Chapter 208: Jia Ji

Damn it!

The young girl cursed in her heart. The roaring wind surged in her ears. Her jet-black, satin-like crow wings, which she took such pride in, vibrated at high speed. She flew by riding the wind, leaving even the sound far behind her. The air distorted due to the overly intense vibrations.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

The young girl repeated in her heart once more. Her rapid dash almost turned her into a black bolt of lightning. She was originally a spirit of the wind; no one had ever been able to rival her in pure speed. But that monster behind her had already left her without even the spare energy to maintain her elegance.

Why can't I shake him off no matter how much I accelerate!!!

Whoosh!

The young girl's afterimage skimmed over the surface of the Xuanwu Swamp, bringing with it a "Divine Wind."

It was not the kind of breeze that makes one feel refreshed, nor was it a gale strong enough to destroy small or medium-sized towns. Instead, it was a gale pulled into a straight line, highly condensed like a wind blade. Its tyrannical cutting force kicked up two water walls several zhang high on the surface, extending for hundreds of meters.

Several small heads wrapped in lotus leaves poked out cautiously from the water. They had been curious about what was happening above the water and were observing in secret when they were swept up by the raging waves, flying backward like cannonballs.

"So scary, so scary, so scary..."

The unlucky kappa and the young girl, who was currently desperate to escape, screamed in panic at the same time.

The sensitive skin of the Crow Tengu girl could feel that behind her, someone was advancing with speed and momentum beyond imagination, even more—

Fast.

Swish. The young girl, who had entered a state of mental focus and was pouring her heart into her speed, suddenly turned deathly pale, for she heard a sentence coming from a position within arm's reach of her ear.

"Caught you."

Even the atmosphere vibrated because of it. Like a giant white heron bird of prey swooping down to catch a small bird, five iron-like fingers grabbed the young girl's slender, fair ankle.

"Clench your teeth—! Beidou Great Whirlwind!"

Boom!

Jia Ji actually lifted her up directly while she maintained her original posture of flying forward at high speed, and the Crow Tengu, who hadn't yet reacted, was swung around with a whistle!

A huge centrifugal force was transmitted.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... The violent airflow used Jia Ji as the eye of the wind, forming a massive tornado pillar.

Silence.

The world spun, and the entire world before her eyes became blurred. The young girl's consciousness fell into a coma due to the intense rotation.

Several small things resembling children, who had been blown to the shore by the previous water waves, shook their heads fiercely. Although they were drenched from the water, they didn't seem much more sober, staring blankly at the person who was abusing the Tengu Lord who had once been high above in the sky.

Then, their eyes gradually became filled with horror.

What had they seen?

—"A dress."

Amidst Jia Ji's fast and violent rotating swings, it seemed as if even space itself had shattered in that instant!

The afterimages filling the sky gradually stabilized, stopped, and then transformed!

"It's just like..." the little kappa lolis muttered to themselves.

"A piece of clothing!"

——————

"Ugh... I can't take it anymore, it's so uncomfortable! My head is going to split!"

When the young girl regained consciousness, Jia Ji's thoroughly malicious smile was deeply imprinted in her mind like a silhouette.

Even though she still wanted to flee, the aftereffects had already left her with a splitting headache and seeing stars; she couldn't fly at all anymore. Both wings felt as if they didn't exist, her balance was completely lost, and her whole body felt as painful as if it had been crushed by a Wheel Monk hundreds of times.

"Hehehehehehehehe... Caught you, didn't I? Miss Shameimaru Aya?"

The clear sky was blocked by Jia Ji's body, causing a black shadow to cover half of the face that was looking down at the little Crow Tengu. His eyelids drooped slightly, making that already fierce face look even more terrifying, and his whole person exuded a sinister aura.

"Wha, what did you do?"

Although this little Crow Tengu, who had just regained consciousness, was in a mess, Jia Ji had still held back and hadn't completely broken her. It was just that she wished she were still unconscious and didn't have to face reality.

Counting the entire Mount Yatsugatake, the future Mountain of Yokai, there was only one Crow Tengu who was as cute as her, overflowing with a unique eccentric temperament from the inside out, fond of peeping, and slippery—the upright and incorruptible (doubtful) reporter, Shameimaru Aya!

Even from her appearance, one could tell.

She looked young, about 1.5 meters tall, with jet-black wings, short flowing hair, and a small red hexagonal hat on her head. Two white fluffy balls hung from both sides of the hat. She wore a black dress with leaf patterns and stepped on the red wooden geta unique to Tengu—if it wasn't Aya, who wasn't yet a reporter a thousand years ago, who else could it be?

As for Himekaidou Hatate?

Who is that? I don't know that child.

Fun fact: the Shameimaru Aya before us, who looked like a youthful and beautiful girl, was actually a great yokai thousands of years old even after Gensokyo was established. She was just one of the few who succeeded in acting young because she had long maintained her vibrant, death-defying behavior.

"Heh, hehe..."

The young girl chuckled. If she had known that she would be attacked by an unknown person just for going out to gather material...

Fu-kuda—!

Looking with a pained heart at the crow feathers scattered all over the ground, which would take at least a few years of effort to grow back, the young girl's brain began to spin at high speed, carefully organizing her words.

"That..."

Shameimaru Aya seemed to want to use her eloquence to make this terrifying man let her go... Although Tengu had always been arrogant, the gap in strength was still obvious. Those who know the times are heroes, after all.

A Crow Tengu's life is a life too!

Shameimaru Aya had no doubt that if they really fought, ten of her would probably be wiped out by this person with one hand.

"It is said that there is a special dance passed down among the Tengu clan. I wonder if you could dance it for us to see."

Before the Crow Tengu girl could speak, the guy, who had both the scent of a yokai and the aura of a human, and who looked like a member of the Oni tribe, spoke up and made some strange request that caused her brain to crash.

"Hey!"

A pleasant but displeased female voice came from the side. Shameimaru Aya looked in the direction of the sound, and what came into view was a blonde beauty holding a folding fan in one hand and biting her silver teeth... But what was most eye-catching was that she was sitting on a crack in space, and inside the pitch-black crack were countless blood-red eyeballs.

The little Crow Tengu, who was not yet an adult among the Tengu, felt her heart tremble violently, remembering the dangerous figure the elders in the clan had warned about: the Yokai Sage, 【Yakumo Yukari】.

"Aren't you here to subdue the Tengu? Why are you playing with a brat?"

"Yukari, you don't understand... You have to catch a puppy early; it'll be hard to catch later."

After Shameimaru Aya heard that name, a thought immediately rose in her heart—it really is the Yokai Sage, I'm done for!

(End of chapter)