Kurokawa Ren leaned back against the plush silk cushions of his gold-plated palanquin and burst into mocking, arrogant laughter.
“A five-star sanctuary?” Ren sneered, pointing his gold-tipped fan at the rotting cedar torii gate. “Do you think spiritual sanctuaries are built like convenience stores? Look at that wooden frame! It is infested with beetles and dry rot! The stone basin is cracked, and the spring has been dry since the Second World War!”
The four dark Onmyoji chuckled behind their cursed bone fans, murmuring among themselves as they watched the foreign ship hovering overhead.
“In two hours, Vice-Chairman Fujiwara will arrive with the official inspection team,” Ren mocked loudly over the engine noise. “Under Article Nine of the Imperial Onmyoji Code, if a shrine cannot produce one cup of active spirit-spring water, its sacred license is canceled forever! Keep your tax receipts, Huaxia boy! By sunset, this girl will be an unlicensed vagrant, and this mountain belongs to my casino!”
Lin Mo did not even look at Ren. He kept his eyes on Kagura Mio.
The nineteen-year-old girl stood quietly on the broken stone path. Her hands were rough and calloused from scrubbing floors and delivering packages on a bicycle in the freezing winter wind. Yet her Goodness score of ninety-six shone above her head like a brilliant pink halo.
