Kishibe Village was where the water flowed in Shoshun and the stench was far worse here than before. Even the river fish were being corrupted by the foul evil in the water. (Caught a Mud Dekoi!)
A goat monk asked us to help cure the villagers of the diseased water, which we did, and we also found Mossback again, who asked us to collected diseased water from the water elementals, which meant defeating them. They took as well as we gave them!
We eventually found Tu Luk Kwo. "Greetings, honorable Wizard," he said, bowing. "It is good you came to this village. Din Ho came ahead of you and told of your brave efforts to repair the Jade Scepter. Now we can fight back."
"We're ready to purify the heck out of those shrines," said Monica, grinning. "What order should we do them in?"
"It's best you purify the Shrine of the Body first," said Tu. "You can find it in the forest, across the bridge."
"Thanks," I said.
I discovered that the monk who let me have the Mandrake for my last assignment from the Professor (after I drove out the bandit invading his home) was living here. He thanked me again. "Let me aid you in telling you the lay of this land," he said. "The Shrine of the Body is just down the road from here. The Shrine of the Mind is across the bridge, near Shoshun Village. Finally, the Shrine of the Spirit is deep in the forest."
"Thanks, and I promise I'll take a rain check on that tea," I said with a grin.
"Take your time," said the monk. "Mooshu's health is more vital than your companionship."
(This is a heads-up, if you're on your first Myth Wizard and don't have anyone higher level, this is the time you can finishing that Level 38 Spell Quest to get Minotaur Minion. There are two more Minion spells you can get but they won't show up until you're way past Grandmaster.)
Khin-Pao, the monk of the Body Shrine, greeted us with a cough. "Ew, you need a tissue?" asked Monica in disgust.
"Forgive me," said Khin-Pao. "The Oni has ravaged my body with disease by growing foul mushrooms all over the land. If you can destroy them, the disease will weaken."
"Oh, that's easy," I said with glee. "Monica, let's make like the Mario and stomp on shrooms."
(Yeah, I had to put a Super Mario game reference in here. ^_^)
Once we had smashed every mushroom as we could - being careful not to let the spores get inhaled lest we end up bedridden ourselves - we returned to Khin-Pao and I waved the scepter over the shrine and the lamps lit with a green flame. I felt my health getting better. "Excellent," I said.
"I feel my health returning," said Khin-Pao. "Return to Tu Luk Kwo and report your success."
We went back to Tu. "Well done, Wizards," said the monk with a smile. "We have weakening the Plague Oni greatly as disease's power is ravaging the Body. Next, we must purify the Shrine of the Mind. Wu Ping will help you."
"We found out where it is," I said. "Be right back."
Unfortunately we were ambushed by evil ninja pigs which stank like sin in the Shrine. We punished them in the name of the Moon. ^_^
"Looks like a struggle," said Monica. "Kidnapping. Don't worry, I'll hunt down the culprit and bring him back here."
"No way, Sailor Jupiter!" I demanded. "You asked for my help and I'm an honorary Sailor Wizard, I have to help you out!"
"You're a feisty one," laughed Monica. "Okay, we look together."
We eventually found the monk being held hostage by an evil pig wizard called Aiuchi. We punished him in the name of the Moon and rescued Wu. "Thank you, Wizards," said Wu. "They were corrupting my mind with foul words. Let us return to the shrine."
"Man, this Plague Oni is being antsy," said Monica. "We have to destroy him ASAP."
But that meant purifying the Shrines, and with a wave of the Scepter, the lamps in the Mind Shrine burst into light with a yellow flame and I felt a clarity of mind. I didn't care about the fact that we were two steps behind Malistaire anymore, I was willing to slow down and take things one at a time. "One more to go!" I cheered. (Yes, I misspelled the name. Sue me.)
We located the Shrine of the Spirit, but found it empty. "Another kidnapping?" I asked.
"No," said Monica, giving me a note she found tacked on the shrine wall.
I read it aloud. "'To my dear monks, I cannot stand by and watch Mooshu crumble with war. I have gone to join the front lines. Please find someone to take over watching the Shrine of the Spirit, Chang Su.'" I shook my head. "We need to show this to Tu."
Tu was not very happy but understood. "We must have a replacement for the shrine, but I know of one who could do well to be the shrine guardian. A samoorai called Sesshu Nedaki. His spirit is strong enough to tame the temperamental spirits yet humble and kind enough to aid the needy."
"Sounds like a plan," said Monica. "Let's find this guy."
"It won't be that easy," I muttered. "He's a warrior and won't put down his sword to sit in a shrine 24/7 to protect it."
Sure as I was born, I knew it wouldn't be easy. Sesshu was busy fighting those foul ninja pigs. "I cannot become a monk," said Sesshu. "Did you see the number of enemies out there? You know what I am up against. If you can help, please defeat the Imitsu Defoulers."
We did so. I hated their stench. Ew! (Seriously, Centaur did minimum damage. :( )
"No prob," I said, blushing with humility. "I was going to vomit from their stench, the air needed to be cleansed. So..."
"I am honored by the request, but I am a warrior at heart," he said. "Tell Tu Luk Kwo that I must continue to fight for the honor of his Imperial Majesty."
I got an inkling of what Tu was planning.
We went and collected the food(by force, but I didn't show that) and brought the bags of food to the samoorai. He sighed and shook his head. "I cannot take this food, more would go hungry. Please, give this food to Tu Luk Kwo and tell him to distribute it to the needy."
Tu got a twinkle in his eye when I handed the food to him. He nodded to his fellow monks who took the food away. "Tell him this - a man has no money to buy a sword to defend his family."
"Is there really..." Monica began to say, but I silenced her with a wave.
"We'll gladly tell him." I left and Monica chased me down.
"He's lying, isn't he?"
I nodded. "But that's the point. It's a test to see if Sesshu will be virtuous enough to be a monk. Trust me on this one."
"Weeeell," said Monica. "Amy did vouch for ya, and we do need someone to help purify the final shrine so I'll be with ya."
Sesshu reacted as expected. "I will look for a sword here, but I know of a pig bandit called Kyuto who has recently robbed the blacksmith's storage vaults. Go find him, defeat him and he should have a sword to use."
Monica returned. "Sorry, Sailor Business. People just keep bugging me to help but I can't refuse them as that's against our code of honor. He was being attacked by a violent Earth Elemental." (Yeah, Nicholas Firewalker was getting his @$$ kicked by the Earth Elemental in the Plaza of Conquests and cried for help despite Monica's spells being useless on it since it's Life. Luckily a Death joined in and helped get rid of it.)
We worked together to punish the bandit in the-- you get the point. ^_^
"Dang, no weapons!" cried Monica, scouring the loot. "Not even a dull knife! He must have sold them all before we got here!"
"Well, we can't do anything," I sighed, shrugging. "Let's tell Sesshu the bad news."
He shook his head and then got an idea. "Listen, here is what we'll do. I am a warrior so I can make use of my fists if need be. Take my sword to the man and I'll use this rusty sword."
Monica was shocked as I took the sword from him and then gave it right back. "Congrats. You have passed the tests. There was no such man, Tu Luk Kwo asked me to test your spirit."
He was stunned. "Tu Luk Kwo put you up to testing me? I see..." He paused. "In truth, I never thought of myself as a monk."
"You don't have to do anything special," I said. "Just move into the Spirit Shrine and protect it. You can still fight but... we need your help to heal the Emperor of his wounds and the only way we can do that is to purify the Shrines."
There was a pregnant pause and he nodded. "I understand. You wanted to see if I was worthy, but if you say this is the way I can best serve his Imperial Majesty, I will do it. Meet me in the Shrine of the Spirit and we will perform the purification."
He was still a little reluctant but with some encouragement, he worked with me and I waved the Scepter one more time. This time the shrine lamps burned with blue fire and I felt at peace. "Wow, I felt the spirits flowing through me!" he cried. "I feel like I can do this. Tu Luk Kwo chose well. Tell him about your success here. Farewell, Wizards."
"That's three of three," said Monica, striking a pose. "Let's go!"
Tu was very pleased with the reports of our success. "So now what?" I asked.
"We go fight the Plague Oni," said Monica. "Moonlinda Wu told me he's holed up in the Shiritaki Temple, where the waters flow through here. We need to destroy him so the Shrines can purify the water and make it pure... and then we can get that water for the Emperor."
I nodded. It was go time.
[To be continued...]
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