Genyou watched as the explosives shattered the ice around Tou, sending him plummeting into the waters before he even managed to scream. To the bitter end, the man had never realized that a gigantic flag bearing the five-clawed dragon was spread over the ice beneath his feet.
A five-clawed dragon symbolized the emperor. Even an uneducated commoner would never dare to step on it, yet Tou had trampled the dragon’s eye underfoot. It was such a grave insult to the emperor that even the children had cried out in surprise.
“H-help! Someone help me!”
Tou flailed, arms thrashing wildly above the surface, but not one of the locals standing on the shore rushed to the rescue of their beloved leader. Merely touching the flag was a guaranteed death sentence, and this man had walked all over it. A grueling punishment surely awaited anyone who aided such a heretic.
“Stay away from him,” came a woman’s dignified voice, further dissuading the dismayed crowd from stepping in. “As you’re all aware, the brigands died in agony, and ostensible starvation victims have occasionally been discovered in the vicinity. That was all this man’s doing.”
The crowd broke into whispers, and the cluster of qi backed away from the lake.
If one of the idiot children like Leanne got close enough, Tou had been planning to drain their life force and make a break for it. His plans foiled, he laid his anger bare and shouted, “Excuse me?! How dare you! Why did you think I treated you all so well?! Feeding me is the only thing worthless trash like you lot are good for! You hear me?!”
Tou was fortunate enough to grab hold of an ice floe, but he only managed to get his face and arms above water, the rest of his body too waterlogged to drag onto the ice. Not even using his go-to trick of summoning flames was an option. Forget intimidating his audience into submission, it would only melt the ice he was clinging to.
“Ugh… Koff! It’s cold! So cold! Are you going to leave me to freeze?!”
The ominous thought of freezing to death crossed his mind. Did these people really intend to leave him to ice over and perish? Something told him that would be a viable method to eliminate his soul without damaging Prince Gomei’s body.
Why must I always suffer so?! Tou thrashed in indignation at the injustice of it all, his sightless eyes bloodshot.
Just then, the world around him grew darker, and he instinctively stopped struggling. Leaving his body to float in the water, he looked up at the sky.
The locals on the lakeshore began to buzz.
“Oh!”
“Look! The sun!”
The sunlight was fading. At long last, the eclipse was upon them.
“Heh… Ha ha ha ha!”
A look of joy overtook Tou’s face, a complete departure from his despair of moments ago.
The souls have begun to detach from their bodies!
Alarmed murmurs rippled through the crowd. No doubt they attributed the strange floating sensation they felt to apprehension over the unusual natural phenomenon. In reality, it was because the Day of Ultimate Yin had disrupted the balance of yin and yang, causing their souls to drift away from their vessels. It was less likely to be felt in the imperial capital, where yang was abundant, but Treacherous Tan Peak had amassed an excess of yin energy as a result of both its geography and history. Those with weaker qi might experience symptoms as severe as fainting.
It was worth sticking around where the yin was strongest. This will allow me to drive out anyone’s soul and seize their body!
That included the man called Anki, who was looking down at him from the ice a short distance away, and the locals standing on the opposite shore. He could even go after the Maiden—or, hell, the almighty emperor standing atop the boulder!
Oh, you’ll all regret this!
Tou sharpened his focus, only to go stock-still when he heard a clear sound emanating from the very rock he was about to target. Tweeet. It was soft enough to melt into the surrounding air, as frail and plaintive as a sob.
“O traveler slumbering at journey’s end…”
Prompted by the melody, a woman began to sing. More voices joined in, harmonizing with the first, and soon everyone on the shore was singing in rounds.
This cannot be! thought Tou, his mind refusing to wrap itself around this turn of events. The locals shouldn’t have known the first thing about the performing arts. How could they possibly form a chorus?
“What visions dance in shuttered sight? Do they blossom in the domain of life?”
Even the porter standing a few steps away did a decent job of joining in. As the song flooded Tou’s ears from every corner, he noticed something else happening. Stupefied, he muttered, “Impossible… It’s pacifying their souls?!”
As soon as the crowd broke into song, souls sent adrift slowly settled back into their bodies, as if they had regained their proper weight. It was an observable change, the kind that could only be brought about by a proper ritual of repose.
How could these people possibly manage that?!
In the original sense of the term, a Repose of Souls was a ceremony to waylay souls that had detached from their bodies and coax them back into their vessels. Performing the ritual called for a certain degree of knowledge and formality. How could a group of average commoners pull off such a feat?
“What echoes weave through frosty ears? Do they carry the mirth of those once dear?”
As the choir took the melody from the top with more fervor than ever, Tou came to a shocking realization.
It’s the song!
The emperor played the melody from atop the rock, while the locals sang the words. This was the process through which the performers were pacifying their own souls.
But how?! The requiem of tribute is supposed to serve no purpose whatsoever!
Tou was a fairly knowledgeable sorcerer, so he knew the requiems often sung for the Repose of Souls Service held no significance from a magical perspective. They were little more than a bit of entertainment, euphonious but otherwise unremarkable melodies paired with literary lyrics.
This song is different.
Though not especially sophisticated, the song the crowd was singing held a strange power. It resonated on an emotional level, which meant it affected qi as well. Its straightforward melody and simple lyrics lent it a familiar ring, and it was easy to memorize after hearing it only once. Adult or child, learned or uneducated, anyone could put their full heart and soul into singing it, as though they had always known the words.
Words were a form of incantation, and songs were a form of ritual. The simple act of singing with a prayer in one’s heart was a ceremony in its own right.
“Sleep, sleep, find peace where a warm breeze blows…”
The detached souls were in the process of being tethered back to their bodies. Tou was seized by agitation, struck with the sense that the whole world had turned its back on him. He had waited twenty-five years for this Day of Ultimate Yin, and now not a single soul was going to take flight.
No, stay calm! he desperately told himself. The souls of the locals may stay in their bodies, but as long as I don’t join in the song, the eclipse will make it easier to project my own soul. At the very least, it should still be easier to switch bodies than under regular circumstances.
Even if his soul was the only one disembodied, he could dive into the body of another and force the owner out.
Quick! I need a body! Anyone’s will do!
His instincts sharpening in the face of danger, Tou spotted a ray of light in the darkness. Something was glowing softly on the lakeshore, directly below the boulder: a red circle of light. It looked as brilliant as the sun—and it was none other than the qi emitted by his own blood.
It’s the bracelet! The one I worked my blood into! Tou’s entire being was consumed with delight. That’s right! I forgot that was an option!
Tou let his body go limp. Soon enough, the excessive yin energy of the environment and the eclipse did their work, and he felt his soul float away from its vessel.
Excellent! Now I need only dive into that girl’s body and oust her soul!
No longer bound by the constraints of a physical body, he could race through the air as fast as he pleased. Better yet, he had a clear target to aim for.
Tou’s disembodied soul soared through the darkness and toward the red ring.
“From the north comes a heavenly sun…”
The song no longer fazed him. He was going to seize a body by force.
“To bathe you in its glow…”
Yes! At long last, I can kiss the wretched darkness goodbye!
That which awaited him was a world full of light, one he would see through healthy eyes.
Whoosh!
Alas, the very next moment, Tou’s soul experienced a sensation curious enough to give him pause.
Huh?