Chapter 73

Having experienced the events of last night, Koizumi Akako seemed much bolder.

She furrowed her small brow as she looked at the corpse hanging above and the wall with a large hole broken through it.

"It doesn't look like the Mist Tengu did this."

Akaso Kaze looked at the monks with their varied expressions, then looked up at the corpse, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

A Mist Tengu, you say? **CHAPTER 195**

He scanned the surroundings with his Eye of Space and, sure enough, discovered a soul.

It was clinging to a fragment of a wooden board.

He casually collected it into his space.

The old head monk’s soul was now in his hands.

"In my opinion, we should call the police."

Akaso Kaze had no intention of dealing with this matter.

This old lecher deserved to die.

Inside the soul space, the old head monk’s soul was instantly swollen with rage.

*Sizzle.*

Magic power absorption was just so satisfying.

Leaving the temple, the two walked along the mountain road with umbrellas, looking less like they were there to exorcise demons and more like they were on an outing.

Above the cliffs, cherry blossom trees appeared somewhat eerie under the moonlight.

A gust of wind blew, sending pink cherry blossom petals dancing through the air, drifting into the shimmering, silvery water, and flowing downstream along the rushing torrent of the waterfall.

This poetic and picturesque scenery created a strange atmosphere between the two.

Passing through the small cherry blossom forest, further in was just ordinary mountain woods.

In this dense forest, the streams gradually became murky, and the slopes grew steep.

This was an area that ordinary tourists rarely ventured into, as there was truly no scenery worth admiring here.

A repressive, gloomy atmosphere hung about, and the damp air made one's skin feel uncomfortable.

Coupled with the legend of the Mist Tengu of Shanni Temple, which hinted that a terrifying creature lurked within these remote mountains, ordinary people dared not risk entering.

Of course, except for those who styled themselves "explorers."

Ever since news of the Mist Tengu's sightings spread, many had entered this mountain area with a sense of curiosity.

In fact, the vast majority of those who dared to take the risk did not believe in its existence deep down.

In this era of rapid technological development, humanity's sense of awe toward nature was gradually diminishing.

Without sufficient awe, they naturally dared to take risks and enjoyed doing so.

However, even under the light, shadows would breed.

If they knew that some strange creature like the Mist Tengu truly existed in the depths of the dense forests on these peaks, perhaps their "professional spirit" would vanish.

"Akako, don't you mages have divination magic?" Akaso Kaze asked.

He was a bit curious.

Logically, if he could learn divination magic, it meant other mages should be able to as well.

Why did it seem from Koizumi Akako's tone that no one knew how?

"I heard that before the Age of Dharma Decline, it existed, but that kind of magic requires a massive amount of magic power."

"Given the current level of magic power in the world, even after cultivating for decades, a mage with sufficient magic power still couldn't do it, so everyone has to rely on magic tools to perform divination or prediction."

"I used to have a mirror that could be used to divine a general location, but I don't know what happened; it shattered."

"I came to catch the Mist Tengu this time specifically to refine a crystal ball."

"The mist on the Mist Tengu's body can refract scenes from afar; it is the main material for refining a crystal ball."

Akaso Kaze frowned.

Is divination magic that difficult?

Then how did I manage to do it?

I didn't feel any strain at all when casting it.

"By the way, there is a rumor among mages recently."

Koizumi Akako suddenly remembered something.

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"If one can cultivate both soul and space magic simultaneously, they can open a soul space, connect to another world, and thereby obtain a constant stream of magic power."

"For such a mage, casting divination magic is as simple as eating a meal."

"If only I had that kind of ability."

Halfway through her sentence, Koizumi Akako suddenly froze.

She remembered that her magic mirror had shattered quite strangely at the time.

It looked very much like it had been burst by an overload of magic power.

Koizumi Akako quickly shook her head again.

How could that be?

A mage capable of bursting a magic mirror would have to be at least an intermediate mage.

The number of intermediate mages in the entire world could be counted on one's fingers.

They were all old and ugly; where would one find someone who could make a magic mirror call them handsome?

The surroundings were heavy with curtains of rain.

In the stream below the cliff.

A mass of something resembling mist floated slowly on the water's surface; if one didn't look closely, it looked just like a ball of cotton.

The cotton drifted slowly toward the riverbank.

Raindrops fell from the sky, but when they landed on the cotton, they disappeared, and the cotton's size gradually expanded as it was drenched, growing larger and larger.

In the curtain of rain, the cotton grew human-like hands and dog-like hind legs.

As the mist gathered, a hideous head appeared, its nose like a long spear, and two eye sockets glowing with blood-red light.

Suddenly, the monster's mouth opened, sucking in the surrounding falling raindrops in one gulp.

Its figure expanded once more, a beast-like roar issued from its mouth, a pair of short, misty wings grew from its back, and with a spring of its four limbs, it flew into the air.

Deep in the forest, the birds and beasts that had been lively during the day fell silent in an instant, then huddled in their nests, shivering.

In the mountains and forests, several young adventurers were walking.

They were laughing and joking: "By the way, according to the legends of Shande County, the Mist Tengu seems to appear in the rain! Do you think we'll run into the Mist Tengu?"

"Hahaha! Stop joking! It's very inappropriate to make such jokes at a time like this. What if the Mist Tengu really comes... Ah? What's going on?"

Before this person could finish speaking, the umbrella in their hand was suddenly knocked away.

Several people looked up, and then they all froze.

In the air, a monster's head, fully half a person's height and made of condensed mist, leaned down. On the head, a pair of eyes as large as light bulbs and crimson in color stared at the group.

Suddenly, the monster's mouth opened, snatched up one of them, and with a jolt of its body, leaped into a tree.

"Ah, help, help me." The person snatched into the air screamed in terror.

"W-what is this thing?!"

"Mon-monster! This, this is a monster! It's a monster!"

"It's the Mist Tengu! It's the legendary Mist Tengu! It really exists!"

"No! I don't want to die! Don't kill me!"

"Oh, it's appeared!"

Akaso Kaze suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Ever since leaving the temple, he had been casting a divination spell every so often.

But the arrow pointing to the target had never appeared.

Until just now, when the arrow suddenly appeared.

"Where is it?"

Koizumi Akako immediately perked up.

"Over there."

Because they were on a mountain peak, the view was very clear.

Through the Eye of Space, Akaso Kaze could clearly see where the arrow was pointing.

On the mountainside, a place shrouded in thick fog was flickering with a faint light.

It looks like this monster isn't very powerful.