Inuyasha’s Journey to Immortal

"Elders, my son has provided this important piece of information. According to family rules, shouldn't he be given a reward?"

Li Zhun, the "cheap old dad," spoke up in defense of his son.

Upon hearing this, the three clan elders exchanged glances and turned their attention to the young Li Xia.

"Young one, what would you like?"

The three elders had already decided—so long as the request wasn't excessive, they would agree to it.

Li Xia thought for a moment. First, he requested a reward for his father, as a way of repaying years of care and guidance. Then he made two main requests: to learn the art of contracting shikigami and to receive a large supply of spiritual liquid to support his cultivation. The latter was his true goal.

"You wish to learn the contract method for shikigami?"

One of the three elders frowned slightly.

Shikigami contracts were one of the core inheritances of the clan—an advanced spiritual technique meant to be used in conjunction with talismans. It had traditionally been restricted to prodigies from the main bloodline; collateral members weren't allowed to learn it.

However, the other two elders were straightforward and broke this rule without hesitation:

"Fine. As long as you can lead us to the Spirit-Worshipping Child Yokai, whether we succeed in capturing it or not, we will teach you the method for forming shikigami contracts."

"As for spiritual liquid—we'll provide you with a monthly supply of two 'fang' units. What do you think, young one?"

Why two fang?

It was in consideration of Li Xia's biological father and his three younger siblings—four people in total. Split evenly, that meant half a fang per person per month, granting their entire branch a minor main-line benefit.

Such a small expense was negligible.

"Thank you, elders."

Li Xia accepted with pleasure.

As a regular clan cultivator, he only received three jugs, or six liters, of spiritual liquid each month. Even with enhanced high-grade liquid, and even if he used it conservatively, it would only last a day and a half at most.

And that was when his mana reserves were still low and didn't require much to recover.

Once his cultivation advanced and his power surged, those six liters wouldn't last even half a day of intense training.

Thus, the two fang—a significant increase—were not something he planned to share with anyone, not even a drop.

"To avoid delays and complications, why don't we head to the island nation now to search for the Spirit-Worshipping Child Yokai?"

"Good lad."

The three elders grew even more impressed with Li Xia's decisiveness.

And so, that very afternoon, four figures—three elders and one youth—boarded a flight bound for the island nation.

Meanwhile—

Island Nation, Twilight Shrine.

A Li had just returned from the yokai world on the other side of the Bone-Eating Well. She immediately took her younger brother Souta and rushed to the home where his elementary school friend Satoru had once lived—and where a fire had broken out.

That home had once housed a family of three:

Ten-year-old Mayu, her eight-year-old brother Satoru, and their mother. The mother had single-handedly raised the two children through hardship and toil, holding the small family together.

But a few months earlier, a fire had struck.

Mayu had been burned alive in the closet of Satoru's bedroom.

This tragic death left Mayu's soul filled with grief and resentment, and she began to hate her frail, sickly brother. As time passed, her resentment only grew heavier, preventing her spirit from ascending—and binding her ghost to the human world.

During this time, a Spirit-Worshipping Child Yokai found her soul.

It played its calming flute to soothe her, hoping to help her let go and move on. Meanwhile, it silently protected the little girl, watching as she gradually approached the edge of the abyss.

"Souta, earlier you asked if your sister had seen an evil spirit, right?"

A Li asked while holding her younger brother's hand.

The little boy nodded:

"Yes, sis. I think Satoru's been possessed by an evil spirit."

"After the fire a few months ago, Satoru never woke up from his coma.

At first, our classmates used to visit him a lot, but then strange things started happening. Some of them fell down the stairs for no reason after visiting, and others almost got hit by cars after leaving the hospital. At first, nobody thought too much of it, but when it kept happening—every single person who visited him had bad luck—everyone got scared and stopped going."

Souta recounted what he had seen and heard.

He had nearly been hit by a car—an experience that left a lasting fear in his heart.

"Is that so…"

A Li fell silent for a moment, then asked again:

"Do you know what happened to Satoru's sister, Mayu?"

"A few months ago, their house caught fire. His sister was burned to death. I heard their mom only thought Satoru was home alone, and didn't know Mayu was hiding in the closet in his room. So when the fire started, their mom rushed home through the flames and saved Satoru, who had passed out from the smoke.

If she had known Mayu was there too, I'm sure she would've saved her as well…"

As they spoke, the siblings arrived at the building where the fire had happened.

"Sis, that's the place. Satoru's home is on the fifth floor."

"Mm."

A Li looked up, her eyes shimmering with worry.

But soon, her gaze grew firm with resolve.

After learning part of Mayu's story, she had already felt a strong desire to help the little girl—born from both sympathy and compassion.

Especially after hearing about the Spirit-Worshipping Child Yokai from Grandpa Myōga, the old flea demon who had survived over two thousand years in the yokai world. She learned that although this yokai appeared gentle and harmless, once it opened its eyes from its default closed-eye state, things wouldn't just stop at the girl being unable to ascend.

At that point, the out-of-control Spirit-Worshipping Child Yokai would drag the girl to hell.

That was not an outcome she could accept.

"Sis, that apartment is really weird too. Every time someone tries to repair it, an accident always happens. That's why even now, months later, the place still looks the same—burn marks everywhere, no change at all since the fire."

The next moment—

An accident happened.

A withered flowerpot suddenly floated off the balcony and dropped through the air, falling directly toward the siblings.

"Watch out!"

A Li shouted.

She immediately yanked her brother close, stepping quickly to the side and shielding him with her body.

"It's an evil spirit!"

Souta's face turned pale green with fright.

Then, his eyes rolled back and he "fainted" on the spot.

In truth, this was a practiced move he had used many times before.

Because whenever he pretended to be dead quickly enough, the "evil spirit" that liked causing accidents would leave him alone.

Clever as he was, Souta had visited Satoru more than anyone else—of course, he'd picked up a few tricks.

But A Li didn't know any of this and instead blamed herself for being careless:

"Souta…!"

As she shook her brother, who was lying motionless on the ground, a young girl dressed in a winter coat appeared beside her.

It was Mayu.

"Why did you do that?"

(End of Chapter)