There was going to be thunder over there.
Yae Miko saw that light.
First, the dark clouds rolled for thousands of miles, gathering like waves. As lightning flickered in the gaps, the clouds shattered into pieces, like broken ice. Then that thunder fell from the sky.
That direction was Yashiori Island.
"Eh?" At first, she hadn't reacted to what was happening. Her mind was blank, without extra thoughts. Her thoughts were still on how to scold that old thief. But as the thunder kept rolling down, Yae Miko slowly came to her senses.
She still didn't feel any extra emotions.
Emotions seemed unreal at this moment.
"What big thunder," Yae Miko said softly. But why would there be thunder in winter?
She didn't know, and she didn't really want to know.
Walking along the road from Narukami Island, she saw many corpses.
They were impure corpses. The hounds all had large gashes torn open, their eyes white, staring straight up at the sky. Some were even worse, their limbs shattered into pieces.
But Yae Miko had seen that those wounds were caused by wind elements, so she was still not worried, still nonchalant.
That old fellow had gone on vacation. He had gone to soak in hot springs, drink sake, eat winter's fukujuso. How could he come alone to this snowy island, alone to slay these monsters?
Wasn't he cold? Wasn't he hungry?
Yae Miko still remembered how that old fellow leaned against the stove, his lips dry and purple, his cheeks only showing a hint of red in the firelight, his mouth still stubborn, saying big words. It was laughable... How could such an old fellow leave his stove?
He was so weak, only good at cooking.
He said he would live for hundreds more years.
But hearing the rolling thunder from between the clouds, her heart seemed unreal.
There shouldn't be such big thunder in winter.
Moreover, this thunder sounded familiar.
That sense of wrongness grew stronger. The feeling of wrongness that had been suppressed in her heart for months, after a brief emotional stagnation, surged towards her like a tide.
Lady Fox walked towards Yashiori Island.
Her wooden clogs stepped on the soft snow, up and down, rising and falling. Her mood was like that snow, deep and shallow, rising and falling.
Yae Miko began to ponder that sense of wrongness in her heart.
The old man's daily appearance floated before her eyes, how he smoked, how he cooked, how he drank tea... Scenes from the past flashed through Lady Fox's mind like a lantern show.
Long-ignored details slowly revealed themselves.
He cooked — last time he made kitsune udon, he accidentally cut his hand. But he was a samurai who had used a sword for hundreds of years. How could such a samurai cut his own hand...?
Was this an accident?
Was he unable to use a sword anymore, or unable to control his own body?
He smoked... Did he cough when he smoked? He coughed when he smoked, but he still smoked. Lady Fox had told Seino many times, but he never listened. Why was that?
Lady Fox also recalled the strange smell she had detected that day. As she said, her nose was very keen.
The smell was faint, like rust, and passed quickly... so Lady Fox hadn't paid attention. But what was the old fellow doing at that time...?
The fox remembered, he was holding a teapot, covering his face, swallowing the tea, then smiling at her.
Yae Miko didn't understand the meaning of that smile then.
He always liked to smile like that, a silly, hearty smile. Seeing it so often, it became routine, became taken for granted. People often ignore the small routines in life, then view them as natural.
She didn't want to think further.
The clouds above Yashiori Island grew heavier, layer upon layer, strangely undulating. Lady Fox quickened her pace.
It's impossible, it's impossible.
Along the way, she saw more impure corpses, most had completely dissipated, with only a few remaining.
But there were no more wounds from wind elements.
She clutched the scarf under her shrine maiden's sleeve, feeling her nails dig into her flesh.
The remaining impurities were all cut by a single stroke, the cut surfaces smooth, slightly charred yellow, showing traces of lightning... It was his sword. He really had come to this forbidden zone.
This forbidden zone teeming with impurities.
Every year-end, Inazuma would expend thousands of samurai to eliminate impurities, ensuring a year of peace for the people. But this year, it seemed unnecessary.
Because this work had been done by one person.
By an old man.
Yae Miko looked ahead. In the pine and cypress forest hung with frost, among the layers of intertwining branches, on the soil, on the snow... impure corpses were strewn everywhere. They formed a path, extending as far as the eye could see. That was the path he had walked.
The path the impurities had walked was slowly dissipating, the path he had walked was also slowly dissipating.
Why?
The first thought that came to mind was just confusion.
Lady Fox saw the campsite Seino had left behind. The remains of the fire had not yet been buried by the heavy snow. Lady Fox could suddenly imagine the nights the old fellow had spent here, snow flying and cold wind whistling, the old fellow wrapped in thick winter clothes, hugging himself, crouching by the fire, constantly coughing.
He needed to sleep early because he had to continue purging impurities tomorrow, but he was too cold to sleep. He warmed himself by the fire, his body trembling slightly.
In the pale world, only he remained.
She suddenly resented her imagination. She didn't want to think about it, but those images clung to her like a persistent ailment, constantly imprinting in her mind.
Lady Fox could only quicken her pace, focusing her attention on hurrying. She wouldn't deliberately think about these things.
She had to walk faster, she had to walk even faster.
Seino Raimei had grown old, so he had to walk for three days and three nights. But Lady Fox was still young, her body light, stepping on the snow as fast as the wind.
The whistling wind passed by her cheeks, everything before her eyes rapidly retreating. The fox darted through the forest, heading towards that island.
She vaguely guessed what Seino wanted to do.
Because Yae smelled a familiar impure aura, different from other impurities. It was deep and strange, carrying a frightening bloody smell, mixed with four hundred years of resentment — Yae was familiar with this impurity, and knew who this aura came from.
The Grand Narukami Shrine had tried countless times to expel it, but it lurked deep in Inazuma, never willing to appear.
The great serpent Orobashi.
Seino Raimei wanted to kill it.
Using the body of his sworn enemy — that is, his own body — as bait to lure it out.
But why was Seino certain he could lure the great serpent out?
Yae didn't want to think further, didn't want to think about it anymore.
That conclusion took root in her heart:
Seino was about to die of old age. If the remnant of the great serpent didn't come out now, it would never be able to take revenge in this life.
It would never be able to end — this fate entangled for four hundred years.
He won't die!
He won't! He won't!
He won't, he won't, he won't, he won't!