Chapter 278: The Abnormalities Of Sakagami Village
Kimura Kazuki finally understood the background and function of the Jade of Four Souls after Sei Shigeru spoke about it.
According to the legend, the purple Ki inside the Jade of Four Souls was formed from Midoriko's soul. Being the purest soul in the world, this purple Ki had the ability to suppress all the evil spirits, wraiths, and monsters in the world.
"Such a pity…" Sei Shigeru looked at the wrecked Jade of Four Souls, feeling sorry for it.
Truthfully, the Jade of Four Souls was a legendary item. Even though there were records of it by his family, most of them were recorded in a hypothetical tone. That was the reason why Sei Shigeru had always thought that it was simply fictitious, made up by someone else. Little did he know that he would be able to set eyes on the true Jade of Four Souls in Unto Shrine.
However, the Jade of Four Souls had been completely destroyed. Most importantly, according to the records, the purple Ki within the Jade of Four Souls was supposed to appear as a clump. But now, it was merely a thin string of purple Ki, flowing like a stream within the bead. Although it seemed stunningly beautiful, the outer part of the Jade of Four Souls had completely shattered, even the purple Ki within was affected. Perhaps its power might drop significantly. Even so, the bead before them was still the legendary Jade of Four Souls, so its powers should not be underestimated.
As Sei Shigeru sighed, he noticed Kimura Kazuki's inquiring eyes and said hurriedly, "Kimura-sama, since you were the one who found it, naturally it belongs to you now."
While they were observing the pool just now, even he himself did not notice any abnormalities within the depths of the pool. However, Kimura Kazuki did, which proved that he had an acute sense of sniffing out such things. It was also impossible to do an underwater investigation, especially since the pool was used to suppress Majin. There was no telling what sort of danger might be lurking underneath, or whether the pool might have been infected. Sei Shigeru would never commit such a reckless act without fully knowing the conditions of the pool, much less request Kimura Kazuki to do anything risky.
Who knew that Kimura Kazuki could sense the oddity at the base of the pool? Sei Shigeru was unaware that Kimura Kazuki was extremely sensitive towards any fluctuations of reiki. It was just like how sensitive a poor man would feel towards money.
Even though the Jade of Four Souls was completely broken, Kimura Kazuki could still feel its strong reiki as he held it in his hand.
Putting aside whether the function of the Jade of Four Souls matched Sei Shigeru's recount of the legendary object, Kimura Kazuki would not fuss over it just by sensing the immense reiki within it. It did not matter whether if he could solve the problem with the Majin, he had already earned something great from making this trip.
The group of people started to search around the pool afterwards. Envious of Kimura Kazuki who had obtained the Jade of Four Souls, Asuka and Mei went all out with their search, as if they were on a treasure hunt. But after more than an hour, they had searched every wall and yet, they found nothing but lamps on it.
When everyone got back to the stone house, Sei Shigeru looked at the time and it was already around seven to eight o'clock at night.
"Since there is nothing strange about the shrine, we'll spend the night here today." From the looks of the current situation, it was obvious that the Majin had left this place after breaking out of the seal. However, the lack of news about the Majin this year left some doubt in Sei Shigeru's mind.
"Grandpa, what are we eating for dinner tonight?"
Sei Shigeru was stunned by the question. He pondered for a moment and replied with a helpless tone, "Let's descend this mountain and see if there are any inns in Sakagami Village." However, he had no confidence about what he had just said.
Then again, it should be fine if they scrounged a meal from the villagers and pay them some money for it.
"Shigeru-sama… Why did the Majin not massacre everyone in Sakagami village after it escaped from the seal?" Kimura Kazuki was staring at the foot of the mountain with a look of uncertainty as he stood at the entrance of the stone house. People from Sakagami village had suppressed the Majin for more than a thousand years. If it was Kimura Kazuki himself, he might probably go crazy. Besides, he would probably be seething with resentment which would result in bloodlust, thus murdering everyone in the village the moment he broke out from the seal.
Yet, so far, Sakagami Village had remained peaceful.
"Maybe the Majin used up its energy after breaking the seal?" Asuka started to speculate from the side.
Sei Shigeru kept silent and came up to stand beside Kimura Kazuki. Looking down from the mountain, he was surprised. "This…"
They could take in the entire Sakagami Village in one glance just by looking down from beside the stone house.
According to the routine of a normal person, seven or eight o' clock in the evening was not time to go to bed yet. In fact, some families should be about to have their dinner. However, no lights could be seen in Sakagami Village and the entire village was dark.
Kimura Kazuki's gaze deepened as he pondered. The special encounter of Sei Shigeru in his past life must be here, but from the looks of it, they had gained nothing except the Jade of Four Souls. Moreover, Sakagami Village was like a ghost town at the moment, engulfed in dead silence at the foot of the mountain. It was both chilling and baffling.
Harunaka, Asuka, and Mei gathered over, feeling curious, though all they could see was pitch black. However, the darkness was enough to make them perplexed because they knew that they should have been able to see the entire Sakagami Village from here.
"Should we go down and have a look?" Kimura Kazuki looked at Sei Shigeru. There was a high chance that this place was where Sei Shigeru had the special encounter from his past life. That meant whatever decisions he was about to make would determine the following series of events.
"Let's not be rash." Sei Shigeru made his decision after a short hesitation.
Kimura Kazuki said nothing about it. His thought was to go down the hill and check on the situation at the village, but obviously, Sei Shigeru did not think the same way.
His eyes darted over to Asuka and Mei and suddenly he understood why Sei Shigeru made such a decision. He was actually worried about his grandson and granddaughter. He then looked at Harunaka who stood beside him and nodded after a moment of silence. "Alright," he responded.
Sakagami Village was actually pretty creepy at night.
At midnight, while everyone was resting, Kimura Kazuki, who sat cross-legged on the tatami, opened his eyes suddenly.
"Kimura-sama…" The next second, he heard Sei Shigeru calling him in a low voice from outside the door.
After glancing at Harunaka who was sleeping on the bed beside him, he stood up and walked to the door quietly. He opened the door gently and spotted Sei Shigeru.
"Let's have a look down there."
"Sure!" Kimura Kazuki replied. He then took out an Enchanted Talisman and lightly tossed it into the air. The next moment, the Enchanted Talisman transformed into light and a transparent dome covered the whole of Unto Shrine.
"This is…" Sei Shigeru was startled. He had never seen this kind of Enchanted Talisman before.
"The Siren Talisman," Kimura Kazuki replied softly. "A siren alarm will sound if anyone stepped into Unto Shrine. Other than that, it can be used as a protective measure, even a normal cultivator would need some time to get past it."
"I see." Sei Shigeru nodded. He then explained, "The reason why I had previously decided not to descend the mountain was because of my grandson and granddaughter. I'm old now so I will always have to think for the future. I hope that Kimura-sama won't take it to heart."
Kimura Kazuki nodded. He had guessed it.
They descended the mountain and swiftly arrived at Sakagami Village. Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they sensed an abnormality.