Gift of the old man

"Now that is quite a generous gift from the old man." The cat spoke in a sly voice while its eyes continued to observe the dragon key chain. 

"Is it?" Asahi questioned the cat while sensing the maliciousness of the cat. He clutched the dragon jade and kept it inside his breast pocket. 

"It indeed is. And if what I think is true, you might become the new guardian of the dragon." The cat whispered but volumed it just enough to reach Ito's ears. He didn't know what this cat was up to, but one thing was for sure: It knew many things that were often repressed. 

Asahi narrowed his eyes toward the cat, giving it a side glance. "Guardian of the Dragon?" He interrogated. 

"Indeed. Don't you know about it? Despite being the young master, Aiyaa, it seems like your old man didn't teach you much." The cat tauntingly replied while Asahi's gaze hardened. 

"Well, I can teach you all about it," Kuro continued while Ito pondered its words. It had yet to catch on, but there was also no guarantee that what it would mean was true. But as the new househead, he would need to be on his toes and gain as much information as possible. Ignorance was the biggest loophole for his enemies. 

"And the catch?" Asahi asked with a seemingly uninterested face. He continued to walk through the hallway and entered the master chamber. It was where his grandfather often spent his time, and now it belongs to him. 

"Feed me corpses. Simple, isn't it?" 

Asahi flexed his head this time and faced the cat. He was taken aback by the cat's demand; after all, from his knowledge of yokai, none of them required dead beings; they needed alive humans. 

"How many times a day?" 

"Well, once a day would be more than enough." 

Kuro, the cat, had a smirk on its face. After all, there was no way his tempting offer wouldn't work. 

"Then no." Asahi denied the cat's offer. It was too much of a hassle to find a corpse. 

The cat was left stunned. It couldn't believe its ears. How could anyone reject such a tempting offer? Stupid human! 

"Even when you can know the Kakurio as well as the spiritual energy?" The cat showed its trump card. This time Asahi smirked; after all, the promised better set of information. 

"Well…. I will only accept if you can give me all the information you know."

Asahi demanded. His demeanor was calm. He was seated on the tatami mat, and opposite him was Kuro. The cat was baffled by the demand of its master yet finding corpses for itself while under the contract was difficult. 

"Very well. Bring me a corpse first, then. Then we shall get to the information." The cat, too, didn't hesitate to ask for its demands to be met. Asahi had his lips curled up and his hands both tucked inside his bell-sleeved haori. 

He stood from his seat and instinctively jumped onto Ito Asahi's shoulder. Well, if anything, it was just a corpse, and he could evaluate the quality of the information the cat would reveal.

There was no book regarding the yokai, spiritual powers, or folklore that he had not read. But any form of information beyond those books was only circulated within the heads of the association members of Omyouji who truly served the yokai and the king. 

Even the information regarding the spiritual powers he wielded was very limited. Faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom were the five terms used to grow and exert spiritual power in the body. 

In every human's body, there are spiritual powers, but a few gifted ones contained a larger amount, which allowed them to view things a normal person could not, and it also contributed to them using their powers to enhance their physical and mental capabilities. 

Asahi walked outside of the house with his cat on his shoulder. The servants all bowed and silently did their work. Once they were out in the open, he walked towards the stone stairs, which led to the lower part of the house, while on its opposite, the stream continued to flow. 

As the staircase ended, they were welcomed by the sight of the basement, which was hidden behind the green shrubs. The cat curiously stared while Asahi stepped towards the mahogany door and used a key, which was almost in the shape of a pig, to open the lock. 

The door creaked open, and as he walked inside, his footsteps reverberated inside. He turned on the dim orange lights and closed the door. The room had a very foul smell, and despite the haunting atmosphere, it was simply a medicinal room. 

There were a few cabinets that were covered in jars of insects and aquatic animal skeletons. The table was neatly kept with a book regarding human anatomy opened. Asahi headed towards the table. 

There, near the chair, was a coffin. He bent to his knees and unlocked the black-colored coffin, which then revealed the body of a young man in his late twenties. His face had no scars, his breathing had stopped, and his body was cold, but it was a fresh body that had not decayed yet. 

"You may have it," Asahi said while Kuro inspected the corpse. It was one of the highest-quality corpses of a human who had died of fright and little to no pain. It licked its lips; after all, it had been long since he had a proper meal. 

Kuro got down on Asahi's shoulders and landed on the corpse's chest. Kuro then started to concentrate; its eyes were closed, but the mark on its forehead shined to a bright vermillion color, and in less than a minute, the entire corpse remained intact but hollow. 

Kuro had taken away all the spiritual powers, and thus, the corpse, which seemed fresh, was now in a state of decay. The corpse lost all its vitality. 

"It was delicious." The cat licked its teeth and jumped out of the coffin while Asahi continued to gaze at the deteriorating corpse, which had now lost all its utility. 

"Then start speaking."