The Lord’s Empire

Hyakuonogatari Kaidankai was a game where people lit 100 candles and took turns talking about strange or terrifying stories. Each time they finished telling a story, they would blow out one of the candles. After all of the candles were extinguished, it was said that everyone would be brought to hell.

There was dignified-looking woman who had snow-white hair and snow-white eyes. She wore a white kimono and gave a gentle smile as she looked at Zhao Fu. She was called Yuki-onna.

She was a traditional Japanese Devil everyone knew about. She lived in mountains and looked quite beautiful. She would often attract men to places where there was no one else and kiss them. At the same time, the men’s bodies would freeze, and she would devour their souls.

The Yuki-onna’s children were called Yukinbo, and Japanese folklore believed that the Yukinbo were the Devils who brought the first snow of winter. The Yuki-onna was a world-class beauty and had a cold personality. She was a subordinate of the mountain god and controlled the snow of winter.

Juvenile Yuki-onna were harmless, but mature Yuki-onna liked to freeze men and take them back to where they lived to look at.

There was a pure-looking and slim woman who wore a lace kimono and looked at Zhao Fu while smiling; she was called Hashihime.

Hashihime was called ‘the maiden of the bridge’ and was a divine type of Devil. It was both a Water Devil and a Water God.

Because she could not be with her beloved person, she drowned herself. If men crossed the bridge at night, she would appear and cause the water to drown them. If women crossed, she would pull them into the water.

Hashihime first appeared in the poem Kokinshu, and there were many stories about her.

There was another woman wearing a palace dress who had fluffy, long hair. She was quite pretty, but her teeth were black and held a mirror. She did not look at Zhao Fu for some reason; she was called Ao-nyobo.

Ao-nyobo was forty-fifth out of the Hyakki Yagyo. She ate humans and was incredibly dangerous.

They were mainly in Kyoto and often appeared in dark and old houses, holding a mirror. She was actually quite pitiful due to her story.

A beautiful woman with an enchanting figure wearing a bathrobe coldly smiled as she looked at Zhao Fu. She was called the Drowned Woman.

She often appeared in onsens, and people would often see a beautiful woman bathing. However, if she stood up, they would see skeletons in the water around her.

She was similar to Kappas, which were Devils that lured people to commit suicide.

There were two types of Drowned Women. One type had the upper half of a beautiful woman but had the lower half of a skeleton; these were called Skeleton Drowned Women. The other type had the upper half of a beautiful woman but had the lower body of a snake; these were called Snake Drowned Women.

A woman who wore exquisite clothes, had a voluptuous figure, and looked like she put extreme detail into her looks looked at Zhao Fu with a gaze full of desire. She was called Futakuchi-onna.

The Hyakki Yagyo recorded that she was a lascivious woman who stole husbands, and she was extremely gluttonous and quite dangerous.

There was also a woman who looked drenched and wore thin white clothes. She had a graceful demeanor, and her looks were quite good. She was called Nure-onna.

Nure-onna were also called ‘sea women’ or ‘sea concubines,’ and they lived near the sea.

She was the spirit of a woman drowned in the sea, and usually her lower half was a dragon tail or snake tail. She was always drenched, and from behind, she looked like a rock.

A middle-aged woman with an elegant figure, delicate looks, and a pale face looked at Zhao Fu expectantly. She wore a simple kimono, and she was called Ubume.

Ubume actually came from ancient Chinese legends and sometimes appeared with nine heads. It was said that she was formed from the obsessions of a woman who had died in childbirth. She held a child as she walked in the night, and the cry of the child became the cry of Ubume.

Sometimes Ubume would steal children and sometimes they would adopt them.

Another woman, who looked quite lazy, leaned against the wall. She was quite tall and slim and had an aura that stood out. She looked at Zhao Fu with interest in her beautiful eyes. She was Tenjo-kudari, a Devil from legends that often appeared on the top of houses.

There was another woman wearing a red dress who had a fiery figure. Her hair was long to the point that it fell to the ground; she was Harionago.

Legends had it that if someone in Shikoku saw a beautiful woman smiling at them from the side of the road, they should not be too happy.

It was quite likely that the beautiful woman would suddenly use her long hair to drag them in when they got too close. They would then find out that there were sharp barbs on the end of her hair, bringing extreme pain.

There was another beautiful middle-aged woman wearing a gorgeous dress and looking at Zhao Fu with a lustful look while hiding a smile behind her hand – she was a Smiling Woman.

It was said that Smiling Women came from dead prostitutes, and they had frivolous personalities and liked to laugh. Those who heard their laugh were often in dire straits.

Finally, there was a woman wearing a black kimono with her hair coiled up. She was devilishly beautiful but also contained a trace of maliciousness. Her figure was quite mature, and she held a black cat – she was Nekomata.

Nekomata was a cat devil, and it was said that she was a black cat with nine tails. Her ears were pointed and her teeth were quite sharp, and legends said she had nine lives.

Seeing so many female Devils, Zhao Fu felt quite startled. When he had attacked Japan, he had only talked with Masanori Hano, and he had not gone into the Devil City. After going in, he was quite surprised.

He did not know why they were here, but some of them were evidently tempting him. Masanori Hano was a friend to Zhao Fu, and since he treated her as a friend, he would not let her down.

Zhao Fu thought about it and decided that they had some kind of goal, so he turned around and planned to take another route in order to not make trouble.