allendalepharm Chapter 202 On the Birth of Rumors
Chapter 202 On the Birth of Rumors
Chapter 202 On the Birth of Rumors (Part 2)
In fact, after Su Wu defeated Gojo Haru, who represented the strongest sorcerer of the era, no one said anything to his face anymore.
In particular... Abe no Seimei, on whom Heian-kyo placed great hopes, died on the very day that Suguru fought Gojo Haru.
It's like Abe no Seimei died in the morning, and by evening the news of Gojo Haru's defeat by Suguru had already reached other people's ears.
Now, there's absolutely no one left to use in Heian-kyo.
Is he supposedly the grandson of Abe no Seimei, inheriting the strongest bloodline? He has decent talent, but he's too young and lacks the necessary strength.
Perhaps in a few decades, his strength will also become very strong.
But... he will never become a second Abe no Seimei.
No one can become the second Abe no Seimei.
Throughout the ages, there has only been one Lord Qingming.
For a time, no one dared to challenge Su Wu anymore.
The funeral arrangements for Lord Seimei were quite grand, and a shrine was even built in his honor for worship.
Judging from their appearance, they intend to enshrine Abe no Seimei as a god.
Su Wu, in his capacity as the head of the Gojo family, went to pay his respects to Lord Seimei.
The former head of the family, Gojo Haru, with white silk covering his eyes and holding a folding fan, remained as gentle and refined as ever, except that the one who had been at the head of the family now stood behind the young man.
The other five members of the family followed silently with their heads down.
Upon seeing the white-haired boy's distinctive blue eyes, and then looking at Gojo Sei's face covered with white silk, many people sighed inwardly.
That's absolutely right. The six eyes of the Gojo family were actually dug out by the boy in front of him and transferred to his own body.
But none of the people present dared to raise any questions.
The head of the Zenin family was beaten to the point of death, and his strongest shikigami was instantly killed by the opponent. Zenin Akira is still lying in bed half-dead.
And they will be unable to summon their family's strongest shikigami again.
Shikigami don't actually die, but they can't be summoned again in the short term.
When those pale blue eyes swept over them, everyone present lowered their heads in unison.
They had either been beaten up, or witnessed the beating, and some were even related to the people who were killed.
Su Wu glanced at Abe Masahiro, and... the shikigami that had each left.
After Abe no Seimei died, the yokai, or shikigami, who had followed him, all found their own way out and left, seemingly without any lingering attachment.
"Seimei isn't dead. Seimei wasn't human, how could he die of old age..."
As Su Wu was leaving Abe's residence, she overheard one yokai arguing angrily with another.
"Seimei was a human."
"No! Seimei isn't human! Seimei is Seimei."
The monsters' arguments sounded so naive as to be laughable.
But Su Wu was pondering the veracity of the claim that Abe no Seimei was actually a half-demon.
"Was Lord Seimei a half-demon?" Su Wu asked the person most familiar with Heian-kyo.
Having grown up in Heian-kyo and heard many rumors, Gojo Haru probably knows even more.
"Hmm? You're talking about the rumor that Abe no Seimei was the son of a white fox, right?" Gojo Haru thought for a moment and then answered with a smile.
The story that Abe no Seimei was the son of a white fox only became popular after he became famous.
When he was unknown, no one cared about his background.
After he became famous, people marveled at his unparalleled talent and envied his abilities.
After the rumor of being the son of a white fox came out, people seemed to have found a reason for Abe no Seimei's extraordinary talent.
Because the other party is not human, or rather, half-human and half-demon, with half fox demon blood in their body.
Therefore, it is reasonable that the other party has stronger spiritual power than them, who are pure humans.
"I don't know if it's true or not." Gojo Haru shook his head. "After all, when I was born, Lord Seimei was already Lord Seimei."
By then, the rumor of the white fox's son had already been circulating for a long time.
"However... Lord Seimei lived to the age of eighty-five, which does not match the so-called half-demon bloodline," Gojo Haru said.
"...After all, he's only a half-demon, or maybe not even that, because...Lord Seimei doesn't have any demonic characteristics," Su Wu slowly retorted.
The so-called White Fox Prince has neither fox ears nor a fox tail; he has none of the characteristics of a fox at all and looks completely like a pure human.
If the monster's bloodline is not manifested at all, it's only natural that the other party doesn't have a long lifespan like a monster.
"Well, anyway, this is still a secret. Someone once asked Lord Seimei about the truth of the rumors, but Lord Seimei just smiled and didn't say anything. And even the Six-Eyed One can't tell a person's bloodline." Gojo Seimei sighed.
In his youth, he once scaled the wall of Abe's house, intending to sneak inside and meet the so-called number one Onmyoji of Heian-kyo—Abe no Seimei.
That was the first setback he had encountered since birth. He was trapped in the formation. Although it was summer, the moment he crossed the wall, he found himself in a world of ice and snow, unable to get out no matter what he did.
Later, it was Abe no Seimei's shikigami that took him away.
It was also the first time he had met Abe no Seimei. The man was already sixty years old that year, but still had a head of long, jet-black hair.
His smiling demeanor revealed a fox-like cunning. Despite his aged appearance, Gojo Haru sensed an inexplicable...youthfulness emanating from him.
It's impossible to see the other person as an ordinary old man.
Back then, in his youthful arrogance, the Six-Eyed Child, who didn't even need to respect the Emperor, simply looked at the other person and asked, "Old man, are you a fox demon or a human?"
Lord Seimei's reply was, "Can't your six eyes see it? Lord Dizi."
He laughed, seemingly in a teasing tone.
Haru Gojo didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Even with six eyes, he couldn't see through the old man in front of him.
"Then perhaps he isn't really dead." Su Wu shrugged, ignoring Gojo Haru who seemed lost in memories, and spoke to herself.
He died peacefully at the age of eighty-five, which is considered a long life in Heian-kyo.
Perhaps he was afraid that continuing to live would expose his non-human identity, so he faked his death to escape and become the White Fox Prince.
For non-humans with long lifespans, time is the least precious thing.
The day after Abe no Seimei's death, the Emperor summoned all his ministers and sought their help.
They even worshipped the gods and prayed for their protection, wishing they could summon some of the gods from Takamagahara to defeat the guy who struck fear into the hearts of everyone in Heian-kyo.
But... God did not respond to them.
"How about... we elevate him to a high position?" A minister from the Fujiwara clan tentatively suggested.
If you can't beat someone, just admit defeat. There's nothing shameful about bowing down to the strong.
A head held high is easily chopped off.
When dealing with enemies you can't beat or afford to offend, the usual approach is... to appease them.
Just like those small towns and villages that worship various gods such as mountain gods and river gods, offering sacrifices and praying for peace.
"In that case... let's do as you say," the Emperor said.
They had no other choice.
In Heian-kyo these days, there's simply no one who can fight the other side.
"What if the other party disagrees?" a minister asked.
"...I don't think they'll disagree," a minister of the Fujiwara clan said. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to hold back; they could have easily wiped out all their enemies."
"But he deliberately held back, which means there is enough room for conversation."
Everyone present nodded in agreement.
If there were no room for negotiation, these people wouldn't be standing here to meet the Emperor today; they should have been killed by him long ago.
"Then—who will be responsible for negotiating the specifics with the other party?" the Emperor asked another question.
For a moment, all the officials and civil and military officials fell silent.
……
Two days later, at Gojo House.
"You mean... you're going to worship me? And build a shrine for me?" The white-haired boy sat at the head of the table, raising his eyebrows, his tone suspicious.
Standing on either side of him were members of the Kamo and Gojo families.
The Kamo family was very pragmatic; as soon as Su Wu stepped into their gate, the head of the Kamo family led his men out to admit defeat.
He also volunteered to do things for Su Wu.
Because of their pragmatism, this family actually suffered the least loss.
Su Wu felt a pang of regret. She should have attacked the Kamo family first, because they were relatively weak. At least the Zen Temple had a Demon Lord who could summon others to fight to the death. What did the Kamo family have? Apart from their so-called noble bloodline, they had nothing.
"Yes, the Emperor has given the order that construction will begin tomorrow, provided you agree..." The informant was a member of the Fujiwara family.
As the head of a powerful and influential ministerial family, their family naturally had to contribute more.
"Sigh..." Su Wu stroked her chin and began to think.
What good would building a shrine do for him?
Can one become a god through fear or faith? He wasn't born of faith.
For him, the so-called shrine had more symbolic meaning.
Hmm, everyone worships him, it seems pretty good.
It feels a bit strange that they are being worshipped even though they are not dead.
"Sure, go ahead and build it," Su Wu replied to the Fujiwara clan general after thinking for a moment.
"The Emperor hopes that you will be able to attend the festival..." the military officer continued.
"Of course, I'll go and inspect my own shrine. Don't cut corners!" the white-haired boy said crisply.
The general breathed a sigh of relief and left impatiently, his face filled with relief at escaping death.
"But no one has ever offered to build a shrine for me. It seems that being a little fierce is more intimidating," Gojo Haru chuckled.
Even though he was born with six eyes, was destined to become the head of the Gojo family, and was praised as a divine child favored by Amaterasu, no one ever suggested building a shrine for him.
Because he is the son of God, merely the son of God, not God.
Only gods can have their own shrines.
"Gods usually have names, right?" Su Wu pondered.
Is Sukuna's real name Ryomen Sukuna? I don't think so. Ryomen Sukuna was originally supposed to be a demon or a god, but Sukuna was originally a human, neither a demon nor a god. At most, he was just deformed because he had two faces and four arms, so people called him Ryomen Sukuna, and he responded to that name.
Well, if that's the case, then Su Wu can directly replace another god, right?
Since Sukuna wasn't actually attacked by the two-faced Sukuna, it's clear he'll be fine.
Like I said before, if you're not happy, come out and fight.
If you dare to show your health bar, I'll kill even a god, and that's not just a joke.
"Have you decided on your god's name yet?" Gojo Haru asked.
"Amaterasu is a goddess, Susanoo and Tsukiyomi..." Su Wu hesitated for a moment between the two.
"Let's just meet under the moon, or rather, Tsukuyomi. There's no need to build a special shrine; we can just convert the shrine dedicated to the moon goddess into one dedicated to me." Su Wu made the decision casually.
He immediately tried to seize the divine status of one of the Three Noble Sons.
Haruto Gojo temporarily lost his ability to speak.
"Although I feel I'm more like Amaterasu, Amaterasu is a woman." Su Wu fell into thought.
After all, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of white hair and blue eyes is a clear sky, and Amaterasu is in charge of the daytime.
"The Moon Goddess... isn't that much different." Su Wu continued to ponder.
White hair and blue eyes, associated with the night, isn't entirely inappropriate.
The moonlight and the night sky, the night sky is also blue.
Moreover, there are even fewer records about the moon goddess, and she is even more mysterious.
"...Don't you want a god's name of your own?" Gojo Haru hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"All things have a spirit, and all things can become gods, but gods are also divided into weak and strong. The three noble sons respectively govern the sun, the moon, and the ocean. The authority of other gods has no meaning to me."
"If I were to create my own divine office, I would rewrite all your records about God."
"For example, erase all the other great gods and record myself as the god who created everything..." Su Wu said lightly.
But that would be very troublesome; a lot of shrines would have to be demolished.
He converted all the shrines into shrines dedicated to him.
In comparison, his decision to only seize the moon goddess's divine status was incredibly kind.
"..." Gojo Haru then stopped trying to persuade him.
He had no doubt that if he continued to persuade them, the other party might actually make a demand that all of Japan must believe in only him.
"Oh, right," Su Wu said, as if she had just remembered something.
"Tell the others that when they see me in the future, they should remember to kneel down and bow their heads," he said with a smile.
He didn't even need to kneel when meeting the Emperor, yet he demanded that everyone else kneel before him.
"Since you've decided to worship me like a god, you should treat me like a god."
"Believers are required to kneel and kowtow when they meet God, right?"
"Well, even if other gods don't need it, it's none of my business."
"After all, I come from the Tang Dynasty."
"Treat me with the same courtesy you would show to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty," the white-haired, blue-eyed boy said casually, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
The etiquette in the Tang Dynasty did indeed require kneeling and bowing.
The three starter families are all old-fashioned, so let's make him even more old-fashioned.
"If I ever see anyone looking up at me again..." He sat in the head seat, resting his chin on one hand, his expectant gaze sweeping over the members on either side, and said with a smile, "Kill them without mercy."
As soon as the words were spoken, both sides knelt down at the same time.
Maro knelt at his feet very early on.
"Do I have to kneel too?" Gojo Haru sighed.
He wants to play with variables, but he doesn't want to kneel down to anyone.
"No, after all, you're an exception." Su Wu smiled.
Gojo Haru breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what, he was raised as a god, and although he seemed easy to talk to, he was quite arrogant at heart.
Judging from his field and... some of his actions, he doesn't care about other people or things, only about what he finds interesting.
Therefore, when they discovered the visitor from another time, they did not make a fuss and even took the initiative to hide the visitor's identity.
Even now, I haven't thought about doing anything.
Because he felt that... the variables that occurred a thousand years later were more interesting than all the people of the Heian period combined.
But after he became the only exception who didn't have to kneel, while everyone else did, another rumor spread in Heian-kyo—Gojo Kiri was the son of Gojo Haru and a goddess from heaven.
Following the legend of the White Fox Prince Abe no Seimei, another tale of Gojo no Kiri, a half-human, half-god, has emerged.
(End of this chapter)