Chapter 33: Salt and Vengeful Spirits

The Skeleton Warrior is a minor boss. However, in the Graveyard battle, in theory, as long as it isn't killed, it will continuously spawn skeletal soldiers. Because it remains alive, the next powerful monster in the side quest—the "Gashadokuro," another subordinate of the Grudge-Holding Court Noble—will not appear, which effectively lowers the game's difficulty. Experienced players have long been familiar with this game's mechanics.

They had also figured out another function of the Skeleton Warrior: as long as you control it, you can stop the surrounding skeletal soldiers from attacking you. In other words, putting the Skeleton Warrior into a "Tanaka Spinal Sword" posture is enough to force the skeletal soldiers, who would otherwise swarm from all directions, into a sluggish state.

"Otherwise, with my current strength, just dealing with the overwhelming number of skeletons would exhaust all my energy."

He held the Skeleton Warrior, roughly shaking its spine. Its teeth chattered with a *click-clack* sound, but having lost its limbs, its resistance was merely a struggle. From the very beginning, Hyosuke had no intention of recklessly charging into the swarm of skeletons. After all, as a player, skillfully utilizing game mechanics is exactly what he should be doing.

The game progression for the "Graveyard of the Unliving" is quite simple. According to the side quest's description, the Grudge-Holding Court Noble was a descendant of the ancient Fujiwara clan who lost favor in court struggles, was exiled to this region, and died in a foreign land. During his life, he loved playing the biwa and other musical instruments, and after death, he would often manifest nearby, harassing passersby as a vengeful spirit. Strictly speaking, he never did anything truly evil; he simply occupied the graveyard at night, playing his biwa or reciting poems to travelers. In modern society, he would just be a noise nuisance reported by neighbors.

On the other hand, this Grudge-Holding Court Noble is quite timid, yet his abilities are troublesome. Weak exorcists cannot defeat him, and powerful ones see him flee before they can even get close, leaving no one with a way to handle him. However, because he loved playing music in life and possessed a strong competitive spirit, if he encountered a highly skilled musician, he could not help but challenge them to a musical duel.

"The key to the game's flow is needing Fuyuhotaru to help distract the opponent."

Deep within the mist, the sounds of a biwa and a kokyu wrestled with each other. The two clear, impassioned melodies collided in the void, sending out ripples.

*Zheng.*
*Zheng-zheng...*

In truth, according to the game's plot, to attract the Grudge-Holding Court Noble's attention, one needs a woman who possesses spiritual power and high musical proficiency. Because the noble lost to a female musician in his lifetime, he remains bitter about it even in death. Finding a competent female exorcist isn't difficult, and there are many women with spiritual power, but finding one who is also a master of music is somewhat troublesome. As it happens, Fuyuhotaru is the most suitable candidate.

In particular, her ability to conceal her presence with "Silent Yin-Kill" allows her to hide on the outskirts of the graveyard, unaffected by the skeletons and spirits, to play her music undisturbed. As mentioned before, many ghosts and yokai rely on spiritual power to perceive the outside world. Skeletons lack eyes and hearing, while spirits are in an incorporeal state; they rely heavily on spiritual energy to sense their surroundings. After Fuyuhotaru uses "Silent Yin-Kill," she can even suppress the pores of her skin, her heartbeat, blood flow, and breathing. As long as she is performing her stealth assassination techniques, no perception of spiritual power can detect her presence.

"Very good."

Hyosuke strode forward. The skeletal soldiers along the way barely approached him, allowing him to move with great speed. He moved through the wave of skeletons like Moses parting the Red Sea; wherever he walked, the skeletons automatically scattered.

"Next is to camp and deal with the second spirit boss."

Hyosuke patted the salt jar he was carrying and scanned the tombstones and stupas in the graveyard. 'I recall those three tombstones should be right around here...'

Skeletal soldiers, the Skeleton Warrior, and the Gashadokuro are the first wave of enemies. By the second wave, all the skeletal soldiers vanish, and a large number of specters emerge. The number of specters is also massive; they can fly and dart around the graveyard. Any contact with them results in the loss of physical strength and vitality. On the other hand, the second wave also includes a major boss-level enemy—the three concubine vengeful spirits, who are also subordinates of the Grudge-Holding Court Noble. These are three powerful vengeful ghosts with strength rivaling the "Gashadokuro." Furthermore, because they are spirits, only magic skills are effective against them, making it difficult for the protagonist, who is an Exorcist Swordsman, to fight them.

Fortunately, Hyosuke had a targeted strategy.

"Found them."

Following his memories from the game, he located the three tombstones.

"Now, you three, don't even think about coming out."

Hyosuke grinned mischievously, pouring salt from his jar to draw a circle around the three tombstones. In Japanese folklore, salt is a spiritual substance capable of dealing with ghosts and evil spirits.

...

Fuyuhotaru felt immense pressure.

"So strong."

Since childhood, the time she had invested in the kokyu (an instrument developed from the erhu/huqin) was no less than what she put into her swordsmanship. Because her assassination work required infiltration, the best role for a woman to assume was that of a traveling entertainer. Learning the kokyu, shamisen, dance, and even refining one's appearance and etiquette was nothing out of the ordinary. Fuyuhotaru was quite talented in this, though her younger sister, Amai, was even more so. Amai was clever and learned everything quickly, especially the shamisen. However, in terms of the kokyu, which was her specialty, Fuyuhotaru held the advantage. Despite her youth, almost no one among her peers could surpass her skill, and even her master praised her as being close to the level of a "Grandmaster."

Yet, at this moment, Fuyuhotaru felt the power of the "vengeful spirit" playing the biwa. The opponent's technique was the accumulation of a long, long time—the blood, tears, and experience of countless years immersed in the instrument. Fuyuhotaru believed that if she continued to refine her craft, she would one day reach that level, but the thing called time was the hardest to bridge... This was not something she could contend with at this moment.

Her hand holding the bow trembled slightly. The melody's tone changed subtly, and the biwa's tune became aggressive in that instant. The music pierced the mist, flew into the night sky, and spread through the air to every corner of the graveyard, gradually suppressing Fuyuhotaru's kokyu.

"This is bad."

Her brows furrowed tightly.

...

"What is going on? Fuyuhotaru's kokyu is actually being suppressed by the biwa?"

This was beyond Hyosuke's expectations. In the game, this didn't happen; Fuyuhotaru's kokyu was supposed to hold its own against the noble's biwa, fully drawing his attention and allowing the protagonist, Tsukiyomi, to sweep through the graveyard's monsters.

Suddenly, on the three tombstones circled by the purified salt, clusters of ghost fire began to drift upward. Three ghostly figures emerged as well.

"So fast?"

He had only just finished pouring the salt, and these three female vengeful spirits in ancient attire were already surfacing from the graves.

"That wasn't supposed to happen in the game, right?"

Hyosuke vaguely sensed that something was wrong. These three spirits were the concubines of the Grudge-Holding Court Noble; they floated out, posturing and dressed in gaudy finery. Several green flames the size of fists floated around the three transparent women, looking extremely eerie.

"A living person... I smell the scent of a living person."
"Indeed~~ Sisters, there is a living soul here..."
"Such fresh Yang energy~~ Let me have a taste."

Their gazes shifted toward Hyosuke, filled with greed and malice; vengeful spirits can absorb the life force and spiritual energy of the living.

*Swish-swish-swish!*

The three spirits lunged, only to collide with an invisible barrier, much like insects hitting a windshield.

"Salt... it's a salt circle."
"Damn it, damn it all..."
"He has trapped us!!!"

They shrieked, their faces becoming distorted and hideous. Even so, the three ghosts tried to press their faces forward, attempting to break out.

"Get back."

Hyosuke sprinkled salt on his spear and thrust it forward, extending the weapon. Suddenly, one of the ghosts felt a dark shadow shooting toward her brow.

"Ah!"

She let out a scream, and black smoke began to dissipate from the center of her forehead where she had been struck.

"If you don't want to suffer, stay put..."

As he spoke, he listened to the two different tones drifting through the air. The kokyu's melody was being completely suppressed by the biwa, gradually becoming faint, while the biwa's tune rose, clearly gaining the upper hand.

"This is bad."

A strong sense of crisis filled his heart. Suddenly, the biwa's tune climbed another level, and the sound of the kokyu seemed to break off, becoming completely inaudible.

*Hum...*

A powerful wave swept through. All the skeletons in the graveyard, under the pressure of an invisible force, shattered and disintegrated into scattered fragments.

The moment the skeletons dissipated, the surrounding mist began to swirl. In the graveyard, from the tombstones and mounds distributed in all directions, clusters of phantoms struggled as they climbed out from the ground.

—That was the swarm of vengeful spirits.

"Damn it, the second wave of attacks is coming this fast?"

Hyosuke knew what this meant. If one attempted to clear the area without Fuyuhotaru's support, the Grudge-Holding Court Noble could use his biwa to strengthen all units under his command when the second wave appeared. The sound of the biwa echoed in the night air, a melody that made one's skin crawl. In that instant, all the spirits turned berserk. With a whistling wind, they surged from all directions like a storm.