Chapter 61: The Death of Ye Chun

Tricked.

The ferocious expression on the Hanya mask vanished in a flash, and the anger that had just risen in Uesugi Tetsu’s heart was ruthlessly extinguished by him.

Because rather than giving in to pointless rage, Uesugi Tetsu believed that the most important thing to do right now was to swing his sword.

Words were never as powerful as actions.

Since the *makabashiri* before him was merely one and a half stars, he would use a single strike to force it back!

Then sprint back at full speed to support Yechun and the others.

"Inhale—"

Uesugi Tetsu’s chest expanded like a balloon under the influence of *kiai*, and a surging power flowed through all of his limbs and bones.

At this moment, every movement of the short, dark-yellow raccoon dog before him was crystal clear.

That ugly raccoon dog face was rippling with human-like gloating, mockery, and disdainful contempt.

It seemed this was far from the first time it had done such a thing, which made it exceptionally practiced.

Next, it would constantly close the distance to harass, then run away to lure them on, mocking this foolish Hanya until both humans accompanying it perished.

—Such an expression, even though the *makabashiri* had witnessed it countless times, still filled it with boundless anticipation.

After all, this was the first time it had ever encountered such a novel apparition.

However, the Hanya remained expressionless.

"Hah—!"

A translucent white wave of compressed air surged and then burst forth in an instant, obscuring the line of sight of the raccoon dog known as the *makabashiri*.

"Squeak?"

Just as it let out a startled cry and prepared to retreat, the Kaga Kiyomitsu brutally tore through the white Qi, transforming into flashing afterimages in the raccoon dog's eyes as it slashed violently from bottom to top!

*Kesagiri-gyaku*!

Compared to using the *tsubame-gaeshi* in a middle-level *seigan* stance, when dealing with a smaller apparition like the *makabashiri*, a chopping attack was undoubtedly easier to land and inflicted a much larger wound.

"Squeak—!"

The immense arm strength concentrated at a single point, combined with the sharpness of the Kaga Kiyomitsu, tore away well over half of the *makabashiri*’s body in a split second, wringing an intensely painful and terrified shriek from its throat.

It had been utterly unable to react to this sword!

Even though apparitions of its kind did not possess physical bodies in the conventional sense, there was no doubt that it was now suffering from catastrophic, severe injuries.

Run!

Must run!

This Hanya was completely different from other humans and apparitions; if it stayed any longer, it would die!

Pain and instinct told it so.

The *makabashiri* scrambled with its short limbs, dragging its dangling lower half as it bolted desperately toward the other end of the tunnel for its very life.

Uesugi Tetsu did not give chase, merely narrowing his eyes to memorize all of its distinctive features.

It was a pity that Lady Nishaku was not present; otherwise, he would have had her mark this damned raccoon dog and hunted it to the ends of the earth until it died.

Without overthinking, Uesugi Tetsu sheathed his blade and sprinted rapidly back toward the tunnel entrance.

—But it was already too late.

By the time Uesugi Tetsu arrived, the Taiko-suzu seemed to have deemed the Hanya too troublesome and had already departed, shrinking into a blurred dot at the edge of his vision.

And its method of slaughter was precisely as Uesugi Tetsu had anticipated: killing through a continuous barrage of drumbeats.

The closer one was to its main body, the greater the lethality inflicted.

Therefore, even though Lady Nishaku had reacted swiftly by grabbing Yechun and fleeing in the opposite direction, she could not prevent the girl’s ultimate demise.

Even Lady Nishaku herself appeared pale and wobbly, her form flickering as if she might drop back below the half-star rank.

After all, a half-star Lady Nishaku could not possibly outrun a two-star Taiko-suzu no matter what.

Uesugi Tetsu slowed his pace and lowered his head in silence.

Yechun was dead.

In the pitch-black tunnel, the short-haired girl’s complexion was dark purple, her skin rigid and pale, yet devoid of the ferocious expression typical of those who died a sudden, violent death.

Lady Nishaku stood beside her, her head bowed deeply as she clenched her fists. "I am sorry, Lord Tetsu. It is my fault for failing to protect her..."

"No, it was my mistake."

Uesugi Tetsu replied calmly: "I know far too little about the lore of urban legends. Had I known from the start what abilities the *makabashiri* possessed, the current situation would not have arisen."

He emphasized: "Therefore, Yechun’s death is my fault."

Lady Nishaku opened her mouth, her expression still laden with self-reproach. "Lord Tetsu, before Miss Yechun passed away, she asked me to relay a message to you."

"What is it?"

"She said, 'My death is not Uesugi-kun's fault'."

Uesugi Tetsu closed his eyes and fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed softly: "Find a place to lay her to rest."

Lady Nishaku nodded. "Please, let me carry Miss Yechun."

Uesugi Tetsu gave a soft acknowledgment, though he found it strangely perplexing that even after Yechun’s death, Main Quest 2 had not changed in the slightest.

Generally speaking, if a quest target died, the mission should be directly judged as a failure.

Otherwise, how else was he supposed to save Yechun?

Uesugi Tetsu had no ability to resurrect the dead.

Thus, the Main Quest 2 still stubbornly hanging in his status panel appeared rather bizarre at the moment.

Doubts followed one after another, but Uesugi Tetsu knew that the most pressing issue right now was not this. "Nishaku, did you place a mark on the Taiko-suzu?"

"Mm-hmm!" Lady Nishaku revealed a fierce look. "I can clearly see that thing’s location. It’s currently hiding in the mountain forest to the right of the tunnel, and it's still running further away."

"Good. We'll go kill it next."

That said, Uesugi Tetsu was more inclined to deal with the heavily injured *makabashiri* first; it had probably communicated with the Taiko-suzu, which was why they had appeared sequentially at opposite ends of the tunnel.

That could be exploited.

Unburdened by Yechun, Uesugi Tetsu soon returned to the outside of the tunnel.

He retrieved the foreman's crowbar, dug a deep pit over a meter into the ground to place Yechun inside, and then silently covered her with soil.

Yechun was a good person, so at least she would not be left exposed to the wilderness.

Returning to his human form, he hugged Lady Nishaku and rested for a short while. Once fully recovered, Uesugi Tetsu walked back into the Izakanuki Tunnel.

At the very least, he needed to investigate what lay beyond the other end of the tunnel besides that raccoon dog, and whether it was passable.

Handing a portion of Soul-Soothing Incense Ash (Small) to the weakened Lady Nishaku, Uesugi Tetsu let her return to the Jizo statue to rest and recuperate.

Next, Uesugi Tetsu stepped alone into the deep, protracted passageway.

With the cheerful chatter of the two girls gone, his pace forward quickened considerably.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Uesugi Tetsu reached the end of the tunnel.

And there, he beheld the dense sea of *chi* completely blocking the entire tunnel exit.

Innumerable *chi* stood aimlessly in place, making neither a sound nor any redundant movements.

Just a casual, rough glance allowed Uesugi Tetsu to confirm that their number was no less than several thousand, and the flashing system prompts nearly completely filled his field of vision.

Even though the overwhelming majority of them were zero-star *chi* with virtually no combat capability, it was still enough to make the vast majority of two-star and even two-star-and-a-half apparitions balk.

Yet Uesugi Tetsu drew his blade without a moment's hesitation and stepped directly into the boundless sea of *chi*.

Then, the crisp, clear ringing of the Kaga Kiyomitsu echoed through the Izakanuki Tunnel.