Village of Smiths, the Illusion Realm of Ushitora

Present: Late Spring, 1472

The village was a decent sized place, easily fifty families or more...and it seemed that the main occupation of the village was smithing which explained the unceasing sound of metal striking metal. The clanging of hammers, the roar of bellows being pumped, and the sizzling sound of hot metal quenched in water could be heard all over the village. Even if you were deaf, it was impossible not to see that the men had huge builds and that they were dark with soot and damp with sweat because of their work in the forges.

Although the villagers they had encountered earlier were wary of them, things seemed to ease as Feiyan's group slowly made their way towards the center. She'd already stopped to ask questions of some of the younger adults, and seeing that they only meant to pass through, the people appeared less hostile. The children on the other hand were openly curious, and after a while Feiyan was able to entice a few of them by making a few grass crickets to entertain them.

"You're nothing like the others, young hero!" said one of the boys, who'd grabbed her hand, dragging her along.

"Oh?" she asked, perking up and shooting a meaningful glance at Hajoon. Perhaps Li Molan and the others hadn't been sent somewhere else...

"There were others? How many? When was that?" she asked.

The child frowned.

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" he asked in confusion, scuffing his toe in the dirt as he came to a halt.

Feiyan smiled, crouching down. Hajoon also smiled faintly.

"I'm sorry. That was too impatient, wasn't it? How about you tell me at your own pace?" she offered.

"Ennn!" the boy nodded, brightening. "There were four people, two men and two women. They came through earlier. The men were loud and demanding. The women were distraught, and the sound of their voices hurt our ears."

"That's definitely Lord Li and his group..." muttered Eunhae, rolling her eyes.

"So it seems," Hajoon nodded in agreement.

"Are they still here, child?" asked Feiyan, still crouching down at eye level.

The boy looked uncomfortable and didn't answer.

From that reaction, Feiyan surmised that the four nobles were indeed still in the village and probably being held somewhere. She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a breath.

Troublesome.

"It's alright if you can't say," she said, standing with a smile. "Thank you for your help."

The boy nodded, trotted away, but then he stopped.

"Young hero, you can ask for them at the headman's house," he said, and then ran away.

Ah.

"They're expecting us, then," said Feiyan with a sigh.

"What are you going to do, Your Highness?" asked Usa.

Her lips thinned.

"What else is there to do, other than breaking them out?" she asked sourly.

Troublesome.

***

"How long have we been walking?" Hajoon asked suddenly, breaking through Feiyan's thoughts. He peaked back over his shoulder down to the village below. Feiyan realized that the distance did not appear to have changed.

"A half hour," answered Eunhae, slowing to a stop. "Are you also thinking the same, Vice-Captain...?"

Usa swiped a wrist over his forehead, trying to digest that cryptic question.

"It didn't seem that far up the hill when we started, but why do I feel like we aren't getting any closer?" he muttered.

Feiyan tilted her head. She'd also sensed something wrong, but had wanted to be sure before she said anything. Hajoon's expression indicated that he wasn't surprised.

Then I was right. Looks like we walked right into someone's defensive formation...

"Have you been marking the way?" Feiyan asked, turning to Hajoon. She could tell from his expression that he had been planning a counterattack...as had Eunhae.

"Yes, I've been counting the marks too...we've circled back at least twice now."

Feiyan's eyes narrowed.

An illusion within an illusion. This person is clever. It will be almost impossible to differentiate their formation from our surroundings...Well then...

Feiyan took out exactly eight darts, four in each hand, and spinning quickly on her feet, she flung them up and outward.

Since there was no point in hiding her abilities anymore, she sent her inner force with them, shooting tendrils of light in eight directions, creating her own trigram compass to show her the way.

"Break!" she said softly.

The streams of light seemed to fade away, but then the entire forest wobbled as if the space had just been bent.

"Can you see it now?" she asked Hajoon, satisfied.

Eyes filled with appreciation, he nodded towards the wall of trees on their left: "I see it now: the opening is there."

Uta rubbed a hand over his hair.

"Your Highness isn't it just a wall of...trees...?" his voice stuttered to a halt when Hajoon walked right through and disappeared.

Eunhae grinned at Uta's expression. Those two really do deserve to be the elite of the Shadow guard. Lord Mu would be pleased if he could see them both. It's a shame that no one knows she's our young Mistress in disguise...

Feiyan smiled warmly at Uta and Usa, tilting her head in the direction Hajoon had taken.

"As I said before, this whole place is an illusion. Don't believe everything you see," she smiled, and followed Hajoon into a clearing.

Unfortunately, Feiyan had let her guard down too soon. Just as she entered through the opening, she felt a rush at her back and it seemed like the entire forest shifted, closing off the path behind. They were now completely separated from the others.

"Caught you!" chuckled a deep, gravelly voice.

Feiyan's eyes narrowed. Covering her shock, she snapped her fan open as she came parallel with Hajoon.

Before her, sitting on a large boulder, was a seven-foot tall oni with a shock of white hair and black horns, one of which was broken. Red skinned and muscular, he grinned widely in welcome, mouth stretching into a grimace around his fanged teeth. Black tattoos covered his face and huge gold hoops hung from his ears. Except for a necklace of skulls, he was bare chested, wearing only a tiger skin over his loins. Leaning against one of his thighs, handle stretching above his shoulder, was a beautifully inscribed war club.

Standing beside him, only slightly shorter, was a distinguished looking man with long dark hair tied with a red cord. In comparison to the flashy red oni, he could have been called plain as his dark blue haori and gray hakama were unembellished. Yet the silent contemplation of the calm silver eyes and the elegance of his bearing made a tingle go up Feiyan's spine.

"It's been some time since we've had such distinguished guests, wouldn't you say, Kurogane-dono?" the oni rumbled.

"Indeed, Yaksha," responded the man with a whisper of a smile on his face. "And such interesting ones..."

"Yes! It looks like someone tried to cover you with a spell, little lass, but we can still tell that you're just a human girl," the oni chuckled, standing to his full height. He slowly drew the kanabo along the ground.

"Since you both seem to be the most troublesome of the bunch, we decided to greet you ourselves..." said the man called Kurogane-dono.

Feiyan bowed politely according to the Shoban fashion.

"Well then, I believe you know why we're here. We only wish for our people to be returned," said Feiyan cautiously. "Would you be kind enough to release them?"

The oni guffawed.

"I think not..." he laughed, slamming the kanabo down.

Well, I didn't think so either...but asking politely should always come first, Feiyan thought wryly.

Both Hajoon and Feiyan leapt backwards as the kanabo slammed down right where they'd been standing. As the ground cracked where the club had struck, the shockwave sent a wall of earth and rock towards them. Skidding back in a crouch, Feiyan flapped the fan out behind her, while Hajoon gripped his throwing knives in his fist. Hajoon had deliberately chosen not to draw the sabre given the brute strength of the oni's kanabo. This battle would not be won by meeting force with force, but with speed and agility.

Nodding to each other, they zigzagged towards their opponents, careful to avoid the deep furrows in the ground.

"They're quick little things, aren't they?" the oni grimaced, addressing his companion. He sounded torn between amusement and exasperation. Smashing left and right, he grunted as Hajoon and Feiyan ducked and dodged around him.

Feiyan suddenly smiled.

The range of the kanabo was wide, so only if they attacked within his guard would they succeed in immobilising him. Feiyan dashed forward.

Hajoon immediately realized that Feiyan was going for the large oni's legs. Their long years together in the fighting triad made their cooperation seamless as they anticipated each other's moves, but he was worried about the dark-haired man who only watched with vague interest at the ongoing battle.

Why isn't he moving? Hajoon wondered, glancing at the dark-haired man. What's his trick?

"Hajoon!" Feiyan cried out in warning at his momentary distraction.

"Oi!" grunted the man called Kurogane-dono as a wind blade created by the fan smashed right into the kanabo, countering the blow at the last moment. Even still, Hajoon could not avoid the club completely.

The kanabo glanced off Hajoon, but with enough force left that it still dealt him quite a bit of damage. Gripping his shoulder, he grimaced, panting, as he watched Feiyan duck between the oni's legs.

"Hmph!" the oni huffed in surprise.

Where the wind blade had blocked the kanabo, there was a new shiny mark cut into it.

Feiyan heard a hiss as the man called Kurogane-dono wiped blood off his face.

"Yaksha...that fan...is it not the weapon of that black ghost from the Firebird Palace...?" he asked, silver eyes glinting. A sliver of disbelief threaded through his voice.

"I believe it is, my friend..." grunted the oni, eyes narrowing in vigilance.

Several different thoughts smashed together in Feiyan's head.

The cut on his face...

"Hajoon!! That man is a tsukumogami*! His true form is the kanabo!" she yelled as she swept the fan back, gathering a tremendous wind.

Hajoon grinned, realizing it at the same time.

"That one isn't an ordinary girl," growled the oni, skidding back with the kanabo in one fist. "Now that she's recognized Kurogane-dono we may not be able to..."

"No matter! She's still only human," replied the tall dark-haired tsukumogami.

The oni shook his head.

"Is she?" he wondered aloud, doubt clouding his features.

"Go!" Feiyan cried to Hajoon, dashing forward. With the wind of her fan before her and Hajoon's knives flying behind her, she zig-zagged forward, and was next to the tsukumogami in an instant.

"Oh my...you're quicker than a regular human being as well..." said the tsukumogami, sounding amused.

With skin thicker than a rhinoceros, the knives were more of an irritation to the oni, but it was enough to distract him. The oni gnashed his teeth in frustration, pounding a fist down toward Hajoon's head, but he was already darting out of range and throwing more knives. Slipping in under the oni's guard, he knocked the kanabo out of the oni's hands with a sharp kick, and then rolled to avoid the smack of huge red fists as they pounded into the earth where Hajoon had just been.

"Feiyan! Now!" Hajoon yelled.

Kicking off the tsukumogami's shoulder, Feiyan leapt into the air to catch the flying kanabo and her arms buckled under the weight. The studded iron staff was much heavier than expected and she lurched backwards as she skidded, trying to right her balance as she twisted her body. At the same moment, the tsukumogami reached out, lightning fast, wrapping his fingers around her throat.

"Ugh!" she wheezed, feeling her breath being squeezed out as the tsukumogami's iron grip tightened. Her lungs burned for air and her eyes blurred. Her heart pounded crazily while black spots danced in front of her eyes.

No...

Chapter Note:

A kanabo is an iron Japanese war club. This chapter was inspired by the saying "oni ni kanabo" which translates to "like giving a kanabo to an ogre" which would make them excessively OP. It's a similar meaning to "adding fuel to the fire."

Tsukumogami are tools or inanimate objects that have acquired a spirit, usually after they have reached their 100th year. They sometimes become yokai (supernatural beings in Japanese mythology).

As I've mentioned before, Migong was inspired by the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. Similar to Hercules who completed ten labours, Theseus had to complete Six Labours in order to make it to Athens to claim his birthright. These six labours actually coincided with the six gates of the underworld, and he had to defeat an opponent at each of these gates. As Migong progresses, you may see similarities between Theseus's labours and Feiyan's trials, except with an Asian spin. Kudos to anyone who can identify all six labours!

Also, you probably should have noticed by now that Migong is also heavily influenced by the myth surrounding the four guardian beasts: The Azure dragon of the East, the Vermillion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. Keep an eye out as all four will appear at some point before the end.