Onmyoji are sowhat similar to Huaxia’s magicians. In the olden days of Japan, they were capable of divination, rituals, and sacrifices, though whether their arts were genuine is no longer verifiable.
The Purple-clothed girl, as if performing a magic trick, took out a talisman. With a toss, the talisman flew into the air. Then she shaped various hand signs with her fingers and chanted a series of spells.
"...Earth God’s Amnesty, activate!" As the chanting concluded, the talisman burst into flas.
At about a person’s height off the ground, the air seed to ignite as well, creating a circular hole three ters in diater, surrounded by ripples as if on water.
Looking through the hole, Thunder Wolf and his companions saw a miraculous sight; for the scene within was no longer the bare hillside but dimly discernible ancient buildings, buildings of Japanese style.
"What is this? A mirage?" Thunder Wolf asked in amazent.
"This is not a mirage. This here is the real scenery unveiled by the Illusion Technique, aning we have houses in front of us, not just a bare hillside," Lin Tian explained.
Truly, this Heavenly Master Girl was formidable, casually tossing a talisman to open a gap, and at the sa ti rendering the illusion in that area ineffective.
"Really? That’s freakin’ amazing!" Thunder Wolf exclaid in awe.
"You will encounter many more such wonders in the future. Gradually, you will co to understand," Lin Tian said, pointing at the gap. "We might as well go in now."
"Hold on, they cannot go in," the Purple-clothed girl objected.
"Why not? We’ve never been soft on the little devils; why can’t we go in?" Stone said, quite dissatisfied.
The other teammates nodded vigorously, clearly itching for the fight; they would naturally not agree to being held back all of a sudden.
"It’s important for you to stay outside. If anyone runs out, catch those you should catch, kill those you should kill," Ning Luoxi instructed.
Although she hadn’t entered the Barrier and didn’t know how dangerous it was, as a professional, the Purple-clothed girl ought to be able to anticipate these things.
"Roger that, Instructor!" Thunder Wolf and the others responded, albeit helplessly.
"Ghost, you lead Stone and the others to wait outside. The mission is the sa: any that slip through the net and need to be killed—kill them!" Lin Tian also commanded in a cold tone.
"Wait a minute..." Everything was in order, yet the Purple-clothed girl suddenly called out.
"What’s the matter now?" Lin Tian looked at her, clearly ready to fight if she didn’t give a good reason.
Having her interrupt the mission repeatedly would try anyone’s patience.
"Take out all your bullets; I will give you sothing," the Purple-clothed girl said, gesturing for everyone to take out their ammunition.
Lin Tian returned the Barrett to Stone, then had them take out all the bullets from their person and magazines. The Purple-clothed girl wasn’t a gun user, so what did she want with bullets?
Soon, several small piles of bullets were laid on the ground, sorted into different groups according to their caliber.
Lin Tian couldn’t help but wonder at the sheer amount of ammunition these guys were carrying; they had brought enough to fight a small war.
"What’s this girl up to? She’s not going to sell our bullets for cash, is she?" Stone let his imagination run wild, conjecturing wildly.
"Pfft, look at her gear. Does she really need that little bit of money?" Thunder Wolf retorted.
"Well, that’s true..." Stone scratched his head, at a loss for words.
The Purple-clothed girl didn’t care about their discussion. She took out several talisman papers, scattered them into the air, and as they burned mid-flight, she murmured incantations. The ashes of the burnt talisman papers floated down, settling on the bullets.
A magical scene unfolded once again—when the ashes touched the bullets, they actually penetrated the casings, forming strange patterns on them.
"We might encounter supernatural entities later, possibly human or so other bizarre beings, but regular bullets won’t work against them, so I’ve enchanted yours. As long as you use them within three hours, they will have the desired exorcising effect," the Purple-clothed girl explained in detail.
"If we shoot, the person won’t die now? I’m not buying that," a team mber murmured.
"If a ghost cos at you, could you kill it?" the Purple-clothed girl shot a glance at that team mber and said coldly.
"Enough chatter. Everyone, get moving and take back your own bullets," Lin Tian interjected firmly, leaving no room for further prattle.
With Lin Tian’s command, they reluctantly collected their bullets. As for any supernatural entities, they were hard to accept without seeing them firsthand.
However, Lin Tian trusted their professionalism. Despite their verbal skepticism, he knew they wouldn’t cut corners when it ca to the mission.
"Let’s go in," said the Purple-clothed girl, and then turned to walk into the breach.
Exchanging a look with Ning Luoxi, Lin Tian followed her in. Once inside, the Purple-clothed girl waved her hand, and the round opening behind them disappeared. anwhile, in front of them appeared bizarre ancient buildings.
The cluster of ancient buildings closely resembled those shrines, all built atop a small hill enclosed within tall walls.
There was only one entrance to the grand shrine, located at the base of the hill. The entrance was a long corridor made up of a series of towering red torii gates. Lin Tian counted approximately twelve gates. As for their significance, he was uncertain, given that Japan’s mythological system was entirely different from Huaxia’s.
On each side of the twelve gates stood a wooden humanoid statue. Generally, if statues are carved from giant stone, they emanate a sense of grandeur and impressiveness.
However, these wooden statues gave off an eerie feeling that was quite unsettling. The Japanese had a peculiar fondness for dolls and puppets, objects associated with eerie connotations. Thus, the rows of wooden dolls, far from being impressive, had a chilling yin energy.
All the dolls were dressed in ancient armor resembling that of Island Country samurai. Lin Tian wasn’t well-versed in Japanese mythology and couldn’t pin down exactly what the samurai represented—perhaps so sort of servant god or guardian. In any case, they were ant for guarding the gates or used in rituals.
Passing through the avenue of gates led to a long staircase that stretched up the hill—an ascent of several hundred steps. On both sides of the lengthy steps stood many stone shrines, each housing so strange items.
The Purple-clothed girl kept silent. Lin Tian, finding the items sowhat delicate, asked, "Heavenly Master, what are these things? They look so peculiar."
"Don’t call ’Daoist’; I’m still a girl. Do I really look that old to you?" Unexpectedly, the Purple-clothed girl reacted strongly to the title, staring at Lin Tian with great dissatisfaction.
She appeared to be chattering about gods and spirits. If she’s not a Daoist, then what is she? Calling her a shaman—let alone a goddess shaman—was already a concession, even though this goddess shaman was quite beautiful.
Hmm, despite wearing a mask, the veil on her face could not obscure her aura, especially her mysteriously vibrant eyes.
"So, what should I call you?" Lin Tian asked.
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