Inuyasha’s Journey to Immortal

He had planned for everything—except this.

Li Xia had never expected that the three clan elders would even be interested in the soul of the human girl, Mayu, and had no intention of letting her go!

Watching helplessly as Mayu was dragged away by magical chains and sealed into a spirit talisman—transformed into a hard cardboard card etched with her likeness—Li Xia felt a swirl of emotions.

His original goal had simply been to use the intel about the Chong Yao Child Spirit to trade for permission to learn the contracting method for shikigami from the clan's higher-ups.

After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world!

The shikigami contract technique was one of the core arts reserved for main bloodline members. As someone from a branch family, he would need to render significant contributions to even qualify.

"Elders, this little girl…"

Li Xia, feeling a twinge of guilt, couldn't help but speak up.

The three elders seemed to have expected this. One of them patted Li Xia's shoulder and said:

"So you're still a kind-hearted kid!

But you must understand, in this Dharma-declining age, a ghost that can survive for several months without dispersing has immense potential! If we contract and tame her as a shikigami for the clan, it would unquestionably add another trump card to our strength. At our level, every action we take must be for the clan's long-term benefit.

How could we possibly pass up such an opportunity to enrich our legacy?"

"Besides, don't think that turning her into a shikigami is unfair to this little girl!

First off, you need to understand that the reason this little ghost's soul could survive so long is entirely due to the protection of the Chong Yao Child Spirit! Now that we've captured the spirit, this girl has lost her main source of spiritual support. Even if we didn't seal her, she'd quickly fade into nothingness—completely and irreversibly!

By capturing her and contracting her alongside the Chong Yao Child Spirit, we're giving her a second life!"

This was, in fact, one of the hidden abilities of the Chong Yao Child Spirit.

Its true value lay in this dual nature—it could soothe the souls of deceased children, helping them release their grudges and ascend, or protect and preserve their spirits, shielding them from other demons.

"Second, her resentment is incredibly strong. Even after months of hearing the Chong Yao Child Spirit's soul-soothing melodies, she still couldn't let go. That means she's already turned into a malevolent spirit and is highly unlikely to ascend on her own! If left unchecked, she will undoubtedly bring harm!"

"Kid, you probably have no idea just how destructive an evil spirit can be."

"Even if she has only a short time left, an unrestrained evil spirit like her could easily destroy a town with tens of thousands of people! We were only able to capture her so easily because the Chong Yao Child Spirit had already sealed her powers. Branch family kid, do you want to risk watching Tokyo suffer massive devastation just because this spirit unleashes her wrath before she disappears?"

Their explanation left Li Xia without a retort.

Could he tell them that in the original story, Mayu had managed to let go of her resentment and ascend thanks to Ali's help?

He couldn't!

He couldn't guarantee that this version of Mayu—now separated from the Chong Yao Child Spirit and far removed from the original storyline—would quietly wait to fade away after gaining brief freedom. Who knew if she might try to drag innocent people down with her?

He wasn't some carefree monster; he wasn't willing to carry the karmic consequences of that.

As the three elders and Li Xia spoke, the room—previously consumed by supernatural flames—quickly returned to its ruined, fire-scarred state.

All anomalies vanished.

Having completed their hunt, the four of them returned the way they came by car.

…

Elsewhere—

Ali, being carried by Inuyasha, was leaping swiftly between rooftops.

Their destination: the house where Mayu had died in the fire.

But just as they came within a certain range of Li Xia and the others, Ali's expression suddenly changed.

"What's wrong, Ali?"

Inuyasha sensed something was off and asked.

Ali looked startled and confused:

"Inuyasha, I sensed the presence of a Shikon Jewel shard!"

"A Shikon shard? There are shards in your world too? Or… is it one of the ones you lost?"

Inuyasha stopped atop a rooftop.

Ali thought for a moment and replied:

"I shattered the Jewel with a sacred arrow in the Sengoku era, across from the Bone-Eater's Well—it's impossible for those shards to appear here in the modern world! As far as I know, only you and I can travel through the well. Not even Shippo, Granny Kaede, or the villagers can pass through it.

So… the shard I sensed just now shouldn't be one of the ones I lost."

The reason she said this was simple: she had lost six shards, but Li Xia was carrying seven.

More importantly, she wanted to keep Inuyasha focused—she needed his help to get to Mayu's house and help the girl ascend before she fell into hell.

As for the Jewel shards? They wouldn't disappear—they'd run into them again sooner or later.

That was the well-intentioned lie she chose to tell.

Sure enough, after confirming that it wasn't one of their missing shards, Inuyasha's focus returned to Mayu—and he sped up. Twice as fast.

Originally, had Inuyasha been chasing at full speed, they would have inevitably run into each other. But one group was in the north heading southeast, while the other was in the south heading southwest. To make matters worse, Li Xia and the three elders were speeding away in a private car—naturally, the distance between the two groups only grew.

By the time Inuyasha and Ali arrived at Mayu's former home, they found that both the Chong Yao Child Spirit and Mayu were already gone.

Trying to find Li Xia at that point was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Oh, right—Ali, how were you so sure that the Shikon Jewel shard you sensed earlier wasn't one of the ones we lost?"

Inuyasha finally thought to ask.

Ali blinked and replied sheepishly:

"Because we lost six shards… but that person was carrying seven."

Upon hearing this, Inuyasha nearly exploded on the spot:

"You idiot woman, are you kidding me?! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

If he had known that the other person had seven Shikon shards, and not just one as he initially assumed, he never would've come to Mayu's house. He would've gone straight after the shard-holder instead!

Ali quickly changed the subject:

"Inuyasha, do you think Mayu ascended to heaven… or was taken to hell by the Chong Yao Child Spirit?"

"How should I know?"

Inuyasha huffed, clearly still annoyed.

He didn't want to deal with this foolish woman at all.

…

Back at the hospital—

Mayu's mother had already regained consciousness and was staying by her son Xiao Wu's side.

Right at the moment when Mayu was sealed into the mid-grade Spirit Sealing Talisman, Xiao Wu slowly woke up.

With his vengeful spirit sister's influence gone, he was finally able to wake up—something that should've happened months ago.

However, his memories were still stuck at the moment of the fire and his unconsciousness.

And the first words out of his mouth were:

"Mom! Hurry and save Sis! She's still in the wardrobe in my room after the fire started!"

His mother, hearing that, felt a sharp sting in her nose as tears welled up and she held her son tightly. The nearby nurse, who had just rushed in, stood silently, unsure what to say.

Xiao Wu…

He had always been weak and sickly, requiring constant care, which had made his mother devote more attention to him—and that in turn had triggered Mayu's jealousy.

After a quarrel between mother and daughter, Xiao Wu kindly warned his sister not to dry her scarf on the heater, only to be scolded by her. The result was the fire and the tragedy that followed.

Afterward, Mayu had caused constant disruptions—removing his IV, for example—keeping him in a coma for months.

Yet, upon waking, Xiao Wu held no resentment. His first instinct was to blurt out that his sister was still in the wardrobe, desperate to have someone save her.

"It's alright, Xiao Wu… everything's over now."

His mother's shoulders trembled slightly.

"…Mom?"

Xiao Wu blinked in confusion.

…

Back at their residence—

Li Xia led the three elders to a quiet chamber.

There, the three elders worked for a long while, eventually constructing an altar and preparing two shikigami shrines.

Following a series of meticulous steps, the Chong Yao Child Spirit and Mayu—now considered a minor vengeful spirit—were ceremonially purified and placed into the shrines. Finally, both shrines were sealed once again into intricate spirit talismans.

This time, it was different from before.

Whereas the previous versions of the Chong Yao Child Spirit and Mayu's faces—displayed on the talisman cards—had been full of rage and resentment, with the Chong Yao Child Spirit's eyes wide and ferocious, now both appeared calm and peaceful. The Chong Yao Child Spirit had even closed its eyes again.

Around the edges of the talismans, outlines of the shrine structures had also appeared, giving the cards an air of mystery.

By the time they were done, dawn had broken and the night quietly passed.

"Young man from the branch family," said the head elder, "you've done well this time. Take these five mid-grade Spirit Sealing Talismans as your reward."

Earlier, he had noticed the way Li Xia had looked longingly at his thick stack of talismans. Since that was the case, it cost little to casually reward him with a few.

"Oh, and I'll also give you the method for crafting Spirit Sealing Talismans, along with the blueprints for building the altar and shinigami shrine you saw in the chamber. But know this—this knowledge is a core family secret. You must never pass it on to outsiders—even to your father or siblings…

Unless, of course, they render contributions as great as yours.

Do you understand?"

"Thank you, Elder!"

After a long night, the three elders were finally exhausted and went to their respective guest rooms to rest.

As for Li Xia, he was too excited to sleep.

(End of Chapter)

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