"Please hurry and prepare your Emergency Escape Devices. The Abyss Descent lasts only five minutes. Touching the trunk of the sacred tree will trigger the entrance teleportation."
Listening to Chikichi Ogiwara's repeated announcements through the loudspeaker, Luo Shu turned to Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue, who were carrying silver metal cases:
"Is everything ready?"
"The lock is already hidden."
Chisato nodded at the question but couldn't resist complaining:
"Though honestly, the Emergency Escape Device's safety measures are still lacking. We have to hide the lock in advance and place it in an open area. If someone finds it and moves it more than a kilometre from the entrance, we won't be able to return."
"Really, couldn't the Research Department make it more convenient?"
"Enough, Chisato. Having an escape device is better than nothing."
Takina chided Chisato before turning her gaze towards the sacred tree. Watching Kuesu Jingūji disappear upon touching the trunk, her expression grew solemn as she addressed Luo Shu:
"Luo Shu, this Abyss isn't the collective-entry type like last time."
Hearing this, Luo Shu recalled the Abyss that had sealed Kisara. That had been a specialised containment site for Kisara, only accessible at specific times. Precisely because of its strict conditions, it allowed free passage without requiring Emergency Escape Devices.
"Even if we enter simultaneously, we might get separated later. Just in case, hide the signal devices on your persons and take these too."
Saying this, Luo Shu handed each of them a silver bracelet.
"Eh? A friendship bracelet?"
"A new type of signal device?"
Chisato and Takina voiced their respective questions.
At this, Luo Shu and Takina simultaneously turned to stare at Chisato, their expressions deadpan.
"Ahaha! Anyway, these are for survival, right? Then I won't hold back."
Chisato laughed awkwardly and accepted the bracelet. Seeing this, Takina sighed and took hers too.
Watching them fasten the bracelets, Luo Shu patted their shoulders:
"Go ahead. Don't worry about the Demon God's condition. If you encounter insurmountable circumstances, just return with the test data. I'll handle the explanations with the Research Department."
Nodding, Takina and Chisato picked up their silver cases and approached the sacred tree.
After they entered the Abyss, Luo Shu surveyed the surroundings. Due to the Abyss's brief opening window and everyone's hurried arrival, the locks hadn't been placed far away. People quickly returned to the site and entered the Abyss through the sacred tree.
Among them, Luo Shu actually had the least Abyss Exploration experience, yet held the highest authority in this operation. This awkward situation forced him to wait until the very end to avoid exposing his rookie status.
"Has it really been so short a time that I've already developed an idol complex? How laughable."
Luo Shu mocked himself, then took a deep breath, picked up the normal-looking metal case beside him, and slowly walked to the sacred tree. He glanced at the small wooden hut with its door closed nearby.
Through the door, he peered at the Bone-Eating Well inside, narrowed his eyes, and then placed his hand on the sacred tree.
The moment his palm touched the rough bark, his vision instantly began to distort.
Red, yellow, and blue hues swirled before his eyes, twisting together into complex darkness.
The previously unresponsive sacred tree now trembled violently, startling the nearby experts monitoring their instruments.
At the same time, Luo Shu vanished from before the tree.
A dizzying, nauseating sensation overwhelmed him, as if he'd been tumbled inside a washing machine for dozens of minutes.
When the discomfort faded and his vision cleared, Luo Shu immediately crouched, clutching his mouth, fighting the urge to vomit as he surveyed his surroundings.
What greeted him was a hillside of withered yellow grass. At its centre ran a faintly trodden path, leading to a Japanese village with architecture reminiscent of the Heian period.
From his vantage point, Luo Shu could clearly see the villagers moving about.
Observing their tattered clothing and gaunt, sallow faces, he narrowed his eyes.
"Human inhabitants... Could this be a rare spatial-type Abyss?"
Spatial-type Abysses referred to large-scale dimensions inhabited by humans, yokai, or other races. Typically vast—some reportedly as large as Australia—scholars sometimes referred to them as Abyssal alternate planes.
Rumour had it that organisations like Truth Astronomy were headquartered in such spaces.
Thinking quickly, Luo Shu retrieved a specialised radar from his case. The substantial interference made him frown as he mentally accessed the Hidden Management Zone, linking it to Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue's bracelets.
"23 km east, 11 km north. Not too far."
He transmitted his coordinates via the bracelets, advising caution in their approach, then turned to survey the other end of the path.
A single glance revealed a torii gate marking a Shrine entrance amidst the nearby forest. Luo Shu's enhanced vision traced the mountainous terrain beyond, estimating visibility exceeding 30 km.
"An Abyss this large is unusual... And this sensation..."
His expression turned peculiar.
"Have I actually arrived in Japan's Warring States period?"
"An Inuyasha live-action scenario?"
Just then, a bestial roar echoed from the woods.
Shifting his gaze, Luo Shu saw a two-metre-tall grey wolf with saliva-dripping jaws and crimson eyes fixed upon him.
The beast licked its chops and rasped in human speech:
"Human flesh!! Tender human flesh!"
"A talking... yokai?"
Luo Shu glanced at the grey wolf in surprise, then slightly curled his lips:
"Just in need of a guide. But before that, it's necessary to make you behave."
As the words fell, before the grey wolf could attack, its figure appeared in Luo Shu's pupils.
—Calamity Endowment!
The next instant, the grey wolf's nose twitched, its originally ferocious expression twisting as if it had eaten something foul.
"Argh! What is this? How can a stench be this vile?!"
'Perhaps I should give Fumonshichi an award?'
Watching the grey wolf stagger and vomit violently, Luo Shu silently mused.
After fumigating the wolf into submission and rendering it powerless, Luo Shu approached with a smile:
"Mr Wolf over here, if you don't want your nose to suffer further, you'd best behave."
As Luo Shu finished speaking, a sharp whistling sound came from afar.
"Hmm?"
Luo Shu instantly retreated, looking up towards the sky.
At that moment, a crude arrow descended from above, piercing the grey wolf ahead.
The vomiting wolf stiffened upon being struck, then deflated like a punctured balloon, rapidly shrivelling until only an empty wolf pelt remained.
Observing this, Luo Shu raised an eyebrow before lifting his gaze towards the forest, where a bow-wielding figure stood beside a large tree.
Seeing the bow-wielding woman in a Miko Outfit, Luo Shu showed surprise.
"Just as I guessed..."
Narrowing his eyes at the approaching Shrine Maiden, Luo Shu murmured:
"Kikyo..."