The Sword Deity in Tokyo

To Kimura Kazuki, the Jorōgumo had indeed left a deep impression on him. The Jorōgumo had fled immediately after the Soul Summoning Pencil awakened her conscious mind. She had run away due to her Yokai’s instinct of responding to fear, as at that time, she could sense the threatening aura and killing intention from Kimura Kazuki.

 Back then, it was proven that running away was the right choice. When she was running away, she saw how Kimura Kazuki manipulated his flying sword to kill dozens of monsters in the blink of an eye, which gave her and the other monsters quite the scare. She was lucky enough to survive by avoiding the fate of being beheaded.

 Therefore, she recognized Kimura Kazuki as soon as she saw him. She did not attempt to attack, as she knew that it would be pointless. Kimura Kazuki’s strength was not something she could counter. Thus, she was left with the last option: behave herself! It seemed to work pretty well.

 The Jorōgumo blinked and looked at Kimura Kazuki with her big eyes, waiting for him to say something. Without looking at the rest of her body, the Jorōgumo did have a pure and pretty face.

 “From the moment you escaped from Takeshi Yuta, did you kill any human beings?” Kimura Kazuki asked calmly, with no trace of anger in his voice. Nevertheless, the Jorōgumo still felt like she was being suffocated by a powerful aura, giving her the impression that she would disintegrate immediately if her answer did not satisfy the master in front of her.

 However, this question made her feel relieved. She shook her head and replied nervously, “I’ve been staying here since I got out, and I’ve not killed any human beings.”

 Kimura Kazuki’s severe expression softened, as it did seem like she was not lying. Nevertheless, he continued to ask, “Two days ago, a teenager saw a young girl on the Kanayama Mountain. Were you the girl he saw?”

 The Jorōgumo nodded, embarrassed. “It was me. I was hunting at that time.”

 “Hunting?”

 “Yes…” The Jorōgumo licked her lips. Looking at the bloody remains of her food that was on the spider web, she could not help but swallow her saliva. Kimura Kazuki had appeared when she was eating. Thus, she was still hungry now. “I get hungry easily, so I go out to hunt on the mountain every three days. But, I’m not feeding on humans, just the wildlife around here.”

 

Compared to animals, the essence of human beings were far more nutritious to Yokais. However, Kimura Kazuki’s power had spooked her, and the memory of it was deeply ingrained in her mind. Thus, she dared not prey on human beings. Even though her cogitation had just awakened not long ago, she knew that someday she might meet another human who was as strong as Kimura Kazuki. Thus, by not feeding on human beings, she might increase her chances of survival.

 Kimura Kazuki smiled. He knew that the Jorōgumo was not lying to him. Although the smell of blood was strong here, the aura that permeated the cave was cloudy, and there was no sign of humans. This was why he did not attack her recklessly without giving her a chance to explain.

 This meant that she really did not prey on human beings. He guessed the reason why Tomoya Saito fell into a daze earlier was that he was collateral damage when the Jorōgumo was bewitching those beasts with her power. Moreover, he had just heard from the villagers that the howling of beasts had decreased on the Kanayama Mountain. Clearly, it was due to the Jorōgumo.

 Since he was dealing with a Yokai who did not eat humans, Kimura Kazuki’s killing intentions were gone. In fact, he even admired a Yokai who could resist eating humans at the Dharma Ending Age. In his previous life, some Yokai would hunt human beings in order to satisfy their appetites. These Yokais were basically killed or used as guinea pigs if they were caught. After all, reiki was the most nutritious supplement in the era of the recuperation of reiki. Some Yokais ate humans to cultivate, but it was not as simple and effective as the absorption of reiki.

 Therefore, he indeed respected the Jorōgumo’s ability to control her desire to feed on humans in this age of thin reiki. This was like making an ordinary person who loved eating meat to stop eating meat, and making him have vegetarian food for every meal instead. Forcing him to do that would be even worse than killing him.

 After leashing his imposing aura, Kimura Kazuki seemed to become more approachable.

 “Yo… Yokai…” At this moment, a faint voice that trembled with deep fear came from the side. Kimura Kazuki turned his head and saw that Takashi Kobayashi, who was being supported by him, had woken up. He did not pass out again. Instead, he was staring at the Jorōgumo in horror, as despair filled his eyes.

 However, when Kimura Kazuki looked over, Takashi Kobayashi seemed to have thought of something, and clutched Kimura Kazuki’s arm with his withered hand. He was also staring at him with hope in his eyes. Apparently, he had not heard the conversation between Kimura Kazuki and the Jorōgumo. Nonetheless, he knew that Kimura Kazuki was certainly not an ordinary person.

 Although Takashi Kobayashi did not speak up, Kimura Kazuki could read the meaning in his eyes. He nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry. I will bring all of you out safely.”

 “Master Kimura… Don’t worry about me. Please take my son with you. If needed, I can stay to buy you some time…”

 His heartfelt words made Kimura Kazuki’s expression soften even more.

 After Takashi Kobayashi finished speaking, Taisei Kobayashi and the other two who were sitting limply on the ground returned to their senses. They had not fainted, and had heard the full conversation between the Jorōgumo and Kimura Kazuki. Thus, they were now looking at Kimura Kazuki in horror.

 

How strong is Kimura Kazuki to be able to frighten the Yakoi in front of us? Thinking back to the time when they threatened him, Taisei Kobayashi wished to disappear into a hole in the ground. With his face burning with embarrassment, he said, “Chief… Let’s get out of here first…” He did not even dare to turn his eyes in the direction of the Jorōgumo.

 Kimura Kazuki nodded. With the people from the Kobayashi Village being around, it was inconvenient for him to talk to the Jorōgumo.

 Takashi Kobayashi, on the other hand, was shocked. What is happening? The Yokai is here… Why are you guys still talking so peacefully?

 Even his own son was just smiling and did not object. However, unlike Taisei Kobayashi, who did not even look toward the direction of the Jorōgumo, pretending that she was not there, Tomohito Kobayashi would look at Jorōgumo curiously. Then, he would switch his attention to Kimura Kazuki. His gaze moved between Kimura Kazuki and the Jorōgumo, like a curious child.

 When Takashi Kobayashi finally got out and stood outside the gazebo, he was still in a daze. “What… What is happening?”

 As Takashi Kobayashi was talking outside, Kimura Kazuki noticed that the people from Kobayashi Village had left. After thinking for a while, he then asked directly, “Over time, the wildlife on Kanayama Mountain will be eaten up by you. What are you going to do when the day comes?”

 When he asked just now, she had told him that it was impossible for her to make herself smaller. Therefore, if the beasts of Kanayama Mountain were to be eaten up eventually, and she did not move on to feed on the humans, then she would have to migrate to another mountain with abundant wildlife that was unpopulated by humans. However, with her huge body, she would be brought to everyone’s attention easily if she was not careful enough. At that time, she would most probably be eliminated by the people from the Deity Rising Palace.

 “I… I don’t know.” The Jorōgumo asked pathetically, “Master… Can I stay with you?”

 “You wish.” Kimura Kazuki found it funny to imagine bringing around such a conspicuously large being around with him every day. Then he said, “In this case, it’s better for you to just stay here. I’ll negotiate with the chief of Kobayashi Village and convince him to send you some meat every day. However, there is no free lunch in this world. Thus, from now on, you will have to protect the village.”

 Basically, every family in Kobayashi Village owned billions in wealth, as the village was a tourist attraction in Kyoto. Of course… It was in Japanese yen. Despite that, even if it was converted into RMB, it would still be worth about six or seven million.

 Kobayashi Village could be regarded as the richest village in Japan. Therefore, it would not be a problem for them to raise a Jorōgumo.

 After all, there were always people who would take risks for money in this world. Even though the security work of Kobayashi Village was nicely done, there might still be some loopholes. Thus, if Takashi Kobayashi could accept a Yokai guardian, worshipping the Jorōgumo and keeping this famous Yokai in Japan to guard Kobayashi Village would be a wise investment.

 Although the Jorōgumo was huge and could not appear in front of everyone casually, those little spiders that were formed by her green smoke were enough.

 “Alright!”