The hidden side of the entire Japan at this time could be described as turbulent.
The three major clans had ambiguous attitudes: the Tengu Clan stayed in Youkai Mountain and kept out of world affairs, the Oni Clan was ready to move, and the Kappa Clan simply did not express any attitude. And because of the strange attitudes of the three clans, not to mention those 'independent Youkai'.
The powerful 'Great Youkai' were all weighing the pros and cons of whether to cause trouble, and the small Youkai were similar, with even stronger initiative, especially after discovering that Japan Onmyōryō seemed to have most of its energy tied up due to the Oni Clan.
However, at this moment, a strange 'rumor' began to circulate among the Youkai.
A blood-red 'Red Oni' was searching for targets all over Japan, and so far, several famous Youkai and a large number of minor Youkai had unfortunately been eliminated by it.
These included famous Youkai such as Kama-itachi (Weasel sickle), Jagobaba (Snake Bone Hag), Futakuchi-onna (Two-Mouthed Woman), and Obore-onna (Drowning Woman).
Undoubtedly, the person who killed these Youkai was Lancer.
Nearly half a month had passed since the last time he drank with the funashiyaku and the Great Tengu, Ōmine Zenkibō, and Lancer had been searching for suspicious targets based on the information provided by the Onmyōryō.
For example, he found the Kama-itachi based on a seemingly simple piece of information. The person who reported the crime was a woodcutter who was cutting wood in the mountain forest. According to the other party's narration, he went up the mountain to cut wood as usual that day, but for some reason, he suddenly found his arms scratched. He initially thought he was scratched by branches, but on the way back, he found a large number of cleanly cut branches.
The Jagobaba was accidentally discovered by Lancer when he went to a small village with a 'snake mound'. According to the villagers, the 'Snake God' they believed in was very effective. Lancer, who was a little skeptical, naturally went to take a look and finally discovered the strange Youkai.
Lancer initially did not plan to eliminate the other party, as according to the villagers, the other party had never harmed the people in the village. But later, when Lancer went to a nearby village, he found that the village was indeed fine, but people and livestock in nearby villages would occasionally go missing, and those missing people seemed to have conflicts with the residents of the village before, which undoubtedly aroused Lancer suspicion. Finally, when he turned into a raven and went to the snake mound, he found a large number of livestock and human bones inside the snake mound.
Undoubtedly, the other party was eventually eliminated by Lancer. Afterwards, when Lancer looked up the information, he learned the other party's name and situation. It was said that there was once a snake Youkai who fell in love with a human, but the human eventually died, and the snake Youkai lived on, protecting her husband's grave. As expected, the people in that village should be the descendants of that 'Jagobaba'. They were mixed-blood humans, but after Lancer inspection, the Youkai blood in their bodies was almost too thin to exist.
Afterwards, Lancer also informed the funashiyaku of the situation here, asking them to send specialists to deal with it, as different professions have different specialties.
The situation of the 'Futakuchi-onna' being killed by Lancer was a little strange. Simply put, Lancer encountered a very enthusiastic woman in a village. He didn't pay attention at first, but when the other party invited him to her house, Lancer noticed the abnormality on the other party, and then discovered the other mouth hidden under her hair.
Undoubtedly, the other party was the so-called 'Futakuchi-onna'. The origin of this Youkai is very strange. Some are because they killed their child and were possessed by the child's vengeful spirit, and some are because they cheated on their husband and were possessed by the Inari God (Fox Youkai). There was no doubt that this Youkai had set its eyes on Lancer strong body.
In the end, the vengeful spirit achieved Buddha-hood (physically), and the woman was sent to the local government. As for the subsequent situation, it was none of his business.
The situation of the Obore-onna was similar. Simply put, Lancer didn't know whether he had bad luck or the other party had bad luck. When he was going to stay at a hot spring inn on his way back to Fujiwara-kyō, he saw a young woman wrapped in a bath towel in the bath. Lancer then unhesitatingly stabbed her with the spear he carried with him.
Lancer was very confident in his luck. He didn't believe that he would encounter such a 'scandalous accident'. As expected, it was indeed a Youkai.
(Since the male bones in the hot spring needed to be cleaned up, he went to another place to enjoy the hot spring with Zero afterwards.)
Besides these Youkai with names, he also encountered many small Youkai whose names he couldn't even name. Thanks to this, Lancer 'Tale of the Oni Exterminator' quest was already over 30% complete, but he was not happy at all. Based on the time calculation, the time spent on this outing was similar to before, but the number of Youkai encountered was at least twice as many.
This situation inevitably made Lancer suspect whether the number of Youkai had increased or if there was some other reason?
However, he believed that the people in the Onmyōryō this time would give him a satisfactory answer.
——————
Undoubtedly, when Lancer returned to Fujiwara-kyō, he had a strange feeling. After all, compared to the Youkai everywhere outside the city, this city was too peaceful.
Because he had no fixed residence, Lancer directly took his gear and headed to the Onmyōryō, but when he arrived in front of the Onmyōryō gate, he could clearly sense that the atmosphere in the Onmyōryō was a little strange at this moment.
Perhaps because they possessed power that ordinary people could not understand, the Onmyoji within the Onmyōryō always had a strange sense of arrogance on them. Even the ordinary people seemed to be infected with a similar feeling. It could be said that the Onmyōryō gave the impression of being lofty, but what about now?
The entire Onmyōryō, whether it was the Onmyoji walking quickly or the samurai patrolling with serious expressions, all indicated one thing —————— the Onmyōryō was not right at this moment.
With suspicion, Lancer walked directly inside the Onmyōryō.
Perhaps because Lancer had completed many extermination missions recently, most people within the Onmyōryō recognized him, and many even actively bowed to him. Lancer accepted this directly, and when he followed a serious-looking Onmyoji to the Onmyōryō Chief, or the Head, he realized that the matter was probably more serious than he imagined.
The Onmyōji Head, whom Lancer was unfamiliar with, had somewhat gray hair. Lancer had only seen the other party once, which was when he joined the Onmyōryō as an employee. At this moment, the other party looked even thinner than before, and kneeling beside him was a 'Shikigami' wearing samurai armor.
"Sir Lancer, I apologize for asking you to return at a time like this."
The other party was also stunned when he saw Lancer. It was obvious that he didn't expect Lancer to return so quickly, after all, he had only sent out the message for Lancer to return yesterday.
"It's alright. Sir, you suddenly looked for me, so it must be something important, right?"
"Yes, there is one thing I would like to ask for your opinion, Sir Lancer."
Asking for his opinion? What the hell? His identity was only a 'mercenary', just an outsider to the Onmyōryō. What matter required his opinion?