CHAPTER 96 – THE DARK HEIAN-KYO (PART 1)

“What should we do?” Yuuta and Rika looked at the road to Kiyoszawa through the bushes, the road was completely surrounded by black armored troops and onmyoji. They did not dare intrude into the Kiyoszawa, but they also didn’t allow anyone to enter or exit.

There were many onmyoji who had set up detection formations, even if they transformed into dark armored troops, it would be hard to avoid detection.

Rika answered, “Since they framed Lady Ayaka for colluding with Lady Kimiko, they will naturally blockade this place!”

On that night, rumors of Ayaka colluding with monsters and other crimes had spread throughout the streets, and even though the court attempted to silence any information, Yuuta had already gotten word of the emperor’s abdication.

Only, he couldn’t couldn’t contact Lady Kimiko now.

“Lady Kimiko is at Suno now, even if we can escape Heian-kyo, how long would it take for us to reach Suno?” Yuuta complained.
“There’s another way, even if these troops blockade Lady Kimiko’s residence, they wouldn’t dare blockade Taira’s sacred relic, the Racoon Mita’s temple!” Rika said.
“That’s right! The Taira are powerful too, they remained on the sidelines, Minamoto no Yoritomo won’t dare provoke them at this point.”
“As long as we escape Heian-kyo, we can enter the temple as raccoons! Grandpa won’t be there, but we can use the teleportation array to reach grandpa! Grandpa will have a method to contact Lady Kimiko! Just… with Heian-kyo so tightly guarded, how do we get out?”
Yuuta thought a bit, “ Let me think a bit, I’ve lived in Heian-kyo for so long, there should be a method…”

……

Suno.

Crickets and birds chirped throughout the mountains and forests.

Uesugi Rei practiced her swordsmanship in the night, each swing was exquisite, but unlike the past, there was less arrogance. She stabbed her long sword to the side and leaned against a tree breathing heavily.

She shook her head feeling out of place, ever since she discovered that Lily’s strength far surpassed her, she had fallen into deep confusion. She was no weakling, but she no longer had the power to fight beside Lily… and at that battle level, Lily no longer needed her.

Besides failing to assassinate Shuten Doji, Rei had never had a loss in battle. But now… she doubted herself.

She had always seen Lily as her little sister, a little sister with extraordinary talent! But how did she improve so fast, and Rei had the feeling that the speed of Lily’s progress was getting faster! If this continued then the gap between them would only increase.

Of course, she knew Lily wasn’t the type of girl to care about such things, but she couldn’t not care.

“Sister Uesugi?” Lily’s voice came from behind the ancient tree.

At this moment, Rei didn’t really want to meet Lily, she was unsure of how to treat her. Should she treat Lily as her delicate little sister, or a peerless expert? This inner confusion was making her feel at loss. She couldn’t pretend to still be that arrogant absolute big sister.

“Lily… did something happen?” Unable to figure out how to treat Lily, Rei came off a bit indifferent.

Sensitive as she was, Lily could feel Rei’s attitude and got worried. “Sister Uesugi, did something happen in that battle? Are you ok?”

“Ahaha, with my physique, how could there be anything?”
“Sister… is there something on your mind? Can I do something to help?”
“No, I was only a bit confused during my sword practice. You don’t need to worry, you’ve done plenty already, go rest.”
“If it’s a problem about swordsmanship, we can learn from each other. Sister also practices the celestial maiden path right? I have a really powerful sword skill, it’s called…”

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“Lily, no.” Rei shook her head before turning away. “We all have our own methods and paths. You have your methods, I have my own.”

“Sister Uesugi…”

Looking back, Rei caught Lily’s hand, “Lily, some secrets should be kept secret. I also have secrets I’ve never told you, but not because I don’t trust you, as a samurai, have dignity and respect for the path that you have been walking.”

It seems that Rei also has secret methods of practice, otherwise her strength would not improve so fast, but it seems a bit slower than her own improvement speed. In fact, the improvements of other adepts like Hatano and Nakajou were also unbelievably fast.

“I understand.” Lily might worry over Rei, but she knew that she should respect her sister’s decision. If there was no clear danger, then she should understand her place as a younger sister.

Smart women would not attempt to control everything, even if they knew that they were correct, they would still accept other points of views.

Lily’s soul had accepted feminization, she felt that she needed to learn how to be a real good woman and could not decide everything with her original masculine mentality unless it was for the safety of her sisters.

The Tsukuyomi swordstyle suited Lily the most, but Rei had practiced swordsmanship for many years, changing midway might not be best, in the past hadn’t she learned that from Shimizu?

Also, if Rei lost her arrogance and pride, was that still the same Rei? Only by following one’s heart could one reach the ranks of the foremost experts.

If Rei wanted to learn, then as long as the ancient will of the mirror allowed, then Lily would pass on the teachings without reservation, but if Rei wanted to walk her own path, then Lily would understand.

“Sister Uesugi, actually there’s an important item I need to give you, but I forgot due to the situation.”
“What item?”

Lily pulled out the Bishamonten relic from her mirror space, she had discovered this item in the ancient battlefield she had accidentally entered when fleeing from Ibaraki Doji.

Of course, since Bishamonten’s current status was unknown so Lily could not be certain this was a relic, but knowing that Rei was her daughter, then she would naturally hand it over.

“This is…” When Rei’s eyes landed on the ancient jewelry box, her eyes misted over as if remembering childhood memories…
“Sister Uesugi, I found this by chance in an ancient Tanba battlefield. This belonged to Lady Bishamonten.”
Rei trembled as she stared at the wooden box, “This, this really is mother’s belongings!”

She opened the box and within, there were several pieces of jewelry that Rei could still remember, her eyes moistened as she quickly covered the box to prevent herself from losing control of her emotions.

Seeing this, Lily understood, Rei didn’t want to lose control in front of her. If her sister needed comfort, then she could hug her, but Rei needed to be alone now…

“Sister Uesugi, I… I’ll go check up on Lady Kimiko, I don’t think her injuries have healed much, I’m a bit worried.”
“Mmm…” Rei nodded, not looking at Lily, she didn’t want her face to be seen.
Just as Lily turned and left, Rei whispered out, “Lily… thank you1.”

Lily smiled warmly, nodded and left.

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……

Yuuta and Rika snuck their way to the southern gate of Heian-kyo, the western gate was the territory of the Toukan, and the most guarded sector since the chief advisor’s mansion was there. The raccoons dared not exit on that side so they stuck to the south.

The southern gate was the main gate of Heian-kyo, this gate had the most people entering and exiting, it might be the easiest to escape here. Just as they approached the gigantic southern gate, the gate slowly opened.

“What? It might be an extended night, but the gate shouldn’t open at this time.” Yuuta had only planned on coming over early to observe the situation.
“I don’t know much about Heian-kyo’s matters.” Rika shook her head.

But beyond the great gate, there was only darkness.

One row consisted of nearly a hundred men, and a continuous flow black armored troops marched into Heian-kyo, almost filling up the entire Suzaku Avenue!

Under the curtain of night, the black armored army was endless, their footsteps shaking the earth.

Yuuta and Rika hid in the corner and watched the army march in. Each troop wore a terrifying demon mask, and beneath those masks were eyes that shone with inhuman glimmers. Their bodies radiated a darker aura than that of the Rokuhara army.

Just a single black armored troop made Yuuta’s heart tremble, and in this army, the number of black armored troops was endless! Endless!

“This… What army is this! Are they human? Or monsters?” Yuuta was petrified.
“Look at those flags.”

The endless black armored army were holding black flags, and each flag had a dark golden Gentiana flower emblem.

“The Genji army???”
“When did the Genji have such a terrifying creepy army? Where did they come from?”

……

In the dark, gloomy shogun’s palace.

Minamoto no Yoritomo, Genji generals, a few Taira generals and the Fujiwara representatives had gathered in the dark hall.

“Lord Shogun!” A black clad soldier reported, “The army has entered Heian-kyo.”
“Army?? What army?” The gathered people were puzzled and surprised.

Yoritomo slowly answered, “The chief advisor rebelled, colluded with the demon fox and conspired against the heavens. It is difficult to suppress her just with the people in the capital. I have mobilized some old subordinates from Kanto and built a secret army over the years. Three hundred thousand to pay respect to Prince Narinaga.”

“What!??”
“Three hundred thousand???”
“Why is there such a large army in Kanto???”

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The group was terrified!

References

Robinxen: This was a nice scene.