"Haven't we found the master yet?" Shimao's voice rang out, carrying a trace of dissatisfaction.
The atmosphere in the cabinet was incredibly oppressive. Their previous talk of waiting for death was naturally just an excuse, especially after Jiutun Tongzi had sat down cross-legged.
If the enemy remained as dominant as ever, these people might truly just wait for death. After all, the entity's overwhelming strength and dominance were deeply branded into their minds.
Arica alone was enough to make them bow their heads and cower. A supernatural ghost many tis more powerful than Arica would naturally elicit the exact sa reaction.
But now, with Jiutun Tongzi falling into a deep slumber, the massive Rashomon Demon had also fallen asleep. This presented a glaring vulnerability in what was otherwise a fatal threat!
They suddenly had ti to struggle. Consequently, the spirit known as Gekokujo began to stir restlessly in their minds once again!
Thus, over the course of the day, after cycling through thoughts of fleeing, deep reflection, and resistance, they ultimately decided to make a desperate last stand!
After all, Emperor Naruhito was still sitting in the Imperial Palace. The citizens of Tokyo were suffering in the fiery abyss of the ghost and monster invasion. If these politicians dared to flee, the Opposition Party would make sure they never took power again!
The political fallout from this incident was simply too severe. Whoever left would beco the ultimate sinner; whoever left would shoulder all the bla. It had always been this way, and it always would be.
Everyone present harbored thoughts of throwing soone else under the bus to take the bla. For instance, Shimao had originally considered resigning, but he no longer even ntioned the idea.
He didn't even need to think about it to know that if he dared to resign, these people would imdiately accept it. Then, all the bla and terrible labels would be unceremoniously dumped on his head, ensuring he could never recover for the rest of his life!
His previous desire to resign stemd from an unwillingness to clean up the country's colossal ss. The nation was completely rotten anyway. Whoever took office would just be taking the bla, and he wanted no part of it.
But now, he had to do it whether he wanted to or not. Otherwise, he could only wait for those people to hijack public opinion and drown him alive!
Take the current situation, for example. Watching the officials before him lower their heads, adopting a cautious attitude of bowing the mont they were criticized, infuriated him even more!
After all, who didn't know that bowing and apologizing was just putting on a show? As long as he couldn't touch their superiors, even if these people were dismissed, they would be reinstated in no ti. This was simply everyday politics.
"Keep ssing around, just keep ssing around! When Jiutun Tongzi wakes up, you'll realize your mistakes!" Shimao shouted. He sat down and glared at an empty seat to the side. "Why is soone still missing?"
"Pri Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has gone missing. The Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt is still investigating!" soone replied.
Hearing this, Shimao felt a surge of inner joy. Missing? Missing was great! If he was missing, couldn't they just shift the bla onto him?
The others shared similar thoughts, even exchanging glances. "Could it be... he ran away?"
Suddenly, the heavy doors burst open. A police officer rushed in, gasping, "The Minister of Foreign Affairs's corpse... it's... it's been found! But only a third of him is left!"
"A third... what do you an?" everyone demanded, unable to hold back their shock.
"I an, only his legs remained... We confird his identity through DNA matching!" the officer stated, bracing himself for the reaction.
"What exactly happened?" Shimao asked, a wave of panic washing over him. Only his legs were left? How could soone die such a grueso death?
"We don't know. There were no footprints, no surveillance footage, only an audio recording of his screams..." the officer stamred. "The captain suspects it might be... Yokai and Ghosts!"
Upon hearing this, sheer panic erupted among all the officials. "Mr. Pri Minister, I believe inviting soone over is absolutely necessary!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll go to Kyoto right now and contact Master Seiji!"
"I'll go too! Let go too!"
"And !"
"Then I'll head to Kolkata and look for our mage!"
"I'll make a trip to Myanmar and ask if Master Mion can co!"
"I... I'll travel to the Vatican. If all else fails, we can beseech The Church!"
Before the blade actually cut into their own flesh, these n hadn't felt the pain. But now, the grotesque death of a peer of equal status was no less than a resounding slap across their collective faces!
This slap told them that everyone could die, without exception. It wasn't just the lowly commoners; they were on the chopping block too!
Originally, the closest and most famous temple nearby should have been Senso-ji.
However, the Buddhist monks claid that their greatest masters were all studying across the sea, leaving them entirely at their wit's end. Therefore, people could only place their final hopes on surrounding locations where transcendent beings might exist.
For example, the various Shinto shrines had all recently closed their doors and suspended operations. It wasn't that they didn't want to make money; rather, larger crowds attracted more Yokai and Ghosts, and they were terrified of death.
The nurous cabinet ministers were naturally aware of these matters, as they were inherently part of this very system. Most of the shrines had direct ties to them!
As the saying went, everyone in this country was just trying to make a buck. How could they not know which industries were the most lucrative? Yet, this only highlighted the terrifying nature of the ghosts and monsters. These spirits didn't want to make money—they wanted lives!
This formally shattered the multi-layered paradigm of status and wealth that the officials had long relied upon. To their shock, they discovered that the protective firewalls they had ticulously built were incredibly fragile in the face of true transcendent power!
Although they had harbored such thoughts before, the visceral reality of death was the true slap that ripped open this deep-seated fear!
Hearing their frantic chatter and watching their desperate attempts to take action, Shimao chuckled darkly. "Do you really think you can leave right now?"
He raised a hand and pointed at the dark clouds looming in the distance. "Airplanes can no longer take off. As for cars... just look outside!"
Outside, the streets of Tokyo were completely gridlocked with vehicles. The blaring of car horns shook the heavens. Who cared about traffic bans at a ti like this? Let alone leaving the city, simply moving around was nearly impossible.
Their bickering and squabbling had cost them their last chance to escape.
"Actually, there's still one place without any cars..." soone murmured, turning their head to look toward the vicinity of the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda. There, a colossal monstrosity stood tall and imposing.
Everyone's faces darkened. There were indeed no cars there, but there were no people either. If they went there, they would likely lose their lives.
Because from the ruins of that shrine, souls continued to drift outward—specially molded souls.
There were even so deeply brainwashed individuals who actually ran over to worship, hoping that these "Heroic Spirits" would bring them good fortune.
Naturally, there was no good fortune to be found, though there was certainly no shortage of death. Whoever wanted to go could be their guest!
"Wait, over there... why is there soone there?" a legislator suddenly shrieked.
"Where?" Everyone snapped their heads up.
"Right there at the shrine! Next to that monster, there are... there are two people!" The legislator had heard a noise and switched the cara angle to check, only to actually spot sothing.
"Two people?" Shimao acted decisively. "Bring up the feed!"
Everyone turned around and scrambled back to their seats. Since they couldn't escape anyway, they might as well observe the situation!
The cara feed flickered onto the main screen. They saw a man dressed in unique traditional robes and wooden geta sandals, hovering effortlessly beside a young man holding a sword.
The two of them were simply walking down the street. Looming right beside them was the massive, slumbering monster—an entity so terrifying that the military hadn't even dared to use missile strikes for fear of waking it!
"That attire... is he an Onmyoji?" After all, they had so prior contact with the supernatural. They stared in astonishnt at the floating man. "If he's an Onmyoji, then could this young man be..."
Before they could finish their sentence, the young man gripping the sword rapidly drew his blade. Then, right in front of everyone's eyes, he swung the sword in a direct, vicious slash!
Under everyone's watchful gaze, he unleashed a brilliant white arc of sword light, cleaving straight into a ghost that had just manifested from the base of the shrine!
This humanoid ghost was still wearing a yellowish-green military uniform. Caught in the blinding sword light, it let out a furious, silent wail before dissipating completely into nothingness.
"Is this... a swordsman? Or rather, the Way of the Sword?" soone murmured in the stunned silence.
"It should be the Way of the Sword, right? His clothing matches the traditional kendo style, and his attacks are similar too..." another person remarked, their eyes brimming with sudden ecstasy.
Finally... finally... had their own transcendent beings appeared at last?
In the eyes of these officials, Yuan Xiansi, who was currently slaying ghosts, was their absolute greatest salvation. What's more, he was accompanied by an Onmyoji!
This was simply spectacular!
So what if Kyoto had an Onmyoji? Tokyo now had its very own Onmyoji, and the fact that he could float in the air clearly proved he was stronger than the one in Kyoto!
Everyone was thrilled. They were ecstatic over the appearance of transcendent beings, and even more euphoric over the fact that they were going to live!
As for the slain ghosts, even if these spirits held a certain degree of status in their hearts, many of the politicians couldn't help but resent them.
'You war criminals are dead, so stay dead. We only worshiped you to gain political rights. We offered you faith and you actually absorbed it? You really deserve to die!'
They would never consider themselves to be in the wrong; they would only ever bla others.
Right before their eyes, the sword light from the swordsman's hands swept across the world, shining brilliantly even under the crushing weight of the black clouds blanketing the city!
Every ti a ghost was slain, the sky cleared up just a little bit more. This, of course, was an absolutely wonderful developnt!
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