Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 139 Early Rising Is Worth One Story

　The sun had fully risen and begun its descent.

　"It's pausing here..."

　The youkai I'd been tracking, likely wounded, had come to a stop. I'd spent over 3 hours following their bloodstains, and I decided to take a break. The reason for my pause was as I mentioned earlier; the red footprints that had been scattered on the ground had vanished.

　"Now, how should I interpret this?"

　I took my time to carefully scan my surroundings. The unidentified youkai with the injury had proven to be quite cunning, often attempting to mislead me during our pursuit.

　Sometimes, the bloodstains would suddenly disappear, only to reappear in the distance, as if they had leaped. In some cases, the bloodstains continued in different directions. There were also cliffs and carnivorous plants ahead... It was a challenging situation.

　"..."

　Before I knew it, I found myself standing in a damp valley. It was a narrow path at the bottom of the valley, squeezed between steep cliffs on either side. I felt uneasy about approaching it.

　"It must be a trap...!!"

　As soon as I realized this, I threw a smoke bomb. The various monsters that emerged from the cliffs and the ground reacted with shrill cries to the pungent smoke.

　"Damn it!! Get out of my way!!"

　I sprinted back along the path. Along the way, I swiftly passed beneath the legs of a large spider youkai that had suddenly leaped in. It was a mid-tier youkai, not someone I should confront alone.

　'Kiki!!'

　'Gggghh...!!'

　"This is convenient!!"

　I didn't let any of them escape, quickly dealing with a swarm of locusts and leech-like small youkai that leaped towards me. I mercilessly crushed the leeches underfoot and swung my spear like a bat, striking the locusts in the face. I followed up with a full swing towards the spider's face.

　'Ghh!!'

　"Nice catch!!"

　Instinctively, I caught a locust that had flown towards my face, thrown it toward the spider. It bites into it, and sucked its bodily fluids, much like savoring an ice cream cone. The large spider, now engrossed in its prey, no longer paid any attention to me.

　This was the eighth method taught by my master for dealing with youkai when outnumbered. These creatures really had no sense of camaraderie... Wait a minute!

　"D*mn it!! I don't have time to deal with you guys!!"

　A bunch of sandworms began to overflow from the mud. They were the kind of youkai used as bait in fishing. They were quite large for small youkai. I promptly presented them with smelly bombs, which exploded upon contact.

　'Kkkkk!!??'

　Due to their inherently fragile bodies, some of the sandworms died from the explosion, while the rest writhed in agony from the intense stimulus, directing their hateful gazes towards me.

　'Arrgghh!!'

　"Here they come! Devour them all!! They're quite a feast!!"

　As the sandworms approached me, they were all swallowed whole by a large catfish that had also leaped out of the mud. Fish youkai that lurked in muddy areas like this were skilled at hiding and sensitive to vibrations. They were a nuisance when you couldn't afford to run away. They needed food, and it seemed like they were demanding it from me. To make matters worse, flesh-eating mud loaches and flesh-eating catfish appeared and began devouring the sandworms. It was a hellish scene of chaos.