Beside the torii gate below Kikyo Shrine's stone steps.
Descending the stairs, Luo Shu greeted the gathered crowd: "Seems you've all finished your business."
Hearing his voice, Chisato Nishikigi turned from where she stood before Ryūkotsusei's remains, exclaiming in surprise: "Luo Shu! Did you catch up with So'unga?"
"Ah, caught it." Luo Shu nodded with a smile. "Tracked it straight to Naraku without any trouble. Caught them red-handed."
"Just as I thought."
Chisato Nishikigi let out a relieved sigh upon hearing this, then turned and nudged Takina Inoue, who was standing stiffly beside her:
"See, Takina? I told you Luo Shu would definitely catch up!"
"So don't worry about losing track of the enemy anymore!"
Takina Inoue immediately raised her voice in response:
"I wasn't worried about that."
"Yeah, yeah, you weren't worried at all." Chisato humoured Takina with this perfunctory reply.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu, who had just descended the steps, greeted everyone before looking up at the remaining Demon Forms of Great Yokai like Ryūkotsusei and asking:
"Has the division of spoils not been settled yet?"
As Luo Shu spoke, Fumonshichi emerged from atop Ryūkotsusei's body, covered in red viscous fluid, and called out to him:
"Not yet."
"They've been arguing over the distribution of Great Yokai corpses for ages. The shares were only just finalised before you returned."
"Oh, by the way, mind swapping shifts with me? With just me working alone, it'll take at least three days to finish dissecting these yokai remains."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression turned odd:
"I've heard that Great Yokai bodies have significant research value, but why are the corpses the first things being divided as spoils?"
Yukari Oikawa, whose clothes remained spotless, approached Luo Shu and answered while covering her mouth with her sleeve:
"That's because the corpses, or rather, 'meat fields' - are crucial resources."
"With modern cell culture technology combined with certain Abyss Artefacts and sorcery, it's entirely possible to achieve continuous regeneration of flesh."
"Simply put, we use mass-producible modern nutrient solutions and technological methods to turn Great Yokai flesh into cultivable fields that yield fresh meat."
"The meat produced this way is called Spirit Meat, which is in high demand among elite sorcerers, martial artists, and even yokai, as it greatly aids cultivation."
At this point, Yukari glanced at Luo Shu and teased with a smile:
"Your fundamentals are rather lacking, Luo Shu."
"Especially considering the inventor of these meat fields was actually someone from your SDS."
Learning that Great Yokai flesh could produce premium ingredients made Luo Shu visibly uncomfortable.
He looked at Yukari and couldn't help asking:
"You can still smile knowing Great Yokai flesh has such uses?"
Yukari remained unperturbed as she replied:
"That's precisely why most modern Great Yokai cultivate Fear, feeding on human emotions rather than Demon Power."
"Moreover, yokai come in countless varieties. Infighting has always been commonplace - unless they're from the same group or family, no one cares about such things."
"After all, yokai do eat humans, too."
Hearing this, Luo Shu suddenly understood.
'So, yokai cultivating Demon Power become premium meat sources, while those cultivating Fear don't, leading most to choose the latter?'
'Was this a form of natural selection in action?'
This train of thought led Luo Shu to another question: could humans also be cultivated as a source of meat?
But the idea lasted only a second before he dismissed it as impossible.
As for the reason, it certainly wasn't due to technical limitations but political ones.
After all, the current ruling powers were still the five great bullies!
As long as they remained standing and humanity's dominant position remained unchanged, the matter of human meat farms would never come to light.
Thinking this, Luo Shu felt somewhat relieved.
The idea of eating yokai gave him mixed feelings, but it was still more acceptable than consuming humans.
'Yokai eat humans when alive, and get eaten by humans after death. That's just the cycle of life.'
Of course, if possible, Luo Shu would prefer not to eat such meat, especially having seen these yokai in their human forms.
Shaking his head, Luo Shu turned to Chisato Nishikigi and asked:
"Aside from these yokai, have the other spoils been divided up?"
"Ah, that? It's pretty much all sorted."
Chisato pulled out a small notebook from her pocket, flipped through a few pages, and replied:
"Personal gains are self-reported. Knowledge-based acquisitions are being copied in batches according to contribution ratios. Joint operation profits are being distributed as per the agreed percentages."
She flipped another page before adding:
"By the way, dividing Great Yokai flesh also counts towards the ratio. After all, butchering a Great Yokai's body is skilled work."
Hearing this, Fumonshichi - who'd been lazily sprawled across Ryūkotsusei's back - suddenly opened his eyes and called out to Luo Shu:
"Ah! I just remembered my grandfather wanted me to become Tokyo's most famous pig butcher."
"To honour his wishes, I won't let you handle the meat-cutting today! Next time, I'll invite you to my family's pig farm - you can slaughter as many as you want!"
Luo Shu's face darkened instantly as he glared at Fumonshichi:
"Piss off! Nobody's fighting you for the job!"
"Then thank you."
With that, Fumonshichi picked up his specially crafted blade again, took a deep breath, held it, and bent down to begin cutting inside Ryūkotsusei's body.
Seeing this, Luo Shu shook his head speechlessly before turning to Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue:
"Naraku's body will be delivered by Shin Natsume later. When it arrives, calculate the proportions and divide it with him."
"Oh, and I'll probably return to the present world early this afternoon to report. Who's coming back with me?"
Hearing this, Chisato and Takina exchanged glances before Takina stepped forward:
"I'll go."
"Chisato is better at handling these distribution matters than I am."
Luo Shu nodded in acknowledgement and added:
"Maya Natsume from the Natsume family will accompany us. Make sure you're prepared."
After giving these instructions, Luo Shu headed towards the forest.
...
After discussing the Dog Tribe's follow-up arrangements with Senhime Rin Getsu in the forest, it was already afternoon.
Around 2 p.m.
At the open-air Bone-Eating Well, now cleared of debris.
Luo Shu asked Takina Inoue and Maya Natsume standing nearby:
"Have you prepared everything?"
Standing before the well with three swords at his waist and a silver metal case in hand, Luo Shu looked like he'd walked straight off the set of One Piece.
The swords at his waist were none other than Tenseiga, Tessaiga, and So'unga.
Out of slight concern about Kuesu Jingūji, Luo Shu had visited the Dog Tribe to temporarily retrieve Tessaiga from Inuyasha, planning to return it once Inuyasha arrived in the present world.
Moreover, hidden inside Luo Shu's jacket pocket was the Shikon Jewel.
Kikyo had entrusted it to him upon learning of his departure.
These items were all carried by Luo Shu personally, while the rest had been prepared by Takina.
"The experimental data on the Demon God, the Dog Tribe's knowledge archives, and samples from the Great Yokai have all been properly organised."
Takina, holding two metal cases with a huge backpack on her shoulders and wearing a baseball cap, resembled a Chinese tourist returning from a shopping spree at a scenic spot.
Thankfully, the girl's physique had been enhanced by the Adjuster Drug, or she'd never have managed all these bags.
Luo Shu nodded before asking again:
"Nothing missing?"
"...No. Anything left would probably be in the second batch Chisato is bringing back."
Takina thought for a moment before answering with certainty.
Then she glanced at Maya Natsume standing beside Luo Shu, who wore an expression full of negativity, and asked curiously:
"By the way, Luo Shu, is something wrong with Miss Maya? She looks..."
"Oh, that?"
Luo Shu turned to look at Maya before replying casually:
"Probably because she slept with me on a straw pile in a mountain temple last night."
"Slept on a straw pile in a mountain temple?"
Takina tilted her head as she repeated the words, then suddenly flushed crimson, staring at Luo Shu in shock:
"Slept together?! You two... don't tell me you..."
Luo Shu raised his right hand in a gesture of refusal and said:
"Ah, sorry, but it's actually not what you're thinking."
"I didn't do anything all night, just sat beside her like a log the whole time."
"...Huh?" Takina Inoue suddenly felt her brain short-circuiting: "You just slept sitting beside her all night?"
"Yeah."
Luo Shu nodded, then sighed:
"And it was super uncomfortable because I had to constantly make sure So'unga's evil energy didn't corrupt her body. Ended up feeling like some awkward holding-it-in contest."
"Oh..."
Takina Inoue's face flushed red as understanding dawned:
"So you were protecting Miss Maya? I'm sorry for having such dirty thoughts."
Watching Takina bow deeply at a 90-degree angle, Luo Shu was genuinely worried her oversized backpack might topple her over:
"It's nothing, don't worry about it."
"Honestly speaking, it's not like I didn't have any... handsy thoughts either."
At this, Maya Natsume's ears suddenly twitched. She jerked her head up, revealing a beaming face.
As if suddenly emerging from low pressure, she cheerfully patted Luo Shu's shoulder repeatedly:
"What's this! So you did have ideas after all!"
"I was starting to think my charm was so bad even a normal man could resist all night!!"
Pausing mid-action, she pressed on Luo Shu's shoulders and asked suspiciously:
"But wait, if you had ideas, why didn't you make a move?"
Luo Shu replied with complete calm:
"That's because your brother was on the opposite hillside from the temple, watching me through binoculars while muttering 'she's got fleas, she's got fleas' the whole time."
"No normal person would think about getting handsy in that situation, right?"
What Luo Shu meant was nobody wants to be watched live, but Maya fixated on the flea comment.
Crack! Crack!
Luo Shu's shirt creaked under Maya's grip.
The silver-haired girl's face turned demonic as she cursed viciously:
"That bastard Shin! Who's he calling flea-ridden?!!"
Luo Shu tilted his head, giving her an exasperated look:
"Be angry all you want, but why death-grip my shoulders?"
Sighing, he shrugged off her hands and moved to the Bone-Eating Well:
"Alright, time to test the return function of this well."
"See you both in modern times!"
Perched on the well's edge, Luo Shu gave a farewell gesture before pushing off with his toes, tipping backwards into the well.
Destination: the modern world!!