Tonight is a long moon night.
The slender crescent moon hangs in the pitch-black sky. Fujiwara Reya glanced up, feeling it resembled a white cat's paw treading on a black cloth.
"Fujiwara, you must send that damned spider to Yomi Country!" Ikeda Aoshu looked towards the window, his indignant expression illuminated by the moonlight, "The deceased female worker was a single mother; she had an eight-year-old daughter. You can't imagine the look in that little girl's eyes this morning when I arrived at the scene, blocked from seeing her mother's body. It was heart-wrenching..."
Fujiwara Reya imagined the little girl's despairing eyes and sighed softly, "Where is that girl now?"
"The old monk took charge and brought her back to the temple to stay temporarily, seeing if a suitable family could adopt her."
"Keep the 1 million yen for buying her some clothes or snacks, and don't forget to help her find a good family."
There are many unfortunate people in this world.
Fujiwara Reya wasn't willing to save every single one, but given that he happened to come across this situation, he was generous with a small gesture of goodwill.
Ikeda Aoshu turned his head to glance at him, placing his hands together solemnly, "Amitabha."
In the next second, he added, "But the money is for you, after all, my family doesn't lack this 1 million yen."
"Alright."
Fujiwara Reya wasn't sentimental.
"It's enjoyable being with Fujiwara." Ikeda Aoshu said excitedly, patting his shoulder lightly.
"It's getting late," Fujiwara Reya looked up at the dimly lit corridor, "Let's go in."
"Uh, I need to use the restroom, Mr. Fujiwara, just wait for me a few minutes!"
Ikeda Aoshu turned around and ran towards the main gate, moving incredibly fast.
And then he never returned.
Fujiwara Reya had long figured out the monk's habits, so the moment the monk turned, he had already walked into the hallway on his own.
Being a demon himself, he was also happy to perform the exorcism without anyone watching, or else it would be troublesome if he accidentally exposed the fact that he was also a demon.
Stepping on the dim moonlight, Fujiwara Reya ascended to the third floor of the factory and pushed open the door to the reception room.
A nauseating, revolting odor hit him head-on. He covered his nose and stopped to look inside.
The room was approximately four and a half tatami mats in size, some areas uneven, presumably remodeled to use part of the factory as a reception room.
In the middle was a tatami mat with a low table on it, an ashtray and a small stove, and a set of exquisite ceramic teacups.
Fujiwara Reya assessed the room's environment, stepping inside.
The floor and walls still bore some dried blood stains, and the air carried an odious smell. Besides that, there was a disgusting, fishy odor, like the saliva of some poisonous lizard.
His past experiences in exorcism told Fujiwara Reya that this was the trace left by a demon after harming living beings.
Whether a demon, ghost, or even a human, as long as they've killed, they'll be tainted with the resentful curse of the deceased, and that stench is a byproduct of that resentment.
The more one kills, the stronger the stench, the harder it is to eliminate.
However, if the ones killed already carried heavy resentment themselves, be they people or ghosts, the stench quickly dissipates.
The principle is unclear.
It's probably that old woman Amaterasu encouraging the creatures of the world to kill less, but when encountering bad guys, it's fine to kill them directly.
Fujiwara Reya had exorcised many demons, yet he didn't have this scent on him.
After all, the Mountain God from Nagano Prefecture was a well-behaved good demon who never committed gratuitous killings.
Carefully observing the surroundings, Fujiwara Reya slowly approached the low table in the center.
Above the low table, several thin threads dangle vertically from the ceiling. He pulled at one of the threads, small yet resilient, feeling an elastic force quickly reflect back to his fingertips.
It was spider silk, but not from an ordinary spider. It was definitely left by a demon.
Following the spider silk, Fujiwara Reya looked up at the ceiling. The wall directly above the low table bore several claw marks.
Lowering his head to look at the floor, he noticed some fine white putty powder scattered near the low table.
The culprit quietly poked its head from the ceiling, using spider silk to entangle the female worker sitting in front of the low table, pulling her up to the ceiling, consuming her flesh and blood, and then quietly retracting back into the hole.
It's a method the Spider Demon would use.
Fujiwara Reya fetched the broom from the room and poked it up towards the ceiling, intending to check the location of the passage above by sound.
Then suddenly, a faint sound of footsteps reached his ears, not from two legs, but eight legs moving together.
Turns out it was hiding outside!
Fujiwara Reya instantly rushed out the door, looking to one end of the corridor, and a black figure was also looking back from the other end. It was a bald-headed spider demon with a human upper body and a spider's lower body.
With its figure appearing, the demonic energy inside the factory suddenly became denser, a dangerous aura stirring black ripples in the air.
Fujiwara Reya couldn't help but frown.
His demonic power was bright yellow; demons weaker than him were earthy yellow, while stronger demons were golden yellow.
Black demonic power could only mean that this Spider Demon had killed too many, its demonic power already eroded by malice, turning from yellow to black.
"Tch, why is it a guy? Unlucky..."
The bald spider spat in disgust.
Originally, he had heard from his subordinates that there were more female workers in this factory, so he came by tonight for the first time to scout the place. He planned to return later with a few young and pretty ones to fulfill the task assigned by his organization. Instead, he ran into a guy right off the bat, which really annoyed the spider.
"Hey, what are you here for?" the bald spider shouted loudly.
Fujiwara Reya replied, "Exorcism!"
Exorcism?
The bald spider was momentarily surprised, then scrutinized him seriously.
Appearing to be seventeen or eighteen, wearing a student uniform, with no apparent divine power fluctuations, he looked just like an unremarkable ordinary high school student.
So he laughed out loud like he'd heard a good joke.
"Hahaha..."
"Have you passed the lower priest examination?"
"...Uh," Fujiwara Reya scratched his head awkwardly, "Not yet."
It was no wonder the spider found it laughable—he was a certified priest of the Asakusa Shrine yet couldn't even pass the lower examination; speaking of it, even he felt embarrassed.
The bald spider laughed even more wildly.
"Overestimating yourself, aren't you? I'm a major demon with an upper-level strength; a single punch from me could kill you. Are you scared, kid?"
Hearing this, Fujiwara Reya furrowed his brows.
Wasn't it supposed to be a middle-rank Spider Demon? How did it become an upper-rank Spider Demon?
Did the little monk give false information?
Damn it!
That is simply unacceptable!
The rules are rules; charging 1 million yen for a middle rank, but for an upper rank, there has to be an extra charge!
Noticing the youth's furrowed brows, the bald spider concluded he was aware of the seriousness of the situation, a playful grin appearing on his mouth.
He couldn't be bothered with questions about who the other was, from which shrine, or how powerful the family elders might be.
As the number ten leader in the organization, the bald spider possessed a secret vessel capable of erasing traces of demonic power, ensuring that after killing the small one, the large ones wouldn't come seeking revenge.
No matter who this boy was, even if he was Amaterasu's husband, he was doomed today!
Just as Fujiwara Reya was about to call the little monk to discuss a surcharge, the bald spider suddenly made his move.
"Calling for backup? It's too late, obediently become my food, hahaha..."
All eight legs moved rapidly, and the bald spider charged directly.
The corners of his mouth split open on both sides, revealing a row of dense, sharp teeth that shone with a gleaming chill.
What was even more terrifying were the two rows of eyes that appeared from his cheekbones to his forehead, a total of eight gleaming green eyeballs staring menacingly at Fujiwara Reya, eyes as if looking at a piece of meat on a cutting board.
In the whistling wind, he charged forward unstoppable, with fierce and unyielding momentum.
And then he was gone.