Chapter 15 - Drop a Bomb

Drop a Bomb is Saiyuki's fifteenth chapter.

Summary
At Hoto Castle, Gyokumen Koushu reprimands Kougaiji for coming back to the castle without having killed the Sanzo-ikkou. He asks her to confirm that she really will remove the seal on his mother, Rasetsunyo, after Gyumaoh's revival is successful. She agrees that she will, but that she will not share Gyumaoh with Rasetsunyo and intends to become Gyumaoh's legal wife in her place.

As Kougaiji leaves the room and goes to stand by the stone pillar where his mother is imprisoned, he thinks to himself that although he may be a match for the Sanzo-ikkou in battle, they still have something that he lacks. He considers whether he is having second thoughts about helping Gyokumen, but even though he knows she intends to throw the world into chaos, he still wants to save his mother.

Yaone and Dokugakuji enter to tell Kougaiji that they his sister Lirin has not been seen since last night and that one of the long-distance flying dragons is also missing. Kougaiji suddenly has a startling realization of where she has likely gone.

Meanwhile, Lirin has traveled east to look for that Sanzo-ikkou so that she can beat them up for Kougaiji. She realizes that Kougaiji will likely be mad at her, but she enjoys the chance to leave the gloomy castle.

Elsewhere, the Sanzo-ikkou are walking through the bustling market place of a town. They note that there must be a lack of yokai activity in this area for the place to be so lively. Sanzo thinks to himself that that is a good reason for them not to stay long so as not to attract yokai assassins to the town. As the ikkou banter with each other over whether or not to buy Goku some meat buns, a man sitting at a fortune teller's booth, who introduces himself as Chin Yisou, gets their attention and asks if they would like him to divine the fortune of their journey. When they refuse, he tells them that he sees death in their future, especially for Hakkai. He says that Hakkai hides a sinner's eyes behind his smile, and that he knows Hakkai has a scar on his belly that is proof of a sin for which he can never atone. Goku angrily gets in Chin Yisou's face and asks if he's trying to pick a fight. Chin Yisou calmly shows them a mahjong tile and says that the tile predicts their misfortune.

Suddenly the townspeople begin to scream as a giant crab-like creature crashes through the nearby buildings towards them. Hakkai glances back at Chin Yisou's booth and sees that the fortune teller is nowhere to be seen. Sanzo notes that the crab creature is a shikigami. As the ikkou wonder whether it could be one of Gyumaoh's assassins, Sanzo thinks to himself whether Chin Yisou could be the assassin responsible for the shikigami, except that that doesn't feel quite right. As the shikigami continues to smash down buildings, injuring and killing civilians in the process, Gojyo attacks it with his shakujou. The blade bounces off the shikigami's skin without leaving a mark. As the ikkou barely manages to escape a concrete slab that the shikigami sends flying towards them, Lirin watches, unseen, from a nearby rooftop.

Sanzo tells Goku to distract the shikigami while he prepares a Maten Sutra attack. As Goku dashes towards the shikigami with Nyoi-bo at the ready, a cat at his feet suddenly makes him stop short, distracting him as the shikigami bears down on him. Lirin jumps into action, leaping off the rooftop and sending the shikigami crashing down onto its back with a single, powerful punch. As the ikkou look on in confusion, Lirin scoops the cat into her arms for a cuddle. After letting the cat go, she turns to the ikkou and introduces herself as Kougaiji's little sister Lirin, who is here to beat them up.

Meanwhile, back at Hoto Castle, a worried and angry Kougaiji tells Dokugakuji and Yaone that he is sure Lirin has gone after the Sanzo-ikkou and that they are going to go find her.