hour and the car went from Tsuzuki Ward city center to remote rural paths.
The old-model Toyota stopped by a wooden plaque reading “Yuhara River Town”; the driver said slowly,
“Young man, you’re here.”
Shangshan Che thanked the old driver, got out, and saw him squinting at his phone, struggling to operate it.
Such an elder still driving taxi for living expenses…
Ding.
Before Shangshan Che could sigh, the five-figure fare on his phone shattered his thoughts.
Tsk, that pension gig? I’d do it too.
The Toyota drove off behind him. Shangshan Che eyed the plaque and muttered,
“Yuhara River Town, Block 4, 2-1.”
Village location matched; now find by house numbers.
Entering Yuhara River Town, Shangshan Che soon noticed it differed from traditional Japanese rural villages in his impression.
Normally, such mountain-and-field-surrounded villages are backward.
—One convenience store, sparse streets, just elementary or maybe junior high.
But Shangshan Che saw unexpectedly many passersby, lots of twenty-to-thirtysomethings, even a few foreign faces.
He recalled the old driver’s must-try hot springs.
“Tourism boom from the bathhouse…”
Shangshan Che checked house numbers one by one, but after two full rounds, no match for the Bone Woman’s address.
Strange.
Shangshan Che asked a passing elderly woman: “Granny, do you know where Block 4, 2-1 is?”
But upon hearing the address, her face changed instantly, kindly features wrinkling as she waved and backed away:
“Don’t know! Never heard! No such house number here!”
The elder seemed to mutter curses, then fled like avoiding plague.
Shangshan Che watched her back, brow furrowing slightly.
Next, Shangshan Che randomly asked a dozen local elders in Yuhara River Town.
Initially, they warmly replied to this “tourist.”
But once Shangshan Che gave the address, they all shunned him, unwilling to say more and hurrying off.
“Something’s fishy…”
Under the setting sun, Shangshan Che paced irritably, considering releasing Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball and using elimination to find the house.
But walking, he noticed surroundings quieted.
Looking back, he realized he’d unwittingly entered a wooded path.
Turning further, an old plaque deeply carved with 【Goto Bathhouse】 loomed.
Goto—seemed like the Bone Woman’s surname.
Shangshan Che shifted gaze slightly to the weathered, rotting house number: 【Block 4, 2-1】.
Quite the coincidence.
Right at Demon Hour, and the long-sought place suddenly appeared.
“Coincidence, huh.”
Shangshan Che laughed loudly, donned the pale, solemn Hannya Mask, and boldly pushed open Goto Bathhouse’s gate, entering.
Shangshan Che looked around and called out loudly: “No one to welcome guests?”
No response.
In the silent Goto Bathhouse, only dust swirled by the door breeze, hitting Shangshan Che’s clothes hem.
The deer pond had long dried and cracked, springs gone; the door wind bell’s cord snapped, faded bell silent on pebble ground.
This bathhouse had eerie aspects, but that era seemed long past.
Goto Bathhouse was surprisingly large.
Normally, opening a bathhouse door leads to front desk, then separate men’s and women’s pools. But Goto Bathhouse had a twenty-to-thirty-meter path from entrance hall to main bathhouse.
Bone Woman’s spot was under the courtyard cherry blossom tree, so Shangshan Che circled the yard instead of entering the building.
Finally, he stopped before a long-dead, bare, stunted black tree.
“This the tall, grand, conspicuous cherry blossom tree she mentioned…”
Shangshan Che took out the jade box, sighing at its faint glow.
Bone Woman Wish’s final note seemed unexaggerated, just factual.
He crouched, using the rusty Cleaver to dig.
Soon, a moist soil pile formed by his feet, but as he dug deeper, the Cleaver hit something hard.
Hm?
What’s in the topsoil?
Shangshan Che dug by hand, pulling out a pink small iron box wrapped in layers of tape, labeled inside.
Clearing all dirt, he squinted at the crooked label text.
—【Goto Yoko’s Wish Box】.
Shangshan Che paused slightly.
Goto Yoko?
Goto…
Yako!?
