Monkey Face

I had a spare weapon, the White Wolf Warhammer, but I had given it to Ashin in exchange for the Oil Generator Tube. I also had my mountain knife as a spare weapon, but that weapon only worked against weak yōma.

“Kou, how are you planning to bring down Blue-Feather Crows while they’re flying?”

“I’m planning to use traps to kill them.”

“Ohhh, I see. Since it’s you, Kou, I thought maybe you’d learned some amazing martial art.”

She was probably talking about a martial art that could send slashes flying. I did know of such a martial art. It was the Dragon Qi Sword Art I had found in the Main Hall library. Dragon Qi Sword Art processed qi into something called “dragon qi.” The Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique also did a little qi processing, but not anything as special as dragon qi.

Among the techniques of Dragon Qi Sword Art was one called Dragon Wing. It was a technique that sent out a flying slash made of dragon qi, and it was one of the secret techniques of Dragon Qi Sword Art.

“I can’t do a technique that amazing.”

Chenshi, who had been listening, tilted her head.

“Didn’t Kou win the Elixir Competition Festival?”

“He did, but Kou also has talent when it comes to martial arts.”

Shunlin seemed to think highly of me, but I was pretty sure I had only shown my martial skill in front of her once.

“Shunlin-san. My talent really isn’t anything special.”

Shunlin smiled at me as I said that.

“There’s no need to be modest. I heard Kanru-shixiong and Elder Mon talking about it properly.”

So Kanru was the source of the information. That guy was more loose-lipped than I expected. I would have to be careful, or rumors about me would spread.

While talking like that as we descended into the demon realm and advanced, we encountered a pack of Piercing Wolves. I removed the sheath from the Demon Spider Greatsword and stepped forward. Then, out of the pack of six, three Piercing Wolves came at me.

The qi whose pressure had been raised by the breathing method and key principles of the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique was circulating throughout my body. Thanks to that, the movements of the Piercing Wolves felt slow. I swung the Demon Spider Greatsword upward from below as if scooping, and cut off a Piercing Wolf’s head. I then reversed the blade of the raised Demon Spider Greatsword and, just like that, split the second Piercing Wolf’s head in two.

Then the third one attacked, so I spun the Demon Spider Greatsword around and struck the Piercing Wolf’s throat with the butt end of the shaft. Letting out a groaning sound, the Piercing Wolf rolled across the ground. I thrust the tip of the Demon Spider Greatsword into that wolf’s mouth, and finished it off.

Shunlin was fighting one Piercing Wolf. She was handling the fight advantageously, and it did not look like she needed my help. Chenshi had already killed one Piercing Wolf and was fighting the second. She did not seem to need my help either.

While I watched the two of them fight, it ended quickly. They both defeated their Piercing Wolves.

“You both fought splendidly.”

Chenshi looked at the three Piercing Wolves I had killed.

“The one who was splendid was you. You killed three—more than we did—and faster too.”

I shrugged and said we should move on. We continued forward and arrived at Crystal North Lake, which lay before Crystal Calamity River, the great river of the demon realm. It was not a particularly large lake, but its water was beautifully clear, and trees bearing acorn-like nuts grew thickly around it.

I took out a cord made from Gōrō fur from my pack. This Gōrō cord was as thin as kite string, but it was sturdy enough not to snap even if two or three adults hung from it.

“You’re making traps with that cord?”

Shunlin asked.

“That’s right. This cord is tough, and it’s perfect for making traps.”

The traps I made were simple. They used the flex of tree branches and shrubs. Bait was set out, and when prey that approached stepped on the wooden stick that acted as the trigger, the trap activated, and the cord caught the prey’s leg and hoisted it up.

I set up this mechanism in six places around the lake. After that, all we had to do was patrol and wait for Blue-Feather Crows to get caught in the traps. We started patrolling about an hour after setting the traps.

“Do you think anything’s been caught?”

Shunlin asked with an excited expression.

“Who knows? I don’t think anything would get caught that quickly.”

As we approached the trap, I sensed something struggling.

“Something’s caught.”

I hurried over to the trap. What was hanging upside down there and struggling was a Fang Monkey. The monkey moved its hands as though to keep me away from the chunk of Fang Rabbit meat that had been set out as bait.

“It’s not like I’m going to steal that from you.”

I skewered its neck with the Demon Spider Greatsword and killed it, then quickly skinned it.

“Do you need that fur?”

Shunlin asked.

“Yes, if you use it as a mat, it’s warm.”

I reset the trap to its original condition and changed the bait to chunks of Fang Monkey meat. I thought it might not eat the meat of its own kind. Then we headed to the next trap. It felt like something was caught in that trap too. We approached and checked.

“Hah, another Fang Monkey?”

That monkey hugged the bait in its hands tightly to its chest, desperately trying not to let it be taken.

“If it’s that precious to you, then just eat it.”

Shunlin laughed.

“If it’s hanging upside down like that, maybe it can’t eat.”

“I don’t think it’s such a delicate creature.”

I killed it with the Demon Spider Greatsword and skinned it. Then I restored the trap to its original state.

Another Fang Monkey had been caught in the next trap too. The monkey, hanging by one leg from the cord, bared its teeth at me.

“Kiih, kikiih.”

After thrashing around and realizing it could not escape, the monkey made a face like it was making a bitter decision and threw the bait it was holding at me. It seemed to mean, now let me go. For some reason, that utterly misguided action hit a nerve and made me angry. On top of that, it reminded me that the partner who had betrayed me in my previous life had had a monkey face.

“You idiot!”

Without thinking, I used the Thunder Technique Fist I had been practicing lately. Using Floating Yang Qi, I leaped in beside the Fang Monkey like the wind, and while releasing Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi at the same time, I slammed Lightning Palm Strike into its face.

A booming roar rang out, and the Fang Monkey’s face caved in. Blood burst out of the Fang Monkey, and it died from that single blow. Chenshi and Shunlin, who had seen it, recoiled.

“Kou.”

Shunlin called out to me. I took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. It resembled someone I used to know, so I got angry without thinking.”

“I see. So someone Kou knew had a monkey face.”

“It sounds like it’d be better not to introduce Kou to anyone with a monkey face.”

Chenshi said.