Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 288 - 260 Thousand Blessings Shrine

Chapter 288: Chapter 260 Thousand Blessings Shrine

In an instant, the Cloud Beast enveloped Xu Yang, forming a tight armor around him. He leapt backward as claws swept past his right shoulder, tearing off a large piece of flesh, blood pouring out profusely.

Farosa brought the Magic Blade down in a diagonal slash, her movements were crisp, violent like chopping fish. Before being harmed by the magic blade, the Phase Demon vanished from its spot, reappearing midway up the steps, lingering there and surveying the movements of the man and woman.

At that moment, a shout came from behind the Torii, from the pathway above, near the entrance to the Shrine. A man cried out, as if uttering some sort of incantation, and the Phase Demon immediately disappeared from the spot, its whereabouts unknown.

Xu Yang used the light on the Shuttle Machine to examine his wound. The pain was like a branding iron on his shoulder, rapidly spreading along his nerves as if hundreds of needles were flowing through his veins, stabbing with each move. He dared not move his right arm, for fear of aggravating the wound. The nanobots took initiative, repairing the damaged part and covering the wound with intact armor, then they hurriedly jumped down, using their bodies to halt the flow of blood while continuously repairing the flesh tissue.

"Are you alright?" Farosa flicked her Magic Blade, looking straight ahead at the mysterious man at the entrance to the Shrine, "Do you need Magic Power?"

"It’s a minor injury," Xu Yang activated the emergency response function. In his armor’s spine, an injector flush against the skin quickly delivered a Healing Injection, bringing a cool, tingling sensation. He increased the pain suppression function of the Digital Mind, weakening the neural pathways, "Let’s keep moving forward."

His eyes had captured the entire process of the Phase Demon’s attack, and he could clearly recall it: when it launched its claw strike, the claws appeared from a state of nothingness, briefly becoming corporeal, and from its appearance, it looked like a black lizard with tightly arranged scales. When it attacked, the Magic Blade that Farosa revealed clearly frightened it, causing it not to exert full force, otherwise, it would have torn off Xu Yang’s entire arm with one strike.

The Phase Demon was summoned away by the mysterious man at the entrance to the Shrine, making his presence all the more bizarre.

Xu Yang observed closely, standing in the darkness was a middle-aged man around 40 years of age, his face covered with wrinkles, a strange smile faintly discernible. He wore a bamboo hat, held a long tin staff in his right hand, and was dressed in a light purple hemp monk’s robe, with leggings and straw sandals, quite the spartan appearance of a Shrine monk.

"This place is too dangerous," Xu Yang spoke loudly, "Why aren’t you attacked by the Phase Demon?"

"They are the mascots of the Thousand Blessings Shrine," the mysterious man chuckled, "I apologize for inadvertently harming you! I am the caretaker Matsuyama Yoshiharu of the Shrine. You both have traveled from afar, tired from your journey... heh heh... why not come up and talk at the mountain gate?"

Farosa and Xu Yang exchanged glances, almost reading each other’s thoughts.

"Let’s go, I can take out as many as there are," Farosa murmured, "I won’t let you get hurt again."

"No need to stir up the grass and startle the snakes," Xu Yang returned to the Shuttle Machine, "Who knows how many Phase Demons like that are inside."

Farosa followed on foot as Xu Yang drove the Shuttle Machine away from the plain, heading straight to the Shrine entrance, landing in the parking area outside the wall. There was also a vehicle clad in green military armor, empty and with all four doors open.

According to Xu Yang’s observations, approximately eight passengers had disembarked from the armored vehicle, and then none had returned.

Where had they gone? Xu Yang brought the Anonymous to a halt, turned off the engine, locked all systems, loaded the supplies into a carry-on suitcase, and with his left hand holding the case, he left the Shuttle Machine and carefully approached the shrine’s chief priest.

The chief priest, Matsuyama Yoshiharu, still greeted them with a beaming smile, and when Farosa also reached the entrance, Matsuyama’s smile became even broader, as though the previous attack had never occurred.

"Please come in, come in," he ushered Xu Yang and Farosa into the shrine.

Xu Yang wore a ghost-faced mask and a black rain poncho over a windbreaker. Farosa, on the other hand, wore a black veil and a long-sleeved black robe. They could have been mistaken for a pair of ghosts as they walked together, but Matsuyama Yoshiharu appeared completely composed, seemingly unfazed by them.

Upon entering, they saw a spacious courtyard with a withered cherry blossom tree at its center, wooden benches around, red paper lanterns hanging everywhere, and stone pathways connecting the surrounding chambers. The walls of the chambers were coated with plaster and each room showed signs of disrepair, with holes everywhere. When the night wind blew through, they whistled like wind pipes used by monsters. Wooden prayer plaques hung from the tree, but due to the wilted blossoms left bare, these grey-brown tablets looked especially eerie. It was hard to imagine that on the other side of Mingge Mountain lay the splendid and grand Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine.

"Mr. Chief Priest, there is a spring in the back mountain, isn’t there?" Farosa got straight to the point. "Near the spring, there is a small Buddha statue that we wish to move."

"Only with the proper incantation can that Buddha statue be moved," said Matsuyama Yoshiharu as he led them across the courtyard, his staff making a sound as it struck the ground.

Xu Yang noticed the gazes from within the surrounding chambers. He traced the looks back and saw nervous men and women.

They had all gone to bed earlier, but upon hearing the noise, they had risen from their resting places in the chambers. These people walked to the windows, watching Xu Yang and Farosa through the paper screens, not daring to open the windows or doors to come out as if stepping into the courtyard would expose them to some kind of danger. They simply stayed silent in their rooms without a word.

There are Phase Demons in the shrine, a chief priest, corporate armored vehicles, and living people, Xu Yang thought to himself. What kind of bizarre place had he walked into this time? He tried to move his right shoulder, the pain had lessened, and the nanobots in his armor had stitched up the wound.

"I know the incantation," Farosa said. Through gathering information and her decryption of ancient secret scripts, she had largely understood the related secrets. "Just take us there."

Xu Yang heard the sound of vibrating music and the loud voices of women, originating from a side building in the shrine’s inner courtyard. Farosa also heard the sounds.

"What’s going on there?" Farosa looked toward the source of the music.

"A few live streamers are broadcasting," Matsuyama Yoshiharu replied amiably. "They came to visit the shrine and then decided to stay and keep filming videos. They help boost the shrine’s economy, you know, and they also help sell lots of little souvenirs and tickets, heh... More and more pilgrims and visitors will come up the mountain."

"People actually want to come to a place as run-down as this?" Farosa scoffed.

"Heh," Matsuyama Yoshiharu chuckled, but did not argue further.

The discordant noise and rhythmic chants continued to emanate from the side building, reaching an unbearable level, drowning out even the sounds of the night birds and insects.

Mosquitoes whirled beside the paper lanterns, and on either side of the night-time path stood low stone lanterns. Xu Yang and Farosa followed the abbot through the entire shrine, arriving at the back mountain area.

Here, a mountain spring meandered down, flowing into a cavity that harbored a massive rift, from which iridescent light spilled, as if a pool of colored paints had been poured in, dazzling to the eyes. All colors and light were isolated behind the rift, as if a supremely thin barrier was precisely blocking these lights and shadows on the other side, the barrier quivering non-stop, seemingly fragile enough to shatter with a blow.

About ten men and women stood beside the rift, shouting and gesticulating, whether in actions or words, all quite awkward. Some were cursing angrily, some were howling, and others were uttering exaggerated praises, obviously against their will.

"Make them go away," Farosa frowned.

"These are the shrine’s loyal visitors," Matsuyama Yoshiharu said amiably, "It’s been a long time since the shrine was this lively."

"They should have the freedom to leave, though," Xu Yang said.

"Once they leave, the shrine will become as deserted as it was before," Matsuyama Yoshiharu said with a smile.

A giant Phase Demon appeared on top of the shrine, twice the size of the one they had encountered on the mountain path earlier, and with a build as colossal as an entire room, its appearance even more ferocious.

It vanished from its spot like smoke. Farosa clenched her Magic Blade, then saw it reappear instantaneously on the other side of the rift, pushing a man into the gap, where he vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the other people standing beside the rift tried to appear calm, continuing to play out a lively scene.

Xu Yang surveyed the surroundings and noticed two people wearing security company uniforms, with riot batons and pistols at their waists, helmets on their heads, and large shields on their backs. Even they could only pretend to be calm like the others. With the presence of Phase Demons, it was difficult to deal with the shrine no matter what outrageous actions it took.

"What’s on the other side of the rift?" Farosa asked.

"Nangong Island. Weren’t you two here for that?" Matsuyama Yoshiharu pressed his hands together, "However, Nangong Island has completely sunk into another world, a realm belonging to Yama."

"Yama?" Farosa had not heard of this, "A local monster of the Archipelago Continent?"

"The most powerful one. Yama has always been sealed on Nangong Island," Matsuyama Yoshiharu explained, "Thousand Blessings Shrine and the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine used to control Yama together, but the Sakura Witch of the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine abandoned her duty... leaving us here to struggle on our own."

"...Kirino Reisei never mentioned Yama to us," Xu Yang said.

"Of course not, Yama is a horrifying Evil Beast from within Nangong Island, a taboo monster." Matsuyama Yoshiharu chuckled, "The Sakura Witch was taken away by a fox monster and obtained everything she wanted, leaving Thousand Blessings Shrine to gradually decline."

A fox monster? Xu Yang mused internally. That’s a new concept.

Another Phase Demon crawled out from the rift, moving through the air by teleportation, completely unimpeded. Phase Demons emerged one after another, and more of them began to appear in the area of the back mountain. The men and women beside the rift fell silent, terrified.

"You hand people over to the Phase Demons to act as your assassins?" Xu Yang observed.

"I need you," Matsuyama Yoshiharu banged his staff on the ground, "Obey!"

"Do you take us for easy targets?" Xu Yang looked around, the Phase Demons were flickering in and out of sight, their forms never constant.

"There is also a peaceful way," Matsuyama Yoshiharu said with a smile, "If the two of you are willing to stay in the shrine, and play the part of visitors just like the others, of course you can live a while longer. You should know, it’s been very, very long since Thousand Blessings Shrine was this lively."

"No one can negotiate with me," Farosa infused more magic power into the Magic Blade.

The situation was on a knife-edge.

"Roar!" The largest Phase Demon instantly appeared above Xu Yang and Farosa, pressing down on them while the other Phase Demons quickly moved to tear them to shreds.

"Run!" Upon seeing the start of combat, the people by the rift fled in panic.

Farosa held the Magic Blade tightly and cut in a wide arc. Magic power was concentrated and released like a flame column, bursting forth and illuminating half of the night sky. The long blade whirled through the air, and even the Phase Demons in their incorporeal state were harmed by the scattered magic power. The largest Phase Demon was the most severely injured, rapidly shrinking in size, as if it was being dried up in the battle, deflating like a leaking balloon.

"This, this..." Matsuyama Yoshiharu saw the roaring gigantic Phase Demon instantly vaporized under the slashes of the Magic Blade, rapidly withering away, and his face changed drastically, unable to keep up his smile, becoming particularly angry, "—How dare you—"

Farosa swung her blade with her right hand, the approaching Phase Demons dissipating like ice cubes against a hot steel knife.

"Roar!" Numerous Phase Demons launched a joint attack.

Her body was hit, but instantly restored itself, the wounds seen by the human eye seemed like mere illusions, or as if all attacks were landing on her phantom, unable to cause her any real harm.

Xu Yang stepped back to watch how Farosa brutally wielded her weapon. She had no sword skills nor powerful moves, but like wielding a Godslayer Weapon, her offensive power was already immense, and her defensive capability was equally remarkable, meaning, with the Law of Recovery at her disposal, she could make countless mistakes, but as long as she landed one hit, the opponent would be utterly destroyed.

"Your turn," Farosa cut down the remaining frenzied Phase Demons, pointing her Magic Blade towards the resident priest, Matsuyama Yoshiharu.