Chapter 42: It is now time for fantasy!

[Hachishakusama]
[Quality: Rare]
[Rank: Zero Stars (One and a Half Stars)]
[Rank Cap: Two and a Half Stars]
[Innate Skills: Curse Tracking, Mutual Healing, Phantasm Entity]
[——Hachishaka... Oh no, she should be called Lady Two-Chi-Two-Fen-Two-Li now.]

Well, well, I never expected Lady Hachishaku's quality to reach the Rare tier, putting her on par with the Three-Tailed Fox from the one-star card pool.
Her rank cap also reached a full two and a half stars, which completely surpasses me, her laughing Hannya master, in terms of current potential.

"By the way, Lady Two-Chi, could you hear me talking to you in my mind just now?"
Lady Two-Chi shook her head, and the two small braided pigtails that appeared out of nowhere swayed slightly: "Po~ I couldn't make out the specifics, but I could roughly sense your intention, Master, which was to make me come out of the Jizo statue."
Only after saying this did she realize what she had said, stamping her foot as she protested: "I am Lady Hachishaku! Hachishaku! Turning into this form is just a special circumstance!"

"Very well, Lady Two-Chi." Uesugi Toru thought for a moment and said, "Don't call me master from now on. It sounds too vulgar."
Lady Two-Chi was slightly stunned. As far as she knew, shikigami in the Edo period were in a subordinate position after signing a contract with an Onmyoji.
The former had to unconditionally obey almost all the commands of the latter.
If not master, then what should she be called?

"My given name is Uesugi Toru. Call me whatever you like, just not master."
Uesugi Toru waved his hand. If Lady Two-Chi kept calling him master, he wouldn't even dare to imagine the expressions on Ririko's and Sister Nanjo's faces if they heard it.

"Then... Toru-kun?" Lady Two-Chi tentatively suggested. If Uesugi Toru was unwilling to let her address him by his name, she would immediately change it to Lord Uesugi.
"As you like."
Uesugi Toru replied indifferently—for now, let's first check out Lady Two-Chi's innate skills.

[Innate Skills: Curse Tracking, Mutual Healing, Phantasm Entity]
[Curse Tracking: After a brief observation of any target, the Hachishaku woman can continuously track that target. The tracking precision gradually decreases over time. The tracking limit is one.]

That Lady Two-Chi possessed this kind of innate skill was within Uesugi Toru's expectations.
After all, in the most widely circulated versions of the urban legend, no matter where the protagonist runs, they will feel Lady Hachishaku clinging to their back like bone-gnawing maggots.
Being able to track someone across any distance after just a single meeting is simply an essential skill for long-range pursuit and assassination.
It's just unclear whether this curse is easily discovered or dispelled, because reality is no game. Such a curse shouldn't be too difficult for powerful Onmyojis to detect and remove.

[Mutual Healing: After being embraced by the Hachishaku woman, a continuous healing effect is applied to both parties. The higher the charm attribute of the embraced person, the stronger the healing effect.]

Uesugi Toru glanced sideways at Lady Two-Chi, who had been staring unblinkingly at his face ever since she appeared, and was momentarily speechless.
One can only say this is an innate skill very fitting for her character design, and its strength is quite good. Coupled with the Spirit-Waking Mist, it should allow for rapid recovery after disengaging from battle.

[Phantasm Entity: The Hachishaku woman has no vital points. Each attack only reduces the Hachishaku woman's "HP" and cannot cause physical damage to her corporeal form. The Hachishaku woman dies only when her HP drops to zero.]

No wonder he couldn't feel any resistance when he slashed through Lady Two-Chi's body just a moment ago... So that's why such an absurd innate skill exists.
In that case, wouldn't it be possible to let Lady Two-Chi do some extremely dangerous things?
For example, a normal specter looking at a cute little girl in a white hat walking towards her would absolutely never suspect that the girl had rows of explosives strapped to her body, right?
And this is just the most basic usage; similar tricks await further development by Lady Two-Chi and him.

Uesugi Toru nodded and gave Lady Two-Chi a thumbs-up: "Not bad, very good!"
The latter put her hands on her hips, looking utterly proud.
However, there is a problem right now—
Although Lady Two-Chi's theoretical rank is one and a half stars, in reality, she currently has no fundamental difference from a zero-star wandering soul. She is so fragile that, even without vital points, Uesugi Toru could finish her off in two or three strikes.

"Lady Two-Chi, is there any way to restore your strength?"
"Just staying by Toru-kun's side will do." Lady Two-Chi chuckled twice and took a few steps closer to him, almost pressing against him. "But if we can embrace, the recovery speed will be even faster."
Uesugi Toru took half a step back and raised a hand to block Lady Two-Chi's lunging body: "Let's maintain this distance for now."
He fell into deep thought.
Although Lady Two-Chi's recovery method is extremely thrifty, economical, and practical, given the presence of his ghost father at home, it's impossible for him to sleep holding her.
Moreover, Uesugi Toru doesn't want to expose Lady Two-Chi to the outside world; at a critical moment, she might just become his trump card to turn the tables.
But if that's the case, won't the speed at which Lady Two-Chi recovers her strength be greatly slowed down?

"Try this."
Uesugi Toru took out a portion of Soul-Soothing Incense Ash (Minor) and placed it in his hand.
He figured that since Soul-Soothing Incense Ash could be used as an upgrade material, perhaps it would also have a miraculous effect on a urban legend's recovery?
Before he could even speak, Lady Two-Chi's little face leaned in, staring intently at his palm, her saliva almost dripping out.
"Th-This is..." Lady Two-Chi's chest rose and fell in her usual exaggerated manner as she panted heavily, "Why is it so alluring!"

Uesugi Toru held the Soul-Soothing Incense Ash and asked, "If I give this to you, can it shorten the time it takes for you to recover your strength?"
"Popo!" Lady Two-Chi nodded repeatedly, stars twinkling in her eyes.
"Then you can use these three portions first, and ask me for more if it's not enough."
With that, Uesugi Toru took out the three portions of Soul-Soothing Incense Ash (Minor) he had drawn not long ago and handed them to Lady Two-Chi.

Lady Two-Chi opened her mouth, her expression somewhat dazed.
She thought this must be a hallucination right before she dissipated; otherwise, how could a handsome and generous young man contract her, save her from this deadland, and then generously bestow such precious treasures upon her without hesitation?
This kind of illness would be cured just by taking a nap...

"What are you standing there dazed for? Go back into the Jizo statue and lie down to heal your injuries."
Uesugi Toru's voice brought Lady Two-Chi back to her senses.
She pressed her lips together, not knowing how to speak. In the end, she could only bow deeply, her voice milky yet immensely sincere as she said:
"Thank you for your mercy, Lord Toru."

Uesugi Toru smiled at her and put the Jizo statue into his storage inventory—if Lady Two-Chi wanted to come out, stirring the connection in her heart would let him know.
Next, Uesugi Toru took out the [Universal Vessel Prototype] he had obtained earlier for subduing his first shikigami.

[Universal Vessel Prototype]
[Quality: None]
[Effect: None currently]
[——There is nothing you can't think of that it cannot transform into. But the prerequisite is that you need a good blacksmith.]

In other words, as long as there is a skilled blacksmith, it can be forged into a vessel capable of subduing any demon or urban legend.
Uesugi Toru thought of that little fellow at the blacksmith shop, wondering if he had learned any real skills from the blacksmith.
He would go and ask when the time comes.

Stowing away the vessel prototype, Uesugi Toru clapped his hands.
At this point, the mission for this life could be considered a complete success. It's just a pity he hadn't spent his life capital yet.
Uesugi Toru decided to go explore Edo City and send his life away—as for slaying the White Hannya, he'd better wait until Lady Two-Chi regains some combat capability.
At the very least, she needs to recover to the point where she can instantly cast "Curse Tracking" on the White Hannya.
Therefore, Uesugi Toru didn't want to track down the White Hannya's location right now either.
If the opponent also possesses enough intelligence to think, it will definitely hide to recover from its injuries after being alerted.
By then, the mission would become troublesome to handle.

Uesugi Toru has no other motto in his actions, just one word: steady!
A game he can win is a game he will never throw or squander; instead, he plays it safe and steady, grasping absolute victory in his hands.

Ten minutes later.
Not long after stepping outside, Uesugi Toru—who had been chopped down like vegetables by a passing three-and-a-half-star ghost samurai "White Bone"—returned to the real world as desired.
This time it was quite prompt; a single slash across the neck and there was no pain at all.
That White Bone's swordsmanship is not bad!

Buzz, buzz.
Uesugi Toru's phone vibrated.
Opening it, he saw it was actually a message from Ririko.