Hearing the mummy's unpleasant, hoarse voice, Kikyo simply walked forward calmly, placing the bamboo tube on a nearby rock. She glanced at the faded bandages covering the mummy and said:
"It seems your injuries are under control now."
Seeing that Kikyo wasn't engaging with him, the mummy trembled and spoke again:
"Heh, thanks to your treatment, I've managed to keep my life."
"But aren't you afraid that by saving me – Onigumo, the infamous bandit leader of Musashi Province – I might lead my men to raid your village?"
Kikyo's expression didn't change at these words. She merely replied coolly:
"It seems while your wounds have healed, your mind remains fevered."
A practically crippled man who couldn't even stand, let alone wield a sword, still dreaming of leading bandits?
Her younger sister, Kaede, had outgrown such foolish deceptions by the age of five.
"You have energy for such talk – your recovery must be progressing well."
As she spoke, Kikyo picked up the bamboo tube, removed the lid, took out some rice balls, threaded them with straw, and hung them around Onigumo's neck.
"These will last you several days. Use them sparingly."
"Hmm?" Onigumo seemed startled, then chuckled hoarsely. "So you're finally abandoning me here to die?"
Kikyo didn't answer, simply standing to leave.
Seeing her departure, Onigumo quickly called out:
"That barrier you set up... last night it kept rustling strangely. Did something happen?"
At this, Kikyo frowned, her expression turning grave.
"Even my barrier is deteriorating faster now?"
Before meeting Luo Shu, she might not have understood why. But now she saw clearly what the future held for this era.
'Is this age truly doomed?'
Kikyo sighed inwardly, then spoke without turning:
"I'll reinforce the barrier once more. The rice and water should sustain you for three days. By then, you'll likely manage basic movement."
"Find somewhere to spend your remaining time, Onigumo."
With that, she began walking away.
But Onigumo suddenly shouted after her:
"Kikyo! Why did you save me?"
He could never understand why she'd rescued him – severely burned after challenging the bandit chief, his body broken from the cliff fall.
As a citizen of Musashi, surely she knew his infamous reputation?
So why save such a villain?
Kikyo paused mid-step, answering calmly:
"Saving lives requires no reason."
"But if you insist... perhaps it's because letting a wicked man like you die consumed by hatred would spawn powerful demons where you fell."
"Whereas if you survive past the peak of your resentment... your death would just be death."
"Does that satisfy you?"
Onigumo stared blankly, then burst into rasping laughter:
"Hah... I see now! Truly worthy of the legendary Purification Shrine Maiden. You win!!"
Kikyo's only response was to continue walking away, her back to Onigumo.
"Sometimes, waiting quietly for death isn't necessarily a bad thing."
Having said this, Kikyo walked out of the cave on her own, paying no further attention to the trapped Onigumo inside.
Just as she'd said, her main reason for saving the bandit Onigumo had been concern that a powerful demon might emerge near Kaede's Village and endanger the villagers.
The remaining small part... was just a personal whim of Kikyo's.
Year after year of fulfilling her duties as a shrine maiden, she secretly longed for release.
To bear the title of the shrine maiden who saved a great villain was, for Kikyo, a rare act of defiance against her duties in an otherwise stifling existence.
Of course, this was the rebellion of the Kikyo from the past.
And now, it seemed she might finally find her release.
Emerging from the limestone cave, Kikyo lifted her head, gazing at the azure sky veiled by the tree canopy, murmuring to herself:
"Starting anew... in another world..."
She whispered these words, then quietly retrieved a pink jewel from her sleeve.
It was the Shikon Jewel, coveted by yokai, capable of granting immense Demon Power.
Staring at the jewel in her palm, Kikyo murmured:
"Hand this to Luo Shu... abandon all duties... and depart for another world..."
"Perhaps... it truly is possible..."
Kikyo remained silent for a long while, contemplating the Shikon Jewel, before finally tucking it away and stepping silently into the forest.
Not long after she left, within the cave, the immobilised Onigumo could no longer hear her footsteps.
"Just like that... you leave me, Kikyo!"
Onigumo's voice was thick with resentment.
"You dragged me back from hell on a whim, decided my fate without consulting me... damnable woman, at least see it through to the end!!"
Gritting his teeth, Onigumo glared at the cave entrance with bitter self-loathing.
He had been meant to die, yet Kikyo saved him. For the first time in his life, he'd experienced a woman's kindness—something he relished even as it tormented him.
Why did such a good woman exist in this world?
And most crucially... why couldn't she be his?
"Hah... hah..."
Onigumo's breathing grew ragged, though deep down he knew his life was already over.
Even if Kikyo's healing granted him a reprieve, with his ruined body, he wouldn't last long in this war-torn era.
"I refuse... I don't want to die... when I finally met such a woman... when I still have so much to live for..."
As Onigumo muttered to himself, a sinister voice suddenly echoed through the cavern.
"Keh heh heh!!"
"So this is why that wretched Kikyo carried the Shikon Jewel into the forest..."
"A human whose very soul reeks of corrupt demonic energy?"
"How fascinating!"
"Who's there?"
Onigumo's pupils contracted in terror at the voice.
He struggled futilely, writhing like a maggot, his half-healed wounds screaming in agony.
"ARGH!!"
As Onigumo shrieked, a gaunt figure wielding a sword emerged from the shadows before him.
"Who—?" Onigumo stared in horror at the moss-covered, inhuman face.
With a casual flick of its blade, the figure sent a black crescent slicing through the air.
From that crescent crawled forth grotesque yokai of every description, like demons descending upon the mortal realm.
"Yokai?!"
Onigumo recoiled as the moss-faced swordsman cackled:
"Feast, my pretties."
"Use this wicked human soul to cultivate the perfect vessel!"
"Eat, my blade slaves!"
At these words, a horde of demons rushed towards Onigumo.
"No!!!"
With a piercing scream, Onigumo disappeared.
In the cavern, the horrifying sound of chewing rose and fell continuously.
The moss-faced figure gripping his greatsword smiled at this sight, but soon his expression changed drastically as he turned towards the direction of Kikyo's Shrine:
"This Demon Power?!"
"—The Dog Tribe of the Western Country?!!"
"Tōga!!"
"Damn it, there's no time. I must create more blade slaves quickly and relocate our hideout."
"Curse you all. One day, I'll make sure every last one of you Dog Tribe vanishes from this world forever."
Amidst the voice filled with hatred, the cavern was enveloped in thick miasma.
Then, all sound faded into nothingness...