Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 209 The Red-Haired Girl (V)
That is a distant and vague memory, and also a secret that few people know. If it were in ancient times, the family priest would write the story of Minamoto Chisei killing his brother into a romantic legend of exterminating demons, describing how the hero Minamoto Chisei used wisdom and strategy to defeat the evil demons that sucked human blood.
But to Yuan Zhisheng, that was still his younger brother. If his younger brother was an ordinary person, he would not have made those mistakes. What was really wrong in the final analysis was his bloodline, which was the poison given to mankind by God many years ago.
Mr. Masamune will express that idea soon, and Minamoto no Chisei will be the first staunch supporter. Only by cutting off everything that the evil spirits desire can the nightmares brought about by bloodline in the future be completely ended.
"We can't go on like this." Tachibana Masamune said with a hazy and distant look in his eyes, "As long as we are alive, there will always be children who are corrupted by the desire for that power. Every word of the fierce demons is a fatal temptation to the inherently unstable bloodline. To put it bluntly, if I were placed in such a position since birth, it is hard to say whether I would be tempted. So... it's time to cut off this fate."
Tachibana Masamune's last words suddenly became calm. As a declaration of war, it should have been a raging fire like the eruption of Mount Fuji, but he said it so calmly, just like a battle-hardened samurai gently pressing down on his sword, with murderous aura within him ready to explode at any moment.
Minamoto Chisei raised his head and looked directly into Tachibana Masamune's eyes.
"Mr. Masamune, are you going to start a war against the Oni Clan?" said the head of the Sakurai family. "Let's not talk about whether the family can win. I believe many people will see this as fratricide. Many of the Oni Clan were once our friends and relatives. If we were to swing our swords at them, many people would not be able to bear it. After all, they were all blood relatives!"
"The Demon Clan is indeed related to us by blood, but can they really be said to be our compatriots? They chose the path of dragons. In their eyes, dragons are perfect creatures and the masters of the world. They want to become that kind of existence and make humans crawl at their feet." Tachibana Masamune said, "Suppose that the Demon Clan has now opened the God's Burial Ground and obtained the secret of bloodline evolution. Who here would think that they can finally obtain a stable bloodline and are willing to return to our arms and continue to make up for their past identities and mistakes? Absolutely not! Once they have tasted the taste brought by the bloodline, they will only become more aggressive. If we are kind-hearted, we are doomed to sit and wait for death. Only by completely wiping out the Demon Clan organization can there be peace and tranquility!"
The head of the Sakurai family had a calm face. She was the second female head of the family besides Uesugi. She was much older than Uesugi Erie and was over 30 years old. Women of this age who still sit in positions of power are mostly the kind of strong women that people imagine. Although they will speak on behalf of everyone for a while, after hearing Tachibana Masamune's analysis of the benefits and disadvantages, they will quickly make the right decision.
"This will not be an easy task. There will be rivers of blood and the whole of Tokyo will be shaken by it." Fuma Kotaro said in a deep voice.
"From ancient times to the present, no revolution has succeeded without bloodshed. This is destined to be a difficult and thorny road, so I beg you to lend me a helping hand today!" Tachibana Masamune bowed and knelt. "Blow up the God's Burial Place, along with the God's bones, and completely destroy the hopes of the Demon Clan. Then, completely purge the Demon Clan's power, including the people, gangs, and companies that depend on them. Don't let any of them go!"
This was the second great gift from Tachibana Masamune today. Everyone knelt down in awe and respect, their expressions as solemn as a mountain. This kind of thing is indeed not something that can be accomplished by a hero raising his arms and shouting. The entire Snake Eight Clan and even the entire Japanese branch must be united and join this war. Only when every department works together can such a grand feat be accomplished and the haze that has been lingering in the hearts of the Japanese mixed-bloods for many years be swept away.
"There is always blood that has to be shed in this world," said Tachibana Masamune, "but as the head of the family, I cannot push you all into the bloody battlefield on my own. The road ahead is difficult, some people will be timid, and some will think a lot. I give the power of choice to everyone present. Whether you agree with me or not, please feel free to make your decision boldly. For those who vote against it, I promise that I will neither force them to participate nor hold them accountable afterwards."
He clapped his hands, and the small door on the left opened. The priests came in carrying two folding screens and placed them on the left and right sides of Tachibana Masamune. On the left side was the word "war" written in bold ink, and on the right side was the graceful word "forbearance".
"Those who think that the family should fight to the death with the fierce ghosts, please write under the word 'fight'. Those who think that the status quo should be maintained, please write under the word 'endure'. Please give me your judgment and dispel my evil thoughts of killing or help me to fight!"
Tachibana Masamune pulled out a black cloth from his bosom and covered his eyes with it. He turned around and faced the wall with his back to the crowd. In this way, he expressed his attitude so that no one who voted would see it.
The hall was as silent as a curtain. The sound of rain was particularly clear. Occasionally, the fallen cherry blossoms in the garden floated into the hall. The once brilliant colors could now be picked up by bending down. People felt that the impermanence of life was as quiet and easy as the falling of flowers. No one wanted to get up. Everyone was thinking that many people would die in the war, and maybe even themselves.
Yuan Zhisheng suddenly stood up and walked through the crowd, with Spider Cut hanging at his side. The blade without a scabbard was shining with a cold green light, and it seemed that even the air passing through it could make people feel a soul-stirring chill.
Without any hesitation, he walked straight to the word "war" on the left and wrote the first stroke of the day. Tachibana Masamune had only mentioned this matter to him in advance, but did not directly ask him to make a decision. Even in Mr. Masamune's eyes, he was a person who could make his own choice freely.
But, is it necessary to think about this choice ? Many people present have not even participated in the actions of the Executive Bureau. They do not know how those fierce ghosts with corrupt bloodlines wreak havoc on the world in the shadows. In recent years, Yuan Zhisheng has been on the front line as a ghost slayer. The spider has cut off more than dozens of souls. When he personally inserted the blade into his brother's chest, Yuan Zhisheng already understood that his future would end in a fight to the death with the evil ghosts.
Yuan Zhisheng put down his pen and stood beside the screen on the left. He tore off a piece of his haori and covered his eyes with it. He was very clear about his position in the family. The young master chose to do the same as the current head of the family and let everyone write down their true thoughts.
While he was doing this, Eri also stood up and walked to the left, picked up the pen and added a stroke below Gen Chisei's first stroke. She didn't care whether her family was a warrior or a ninja, she just followed the choice of her brother Gen Chisei.
The three major families of the Eight Clans of Sheqi all chose the side of war, even though their numbers were pitifully small, with only three votes in a meeting where numbers would ultimately decide the future of the family. However, they had the best bloodlines in the family and were the most reliable fighting force. Their choice would influence those indecisive people to a certain extent.
The head of the Inuyama family left his seat immediately afterwards, walked to the right screen, drew a stroke, then threw the pen on the pen holder, turned around and left, heading straight into the wind and rain.
His choice is also the attitude of many people. People always want to maintain peace when it can be maintained. It is not shameful. Many historical facts can prove that doing so is not wrong for people living in the present. After all, the fierce ghosts are everyone's compatriots. Although they have betrayed their family, they still have the blood of the Eight Snake Families flowing in their veins.
The family heads took the lead and set an example, so more people stood up and wrote on the screen. The strokes on both sides increased at almost the same speed. Those who had finished writing walked behind the blindfolded Tachibana Masamune, bowed deeply, and then walked out of the main hall.
This spring rain seemed to have no beginning and no end. Many people who had voted walked out of the hall one after another on the rain-soaked steps. The rain felt cold to the touch, and almost no one chose to hold an umbrella. It was good this way. Perhaps only such a coldness could calm the heart, just like those monks who had seen through the world. Fighting or enduring was just a step in life. Since you were born in the underworld, you must follow the rules of the underworld.
Finally, there were only two people left in the shrine hall. When the last person walked away towards the wind and rain, Gen Chisei took off his blindfold and turned to look at the screens on both sides.
With just one glance, he saw that there were five more strokes on the left side of the screen than on the right side. It was just this difference of five strokes that led the fate of the entire Japanese underworld to a different path than it had originally been.
On the road outside the stone steps of the shrine, one black car after another sped away, breaking through the rain. This was the outskirts of Tokyo, and few people came here. Those who would park here were all gangsters. However, a taxi drove over in the opposite direction of the traffic. The owner of the car looked curiously at the cars that were connected end to end in the rain from the cab. Although he didn't know where it was, he could roughly judge that it must be a gathering of a group of elites. Looking up, he could see the Torii Shrine vaguely in the sky.
This is an ordinary taxi driver. He just received a long order to deliver a group of foreigners who like rain to the suburbs. In this kind of weather, they actually want to go to the mountains to play. I don't know whether to say that they are very interested or crazy. But it has nothing to do with the driver. After delivering this big order, he continued to drive forward along the road. The navigation showed that there was a roadside restaurant ahead. He planned to have a good meal there before returning to Tokyo.
However, his plan seemed to be disrupted. A red-haired girl was standing on the side of the road. She was not holding an umbrella, and her hair was hanging from her shoulders as wet as noodles in clear soup. She waved at him.
The driver turned the car around and parked beside her. This is the daily life of a taxi driver. When there is money to be made, even food cannot be eaten. Besides, going to Tokyo from here is a big bill. As Tokyo is world-famous for its expensive taxis, the taxi fare here is not calculated by 0.5 or 1 kilometer, but the strange additional fee is calculated after the starting price, 70 yen for 233 meters. The driver did a quick calculation and the fare for this bill was at least tens of thousands of yen.
Eri got into the back seat and the driver turned around and asked, "Where are you going?" Eri lowered her head and wrote in a small notebook, then handed it to the driver in the front seat.
"Tokyo, anywhere."
Anywhere is fine? The driver thought to himself, what a strange request. He has been in the business for so many years and has never seen such a customer. He didn't talk after getting in the car, but communicated with a notebook, and said that anywhere is fine?
This forced the driver to take a closer look at Eri. Judging from her clothes and appearance, she should have also come out of the shrine just now. The people in those business cars were all dressed like this. The young girl did not take other people's cars but chose to take a taxi by herself. Maybe she was a person who didn't care about money, but just didn't want to be with other men. After all, there didn't seem to be many women in that place just now.
It only took the driver a split second to complete the task and he turned around to start the taxi.
"Then let's go somewhere fun! How about Akihabara? Young people like Akihabara, and there are many hotels! " The driver gave an enthusiastic suggestion.
"Okay. I don't have change. Do you take checks?"
A... check? The new words in the notebook once again shocked the driver's worldview, and he looked at Eri with a little more respect. Could this be the legendary super-rich lady? She has never used cash in her life, and she always signs checks when she goes out?
"I really haven't accepted it... But since you said you didn't bring any change, I can only accept it!" The driver smiled bitterly, thinking that all kinds of monsters and demons had appeared on this trip today. On one hand, there were stupid foreign tourists who wanted to go up the mountain to play on a rainy day, and on the next hand, there was a local rich lady who went out without bringing any money. I felt that if this trend continued, it wouldn't be strange to meet a beautiful female ghost on the way back to Tokyo!
The driver drove with strange thoughts in his mind. Eri leaned on the car window and could see the shrine gradually going away. The shrine in the rain was like a touch of red quietly embellishing the mountains. It seemed that Gen Chisheng and Mr. Masamune were still in the shrine at this time and did not notice that she was gone. Eri did not care about what was discussed in the meeting and did not listen at all, but that kind of meeting must be very important to Gen Chisheng and others, and it would take up a lot of their energy and time. This was her best opportunity.
When Minamoto no Chisei also covered his face with a cloth bag like Tachibana Masamune, Eri knew that her chance had come. After writing that stroke, she hurriedly ran to the main hall of the shrine. The men in black on the stone steps did not stop her. They were not priests of the shrine, but followers brought by other family heads. Not everyone knew Eri, the head of the Uesugi family, and knew how special she was, so they did not take any action.
But it was not easy to leave the shrine, there were cars with owners all around, and Eri could not drive. Fortunately, luck always favors those who are willing to work hard, and a taxi appeared in her sight after she had been waiting for a long time.
"Gomenna say it."
Eri's lips moved slightly, silently apologizing. She couldn't remember how many times she had sneaked out of the house. She hoped that this time, she could go further.
