Suzuki Makoto looked at the corpses before him, his expression silent. Shibata, the one who loved to tell stories, and the rest of the caravan lay here, their bodies not even collected.
The wounds on their bodies were not from ordinary swords, but rather from a weapon resembling hook-claws. The killer was extremely brutal; all the bodies had been torn to shreds.
He had followed the scent of those centipedes all the way to this valley, not expecting to encounter people he had traveled with before.
They had mentioned before that they had met a new client this time. The client wanted them to transport goods here and, because the road was rough and difficult, was willing to add a twenty percent surcharge to the fee. They all thought it was a good deal.
Suzuki Makoto looked at the opened cargo. Most of it was untouched; only the food and wine had been taken. Clearly, this wasn't the work of common bandits robbing for money. Shibata and the others had simply been sent here intentionally as sacrificial offerings.
The man gathered the bodies, poured tung oil over them, and set them ablaze, along with the cargo and the carrying poles they cherished most, consigning everything to the flames.
Suzuki Makoto made no promises. Words were for the living to hear. For the vengeful spirits, giving them closure was worth more than a thousand words.
However, he didn't notice that the last remaining curse mark on the back of his right hand seemed to have grown a little deeper in color again.
Following the trail deep into the gorge, Suzuki Makoto noticed that this was no ordinary canyon. There were signs of constructed buildings in many places, and even traces of numerous battles. However, the fighting here didn't seem to involve the usual clash of swords, but rather exchanges of gunfire.
Evidently, when consolidating control over the territory around the Fountainhead Palace, the Interior Ministry had also launched an offensive here and engaged in fierce combat with the local inhabitants. But after the battle, they had simply withdrawn directly, neither attempting to station troops in the gorge nor leaving anyone to guard it. It was as if the battle had been fought for nothing.
But considering that Shibata and the others had been lured here, and adding in the nature of their wounds... perhaps there was a reason the Interior Ministry didn't want to station troops here.
A rustling sound arose, and Suzuki Makoto drew his sword, cleaving through the mist.
Looking at the weapon in the hands of the deformed monster before him, there was no doubt this was the creature that had killed Shibata and his companions.
Dozens of blade flashes flickered past, and the lunging monster was instantly turned into fragments. Suzuki Makoto sheathed the Mortal Blade in his hand and his gaze fell upon a folding fan not far away.
This thing looks like it might be worth some money. I'll take it for now.
This monster also had the scent of those centipedes on it, though it wasn't strong. The stronger scent was still coming from deeper within the gorge. Suzuki Makoto didn't stop, but continued advancing into the depths.
A suspension bridge stretched into the depths of the gorge, but more than the bridge, Suzuki Makoto was concerned with the white thing coiled at the bottom of the valley below.
"This snake... why doesn't it have the scent of those centipedes?"
Suzuki Makoto found it hard to believe. He had already guessed that the centipedes on the Senpou Temple monks likely originated from the Divine Dragon of the Fountainhead Palace. That was why he had followed the trail here, hoping to find a new path to the Fountainhead Palace.
The monster's scent had partially confirmed his judgment, but the appearance of this white snake instantly overturned all his previous speculations.
Such a colossal creature was undoubtedly no ordinary beast, but it didn't carry the same scent as the centipedes. In other words, this snake had no connection to the Divine Dragon—so how did this thing get so big?
Suzuki Makoto realized the issue. The half-crippled dragon had only merged with the Everblossom after arriving in Ashina. So, if a worshipped Everblossom could exist here, it wasn't impossible for other strange things to appear as well.
This was perhaps why the Interior Ministry had abandoned stationing troops here even after conquering the gorge. Faced with such a monster, any number of stationed soldiers would just be its next meal. Moreover, the gorge held no great strategic importance, so after slaughtering the potentially troublesome inhabitants, the Interior Ministry's army had made a clean withdrawal, not even leaving a sentry post at the entrance.
"This damn place is full of all sorts of weird things."
Suzuki Makoto grumbled a bit, simultaneously drawing two swords and charging down the steep cliff face to attack the white snake.
But it's a bit unlikely that a white snake that has eaten many people would be a local guardian deity.
He had no interest in seeking out old men to hear various legends. Many demons or strange beasts had their own stories, but if they had eaten humans and encountered Suzuki Makoto, then their story was about to end.
The white snake remained lazing in its spot as Suzuki Makoto flashed above its head, his twin blades chopping down fiercely!
The giant beast let out a shrill wail. Suzuki Makoto mercilessly dragged his blades straight down, cleaving the entire snake's head in two vertically. The white snake instantly went still, collapsing upon the rugged rocks.
However, Suzuki Makoto did not lower his guard, because the snake was still not dead.
He landed back on the snake's body and followed its winding form all the way to a cave, from which the white snake had clearly emerged.
Suzuki Makoto walked into the cave. It was the first time he had ever seen a creature with two lines of death so far apart.
As he took a certain step, the white snake's body suddenly showed signs of vigorous life again. A moment ago it had been a rigid corpse, but after that one step, it seemed to be a new giant snake.
The man was not in a hurry. He continued forward until he passed through the entire cave. A small shrine appeared ahead, and what emerged there was not the white snake's tail, but another head.
"Interesting."
This was the evaluation given by the last person in the world to witness this living monster. He then repeated the process, splitting this second head in two as well.
The white snake was finally, completely dead. However, the presence of the shrine here was clear proof that the snake was not without its worshippers.
Suzuki Makoto walked into the shrine and saw a strangely shaped statue of Kannon, upon which was enshrined a dried, shriveled object that looked like a snake's heart.
It did indeed contain some strange power, but for Suzuki Makoto, he just gave it a disdainful glance and left without looking back.
It doesn't look tasty. Better skip it.
He had no intention of turning back to cut some meat from the snake either. After all, the idea that 'the older, the tougher' was deeply ingrained. He had no interest in tasting something that his great-great-grandfather would have considered too old.
_____
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