Chapter 60 - Sacred Mountain in Myanmar (Part XIV)

Even Chen Shaoxian, with his strong physique, was thrown around violently, lying on the ground for a long while before he slowly got up. The others gradually followed suit.

Chen Shaoxian asked everyone to remove their earplugs, then checked on their conditions. Seeing only minor scrapes among them, he felt much relieved. Afterwards, he and Xiao Zhuang inspected the collapsed cave, only to find it completely blocked by stones.

Xiao Zhuang checked the communicator, but the signal was severely disrupted, making it impossible to contact the outside world. He sighed and gave Chen Shaoxian a helpless shake of his head.

Chen Shaoxian scratched his head, without any immediate solutions, so he suggested everyone eat something and rest a bit to regain their strength.

As the group sat together discussing the recent events, Song Yumu, chewing on a compressed biscuit, asked, “Shaoxian, it was good you warned us, but how could that force be so strong to collapse the cave?” The others, curious, turned to Chen Shaoxian, eager to know what happened, including the three foreigners who, despite possibly not understanding, looked on with curiosity.

After swallowing his chewed biscuit and taking a sip of water, Chen Shaoxian said, “That was the power of an Inu Oni self-destructing.” At this, he suddenly remembered the disdainful look of the Inu Oni just before it exploded, and added, “That Inu Oni might have been human.”

Seeing the incredulous looks from the others, Chen Shaoxian lit a cigarette and continued, “I owe it to the book my old man left behind; otherwise, I wouldn’t have thought of this.” He exhaled a puff of smoke and added, “When I first encountered the Inu Oni and saw its anthropomorphic expression, it felt like there was a person standing before me.” Hearing this, the others recalled their own encounters with the Inu Oni and nodded in agreement with Chen Shaoxian’s observation.

“When I saw those three corpses with canine faces and human bodies, I was sure about my idea. My grandfather’s book mentioned a technique in Japanese Onmyōdō called Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind. This Onmyōdō technique allows an Onmyoji to create a reverse wind to control a powerful supernatural entity, giving it some form of conscious will. However, the effectiveness of this technique diminishes over time and requires the sacrifice of the Onmyoji themselves. Moreover, the chances of successfully using this technique are almost negligible. Legend has it that only Abe no Seimei ever succeeded in using it once, but it cost him his life.”

“The book left by the old man states, according to the ‘Records of the Tsuchimikado Family,’ that Abe no Seimei died at the age of forty-six, but the ‘Records of the Tsuchimikado Family’ do not mention how he died.”

“The old man deduced this himself. His book states that the year Abe no Seimei passed away was marked by numerous disasters and supernatural phenomena causing chaos among the people in Japan. However, within seven days of Abe no Seimei’s death, all supernatural entities in Japan completely vanished. At that time, it was said that the Japanese deity Amaterasu manifested to rid the land of demons.”

“However, according to the old man’s analysis, it was Abe no Seimei who used the Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind and sacrificed himself to eliminate all those calamities. It’s believed that Abe no Seimei’s mother was a White Fox Spirit, but my grandfather said that only those who have used the Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind will turn into beings with canine faces and human bodies after death. This means that Abe no Seimei’s mother must have used this Onmyōdō technique, thereby acquiring a canine face. From this, it’s inferred that Abe no Seimei definitely used the Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind. Moreover, it is said that a White Fox Spirit accompanied Abe no Seimei at his burial, which my grandfather was even more certain of-it wasn’t a White Fox Spirit but Abe no Seimei himself. Since then, there has never been another successful use of the Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind.”

Chen Shaoxian sighed and said, “The old man said he also based his conclusions on folk tales and various unofficial histories, and it couldn’t be deemed accurate, but unexpectedly, we encountered it.”

“The old man also happened to obtain a manuscript by an Onmyoji, and that’s how he learned about the Onmyōdō technique called Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind,” Chen Shaoxian said, admiring his grandfather. He wondered whether to admire the old man’s meticulous mind or his powerful imagination, as he could deduce so much from a simple manuscript.

Chen Shaoxian gathered his thoughts and exclaimed, “The three Onmyoji we saw must have been very skilled individuals when they were alive. Not only could they successfully use Soul-Devouring Reverse Wind, but they also transformed the Inu Oni into a three-headed dark-eyed king of the underworld. Truly remarkable.”

“Then there was the Life-Reaping Sanskrit we heard, which must have been conjured by the same three Onmyoji. That deity statue had many small holes carved out systematically, which, when the wind blew through them, created the sounds we heard. I must say, those three Onmyoji were incredibly impressive.” Chen Shaoxian took a sip of water to pause his speech.

Apart from Xiao Zhuang and Song Yumu, the others had not heard of such bizarre events. Though they had encountered the supernatural creature Inu Oni, they had not expected it to involve so many incredible occurrences.

Seeing that the others still had questions, Xiao Zhuang stopped everyone and said, “Let’s discuss this after we get out. Right now, we need to find a way out. We’ll rest here for twenty minutes before leaving.”

At this point, one of the older foreigners among them suddenly spoke up in somewhat stiff Chinese, “I, I might be able to find a way out.”