novelraw Chapter 287: The Mystical Ceremony of Onmyodo
Chapter 287: The Mystical Ceremony of Onmyodo
"You? You're going to Clean Up the two of us? Hahahahahaha!" The two impoverished members of the Kurahashi family laughed with unbridled arrogance.
It was no wonder they laughed so mockingly. They had shared countless interactions in the past, having grown up together, attended the same schools, and lived under the same roof as members of the same Family. The only difference was that back then, the Family had not yet fallen into ruin.
Even in those early days, the two physically robust Cousins had already made a habit of bullying Kurahashi Seiji, who lived a simple, austere life in the family temple and possessed a rather frail constitution.
This relentless torment continued almost all the way until high school, only stopping when Kurahashi Seiji's outstanding academic performance finally caused their paths to diverge completely.
The two of them ended up attending an obscure vocational school, while Kurahashi Seiji was accepted into the best high school in the area, eventually earning his way into the prestigious Waseda University.
This was the root cause of the deep-seated animosity between them and Kurahashi Seiji. When your childhood playmate is the quintessential perfect child that parents constantly compare you to, it undoubtedly creates an immense amount of suffocating pressure.
Over the years, this childhood resentment had festered and mutated into a terrifying, toxic malice. At least, that was how it appeared to these two men.
As they stared at the man who had not changed in over twenty years, a man whose gaze still seemed to carry that same blend of pity and mockery, a raging inferno ignited within their chests.
Why did someone like Kurahashi Seiji even exist in this world? He was excellent, calm, and aloof, possessing the most even-tempered personality and the exact kind of competence that elders adored. He was, quite literally, the living nightmare of their childhood.
The two Cousins exchanged a glance and drew their blades, their eyes gleaming with unparalleled thrill and vicious satisfaction.Today, they were finally going to say goodbye to their childhood nightmare once and for all.
Coincidentally, after a full night of Cultivation, Kurahashi Seiji also needed an opportunity to test his newfound Transcendent Power. This situation unfolding right in front of him seemed like the perfect scenario.
He snapped open his personal wooden fan, aiming the Fan Ribs directly at their incoming blades.
With a sharp "Clang", the wooden fan easily blocked the heavy slashes of the two swords. In the very next moment, a simple parry from the fan forcefully pushed both men back.
"I will give you one last chance. Put down your weapons right now. Out of respect for our Ancestor, I will refrain from hurting you and simply hand you over to the Police Department!" Kurahashi Seiji warned in a deep voice. However, his words were only met with an even more frenzied assault from the two men.
Neither of the Cousins had ever received proper combat training, making the current fight appear rather chaotic and unrefined. The two of them hacked and slashed wildly, while the lone man holding a fan seemed to be merely holding his ground, yet he somehow managed to block every single strike flawlessly. It was an incredibly bizarre sight.
Their offensive did not last long, however. As Kurahashi Seiji grew more accustomed to the rhythm of combat, he steadily took complete control of the situation.
Then, he pulled out a Paper Doll. Aside from cultivating his Spiritual Power all night, this was his greatest masterpiece!
At that exact moment, as their blades swung toward him once more, Kurahashi Seiji used the sharp edge of his fan to slice his own thumb, letting a drop of crimson blood fall onto the Paper Doll.
In the very next second, just before the twin blades could bite into his flesh, he thrust the Paper Doll forward and shouted:
"Paper Servant! Substitute Blade Calamity Bearer!"
Hearing this incantation, the two attackers burst into derisive laughter. "Do you honestly believe the Family's inherited Onmyodo Magic is real? That's just garbage meant to trick the ignorant Populace! Hurry up and die!"
An instant later, the two blades struck the Paper Doll simultaneously. But the wild ecstasy on their faces abruptly vanished.
They had failed to strike Kurahashi Seiji. Instead, at the exact moment of impact, they felt the distinct, sickening sensation of their weapons sinking into solid flesh.
Yet their blades had clearly only sliced through the thin body of the Paper Doll. How could this be...
"Clang!" A crisp sound of colliding metal snapped the two men out of their stunned daze, elevating the shock in their eyes to absolute horror.
To their sheer disbelief, the blades in their hands simultaneously snapped right down the middle!
The sharp clatter of the broken steel hitting the ground left the two Cousins completely lost and bewildered.
The sudden rust creeping up their sword hilts felt like a silent, cruel mockery, violently ridiculing their ignorance.
Staring in horror, they realized that the Onmyodo Magic they had tossed aside like worthless trash was completely real. Not only had it worked, but it had just been used directly against them!
"This... how is this possible?" Unable to accept reality, the two men screamed in frantic rage, their eyes locked onto the man before them. "Generations of our Ancestors failed to master Onmyodo Magic, yet you succeeded?!"
"Under the guidance and blessing of Ancestor Abe no Seimei, I have succeeded." Kurahashi Seiji maintained that same calm, elegant demeanor they so deeply despised. Only this time, the two men could offer no further rebuttal.
Because this time, the man standing before them truly wielded a formidable power, and accompanying that power was a mind of unbreakable fortitude.
Kurahashi Seiji pointed his fan at them once more. "You have one final opportunity. Surrender now, and march yourselves down to the Police Department to confess your crimes!"
Hearing this, the two men exchanged another look. "Things have already escalated to this point, and you're still telling us to turn back? There is no turning back, Seiji! The moment we killed those old fossils in the Family and seized the inheritance, we crossed the point of no return!"
As they spoke, they pulled out two Daggers from their coats and began advancing toward Kurahashi Seiji once again.
"Originally, we just wanted to pay off our debts. But looking at things now, maybe we can seize the true inheritance of an Onmyoji! We can become Transcendent Beings of this nation and finally settle the score with that loan shark Gang!"
"Hand over your Cultivation Manual and all those Onmyoji Items in your possession, and we'll leave!"
Looking at his two Cousins, now entirely consumed by their own greed, Kurahashi Seiji shook his head in bitter resignation. 'It is no wonder they dragged the Family into absolute ruin. Foolish and utterly unrepentant—they truly deserve their fate!' With that thought, he cast aside all hesitation. He snapped open his Painted Fan, its twelve Fan Ribs perfectly resonating with the power of the Twelve Generals. From his lips spilled the low, rhythmic chant of the legendary Wisteria Shadow Binding, Reverse Blade Sealing Calamity Art!
"All who stand as my enemy shall fall into the Dust Net. Take but one step further, and plummet into your own Abyss of Malice!"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!" The two men lunged at him again. Having already been driven into a dead end, they didn't even have the luxury to feel regret.
Kurahashi Seiji retreated exactly seven steps backward, effortlessly evading their frenzied strikes. He settled into the position of the Vermilion Bird, sweeping his open fan to launch a burst of Pure Qi. "Accursed, Sleeves Entwined by Oni Poison Vines, Feet Stuck in Earth Binding Mud!"
In the very next heartbeat, the two men felt a sudden, heavy sluggishness beneath their feet. Even though they were standing on a solid stone floor, the ground suddenly felt like a slick, muddy road during a torrential downpour, gluing them firmly in place.
Simultaneously, two purple Oni Poison Vines erupted from the earth beneath them, slithering up their legs to coil tightly around their wrists, binding them completely!
Yet, this was still not the end. As the two men struggled against their restraints, Kurahashi Seiji drew the Book of the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit from his robes and began to leaf through its ancient pages. "Let me see... what is the Mystical Ceremony used to punish the disrespectful..."
For some inexplicable reason, the sheer nonchalance of him casually consulting an ancient text to decide their fate sent an icy, bone-deep chill shivering through their entirely bodies.
It was only at this moment that their thoroughly suppressed sense of reason finally managed to reclaim the high ground in their minds.
"Seiji, we... we were honestly just joking around with you! You're just pulling a prank on us too, right?"
"Yeah, yeah! We never actually wanted to hurt you! It was all just a big joke! Please, just let us go, won't you?"
Listening to their pathetic, almost sycophantic pleading, Kurahashi Seiji shook his head in utter disgust and waved his hand dismissively. "I already gave you two chances. It is not that I am unwilling to let you go, but rather that you two are far too fiercely unrepentant!"
"Besides, if I let you off the hook today, and let you off the hook tomorrow... what do you take me for? A fisherman?"
The sudden emergence of such a mocking tone made the two Cousins realize that the man before them was not, in fact, some emotionless ascetic completely detached from the Mortal Realm. His signature aloofness and tranquility had a limit to their patience, and unfortunately for them, they had just violently smashed right through that limit.
Therefore, under the terrified gazes of the two newly awakened madmen, Kurahashi Seiji slowly raised his hand, his voice chanting a peculiar incantation:
"May the lunar soul serve as a tether, binding your Yongquan Acupoint;
May the golden essence manifest as ice, sealing your Laogong Channel."
These words were also pulled directly from the Book of the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit. The meaning behind them was simple: to borrow the immense power of heaven and earth to entirely seal away their Consciousness and physical bodies, leaving them anchored in place to suffer endlessly without being able to move a single inch.
Terrifying motes of golden light began to blossom from between his fingertips one by one, solidifying into an all-too-real Lava Brand that pressed agonizingly onto the shoulders of the two men!
They formed two unique Stellar Scars, glaringly conspicuous against their bare flesh.
"I spare your lives today—
Not out of a merciful heart, But to condemn you as 'Living Talismans' to serve as a warning to the world:
One Branded with a Stellar Scar on the Arm Will Feel Bone-Chilling Pain in Clear or Rainy Weather!
One with an Icy Thorn on the Tongue Will Weep Blood on the Anniversary of Their Death!
This is the eternal, devouring law of Onmyodo!"
The young Onmyoji stated with utter indifference. This brand of 'forgiveness' was certainly no act of pity, but rather an exceedingly cruel form of punishment!
From now on, whenever the sky was perfectly clear or pouring with rain, they would be assaulted by excruciating agony, as if millions of venomous ants were devouring their flesh. And of course, there was the freezing torment of their tongues continuously weeping blood!
"This is your punishment. Go and pray to Ancestor Abe no Seimei. Only when you have truly and devoutly repented for your sins will I allow you the mercy of death!"
The young man turned his back on them and walked into the house, leaving behind two heavily distorted figures trembling violently in pure agony.
...
"Ozawa, did you get that? Did you get all of it on camera?"
"Mr. Fujita, I got it! This... this is a real Onmyoji!"
Two heavily suppressed voices, filled with a wild mixture of shock and sheer ecstasy, drifted down from the neighboring attic.
After all, Kurahashi Seiji had only just recently awakened as an Onmyoji. He had absolutely no idea that his entire performance had been filmed Crystal Clear by the two men hiding nearby!