Book 4: Chapter 74: “This Is My Body”

After a period of arduous battle, Lily finally escaped the encirclement of ancient warriors. She staggered over to a large tree and leaned on its trunk to catch her breath.

Thud—!

Just then, Lily’s eyes sharpened. She flung the battle-worn spear in the direction of some nearby shrubs, directly impaling a samurai who lurked in ambush.

This action drained her strength even further, causing her to collapse on one knee while gasping heavily.

Lily had no idea where to go, especially with her dizzying sense of direction. In her eyes, the world was a spinning mess.

However, she had to keep moving no matter what. Although she managed to break out the siege of warriors, it wouldn’t take long for them to converge on her location again. The more she lingered, the worse her situation would become.

“No, I must continue moving forward. Even if I don’t know where to go, I definitely can’t stop moving. If I really faint here, then…” Lily supported herself with her katana and resumed her walk.

Suddenly, a big hand reached out from the sloping hillside and grabbed her ankle, forcefully pulling her down.

Instead of engaging in self-defensive manoeuvres, Lily focused on estimating the enemy’s general position and stabbed at him.

The two rolled for a while before coming to stop, the warrior’s heavy frame pressing against her body. Fortunately, Lily had succeeded in piercing the opponent’s abdomen. Using her sword as a bridge, she injected a stream of eldritch spiritual energy into his body.

The cursed katana shone with a scarlet light, causing the samurai’s body to swell and burst.

After crawling from under the exploded chunks of the flesh, more ancient warriors jumped from the hillside and skidded down to her location.

“Damn, they’re endless…”

Before Lily could finish voicing her complaints, a heavy sword descended towards her waist, forcing her to roll over and block while still laying on the ground.

When the samurai lifted his sword to swing down again, Lily flourished her blade and swiped at his legs. As the samurai stumbled to the side, she took the opportunity to try and escape but was promptly hit by another warrior who rushed up.

The blow sent Lily reeling and spun her vision like a whirlwind.

When her sight was vaguely restored, she spotted a dark cave up ahead. The cave seemed artificially excavated and its entrance was hinged by a huge stone gate. Since the surrounding area was teeming with enemies, Lily had no choice but to retreat into the cave.

Strangely enough, the ancient warriors ceased their pursuit after nearing the cave entrance. After Lily entered the cave, they stopped chasing and fell into a dazed state.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She resheathed Yasutsuna and supported her exhausted body with the scabbard, slowly walking into the depths of the cave.

A chilly wind faintly pervaded the gloomy passageway. It was similar to the one that assaulted and nearly injured Tamurakonoe’s soul, only a bit milder.

“Hm?” The wind swept over Lily’s exposed skin, bathing her sweaty body in a type of refreshing coolness.

“This wind is odd. It’s quite comfortable…like a soul baptism.”

Though curious, Lily didn’t have time to examine such a harmless peculiarity. She continued forward and soon discovered a stone door painted with ancient totems. There were various depictions of people gathering provisions, hunting, celebrating, and even engaging in erotic acts.

Are these the ancient people’s vision of a better life?

Lily tried to push open the stone door, but with her current strength, it didn’t budge.

She looked back at the cave entrance which was tens of meters away. To her relief, the warriors seemed to have left instead of coming in. Lily hid behind a broken stone pillar and leaned against the rocky wall of the cave.

“Perhaps this is a dead end, but at least the ancient warriors won’t chase me into this place. I will rest here, take a break, and wait for my physical condition to recover. After that, I’ll think of a way to get out..”

“But, will I really get better this way?”

Lily’s black hair was a little messy from all the intense fighting, and her eyes were unfocused. Obviously, her confidence wasn’t very high.

In fact, Lily’s condition grew more serious after calming down. While in battle, she was able to convert her body’s scorching heat into eldritch intent, but now, she had no methods to release it.

“No, I can’t lose to this curse! I should be able to restrain myself… But, but… Senior Sister, do you…do you know how difficult it is to control this holy body of yours…? Body?”

Lily had a sudden thought, It’s relatively safe here. If I can’t restrain myself, it’s better to…

Amidst her disordered thoughts, Lily tried her best to enter the mirror space. She mastered the art of No-Thought long ago, but it wasn’t easy to form a subtle connection in her current state

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, “No, I have to go in! As long as I enter the mirror space, a curse tailored for women won’t work on my boy consciousness. Even if it does, I can lessen the effects since the mirror space is under my jurisdiction. If anything happens, I’d rather do it to my boy self than desecrate my Senior Sister’s body.”

Although Lily tried to resist, her hands uncontrollably snaked their way onto her chest and lower abdomen, slowly tracing downwards.

“No, Lily, what are you doing?! Don’t do this! What about your will? What about your vow?”

Unfortunately, Lily’s body betrayed her will and was driven by something else.

“I need to enter the mirror space quickly. Calm mind— clear thoughts; clear thoughts…”

However, the more nervous and urgent she became, the harder it was to relax her mind. At this point, her anxiousness nearly drove her to tears.

A gloomy feeling swamped her mood.

“What am I doing wrong again? This is my body. It may look exactly the same as Senior Sister’s, but how can I be certain it’s her body for sure? Maybe this is how I originally looked in this world? That’s right…”

Lily parted her long hair that partially blocked her vision, revealing a dark mist that surged in her eyes. She looked at her milky-white skin with elation.

“Yeah, this is my body. So what if I like myself? It’s a bit strange, but what’s wrong with that?”

At this moment, Lily seemed to regain control of her hands. She inserted two of her jade-like fingers into her mouth, tickling their intrusion with her tongue. Tears trickled down her flushed cheeks, though she was unsure if they represented joy or sadness.

Is this peace of mind or despair?

As she retracted her moist fingers from her lips, a crystal-clear line was formed between the two. Her fingers and mouth relished the feeling of each other as if they were two different people.

Lily leaned her head against the wall and surrendered to her burning itch. With one hand occupying her ample bosom, she stretched towards the lower regions under her torn skirt.

Just then, the stone door opened and a woman appeared.

She had long, inky-blue hair that cascaded down her back, and her eyes rippled like water. When she walked, her black sleeves patterned with lisianthus flowers faintly fluttered, painting her in a noble and graceful light.

Sister Shimizu? Lily was dumbfounded, frozen in her dilemma. The steamy blush on her face was quickly saturated with shame and embarrassment.

If Lily could choose, she would rather confront the dangerous warriors again than face Shimizu at this time.

Shimizu was also overcome with surprise. On one hand, she somehow encountered Lily in this place, and on the other hand, she saw Lily in such a…position.

Shimizu was a mature woman who was a bit older than Lily after all. In addition, she didn’t know about the secret connecting Lily and her Senior Sister’s body.

If she knew, perhaps she would be able to understand Lily’s current behavior— although such a thing would boggle her mind to no end.

Why would Lily do that in this place…?

“No, something’s wrong,” Shimizu whispered to herself, “This girl has her quirks, but not to this extent…”

Sis Lily must have her reasons. Could she be ill? Or was it the effects of Witch Momiji’s trick from last time? She guessed.

These thoughts flitted through her mind quickly.

Shimizu’s surprise wasn’t as strong as Lily’s. No matter the reasons for her sister’s actions, Shimizu’s shock slowly blossomed into an understanding smile. With lithe steps, she walked over to Lily, knelt down, and grasped her wrists gently.

“Sister Lily, why are you here? Are you…okay?”

“I-I am not…I don’t…it’s not how it looks!” The flustered Lily didn’t even ask about Shimizu’s exit from the unusual stone door. Instead, she shook her burning red face in an attempt to defend herself, “Sister Shimizu, it’s not what you think! Yes, it’s the mark…I really, uh…”

Lily spoke incoherently, but her lips were suddenly shushed by Shimizu’s hand.

It took some time before Lily’s mouth was finally uncovered.

This time, she was completely powerless to resist; she couldn’t even resist herself.

“Lil’ Lily, you’re not obedient. You always refuse sister, but you secretly do these kinds of things by yourself, don’t you?” Shimizu rested her chin on Lily’s shoulder and spoke warmly in her ear. While she spoke, she pressed Lily’s hand onto her own thigh.

Just like a fly caught in the spider’s web, Lily wanted to withdraw her hand, but couldn’t escape.

Lily felt too ashamed, completely losing the grounds and foundation to resist.

“I don’t; it’s not like that. Sister, please listen to me…”

Shimizu raised her head and looked outside. Although it was tens of meters away, she was able to see a bunch of ancient warriors wandering about. Lily’s current condition hampered her sight, but she could still hear the faint sounds. From the warriors’ position, they would be able to glimpse Lily’s outstretched feet, but of course, they didn’t retain any complex thoughts.

However, no matter if they were soulless shells, their presence still existed.

“Sis, you are so bold to do it in a place like this…” “Sister, I said that it’s because of Tamamo-no-Mae’s cursed seal…”

“What Tamamo-no-Mae? If you really met that archdemon, would you still be alive right now? Are you lying to me? If you are, I’ll have to punish you!” Shimizu got up and pulled Lily through the doorway.

After they passed through, the stone door began to close.

Lily was still dizzy and her eyesight grew blurry as she looked at Shimizu. She could only lean on Shimizu’s shoulder for support as they walked.

From what she could vaguely observe, the room seemed like the hall of an ancient tomb.

“Sister, where is this? Why can you control this place?” Lily asked softly.

“I’m not really able to control this sacred ancient place. I just discovered some of the original mechanisms of this tomb.” “Then how did you get here? Our ship sank and we were suddenly swept out by the carp spirit. Afterward, we washed up on the shore of the lake…”

Shimizu blocked Lily’s lips with her fingers, “We’ll talk about these things later. First, let me ask you: are you lying?”

“Sister, I’m really not lying. The thing is…” Lily wanted to speak, but a wave of dizziness struck again, causing her to collapse onto Simizu’s shoulders.

“Don’t behave like a baby. Do you think that I can be fooled so easily? If you aren’t obedient and keep lying to me, I’ll definitely punish you!” Shimizu said in a gentle yet severe tone.

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