In the mirror space, orbs of purple light overflowing with large amounts of ancient spirit world essence flew towards Kagura who was suspended in midair and merged into her lower abdomen.
The core of a shikigami was naturally housed within their spirit palace.
Not too far away, Yuki-Onna took off her white shawl and hung it on a wooden stand. She then went over to the corner as if she didn’t want to be seen absorbing her Emishi spirits.
“Hmn…” Perhaps female shikigami and other shikigami reacted differently when it came to absorbing Emishi spirits. Kagura continued to hover with her eyes closed and jade lips pressed tightly. It seemed that the absorption of ancient spirit world essences had a rather acute effect on the body. Although Kagura did not utter a sound, her face and expression betrayed her.
On the other hand, Yuki-Onna appeared more mature and experienced. It was uncertain what expression she was making at this time, but she must have secluded herself in the corner for a good reason.
Although their grimacing faces may look pitiful, the strength of the two was obviously growing, especially Kagura whose foundation was lower. In just a few breaths worth of time, they achieved the level of a middle-stage sword saint and exuded an aura much stronger than ordinary sword saints! These Emishi spirits were really excellent treasures for developing shikigami.
Lily saw that it would take a long time for the two shikigami to absorb the Emishi spirits so she returned her consciousness to the outside world.
However, she soon heard a loud ruckus outside.
“Where is Kagami Lily1?!” Sukeya led a group of onmyojis and samurai, storming into the residence in an aggressive manner.
Ofuku, Kumachu, and several other people were all startled. They stared at the person who barged inside with astonished eyes. Sukeya looked grim and the warriors behind were also cloaked in a gloomy atmosphere.
“Ah, Lord Sukeya, what did that new woman do to make you so angry?” Ofuku greeted him with a habitual smile.
“Get lost!” With a wave of his hand, Sukeya pushed Ofuku aside and scowled, “Find Kagami Lily now!”
As tactful as Ofuku was, she had never seen Sukeya so angry before so she was scared into silence.
“I’m here.” Lily was wearing a pure white yukata that looked slightly transparent amidst the candlelight of the room.
She did not change into her yukata on purpose but was originally thinking of going outside to bathe in the moonlight and feel the power of the moon.
Sukeya couldn’t help but gulp when he saw Lily’s figure, but he still couldn’t quench his anger, “Kagami Lily, come with us!”
“What’s the matter? Why is Lord Sukeya so furious; what happened?” Lily was puzzled.
“What happened, you ask?! Don’t you already have an idea?! Hurry up and follow us!” Sukeya seethed.
A few warriors wanted to step forward, but Lily said, “Since the Lord has business with me, you only need to give the order and I’ll be there. Why do you need to make such a fuss? Don’t come near me; I will just go with you.”
Could her theft of a large number of treasures have been discovered?
If so, this occurrence was not very surprising. After all, they had dispatched so many people and they were all powerful warriors, but Lily was not afraid. Unless the other party provided solid evidence, she only had to act as if nothing happened.
The group traveled to the main hall of the Bureau of Divination and arrived at a dark, open room. Seated in the hall was a man dressed in light-colored luxurious clothes and a high hat, surrounded by Kujo and the others.
When they got there, they brought Lily into the room.
Sukeya stood beside her. The sturdy old man was half a head shorter than Lily but was twice as girthy.
“Kneel down!” Sukeya scolded.
Lily was not scared at all, “Lord Sukeya, what do you mean? Do you want me to pay respects to the man in front of me? Lily will naturally offer her salutations herself so why are you acting so rude?”
Lily pretended to be clueless. Since they didn’t say anything yet, she would be a fool to admit any wrongdoings. Although she was not afraid of these people, there were many strong individuals in Heian-kyō who could easily subdue her.
“Kagami Lily!” Sukeya shouted and pointed his rough finger at her forehead, “Speak the truth! Was it you who broke that vase?”
“Which vase?” Lily was inwardly relieved that they came to ask about the vase. It seemed that they hadn’t found out that the treasury was almost empty. Sukeya was not qualified to enter the treasury in the first place.
“Stop pretending! Of course, I’m referring to the big white vase at the entrance of the Artifacts Hall as well as many other large and small vases and utensils. Did you break them? Tell me the truth!” Sukeya pointed at Lily and yelled.
“Are you talking about the vases in the Artifacts Hall…?” Lily covered her mouth and blushed, “Well, they…”
“They what?! Hurry up and explain!” Ichijo’s beard quivered in anger as he stared and snapped his fan shut.
“They were accidentally broken when I was cleaning. I’m sorry.” Lily covered her blushing face and spoke in a low voice.
Lily didn’t intend to deny this incident. There were guards outside who heard the noise and she was the only one who entered and left at that time. Since she couldn’t deny her involvement, she might as well admit it honestly.
“Sure enough, it was really you! Do you think it’s enough just to say sorry?! Do you know how valuable those vases are, especially that big white vase?! Do you know what it was used for?!” Ichijo fumed.
“Ah, what could I do? Those vases didn’t have any mystical qualities; they were only ordinary vases. I am not good at cleaning and the room was dark and messy so I accidentally knocked over and broke a few vases. I also broke a few calligraphy and paintings but I’ll compensate for the loss!” Lily said in a carefree voice.
“What? You also broke paintings?!” Sukeya exploded with anger next to her.
“Compensation? That’s easy for you to say! That was a precious antique given by the previous emperor, Emperor Shirakawa. It was supposed to be a great gift for the current emperor’s birthday on behalf of the imperial palace. You little b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲, can you afford to pay for it? Do you have the money?” Ichijo chided.
“No,” Lily said with a despondent look, “I came from Kamakura and I spent almost all my money along the way, but you can charge it to my account first and I will pay you back in the future.”
“I have never seen a shameless woman such as yourself. You broke the vase that was to be given to the emperor, you have no remorse or fear, and you obviously can’t afford to pay. Yet, you are acting like a scoundrel.” Ichijo’s beard was shaking in anger.
“My Lord, let’s be clear. Who exactly is a scoundrel? I, Lily, have indeed broken your things, but I said that I will keep the account first and compensate you later. I really don’t have any money right now so how am I a scoundrel? Besides, aren’t you guys the ones responsible? I stated that I was a samurai from Eastern land but what did you do? Instead of allowing me to slay demons and serve the court, I was designated as Omnyo no Jojo. What kind of official is that? Is it even a rank? In fact, isn’t it just assigning me to clean? Is this a deliberate attempt to humiliate or tease me? I am a renowned individual in Eastern land and the lord of a territory. I am also proficient at killing demons and eliminating evil, but I have never cleaned or done housework since I was born, and I won’t! It is because you intentionally ostracized and made things difficult for me, forcing me to do something I’m not good at why this accident happened. Shouldn’t you accept responsibility for your mismanagement and negligence2?”
“B̲i̲t̲c̲h̲! Even an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to smash so many precious treasures in a single cleaning session! You are clearly disgruntled and vindictive!” Kujo yelled at Lily.
“I didn’t! I just wasn’t careful, what can I do? I didn’t mean to do it. Don’t throw accusations on me!” Lily’s words were true.
“Shut up!” Ichijo bellowed furiously, “Where did this little swine come from?! You have inflicted such a big disaster, yet you are unrepentant and show such an arrogant attitude, even going as far as to blame the lords! Someone, take this Kagamai… Kagami what again?”
“Kagami Lily, My Lord,” Sukeya informed.
“Someone, strip this Kagami Lily naked in front of the court and put her on the wooden platform for a heavy beating of two hundred lashes. Let’s see if she dares to be stubborn after that!”
Thump, thump, thump… Heavy footsteps sounded outside the door and a few men with mountain-like bodies and heads nearly reaching the ceiling came inside one by one. Because of their size, they wore loose robes. Their figures didn’t resemble those of typical samurai. They were all sumo wrestling fighters and their arms alone were thicker than Lily’s waist.
Two of the big men brought a heavy platform and put it in the middle of the room while the other two stamped over to catch Lily.
“Wait!” Lily shouted, “ My Lord, although I have broken your important antique, I have not broken any laws. I said I was not careful. What crime did I commit? Even if I made a mistake, isn’t it too much for you to strip me as a girl and beat me in front of so many men?
“Hmph, now you know how to be afraid? It’s too late. We don’t want the money or life of an arrogant little ***** like you. We will torture you until you become obedient first, then we will let you use your body to pay off the debt!” Ichijo said domineeringly.
“This…” Ichijo’s words sounded a bit too much even to Kujo who listened. Although they weren’t strangers to humiliating and lynching female onmyoji, it was a little shameful to say it so bluntly.
“My Lord, I will warn you one last time. Don’t let those pigs of yours touch me. I was introduced here by Lord Fujiwara no Ayaka!”
“Hmph, a s̲l̲u̲t̲ like you dare to bring up Chief Advisor to scare me? We’ll beat you to death for calling Chief Advisor’s name! Come on, strip her naked and beat her on this platform! Don’t show any mercy!” Ichijo ordered.
The two mighty sumo wrestlers grabbed Lily’s arm with their big hands and pulled on her yukata.
How could Lily allow these sumo wrestlers to touch her? She didn’t wait for her opponents to grab her clothes. She turned around and kicked one of them, recoiling back as fast as lightning.
Boom! Lily’s legs were taut and slender. Although she wasn’t wearing any shoes in the room, just the force from her bare feet sent the several hundred pound sumo wrestler flying like a giant sandbag.
The sumo wrestler who resembled a small mountain flew out before smashing through the wooden walls of the main hall, landing directly in the courtyard.
The other sumo wrestler tried to grab Lily’s clothes, but she arched back and leaned under him. She then grabbed his lapel with both hands and threw him over her shoulder with him barely even touching her!
Bam! He slammed into another big sumo wrestler and smashed right through the floor together3.
