Chapter 29

We climb down a ladder. As we arrive at the ground we stand on some small way next to the water and the icky things swimming in that water. Well, better than standing inside of the water I guess.

Uyeno, holding the other cat in her hands and putting it on the ground, smiles a bit. “Just watch! We were really lucky this cat knows where Hoshi is, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, about that… How sure are we regarding that? Because… Uh… I’m not sure at all.”

Uyeno looks at me and wiggles her finger. “You can trust me! My blessing does not make mistakes: You experienced it yourself, did you not? Once I have hit someone with my arrow they will please my biddings due to their unconditional love for me.”

This kind of power, being almost identical to mind-control, is way too spooky… Though if it’s a seemingly innocent girl like her it doesn’t strike me as quite as dangerous.

“Uhh… suuure.”

Thus, the two of us follow the cat. And - soon enough - we find some weird wooden door. The cat stops in front of the door and meows once more.

“Thanks, kitty.” Uyeno caresses the cat once more, then she slowly opens the wooden door.

Behind the door we see a traditional bed room. There are floor mats and in the middle of those floor mats there sits a woman. She looks at the wall in front of us and is wearing celebrational clothes. Her black bun hair is held together by nothing more than a single needle. This exact view… It instantly reminds me.

It reminds me of the view I had inside of the temple on top of that mountain. No, I am almost sure: This is the exact same thing.

I instantly realize this and push Uyeno back a bit.
“What are you-”

The neck of the woman sitting there stretches. It stretches a lot and the head of the woman is in front of me in a split second. I don’t have a sword, thus I cannot block the incoming attack. The woman straight up bites me in the face. At first it tickles but the very next moment it hurts like hell. I think she has bitten off a part of my face to be quite honest. But I can’t let the fact that I have no weapon on me distract me from the fact that this Yokai will probably kill me if I don’t act quickly.

I grab her neck with my hand and try to choke her, though that appears to be much harder than I originally thought it’d be. I gasp for air as she bites me again and again. I grab at her neck over and over again and try crawling at it. Even without my blade I shall not give in. Even without my weapon I will be just as dangerous. Just try and kill me, damn Yokai. I will make your heart explode and send you to the deepest parts of hell, treating you as nothing more than a warning I send to Lady Death!

I saw something purple flying by. The lady stops the next moment. Uyeno did hit her with an arrow just now. That means… I can rest.

The lady slowly backs away from me. I gasp for air, loudly. But, before I can rest, I see the Yokai extend her neck yet again, this time dashing directly at Uyeno. The neck extends itself around Uyeno’s neck and begins to strangulate her. My body moves on its own. I jump at the main body of the Yokai instead. After all, I did try to damage the neck just now.
I kick the body again and again. The main body tries to defend itself through its arms but it utterly fails. I look back at Uyeno who is getting molested by the neck and the attached head right now. Shit. It doesn’t seem as though my attacks really help a lot.

“Uyeno! Stop your blessing!” Uyeno does so. The yokai now stops molesting her and doesn’t hold back in its attack anymore. However, as I punch the main body over and over again, I attract the Yokais attention. Thus, the neck turns to me and dashes at me. Soon enough I get suffocated and bitten over and over again.

That is part of the plan.

Uyeno screams and tries to help me, but there is no way for her to actually do this. And at this very moment it happens.

The world turns black. Time stops. I have fully indulged into Death’s domain. The heart of the Yokai is resting. Ah, now I see. The heart is not at the spot of a normal woman: It is just a small part of the neck and thus hidden. I grab at this part and-

She explodes into a giant puddle of blood. Only her clothes remain on the floor. I fall onto the floor and stare at it.

“I-isuri?! Is everything fine?!”

I don’t answer. My face hurts way too much. I look around the room and there - in the puddle of blood - lies the corpse of a cat.

Hoshi, the cat we were looking for, was killed and swallowed whole by the yokai.