Chapter 96: Soul Ash Conversion Box, Nanjo Doll To The Rescue
Lili Zi only felt a blur before her eyes, and Shangshan Che’s back had already reached behind the drifting living being.
This speed was more than twice as fast as when he fought alongside her that day!
She asked herself honestly that she might be able to see how Shangshan Che made his move, but she absolutely couldn’t block this slash.
The gap had actually widened even more.
A hint of small frustration rose in the girl’s heart again: “What exactly did he grow up eating, Nine Dragons Protection from Hex Technology?”
There was no sound of any breathing technique operating on the rooftop, because Shangshan Che had been suppressing his own breathing ever since stepping out of the iron cabinet.
Scorching internal qi roiled inside his body, burning pain transmitting from all over.
But after mastering the afterimage technique, Shangshan Che’s hand didn’t tremble in the slightest; he quietly gripped the hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu that appeared in his hand.
Draw.
Hear thunder in the silent place!
Dazzling blade light suddenly flashed in the darkness, as if slicing open the layered dark clouds, allowing Lili Zi to glimpse the moonlight falling from the heavens.
She paused for an instant, involuntarily murmuring: “So beautiful…”
Even though Lili Zi had long been able to effortlessly wield such technique proficiently, she could never slash such a clean and crisp strike no matter what.
This was the beauty of pure power.
But she quickly came back to her senses and looked toward the other living being in the distance, exhaling softly after seeing it wasn’t startled by the commotion here.
On the other side, Shangshan Che frowned deeply at the prompt that popped up before him.
【You slayed a one-star demon “living being” and obtained 182 soul ash!】
First of all, it was much more soul ash than a normal one-star demon, or even a one-and-a-half star demon, which was a bit rare but undoubtedly a good thing.
【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica to slay the “living being”; Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica’s quality has slightly improved.】
Kaga Kiyomitsu’s quality could improve a bit from slaying this normal lesser demon; though the reason was unclear for now, it was still a good thing.
【You obtained Soul Ash Conversion Box, （special item）!】
But the key was this.
Shangshan Che took out the so-called soul ash conversion box and examined it closely.
It was a black box the size of a palm, its surface covered in faint golden spell patterns that Shangshan Che couldn’t understand but could still sense spiritual power flowing through.
He gently opened it, but the box was empty inside.
The next moment, the item prompt popped up.
【Soul Ash Conversion Box（special item）】
【Effect: Can actively absorb living souls, gradually converting them into low-quality soul ash.】
【—Assembly line product, one of countless conversion boxes.】
Shangshan Che fell silent; he understood why the soul ash dropped from the living being was more than that from other demons of the same star level.
Because it was clearly carrying parts of living souls that hadn’t yet been converted into soul ash by this small box—that was the reason residents here had felt weak lately.
Clearly, the living being was just a front.
A front using “common living being feeding causing group weakness” to cover up “someone using soul ash conversion boxes to mass-collect living souls and convert them into soul ash.”
Being possessed by a not-so-harmful living being would only result in it eating some naturally shed residue from the soul, recovering from weakness in at most one or two weeks.
But this?
What happens when a person’s soul is missing a piece, Shangshan Che didn’t know.
But he knew it absolutely wouldn’t be anything good.
—Probably, the current group weakness in this apartment building was just one precursor to soul damage; perhaps in a few days, more severe conditions would follow.
The worst case would be all residents of this apartment building dying mysteriously in days or weeks.
This was no ordinary supernatural event; heavy action was needed!
“Shangshan Jun, what is this?”
Lili Zi, about to report the position of the other living being, saw the strangely shaped soul ash conversion box and asked curiously.
“Something bad.”
No time to explain much, Shangshan Che first opened the radio: “Ms. Shizuma, still alive?”
Static, the radio connected after two bursts of noise.
Shizuma Mafuyu: “Something happened on your end?”
Shangshan Che said gravely: “Sort of. We’ll hurry back soon. In the meantime, Ms. Shizuma, stay vigilant and prioritize survival—don’t die.”
“Got it.”
The sound of the van starting came from the other end of the radio, then it disconnected.
Lili Zi stared at the other living being startled by the van’s engine, still a bit dazed: “Ignore the other living being?”
“There might be a stronger demon manipulating them in the shadows; we need to get back safely first.” Shangshan Che spread his hands. “Get on.”
“Huh?”
Before Lili Zi could blink, Shangshan Che scooped her up and leaped down from the sixth floor.
Intense weightlessness enveloped Lili Zi; her body stiffened, almost thinking she was about to splatter to death.
Pat.
Shangshan Che landed lightly and set down the still-shaken Lili Zi: “Let’s go.”
“Ah? Oh, okay.”
Lili Zi, understanding in two seconds, nodded and followed behind Shangshan Che, heart pounding but face expressionless.
The two hurried toward the parking lot.
But halfway there, Shangshan Che suddenly felt faint light repeatedly flashing in his eyes.
Gripping the hilt, he looked up and found the light came from a small flashlight poking out from the apartment building.
The person holding it was a face Shangshan Che vaguely remembered.
—Hattori Ayako. Earlier, when unlocking Kisaragi Station, he had saved her life as Hannya.
He hadn’t expected to meet again at such a strange time.
“She’s deliberately turning the flashlight on and off instead of shouting to get our attention.”
While moving, Shangshan Che’s thoughts raced: “Meaning Hattori Ayako also knows about the living beings and might know more about this incident than us.”
Go up and ask; at most two minutes, or one if quick.
Even if Hattori Ayako had a tiny chance of being the culprit, Shangshan Che had the trump card of incarnating as Hannya that she couldn’t anticipate.
With that thought, he took out the radio: “Ms. Shizuma, wait two more minutes.”
Without waiting for Shizuma Mafuyu’s reply, he hung up and said to Lili Zi: “Follow me.”
Pat pat.
In less than half a minute, they reached the door of the apartment where Hattori Ayako lived.
The door was ajar, with damp tissue paper stuffed in the hinges to muffle opening sounds.
Clearly, Hattori Ayako knew not to make noise.
Shangshan Che entered warily, ready to incarnate as Hannya or use iaijutsu at any moment, and saw Hattori Ayako joyfully sizing them up.
She was about to speak: “You two…”
“Keep it short; time is precious now.”
Shangshan Che cut her off: “Say what you know.”
Hattori Ayako nodded firmly, furrowed her brow in thought for several seconds, and cut her originally lengthy explanation down to nothing.
She spoke very quietly and quickly: “The yokai wandering nearby are ‘living beings,’ two in total—one emitting a rotten stench, the other a burnt smell.”
“Before today, only one living being appeared regularly each day, but two showed up today.”
She summarized her final deduction: “So, I suspect someone is directing the living beings to do something, and now it seems it’s too late…”
—Before the first wave arrives, use soul ash conversion boxes to collect enough massive soul ash.
Massive soul ash.
A spark of eagerness showed in Shangshan Che’s heart, then he thought—
This line of thinking should be correct.
Now that he had slain one living being, cutting the opponent’s soul ash source in half—would the culprit just watch, unafraid of the other being slain or the info spreading?
Impossible.
The only reason the culprit hadn’t come for them yet was—
Shangshan Che thought, then immediately opened the radio: “Ms. Shizuma, you go first…”
Bang!
Before he finished, a gunshot from afar pierced the quiet night.
Followed by a series of shots.
Lili Zi turned: “Sister Mafuyu’s side—”
“Go!”
No time for more words, Shangshan Che scooped up Lili Zi and jumped out the wide-open window of Hattori Ayako’s place again.
Watching this, Hattori Ayako blanked for a moment, then rushed to the window; seeing the two who had just jumped to the ground sprinting like arrows shattered her worldview again.
She murmured: “Makiya Jun was right; there really are superhumans in this world different from us…”
……
On the way, Shangshan Che heard another magazine of eight bullets fired.
But besides that, no other sounds came; not even the van’s engine starting.
Shangshan Che had already anticipated the worst.
Fortunately, when they arrived, they could just see Shizuma Mafuyu clutching her abdomen and breathing laboriously under the dim streetlight.
Around her was a shimmering golden round barrier protecting her.
But before they could relax, Shizuma Mafuyu’s shout came: “Watch out—”
Faster than her voice were three cold gleams lunging from the darkness at Lili Zi.
Lili Zi was right behind Shangshan Che, so he had no time to draw; to save her, he’d have to shove her away and take the hit himself.
A raspy eerie voice chuckled delightedly: “Got one first.”
In that instant, Shangshan Che realized and anxiously turned.
But Lili Zi had already drawn the tachi that hadn’t left its sheath for a full hour from her waist.
The girl’s eyes shot out like cold lightning; her ordinary aura was instantly overlaid by an overwhelmingly domineering presence.
Those clear mirror-like, blazing sun-like pupils perfectly reflected the monkey face emerging from the darkness, taking in all its mockery and glee.
Tachi drawn, but not a trace of Lili Zi’s aura leaked outward.
Breathing technique eruption, hours of accumulated spirit, energy, and vitality… everything compressed flawlessly into this one slash.
Clang clang sizzle!
In a flash, three blade lights appeared simultaneously, as if three profound swordsmen struck at once, consecutively blocking the monkey-faced demon’s claw attacks before the blade pierced its shoulder.
Natural Reason School Secret Technique: Darkness Sword!
The monkey-faced demon roared, baring an extremely ferocious expression.
It could never have imagined this seemingly weakest normal girl could block its proud killing move in an instant and even wound it afterward!
Even if the wound wasn’t deep, it was a great humiliation.
“Shangshan Jun!”
Lili Zi’s voice immediately weakened and wilted.
Without a verbal reply, Shangshan Che understood, turned and drew, exhaling a tidal surge of aura.
Corona Breathing Technique: Fifth Form!
Iaijutsu: Crossroad Draw Strike!
Brilliant blade light slashed the monkey-faced demon’s chest, drawing an angry roar from it.
But Shangshan Che felt Kaga Kiyomitsu’s feedback was off.
Not deep enough.
Even catching its stiff moment after clashing with Lili Zi, it still dodged?
Not pursuing rashly, Shangshan Che chose to protect Lili Zi and retreat two steps, seeing the monkey-faced demon retreat into darkness again and clarifying its full form.
Besides the monkey-like face, its raccoon-like slender body connected to tiger-thick limbs and a snake-like long winding tail.
Shangshan Che narrowed his eyes; what the hell was this chimera-like stitched monster?
Shizuma Mafuyu’s shout came: “That’s Nue! It’s very fast!”
The next instant, a prompt popped above the monkey-faced demon—
【Nue（two-and-a-half star）】.
Shangshan Che gripped the hilt tightly: “Tch, tricky.”
A two-and-a-half star demon—not just in his current state, even incarnated as Hannya, Shangshan Che wouldn’t claim 100% certainty of taking it down.
—Though this Nue had just been slashed once each by Lili Zi and him, and seemingly shot two or three times by Shizuma Mafuyu, it was probably just light wounds for it.
Those wounds would heal soon.
Another instant passed, and Nue had retreated back into the viscous darkness.
Nue’s speed was extreme; even Shangshan Che couldn’t track it constantly.
Shangshan Che glanced at the van; its hood was dented and smoking black, definitely undrivable.
Tossing Awakening Spirit Mist to Lili Zi to signal her to drink a drop, Shangshan Che thought silently—if he didn’t incarnate as Hannya soon, the situation would worsen over time.
“Two-Foot Adult.”
With a poof, Two-Foot Adult, back to one-star and girl form, appeared beside Shangshan Che.
He ordered: “Protect Lili Zi.”
Two-Foot Adult and Lili Zi’s gazes clashed briefly, but she wasn’t childish enough to bring emotions into this,
“Understood.”
Shangshan Che asked again: “Ms. Shizuma! Called Special Affairs Office for backup?!”
Shizuma Mafuyu, bandaging her abdominal wound inside the light barrier, replied: “Twenty minutes!”
“—Twenty minutes?”
From the darkness, Nue sneered: “Don’t need ten minutes to crush you pesky bugs. Don’t think summoning a mere one-star shikigami changes anything.”
Shangshan Che immediately realized it was stalling.
Otherwise, Nue had no reason to reply; it could’ve stayed silent like at first.
By now, Shangshan Che had the thought of retreating; massive soul ash was tempting, but only if he lived to claim it.
But just then, he felt his pocket vibrate once.
Then again.
Shangshan Che felt it; it was the Nanjo Doll he’d carried since leaving home moving.
As if saying: “Let me out!”
Busy today 4k, tomorrow continue 6k, begging subscriptions meow!
4194 words, timed for 8 PM so everyone can use chapter cards
