Seeing those hundreds of evil spirits in the pouring rain, their twisted, ferocious pupils fixed intently on their group, along with the deathly silence and oppression in the air, where no sound could be heard except the falling rain, both Mitsuha Miyamizu and Hina Amano's expressions changed.
Although one was the heir to a generations-old shrine maiden family, and the other could control an entire city's rainfall and sunshine through prayer, neither had the ability to deal with evil spirits.
Moreover, this wasn't just one evil spirit.
It was hundreds, a terrifying scene like the Hyakki Yagyō.
"What should we do..."
Hearing Hina Amano's panicked and anxious question, Ye Xing just casually waved his hand.
"It doesn't matter, we'll just kill them all."
Seeing Ye Xing's expression, Hina Amano stamped her foot in frustration.
"What kind of time is this for you to still be showing off?"
Ye Xing replied with a laugh, "If being anxious was useful, I would have been anxious long ago."
Just then, a blinding flash suddenly lit up the sky.
Hina Amano had a strange feeling.
At this moment, time seemed to slow down countless times.
A blinding flash of lightning gathered into a formidable bolt of thunder, descending directly towards Ye Xing, who stood below.
Hina Amano's pupils contracted in shock, her lips parting as she tried to shout a warning. Yet only her vision and thoughts seemed to slow – her body couldn't keep pace with her mind.
She hadn't even time to utter the words "be careful" before the heavenly lightning, carrying the terrifying momentum of a natural disaster, approached Ye Xing at a speed beyond human reaction.
"Come out..."
Boom!
Amidst the deafening thunderclap and blinding radiance that made it impossible to look directly, the lightning struck precisely where Ye Xing stood.
Hina Amano and Mitsuha Miyamizu stood at a sufficient distance, suffering no harm beyond temporary blindness.
In that brief moment of pure white nothingness, both girls shared the same thought:
It's all over.
That evil god who controlled the weather had actually summoned lightning from the clouds to strike Ye Xing.
How could a mere human body withstand the wrath of nature itself?
Yet unlike Mitsuha Miyamizu, Hina Amano clung to a faint, almost absurdly naive hope.
Had Ye Xing truly lost?
Even against such a powerful evil god who commanded the weather...
Was this defeat to such an enemy really the end for the Supernatural Society?
The blinding whiteness gradually faded from Hina Amano's vision as her sight returned to clarity.
"Ye Xing..."
Watching the cloud of dust stirred up by lightning's descent, Hina Amano clenched her teeth, tears welling in her eyes as she tightened her fists and whispered.
"Ye Xing... get up!"
Responding to Hina Amano's plea was Ye Xing's voice, tinged with both amusement and laughter, emerging from the dust.
"Are you acting in a drama with here?"
"Eh?"
Hearing Ye Xing's voice coming from the dust, both Hina Amano and Mitsuha Miyamizu were taken aback. Their spirits, which had sunk to the lowest point, lifted once again.
Plop... plop... plop...
The sound of the heavy rain hitting the ground became unusually clear at that moment.
As the rain washed over the area, the dust gradually dissipated.
What appeared before Hina Amano, Mitsuha Miyamizu, and the hundreds of evil spirits was a headless monster nearly five meters tall, its body half-black and half-white.
Beneath its two distinctly coloured ghost hands stood Ye Xing, still calmly in place, without a speck of dust on him.
"I never fell in the first place, so what's this about getting up? Wake up, I'm not the protagonist of some passionate story."
As he spoke, a jet-black long sword materialised in Ye Xing's hand. Surging black flames coiled around his body, forming a pure black coat and a mask that concealed his face, revealing only his eyes.
"I'm definitely the protagonist of an invincible story."
"This is..."
Witnessing Ye Xing's sudden change in appearance, Mitsuha Miyamizu covered her lips in shock, her pupils trembling as disbelief washed over her face.
"Mask...?"
Hearing Mitsuha Miyamizu utter the name Mask, Ye Xing chuckled lightly in response.
"I never expected even a cute high school girl from remote Itomori Town to know my name. It seems my popularity is beyond imagination."
To be honest, Mitsuha Miyamizu only heard half of what Ye Xing said.
The moment he referred to her as a "cute high school girl," she didn't register a single word of the rest.
A faint blush spread across Mitsuha Miyamizu's cheeks, and she felt her heartbeat quicken in that instant.
Of course, it was only a slight flutter of shyness. As her eyes fell upon the hundreds of terrifying evil spirits surrounding them, her heart sank once again.
So this Ye Xing was the mysterious figure who had shocked all of Japan, surpassing countless male and female celebrities to become the most popular enigmatic idol, adored by everyone from adults down to six-year-olds.
Mask.
Seeing that Ye Xing had not only survived the lightning strike but emerged completely unscathed, the hundreds of evil spirits encircling the platform began to slowly advance through the pouring rain towards the three standing figures.
Their twisted, frenzied pupils were fixed not only on Ye Xing.
Hina Amano, chosen by the gods as a living sacrifice, and Mitsuha Miyamizu, descended from a lineage of shrine maidens with power flowing in her blood, were both exceptionally gifted psychics.
This meant that, in the eyes of the evil spirits, the two girls held immense allure.
"Kill you!"
One of the evil spirits, nearly two meters tall with tattered rags wrapped around its body and a face covered in over a dozen eyes, launched the first attack.
It's dozens of eyes locked simultaneously onto Mitsuha Miyamizu in her spiritual form. With all four limbs on the ground like a beast, it opened its large mouth, emitting black mist and charged straight towards Mitsuha Miyamizu.
Facing the charging evil spirit, Mitsuha Miyamizu froze completely.
Before she could even feel fear or retreat backwards, a metallic chime rang through the air.
Clang!
Onimaru Kunitsuna, with its jet-black blade, traced an elegant crescent-shaped arc through the air.
Though the arc was beautifully executed, for the evil spirit caught within its trajectory, it represented an irresistible sharpness.
Its upper body continued lunging forward, only to crash directly onto the ground.
The evil spirit initially didn't understand why.
When it turned its head, it discovered its lower body - now featuring a smooth, clean cut - still standing motionless in place.
"Come on then."
A white smile pattern appeared on Ye Xing's pure black mask as he scanned the surrounding hundred or so eager evil spirits. He swung Onimaru Kunitsuna in his hand, reversed its grip, and without the slightest hesitation, drove the sharp blade tip straight through the evil spirit's head.
"Whoever comes first gets the honour of becoming the appetiser for Kyoto's number one exorcist."
The clouds in the sky grew increasingly thick. Though it was still daytime, the darkness resembled deep night.
Seeing the surrounding evil spirits hesitating and holding back, Ye Xing smiled and whispered.
"If you won't come to me, then I'll have to come to you."
"Go."
As this word fell, the black and white headless monster that had been maintaining crossed hands above Ye Xing's head slowly straightened up.
Though it lacked a lower body, its nearly five-meter-tall, distinctly black-and-white upper torso exerted overwhelming pressure on these relatively weak, ordinary evil spirits.
Thud.
The pale ghost hand with its sharp black nails slapped against the ground.
The headless black and white monster had no legs and moved peculiarly - using its alternating hands to support itself, substituting for leg movement.
Though the posture seemed somewhat strange, its speed was remarkable.
"One."
The black ghost hand shot out, grabbed one of the evil spirits, and crushed it like a toy in a tightening grip.
Immediately after, the headless monster extended its pale ghost hand, the sharp black nails slicing like blades, effortlessly cutting several evil spirits into fragments.
The initially threatening, eager evil spirits, with their deranged, twisted expressions, watched as the black and white headless monster slaughtered several evil spirits with ease. Their frenzied demeanour instantly gave way to terror and fear.
The next moment, Mitsuha Miyamizu witnessed a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.
The hundred or so evil spirits surrounding the platform from all directions let out meaningless screams and scattered like a receding tide, each fleeing into the distance.
Evil spirits... being scared away by humans?
Mitsuha Miyamizu never imagined in her lifetime that she would witness such a thing.
But what surprised her even more was that Ye Xing showed no intention of letting the fleeing evil spirits escape.
"Onimaru Kunitsuna."
Ye Xing released his grip on the long sword. Under the astonished gazes of Mitsuha Miyamizu and Hina Amano, the pure black blade shimmered and rapidly transformed into a stunning woman with waist-length black hair, dressed in black mourning clothes.
"Master."
Onimaru Kunitsuna wore an expression of infatuation, bowing respectfully the moment she appeared.
"I can't be bothered to go. You handle it."
"Understood, my lord."
Onimaru Kunitsuna's gaze shifted away from Ye Xing. When she saw the evil spirits fleeing in all directions, the tenderness and deference she had shown her master vanished completely.
Replaced by an indifferent, disgusted expression.
The human-formed Onimaru Kunitsuna flashed forward, her sharp spiritual power so intense it sliced through the curtain of pouring rain before her.
Mitsuha Miyamizu and Hina Amano's vision was limited by the heavy rain, and they were unable to clearly see what was happening in the distance.
But as rainfall gradually diminished, the terrified shrieks from all directions grew increasingly distinct.
Tap, tap, tap...
Within just two minutes, the torrential rain falling from the overcast skies gradually weakened until it stopped altogether.
The dark clouds dispersed, and the warm summer sunlight once again fell upon the ground.
"Done."
Ye Xing remarked casually as his black coat and mask transformed back into black flames, vanishing into the air and restoring his original attire.
Onimaru Kunitsuna and the black-and-white headless monster disappeared along with them.
Mitsuha Miyamizu's lips parted slightly as she gazed at the now-peaceful station surroundings, which showed no traces of the recent events. Turning to Hina Amano beside her with a complicated expression, she asked:
"You... normally deal with things like this?"
Hina Amano wore an equally complicated expression as she watched Ye Xing standing there, looking as relaxed as if he were enjoying a spring outing. She replied softly:
"If you mean exorcism... yes, but his methods are quite different from everyone else's."
"You call this exorcism?"
Mitsuha Miyamizu's face showed she didn't know how to evaluate what she'd witnessed.
Was this really exorcism?
As the heir to a shrine maiden family, Mitsuha Miyamizu was well-versed in Japan's ghost stories.
Didn't Onmyoji need talismans, needed to set up formations, put in tremendous effort, risk their lives, and only then could they finally eradicate evil spirits?
That's how the stories always went.
So why was it completely reversed with Ye Xing?
The ones going through tremendous effort, making preparations in advance, setting up ambushes, became the evil spirits.
The ones risking their lives also became the evil spirits.
Even those hundred terrifying-looking evil spirits, when chased by that black-and-white headless monster and the woman in black mourning clothes, were like helpless little lambs, completely unable to put up any resistance.
Is this even proper exorcism?
Hina Amano patted Mitsuha Miyamizu's shoulder and said meaningfully:
"I felt the same way at first. You'll get used to it eventually."
At that moment, red threads suddenly reappeared in the air, floating before Ye Xing and quickly forming a sentence:
"As expected of the supreme hero chosen by heaven, your power is truly formidable! Mere evil spirits are no match for you at all!"
Mitsuha Miyamizu and Hina Amano, seeing these words and sensing the genuine admiration, flattery, and worship within them, both wore speechless expressions.
Well then, they've really broadened their horizons today.
Gods of land, wealth, love, and evil gods - they'd heard of them all.
But a simp god? This was truly the first time either girl had encountered such a thing.
Then, the red threads trembled as if deeply hesitant, cautiously forming words in a tentative tone.
"That... may I discuss something with you?"
Ye Xing waved his hand dismissively.
"You want Mitsuha Miyamizu to return to her body, right? Fine."
The red threads responded: "As expected of you, directly guessing what I intended to say. Thank you for your understanding."
Despite appearing rather unreliable, this deity, represented by the red threads, was actually quite responsible.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have resorted to such excessive flattery and simping toward Ye Xing just to save the residents of Itomori Town.
Though Mitsuha Miyamizu was only in her first year of high school, she was the legitimate heir to a shrine maiden family. Nowadays, it was she who wore the Miko outfit and made kuchikamizake during the annual shrine festivals.
Just like the elderly woman at that shrine in Tokyo.
Deities tend to be very concerned about the personal safety of their shrine maidens.
Evil spirits had already appeared around Itomori Town.
Who knew what might happen next?
Mitsuha Miyamizu, in her spiritual form, was far too vulnerable to becoming a target for evil spirits, and she possessed no combat abilities herself.
Returning to her physical body was the safest option.
Both were deities, yet one wanted to protect Itomori Town's residents and would disrupt its own plans out of concern for its shrine maiden's safety.
The other used weather as leverage to demand a young girl as a living sacrifice.
The difference between deities was truly greater than that between humans and dogs.
Watching Mitsuha Miyamizu disappear, Hina Amano breathed a sigh of relief as if a weight had been lifted.
She stole a glance at Ye Xing beside her, her expression complex. Her lips trembled slightly as she hesitantly spoke in a low voice.
"Perhaps... we should go back. It's too dangerous."
Ye Xing glanced at Hina Amano and said calmly,
"Think carefully. If we give up halfway now and return directly to Kyoto, you'll become a living sacrifice before long."
Hearing these words, Hina Amano's heart trembled.
So it was true.
He had already noticed the abnormality in her body.
This trip to Itomori Town to find the deity served by the Miyamizu family was precisely to resolve her problem.
Yet this very fact weighed heavily on Hina Amano.
Flash floods, evil spirits, torrential rain.
How many more people would be endangered in the future just to save her?
"I..."
Hina Amano raised her head, her eyes filled with sorrow, yet she forced a gentle smile and spoke softly.
"Actually... that's just how fate is. If my disappearance alone can restore Japan's weather to normal, and everyone can smile again because of sunny days, then my vanishing won't be in vain. It would be a meaningful life."
"No."
Facing these words, the smile vanished from Ye Xing's face as he shook his head.
"That's completely meaningless."
Then he continued slowly,
"Even if you become a living sacrifice, how long can the weather remain stable? A few decades? A century?"
"And after a century, when that being wants a new living sacrifice, what then?"
"If we have the ability to deal with this evil god who demands living sacrifices by holding the weather hostage, then we should do so."
"Otherwise, the next girl who becomes a living sacrifice will be our responsibility."
Hearing this, Hina Amano pressed her lips together and hesitated,
"This... doesn't sound like something you'd say. Didn't you say we shouldn't feel obligated to solve problems just because we have the ability..."
"Tch."
Ye Xing knew what Hina Amano meant to say and waved his hand with a laugh.
"I simply don't want you to die, so I used that logic. But that doesn't mean what I said is wrong."
Hina Amano was momentarily stunned. Looking into Ye Xing's smiling eyes, a blush spread across her pretty face as she stammered,
"R-right... you want to protect every... every member of the club. I'm a club member too, so... that's it, right?"
"What are you talking about, riddler?"
Ye Xing chuckled teasingly, then suddenly pointed at the distant sky.
"Look."
Hina Amano followed his finger and saw that after the recent heavy rain, a brilliant and beautiful rainbow had formed in the far sky.
"So beautiful..."
Ye Xing watched Hina Amano gazing at the rainbow, his words seemingly about the rainbow yet carrying another meaning.
"So, I'd like to enjoy such beautiful scenery a while longer."