A Pawn’s Passage

Lin Yuanmiao began to examine the corpse.

When assisting Zhang Yuelu in sorting through the case files, he had skimmed through them as well. His claim of a photographic memory was no exaggeration. In terms of knowledge of Fenglin, even Qi Xuansu might not be able to match him.

Soon, Lin Yuanmiao spotted a crest on the partially decayed clothing. This was a family emblem, or a kamon.

In fact, outside the Central Plains, many noble houses favored the use of heraldic crests. Western nobility often chose animals as their symbols. Famed examples of this were the double-headed eagle and the lionheart. However, in Fenglin, crests more often took the form of plants, such as the Toyotomi clan's hollyhock crest or the royal family's chrysanthemum crest. When animals appeared, they were rarely tigers, lions, or eagles, but instead butterflies or birds, often in relation to flora.

From this, a discipline known as "heraldry" arose, devoted to the study of crests and emblems.

The Daoist Order had ruled Fenglin for nearly a century, and they had conducted extensive research on this matter. Thus, Lin Yuanmiao had also studied it while reading the case files.

The decapitated figure bore the crest of the swallowtail butterfly.

It was an extremely common crest. Most clans connected with Ise Province used it. By a rough estimate, this meant no fewer than ten families.

Lin Yuanmiao mused, "This corpse's death likely dates back 200 years, when the Taiko died and the second-generation Toyotomi government was formally established. Before that, Ise Province's 13 districts were divided. The Kitada clan ruled the five southern districts of Watarai, Taki, Iino, Itaka, and Ichishi, collectively called South Ise. Their seat was at Yamada Castle in Watarai District. By coincidence, the Daoist Order has already captured South Ise, with only North Ise yet to be taken. We are in Iino District now."

Little Yin blinked, not knowing how to respond, radiating the air of someone woefully unlearned.

Lin Yuanmiao continued, "Back then, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven gained North Ise by persuasion and betrayal, then waged war against the Kitada clan of South Ise. In the end, the Kitada clan accepted his harsh terms, adopting his second son as heir and marrying their daughter to him. After inheriting the Kitada family's headship, that man killed his father-in-law and the entire Kitada clan, even ordering his wife, Lady Chiyo, to commit suicide. This was how he seized all of the Kitada clan's power."

Little Yin finally caught on. "So you think this corpse is Lady Chiyo?"

Lin Yuanmiao shook his head. "After the death of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, his second son fought to claim succession, allying with both the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans. He secretly accepted the Toyotomi clan's peace terms and betrayed the Tokugawa clan. He was then made a Naidaijin. Later, when he refused to move his domain, he angered Taiko Toyotomi, who stripped him of his fief and forced him to shave his head and become a monk. After the Taiko's death, Hideyori took power, leading to the Battle of Sekigahara. In that battle, he played both sides, supporting Toyotomi while feeding intelligence on Xiujing to Tokugawa. In the end, he escaped punishment, dying peacefully in Heian Capital, but never again ruled Ise Province.

"Oh right, he was the one who built a fortress to attack Iga, only to be crushed by the Iga ninja. That failure led to the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven personally campaigning against Iga later."

Little Yin widened her eyes. "It all connects!"

Lin Yuanmiao said, "When this corpse was beheaded, the Demon King's second son had already been stripped of his fief. The timeline doesn't match."

Little Yin asked, "So, according to you, if the Demon King's second son lost his domain, then who took over South Ise?"

Lin Yuanmiao replied, "It was the Taira clan. The royal family of Fenglin had no last names, but minor branches were sometimes granted family names when leaving the main line, becoming nobles. The most famous were the Taira clan and Minamoto clan. About 800 years ago, the Taira clan controlled Ise. At their heights, they controlled the Fenglin Court. But they were eventually defeated by the Minamoto clan and lost their territory in Ise. That paved the way for later clans like the Kitada clan to take turns ruling Ise.

"When the Toyotomi government seized supreme power in Fenglin, they were not of noble lineage and faced opposition led by the Tokugawa clan. So they sought imperial titles to legitimize their rule. In exchange, they returned Ise Province to the Taira clan. That was why the Demon King's second son was forced to move his domain."

Little Yin widened her eyes again. "That connects too!"

Lin Yuanmiao ignored her and continued, "By then, the Taira clan were mere puppets of the royal family. The real reason the royal family let them return to Ise was to lay the groundwork for establishing the Tenmon Sect later. After all, Ise Province was home to the Ise-jingu."

Little Yin gasped. "So these seals were left by the Ise-jingu. That connects again!"

Lin Yuanmiao said, "The Taira clan's Tenshukaku and the Ise-jingu's seals are all tied to the royal family, which claims descent from Himiko-no-Mikoto."

Little Yin scoffed. "So it's the royal family's conspiracy."

"Conspiracy is too strong a word." Lin Yuanmiao waved his hand. "It just reminded me. The evil god's flame is beneath both Mount Fuyo and this place. What does that imply?"

Little Yin thought for a moment, then answered, "It means divine power?"

Lin Yuanmiao looked somewhat helpless. He no longer expected to discuss things with Little Yin and instead spoke to himself. "This place is not of strategic importance, yet the Taira clan built a Tenshukaku here. A Taira noble was then beheaded, and it seems the kaishakunin swallowed the key and was burned to death by Himiko's flames, most likely by the Ise-jingu's doing. The Jingu set up a seal here and hid the entrance. Perhaps there were once guards, but with the two Ise wars breaking out in succession, the Jingu withdrew them."

The first Ise war referred to the Toyotomi army's invasion of Ise, which ended with the assassination of Kampaku Toyotomi Hidesugu.

The second Ise war was the current Daoist campaign that was still ongoing, even though the Daoist Order had already captured all of South Ise and was gaining an overwhelming advantage.

Little Yin said, "Isn't it obvious? Himiko subdued the evil god, and everything was peaceful. But one day, something happened that revived this evil god. It began spreading yin energy and demonic fire, which was why Ise Province was heavily affected and full of yin energy. The evil god stirred trouble here too, so the Taira clan built a Tenshukaku to suppress it and took on the duty of guarding it.

"Later, the Taira clan must have committed some mistake. Maybe they failed to guard the evil god properly and let it loose. Maybe they stole its divine power. Maybe they were seduced, becoming its lackeys. In any case, they committed a grave fault, and the Ise-jingu found out. One man committed seppuku. The other refused to die honorably, so the Jingu killed him. The Jingu also resealed the evil god and left behind a Jorogumo to guard the place."

Lin Yuanmiao glanced at Little Yin in surprise.

"What? Did I get it wrong?" Little Yin asked, a bit unsure.

"No, you're quite right." Lin Yuanmiao nodded. "That explains why the Chancellor's Office ceded Ise. It wasn't only to curry favor with the royal family. It was also because Ise was too deeply corrupted to suppress. It was a burden better handed off to the Ise-jingu. The royal family and the Jingu, as Himiko's descendants, are natural enemies of the evil god. Once it appears, it will seek them out first for vengeance, so they were duty-bound to take the burden.

"So the two sides reached an agreement. Ise Province became the Taira clan's domain. But the Taira clan had long been slaughtered by the Minamoto clan and deemed too weak to rule. That's why the Sonno-joi ronin flooded into Ise under the tacit approval of the royal family, filling the void and becoming the real rulers.

"Since those ronin so gravely threatened the Chancellor's Office, Toyotomi Hidesugu himself campaigned in Ise in order to crush them, despite knowing it was corrupted. But Toyotomi failed, so the Daoist Order had to intervene. That's why you and I are standing here today.

"If our conjecture is correct, it means the evil god began eroding the mortal world 200 years ago, not merely 100 years as estimated by the Fenglin Daoist Mansion during their investigation at Mount Fuyo. Over these two centuries, its influence has steadily grown, though it still has not broken free. But the two Ise wars hastened its revival, and that is a grave danger."

Little Yin asked, "Does the Daoist Order know about this?"

Lin Yuanmiao answered with certainty: "Of course, they are aware. But the evil god's revival and emergence is a slow process. In the eyes of the Daoist leadership, the evil god can't escape in the short term, so they can set it aside for now. First, they should pacify the rebellion in Fenglin before dealing with this. With the Daoist Order's strength, if unopposed, even a First-Tribulation Immortal could still be suppressed."

Lin Yuanmiao's true body, Lin Lingsu, was an Immortal, and Lin Lingsu's true body, True Lord Qingxu Yuanmiao, might have been a First-Tribulation Immortal, so his judgment was likely accurate.

Finally, Little Yin felt a flicker of fear.

This evil god would not die nor decay. It had influenced nearly half of Fenglin and had begun plotting two centuries ago. It was a god that had seemingly passed through the First Tribulation. Such an existence could truly erase her, even preventing her from resurrecting on the Emperor Willow.

When it concerned her very life and death, how could she not be afraid?

Little Yin said timidly, "Why don't we just leave?"

Lin Yuanmiao narrowed his eyes. "Of course, we'll leave. We must also report this to Deputy Hall Master Qi. This is an opportunity. You and I have long been in the same boat as him. If he prospers, we prosper; if he falls, we fall. Should he rise to become Grand Master, we can ride on the dragon's tail, soar to the heavens, and perhaps even be granted a first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master status despite being outsiders. But if he is ruined, then we too will not escape. We'll likely be condemned as demons and have our body and soul obliterated."