Ayumi was not an evil spirit. She was a yokai.
This was Baishi Shu's first time coming across a yokai, so he was very excited.
Using his Divine Eye, he was able to see the difference between an evil spirit and a yokai. Like humans, a yokai was also a living organism. They had a corporeal body and a soul. The only difference was that they looked a little strange. Their cells were completely compromised by yin energy to produce a certain kind of negative energy. The negative energy was the third energy that constituted the spider web.
He could not tell for sure what was the negative energy since this was his first time bumping into something like this. However, he now could say with confidence that he already knew what that was.
According to a record he read, ancient people named the negative power "yokai power". Although the name sounded simple and unadorned, it fit perfectly.
He could roughly guess what caused Ayumi to transform into a yokai. There were a large number of yokai who were originally ordinary human beings. It was only when they experienced an extreme emotional state such as hatred, anger, and jealousy that they transformed into something horrific and grotesque.
The best example would be Shuten-dōji, the king of the oni. According to folklore, this mythical king was not born as a yokai. He was originally a young acolyte in a temple with an incredibly attractive appearance. It was said that one would instantly fall for him the moment they set sights on him, and due to this reason, those around him often called him a yokai child. Soon enough, he grew terribly anti-social and resentful towards the people around him. Eventually, he was turned into a yokai.
Another yokai that had a similar experience with Ayumi was Kiyohime, a giant fire-breathing serpent with the head of a human. In the legend, Kiyohime was originally the princess of the Masago no Shoji family. She fell in love with Anchin, a young priest who would lodge at her manor during his pilgrimage. The young priest joked that he would marry her if she behaved well. However, little did he know that Kiyohime took his words seriously and reminded him of his promise as soon as she came of age. Anchin felt embarrassed, so he avoided her on his way back and headed straight for Mutsu. When Kiyohime found out about his deception, she was overcome with grief and disappointment. She went after Anchin, and when he ran away from her once again, her rage exploded to its limit and she transformed.
Clearly, Ayumi was transformed into a yokai after being hurt and dumped multiple times by Ikeda Shinn.
'This is so interesting,' Baishi Shū said in his heart.
There were a lot of questions in his mind. What caused a human to transform into a yokai? What happened to their genes and cellular structures during and after the transformation process? How different were the cells of a yokai to a human? If yokai power was the cause of the transformation, then spiritual power was also considered as a kind of energy, but why would it not change, say, his appearance? Was it because spiritual power was positive energy, so the transformation would not happen? Also, how did yokai replenish their energy? Did they have to absorb yin energy, or did they have to consume food like them as well? And last but not least, could yokai defecate?
Normal humans had numerous things to worry about, and Baishi Shū had a hundred thousand whys. Unfortunately, no matter how bad yokai were, they were living organisms. As a monk, he had no qualms vanquishing them for the sake of the realm of the living, but he could never bring himself to do something like incarcerating them against their will and experimenting on them.
If he ever did that, then he was no different from them.
Life was never easy. He had to keep on reminding himself about what he should and should not do so that he would not end up becoming a yokai like Ayumi, Kiyohime, and Shuten-dōji did.
However, he still found it extra difficult to suppress his curiosity.
'How good would it be if there is a yokai who's willing to sacrifice itself and give me the chance to experiment on it for the sake of science?' He lamented inwardly.
Baishi Shū suppressed his surging nosiness and calmed himself down as he waited for the arrival of Ayumi.
This time, he was up against a yokai. Not only did she have strength and speed superior to any evil spirits that he had ever encountered in the past, but she could also seep through physical objects like walls and ground. What's more, she was sentient and her level of intelligence was comparable to that of a human's. She had the ability to devise a plan to take down her opponent strategically, unlike evil spirits that would only charge forward blindly based on their instincts.
Baishi Shū was certain that if Ayumi understood the wide margin between their strength, she would run away. At that time, he would not be able to chase after her since he could not go through physical objects. As such, he did not break himself free from the cocoon but stood firmly on the ground instead. Keeping his Divine Eye activated, he observed Ayumi's movement with great intent, hoping that he could find the perfect opening to strike her down.
Ayumi was fast. Within a couple of seconds, she had already arrived at the surface of the ground. Her eight hairy, pointy legs were the first to emerge, followed by her upper body, and it was only then that Baishi Shū had the chance to see Ayumi in her entirety.
She had a skinny frame, and on her back was her cascading black hair. Her face was filled with many eyes and her mouth was split from ear to ear. Whenever she opened her mouth, one would be able to see the row of sharp fangs within.
She stretched her body forward and leaned towards the cocoon that was nearest to her.
"Hehe, I thought the nourishment is enough since you are going to take my Shinn and our children away—"
Before she could finish her sentence, a voice chimed in, "You heard all our conversation just now, didn't you? How did you do that? Is it through your spider web?"
The moment the voice rang out, a divine light burst out from the cocoon before Ayumi. The hair strands disappeared one after another, revealing the fair-skinned hand behind.
A warm and bright light was flaring out from his palm. The light was so intense that it illuminated the entire parking lot. Bathing under the light, all of the hairs that weaved together slowly melted away. The other two cocoons disappeared first, releasing Mr. Ikeda and Inspector Aoki who were trapped within. The moment both of them dropped from their cocoons, they were instantly absorbed into the divine light. They seemed to have forgotten about their pain as they stared fixedly at the light.
As the light continued to press forward, the huge spider web could not hold itself anymore and disappeared. The cocoon around the car was vanishing too, revealing Ikeda Shinn's soul for a brief second. Then, in the next moment, his soul, along with the eggs in his body frittered away without any trace.
Ayumi had enveloped herself in a large amount of yokai power as if she was trying to fight against the light. Even though she looked very impressive, the effect of her effort was minimal. Just like snow melting under the sun, her yokai power was depleting at an alarming rate, and it would not take long before she was consumed by the light.
Just like what Baishi Shū expected, she lasted for one more second before she gave in. She began to fade away and ashes fell out from her body like snowflakes. The scene was quite mesmerizing. When she finally fizzled out, a black bead fell on the ground. It rolled forward for a bit before finally breaking into pieces and released a muttering into the air.
Ayumi was gone. The atmosphere turned back to normal and all traces she left behind vanished.
"Could that be part of her yokai power? The yokai power that laced her spider web caught the vibration in the air when we're speaking. Then, it was sent down to her ears via the strand of hair which acts like a single-way telephone circuit? This might be it."
Feeling content after finding an answer to his doubt, he nodded and put his hands together. Then, he started to chant the Rebirth Mantra for Ayumi and Ikeda Shinn.
He hoped that both of them could let go of their hatred and treat each other nicely when they arrived at the Western Paradise. Then, perhaps they might be able to become a couple again in their next lives.
After he finished chanting the mantra, he opened his eyes and looked at the spot where Ayumi had been exorcised.
"Master Baishi, what are you looking at?" Inspector Aoki went forward and asked. He was conquered by the way Baishi Shū exorcised the yokai.
He had never seen such a powerful monk before. The entire exorcism process had been so smooth and fast that before he knew anything, it had already ended. The divine light he emitted was so warm that it evoked the best memory he had from the depths of his mind. The scene was so pure and holy, and Inspector Aoki swore never to forget it.
"Oh, nothing. I guess I'm just tired." Baishi Shū offered him a grin and retracted his gaze.
He had a very good memory. He could remember everything that he saw even if it just appeared for a split second. He recalled that during that day when he carried out a paranormal investigation at Kondo Private Junior High School, the Hare-no-yurei had been holding several black beads in her hand. When she was defeated, the black beads had disappeared, so he did not care about it.
However, just now he saw the same black bead falling out from Ayumi. When the bead was broken, it had released the same muttering as well.
'Is this a coincidence?'
There was a voice in his mind telling him that it was not. There must be some connection between the two incidents. It was just that no matter if it was the Hare-no-yurei or Ayumi, he had sent both of them to the Western Paradise. His spiritual power was not enough to communicate with Buddha, so he had no way of finding out more.
Turning his head around, he found that Mr. Ikeda was still standing in the same place in the same position. He stared blankly at the spot where Ayumi and his son had disappeared. Two streaks of tears streamed down his face, but his expression was calm.
"Mr. Ikeda, you cried."
"Did I?" Mr. Ikeda murmured as he moved his hand over his cheeks. It was only then that he realized he was crying, but strangely enough, he did not feel particularly sad right now. His heart was full of nothing but peace, and all the hatred and the pain of losing his son were gone.
Falling to his knees, he gave Baishi Shū a deep bow.
"Thank you, Master Baishi."