The negotiation lasted for a few hours. In return for dealing with the Kuchisake-onna, Adam would obtain a copy of the texts left by Abe no Seimei. Although he was certain Kuzunoha wouldn't let him have anything important, he was still interested in them and he would have dealt with the Kuchisake-onna either way. He returned to his apartment and went to bed after feeding Pumpkin and Izumi.

Several hours later, Adam brought Pumpkin along with him to a fast food restaurant and ordered a light meal consisting of several servings of unadon, gyūdon, and oyakodon. After lunch, he went into a convenience store and bought all kinds of snacks for later. He headed back to the alleyway where he lost track of the Kuchisake-onna and returned to Ukiyo.

Like the day before, the street was crowded with people. While Adam was looking around for something, a giant rat walking on its hind legs approached him. During the negotiation with Kuzunoha, he requested a guide to assist him in finding the Kuchisake-onna.

The giant rat dressed in a kimono stopped before Adam and bowed.

"Greetings, Edamu-sama. I am Nezuminosuke. Kuzunoha-sama—"

"Meow!" Pumpkin popped his head out from the hood of the hoodie.

"Eek!" Nezuminosuke twitched his whiskers uneasily while keeping an eye on Pumpkin's extended claws. "M-my apologies for the outburst, Edamu-sama."

Nezuminosuke inched away from Adam and Pumpkin.

"P-please follow me." Nezuminosuke took a few steps forward before turning around. "Ah, my apologies, Edamu-sama. Kuzunoha-sama has arranged for your lodgings. Would you like to make a quick stop to take a look?"

"No, we can do that later. Take me to the Kuchisake-onna first."

"As you wish, Edamu-sama." Nezuminosuke bowed.

Nezuminosuke led Adam away from the bustling street.

"So, where—hey, don't fall off!" Adam grabbed Pumpkin by the scruff of his neck.

Pumpkin had clawed his way onto Adam's shoulder and almost fell off while looking around.

"Meow!"

"So, where are we headed?" Adam squished Pumpkin against his body, a technique he learned from watching a video.

"Y-yes, we're heading to a district in the northeastern corner of Ukiyo." Nezuminosuke kept his distance from Adam and Pumpkin. "It's a hive of scum and villainy and also the place where our men last saw her."

"Criminals? Surely someone like Kuzunoha-san would be more than capable of dealing with them?"

"Unfortunately, they're colluding with the enemies of Kuzunoha-sama. In the event we move against them, their masters would orchestrate a diversion somewhere in Ukiyo. Besides, Kuzunoha-sama has other enemies as well."

"Let me guess, the reason why Kuzunoha-san is still in power is that they can't decide who's going to be the next ruler of ukiyo." Adam petted Pumpkin's head. "No, wait, I wouldn't be surprised if Kuzunoha-san is secretly maintaining the balance of power. For example, she could hire outsiders to weaken her enemies. Is the Kuchisake-onna the subordinate of someone who has the upper hand?"

"Meow!" Pumpkin tried to bite the oni's hand but didn't even manage to pierce his skin.

"W-well, uh..."

Nezuminosuke kept his face facing forward, but Adam noticed his body fidgeting.

"Relax, this isn't an interrogation. I just need to know who we're dealing with. You don't want us to get ambushed without any preparation after we deal with the Kuchisake-onna, right?"

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Nezuminosuke's fidgeting became more apparent until he came to a stop like he made up his mind.

"...their leader is a tengu who goes by the name of Karasuma. His subordinates refer to him as 'ano kata'. No one has ever seen him, other than his lieutenants, the Four Heavenly Kings. I don't know anything else." Nezuminosuke let out a sigh.

"So, the Kuchisake-onna is one of the Four Heavenly Kings?"

"No, she's just the subordinate of the onryō Sadako of the Four Heavenly Kings."

"...this is getting annoyingly complicated." Adam let out a sigh.

"If it's any consolation, I doubt neither Karasuma nor the other three members of the Heavenly Kings would take revenge for the Kuchisake-onna."

"Oh?"

"As Edamu-sama had guessed earlier, this isn't the first time Kuzunoha-sama has arranged for something like this."

"I see, neither Karasuma nor Kuzunoha-san want a head-on confrontation." Adam rubbed Pumpkin's belly despite his protest.

Nonetheless, Adam still mentally prepared himself in case they retaliated this time.

The two had been walking for a while and reached a new area. Compared to the busy street earlier on, the pedestrians here were scarce and wariness could be seen in their eyes. The buildings were dilapidated and eyes filled with desperation peeked out from behind windows.

When Adam and Nezuminosuke were passing through, a group of oni came from nowhere and surrounded them. An oni noticeably larger than the rest pushed his way through them.

"Hand over everything if you want to live!"

Another oni pushed his way to the front and stood next to the larger oni.

"Psst, aniki! That one is an oni!"

"So?"

"Aniki, don't you remember what oyabun said?"

"Hnn? Ah, right. That oni over there, scram! You, kyūso! Hand over everything!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Adam looked toward Nezuminosuke. "Get rid of them."

"Meow!" Pumpkin growled threateningly at the group of oni.

"Leave it to me, Edamu-sama!"

Adam used Burrow to hide in one of the buildings. He didn't want to waste his yōki on small fries. The occupant was startled by his sudden appearance and tried to attack him but was easily subdued by the nure-onna.

Outside, Nezuminosuke lunged forward with a snarl. The oni didn't think he would resist and were caught off guard. Before they could react, Nezuminosuke had already chomped through the necks of three oni with his fangs.

"What're you idiots doing?! Catch that damn rat!"

Even though Nezuminosuke was outnumbered, he still put up a fierce fight. Several of the oni were down for the count when they cornered him. The ones left standing suffered gaping bite marks on their arms.

"You lil' shit, not so tough now, huh? I'm going to make you pay for this!"

Adam was about to make a move when he noticed the smirk on Nezuminosuke's face.

Nezuminosuke raised his head and let out a bloodcurdling howl. A swarm of rats spewed out from various nooks and crannies and overwhelmed the group of oni. The rats leapt onto their targets and sunk their teeth into the flesh. Initially, the oni tried to fight back but soon began to flee. The ones too injured to escape were eaten alive by the swarm of rats. Their chilling screams echoed through the streets.

When Adam reappeared outside, the blood-crazed rat swarm tried to attack him as well.

"Meow!" Pumpkin bared his fangs at the rats.

The swarm of rats retreated like a receding tide.

"You..."

Adam raised Pumpkin to his eye level and stared at him. It was gone but he sensed a faint trace of yōki inside Pumpkin just now.

"Meow?" Pumpkin looked back at Adam with innocent eyes.

As Nezuminosuke approached, he left a red trail behind him. His kimono was drenched in a mixture of his own blood and that of his enemies.

"E-edamu-sama, my apologises." Nezuminosuke cast a fearful glance at Pumpkin. "I have no control over them once they go into a frenzy."

"No, it's fine. More importantly, are you able to continue?" Adam eyed Nezuminosuke's injuries.

"Do not be concerned, Edamu-sama. 'Tis but a scratch."

To prove his point, Nezuminosuke struck his chest with his paw but ended up coughing blood.

Adam took another look at his injuries and shook his head.

"A scratch? You're coughing up blood! No, we'll take a break while you tend to your wounds. I need you hale and hearty to find the Kuchisake-onna."

Before Nezuminosuke could voice his objection, Adam picked a building at random and went inside. There was something he wanted to check.

Once inside, Adam tied Pumpkin onto a wooden board with his limbs spread apart.

"Meow?"

Adam ran his finger along Pumpkin's body. After a while, he let out a sigh before cutting Pumpkin loose.

Pumpkin immediately dashed into a corner. He stared daggers at Adam with eyes filled with distrust. He remained unmoved even when Adam held out a handful of treats.

However, as Adam took out a bowl and filled it using Shuten-dōji’s gourd, Pumpkin rushed forward and lapped from the bowl.

Adam made a cut on his finger and started drawing on Pumpkin despite the latter's protest. Once he was done, he uttered an incantation. Unlike the contract he formed with the nure-onna and Tanaka Izumi, this method of creating a shikigami required absolute trust from the other party. He held his breath and waited for the result. After a while, he released his breath when he felt a bond form between them.

"Can you hear me?" Adam tried to telepathically communicate with Pumpkin.

"Meow?" Pumpkin looked back at him.

"...guess we'll have to start with teaching you a language first."