Items related to Abe no Seimei are nowhere to be found for the time being.
But Ran knew of one person connected to him, Miyano Shiho, who was being pursued by the Metropolitan Police Department.
"Chief Hakuba."
After offering a silent prayer to the Divine Tree, Ran opened her eyes and said with a cheerful tone, "I know the reason now. As long as we find Miyano Shiho, we can successfully summon Abe no Seimei."
"But Ran..."
Hakuba Joutarou looked helplessly at her, "We don't have any information on Miyano Shiho's whereabouts."
"Huh?"
Ran's eyes widened in a daze.
..
Meanwhile, near the Tama River, the sky had turned entirely crimson.
Having broken free from the seal, Shuten-dōji revealed his true form for the first time.
Surrounded by raging flames, the red-haired youth with a massive sake gourd on his back let out a loud laugh. His demonic aura caused everyone around him to tremble in fear.
"Four hundred years. I've been sealed by that damned sword for four hundred years."
His demonic eyes shimmered with red light as Shuten-dōji stood in the void, removing the gourd from his back.
BOOM!
The mouth of the gourd opened, releasing an extremely dense blood mist. The previous blood mist paled in comparison.
In an instant, Yamanashi Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture near the Tama River were shrouded in crimson blood mist.
And this ominous red was rapidly spreading towards Tokyo.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Ochiai was both shocked and furious.
However, with the Demonic Sword, Onigirimaru, shattered, he was just a slightly healthier old man, completely unable to stop it.
"What am I trying to do..."
The red-haired youth glanced at him, a playful smile spreading across his handsome, demonic-like face.
"I'm going to let the Underworld descend upon the world, to recreate the Hyakki Yagyō of Heian-kyō."
BOOM BOOM!
As soon as Shuten-dōji finished speaking, the crimson sky rumbled with thunder. The extremely dense blood mist gathered together, forming a deep vortex in the sky.
An ominous aura emanated from the other side of the bloody vortex.
As if that side was the realm of the dead, the Underworld.
"Ah, I smell the scent of fresh flesh, it's humans."
"The passage has opened again..."
Countless whispers came from the other side of the blood vortex. At the same time, legendary ghost figures began to appear in Tokyo, which was engulfed in the blood mist.
Mita Town, 5th ward, the small island bar run by Mitsuhiko's parents.
Mitsuhiko's parents were discussing whether to leave Tokyo and go to the countryside for a while.
At this time, an old man, wearing a white robe and completely bald, calmly walked in. He raised his skinny finger and tapped rhythmically on the table.
"Dong dong."
Hearing the sound, Mitsuhiko came out, scratching his head and asking in confusion, "Old man, who are you?"
The old man's lips curled slightly, his brown-spotted hand patted Mitsuhiko's head, his voice gentle, "I'm your grandfather."
"Grandpa?"
Mitsuhiko was stunned for a moment. He was about to say that his grandfather had passed away.
But after being touched by the old man, he felt his head becoming dizzy. He followed the old man's words and said,
"It's grandpa."
With that, Mitsuhiko diligently invited the old man to sit down and went to the counter to get him some sake and the leftover dishes.
"Mitsuhiko, who is that?"
Seeing his son go out for so long, Mitsuhiko's father walked out from the back room, looking at the old man sitting there leisurely, occasionally commenting on the quality of the dishes, with confusion.
"Dad, how can you not even recognize Grandpa?" Mitsuhiko was astonished.
"What grandpa?"
Kōjima Osamu furrowed his brows. He had no recollection of this old man at all.
This made him think of a kind of monster from mythology, the slippery ghost.
It was said that slippery ghosts would often sneak into human homes and eat and drink.
And the humans who let them in would often unconsciously believe that the slippery ghost was the master of the family, not only not drive them out, but also warmly entertain them.
"Could it be?!"
Thinking of this, Kōjima Osamu's heart trembled. He quickly pulled his son away, picked up a kitchen knife from the counter, and said with a forced smile:
"Who are you, get out of our house right now."
"I am your grandpa."
The old man flicked his sleeve.
Mitsuhiko and Kõjima Osamu, father and son, felt their heads getting heavy at the same time. They shouted in unison, "Grandpa!"
And besides the Kõjima family, ghost figures also appeared in other places in Tokyo.
Mountain spirits, holding hands and walking in groups, singing ancient children's songs.
Hair ghosts, floating in the air, with only heads and dense, black long hair.
Eight-foot women, very tall, wearing white long kimonos, straw hats on their heads, with black, beautiful long hair...
In an instant, the Hyakki Yagyō of Heian-kyō, hundreds of years ago, was reenacted in Tokyo.
"What to do, what to do?!"
Emergency calls kept coming in, and the Metropolitan Police Department was in a frenzy.
"Ran." Hakuba Joutarou said anxiously, "Is there really no way?"
"The Divine Tree said that there must be a connection between Abe no Seimei and the current world..."
Ran also looked a bit self-reproaching.
"Connection, connection..."
Hakuba Joutarou paced around restlessly.
The Abe priest beside him asked weakly, "Is anything related to Lord Seimei enough?"
"Yes, yes."
Ran nodded quickly.
"Then I know of one."
Abe priest hesitated and said, "There is an ancient Chinese book called "Jinwu Yutuji" preserved in the Tokyo Museum. It is said that this book was given to Lord Seimei by a master when he went to China to learn magic in his youth. It should meet your requirements."
"Is that really the case?!"
Hakuba Joutarou was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately contacted the staff of the Tokyo Museum.
"Chief Hakuba."
Not long after, a police officer came back and whispered, "The Tokyo Museum has closed. The curator said that the artifacts in the museum are of great significance and they have already evacuated some of the important artifacts."
"However, it seems that "Jinwu Yutuji" has not been taken away yet."
"These cowardly bastards!"
Thinking of how he was working hard here while those people were already running away, Hakuba Joutarou was so angry that his face turned black.
"Let's go!"
He waved his hand and said, "We'll go to the museum ourselves."