The moment she laid eyes on the Bone-Eater's Well, Satsuki immediately judged that this well had not been built for drawing water.
It was not the kind of well dug flush with the ground, nor did it have a windlass above for lowering and raising buckets. Moreover, it stood far from the village, and thick vines coiled around its mouth, trailing all the way down into the deep bottom of the shaft.
Ordinary wells in regular use required clean water, and their surroundings were typically kept tidy. But around this Bone-Eater's Well, lush greenery grew unchecked, and there was no proper path leading to it. Clearly, it had been abandoned for a very long time.
This series of reasons and details was more than enough to support Satsuki's judgment.
Of course—the most fundamental reason was the continuously flowing [temporal-spatial power] above it. That was the key.
"Shrine Maiden-sama, this is the Bone-Eater's Well," the village chief said beside her. "It was discovered by our village ancestors by accident."
"Mm. This well indeed contains a peculiar power…" Satsuki reached out and lightly touched the edge of the well.
In her Tenseigan, the well before her began to emit streaks of silver light. The rays converged downward, as if condensing into something.
Satsuki leaned over the rim and looked down. Her Tenseigan suddenly shifted, countless stars flickering in birth and extinction within it, transforming into the Demon Buddha form's [Three Thousand Wisdom Eyes].
The wisdom eyes of the Demon Buddha could perceive three thousand worlds. Naturally, they could also easily see through the reality and illusion of the temporal-spatial power below.
Under the gaze of the wisdom eyes, within the deep and shadowed well, a silver temporal-spatial vortex was slowly taking shape. Within that vortex, the faint silhouette of another world flickered in and out of view.
Seeing this scene, Satsuki fell into thought.
According to the villagers of Kaede Village, this Bone-Eater's Well had existed for more than half a century. During that time, the number of yōkai corpses thrown into it was not merely one or two, but hundreds, even thousands.
If the other end of the well connected to a fixed location, then after so many years of accumulation, that place should already be overflowing with corpses. In theory, bones and remains should even have passed back through in reverse.
Yet no such phenomenon had ever occurred. That alone was enough to prove that this well was not simply a spatial passage.
Of course, there was another possibility—that the Bone-Eater's Well was a one-way teleportation channel, capable only of sending things out but unable to receive feedback from the other side.
At present, the power within the well was too weak. Even if Satsuki amplified it with authority, it would still be unable to bear the existence of someone at her level. Thus, she could not personally verify it.
Fortunately, there happened to be a yōkai corpse at hand.
Satsuki stepped back two paces and watched as the villagers tossed the dismembered remains of Mistress Centipede into the well. The entire process was mundane, like ordinary people disposing of household garbage—except what they were discarding here were yōkai corpses.
Plop—
Plop—
Plop—
...
As the remains of Mistress Centipede fell into the depths, aside from a few faint sounds of chitinous shells striking within the dark shaft, there was only silence.
Satsuki's [Three Thousand Wisdom Eyes] extended into the well, carefully observing the movement of the temporal-spatial energy.
However, even after the villagers had thrown every last fragment of Mistress Centipede's remains into the well, Satsuki detected no particular change in the silver energy.
Like a mass of inert gas, it remained content within its own domain. The sudden appearance of foreign matter seemed to hold no interest for it.
"It seems that even to transmit something lifeless, the Bone-Eater's Well must accumulate energy for a period of time first—though there has been an unexpected gain…"
Satsuki lifted her head and turned her gaze toward the depths of the forest.
There, a massive sacred tree stood towering above the surrounding woodland like a crane among chickens.
Just moments ago, when the villagers had thrown Mistress Centipede's corpse into the well, although the temporal-spatial energy within the well had shown no abnormality, that enormous sacred tree had, in that instant, emitted an exceedingly faint signal outward.
For Satsuki, who had developed [Wireless Signal Transmission and Control Technology], she was exceptionally sensitive to such energy signals.
Though the sacred tree's movement had been subtle and the signal it released extremely weak, it had still been captured by Satsuki.
"So you are the true source?"
Satsuki had already recorded the material composition of the wooden structure around the well. With a glance and comparison, she discovered that the materials of the well itself had come precisely from that enormous sacred tree.
No—calling it a sacred tree was not entirely accurate. In this era, most large trees over a hundred years old might be called sacred trees for various reasons.
But this one was different. It was an exceedingly rare Tree of Ages.
Judging by its size, this Tree of Ages was likely close to a thousand years old. There were no signs of it having been felled. It seemed that the time when it had been used to construct the well lay far in the distant past.
Satsuki turned to the surrounding villagers and said, "You may return to your work. I would like to walk around and patrol the area to see whether any other yōkai remain."
Hearing that Satsuki intended to patrol, the villagers immediately showed expressions of relief. They thanked her repeatedly and made the most generous promise they could offer in this era—if she ever needed a meal, she could eat at any household at any time.
Kaede Village was not a land of abundance. Strictly speaking, even the villagers themselves barely had enough grain to eat.
Satsuki gave a slight nod, neither accepting nor declining, and walked toward the Tree of Ages.
The villagers watched her figure recede into the distance and whispered among themselves.
"Although this shrine maiden is young, she gives an unexpectedly reliable impression."
"Yes. With two shrine maidens in the village this time, we won't have to worry so much about yōkai harassment during the busy spring farming season."
"I truly wish our village could have a guardian shrine maiden willing to stay here."
...
Amid their murmured discussion, Satsuki passed through the lush green grass and undergrowth. After only a few steps, she arrived before the enormous Tree of Ages.
Up close, the tree was far more imposing than it had appeared from afar. Its towering canopy rose as high as seven or eight stories. The trunk was immensely thick—seven or eight grown adults would struggle to encircle it with their arms.
Satsuki walked slowly to the front of the Tree of Ages. After observing it for a moment, she gradually raised a hand and pressed it against the trunk.
In an instant, the surface of the Tree of Ages began to radiate silver light.
The glow lasted for several seconds before quickly fading.
And when the light disappeared, Satsuki's figure had already vanished within it.
The moment Satsuki withdrew her hand, the surrounding environment changed completely.
The previous lush greenery vanished, replaced by a vast, empty, and unfathomably deep space.
Within this space, the only source of light—or rather, the most striking presence—was the Tree of Ages before Satsuki, glowing with a faint luminescence.
This Tree of Ages's appearance was entirely different from the one outside.
Its trunk was semi-transparent and radiant, within which illusory bubbles and crystalline motes of light drifted from time to time.
Its enormous root system plunged deep into the translucent blue substance below, spreading outward in an intricate and highly developed network.
Satsuki took two steps forward. The blue substance beneath her feet rippled outward in circles with her movement, carrying faint sounds of water. Yet this strange material supported her body, preventing her from sinking.
This sight was not unfamiliar to Satsuki—her sea of consciousness was much the same. Only, compared to the emptiness here, her own consciousness space contained far more things.
"The deep layer of the Tree of Ages's consciousness?"
Her Tenseigan saw clearly that within this space, the Tree of Ages was no longer a physical entity, but rather a manifestation of temporal-spatial power.
Yet it had drawn her physical body inside by means of a certain application of [temporal-spatial power]. This method of hiding the real within the illusory bore some resemblance to Tsukuyomi.
"You… are not someone of this era. Who… are you?"
A weak voice echoed from the surrounding space. It carried no distinct gender, sounding more like a synthesized tone.
"When speaking, should you not appear before your guest?" Satsuki cast a glance around and spoke calmly. "Or has the spirit of the Tree of Ages grown so weak that it can no longer manifest even an avatar within its own consciousness space?"
At her words, silence fell over the surroundings. In the entire space, only the gentle sound of rippling water beneath Satsuki's feet remained.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a voice sounded once more within the empty expanse.
"I… have no form with which to manifest."
"That is simple."
Satsuki extended her left hand into the space beside her. A black temporal-spatial vortex opened at her side, and from it she casually tossed out one of Kikyo's previously fired sacred arrows.
"This arrow carries the spiritual power and intent of a shrine maiden. You may shape your avatar in her image."
"Is that so…"
After a brief hesitation, the Tree of Ages released a surge of power from its azure translucent trunk, enveloping the sacred arrow.
Soon, a phantom shrine maiden figure floated before the tree's trunk.
White robes, crimson hakama, dark eyes, a delicate oval face, and long, lustrous black hair styled in a traditional hime-cut.
The avatar had taken on the appearance of Shrine Maiden Kikyo.
Satsuki examined the figure and gave a slight nod.
"Now we can speak properly."