Hell Doctor

"Whoo! This sake is some good shit!" Meioshi cheered, downing one good cup.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DRINK THAT!" the Green Pheasant shouted, snatching the vase filled with shojo sake away from the good doctor.

The Green Pheasant was not happy about Kako Seigi's sudden appearance and mission for his beloved friend, and he definitely didn't appreciate Captain Yoshiaga calling her. However, the father in him wouldn't let Hasumi lose her chance at a second life with a whole family again. He had been watching over the little girl ever since Meioshi had become her guardian. The little one seemed to enjoy living in Heiwa and somehow adopted Liuxian and his family as her own. Captain Yoshiaga was able to set the Fukuyama clan free from the objects that bound them including the soldier that was trapped within the akashita demon, but it had come to his ATTENTION that MEIOSHI - lovable, mischievous, and lax Meioshi - had promised to purify the whole of Susu-harai! Now, that wouldn't be a problem if it didn't require borrowing the waters of the dragon kingdom! Hence the problem! Because the chosen warriors of a particular dragon clan were one of the most ancient warrior clans to date and one of the strongest holy warriors within the Web of Divine Might! And she just stole their waters and sake!

Oh, it doesn't stop there either. Because Meioshi was introducing Kinzo and Kishi to new training under Kako Seigi, Meioshi had to be tested quite harshly to evaluate her new level of strength. She violated a grand law by battling a goddess of the High Court, but this would have been punishable by death only if she remained connected to the Web of Divine Might. In having a new patron and being bonded to a Hell King, she might be spared due to such an unusual circumstance. Consequences of this act were unknown right now, but that was just one of many problems that the Green Pheasant was panicking about in his family's old library. He finally developed enough courage to remove most of the Pheasant family's belongings out of this in-between archival once he became close friends to Meioshi and just before wedding Madame. Save for one large book, which he had simply forgotten about, his greenness was perusing through the old laws in search of an answer. Things were changing quite rapidly, and the Old Laws of the Grand Guardian Spirits might be the only viable source to understanding what's going on. Worst of all, his sworn enemy, King Shanwang, might have been onto something all along. Something was different about the hell travelers, especially young Meioshi. Their lives were so specific to the needs of the three known worlds and most of the in-betweens. Their roles surrounding this holy warrior clan was equally as specific but also part of the change. You would be a fool to believe that nothing mattered in their world.

The Green Pheasant was also not happy about what Kyujo-sha had told him at the Circle. The true spouse of the hell traveler, or at least Teruya's successor according to his vision, had shown face. What did Kyujo-sha mean by the new spouse having help from the gods themselves? Why did he smile so brightly about it? More worrisome than not, what did he mean by a shift in power renders life anew? This shift was concerning. There's no smiling here! Meioshi's fate was getting closer by the day. How could the gods be so cruel to this bright and cheerful girl? How could everyone be so - ? Was he just afraid of losing his friend that much?

Meioshi was blushing and smiling from the pleasurable taste as she sat in the abandoned temple connecting Heiwa to the village of dragon warriors through a closed portal. Meioshi then asked, "I wonder if I should've stolen their rice. It looked good."

"... I'm not entertaining this," the Green Pheasant said, turning away from his friend to walk over to his reading pedestal.

"But pheasant!" Meioshi whined cutely.

"Get rid of the pout. You're not manipulating me into helping you commit more crimes against the dragon warriors. You're lucky the daimyo didn't kill you," the Green Pheasant scoffed.

"Well, he was being mean to me!" Meioshi whined, scooching up to the pheasant like a small, punished animal.

"And you thought stealing was the best way to handle him?" the Green Pheasant lectured, not turning away from his book's pages. "How can someone so mischievous be so pure of heart? Makes no sense!"

"Oh! Loadeth alas!" Meioshi mumbled with a pout as she flopped onto her stomach and simply waited for the pheasant.

"Young lady, language!"

"Oh, fine!" Meioshi replied with her pout. "Will you tell me what exactly we're searching at your old stomping grounds at least?"

"I've many questions on my heart that this book might tell me since no one else seems to have an answer," the Green Pheasant replied, finding something of interest. "And, of course, it's in riddle format. Do old people not know how to simply speak their minds?"

"Oh, go on! You used to speak in riddles, too!"

"That was to keep you busy so you'd stop harassing your parents with your plethora of scientific questions. I've always been to the point with your family. Especially you!" the Green Pheasant argued, turning sharply to the good doctor. "Captain Yoshiaga requested very specific liquids that concerned me, and his stubbornness refused to explain why. This book might be able to explain at least the necessity of his requests."

"There's a beast at the wastelands that typically cleans up the place. When Tadamasa brought me there, the waters were full of sludge. It was almost like a swamp. Apparently, it used to be a splendid place. Captain Yoshiaga enjoyed sailing through wind and water to speak to other spirits like him. The negative emotions and feelings left behind corrupted the place. In exchange for helping me with the Fukuyama clan, I agreed to make his world the way he remembered it with the added gift of being able to enter the mortal realm through the hell travelers' estate. He won't be able to leave Niji Shaku, but he can at least have a new destination to travel and collect or aid spirits like him as he traverses from the in-between to the living realm. It's like making limbo part of heaven, and... I believe he will be one of the greatest additions to the Soul Carriers' Road."

"... So, you're repurposing him as a soul carrier instead of an in-between lord?" the Green Pheasant asked.

"He cared about that soldier who was trapped in the akashita demon's body as a close friend. I believe he enjoys sailing because he gets to make new friends and show them that the afterlife doesn't have to be torturous. He's no different than the gods of the treasure boat," Meioshi explained very calmly and with a soft smile.

The Green Pheasant said nothing in response to her words and merely looked at his friend. Chimes rang. Pages started turning on their own. He looked at his book again and noticed that the book went directly to information about dragon waters. He then said, "Interesting."

"Found something, my friend?"

"Besides another damn riddle, yes. The dragon waters that you actually need to purify Yoshiaga's territory have to come from your grandfather's old friends, not from this warrior clan. The water that you stole are transformation waters typically gifted to those who are pure of heart or who are believed to have dragon DNA or power within them. It's like an enhancer for other dragons. Your family's crest has the dragon scale as a shield guarding the three worlds, but Arimasa had the Dragon Eyes since birth. I didn't see him drink their waters, but I'm wondering if the dragon warrior clan actually gave him their waters when he was training under Kokina Hoshi. Perhaps that's why he was turned into a sea dragon after the funeral! That woman who took a liking to you after you helped deliver the baby gifted you with the waters and the sake. I think they let you escape. They can sense your connection to Arimasa, or they believe you are one of them by some other means."

"Oh! I do have the snow sword now. It's power comes from a dragon. I'm very much human! I have no such DNA in me," Meioshi said with confidence.

"... Young lady, did you drink the water?" the Green Pheasant asked, turning with displeasure in his face.

"Uuhhh..."

"Meioshi."

"I mean, what does drink even mean, you know?" Meioshi asked, laughing nervously under the pheasant's gaze.

"WHY DID YOU DRINK IT!?"

"I got thirsty!" Meioshi whined. "And they offered it to me! Look! I'm still human, though, right?"

The Green Pheasant flopped on his back and cried. "First the water, then the sake."

"But I didn't have any rice! Yoshiaga just wanted the water, remember?"

"You have to solve this stupid riddle to get access to the rice. Since you DRANK EVERYTHING, you'll probably have the ability to smell it or something," the Green Pheasant informed.

"... Does rice milk count?" Meioshi regrettably asked.

The Green Pheasant inhaled deeply before answering, "The riddle is simple. A halo surrounding, walls of crystal reaching, a tongue of treasure stretching in many directions. Like a compass, I can possess arms that lead you wherever your heart wishes to go. Long I have stood but I never drift away. A creature that can run but never walk, have a mouth but never talk, have a head that never weeps, and a bed that never sleeps goes its way above me. What am I beneath the creature? Where must you go should you meet it?"

"What's that glittery stuff coming out of the book, Pheasant?" Meioshi asked.

"HOPEFULLY, A SHOE TO POP YOUR ARSE!" The Green Pheasant roared.