Chapter 64: The Shishi-koma Bell

Yet, Uesugi澈 felt no tactile feedback of slicing into flesh in his hand.

"Tch, an afterimage, huh..."

Uesugi澈's three pupils spun rapidly, attempting to capture the landing point of the sprinting old man, but his expansive two-hundred-and-seventy-degree clear field of vision yielded no useful information.

Just how fast is this urban legend's movement speed?

Uesugi澈 roared, "Nishishaku, get back first!"

This sprinting old man was simply too bizarre. If he could unleash such a terrifying speed akin to instantaneous movement at any given moment, Uesugi澈 lacked any confidence in being able to protect Lady Nishishaku.

"Understood!"

Even though she was deeply worried about Uesugi澈's condition, Lady Nishishaku did not cry out things like "I want to stay" to indirectly increase Uesugi澈's pressure.

The girl in the white dress transformed into a wisp of smoke, returning inside the Jizo statue as Uesugi澈 stored it back into his inventory backpack.

"All right, next..."

Before his thoughts could fully process, Uesugi澈 felt a sharp, violent pain erupting from his chest, blood gushing out profusely as if it cost nothing.

Looking down, it was that cane, already dyed crimson with fresh blood.

The muffled voice of the sprinting old man drifted over: "Don't walk on the railway tracks, it's too dangerous..."

"This is completely absurd. Footsteps, breathing, and even the sound of compressed air are entirely non-existent. Is this old man traveling through another dimension?"

Yet, upon entering the critical injury state, Uesugi澈 could clearly feel the blood throughout his entire body rapidly heating up, growing scalding hot as though churning magma were flowing through his veins.

The previously hollow, bloody hole in his abdomen even stopped bleeding at a speed visible to the naked eye, tender granulation tissue beginning to writhe along the edges of the wound.

He snatched a glance at his attribute panel, discovering that his physique had reached a terrifying 52 points.

The internal Qi and physical strength within his body surged violently, almost threatening to split Uesugi澈 apart into several pieces.

Even so, Kaga Kiyomitsu still failed to touch even a fraction of the sprinting old man's hem.

A slash of empty air, a backstab, a slash of empty air, a backstab...

The battle tilted heavily toward a one-sided trend, and it was of no use even though Uesugi澈 grew stronger the lower his health dropped.

Under the continuous stabbing of the sprinting old man's cane, Uesugi澈's body had practically become a sieve leaking from all directions.

Had it not been for the support of the "Berserker" talent, he would have long since bled to death.

Right at that moment, a slightly trembling voice cheering him on came from not far away: "T-That! Mr. Demon! Hang in there, hang in there!"

Uesugi澈, whose vision was already filled with overlapping double images, clicked his tongue.

Is this woman a complete fool?

Cheering him on from over there right now is no different from joining the losing side at the very last second.

Uesugi澈 hoarsely roared, "If you don't want to die, get lost!"

This roar completely drowned out the girl's voice.

Chilled to the bone, Ye Chun froze for a moment, as if she had finally accepted the reality of being left alone once again, and then bolted desperately toward the mountain forest without uttering another word.

In the end, she thought—so ghosts actually come in good and bad varieties after all.

Seeing Ye Chun's figure gradually disappear, Uesugi澈 intended to unleash all the internal Qi within his body for a desperate final struggle, when a sudden pain struck the back of his neck.

Following that, the world spun out of control.

...

"Hah—hah—"

Covering his undamaged neck, Uesugi澈's facial features twitched uncontrollably.

Although Uesugi澈 was already accustomed to the sensation of being decapitated, this was the first time someone had ruthlessly pierced and pulverized his entire neck, causing his head to lose support and detach downward.

He believed no one would ever want to experience this bizarre sensation a second time.

Lying on the bed to recover for roughly ten minutes, Uesugi澈 finally managed to completely dispel the lingering sense of abnormality in his neck.

However, he did not rush to draw cards.

Instead, he closed his eyes and began to recall and review the battle against the sprinting old man just moments ago... a battle that could practically be termed a one-sided slaughter.

From a standpoint of common sense, Uesugi澈 felt it impossible that he would be played with to death by the sprinting old man.

Because the fact that the opponent possessed a two-star rating overhead was undeniable.

A two-star urban legend might be capable of killing his current self, but it would undoubtedly demand an extremely agonizing price.

Therefore...

"Was it killed by a mechanic?"

Uesugi澈 murmured softly, concluding that he had fallen victim to an unfamiliar game mechanic.

He closed his eyes, meticulously recalling every single instant since he first heard the sprinting old man's voice, playing it back over and over again to dissect, break down, and analyze.

After a long while, Uesugi澈 frowned slightly, hitting upon a suspicious point.

That was—

The sprinting old man's nearly twenty cane thrusts had all originated from the front, back, and left side, yet he had never once launched an assault from the right.

Although this could be explained by the fact that his wielding hand was the right hand, facing an opponent whose hem could not be touched no matter how he swung his blade, did the sprinting old man need to be this cautious?

It defied logic.

Then there was only one possible answer.

"He couldn't do it."

Uesugi澈 made a calm yet bold conjecture: "The reason the sprinting old man could move with such terrifying speed despite lacking a leg is precisely because he is capable of high-speed movement upon the railway tracks."

"Even, instantaneous movement!"

And since no railway tracks existed on his right side, the sprinting old man was unable to relocate there.

With the hypothesis established, the rest would wait until his next life to be verified.

Having broken out in a sweat from repeatedly reviewing the scenario within his mind, Uesugi澈 let out a long breath.

He summoned the panel, gazing at the soul ash count exceeding 500, and a smile of harvest bloomed on his face.

A long-awaited card draw, a long-awaited ten-consecutive pull.

Here I come!

Before that, however, Uesugi澈 went to take a proper shower, washing away his bad luck entirely in shampoo and body wash.

Refreshed and fully prepared, Uesugi澈 heavily pressed "Ten-Consecutive Retrieval" with his mind.

—Ten-consecutive, initiate!

The exquisite special effects of the dilapidated shrine manifested once more. This time, the actions of the two three-tailed foxes at the shrine entrance were even more practiced and rapid than before, yet the items they fished out were less than satisfactory.

Eight white lights, one green light.

Fortunately, however, the three-tailed foxes finally fished out a deep blue light at the very end.

"Not sure if I hit the pity system or not," Uesugi澈 muttered, his tone less than friendly. "They don't write down the card-draw probabilities clearly, nor do they specify the pity mechanic. Whoever created a gacha pool like this really needs to worry if their family household registry is only one page long."

[Requiem Incense Ash (Micro)] ×2, [Requiem Incense Ash (Small)] ×6, [Requiem Incense Ash (Medium)], [Koma-dog Rattle].

Nine experience bottles, alongside a rattling prop radiating a faint golden glow, which appeared to be the exact one hanging from the waist of the three-tailed fox in the gacha pool.

"Knowing my Hannya needed to level up, you specifically sent me a basket of experience bottles. My thanks to you; you're actually quite nice."

Uesugi澈 chuckled, transferring all 8 bottles of [Requiem Incense Ash (Small)] from his inventory directly onto the faintly glowing Demon Avatar: Hannya (Smiling).

[Died incense ash detected exceeding the specified share. Would you like to refund the excess share?]

Uesugi澈, who had originally assumed the extra 5 points of incense ash value would just go to waste, froze for a moment, not expecting such a conscientious design.

"Yes."

[You have obtained: Requiem Incense Ash (Micro) ×2.5]

[“Hannya (Youth Form)” upgrading: 0%]

Beaming from ear to ear, Uesugi澈 was pleasantly surprised by the lack of wasted rounding off, instantly sweeping away his previous gloomy mood.

After neatly organizing the remaining Requiem Incense Ash in his storage backpack, Uesugi澈 turned his attention to the rare prop that was presumably the result of the pity system.

—[Koma-dog Rattle]