Gu Mo slightly caught up with the recent news.
Of course, it wasn’t through the internet on a phone, as that kind of quick and convenient feature wasn’t available in this era. He simply called over an enthusiastic waitress and asked her in detail. She answered all his questions, almost to the point of revealing her contact information and ho address, which allowed him to quite clearly confirm the strange full moon phenonon that occurred a few days ago.
It wasn’t false information, and those middle school students had no reason to lie about such things... After all, who would they be acting for?
Overall, it happened on a certain night not long ago. People were amazed to find a full moon in the sky, with a bright and clear moonlight... A full moon is not unusual, but the date was wrong; such a moon phase should not have appeared.
This naturally caused a stir, as it was a phenonon completely beyond understanding.
However, to appease the public, countries sent experts to spread, no, to debunk rumors, citing various dubious data, charts, and astronomical theories, endorsed by famous scientists whom the laypeople had never even heard of, which ultimately prevented any major chaos.
Afterward, the full moon appeared for several consecutive nights and then returned to its normal state, seemingly aligning with the official joint statent.
Although people were fascinated by such an astronomical spectacle and the topic remained hot for days, the two newcors to this era knew nothing about it... After all, the nights they experienced happened after the full moon phenonon had subsided.
Moreover, they weren’t following current affairs and hadn’t interacted much with people of this era, so they were completely unaware. If they hadn’t stumbled upon it, they probably wouldn’t have known even after returning.
——This era...
——An ancient demon is awakening...
Gu Mo basically confird his suspicion and straightforwardly discussed it with Kikyo. After all, his current character is a rule-breaking person from the future and there’s nothing barring him since he already knows a lot of things, so there’s no need for any reservations.
Chiefly because that fierce woman is just too brutal.
Thinking about her abilities, Gu Mo felt a chill, in a sense, solving the disaster she caused in the original plot doesn’t imply the sa could happen now... Five hundred years ago, the protagonists were blessed with a celestial mandate, but in this modern world, true powerhouses like gods, Buddha, and great demons have long left the human world.
Thus, if that fierce woman causes trouble, there might be no one able to restrain her, so he naturally dosen’t dare to be overconfident.
......
It hadn’t been long.
Gu Mo had already briefly stated his suspicion, indicating that there might be signs of Kaguya returning to the world.
"Kaguya?" Kikyo pondered for a mont, then gently shook her head. "The demon you’re talking about, I have no impression of it, and isn’t that also the mortal na of Venerable Tsukuyomi? How could it be a demon?"
Huh? The witch actually doesn’t know?
This was sowhat unexpected for Gu Mo. After all, during their ti together, his impression of Kikyo is that she is a scholarly and specialized master of mysticism, though her knowledge is limited to what she has experienced on this land and what a witch is supposed to know—
She could explain talisman knowledge and the secret techniques of the Yin Yang Technique, though she couldn’t quite understand the magic on that mask nor decipher the complete secrets contained within the Runes.
Which is quite expected.
And it’s not that she sees nothing at all, for a thorough understanding of one branch often leads to insights into others. After attaining a sufficient skill level in mystical knowledge, one can often derive so special insights, even if it involves a mysterious system not previously encountered.
Just like Gu Mo’s Yin Yang Technique and talismans, the inherited knowledge cos from another world and differs by nature from this world. Yet Kikyo can, as usual, comprehend it well. She can also sowhat decipher the aning of spells from the Northern European system, which she never before encountered.
Though it’s just so shattered fragnts that don’t serve any major purpose, it indeed proves the witch’s extensive and impressive mystical knowledge.
With such a vast knowledge base, her understanding is even more impressive. She seems to have an expert’s grasp of everything about this land, its customs and legends. Whatever Gu Mo wishes to inquire about, Kikyo the Encyclopedia easily dispels his doubts.
Thus, upon hearing that Kikyo didn’t know about Kaguya, he was naturally a bit surprised, as this wasn’t any small fry, but a very formidable great demon...
Wait a minute...
It seems "Kaguya" is actually the na of a celestial maiden, and the true na of this great demon itself is beyond research. Furthermore, this great demon was active with "Kaguya" as its identity, and the period when it was sealed seems to be later than Naraku’s birth.
Which ans, relative to the tiline of the Warring States era, it was less than fifty years ago...
By that ti, the witch had long passed away, so naturally she knew nothing of these events, which is understandable.
Clarifying his mind’s confusion, Gu Mo touched his nose and, facing Kikyo’s puzzled gaze, started to explain: "Have you ever heard of the legend of celestial maidens who descend from the heavens to bathe in hot springs of the human world, only to have their clothes stolen by a mundane mortal, leading to a romantic yet pitiful love story?"
"...I’ve heard it."
Kikyo raised an eyebrow. Whether true or not, such stories have indeed spread widely, but what does it have to do with the Kaguya he ntioned?
"Well, the beginning of the story is quite similar; a villager, according to legend, stole the celestial maiden’s feather robe, believing that doing so would make her marry him... Then he found out that the celestial maiden, whose robe was stolen, followed the trail and found her way into the village. Guess what happened next?"
Gu Mo mysteriously set up for a surprise.
However, the witch was not buying this and just calmly said, "Did the celestial maiden retaliate?"
"...You’re not wrong. She slaughtered the entire village," Gu Mo curled his lips. But it was quite normal for Kikyo to guess this as the previous setup implied it was about a demon instead of a real celestial maiden. In such a situation, she couldn’t be expected to think in romantic terms.
Though, it should be said that such things aren’t romantic at all—
Whether it was the mortal stealing the celestial maiden’s clothes and coercing her to marry him...
Or the celestial maiden discovering her robe was stolen and coming directly for a village massacre...
Kikyo also gently lowered her long lashes, not confirming nor denying Gu Mo’s validation of her guess. It’s predictable as legends are not entirely trustworthy, and according to the story, the celestial maiden in question seed to be a demon.
"And then?" she asked softly.
"Then, a passing mage coincidentally ca by and sealed her..." Gu Mo thought for a mont before answering.
In fact, the mage who sealed Kaguya happened to be the grandfather of Master Maitreya. Considering this, he was indeed a very powerful mage... Even though Kaguya had just devoured the celestial maiden, possibly fighting against her power, and hadn’t recovered the celestial maiden’s feather robe, she was undoubtedly a fierce great demon.
Whether using strategy or otherwise, successfully sealing Kaguya single-handedly proves the profound mana of Master Maitreya’s grandfather.
Which was quite a good outco... The witch thoughtfully nodded gently, then calmly asked, "So, is Kaguya a celestial maiden or a demon?"
"In a sense, both..."
Gu Mo spread his hands, "She is a demon similar to Naraku, capable of devouring others’ powers. She seized the opportunity to devour the celestial maiden who ca to the human world, obtaining her immortal body. With the celestial maiden’s identity, she desired to possess the celestial maiden’s treasures. But during her struggle and devour with the celestial maiden, the feather robe had already been stolen by a villager..."
And it was because of this that the subsequent series of events unfolded.
"So Kaguya is the na of that celestial maiden herself?"
Kikyo lightly furrowed her brows.
"Probably, Kikyo, do you know sothing?" Gu Mo wasn’t too sure, but it’s more or less the situation.
"I just read ’Ancient Chronicles’ and heard the na..." the witch said softly, a peculiar glint flickering in her eyes, "Said to be Venerable Tsukuyomi was banished from the edge of High Celestial Plain, further degraded to the lower world, known as He Eiki..."
She glanced at Gu Mo’s expression and blandly added:
"Or Princess Kaguya, which might be more recognizable as He Eiki was Kaguya’s old na."
"I see, now I roughly understand..." The young man showed a sowhat strange expression but said nothing and nodded, "Please continue."
He only knew the common versions of ’The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter’, at most thinking of himself as one of the car people, unconsciously considering Kaguya as the daughter of Tsukuyomi... But now, the witch tells him Kaguya was actually Tsukuyomi’s alias while being banished?
"He Eiki wished to return to the heavens. First, she obtained five treasures: Penglai Jade Branch, Fire Rat Fur, Dragon Head Jade, Swallow’s Child Shell Beads, and Bowl Before the Buddha. Later, she acquired the Celestial Feather Robe, allowing her to ascend..." the witch spoke softly, and Gu Mo nodded repeatedly across the table, simply resting on the table listening.
The witch seed to be recalling sothing, softly reciting the ancient records she once read—
"Yet Amaterasu’s wrath was unappeased, did not wish to see her, banishing Her to the Night Plain, appointing her to govern the light of darkness..."
"Venerable Tsukuyomi missed his sister, created a human shape, uncannily resembling Amaterasu, yet with silver-gray hair, moon-colored. Nad her Kaguya, as Tsukuyomi’s mortal na..."
"Over ti, the human shape ca to life, stealing the Divine Body of Tsukuyomi, then disappearing completely..."
"..."
"..."
The sunlight outside the window stread in, as the sun’s angle gradually changed with the passage of ti.
The gentle and warm sunlight shone through the windows, creating a relatively quiet atmosphere in the café. Only the witch’s gentle voice echoed, inducing inexplicable comfort, even a drowsiness, as if wanting to drift off to sleep.
However, the witch’s gentle whispers soon stopped. Her eyes calmly gazed at the young man lying across the table.
"I pretty much understand the situation..." Straightening himself, Gu Mo nodded yet still seed a bit lazy, rely pondering in a pretentious manner, "So, Kaguya might originally be a human shape created by Tsukuyomi, but later developed her own ideas and fled with a bucket?"
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