For the entire summer, Spring Tiger stayed with his parents at the main house of Tuyumen.
When the adults gathered, Spring Tiger and Natsume would always play together.
Unlike the playful Spring Tiger who was always injured, Natsume, as the only daughter of the main house, was very quiet.
In the spacious mansion, there was a bamboo forest, a pond, a stone lantern, and a rock garden. There were traces of the two children playing everywhere.
However, the place they went the most was under the towering ancient tree at the top of Mount Yu.
Ever since that day, when Natsume brought Spring Tiger to see the sealed Eight-cloud Ink, the altar at the top of the mountain became the place where the two children played together most often.
Every time, Spring Tiger and Natsume would sit side by side under the tree with their hands hugging their legs, looking up at the seemingly eternal sleeping Eight-cloud Ink.
"Hey, Natsume …"
"Hm?"
"What do you think will happen if this demon wakes up one day?"
Natsume tilted her cute head in distress.
"I don't know. Father only said that this demon is very, very powerful, but I don't really understand …"
"Is it a very powerful … monster?"
"Oh right, Spring Tiger, do you know that?"
"What?"
"It's the family rule. The branch family members have to become the main family's shikigami!"
"Shikigami? What's that? "
"I'm not sure. I heard from grandma that shikigami are people who can always protect me! Spring Tiger, are you willing to become my shikigami? "
Facing Natsume's careful and somewhat expectant gaze, the ignorant Spring Tiger patted his chest and said: "No problem! I will protect Xiamu! "
"Then, are you willing to become my shikigami?"
A bright smile appeared on the little girl's face, just like the blooming lilies.
"Yes! I'm willing! "
Although he didn't really understand what shikigami meant, Spring Tiger thought that it should be a good thing to always protect Natsume, right?
"Then, pinky swear!"
"Pinky swear!"
In the blooming lilies, under the towering ancient tree, in front of the sealed demon.
The two children made a promise for life.
⑧
Darkness.
Eight-cloud Ink's heart was shrouded in endless darkness from all directions.
He wanted to use his demonic power to break through the darkness, but his demonic power seemed to be restricted by something.
Although he could sense the existence of the demonic energy in his body, it was very difficult to use it.
It was like a dam that had only a small gap opened, allowing only a small amount of water to be used.
This feeling of being restricted made Eight-cloud Ink very uncomfortable.
[What … happened …]
Eight-cloud Ink tried hard to recall what had happened, and images began to appear in his mind.
While traversing through worlds, he encountered the strange Jade of Four Souls.
After that, he lost consciousness.
That's right, there seemed to be a moment later when he regained his consciousness for a brief moment.
[At that time … something seemed to have hit me …]
As soon as this thought popped up in his mind, Eight-cloud Ink felt as if his chest had been pierced by something.
However, he did not feel any pain. Instead, there was a cool and refreshing aura that flowed through his body.
It was that aura that made it very difficult for him to mobilize his demonic power.
[This … is similar to the Demon Sealing Demon-Destroying Arrow …]
From Patrice's library, Eight-cloud Ink quickly found a 70-80% match.
Then, the memory of that brief moment of lucidity became clear.
The sky dyed red by flames, the shattered earth, and the terrified people below.
There was also the spiritual energy that filled the world.
The spiritual energy that made Eight-cloud Ink, as a monster, very uncomfortable. It was the spiritual energy of a Yin-Yang Master.
[Could it be that I've been sealed …]
[No, I have to wake up as soon as possible —]
He tried hard to open his eyes, but his eyelids were as heavy as mountains. No matter how hard Eight-cloud Ink tried, he was unable to open his eyes.
[It seems that if I don't find a way to break that seal, I won't be able to do anything …]
Thinking of this, Eight-cloud Ink recalled all the books he had read in Patrice's library, hoping to find a way to break the seal.
After searching for a long time, Eight-cloud Ink finally found one.
He tried hard to mobilize all the demonic energy he could. Bit by bit, Eight-cloud Ink began to attack the seal on his chest.
However, under the impact of the demonic energy, the seal was as stable as Mount Tai, not loosening at all.
Eight-cloud Ink persevered and persevered.
Time began to pass.
After an unknown amount of time, he seemed to have felt the seal loosening. At the same time, he could hear some sounds from the outside world.
The chirping of insects and birds, as well as the rustling of leaves in the wind.
The sound of thunder and rain.
He could even hear some people talking.
"Oh, there doesn't seem to be any major problems with the seal. Seems like it only needs some routine maintenance."
"Patriarch, can we try to make this monster into our shikigami?"
"I've tried before, but this monster's body is too strong. At the same time, there's some strange energy that's stopping me."
[Who are these people? Are they the ones who sealed me —]
"How is it? Amazing, right?"
"Amazing, Natsume!"
[Strange, why are there children's voices …]
"Hey, Spring Tiger, are you willing to become my shikigami?"
"I'm willing!"
"Then let's pinky swear!"
"Okay, pinky swear!"
[Shikigami? What's going on …]
In the passage of time, Eight-cloud Ink could only rely on his hearing to sense the outside world.
He couldn't even release a trace of his spiritual energy.
Until that day came.
⑧
Carrying her dead brother wrapped in countless talismans, Dalian Temple's Suzaku, who had grown into a beautiful girl, walked step by step to Tsuchimikado's mountain.
Behind her, there were two shikigami.
One shikigami looked like an ordinary office worker. He was a man in a suit.
The other shikigami had a huge steel-like body — Asura.
"Is this the altar of the Lord of Mount Taishan?"
Suzaku, who was carrying her brother's body, calmly observed the altar.
Her gaze shifted to the towering ancient tree and the sealed Eight-cloud Ink. Only then did her expression change.
"Is that the Flower Demon that shook the entire world of Yin and Yang?"
As a national level 1 Yin Yang Master, one of the youngest Twelve Divine Generals in history, Suzaku, who was known as a "child prodigy," naturally knew many secrets of the past.
However, now wasn't the time to pay attention to that monster.
Tsuchimikado's daughter went to Tokyo's Yinyang School, so the family's mansion here was empty. That was why she had the opportunity to come here and perform the Lord of Mount Taishan to revive her brother.
"I have to hurry. Those guys should be here soon."
Placing her brother's body on the altar, Suzaku began to instruct her shikigami to set up the altar.
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