Oh... Seems a lot happened while I was gone...
OTOYA NANOKA KIBA
Master Hakubi reversed Master Mao's transformation,
and we were in grave danger.
We managed to break the Water seal that bound Master Hyakka...
and he was able to drive Master Hakubi away.
Nice job, Hyakka.
Show some more respect!
So does that mean you broke the Water seal, Otoya?
Yes. I'm...
a shikigami created from a human doll.
Humans belong to the Earth element.
WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER
WOOD–SCALED; FIRE–FEATHERED; EARTH–NAKED; METAL–FURRED; WATER–SHELLED
Earth overcomes Water, so...
even though I'm just a shikigami,
EARTH OVERCOMES WATER
I thought could do it...
That's amazing, Otoya!
Hey! Why don't you praise my skills?!
MAOGUI
MAO
What should I do?
I came to tell him that the Byoki came and talked to me...
And also...
to tell him how Lady Sana spewed black curses from her mouth...
It's kind of hard to even bring it up...
I feel like I'd be talking bad about her.
Dr. Mao! Please treat him!
What's the matter?
Hey Mao! You've got an emergency patient!
Master Hyakka! Don't wake him up.
You have a hairline fracture.
This is something I can treat by myself.
There.
Please take care.
You're open?
Thank goodness! You were closed yesterday.
I've broken out all over my face.
EFFICIENT
I have no appetite.
I'll give you some medicine.
Here.
- My neck feels so stiff... - Oh...
EFFICIENT
One here, here and here... And here.
EFFICIENT
It's a stye.
You're good to go.
Business is booming.
Let me help, Otoya.
I appreciate it, Miss Nanoka.
Can you help that patient waiting over there?
I have a splitting headache.
This is a heck of a way to start!
I just have to pull it out, right?
Pardon me.
It's really stuck.
- You're hurting me! - You suck at this.
- Move. - Hey.
Ouch!
One... two...
It's out!
- He dodged it! - He dodged it!
Mao! Are you alright?
Isn't he awake?
He's sound asleep.
No way.
How long are you gonna keep sleeping, dammit?!
Shut up.
What spell was that?!
That was probably a barrier.
He's in a deep sleep.
You gotta be kidding.
Is he always like this?
Well... I've never forced him to wake up.
He must be exhausted...
Maybe sleep is the only time when he is at peace.
I feel sorry for him...
Okay then!
Let's keep working!
We only have a few patients to go!
Miss Nanoka, you're so kind...
Damn it...
Dr. Mao!
- We shared a hotpot... - Then we started getting stomach pains!
A big group...
Hey! No puking on the floor!
Where's the bucket?
That was a good sleep.
Oh, good morning.
Morning.
Huh?
I never got the chance to tell Mao...
about Lady Sana.
And...
Is it true that cats exist outside the realm Onmyodo?
Wait, what're you talking about?
Yeah... That bastard Hakubi mentioned it.
He said that cats don't belong to any of the Five Elements.
In fact,
while Master Mao was transformed,
Master Hakubi's Onmyo spells did not affect him.
Outside the realm of Onmyodo...
So are cats such special creatures?
I'll look into it...
The connection between Onmyodo and cats...
SHIRAHA
This isn't getting anywhere...
Nanoka, what've you been looking at all morning?
Huh?
YUI NAKAGAWA
Shiraha's been watching you all morning.
Huh?
STARING
You can depend on me, you know.
Okay...
To begin with,
Onmyodo has its roots in ancient Chinese natural philosophy.
It's based on the idea that everything exists
through the harmony of two opposing forces.
ROOTS OF ONMYODO
That's the Yin-Yang Philosophy.
There's also the idea that everything is made up
of five basic elements that influence one another.
The Five Elements Philosophy.
Onmyodo is a fusion of those two philosophies.
And, cats originally came from Egypt.
When the Yin-Yang Five Elements Theory was first developed,
cats apparently hadn't reached China.
What?!
But uh...
the Chinese zodiac is part of the Five Elements Theory, isn't it?
Yes.
I always wondered why
there isn't a cat in the Chinese zodiac.
So I looked into it...
RAT, OX, TIGER, RABBIT, DRAGON, SNAKE, HORSE, SHEEP, MONKEY, ROOSTER, DOG, BOAR
Apparently, the cat was tricked by the rat...
and it missed the day the animals were chosen for the zodiac...
That's what I read.
So that's why there's no cat in the zodiac?
Well, that story exists only in Japan.
Maybe it was added later.
He's got an answer for everything!
Huh?! Does that mean that cats were never incorporated
into the Onmyodo system?
Cats didn't arrive in Japan until after the Asuka period.
They came with the introduction of Buddhism...
to protect the valuable scriptures from rats.
By the Heian period,
records show that cats were being kept
in the Imperial Court as prized pets.
Hmm...
So that means the Goko Clan...
must have been a pretty prestigious family.
Oh, and I found this...
I don't know if it's related to Onmyodo, but...
Back during the Sui dynasty,
when Japan was sending envoys to China,
Maogui was very popular over there.
It was a curse used to control cat kodoku.
What does Maogui translate to in Japanese?
Cat demon...
or Byoki.
It's on the internet?!
"A Byoki possesses people, devours their internal organs,
and steals the wealth of those it kills."
"As a result, its master gradually becomes wealthy."
It's a type of kodoku, similar to Enmi.
The Sui emperor banned the use of Maogui.
Clans that were found to be using Maogui
were imprisoned for four generations...
Even so, people never stopped using them.
Hmm... If that's the case,
then the Byoki was a perfect fit for the Goko Clan,
since they were the guardians of the secret arts of Jugondo.
But the Goko Clan came to an end
because it couldn't control the Byoki?
There were onmyoji who disliked cats.
The more traditional clans tended to avoid them.
But that man Hakubi...
For all appearances, he was actually quite idealistic.
Master had told me that Maogui had existed since ancient times.
HAIMARU
He never told me the reason
why the cat Haimaru was brought into the compound,
MASTER OF THE GOKO CLAN SANA
but I suspected he ultimately intended to control Haimaru as a Byoki.
Apparently, Master Hakubi came to the same conclusion.
HAKUBI
Yes...
But what has always bothered me is...
When did Haimaru become a Byoki?
But didn't you already tell me?
That Mokuzu, one of the servants at the compound,
threw Haimaru into the kodoku pit.
That's what Mokuzu said,
and that's likely what he believed,
but no matter how I look at it, it doesn't add up.
Haimaru wouldn't let anyone but Lady Sana and me
even get near him,
yet he never tried to escape when Mokuzu took him away.
And then...
he killed and devoured wild dogs and boar inside the kodoku pit.
Is an ordinary cat capable of such things?
So Haimaru...
...may have already been a Byoki long before then.
That's what I believe.
MILK HALL
A well-respected doctor?
TENKO
Yes. At first everyone was delighted.
They said he'd treat even the most serious injuries for free.
Like Mao?
Please continue, Tenko.
The people whose wounds had healed...
went missing several months later.
Most of them were men in the prime of their lives,
so some thought they had simply chosen to disappear.
But the other day,
a person who had been treated by that doctor...
That's the man who was pinned under lumber
and almost lost his arm.
It hasn't even been ten days,
but he's already up and about.
He suddenly collapsed...
And all that was left were his clothes and tools, and...
a pile of dirt.
What?! You mean his body turned into dirt?
If you're looking for Dr. Domon, he moved.
This morning, without notice.
Do you know what treatment he used on his patients?
Yes... It was some kind of poultice.
He was always grinding something up.
Whenever someone with an injury was brought in,
he'd pack the wound with the medicine.
A few days later,
the wound would be completely healed.
It was like magic.
Was that medicine made of dirt by any chance?
Dirt?
This guy hated Sengoku-Dayu so much
that he tried to curse him to death.
There!
So he summoned a demon god...
But the poor guy got ripped apart instead.
SENGOKU-DAYU
You're back.
You disposed of the body as I instructed?
Yes, Master Sengoku-Dayu.
DAIGO
Mao! You're so big now!
Daigo...
I lived at a home for foundlings.
Just as the name suggests,
it was a home for abandoned children.
Children who had been kidnapped,
sold to traffickers, or orphaned lived there as well.
A home for foundlings?
I lived there from as early as I can remember.
So to be honest...
I don't even know who I am or where I came from.
Uh... I don't even know what to say.
When we were six or seven years old, we were taken out
to an open field in the middle of the night.
We were asked, "Can you see them or not?"
I can see them.
Starting the next day,
I was given slightly nicer clothes...
and a little bit more to eat.
Those who answered that they couldn't see anything,
were sold off somewhere.
The master of the house, Sengoku-Dayu...
knew all sorts of mysterious spells.
Every day, he taught me how to write cursed talismans
and form hand seals.
Daigo had been training for several years before me.
Watch me.
Hey Mao...
Ever hear of the Goko Clan?
No.
They say if you're chosen to join the Goko Clan,
they'll teach you even more amazing spells.
Then I'll get to help shape the world from behind the scenes.
It's a magnificent compound...
and I'll live a life far better than I can here.
It'll be like paradise.
I'll train as hard as I can.
One day, I'll make it into the Goko Clan. I swear!
True to his word,
some years later, Daigo was chosen to join the Goko Clan.
So the home for foundlings where you were raised...
was basically a farm team for the Goko Clan?
Far... what?
Oh sorry. I mean like the minors.
Right.
He didn't get it, but he just went along with it.
Then, a few years later, after he had undergone training,
Daigo returned for me.
I told the Master about you.
He said...
Ah... yes, I remember that boy.
Several years ago, during the White Bone Cave ritual...
He was the boy
who made it out of the natural maze with ease.
Ah, it's you...
The boy from the home for foundlings...
Daigo.
Who's that? Is he new?
Yes, Lady Sana...
He's like a little brother to me.
Oh my.
What? Haimaru's never been that friendly with me.
Surprised?
This creature is called a cat.
Oh... I've never seen one before.
I was assigned to serve as Master's attendant.
I accompanied Master as he traveled between
the training grounds for each of the Five Elements...
I watched the sorcerers train, including Daigo and the Earth sorcerers.
Who'll test their skills against my shikigami?
I will.
Daigo... You're out of your league.
You're a nobody from the home for foundlings!
D-Damn you!
It isn't just the strength of his elemental energy.
Daigo has cultivated truly exceptional Earth energy.
You should all learn from his example.
- Yes, Master! - Yes, Master!
Daigo...
Daigo should have been living his dream.
He'd been recognized for his talent by the Goko Clan he'd long admired.
And yet...
Are you saying that Daigo might be Dr. Domon?
No... Many Earth sorcerers knew
how to treat people using Earth medicine.
Otoya...
Here, sir...
What is that, Otoya?
It's soil.
I collected this from the site
where the man who turned into dirt collapsed.
If that man named Domon
still has the same Earth medicine in his possession,
the butterfly talismans should let us know.
That's so handy...
Did I select the wrong soil?
I prepared it exactly as that person told me to, but...
Dr. Domon! My son fell from a tree!
I promise to pay you later.
Oh...
You don't have to pay me.
DR. DOMON
Let's have a look.
The bone doesn't appear to be broken.
But the abrasion is severe and he's bleeding...
I'll apply some medicine.
He'll be fine tomorrow.
Wow, Shobo!
You can run already?!
Dr. Domon fixed me up.
Huh?
I can't move my leg.
Hurry up, Shobo!
Wait...!
Let me see.
Oh my god...
The soil is eating his flesh.
The cursed talisman...
Otoya.
Yes, Master Mao.
It's festering with miasmatic poison!
It's going to be alright.
He's going to be alright...
I managed to remove the miasmatic poison, but...
This Earth medicine...
was prepared by an amateur.
This isn't the work of an onmyoji.
What's the matter, Yae?
Are you feeling ill?
Oh... I need to hurry...
Dr. Domon, I presume?
He's an old man.
There was never anyone like him among the Earth sorcerers...
Who are you?
Your treatment using soil...
Wasn't it originally taught to you by someone else?
You know something about this?
About that person?
That person?
What do you know?
Next time: Natsuno