420: Chapter 414: Intrusion 420: Chapter 414: Intrusion “Enemy attack…
Enemy attack…”
The alarm sirens blared throughout the Snow Mountain Sect premises.
Several people gathered within the central building of the sect, the Four-direction Pavilion.
“Where is the Sect Master?
Isn’t he here?”
“When I arrived, I hadn’t seen the Sect Master.
With such a major incident unfolding, there’s been no sign of him; His Excellency may be delayed by something!”
“Not just the Sect Master, Murakami Taro, who is always here, is also nowhere to be seen.
I suspect they must have gone out.”
“Among us in the Snow Mountain Sect, aside from the Sect Master, Senior Brother Miyamoto is the strongest.”
“His Snow Woman Shikigami can cause substantial damage to the material world, not just create illusions!”
“With the Sect Master absent, naturally, it should be Senior Brother Miyamoto who steps in to lead.
Where is he?”
“After hearing someone intruded into our sect premises, Senior Brother Miyamoto took action immediately.
He is over there.”
…
The Snow Mountain Sect belongs to the line of Onmyoji.
Within the sect, only Onmyoji who have been favored by divine spirits and have genuinely cultivated Shikigami are considered part of the core hierarchy.
As for the ordinary people, no matter how powerful they are in Sword Dao or Karate, within the Snow Mountain Sect, they are either servants or vassals.
The three people gathered here were among the few remaining Onmyoji in the Snow Mountain Sect.
As one of the Onmyoji spoke up, the rest followed the direction his hand was pointing.
Their gaze collectively landed on the Onmyoji known to them as Senior Brother Miyamoto.
At that moment, they looked at each other with expressions turning extremely unsightly.
Their gathering point was at a long table on the left side of the great hall within the Four-direction Pavilion.
At this moment, Senior Brother Miyamoto looked like he was boneless, having slumped under the table.
Had it not been for this, they would have seen Senior Brother Miyamoto sooner and no one would have asked where he was!
“Dead?
Is Senior Brother Miyamoto really dead?”
“Judging by the way he died, it’s evident that there was a problem with his Shikigami and someone destroyed it, leading to his own death.”
“Who did it?
How terrifying is the attacker if they managed to breach our defenses?”
“With Senior Brother Miyamoto’s strength, along with the Shikigami’s abilities, he was controlling the Shikigami, yet he couldn’t escape and was directly killed?”
…
They exchanged looks, each one’s face filled with shock.
They had been considering whether to take action themselves, to control their Shikigami, and eliminate the invaders directly.
After all, for ordinary people, their Shikigami were an almost unsolvable threat.
But now, with the living example of Senior Brother Miyamoto before them…
The remaining Onmyoji within the pavilion looked at each other, and although they hoped someone would volunteer to confront the enemies, no one dared to be the first to speak up.
“Many of our sect’s servants have already rushed to surround and kill the intruder.”
“Among them, there are those with black belts in Karate and Ninth Rank in Swordsmanship; with them stepping in, they should be able to hold off the invaders for a while.”
“Considering the Sect Master’s character, even if he is called away, he wouldn’t be far.”
“Perhaps, he is already aware of the invasion and is on his way back…”
After a moment of silence, one of the Onmyoji finally spoke up again.
This person’s suggestion was clearly an excuse to avoid combat, but as soon as he spoke, it elicited nods of agreement from the others.
Just then, there was the sound of stomping feet from outside the pavilion, reaching the ears of everyone inside.
Chen Hai had been trudging through the vast snowy region for a day or two.
By now, his high-top leather boots were already enveloped in a thick layer of snow.
Built on this mountainside, this complex of buildings, with the pavilion standing tall in the center, seemed to be cradled by the surrounding stars.
Such an unmistakably prominent building drew Chen Hai directly here the moment he arrived.
As for those who tried to intercept him along the way, whether they were strong or not, he couldn’t really tell.
Seeing that these people, lacking even Shikigami and brandishing bamboo swords and katanas, were trying to surround and kill him, he felt a bit disappointed.
A glare from his eyes was all it took.
Under the fierce flames, they became men of fire.
With only a few screams, they dropped to the ground, silent and motionless.
After the same fate befell two consecutive groups of interceptors,
he made a direct entrance to the Four-direction Pavilion, no longer encountering anyone foolish enough to stand in his way.
At the entrance of the Four-direction Pavilion, Chen Hai stamped his feet to shake off the snow from his boots, then shook the snowflakes from his clothes before walking in, relaxed and unhurried.
“The intruder, that’s the intruder…”
“Damn it, what good are those servants for if dozens of them can’t stop a single intruder from breaking in here so quickly!”
“Who are you?
Daring to intrude upon our Snow Mountain Sect, do you bear a grudge against us?”
…
Seeing Chen Hai walk in, several Onmyoji sitting on either side of a long table rose immediately.
Their expressions varied, and their reactions were not uniform.
Some were shocked, some glared in anger, while others asked sternly.
Among them, two didn’t say another word, and instantly summoned their Shikigami.
The Shikigami of these two were a Snow Woman, also dressed in a white robe, white hair cascading over her shoulders, almost identical to the two Snow Women Chen Hai had devoured before.
Shikigami, as such, originally derive from the spiritual beings served by Onmyoji.
They are a seed of power left within the Onmyoji’s body, which then melds with their own soul and undergoes a transformation.
To put it in another way, Shikigami could also be considered as a projection of the power left behind by the spiritual beings they serve in the Material World.
However, this projection is completely directed by the Onmyoji’s own mental will.
Whether or not the divine being behind could reclaim this power projection with merely a thought, that remained unknown!
After all, Chen Hai was not an Onmyoji.
How an Onmyoji’s powers truly worked was something he could only blindly guess at.
In his view, as long as devouring an Onmyoji’s Shikigami could greatly enhance his strength, he didn’t care much about other matters!
The other Onmyoji summoned a Shikigami that resembled a humanoid monster with a dog’s head.
This Shikigami was undoubtedly the Dog Ghost of the Snow Mountain Sect.
Perhaps because of the precedent set by Senior Brother Miyamoto,
the three Onmyoji in the pavilion summoned their Shikigami, but merely held their ground against Chen Hai and did not launch an immediate attack on him.
The Onmyoji spoke in the language of Japan.
The Japanese language, when written, shares many characters with Yanhuang script, and merely by looking at it, he could guess some of the meanings.
But spoken by the Japanese, the language sounded completely different.
After their constant chattering, Chen Hai didn’t understand a single word.
“All Onmyoji?
Who can speak Yanhuang?” Seeing the Shikigami summoned by the two Onmyoji, Chen Hai felt his eyes light up.
Immediately, he used his Flame Power to trap the Snow Woman and the Dog Ghost.
At the same time, he stared at the people in front of him and demanded harshly.
Having wandered around the Great Snow Mountain in Japan for a day or two, his purpose had always been clear—to wipe out Murakami Taro once and for all!
These few Onmyoji before him were clearly the core members of the Snow Mountain Sect.
If they could speak Yanhuang, Chen Hai could use them to find out where Murakami Taro was hiding.
As for whether they would cooperate with him, Chen Hai didn’t ponder over this much.
After all, the biggest fist was the ultimate truth—if they wouldn’t listen to reason, they would be subdued by force.
As a person of pure Yanhuang descent, he had never held a good impression of Japan.
He couldn’t bring himself to slaughter civilians, but dealing with these Onmyoji before him, Chen Hai had no qualms whatsoever.