69

Cursed spirits generally don't stray far from their birthplaces. The ones who do are undoubtedly anomalies, and tend to be highly dangerous.

Perhaps even Special Grade.

The Dirong Village that Shiki eventually arrives in is one that's been reduced to rubble and ruin. There are no corpses, those having already been cleared out shortly after the violent incident occurred. But aside from that, no other efforts have been made to restore things to order. Darkened splotches stain the ground liberally, and there is a foul scent that lingers in the air. It's not a sight that Shiki is unused to.

The girl casts her gaze around the dead village.

There are clear signs of combat amid the destruction. Looking at the long grooves carved into the surroundings, Shiki is left with the impression of a long whip, or some other similar weapon of the sort. Most likely the cursed spirit's handiwork, she guesses. Reports were extremely sparse on the details of the cursed spirit itself, both in terms of its precise location and the abilities that it possessed, but information on the late Mizuno Shuto was far easier to get ahold of: Mizuno-san's preferred weaponry was a pair of tonfas. Tonfas definitely would not leave marks like these on the surrounding landscape.

… As expected, there are no remnants of cursed energy for her to follow. Too much time has elapsed since the cursed spirit made its incursion here. There is nothing resembling a halfway proper trail that Shiki can observe. Of course, it would be a different story if Satoru-niichan were the one here with his discerning Six Eyes instead… but Shiki is not her cousin.

Still, this trip isn't entirely without its own results. At the very least, Shiki thinks that she has a vague estimate of what the cursed spirit's abilities might involve.

And…

It's strange. A cursed spirit that can easily slaughter a small village like this? Even despite a competent Grade One sorcerer's protection? Cursed spirits possessing this caliber of strength generally aren't cursed spirits born out in the remote countryside. Typically, it's areas where there are higher concentrations of people, and thereby higher concentrations of cursed energy, that spawn stronger curses. Hence the urgency of exorcising powerful cursed spirits as swiftly as possible, because stronger cursed spirits are generally also situated in populous cities. Cities that would suffer greatly, if the cursed spirit were left unchecked–

But this particular Special Grade had, apparently, made its first appearance in a smaller village. Then continued to deliberately target smaller villages thereafter. Its list of victims to date all consisted of smaller villages that were quite well-hidden and remote, in fact. If it were not for Zhang-san driving them here, Shiki would not have expected there to be a village tucked away in an undeveloped area like this.

So then, what would be the reason for this incongruity?

There are a few explanations that Shiki could think of. First, that the cursed spirit was born from some specific form of negativity that compelled it to actively destroy small, out-of-the-way villages. Similar to the way that a cursed spirit born from a fear of heights possessed a proclivity for killing its victims by tossing them off of tall buildings and high balconies, perhaps the targeting of small villages was an aspect that was somehow embedded within this particular cursed spirit's very nature.

Secondly, it could also be that the cursed spirit was intelligent. Special Grade curses usually were, although the level of intelligence varied. A cursed spirit intelligent enough to realize that there were sorcerers hunting might also be intelligent to conclude that–

… No. Even then, it wouldn't run for no reason. Cursed spirits revel in the slaughter, pursuing satisfaction of their natures in killing humans –sorcerers and non-sorcerers alike. Bearing that in mind, it didn't make sense for a cursed spirit to just run in hopes of avoiding discovery. Especially not when it had already succeeded in killing the sorcerers that it encountered. Zhang-san had reiterated this fact during their meal earlier; this particular cursed spirit had already killed two Grade Two sorcerers, and a Grade One sorcerer. If anything, Shiki would've expected for the cursed spirit to become arrogant and confident in its own abilities as a result, instead of continuing to remain on the move.

Unless… had its previous altercations with the sorcerers spooked it, somehow? Fear is a valid possibility for a cursed spirit to run. Like the humans that they were born from, even cursed spirits possessed an innate instinct of self-preservation, seeking their own survival in the midst of chaos and destruction. But this would only be a reasonable explanation if the cursed spirit had been horribly outclassed, in addition to possessing the self-awareness and intelligence to know to cover its tracks by constantly moving to different locations.

Alternatively, it meant that the cursed spirit was smart enough to seek out new locations with new victims, as opposed to sitting in place after slaughtering the humans in its current location. All cursed spirits were driven by an instinct to kill, to leave naught but destruction in its wake. But the thought of leaving its birthplace to actively seek out more victims was not a thought that occurred to the majority of them.

Which explains Zhang-san's worry. By all appearances, the cursed spirit's meandering path of carnage hinted towards the curse gradually making its way towards a larger city.

However, Shiki has her doubts.

Looking at the villages that the cursed spirit had decimated… all of them were small, and tucked away in locations that were difficult to find without a local guide. And in the bloody route that the cursed spirit had taken, there were numerous other villages along the way, several of them populated by more people. Far easier to reach than the villages that had been targeted, too. And really, for all that it seemed like the cursed spirit was heading towards the city of Chaozhou, there was also the simple fact that Fengshan, the site of the first incident where the cursed spirit wiped out a village, was closer to Jieyang, rather than Chaozhou.

If they were going by the theory that the cursed spirit was solely trying to target more people, then it would've made more sense for it to head towards the closest city from its original location. Jieyang, instead of taking a long, looping path towards Chaozhou. In which case this assignment also would've been swiftly marked as an urgent mission, and Satoru-niichan most likely would've been sent here to sort things out last week directly in wake of Mizuno-san's death.

Bearing these discrepancies in mind, Shiki doesn't think that the cursed spirit was solely after killing more people. But there should be a reason why it was targeting these villages. What did they have in common with each other?

… It's a shame that the corpses have already been removed from the site. Shiki understands that it would've been a health hazard otherwise, and who knows what 'things' the corpses of murdered innocents would've attracted if they'd been left as is… but it might've yielded more information to her.

Ah, well. No matter. She has a slightly better idea of the situation that she's looking at now, anyways. It would be a good idea to confirm things with Zhang-san, though. He'd be the one who's more well-versed around these parts…

With one last look at the silent, bloodstained ruins of Dirong Village, Shiki turns around and descends the mountain.

It doesn't take long. Zhang-san startles and nearly leaps out of his own skin when Shiki nimbly drops down from the rocky cliffside beside them as a shortcut, instead of using the winding mountain road. Choki only blinks and straightens in attention, far more composed than the other man that he'd been conversing quietly with.

"Ojou-sama." Her longtime assistant folds himself into a neat bow. His companion twitches, as if he's unsure of what to do, before sketching a polite bow towards her as well, like he's unused to it. Which he might very well be, given the differences in culture between their respective countries.

"… Gojo-san," Zhang-san greets after a beat. "How… how did your preliminary investigation go?"

"More or less as expected." It's been an informative experience and a chance for her to organize her thoughts, even if it didn't provide a clear trail for Shiki to go after. "How many Windows are helping to monitor the situation?"

"Six," Zhang-san responds immediately. "Four of them are stationed on paths leading towards larger cities, alongside other staff who are not clear-sighted. They'll be able to immediately report any unusual occurrences–"

"Two is enough."

The man blinks, evidently confused. "I'm sorry, what do you mean by 'two?'"

"Just having two people cover the northern sector of the search area will be enough," Shiki clarifies herself. "So far, the cursed spirit has been specifically targeting smaller villages. I know that the main concern is that it will target a larger city next, but the fact remains that this is a distinct pattern. It would be better to keep an eye on as many rural villages as possible, in case of the cursed spirit attacking one of them again."

"Yes, but we still can't risk–"

"You can," Shiki tells him patiently. "I'll be in Chaozhou tomorrow. I want you and the other assisting Windows to go around and scout out the nearby villages."

Zhang-san shakes his head, "We're not amateurs, Gojo-san, we've already done a preliminary search for unnatural traces of cursed energy. I can confirm that there's nothing that those destroyed villages shared in common aside from being small and not particularly easy to access–"

"Then, can you give me a list of villages where the most people have died recently?"

The man falters, "W-what?"

"I'd like a list of villages with the highest number of recent deaths or disappearances," Shiki repeats herself.

In total, there were approximately four days between the first two attacks, and five days for the third. Then, another five days before the cursed spirit revealed itself in Dirong Village, and Mizuno-san attempted to exorcise it. Not only was the cursed spirit due for slaking its bloodlust again soon, using this frequency as a rough measurement, it was also highly unlikely that a cursed spirit with an active taste for murder would wait around silently and harmlessly between its large-scale rampages.

Deaths in smaller villages were noticeable, in a way that was very different than the cities. Because in smaller places where everyone knows each other, it's impossible to just up and disappear without raising any attention. Shiki is fairly sure that this is something that remains consistent even across different countries. Close-knit communities notice when one of their members goes mysteriously missing–

Such as when they are killed by a cursed spirit.

The main trouble would be getting villagers to open up to outsiders; sometimes people were grateful for assistance, but other times it was considered a 'private matter' and anyone who was not one of their community would be driven away instead.

It's usually Choki who helps Shiki in this, since she's… not very good at seeming friendly and approachable. Tsumiki says that softening one's voice and speaking in a gentler tone usually does the trick, except for Shiki it somehow comes across as intimidating instead. It's a work in progress.

Choki is fluent in Chinese –"I wouldn't be your assistant if I weren't capable of at least this much, ojou-sama"– but in this case, it would be better to leave the job of questioning local villagers to the Chinese staff in these parts. The local dialect in the Chaoshan region is very different from the commonly-spoken Mandarin Chinese. There's also quite an amount of ground to cover, and Choki, for all his talents, is still only one person.

"You…" Zhang-san falls silent for a moment. "You really think that it will continue to attack smaller villages?"

Yes, it's fairly likely.

She doubts that Zhang-san and the other Windows taking on this assignment have failed to notice the cursed spirit's established pattern of attacking small, isolated villages. But the potential threat of the cursed spirit abandoning smaller prey in favor of wreaking havoc in a larger city was just too great for them to dismiss. Naturally, this resulted in their so-called search efforts being aimed more towards 'monitoring the area that a prospective Special Grade curse is in' rather than 'pinpointing where the Special Grade curse is located within this area.'

While Shiki could search through the area on her own, it would be a time-consuming process, filled with its own inconveniences. Communication and efficiency being the most prominent of these potential issues. Shiki isn't above admitting that she needs help when it comes to matters like these –and, just like how she has been specifically trained to exorcise cursed spirits, the assisting staff have far better skills when it comes to questioning locals and information-gathering.

A job can only run smoothly when everyone carries out their respective roles. Each one holds importance in its own way.

Zhang-san's concerns are understandable. He and his coworkers' are worried about the Special Grade potentially making it to a larger city without their knowing, if they do not form a careful perimeter around the area that they know it to be prowling in. But it's far less of a concern than they're making it out to be, because–

"I'll be in Chaozhou," Shiki reminds him again. "If the cursed spirit approaches on its own, then all the better."

… Honestly, it would be easiest for everyone if the cursed spirit just came forward on its own like that. Most of the staffing would already be far away while Shiki fought the curse, and it would also save her the trouble of combing through all the countryside villages to search for it.

Knowing her luck, though, Shiki isn't holding her breath on this.

.

.

The entirety of the following two days end up being spent remaining on standby in Chaozhou. At this rate, Shiki is starting to suspect that she'll miss the Kyoto exchange event, but that can't be helped. After all, the current mission takes precedence. Maybe her classmates will forgive the circumstances if she brings back extra souvenirs for them? What kind of omiyage would work best as a peace offering?

Walking through the streets of Chaozhou in the meantime… Shiki can confirm that although there are minor curses such as flyheads and the like wandering around the backs of winding alleyways, the city itself is surprisingly clean of cursed spirits. There are only a few Grade Fours lingering around, all easily dispatched on an afterthought, and that's it.

In sharp contrast to Chaozhou, the streets of Tokyo are only as clean as they are due to sorcerers constantly exorcising dangerous curses as they appear. There is an almost staggering difference with Chaozhou, where cursed spirits are such a minor presence that their existence is almost negligible.

… Well, discounting the recent appearance of the cursed spirit that Shiki has been sent here to exorcise.

Zhang-san delivers her the information that she'd requested in the early afternoon. Shiki thanks him for his and his fellow coworkers' efforts, then starts reading through the list that they compiled.

Choki, too, takes a look at the list of villages. His eyes flick over the black and white words swiftly, "… There are two that seem to stand out chiefly among them."

She hums lightly in acknowledgment of the observation, and double-checks their map. "It seems that they're not located very far from each other."

It seems that she has her next destination, then.

"I'll go take a look." Shiki folds up the map again and sets it aside. "Choki, please tell Zhang-san to begin evacuation procedures and withdraw all nonessential staff."

"As you command, ojou-sama."

It takes roughly an hour or so to drive to the first of the two villages marked down as suspect. Zhang-san meets them by the car once they arrive.

There's a hint of faint dark bags beneath his eyes. Running around the countryside these past days has clearly taken a toll on him, and Shiki imagines that his coworkers are in similar states from the stress of recent events. They could probably all use a break after this mission.

"Gojo-san, Suzurigi-san," the young man greets, brisk and polite. Zhang-san hurriedly steps over to them, "It's good to see the both of you again. I hope you were able to rest well. I'll be accompanying you into Lijia Village as both guide and translator."

Translator? Shiki tilts her head. "The village still hasn't been evacuated yet?"

Zhang-san winces slightly, "Not… not completely yet. There's a bit of… well. The order to evacuate came as extremely sudden news for the residents here. And, since we still haven't processed the paperwork to authorize an evacuation like this in an official capacity, there are… many people who are proving a little difficult to convince to leave on such short notice."

That's not ideal. Especially if this does turn out to be the village that the cursed spirit is residing in. Shiki is confident in her abilities to fight a Special Grade cursed spirit, but she would very much prefer not having to also watch out for hapless passerby at the same time.

Agitated voices in the air start as a faint whisper, growing steadily louder as they approach the village proper. Irate, and indignant. The first sight to greet Shiki's eyes upon arriving at Lijia Village is that of a hapless Window. One whose hands are raised in a placating motion towards the red-faced grandmother who's shouting right in front of his face.

Shiki doesn't understand Chinese. However, she doesn't need to understand the language to recognize that the elderly woman is angry.

Inexplicably, the grandmother's tirade screeches to a sudden stop as she catches sight of Shiki. A sudden hush of silence falls.

But not for long.

The elderly woman's expression twists, as if she's looking at something filthy and repulsive. If Shiki had thought that the grandmother's expression was angry before, it does not hold a single candle to the snarling rictus that currently splits her face now. Something in the woman's voice turns shrill with this sudden surge of incandescent rage that springs up out of nowhere. She recklessly shoves aside the startled-looking Window in front of her, stomping towards Shiki with a string of incomprehensible shouting–

The harried Window turns around and blanches when he realizes that Shiki is standing here. He hurriedly grabs onto the grandmother's arm, which ends up causing several of the other villagers gathered around to start shouting at him as well–

Even despite being held back by the Window, the elderly woman remains undaunted and uncowed. There's a dark, burning light to her eyes, as she struggles forward. She cranes her head and spits towards Shiki, all while caterwauling angrily as if she'd committed some grave offense towards her by…

… by just standing here? Breathing? Shiki genuinely isn't sure how she'd offended the woman. In fact, she's rather blindsided by the vehement enmity for no apparent reason.

Choki hisses, stepping forward in front of her protectively. A kind, but silly gesture. Shiki hardly thinks that an elderly grandmother like that is more dangerous than the cursed spirits that she fights on a regular basis. Although it's not as if she's about to start getting into fights with non-sorcerer civilians–

Ah. Hmm.

… Maybe this explains why Choki is physically interposing himself between them in such a manner, then.

Beside them, Zhang-san sucks in a sharp, startled breath, a sound that is equal parts surprise and dismay. With a hasty apology, he swiftly runs over to where his fellow coworker is valiantly attempting to hold back an aggressive grandmother while simultaneously fending off villagers who clearly do not appreciate one of their own being handled in such an indelicate manner.

Shiki stares at the elderly woman for a moment longer, then turns towards Choki for help understanding the situation. "I didn't provoke her, did I?"

… She hadn't even said a single word aloud before the old villager suddenly became spitting mad at her. Shiki doesn't think that there were any social cues that she missed, though? … Probably? Yuzuki-san would definitely know what–

…

… Shiki really needs to develop better skills in accurately reading and properly interpreting various interpersonal signals. The thought is… daunting.

"You didn't, ojou-sama," Choki reassures her. You did not do anything to provoke such a hostile attitude in the villager. The confirmation is nice to have, although it still doesn't really explain anything about why the civilian grandmother is reacting like this.

Shiki glances over towards the elderly woman again, and takes a moment to study her carefully this time. The anger appears natural. It doesn't seem that she's being unduly affected by any irregular influence of cursed energy. So it's still a mystery as to why she's–

The grandmother's voice screeches into a higher octave when she notices Shiki looking at her. Zhang-san's voice takes on a harsher edge, and his words pick up in speed as he continues conversing with the villagers. An argument, perhaps?

"Foolish, and ignorant. If they were aware of the dangers, they would not dare to act so brazenly towards you," Choki mutters under his breath. There's something distinctly cold in his eyes as his gaze follows hers, looking over the steadily-increasing group of villagers surrounding the Windows speaking with them.

Shiki blinks slowly. A thought suddenly occurs to her, "Are you upset, Choki?"

The man sighs, briefly closing his eyes. "… As it appears that you are somehow wholly unoffended by this blatant disrespect, someone needs to be, on your behalf."

Shiki is more confused than offended right now, especially seeing as she can't make any heads or tails out of this situation. If it were a sorcerer who'd spat in her direction in a gesture of humiliation, then she knows that it's perfectly acceptable to 'escalate according to the severity of the situation to deliver a proper reprimand.' Which could be anything from challenging the offender to a formal duel to directly lopping off the offender's head.

That was for sorcerers, though. Shiki doesn't exactly have a guide for civilians to go off of. Usually, her missions don't involve too many interactions with non-sorcerer civilians, anyways. But it's a little different when the groundwork for the mission is incomplete, as in the case of their current circumstances.

Rather than saying that she's fine with being disrespected, it's more like… these villagers don't register to her as individuals whose opinions are meaningful in any manner. This perspective might be arrogance on her part, perhaps. But it's perfectly true that Shiki doesn't care for the villagers, aside from just a mental note of their survival being preferred in basic adherence to a sorcerer's responsibilities.

"… You truly don't feel anything about this at all?" Choki asks her.

"Should I?" Shiki wonders aloud. The villagers don't even qualify as proper annoyances to her –aside from the inconvenience they would pose to her mission if they insisted on staying while Shiki combed through their village.

"I… suppose not, ojou-sama."

Shiki nods, and tunes out the loud argument between the Windows and the villagers that's still going strong. Instead, she casts a careful eye over the other villagers –some of whom are still arriving on the scene– the same way that she'd studied the enraged grandmother just earlier. None of them are as overtly hostile as the grandmother is, but it's clear that there is a pervasive attitude that outsiders are not welcome. One would think that they wouldn't be so hostile towards people who were essentially here to help, but…

Being a sorcerer means saving lives. Performing an important duty that can only be carried out by a select few. Yet oftentimes it can also prove to be a thankless task, particularly when you encounter those who are wholly ignorant of the darkness that lurks within the shadows of this world.

It's good that Shiki isn't a sorcerer because she wants to be thanked by non-sorcerers, then. So, whether it's hatred or gratitude that they feel towards her… is something that comes secondary to Shiki's own feelings.

It's a selfish perspective, to be sure. Shiki is both aware of and openly acknowledges this fact. But then, she's never pretended to be a benevolent saint to begin with. Shiki is not someone who became a sorcerer for the noble purpose of 'maintaining the balance of the world,' or for the virtuous sake of protecting non-sorcerer civilians from the malicious cursed spirits that plague the earth. Defending non-sorcerers is a responsibility of hers, as a sorcerer, but it's not the reason why she became a sorcerer in the first place.

Ultimately, Shiki is a sorcerer because it grants strength.

… Because it allows her to obtain the power to protect herself. She wants to become strong enough that her loved ones will not have to worry about her, so that she won't be a burden for them. She wants to protect them, too.

Considering the recent mess with Araya in Kyoto, though, it's clear that she still has a long way to go.

Shiki sighs.

"I'm terribly sorry about this," Zhang-san says. There's a beleaguered expression on his face as he finally returns to Shiki and Choki. Behind him, the grumbling crowd of villagers is beginning to disperse, moving away from their homes. "Lijia Village's people don't take kindly to outsiders, and… foreigners even less. There's also bad blood with… ah, never mind. Yuan Meng and I finally managed to get them to settle down and agree to evacuate, so I… I beg of you. Please, overlook their disrespect. They don't know what they're talking about."

Shiki doesn't know what they were talking about, either. Mostly due to the language barrier.

Zhang-san seems to have overlooked that fact entirely, though. Not that he appears to notice. Instead, the young man proceeds to bow to Shiki, low and deep.

"Please," he whispers. "Do not abandon this village."

Abandon this village? Why? What did he think Shiki was here in China for in the first place?

… Oh. The dots connect themselves in Shiki's mind a moment later. Is Zhang-san concerned that she would be so offended by the villagers' behavior that she'll just… abandon the mission that she was sent here for? … How irresponsible does he think she is? What self-respecting sorcerer abandons a mission like that?

Choki, who is attuned to her moods, is the first to sense Shiki's faint irritation at the unwarranted assumption. "You presume much, Mr. Zhang. My lady is not one to leave an assignment unfinished over such trivialities, undeserved as they are."

"My apologies, I didn't mean to imply…" Zhang-san's words falter, and trail off unfinished. "… My apologies for doubting you. But please do not take the villagers' attitudes to heart."

That would require Shiki actually caring about the villagers' opinions of her, which most certainly isn't the case here. At most, there's a hint of faint irritation. But aside from that all that remains is unfeeling apathy and duty.

"It doesn't matter," Shiki says, her words dismissive but no less honest for it. Relief washes over Zhang-san's face and he breathes out a heartfelt 'thank you' to her, before bowing once more and turning around to help his coworker facilitate the evacuations. The crowd of villagers is beginning to thin, although there are still a few people milling about, their eyes watchful and suspicious.

Caution is good. Even though it's a little inconvenient for Shiki right now, but…

"Allow me," Choki murmurs quietly. He straightens and raises two fingers in front of his chest, forming a seal. "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Following his words, a dark blot shimmers into existence in the air overhead. A wobbling ring of darkness that ripples, then expands outwards, slowly trickling down in the shape of a spherical dome. It's only the work of moments before the newly-casted Curtain is fully draped down over the village.

… Just as the last of the stragglers make their way out.

"Thank you, Choki." Shiki reaches up to remove her sunglasses, and entrusts the gift from her cousin to her assistant's hands. "I'll see you later, then."

Choki bows his head towards her, "Stay safe, ojou-sama. And… good hunting."

"That would depend on if this is the village where the cursed spirit is really hiding," Shiki hums, and steps in through the Curtain.

Thanks to the barrier, non-sorcerers would only see an illusion of the enclosed area as how it appeared moments prior to the Curtain falling down, no matter what transpired inside afterwards. It was a mark towards Choki's skill that he was able to pull down a well-made Curtain in a land where sorcerers and Windows lacked the supporting strength of Tengen's purification barriers.

Shiki turns her attention towards the task at hand: Searching for a prospective Special Grade cursed spirit.

One hand rests idly on the hilt of her new sword as she steps through the now-empty village. The recently-acquired weapon is a bloodthirsty Muramasa blade that she'd taken out from the Gojo Clan's inventory of cursed tools. The weight and feel of it is different from Kuji Kanesada, but–

A weapon is a weapon. It will serve.

The thin film of darkness from the Curtain stretched above casts a faint shadow over everything, in a way that makes it almost reminiscent of nighttime lighting. Shiki strides through the silent village, turning her gaze over the walls of run-down housing, thin pillars of mold-crusted wood, agitated clucking of a feathery coop of chickens–

She tilts her head.

It's not uncommon for those living in rural areas to raise their own livestock. The same had been true back in Japan as well. But…

Cursed energy.

There's cursed energy, flickering faintly behind one of the closed doors of the tattered buildings. A villager who didn't evacuate with the others?

The door is locked.

Shiki forgoes knocking, and simply shoves at the door with a strength that's augmented by her own cursed energy. The door swings inwards with a loud crunch as the lock ends up taking half of the wooden door frame with it upon being forced open. That will need to be added to the list of mission expenses later–

Blood.

Shiki is well-acquainted with the scent of blood. There's blood in the air –and she pivots to the left, following the trail.

What greets her within the ramshackle room is the sight of an unmoving man collapsed face-down in a pool of his own blood on the ground. Before him, there is a threadbare cot where a half-dressed woman lies on her back, bound with coarse ropes.

The man is dead. The tied woman is not, and it was her cursed energy that Shiki had sensed outside just now.

However–

The woman's eyes are wide open, and yet they remain unseeing. Her mouth is open, but no sound comes out. There are bruised, mottled handprints circling her neck.

More concerning, however, is her swollen stomach. Her unnaturally swollen stomach, which is distended to almost ridiculous proportions and contorting wildly as it continues to grow right before Shiki's eyes–

Even now, standing in front of it in the same room, there's nothing that registers as alarming to her senses in terms of cursed energy. The dense crisscross of lines that cover the insensate woman's stomach are another story entirely.

Shiki crosses the room in a single instant, drawing her sword; the cursed blade sings through the air for less than a second before finding its mark in the warm flesh of the woman's stomach, and slices down.

Something screams. It's a mixed sound, one that is equal parts monstrous cursed spirit and wailing infant alike, blurring into a strident chorus that causes the entire building to shake around them. Finally, cursed energy explodes into their surroundings, filling it like a dense fog–

It's hard to tell if it's due to Shiki's blade, or if it's the struggling cursed spirit residing within the woman's body, but the woman's stomach –bursts.

As in, literally bursts open, in a brilliant crimson shower of blood and viscera all while a skinless, vaguely humanoid creature crawls out, with bloody chains swinging viciously from its arms. The cursed spirit screams and claws directly at Shiki's face. The chains following its movement fly out and dig long grooves into the surrounding walls with the momentum of the desperate strike–

And Shiki slices through all of it entirely in one blow, sword cleaving the cursed spirit into two separate pieces.

A small frown finds its way onto her lips. It's clear that this cursed spirit had somehow managed to burrow itself into a human woman's womb, and then proceeded to… grow itself? Drain its unwilling host of vitality?

Shiki isn't very clear on the specifics, but she can confirm that it's the first time that she's seen a cursed spirit of this type before. It reminds her a bit of what she's heard about the Cursed Womb Death Paintings, the nine Special Grade cursed objects that were the culmination of the ancient Kamo Noritoshi's experiments. By using a woman whose unique constitution allowed her to give birth to half-curse, half-human children, the reviled sorcerer had successfully created the Death Paintings, all nine of which –to the best of Shiki's knowledge– were still sealed and locked away in the cursed warehouse hidden behind Tengen's barriers.

She is fairly certain that the cursed spirit wriggling in pieces on the ground right now is not a Death Painting.

… Shiki isn't even sure if it's Special Grade, honestly. Is this actually the same cursed spirit as the one that she's been tracking down?

These chains dangling from its wrists, almost like a prisoner's shackles… the long gouge left behind in the wall is quite reminiscent of the destruction that Shiki had observed in Dirong Village, albeit on a much smaller scale. But if it is the same cursed spirit, then does that mean that it had… somehow grown weaker? Or… was it a clone? Or perhaps, some weaker offshoot that had split off from the main body and then 'infected' the half-dead woman here?

Shiki finally releases her grip on the unconscious woman's wrist, confident in the knowledge that White would ensure the civilian's life for now, and moves towards the bloody cursed spirit instead. Almost as if sensing the imminent danger approaching itself, the cursed spirit begins writhing wildly, crawling backwards as it attempts to pull the halves of its severed body together again.

But there is no longer any movement after Shiki finishes the job, slicing its remaining lines with her sword.

The girl watches the cursed spirit until its form begins dissipating into the air, erasing all traces of its corporeal form, and then slowly sheathes her sword.

… She's not sure if this marks the end of her mission. Rather anticlimactic, if that's the case. But all the same, it would be best to take a look at the other village that she and Choki had identified as 'suspicious' as well. Shiki wants to be sure that she's not overlooking anything here, especially with the circumstances as suspicious as they are.

But first, finishing her task in this village.

… For better or for worse, searching through the rest of the village does not reveal any more cursed spirits lying in wait. Shiki spares a brief moment to wonder whether she should carry the cursed spirit's bloodied, sole surviving victim out with her… then decides against it. If any of the villager's inhabitants are still lingering around in the nearby vicinity and happened to catch sight of the victim, Shiki does not want to be the one to deal with their tiresome reactions. Better to inform Zhang-san so he could find someone to relocate her to a medical facility for treatment first, before they proceeded to head towards the next village–

Shiki pauses.

… As expected, Choki is waiting for her, at the foot of the winding path that leads into Lijia Village. Zhang-san is also waiting there, which is a little less expected, but not particularly surprising either.

Completely unexpected, however, is the third person leaning on a motorcycle and cheerfully chatting away with them.

A tall woman, with fair skin and long blonde hair. Relaxed poise, and open smile. Dressed in a sleeveless turtleneck, and baggy pants.

As if suddenly sensing the line of Shiki's gaze, the woman abruptly breaks off in the middle of her conversation and looks up –directly towards her.

"Hello there!" A friendly wave. Long blonde hair falls over her shoulders with the movement, as the woman readjusts her posture. "Gojo Shiki, right? I've been meaning to swing by and meet you properly sometime, but unfortunately there's been a lot of people running interference."

Bright laughter.

Neither of the men share her same attitude. Zhang-san is pale-faced, and looks like he wishes to be anywhere else but here in this moment. Choki, on the other hand, remains unmoving and expressionless, but Shiki is familiar enough with her assistant by now to pick out the undercurrent of nervousness in him all the same.

Who–?

"My name is Tsukumo Yuki," the blonde woman smiles. "So, care to grab a bite together? My treat."

.

.

…

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