The road under your feet was muddy and covered with rotten branches and leaves. It felt soft when you stepped on it, without the real feeling of stepping on solid ground.
The further you go down the path, the lusher the surrounding vegetation becomes.
Many times, Kamiyakawa had to lower his head to avoid the branches growing randomly around him.
It was early in the morning, and it was a bit cold in the forest. The dense branches and leaves above the head blocked the moonlight. The surroundings were eerily quiet. No insects or birds could be heard. The atmosphere was eerie and strange.
Kamiyagawa has usually seen even scarier and weirder scenes in the world of Kaitan, so at this moment his breathing is calm and normal, holding a letter in one hand and a mobile phone with the light on in the other, calmly clearing the way ahead.
Onizuka Kiriho walked behind him, holding a handful of yellow talisman paper drawn with cinnabar in her hand. Judging from her appearance, she was vaguely excited about exploring the unknown area ahead.
The atmosphere in the Shinhotake Mountain Forest really couldn't scare these two young exorcists with unique skills.
As the saying goes, all fear comes from insufficient firepower.
And these two are both heavyweights, young leaders with strong martial arts in the spiritual world, so there really is nothing to be afraid of.
We walked for about ten minutes.
Kamiyagawa's mobile phone flashlight illuminated two towering trees. Shaking the light source, you can see a broken wooden board resting low on the tree trunk, with "Pet Cemetery" crookedly written on it.
Onizuka held the talisman and looked forward: "It seems we have arrived."
"Yeah." Kamiyakawa nodded.
The sign for the pet cemetery is very low, so two people must bend down to pass it.
As soon as they passed the sign, Kamiya and Onizuka saw a desolate scene completely different from the muddy path through the light source of two mobile phones.
All the branches and rotten leaves were piled aside haphazardly, revealing a large area of pitted wasteland.
Countless simple tombstones stood staggered on the wasteland. The entire cemetery was in a mess, and there was a musty smell everywhere.
"Are these all pet tombstones?" Kamitani glanced around with his mobile phone.
Many of the pet graves in the cemetery are dilapidated and have spider webs on the tombstones, which look very old.
The tombstones on the tombs may be made of stone or simply made of wood.
It says something like "Grave of the beloved dog Yoshimaru", "Grave of the beloved cat Vanilla"...
Anyway, a lot of cats and dogs were buried. However, in addition to this, Kamiya also saw on tombstones written that the objects buried were tortoises, parrots, lizards, rabbits and the like.
In addition, Kamiyagawa noticed that a considerable number of graves in the cemetery had traces of being dug up.
The traces are also old and new. If you look closely, they look like they were left by the claws of wild animals.
The little Onizuka miko next to her also noticed the traces of wild beasts digging up graves. She casually guessed: "Perhaps the wild beasts in the forest dug open the graves and ate the pet bones inside?"
This conjecture is quite reasonable.
The forest area of Shinhotake Mountain is not small, and the vegetation is dense. There must be some small scavenging beasts.
Maybe these beasts have regarded this desolate cemetery as a regular canteen for delicious food.
"Why did you choose this place? Why do people bury their pets in a place like this?" Kamitani looked away from the stacks of small graves.
"I remember the believers told me during the day that it was originally because someone buried a loyal and brave dog here, and later people nearby followed suit. But that seemed to be a long, long time ago. What happened specifically , that believer aunt didn’t explain it very clearly either.”
The little witch recalled her fishing chat during the day and tried her best to answer the question.
"Was the first pet buried here a dog?" Kamiya raised his eyebrows slightly.
It feels a little interesting.
If there is a cat spirit in this place, then there should also be a dog spirit, right?
"Speaking of which, Onizuka. I can feel that there are definitely 'spirits' in this cemetery, but this one has not shown up. Is there anything I can do?"
After a few casual conversations, Kamiya began to focus on the main purpose of this trip.
He originally came here to attract the cat spirit to the [Lucky Cat Ornament].
But this is a gloomy and desolate pet cemetery that should be very lively at night. After entering Kamiya and Onizuka, not a single 'spirit' was seen.
This is a bit difficult to handle.
"She is probably afraid of the two of us, so she is hiding." The little witch said this, and reached out to take out a bamboo flute from the bulging bag she was carrying, "But it doesn't matter, I I brought a kagura flute, which can summon spirits."
The Kagura flute floated steadily from her palm, emitting dots of strange fluorescence.
What's even more amazing is that the flute is obviously floating in the air and is not playing, but it is making sound spontaneously. The voice was melodious, melodious and ethereal.
Like crying, complaining, resenting and admiring.
Amidst the sound of the flute, the tombstones in the entire cemetery began to emit a faint blue light, and a considerable number of illusory animal spirits, flashing blue light, were forced to appear from the edge of the grave.
"Ah, isn't this... too strong?"
Kamiya looked at the little miko with approval and surprise, and then at the luminous animal spirits that began to run around in fright.
It seems that bringing Onizuka to the animal cemetery today is an extremely wise choice.
Although Kamiyagawa mastered spirit control, tachi arts, and thunder spells, he seemed to have many skills, but these skills were all used for fighting.
And there are no additional props that can help summon spirits.
If he came to this cemetery alone tonight, he probably wouldn't be able to see the last soul and would have to return disappointed.
The little witch is so awesome!
"Why are you so dazed? Don't you want to catch a cat spirit?" Onizuka next to him saw Kamiya looking lost in thought and reminded him.
"Oh, that's right." Kamiyakawa came back to his senses and took out the [Lucky Cat Ornament].
Look around you.
You can see many illusory spirits of cats and dogs.
In addition to the ghosts of cats and dogs, there are also rabbit ghosts jumping around in the cemetery that emit faint blue light, snake ghosts spitting messages, and macaw ghosts flapping their wings and hovering in the sky.
The entire cemetery has turned into a ghost version of a flower and bird market.
Based on experience and judgment of the strength of the evil spirit.
These animal spirits are neither alien visits nor spiritual descendants, but one of the lowest forms of ghostly existence——
A weak wandering soul wandering in the real world.
Kamiyakawa was still watching, but he heard the little miko next to him say again: "Let me help you immobilize those cat spirits."
As he spoke, Onizuka Kiriho waved his hand, silently recited the incantation, and threw out a handful of yellow talisman paper painted with cinnabar.
These talismans flew out in all directions contrary to the laws of physics.
"Forbidden!" The little miko Onizuka pinched the curse with one hand and raised it.
The yellow talismans seemed to be equipped with a cruise guidance system, each one locked onto a cat spirit in the cemetery.
Paji.
The cat spirit attached to the yellow talisman remained motionless in response to the sound, only whining "meow" in place.
Kamiyagawa looked at the little miko with awe.
There is a saying that the genius girl who sects Shinto really has something.
Kamiya took the [Lucky Cat Ornament] and began to walk around the cemetery to check the cat spirits controlled by the yellow talisman.
When he gets close to each cat spirit, the Lucky Cat in his hand will tremble slightly to varying degrees.
After some observation, Kamiyagawa found that most of the cat spirits here were ordinary, just illusory images of domestic cats.
But three stand out.
These three cat spirits actually have two tails!
According to Japanese folklore, if a cat is treated well by its owner and dies without any resentment, it may transform into a fork-tailed cat spirit with two tails.
The fork-tailed cat is a friendly spirit.
There is also a theory that the yokai Nekomata evolved from the fork-tailed cat spirit.
Among the three fork-tailed cats in the cemetery, one should have a golden gradient. It looks very small, and it is completely a kitten.
When Kamitani approached it with the [Lucky Cat Ornament], the ornament in his hand shook the most violently.
Moreover, the Golden Gradient Cross-tailed Cat is also different from other cat spirits. Facing the Divine Valley, it does not "meow" like other cat spirits, but only makes a "purr" sound from its throat that means peace of mind.
"I feel like the lucky cat ornaments are urging me to choose this golden gradient. This prop is the core of Ji Miao's House of Everything. Looking at the description of the props, there is a high probability that I can select and train the next cat manager myself."
Since the [Lucky Cat Ornament] has the intention of choosing this golden gradient, and this small golden gradient does not seem to exclude Kamiyagawa holding the Lucky Cat at all.
Kamiya gently placed the lucky cat next to the golden kitten.
"Meow~"
The lucky cat ornament, which was round, smiling, and looked particularly festive, let out a meow of joy, and then its lucky kitten paws began to move up and down.
The small gold gradient on the forked tail quickly turned into a faint blue stream of light and penetrated into the belly of the Lucky Cat.
The Lucky Cat shook twice and suddenly stopped.
Buzz.
Kamiyagawa's phone vibrated.
[The lucky cat ornament has absorbed a suitable cat spirit and has begun to breed a cat shopkeeper! ]
But he didn't read the message for the time being.
"It seems to be done."
This festive ornament seems to be more vivid than when it was first taken out.
During the whole process of Lucky Cat absorbing Xiao Jin's gradient, the little miko stood behind Kamiya River and watched. When she felt it was almost over, she spoke:
"Kamigu, you haven't told me yet, why are you looking for the cat spirit? After the cat spirit is absorbed by this lucky cat, will it become your shikigami? Or... will it become a cat girl? ?”
"It's not a shikigami." Kamiya shook his head, "This lucky cat is a prop, and it will be activated after containing the cat spirit."
"Props?"
"Well, the effect after activation is that the absorbed cat spirit will go out to explore valuable materials on its own. Have you ever played with Traveling Frog?"
Kamiyagawa briefly explained the effect of the [Lucky Cat Ornament] without talking about the content of Kaidan World.
Although there are some hidden contents in this statement, it is still true.
The little witch had no doubts about this at all.
"Did the cat spirit bring back the materials he searched for? It sounds so magical."
Onitsuka Kiriho is somewhat interested in the Lucky Cat prop in Kamiyagawa.
However, she was from an orthodox Shinto sect and was taught by the powerful Granny Gu. Moreover, I have obtained many useful resources from within the sect and from the government since I was a child.
For example, the little miko carries a wide variety of spirit-killing tools, many of which can be considered treasures.
From this perspective, Onizuka Kirihotari is completely like a rich young woman from a noble family in the world of exorcists.
Therefore, she was just interested, not coveting other people's props.
"The cat spirit has been captured. Shall we go back now?" The little witch quickly turned her attention away from the [Lucky Cat Ornament] and asked.
She looked a little unfinished.
"Well, wait a moment." Kamiyakawa shook his head again.
He plans to entertain cats and dogs tonight.
Capturing the cat spirit who is suitable to be the cat shopkeeper went smoothly, but now that we have arrived at the pet cemetery, let’s take a look at the dog spirit.
There is a magical prop in Kamiyagawa that can turn the canine Kaitan into the alienated form of the Inugami, the [Inugami Skull].
The skull had been gathering dust in a warehouse.
If you can find a suitable canine monster in the cemetery, this item may also come in handy.
Directly both cats and dogs.
The dog spirits in the cemetery are all the wandering spirits of Akita or Shiba Inu.
It looks like an imaginary domestic dog.
You can’t even see the special existence like the fork-tailed cat in the cat spirit.
"It always feels inappropriate to use a wandering soul as a shikigami. It's a little too weak, and the upper limit of growth may be limited." Kamiyakawa thought as he looked around.
But at this time, something unexpected suddenly happened in the cemetery.
Woohoo!
The kagura flute that the little miko Onizuka released to summon spirits was still floating in the air, playing the melodious and ethereal flute sound.
But for some reason, the sound of the flute suddenly changed and became extremely harsh and sharp.
"Eh?" Onizuka himself was also surprised.
Kamitani stopped looking at the dog: "What's wrong?"
"Over there..." The little miko stared at her Kagura flute for a few seconds, then pointed to the northwest direction of the cemetery, "It seems like something strange has been summoned."
"Something strange?" Kamiya took out Ichimonji again.
Onizuka nodded seriously, and then gently raised his right index finger. The Kagura flute stopped making a harsh sound, shimmering with stars, and drifted towards the northwest.
"Let's go take a look."
The little witch took another handful of yellow talismans from her small bag. This time the talisman was different from the one used to fix the cat spirit before. Moreover, she also took off the bow and bow on her back.
The two followed the Kagura Flute and walked about a hundred meters out of the pet cemetery. They passed through a dense forest with no roads, and their sight became slightly wider.
Here is a small clearing.
There is a solitary grave in the clearing.
Different from the small animal graves in the pet cemetery, although this solitary grave is also very simple, it is much larger.
It looks more like a mound, a human grave.
There was a stone tablet standing on the grave. Kamiyagawa used the flashlight of his mobile phone to shine on it and saw that there was only one word written on it——
[guilty]
