“Hiding Spell?” Leo muttered quietly.
Thomas asked in a low voice, “What’s the origin of those three Daoists? And how did they know that the Orientia geomancy master would be setting up a geomantic formation here tonight?”
“I don’t know, let’s just wait and see.”
The two exchanged glances for a while, and before anyone could say more, they saw the three people in Daoist robes making rapid hand movements.
In a series of flashes of golden light, geomancy items appeared out of thin air.
Among the three Demon Cultivators, the leader made a hand gesture for a duel between geomancy masters towards Kazuhiko, who responded with the exact same gesture and then lightly declared, “Jōji, offer the sacred object!”
Jōji responded with a “Hi,” then opened the suitcase in his hand and took out an object wrapped in yellow cloth.
Upon opening the yellow cloth, a small copper statue was revealed, which Jōji respectfully placed on the altar before stepping back.
At first glance, the statue seemed to be many snakes intertwined, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a single snake with eight heads and eight tails!
The real entity this statue represents is well-known in Orientia as the Eight-Forked Serpent.
Its eyes are like red lantern fruits, with eight heads and tails, and its body divided into eight sections, adorned with moss, cypress, and cedar trees.
The true Eight-Forked Serpent is a colossal creature, capable of filling eight valleys and eight hills with its body, and its stomach always appears bloody and rotten.
According to legends, the Eight-Forked Serpent is extremely evil, consuming one girl each year as a sacrifice.
In-depth research into the Eight-Forked Serpent reveals that its original form was Atraria’s Aoyagi.
What is Aoyagi?
Aoyagi was a fierce god in the ancient myths of Atraria, a minister to Kanghui.
The nine-headed Aoyagi was so large it could eat atop nine mountains simultaneously, constantly vomiting venom to form a bitter, foul-smelling swamp, whose stench could kill passing birds and beasts.
It joined Kanghui in flooding and harming the people, but was confronted by Yu, who was determined to control the waters.
With the help of Ying Long and other dragons, Yu summoned divine power and defeated the water god Kanghui.
Aoyagi, continuing Kanghui’s will, fought a great battle with Yu. Although Yu cut off one of Aoyagi’s heads, Aoyagi managed to escape.
After one head was severed, the blood that flowed was foul-smelling, rendering the soil barren, and the saliva from the severed head formed a vast swamp of venom.
Yu filled in the swamp three times, but it collapsed each time, so he eventually turned it into a clean large pool and built palaces and pavilions by it for the heavenly emperors, naming it the Platform of the Emperors.
Although Yu cut off one of Aoyagi’s heads, Aoyagi managed to steal his weapon.
Knowing it couldn’t defeat Yu, Aoyagi fled with Yu’s weapon far away.
The beheaded Aoyagi paid a heavy price; its abilities were severely damaged, and the lost head never regrew.
Aoyagi eventually escaped to Orientia.
With only eight heads, Aoyagi became a powerful and magical being in Orientia, eventually revered as the deity Ōkuninushi.
The weapon it swallowed, Yu’s, became one of the three sacred treasures of Orientia, known as Bladegrasp.
For example, the people of Qitong Country in “The Classic of Mountains and Seas” are described as having forked tongues, just like the tongues of snakes.
Watching the statue of the Eight-Forked Serpent on the altar, Kazuhiko muttered something quietly and then bowed respectfully to the statue.
After bowing, Kazuhiko took three sticks of incense, bowed three times, inserted the incense into the incense burner, and began to chant a strange, convoluted spell.
A peculiar wave emanated from within Kazuhiko, not spreading outwards but circling around the statue on the altar.
As Kazuhiko continued to chant, the wave began to seep into the statue.
Changes began to occur; the initially rigid and verdigris-mottled statue of the Eight-Forked Serpent came to life, its eight heads twisting and writhing in a way that raised goosebumps.
The statue of the Eight-Forked Serpent seemed to suddenly come to life, its eight heads swaying before all opening their blood-red eyes simultaneously.
One of the heads opened its blood mouth, a red snake tongue flicked out, and a stream of red mist sprayed from the snake’s mouth.
A red aura swirled around Kazuhiko, and the three Demon Cultivators opposite him clearly felt the change in Kazuhiko’s aura, which became sinister and terrifying.
Kazuhiko began to mutter a spell.
After the spell was finished, Kazuhiko stepped back three steps, and then Aoyama walked to the altar.
Looking at the terrifying statue of the Eight-Forked Serpent, which had come alive on the altar, Aoyama showed no fear on his face, but rather a look of devoutness.
He rolled up his sleeves and stretched his arm out in front of the snake head of the Eight-Forked Serpent as it opened its bloody mouth.
The snake head bit down on Aoyama’s wrist.
A look of pain flashed across Aoyama’s face and was quickly replaced by a look of madness.
The snake head began to frantically suck the blood from Aoyama’s body until Aoyama turned pale and could no longer support himself and fell down.
The Eight-Forked Serpent statue, having fed on the blood, seemed to gain some mysterious power. All eight heads looked up and roared, with eight streams of black aura shooting into the sky.
The previously stiff lower part of the Eight-Forked Serpent statue came to life, with eight heads and eight tails moving incessantly, resembling a grotesque, ugly, and terrifying octopus.
A cold and evil aura spread instantly and eventually enveloped the entire foundation area.
Kazuhiko quickly formed hand seals, and a talisman hit one of the heads of the Eight-Forked Serpent.