Chapter 121: The Past

"Lord Abe Seiya!"

Shiqing and Wuyin were bound to wooden stakes. Blood Ghost Dragon sipped his wine while waiting for Abe Seiya’s return, confident that given his understanding of the man, Abe Seiya would never abandon his subordinates.

Bored, Blood Ghost Dragon unexpectedly struck up a conversation: "I believe I was the seventh onmyoji to join the Onmyo-Zhai. Since you two were there before me, how did you end up getting tangled up with that guy?"

Though Shiqing had no eyes, she looked upward, sensing that there was no escape, and began to speak slowly: "We were descendants of the Kacho clan, a family of onmyoji in Tokyo. But as the era of the onmyoji faded, our clan gradually declined."

"My sister and I were the last of the Kacho line. We were meant to be two ordinary children."

"It was another day at the Kacho shrine with no offerings and no visitors. My sister and I were famished. Because we had guarded the shrine for so long without anyone coming to burn incense or donate, we had no source of income."

"That night, my hungry sister snuck out of the shrine. When I woke up in the middle of the night and realized she was gone, I hurriedly followed her footprints."

"About ten minutes later, from a distance, I saw my sister, still dressed in the traditional robes of the Kacho clan, scavenging through a trash can for food discarded by passersby earlier that day."

"I covered my face and wept. If not driven to the brink of despair, who would ever choose to live like this?"

"I walked up to her, patted her shoulder, and said, 'Sister will go find work tomorrow. Let’s abandon the shrine.'"

"Seeing me follow her, my sister was startled. When she heard my plan to give up the shrine, she hung her head in silence."

"It was the only thing our parents had left behind. Since we were young, my sister and I had balanced managing the shrine with our schooling."

"Eventually, as the number of visitors dwindled, so did the donations. We couldn't even afford our tuition anymore."

"We had to drop out of school to focus on the shrine, until one day, we literally had no money left for food."

"It was time to make a decision: abandon the shrine, abandon our identity as Kacho onmyoji, and abandon the practice of onmyodo. We chose to become ordinary people, just to survive."

My sister looked at me, tears streaming down her face, and we embraced as we wept.

However, in the depths of that night, several wild dogs approached.

I recognized them; they were dogs I had often fed when our parents were still alive.

After our parents passed away, I couldn't even feed myself, let alone them. I hadn't seen them in a long time.

That night, the dogs initially growled softly, as if begging for food. But we had nothing—only the half-eaten piece of bread my sister had scavenged.

When the dogs realized there was no food to be had, they caught the scent of the bread crumbs in my sister’s hands. Driven by hunger, they swarmed us.

My starving sister, looking at her injured hands and the precious bread she had worked so hard to find, couldn't bear to lose it. She curled her body to protect the bread.

And I threw my body over hers to protect her.

I felt the dogs tearing at me. My body screamed in pain. Suddenly, I felt an excruciating agony in my eyes, as if something was being ripped out.

I reached out, only to feel my own eyeballs being clamped firmly in the jaws of two dogs.

I tried to break free, but after a surge of blinding pain, my eyes were gone. I could no longer see anything in this world.

Suddenly, my sister let out a piercing scream. I reached out instinctively, only to feel that her ears had been torn off; I could only touch two bleeding holes.

Finally, we had lost even the privilege of being normal people. Were we to live like cripples from now on?

In the distance, I heard shouting as someone chased the dogs away. Blinded, I could not see who it was, so I could only press my body tightly against my sister, who had lost her ears.

Then, a kind voice reached us: "My name is Abe Seiya, a descendant of the Abe clan. You are from the Kacho clan, aren't you? Let me look at your wounds."

"I could feel warmth. A warmth I hadn't felt since my parents passed away."

"Abe Seiya took us back to his home, bandaged our wounds with care, and taught us how to utilize the onmyodo of our Kacho clan. He is a great man. Without him, I cannot imagine what my life would have become..."

"Oh my, how tear-jerking, just like a soap opera," Blood Ghost Dragon said, taking a large swig of wine and looking at the Ghost-Slaying Blade in his hand. "That is why only power is truly reliable. If you had possessed my strength, the Kacho clan would not have fallen, and you would not have ended up in this state."

Shiqing did not speak, but a smile touched her lips, the corners of her empty eye sockets crinkling slightly. "Lord Abe Seiya will surely deal with you."

"I look forward to it," Blood Ghost Dragon said, watching the seven struggling souls trapped within his blade. "I truly hope the Abe Seiya you speak of—who is also our master—will also become one of the souls in my sword."

"By the way," Blood Ghost Dragon added suddenly, "your sister doesn't actually possess any onmyodo, does she?"

"What are you talking about? Shut up!" Shiqing tensed up instantly.

"My sword tells me you aren't biological sisters, and your sister is not a descendant of the Kacho clan. You’ve been lying to her about her ability to use onmyodo, haven't you?"

"I'm sorry!" With the secret revealed, the truth came out: Wuyin was an orphan Shiqing had taken in. One snowy night, Wuyin had been left at Shiqing’s doorstep.

Shiqing’s parents had found her and taken her in out of kindness. Shiqing had always treated her as a true sister, and they had endured their darkest days together after their parents' deaths.

It was true—her sister could not use onmyodo. Shiqing could manipulate birds and command their spirits, but she had lied to her sister for years, telling her that she was the one helping to control the spirits, all to prevent her sister from feeling like a burden. In truth, Wuyin was just an ordinary girl she had adopted.

"Sister, why are you apologizing? I have always known I possessed no onmyodo. I understood the lies you told, but I pretended to believe them because I didn't want you to worry. Thank you, sister. If there is a next life, please, continue to teach me."

"Sister! I'm sorry for making you suffer! I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."