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CHAPTER 64 – UESUGI REI OFFERS WINE (2)
“As expected of the sacred wine from Takamagahara. I feel invigorated from just looking at it,” Shuten Doji looked at Rei while holding the bowl filled with the golden sacred wine, “It would be hard to have a woman as beautiful to pour wine for me even if I were in Takamagahara, Ms. Uesugi, let alone a beautiful woman who’s a decent strategist. How about you have a sip as well?”
Rei’s eyes shook as she looked at the sacred wine and her movements froze up for a moment. However, she raised the bamboo container up, arched her head back, and chugged the wine remaining in the container to the last drop.
Shuten’s eyes shone demonically when he saw this.
Although there was no doubt that this was top-notch sacred wine, it was hard to tell whether Rei had poisoned it.
Shuten’s resistance towards poison was far superior to Rei with how powerful he was, though, so he had no qualms drinking it now that she had drank it without any issue.
He raised the bowl and took a sip from it grandly.
“Ah! This is indeed some truly delicious wine! I’d have felt like a god if I had a celestial maiden accompanying me now! Hahahahaha! Your merit in offering this wine is tenfold more than pacifying the west, Ms. Uesugi!”
Shuten felt really invigorated after taking a sip of the sacred wine, and even someone as powerful as him found it hard to resist the wine’s temptation.
He kept on chugging the wine in the bowl, one gulp after another.
Rei’s eyes flashed with an icy glint when she saw Shuten drink the sacred wine so grandly.
“Heh. You’ve really given me a big surprise, Ms. Uesugi. I think I should make you the… fifth demon king under me…”
Shuten leaned into this throne languidly while he spoke to Rei. His eyelids seemed to turn heavy with time and his voice also turned fainter. It looked like he had gotten pretty drunk from drinking the sacred wine.
Shuten had a high drinking capacity, so it was hard for him to get drunk even after drinking several liters of wine. However, he saw the silhouette of Rei, who was as beautiful as a celestial maiden, blur in front of him right now.
“I’m even willing to… make you my demon consort… if you want…”
Crash!
The bowl in Shuten’s hand fell to the ground and shattered.
The three meter tall archdemon slumped in his throne with his arms hanging on the side as his hair cascaded sideways. The sacred wine had actually knocked him out from the intoxication.
Rei witnessed all of this with a calm look in her eyes.
The bamboo container fell under the throne with a clack and rolled down the steps, the noise echoing through the dark, empty cave room.
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A blue aura oozed out of Rei’s body, making it seem as if a snowstorm had manifested around her. Her hair floated up as the temperature of the massive cave room declined rapidly.
Rei’s purple eyes ignited with icy flame amidst this snowstorm, making her gaze seem as sharp as that of a god.
An ice blade with a white hilt manifested in Rei’s hand in the next moment.
Splatter!
Rei then beheaded the archdemon in front of her without the slightest hesitation.
The ice blade in her hands emitted an ethereal aura and seemed to be the embodiment of the coldness in Takamagahara, possessing an incredible sharpness.
The blade was so sharp that blood did not even flow out from the cut on the drunk Shuten’s neck after Rei beheaded him.
The demonically handsome red-haired head of Shuten flew up while spinning the next moment.
Tears flowed out of the ever indifferent Rei’s eyes.
“Mother…”
Rei had suppressed unimaginable grief, as well as grudge, inside her for many years now.
Her hand holding the ice blade shuddered because of the terrifying frosty aura coming from it, and even someone like her who was pretty good at controlling frost could not prevent the ice blade from inflicting frostbite on her hand.
Rei acted like she did not feel anything, though, and stepped on Shuten’s body as she stabilized the hand holding the ice blade with her other hand before aiming it at his heart, which was where his spirit jade was.
“I’m going to avenge you, Mother!”
…
…
In Honganji Temple.
The moon was hanging up high in the skies over the dark mountains where the temple was located.
Lily sat down on the wooden floor of the temple and listened to Airi narrate all that she knew about Uesugi Rei, including information that she had never told anyone else.
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“What?” Lily shuddered with a flushed face. Tears overflowed from her eyes as she covered her mouth and said, “Sister Uesugi’s mother is a celestial battle maiden who fell to the human world1?”
Airi showed a sorrowful expression with the moonlight as the backdrop as she continued, “I returned to Kasugayama Castle after informing you that Ms. Uesugi had left to subjugate Shuten in Sakura Valley back then.”
“Ms. Uesugi’s grandfather didn’t intend to tell me anything at first. However, he suffered a stroke that night and was bedridden. He had been fighting an old illness for years and knew that he wouldn’t last long because of the wounds he had suffered in the past. He intended to lead his troops to Tanba and rescue Ms. Uesugi, but he knew that he couldn’t do it anymore, so he summoned me instead and told me everything about her.”
Lily’s eyes glistened as she listened to Airi’s words with composure.
“Ms. Uesugi’s mother is Bishamonten, the last celestial maiden who fell to the human world,” Airi said calmly.
Lily nodded after hearing Airi’s words as all of it connected with what she had seen in the mine and the ancient battlefield.
The paper fan in the celestial maiden’s jewelry box that she had found had a little child drawn on it. This child was none other than Bishamonten’s sole daughter in the human world, Uesugi Rei2.
Airi continued, “Lord Aokage told me that he had hidden all this from Ms. Uesugi and told her that her mother had gone to train in a faraway place. However, considering how smart Ms. Uesugi was, it was impossible to hide it from her forever.”
…
A few months ago.
It was still winter in Kasugayama Castle at that time.
The mountains visible from the main hall of the castle tower were capped in snow right then with snow falling down from the sky.
“What is this?”
Rei confronted the gray-haired Uesugi Aokage while holding an old, yellowed scroll in her hand.
“Cough!” Aokage looked weaker than he did last year. “W-Why do you have that…? Where did you get it?”
“This is a wanted notice!” Uesugi’s hand holding the scroll shook as she opened it in front of Aokage and asked, “I’ve never seen such a wanted notice! Although it’s tattered, I can’t tear it even if I use all my strength! Tell me where this wanted notice is from and why my mother’s portrait is on it?!”
“Why did mother go and who is she? Tell me everything.”
Aokage’s eyes filled with sadness as he looked at Rei.
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…
…
“It was a wanted notice from Takamagahara.” Airi continued, “It sounds quite unbelievable, doesn’t it? Although I don’t know if Takamagahara and the gods really exist, that’s what Lord Aokage told me.”
“How did Sister Uesugi get this wanted notice, Airi? And how is it related to Shuten Doji?” Lily knew it was probably related to the incredible battlefield deep within the woods outside Kameyama Castle but could not figure out how they were linked.
“Lord Aokage told me that…”
…
…
Lord Kamakura had summoned Rei a few months before she had returned to Kasugayama Castle to confront her grandfather.
Minamoto no Yoritomo’s massive figure looked at the silver-haired samurai woman in front of him while seated in the dimly lit hall of his Hachiman Palace.
“I recall you asked me for information about your mother before, Ms. Uesugi. I finally have some news about her.” Yoritomo looked at Rei with worry.
“My mother?” Although Rei feigned composure, she trembled when she heard Yoritomo’s words.
Yoritomo took out an ancient scroll and tossed it towards Rei.
“This is…” The icy look on Rei’s face melted momentarily when she opened the scroll, “Mother?!”
“This is my mother’s portrait!” Although Rei could not read the letters on the ancient scroll, the intent imbued in them informed her of the meaning directly in her mind.
“A wanted notice?!”
Rei bowed towards Yoritomo while kneeling on the floor and asked, “Please tell me what’s going on, Lord Kamakura!”
“Even I’m not sure about the specifics. This scroll was brought back by a Genji samurai who was lucky enough to escape from Mt. Ooe after getting caught by the demons,” said Yoritomo.
“Mt. Ooe?” Rei’s eyes flashed with an icy glint, “That’s the lair of Shuten Doji, isn’t it?”
…
…
Rei then returned to Kasugayama Castle with the wanted notice.
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“A wanted notice from Takamagahara?” Rei asked with an incredulous look on her face.
“It’s impossible to hide it from you now that things have come to this… Besides, I might not live that long, too. However, you must swear that you won’t take any action no matter what you hear next, Rei! You can’t withstand the darkness alone! Promise me!” Aokage said in a rushed tone while coughing.
“Tell me, Grandfather.”
“I also don’t know the full truth. However, I can tell you that your mother isn’t a mortal.”
“She’s a celestial maiden who got lost in the human world and was called Bishamonten when she was in Takamagahara.”
“Bishamonten?!” Rei narrowed her eyes as she asked, “I-Isn’t that the protector deity of our Uesugi clan?”
“Your mother told me this. She said that the less we knew, the better it was for us, since mortals were bound to suffer from misfortune if they learned the secrets of the Heavens.”
Rei asked, “Why did Bishamonten… my mother leave, then? Where did she go? And why did Mt. Ooe, Shuten Doji’s lair, have this wanted notice?!”
“She entrusted you to me before she left. Everything related to her is hidden within the shrine on the mountain deep within Kasugayama Castle. It’s the real secret of our Uesugi clan and even I don’t have the right to know about it.”
Aokage looked at his most beloved granddaughter weakly, feeling helpless when he saw the determination in her eyes. He knew that she would head to Mt. Ooe even if he did not tell her anything, but that would only place in her much higher danger. She was the same as her mother in this respect.
“The shrine is at the apex of the Azure Dragon Tree. I’m already unable to climb it, Rei, so you will have to go there yourself. You were supposed to inherit it sooner or later, anyway. See the truth for yourself…”
…
Although Lily did not know this, Rei had indeed climbed to the apex of the Azure Dragon Tree and learned the truth hidden there. However, it also became the reason she left for Tanba.
“She must’ve found out that her mother, Bishamonten, had gotten besieged by terrifying existences in Tanba! The fact that the wanted notice originated from Mt. Ooe and that Bishamonten had suffered such a calamity are definitely related to Shuten Doji3!”
“This isn’t good!”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “It makes little sense for Sister Uesugi to head to Tanba with a weak entourage! It was probably just a front. Someone as smart as her must’ve already made out that Minamoto no Kenki was suspicious and fell into his trap on purpose. The rumor about her joining Shuten Doji’s forces and her feigning to attack the Suno troops are all probably part of her scheme!”
“She must’ve done all that to win Shuten Doji’s trust and gain the chance to approach him!”
“She’s in danger!”
References
Silva: So that explains why they look alike…Robinxen: Imagine going up to someone you know and saying “I have a sacred artifact with you on it” like you found it on a stroll.Robinxen: Also can we talk about how the clan managed to keep this a perfect secret but magically Lily had all the pieces needed to connect the dots? The power of plot.