Witnessing this scene and hearing Ye Xing's utterly calm delivery of such arrogant words, Gyūki and his companions, Kubinashi and Karasu Tengu, couldn't help but change expressions.
This guy...
Was clearly no ordinary Onmyoji.
They'd never heard of any Onmyoji suddenly changing into such villainous attire during battle.
Truth be told...
Compared to Kubinashi with his dangling, floating head, the non-human appearing Karasu Tengu, or the stern-faced, yakuza-boss-like Gyūki...
At this moment, Ye Xing looked far more like the villainous BOSS.
"What's wrong? Not coming?"
Ye Xing chuckled, raising Onimaru Kunitsuna to point its tip at the three yokai before him.
"Then I'll make the first move."
"Attack."
With his command, the massive golden Goat-Headed Deity immediately charged towards the three Nura Clan yokai with his two divine attendants.
The contract between the Goat-Headed Deity and Ye Xing stipulated only that he would appear to assist when Mai Sakurajima and others encountered evil spirits.
It contained no clauses about obeying orders.
But the long-lived Goat-Headed Deity wasn't foolish.
Did he really have a choice here?
By obeying unconditionally and keeping this human pleased, everyone would be happy.
But if he showed even the slightest resistance... who knew what this man might do?
Watching his own body being devoured bit by bit, with the devourer appearing thoroughly delighted, was nothing short of dual torment—both physical and psychological.
The Goat-Headed Deity dared not gamble on this.
After all, in its eyes, Ye Xing was nothing but a powerful madman devoid of reason.
"A bound spirit, is it..."
Gyūki drew an ancient longsword from his waist, his expression unchanging as he faced the charging Goat-Headed Deity and its two divine attendants. He spoke in a low voice.
"Leave the two small ones to Kubinashi. I'll handle the big one. Tengu, stay on the sidelines and wait for an opening."
"Understood."
Within the Nura Clan, Gyūki held considerable authority. Naturally, Kubinashi and the yokai Karasu Tengu would follow his orders.
Watching Gyūki engage the Goat-Headed Deity in fierce combat, his longsword swinging with overwhelming pressure, Ye Xing merely observed from a distance with keen interest.
Not only that, he had even conjured a chair using evil spirit power, sitting back to watch the spectacle unfold.
"What exactly are these things?"
As he observed Gyūki, Kubinashi, and Karasu Tengu, Ye Xing pondered silently.
As a transmigrator, he was well aware that they were yokai affiliated with the Nura Clan.
The question was—what exactly did yokai represent in this world?
From the ongoing battle, one thing was certain: like psychics, yokai could "perceive" spirits.
But how much did these Nura Clan yokai know about the situation in Kyoto?
Ye Xing guessed they had some basic understanding—but not much.
Otherwise, instead of just these three Nura Clan executives, their leader—the supreme commander of yokai, Nurarihyon himself—would have come knocking.
As Ye Xing lounged with crossed legs, enjoying the battle, Gyūki and Kubinashi were drenched in sweat.
Boom!
The golden Goat-Headed Deity raised its forelimb and slammed it onto Gyūki's sword.
The sheer force sent the latter skidding back several metres, leaving a trail in the ground.
Gyūki's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the colossal golden deity before him.
"What in the world... is this thing?"
At first, he had assumed it was just an ordinary bound spirit—a common occurrence.
Those who died with lingering attachments often became spirits tethered to a specific location, unable to move on.
Shrines were hotspots for such spirits.
After all, despite being called shrines, fewer than one in ten actually housed true gods.
But today, he had stumbled upon something far more formidable.
Gyūki wasn't sure whether this goat-headed monstrosity was a genuine deity, but one thing was certain—it was absurdly strong!
Meanwhile, Kubinashi brandished his weapon—a blade forged from Jorōgumo's silk and a hair-woman's tresses—deflecting the assaults of the two fox-faced attendants.
Though his situation was slightly better than Gyūki's, it wasn't by much.
The fox-faced attendants were agile, their small stature making them difficult targets.
Even when Kubinashi landed hits, they showed no signs of pain or hesitation.
If this continued, defeat was inevitable.
"These guys..."
Seeing Gyūki and Kubinashi struggling, Ye Xing frowned slightly.
As elite fighters of the Nura Clan... weren't they a bit too weak?
So weak that Ye Xing began suspecting they might be putting on an act.
His initial plan had been simple: as a precaution, let the Goat-Headed Deity and its two attendants serve as disposable scouts. Even if destroyed, they would eventually revive as long as the shrine stood.
Perfect cannon fodder to gauge the enemy's abilities.
But Ye Xing hadn't expected these three "cannon fodder" to pressure the Nura Clan so much.
Gyūki and Kubinashi, too, were beginning to realise something.
They had assumed this expedition—led by the first-generation commander Nurarihyon himself—to Kyoto in search of exorcists would be the Nura Clan's long-awaited dominance over the modern world.
But now...
It seemed they were the ones being dominated.
Kyoto was the real high-stakes battleground!
"Hold on a little longer," Gyūki panted, whispering to Kubinashi.
"I've already sent people after those two human girls—the suspected psychics. Once we have them as bargaining chips, we can force negotiations. Just hold out a bit longer."
"Understood, Lord Gyūki."
Just as Gyūki and Kubinashi steeled themselves to endure, Ye Xing's phone rang.
He answered, greeted by Rio Futaba's usual calm voice.
"Hey, are you busy right now?"
Ye Xing glanced at the three Nura Clan yokai locked in desperate combat nearby and replied nonchalantly.
"Not at all. I'm bored out of my mind—plenty of free time."
"Oh, is that so?"
Rio's tone was indifferent as she continued, "After dinner with Mai-senpai and the others, Miko and I thought we'd use the free time to clear out some evil spirits in the city and practise our Soul Materialisation. But we were ambushed."
"And then?"
Hearing Ye Xing's lack of concern, Rio replied coolly, "We defeated them. No harm done. They were weak."
"Still, neither Miko nor I have seen creatures like them before. They seemed to have physical forms—not like ordinary evil spirits or spectres. We didn't kill them. Did you already know about this?"
Ye Xing chuckled. "Yeah. I'm at that shrine from last time. Come meet me."
"Got it. Twenty minutes."
After hanging up, Ye Xing sighed, a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
What a shame.
So this is the Nura Clan's level?
All this hype for... this?
Though Gyūki and Kubinashi—the Nura Clan's top fighters—were here, they hadn't even scratched Miko Yotsuya or Rio Futaba.
Pathetic.
And here Gyūki was, trying to intimidate him?
Ye Xing couldn't even muster the energy to mock them.
Did the Nura Clan gather their entire force just to amuse him?
Announce my name and bring laughter to thy lips?
Hilarious.
"Hey."
Gyūki, still locked in combat with the Goat-Headed Deity, suddenly heard Ye Xing's voice behind him.
Only then did he realise—Ye Xing had appeared right at his back without warning.
Startled, Gyūki spun and slashed without hesitation.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed.
Gyūki's sword snapped in half.
"Mine is Onimaru Kunitsuna," Ye Xing said, his smile widening as he eyed Gyūki's shocked expression and the broken blade on the ground.
"And yours is... what, scrap metal? Hmm?"
Gyūki had no retort.
Though his sword had served him for years and was a spiritual object in its own right, compared to Japan's legendary Onimaru Kunitsuna, "scrap metal" wasn't far off.
"Is this all you've got?"
At Ye Xing's disappointed tone, Gyūki gritted his teeth.
Before departing, Commander Nurarihyon had warned him:
"Kyoto is now a human city. Unless absolutely necessary, do not unleash your true power. If we provoke human hostility, we risk plunging into another era of war between yokai and mankind."
Ye Xing seemed to read Gyūki's thoughts. Resting Onimaru Kunitsuna lightly against the yokai's neck, his smile vanished as he whispered,
"If you don't go all out... you'll die here."
"Lord Gyūki!"
Seeing the blade at Gyūki's throat, Kubinashi disengaged from the fox-faced attendants and lashed out with his own weapon, unleashing his signature technique.
"Chord Kill: Slaying Thread: Locked Spider!"
Nurarihyon's restrictions applied only to Gyūki—not Kubinashi.
The reason was simple: Kubinashi wasn't as strong.
"Cool move name," Ye Xing remarked, reaching out with his left hand to grab the silk thread woven from hair.
Kubinashi frowned, then pulled harder.
The weapon, forged from Jorōgumo's silk and a hair-woman's tresses, was far tougher than ordinary materials.
In theory, no ordinary human—not even a powerful yokai—could hope to grip its thread bare-handed without losing fingers.
Yet no matter how hard Kubinashi tugged, the thread didn't budge.
His frown deepened.
Why wasn't it moving?
"Could you take this seriously?"
Ye Xing pulled his hand slightly towards himself, yanking Kubinashi's body clean off the ground.
The other's head remained in place, unable to keep up in time.
Stepping on Kubinashi's torso, Ye Xing kept Onimaru Kunitsuna pressed against Gyūki's neck, shaking his head in mild disappointment.
"So this is the famed Nura Clan's standard? Hardly enough to get one's blood pumping."
Seeing Kubinashi pinned beneath his foot, Gyūki's expression darkened. Without further thought, he immediately sought to unleash his full power as a great yokai.
Yet the instant this thought formed, a massive pale ghost hand materialised soundlessly behind him.
Its five fingers tipped with jet-black talons clenched around Gyūki's towering frame as effortlessly as one might grasp an ant.
"You may rest now."
Observing Gyūki's futile struggles within the pale ghost hand's grasp, Ye Xing glanced meaningfully at the Goat-Headed Deity beside him.
The golden-horned entity promptly lumbered over, pressing a massive paw against Kubinashi's back.
"My interest in you has waned."
Returning to the jet-black chair before the shrine, Ye Xing addressed the circling tengu yokai still hovering uncertainly overhead, his voice a smiling murmur.
"The only one who might offer modest entertainment is your founding commander. Shouldn't you hurry to summon him for rescue?"
...
Twenty minutes later.
When Miko Yotsuya and Rio Futaba arrived at the shrine, neither showed surprise at the sight of Kubinashi pinned by the Goat-Headed Deity nor Gyūki immobilised in the pale ghost hand's grip.
If they could handle these opponents, how could Ye Xing possibly struggle?
"These things..."
Rio approached Ye Xing pensively.
"What exactly are they? Those creatures we encountered resembled evil spirits yet had physical forms. Strangely, they showed little hostility - no ambushes or lethal strikes. Never seen their like before."
"Ah, them."
Ye Xing replied offhandedly. "They're what you'd call yokai, affiliated with an organisation named the Nura Clan. Consider them the underworld of the supernatural realm."
"Yokai?"
Miko frowned slightly.
"I've never encountered such beings before."
"Nor I."
Ye Xing chuckled before adding:
"But have you considered that evil spirits are the true anomalies? There's not a single historical record of them."
Rio and Miko exchanged glances, realising the truth in his words.
Yokai featured prominently throughout Japan's folklore.
Yet invisible, intangible evil spirits that couldn't directly harm humans? No documented accounts whatsoever.
When you thought about it...
If someone claimed terrifying, hostile entities existed - invisible, untouchable, incapable of affecting you - how would you react?
At best, scoffing disbelief.
At worst, questioning their sanity.
In contrast, yokai—those with physical forms that must avoid human attention and hide in the shadows—align far more closely with the descriptions found in legends.
As she watched Ye Xing sitting comfortably in his seat, Rio Futaba—who had removed her glasses and tied her hair into a high ponytail—felt her expression grow complicated.
For some time now, a concern had lingered in her heart.
According to Tamamo-no-Mae, the first appearance of the Gate occurred on March 20th.
Coincidentally, that was also the day Ye Xing awakened his spiritual power.
Could such a coincidence truly exist in this world?
Rio had two theories about this.
The first:
The emergence of the Gate caused partial fusion between the Reverse World and the real world. Following the natural law that evil spirits and humans cannot affect one another without mutual "recognition"—a safeguard for human life—Ye Xing awakened his spiritual power at that very moment.
If this were the case, it would mean that the chuunibyou nonsense Ye Xing had once spouted to Rio had accidentally been correct.
He was the chosen one, blessed by the heavens, destined to save the world with his unruly potential.
A happy ending. The Supernatural Society would continue fulfilling its duty, protecting the world from the bizarre.
But what if it were the other way around?
The same phenomenon, the same process—but with reversed causality.
What if the Gates appeared because Ye Xing awakened his spiritual power?
This would explain why the Gates, such an anomalous phenomenon, existed only within Kyoto.
Mai Sakurajima's Adolescence Syndrome had affected the observations and perceptions of every person in the world.
But what if the Gates appearing in Kyoto, and the increasingly powerful and frenzied evil spirits…
Were all the result of Ye Xing's Adolescence Syndrome?
Rio couldn't be certain.
After all, cases of Adolescence Syndrome were far too rare, with Mai Sakurajima being the only known example.
As the saying goes:
Science requires repeated verification before reaching a conclusion.
A conclusion drawn from a single case, such as Mai's, could only be considered speculation.
If a second patient with Adolescence Syndrome were to appear, perhaps a comparative analysis could yield a definitive answer.
"Futaba, what are you thinking about?"
Hearing Ye Xing's voice, Rio snapped out of her thoughts.
She looked at his familiar face and forced a faint smile, shaking her head.
"Nothing. Just a bit tired. Let's wrap this up quickly—I want to go home and sleep."
Rio had made up her mind.
Regardless of which scenario was true, her view of Ye Xing wouldn't change.
The effects of Adolescence Syndrome weren't something one could control.
The recent crimes in Kyoto and the havoc wreaked by evil spirits shouldn't be blamed on Ye Xing—that would be unjust.
"Yeah, let's finish this soon."
Outwardly, Ye Xing appeared nonchalant, but inwardly, he couldn't help but sigh.
Rio's acting was truly terrible.
For someone who usually never showed emotional fluctuations and maintained a rational demeanour at all times…
If she really had nothing on her mind, why would she smile at him?