I Save The World In A Doomsday Text Game

Chapter 288: Great Kyo-no-Oeyama, Shuten Doji

[Riding your sword through the air, you head for the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama west of Kyoto.]

[…]

[Soaring over lofty mountains and towering ridges, you finally reach your destination.]

[This place is not far from Kyoto. Amid encircling ranges stands one mountain especially grand and imposing.]

[The Great Kyo-no-Oeyama pierces the clouds. The flowing sea of the heavens reaches only halfway up its slope.]

[At the foot of the mountain lies a small village. Traces of human life are faintly visible.]

[You descend to the ground and take out the Seeking-Yokai Luo Jing Ritual Compass at the foot of the mountain.]

[The compass needle spins without stopping for a long time.]

[Perhaps the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama is too vast and the compass’s search range can cover only a small part of the mountain.]

[Or perhaps there are no yokai of strong bloodline near the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama, so the compass cannot point.][Will you climb the mountain to continue searching directly, or visit the nearby village to inquire first?]

Lin Xun thought for a moment and chose the latter.

[You stride toward the small village at the mountain’s foot.]

[The village is very small, with perhaps only a little over a hundred households. You can take in the entire village at a glance.]

[In the village center, several farmers are selling melons and fruits. Unexpectedly, there are seven or eight taverns of various sizes.]

[A little asking makes the reason clear.]

[As the saying goes, grain is the flesh of wine and water is the blood of wine. There is a superb mountain spring on the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama. The spring water is clear, sweet, and smooth on the palate.]

[Using this water to brew sake produces crystal-clear liquor that tastes sweet and pleasant and leaves fragrance on the lips and teeth.]

[Thus, although the village is small, it has seven or eight taverns, and nobles from Kyoto come from time to time to purchase fine wine.]

[You casually select a tavern and inquire about the legend of the handsome youth who bought wine.]

[The tavern’s owner is a middle-aged woman whose charm still lingers. Hearing your question, her eyes light up and she talks on and on, leaving the customers who came to buy wine waiting to the side.]

[More than ten years ago, the village had only one tavern, the Tsukada Tavern. Its owner came from a family of brewers and inherited a superb brewing craft. Their Tsukada Daiginjo was famed throughout all Sakura Falls.]

[Visitors came to the village in an endless stream. Not only guests from Kyoto, but also those from distant Fukoka Castle, all came for the renowned sake.]

[Seeing the tavern thrive, villagers imitated it by opening their own taverns to brew, but with the Tsukada Daiginjo as a gem before them, how could guests from afar buy inferior farmhouse sake?]

[Therefore the other taverns closed not long after opening, leaving only the Tsukada Tavern.]

[The tavern owner thus made pots full and basins brimming, and was said to have bought several houses in Kyoto. If no accident had occurred, the Tsukada Daiginjo would have been passed down forever.]

[One day, a young child came alone to the village to buy wine at the Tsukada Tavern.]

[The village was small, with just over a hundred households in all. Seeing an unfamiliar face, the owner took the child for an outsider.]

[Upon entering, the child tossed down a small piece of gold and said he wanted to purchase the best Tsukada Daiginjo.]

[The owner saw that the child’s features were extremely handsome, yet his hair was disheveled and his clothes ragged. He did not look like the son of a wealthy wine buyer but rather like the offspring of a ronin. Who knew which rich household he had stolen the gold from.]

[The owner did not wish to cause trouble or sell wine to a young child, so he did not take the gold. He joked that the child’s face looked kind and fated for his shop, so he would give him a bottle of fine wine for free.]

[The child accepted the fine wine and left in high spirits.]

[He did not know that what was sealed in the bottle was not wine but sweet mountain spring water.]

[The next day, the Tsukada Tavern unusually did not open its doors, nor did it hang a sign saying ‘Closed for the Day.’]

[It was the same on the second day, and the third and fourth. At last someone sensed something amiss and broke open the door to rush in.]

[The tavern was empty. Only a small piece of gold sat on the counter, and a single jar was missing from the neatly arranged shelves.]

[After a long search, people finally found the owner in the back courtyard, in one of the many water jars filled with spring water.]

[All thirteen members of the tavern owner’s family had drowned in the clear mountain spring water of the jars.]

[At this point, the middle-aged woman pats her chest with lingering fear and tells you that people said the handsome child was not human, but Shuten Doji, the notorious terror among the demonic abominations.]

[Because the shop had substituted water for wine, it aroused Shuten Doji’s wrath and they met with disaster.]

[When this reached Kyoto, the Great General dispatched elite troops to search the area around the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama for days, but in the end they did not find a trace of Shuten Doji.]

[Later when villagers opened taverns, they dared never again replace wine with water. However, they also never again saw that inhumanly handsome youth who came to buy wine.]

[You spend one thousand Spirit Essence to buy a bottle of wine from the woman.]

[You have obtained Daiginjo Sake (Junk).]

[Daiginjo Sake (Junk): A bottle of low-quality sake brewed not long ago. Although the spring water and raw materials are excellent, the brewing technique is extremely clumsy, resulting in sake unfit to drink.]

[You continue to ask at the other taverns. The information is much the same. Since the massacre at the Tsukada Tavern, the villagers have never again seen that handsome youth.]

[…]

“Did Shuten Doji run off after killing them?”

Lin Xun frowned.

Although he had only one Fang of Huodou and could subdue only one top-tier great yokai, whichever he subdued, the other could still join the final battle against the Great General as powerful support.

One Great Tengu was already missing. Lin Xun did not want to lose Shuten Doji as well.

If he could add more weights to the scale of victory, he had to try his utmost and not slack off.

[You continue to ask the villagers and finally obtain some different information from a farmer who sells rice.]

[The farmer accepts the one thousand Spirit Essence you give and quietly tells you that like the villagers, he has never seen the legendary wine-buying youth.]

[However, there is a herbalist in the mountains, an exceedingly handsome one. Strangely, that herbalist has an astonishing appetite. Every half year he goes into the mountains, he buys a great deal of rice from the farmer.]

[The amount of rice would be enough to feed a family of eight for three to five years, far more than could be consumed in the short period the herbalist is in the mountains.]

[Stranger still, the herbalist buys only rice, nothing in the way of vegetables or fruits, not even if the farmer gives them for free.]

[You quickly ask the farmer when he last saw the herbalist.]

[The farmer thinks for a moment and says the last time should have been a month ago. The herbalist purchased rice that filled more than half a cart and then entered the mountains to gather herbs.]

At this point Lin Xun had already identified the herbalist as Shuten Doji.

Do yokai eat rice? Certainly not.

Shuten Doji is addicted to wine, while the brewing skills in the village at the mountain’s foot are extremely poor. The Shequan Sake they brew is all junk. How could it satisfy Shuten Doji?

The main ingredient of sake brewing is rice. Shuten Doji purchased rice and went into the mountains, where there is superb spring water. What he is doing is self-evident. He is brewing wine himself.

[You return to the tavern and ask the owner the exact location of the brewing spring in the mountain. Under your monetary offensive, the owner answers everything without reserve.]

[Very soon you know the place where the spring water is taken.]

[You leave the village and climb the Great Kyo-no-Oeyama on foot.]

[You follow the mountain path and step into the mountains.]

[…]

[After traveling for a long time, you finally reach the brewing spring.]

[The place is lush and verdant with abundant flowers and foliage. From the high cliffs flows a clear spring that pools into a pond.]

[The pond water is clear and chilly. You bend to scoop a handful and drink. It enters the mouth sweet and refreshing.]

[This is unquestionably the best place to draw spring water for brewing. You take out the Seeking-Yokai Luo Jing Ritual Compass and search for nearby yokai.]

[The compass needle spins in circles and still does not stop to point.]

Lin Xun smiled faintly and clicked the sake item in his Inventory.

Not the junk imitation Daiginjo Sake, but the rare treasure Shequan Sake.

[You take out the Shequan Sake and pull the cork. A rich aroma of wine immediately spreads.]

[In an instant, the fragrance of wine assaults the nose, mellow and deep, filling the mountain forest.]

[A breeze carries the full-bodied aroma into the depths of the woods.]

[You hold the bottle in one hand and the Seeking-Yokai Luo Jing Ritual Compass in the other, quietly watching the needle spin.]

[…]

Seeing that the bait had been set and the hook cast, Lin Xun simply waited here like a hunter by a stump.

After a long wait, the game text changes.

[…]

[The compass needle suddenly jerks and points toward the depths of the forest.]

[Before long, a young herbalist strides out.]

[He wears a bamboo hat, red hair falling loose, a digging hoe in hand and a bamboo basket on his back, striding toward you.]

[The herbalist’s features are exceptionally handsome. As he walks, he keeps flaring his nostrils, sniffing the rich aroma of wine.]

[You have discovered the Origin-Tracing Shuten Doji.]

[Dressed as a herbalist, Shuten Doji comes before you, fixes his gaze on the rare vintage in your hand, and swallows repeatedly.]

[He sincerely asks whether you would sell the fine wine in your hand.]

[As he speaks, Shuten Doji takes out a piece of gold, indicating that as long as you nod, the gold is yours.]

[You slowly shake your head and refuse his deal.]

[Seeing this, he takes out another piece of gold, this one as large as a fist and clearly of great value.]

[Shuten Doji again sincerely asks whether you will sell the fine wine in your hand.]

[You still shake your head. Shuten Doji sighs in deep regret and turns to leave.]

[You suddenly call out to the herbalist and say loudly that to obtain the bottle, gold is unnecessary and wealth is unnecessary.]

[All Shuten Doji must do is go with you to Kyoto and slay the Great General.]

[As you speak, you possess the Shell of the Knowledge-Seeking Primordial Hermit, revealing your dragon-headed human body as Dragonborn.]

[The herbalist halts and looks back at you, eyes full of disbelief.]

[He stares blankly for a long time, then strides up to you, takes the Shequan Sake, and drains it in one gulp.]

[Shuten Doji smashes the bottle, bows low, and says boldly that he is willing to go to Kyoto with Lord Dragonborn and take the Great General’s head.]

[You help Shuten Doji up and tell him everything about the evil god.]

[…]

[After a brief exchange, you learn that all clansmen of the Shuten lineage died in the divine war, leaving only him, who was still an infant at the time.]

[He grew up in the wilds, spent his days with beasts, and ate raw flesh. It was only a little over ten years ago that he awakened the inherited memories of the Shuten lineage and first understood human ways.]

[Knowing the Dragon God lost and that the outer world now belonged to the followers of the new gods, he dared not be too wanton and could only take human form to descend the mountain occasionally.]

[Even so, he accidentally let slip a trace and drew the Great General’s troops to encircle him.]

[Your appearance today has restored his hope. Shuten Doji wishes nothing more than to rush to Kyoto with you and slay the Great General at once.]

[You explain to Shuten Doji that you have already found the Nine-Tailed Fox still alive. Because suppression objects are limited, you can accept only one of the two as shikigami. Which is stronger, he or the Nine-Tailed Fox?]

[Shuten Doji brightens immediately and answers without thinking. If it is a matter of allure, the Shuten lineage cannot hold a candle to the Nine-Tailed Fox.]

[But if it is a matter of attack and conquest, this is no boast. The Shuten lineage can beat the Nine-Tailed Fox until she cries for her father and mother.]

“Is Shuten Doji really that fierce?”

Lin Xun recalled the Librarian’s trial illusion of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. When Shuten Doji appeared, scarlet lotus flames filled the sky. He did look like an absolute juggernaut.

And when the Nine-Tailed Fox appeared, aside from acting cute and coy there seemed to be nothing else to show.

“Huh? If the Nine-Tailed Fox is so weak, how did she become one of the three great yokai? It cannot be just because she has a big chest and a shapely rear, right?”

Lin Xun suspected the Nine-Tailed Fox was also very strong, but he had no proof.

“Practice is the only standard to test truth. Let the two of them face off.”

“If that does not work, let them fight. Whoever is stronger will be taken as shikigami.”

He opened his Inventory and clicked the Nine-Tailed Fox Tail Fur.

[You take out a pinch of snow-white, soft fox tail fur and tell Shuten Doji that places in the Dragonborn’s service are limited. You have decided to summon the Nine-Tailed Fox and let the two face off.]

[Unexpectedly, Shuten Doji hurriedly stops you.]

[He explains without blushing or skipping a beat that Lord Dragonborn may have misunderstood him. He said the Shuten lineage could easily defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox, not that he could easily defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox.]

[You must know that he has awakened inherited memory for only a little over ten years, equivalent to a child just learning to read. Compared to a foxy seductress who has cultivated for thousands of years, his chance of victory is certainly small.]

[But Lord Dragonborn’s vision cannot be so short. As long as he is given another hundred or a thousand years of cultivation, he will definitely beat the Nine-Tailed Fox so badly she loses her way.]

Lin Xun’s face darkened.

“Good grief. To become a shikigami, even a yokai is playing word games.”

[You put away the Nine-Tailed Fox Tail Fur and expressionlessly hold out your hand.]

[Shuten Doji gives an awkward smile and takes a delicate celadon sake cup from the basket on his back.]

[Shuten Doji’s Celadon Sake Cup (Item): A delicate celadon cup, the treasured wine vessel that never leaves the great yokai Shuten Doji. Use this item to summon the great yokai, the Origin-Tracing Shuten Doji, to your side to fight for you.]

[You accept the celadon cup and wave Shuten Doji away, telling him to return to the mountains to train hard. When you duel the Great General, you will summon him to aid you.]

[Knowing he is in the wrong, Shuten Doji slinks back into the depths of the mountains.]

[Before leaving, he presents a jar of wine from his basket and says that it is fine sake brewed when he first gained intelligence, treasured for more than ten years.]

[After the Great General is slain, he will drink and talk freely with Lord Dragonborn.]

[You have obtained Daiginjo Sake (Treasure).]

[The herbalist’s figure recedes into the distance and gradually vanishes amid the deep woods.]