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Although Yuki-Onna possessed splendid beauty, the aura she emanated felt bone-chilling to the touch.
“Yukiko. Could this Yuki-Onna be related to you sisters?” Lily asked solemnly after bowing her head.
“Of course not! Master… please don’t link us to monsters like snow children and snow women just because we sisters have the character for ‘snow’ in our names…” Yukiko whispered into Lily’s ears helplessly.
It seemed that Yuki-Onna wasn’t interested in Lily and Yukiko’s conversation and kept minding her own business, “What are you called, woman? I should’ve killed you originally since you are my love rival, but I feel sympathetic to you as we’re both women who have fallen to despair after being abandoned by that heartless man.”
“Lady Yuki-Onna. I’m called Kagami Lily, but I really am not…” Lily felt that Yuki-Onna didn’t harbor any malice towards them even though she harbored an intense grudge within her, so she didn’t feel like deceiving her any further.
“Lily, huh? What a melodious name it is, but it also sounds a little sad. Are you going to look for that heartless man? Take me along with you, then. I shall accompany you in the journey and we shall cooperate to face all the dangers we run into along the way. Although you’re much weaker than me in terms of strength, you aren’t a weakling, right? Hmph! After all, how could a woman related to him be weak? We’re both women abandoned by the same man, so we should look after each other, isn’t that so?” Yuki-Onna arrived in front of Lily and held her hand, making her circulate her spirit power to withstand the chilling coldness penetrating into her bones.
This Yuki-Onna is too infatuated. How could she keep soliloquizing and insist that I am also the lover of the heartless man in her mind?
“Uhm. Actually, I…”
“Stop evading and just admit it directly, Lily! I can make out from your gaze that you want to find him as well! Isn’t that so? Your heart is filled with emotions for your lover and I can sense the deep sorrow of losing that lover from you! You and I are the same, both infatuated woman! You’re going to find him, right?! Tell me!” The surroundings became colder as Yuki-Onna turned more emotional and the floor, walls and pillars got covered by an additional layer of ice. The grief-laden snowstorm also flowed in reverse vortically and Lily sensed that Shiu was almost at her limits now.
This isn’t good. I’m afraid this Yuki-Onna will lose control if I don’t admit it.
“Y-Yes. I-I’m going to find Lord Yoshitsune!” Lily admitted hurriedly.
Actually, Lily hadn’t lied. Yoshitsune’s remnant will in Takeshita Town’s Yoshitsune Shrine had told her that he was waiting for her in a certain place, but she didn’t know where it was as he hadn’t mentioned it. Lily also had a feeling that this matter involved a huge secret related to the whole Heian Empire.
“Hmph! To think you still call such a man with an appellation! You’re really weak, Lil’ Sis Lily. Do you still harbor affection towards a heartless man like him?” The snow and wind blowing around Yuki-Onna reduced gradually and the temperature also stopped falling as she recovered her calm slowly.
At that point, the only choice Lily had was to match Yuki-Onna’s words. The other party was an infatuated apparition and a pretty strong one at that. Lily also hadn’t recovered completely, so it would prove difficult for her to battle the woman. Additionally, Yuki-Onna didn’t seem to possess an evil nature and only harbored an intense grudge resulting from hatred born out of love. In a certain sense, this kind of apparition was much more dangerous than normal evil monsters as they didn’t fear death and existed only for the sake of love, and was fearless enough to do anything for it.
Besides, even though Lily wasn’t Yuki-Onna’s match, she couldn’t bear to kill such an infatuated woman even if she somehow managed to prevail over her in battle.
There was at least one thing that Yuki-Onna had got right.
It was the fact that she and Lily were both deeply infatuated women who had fallen to despair.
“Lady Yuki-Onna, Lord Yoshitsune has been very kind to me…”
“Hmph! Of course he was. Someone like him would have definitely treated you kindly. He was also very kind to me once. How could I have become hurt so deeply if it weren’t for that? You and I are both unfortunate women who were hurt by the same man, so there’s no need to treat me like an outsider by calling me with an appellation. Just call me Yuki-Onna and I shall call you by your name as well, all right?1”
“All right,” Lily decided to go along with Yuki-Onna’s opinion for now and found no reason to argue over the details as her mood was too unstable.
“However, Yuki-Onna, it’s very likely that Lord Yoshitsune died many years ago,” Lily stated.
“I know he is already dead,” Yuki-Onna floated to a corner of the temple and turned dejected, snow piling up underneath her.
“Why do you say you’re going to find him, then?”
“Why bother asking such a question when you know the answer already, Lily. I want to find the location of Yoshitsune’s soul, just like you.”
“Soul?”
“The heroic souls of existences like Yoshitsune wouldn’t ascend to divinity and become guardians of the human world instead after dying because of their obsessions or some other unfulfilled mission. I believe that he didn’t ascend, so his soul must be somewhere in this world,” Yuki-Onna stated.
Lily finally realized what she meant.
Lily finally understood the reason why Yoshitsune had told her he was waiting for her at a certain place2. Although he had died in the eyes of humanity, Yuki-Onna was also an apparition that existed even after death, so, as long as Yoshitsune’s soul still existed, Lily felt it was highly likely that he was in about the same state as Yuki-Onna.
Yoshitsune also knew a lot of secrets related to the Heian Empire and had also comprehended the fake version of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle within the cave on Mt. Yoshino, so Lily believed that he might know something about her senior sister’s soul as well!
“Yuki-Onna. Do you know where Lord Yoshitsune’s soul might be resting then?”
Yuki-Onna shook her head and flew out to the snow-covered mound outside the temple. The snow had reduced greatly now, and the weather had also regained normalcy.
“I just have a feeling that he might be somewhere far away to the west,” Yuki-Onna stated dazedly.
“Since you want to find him so badly and know which direction he is in, why didn’t you set off earlier and remain behind here?” Lily voiced her doubts.
Yuki-Onna shook her head, “Although I’m stronger than you, I’m actually weak and pathetic in reality. I’m an apparition… and with my powers, I don’t have any means to leave these mountains and woods between the lands of Echigo, Shinano and Kai yet. I was a member of a night parade once, but I had no freedom to go towards the region I wanted to go and even became the target of the jeers of the apparitions and the harassment of the demons…”
“I see…” Lily couldn’t help but feel more sympathetic to Yuki-Onna. She was such a beautiful woman, yet she had died because of love and was still fettered by the sorrow of love even after death.
It seemed that it was impossible for a woman to escape from love.
Lily, too, was the same.
“How are you planning to find Yoshitsune, then?” Lily asked helplessly.
Yuki-Onna arrived in front of Lily along with a flutter of her silken garments, “You must’ve practiced some mystic immortal art that allows you to retain your youth, right, Lily? As an apparition, I cannot go too far from where I died, but you can go anywhere you want to as a living woman. Thus, I can leave this place as long as you take me with you.”
“Huh? Is that really possible?” Lily was stunned.
Kagura sent a voice transmission from inside the mirror at this moment, “Master. I never thought you had such decent luck.”
“Why do you say that Kagura? Can getting entangled with an apparition really be called decent?”
Kagura, however, just chuckled and didn’t answer Lily.
As Yuki-Onna couldn’t hear Lily and Kagura’s conversation, she continued speaking, “With the strength you possess, you are qualified enough to form a soul contract with me and make me your shikigami. I’ll be able to accompany you where you go then and find that heartless man. I can also help you fight when you run into danger.”
“Huh?!” Lily finally understood what Kagura meant.
Although apparitions weren’t able to go too far from where they died, they could accompany their contractor anywhere as long as they formed a contract with a human and became their shikigami.
According to Kagura, the term ‘shikigami’ normally encompassed a pretty broad concept and any deity or monster who followed a human’s orders could be considered a shikigami3.
The paper dolls created by Onmyōji using arcane arts were also shikigami, but there was a huge gap in strength between shikigami.
If Kagura managed to recover her original strength, killing someone like Tokugawa would’ve been as easy as snapping a twig into two. However, the lesser shikigami were quite weak and may not even prevail over an early-stage samurai.
It was possible for Nanako, Kagura’s body, to become a shikigami because she was a higher lifeform in comparison to humanity due to the celestial maiden’s physique she had. However, it wasn’t possible for ordinary humans, birds and animals to become shikigami. The dark horse, Nioh, for example, was just a mount and not a shikigami.
Yuki-Onna was the strongest being Lily knew currently, so having such a powerhouse become her shikigami would be pretty beneficial for her future journey.
“How about it?” Yuki-Onna looked at Lily, “It seems like you still feel a bit hesitant. Are you worried that I’ll snatch Yoshitsune after we find him?”
“Hah?” Lily was left speechless.
“Are you willing or not?!” The temperature around Yuki-Onna declined again, “You have no use for me if you aren’t willing to do it, Lily! Did you think I didn’t know that you killed my two children before?”
The snow began to storm again, and if it weren’t for her spirit defense, Lily would’ve frozen in a few moments.
“Children?” Lily was shocked. Is she referring to the two snow children?
“Hmph! Although they were spirits born from snow, I treated them like my own children and played with them when winter arrived each year. I won’t blame you for killing them since they were the ones who attacked you, but I’ll be forced to avenge them unless you promise to make me your shikigami,” Yuki-Onna stated icily.
“I-I promise you,” Lily answered promptly.
They say you need to risk your life in order to subdue a shikigami, but this is the first time my life is being taken captive in order to accept a shikigami…
Lily really couldn’t find any reason to decline it.
“Hehe. Good, then. Although I like men, for some reason, I can feel a manly, heroic aura from you, Lily4. It might be because you were influenced by that person, so I’m pretty content with becoming your shikigami,” Yuki-Onna stated.
“Hehe. It’s all good as long as you are content, Miss Yuki-Onna,” Lily offered a vague smile.
“Let’s form the contract, then,” Yuki-Onna stated.
Yukiko, Yumi, and Shiu, who were huddled inside a white silk cloth, witnessed all this take place through the broken wall from the inside of the temple with dazed looks5.