Chapter 1487 - 1149: Harm

Wuming simply pointed Lann in the right direction, briefly describing the address of her client, and Lann already had a rough idea in her mind.

The Castle Town of Iwamura Castle isn’t large, but for individual resident families, there is still distance.

According to Wuming’s indicated location, the family she actually took on the demon expulsion commission for is two streets away from here!

This distance is too far.

Moreover, the positions of the two families don’t even come close to touching, whether vertically or horizontally, and they have nothing to do with each other.

The concept of "residual hauntings" is similar to Japanese ghost stories, perhaps it can be said that this phenomenon is the basis of Japanese ghost stories.

Logically speaking, entering the house of the dead and making contact should cause these things to attach themselves to people.

But how can two families be so far apart...

"It’s, it’s just a coincidence, right."

Wuming blinked, sounding uncertain, with a hint of unnoticeable, subconscious resistance.

If two things with not a very high probability happened in the same time and place, seemingly unrelated.

Then compared to these two events being truly ’unrelated, just by chance,’ there is another greater possibility.

——The intrinsic connection between these two events is so complicated, so convoluted, that it leads those who only see a part to mistakenly believe the two events are unrelated.

Wuming didn’t understand this concept, but she subconsciously felt that if the Demon Hunter in front of her was right, it would mean there must be extremely bad consequences!

Hence her expression showed this subconscious resistance.

In cities beyond the state of war, the death of people is not a trivial matter; after death, the City Lord or the chief official would arrange for the Great Priest or Yin Yang Master, or even someone slightly knowledgeable about rituals, to go and exorcise the "residual hauntings."

Even if they know nothing, as long as they possess talisman paper or ceremonial objects requested from high-ranking priests or Yin Yang Masters, ordinary people can complete the task.

The main threat of "residual hauntings" to the human world has always been ’possibly attracting demons or evil spirits,’ rather than the "residual hauntings" themselves.

It is not difficult to exorcise under normal circumstances.

Therefore, when Wuming received the commission from a city resident to ’exorcise the residual hauntings,’ she didn’t just release her Guardian Spirit for a tour and call it a day.

Due to professional ethics and her inherently simple personality, she also had to deal with the demons that might have been attracted there.

Hence, as she wandered around this place, she noticed the unusual Lann and Rong Buqiu and began to observe them.

But now, even though Lann had just stepped into this city and started investigating this place stained with her own "residual hauntings," she already felt... This "residual haunting" was completely abnormal!

"Residual hauntings could affect people in ways similar to how they were formed."

Lann straightforwardly stated part of her summary about this supernatural pollution phenomenon.

"Now can you tell me, what is your client’s family experiencing at the moment?"

At this moment, the old woman’s corpse still lay on their family bed.

Perhaps two days ago, this bed still lay her and her son, two bodies that were not wealthy, but at least still alive.

But now, her son had died in Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, and she herself had left in the same manner of death.

The wooden house was dark and smelled foul.

However, at Lann’s reminder, Wuming seemed to think of something, slightly relaxing.

"My employers, they say there’s always the sound of children crying beneath their floor."

Japanese buildings sometimes resemble buildings by the water, using many short pillars to raise the whole house to a slight height.

This height generally allows a person to crouch or crawl through.

So occasionally hearing activity below the floor is mostly likely something like wild cats or dogs.

But Wuming waved it off.

"That family immediately knew that’s unnatural because their house is like this place."

"It’s just a wooden hut and grass shelter built directly on the yellow earth, unlike a wealthy family’s luxurious house with spaces under the big house allowing people to crouch and walk."

Saying this, Wuming pointed casually at the small house they were currently inside.

"You see, she hanged herself. The idea of children and such is completely unrelated."

"Her son just died outside the city in Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, before his death kept shouting for the baby to stop crying."

Before Wuming could say ’unrelated,’ Lann quickly provided more context.

And as expected, Wuming’s face, which had just shown a bit of relaxation, stiffened.

"... It’s connected." Wuming felt a bit wooden. "Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, you’re talking about that village a day’s journey from the city? It actually spread so broadly?"

"Wide influence is one thing." Lann furrowed her brows simultaneously, "But why is it also spreading in an actual city?"

The Residual Filth itself shouldn’t carry much destructive power, and even if ignored, it would naturally fade and disappear.

But now, why is it able to spread uncontrollably like an epidemic, with no signs of weakening even with the passage of time and space?

The harm it can cause is on a completely different level from the normal situation!

Though Iwamura Castle appears small and more like a fortification in Lann’s perspective, in this era of Japan, it’s a genuine and notable castle.

"No, it shouldn’t be this way." Wuming shook her head decisively, "Even if there aren’t famous shrines or temples anchoring the place, the Residual Filth shouldn’t be unmanageable."

This was true, even the Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village had its own methods for exorcism.

How could there possibly be a settlement in today’s world unable to deal with Residual Filth?

Even leaving a place empty, allowing it to naturally diminish and disperse over time, was a method.

But according to the meeting between Lann and Ando Shouji, it’s evident the City Lord was unaware such an extraordinary Residual Filth had appeared in his territory.

"So," Lann shrugged, gesturing towards the corpse with his chin, "are you really certain you’ve successfully purified the Residual Filth here now?"

Wuming removed the evil spirit mask from her head and bit her lip while looking at the corpse.

The hanged corpse now seemed no different from a regular one, even Wuming felt the same just a moment ago.

The dirty, gloomy aura had been entirely cleansed by her Guardian Spirit.

However, after exchanging information with Lann, she now sensed that this corpse, which had already been purified by the Guardian Spirit, somehow seemed to have a tendency to sink back into darkness.

This was a Guardian Spirit!

Even the most respectable Great Priest or Monk rarely had spells and rituals comparable to the Guardian Spirit itself!

Even such power couldn’t eradicate it?

Moreover, there wasn’t just one Guardian Spirit here; the man’s Ninja Cat had already been possessed by Zen-wiping.

In this tiny room alone, there were two Guardian Spirits — both rare and precious throughout the entire nation!

For normal Residual Filth to even exist in this room would be impossible.

"Anyway, let’s arrange for the corpse,"

Lann was the first to speak in the heavy, silent atmosphere.

Wuming instinctively opened her mouth but then closed it again.

According to Wuming’s habit, such matters would just be reported to the city’s authority, and corpse handlers would come by to manage it.

She would generally purify the corpse first, and the corpse handlers, commissioned by the city authorities, had some techniques to handle Residual Filth, so this routine had become her habit.

But the current Residual Filth was clearly beyond the means of those handlers’ small techniques, and it was better not to involve more people.

Lann was the first to leave the room, heading towards the nearby city officials.

After the meeting, Ando Shouji mentioned allowing him to investigate freely, but considering his ’complex and deeply hidden’ identity, it wasn’t truly feasible to let him roam everywhere alone.

Though the accompanying personnel followed Lann’s words and didn’t closely follow him, they waited at a distance in the Tenshu, ready for orders.

Interacting with these people to inform them about the death in the city and to avoid misunderstandings due to Lann and Wuming handling the corpse was sufficient.

The old woman’s hanged corpse was deliberately placed in a secluded and unpopulated morgue.

This abnormal Residual Filth was certainly not dared to be buried haphazardly in the cemetery outside the city.

Cemeteries already carried heavy yin energy, and even with altars, mixing it with such abnormal Residual Filth... who knew what it could transform into.

By adhering to the principles of minimizing involvement and controlling the spread of Residual Filth, by the time they had arranged the corpse, darkness had already fallen.

"Let’s continue tomorrow," Lann said, coming out of the morgue and speaking to Wuming behind him. "If the main issue is the Residual Filth itself, though I’m no expert, we have to trace the clues back to its source, right?"

"Trace the source of the Residual Filth..." Wuming said, frustrated, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I’m not really good at that."

In the past, as someone burdened with the protection of a Guardian Spirit, when had she ever truly cared about Residual Filth?

In Japan, due to the cultural fusion of animism in Shintoism and the import of Buddhism during the Tang dynasty, Guardian Spirits were collectively referred to as ’Gods and Buddhas.’"

In other words, those burdened with a Guardian Spirit were regarded as ’protected by Gods and Buddhas.’

Residual Filth would only make Wuming wary of demons potentially attracted.

She had never intentionally sought the cause of Residual Filth.

If she happened to come across the beginning and end of Residual Filth, she wouldn’t refuse to act righteously.

But if not, she wouldn’t insist, merely purifying and then moving on.

After all, amid today’s chaotic times in Japan, even as one ’protected by Gods and Buddhas,’ her energy and time were limited. She couldn’t handle every tragedy in the world.