Or lack of thereof to be honest. Seriously those are filthiest monks i've ever seen. Before getting into the temple, i take one last beauty shot of this place:
And it's now on:
Well, technically after this i went on a cleaning sweep to make sure i didn't miss anything and started jumping around a dozen rope points scattered across all the trees here as if i was Tarzan and ended up injuring myself in the process.
Anyway, i make it into the temple, and since i assume there might be a boss room i decide to be a pussy and take off that Demon Bell thing for now (i was also a bit disconcerned at the increased drop rate for mats. Started to feel a bit cheesy) . I look around and spot some nice Buddhist statues:
But as soon as i walk in here bugs start crawling out of every crevice. Do those monks ever clean up the place? Honestly these are the sloppiest motherfuckers around even all those bodies i've seen before why were they scattered all over the place? I have no idea why they are murdering those commoners, whether it's for their sick pleasure or it's part of one of their twisted rituals but in either case you'd think they'd pick a spot and do it there not just leave bodies everywhere seemingly at random what's wrong with this people.
I make my way down, stepping over more disgusting bugs on the way, and finally make it to what indeed appears to be a boss room (and of course bugs everywhere here too):
First, i need to take on this guy, but i'm not sure how:
He makes a little round but i'm sure if i were to sneak up on him i will alert the whole room. So i try to use one of those ceramic things to lure him up the ramp here. I don't know why those things have a tendency to just hit walls and jars and i had to do it twice but i manage to alert the guy without being seen. I make my way on the upper level and wait for the guy to come a little closer, but the bastard just wants to stay down there:
Time to try again, but this time i wait for him around the wall and see if i can grab him for a stealth kill from there. Success!
I'm now facing the boss. He doesn't see me, but i can't lock on him or the monks in front of him because i keep locking on those damn bugs instead:
There doesn't seem to be any other way to do this besides charging in (no guts no glory right?), and since i need more Spirit Emblems to do that Ninjutsu thing on those guys i actually get the opportunity to use this thing:
I heal myself and it's now time to charge, except i keep locking on the damn bugs:
This pisses me off now so fuck it, i just kill them. Somehow this doesn't alert the whole room and i manage to make my Ninjutsu entry afterall:
I now brace for a boss battle but the damn bastard doesn't even move. Is he actually alive? Instead, a burly guy shows up from behind that altar. All this Buddhist shit inspired me to use some kind of cool power up too, so i was waiting for an opportunity to use this thing the whole time, might as well be him:
I miss a deflection but no matter, those guys are routine too now:
Ok so now what's up with this guy:
Also, damn when was the last time he showered? He is literally covered in shit those monks need to be taught a thing or two about hygiene.
Flinching a bit, wondering where it's been, i decide to just hold my nose and pick up that loot, one of those Gourd things, and suddenly he comes alive. I get ready for a big battle but he dies in two hits:
Erm:
Well, zombies die twice in this game right? He now starts vomiting shit on me and bugs come out crawling under his ass i need to get the hell out of this place, let's get this over with quickly:
Erm, fuck:
The third time is the charm, right?
Or not:
I now figure maybe fire is going to do the trick. I mean look at disgusting shit at his feet. Forget a shower dousing him in flames is the only way to get rid of that filth:
Nope, he is still there, vomiting bugs on me:
Ok, stay there loitering in your own filth then. See if i care.
So i guess this is how the monks have discovered immortality: just don't shower, like ever, until you got so much shit on you it even manages to keep the Grim Reapear at bay.
I decide to step out of this nightmare and outside at least is nice and clean. Also, those monks may know nothing about personal cleansiness but they sure like to make the place pretty:
I turn around to gaze at the mountains and try to breath in some fresh air, except i still smell shit somehow:
Ho, it's that old lady again, the one that likes to hang around moats and moldy caves. It's like everybody who is dirty has to come here to foul up the place. What do you want now, you crazy bint?
Who the hell does this crazy woman think she is, Babe Ruth?
Find what? What the hell are you talking about...
Yes, you are.
I now get this thing again:
I guess this prompt is happening because i do not have anything to give to those NPCs it's just so wierd i never saw it before and it's now the third NPC in a row where this appears.
Talking to NPCs again usually just leads to a short summary of what they just said, but in this case she adds an extra piece of information:
What divine child, Kuro?
I now turn around to see what she was pointing at. Ho...
Definitely not looking forward to meeting that damn snake again. Time to move on i guess. This place is gorgeous btw:
In the distance, i see some smoke:
I guess i'll have to end up there at some point.
Mmmmh, more bodies:
This is starting to make me angry, both for the killing of innocents as well as for the haphazard way the bodies are just left seemingly in random places. I manage to jump back to where i was and i spot a grappling point, but i think i'll just make it to that platform first:
Once i land there i can now see my next challenge:
Could that be a mini-boss? Also, those guys around him look familiar. I sneak a little further ahead and i see the fire guy is making rounds. Should be able to easily take him out unseen in that grass:
I now i recognize those guys. They are the bandits i met in the Hirata Estate. What the hell are they doing here?
I rope my way to that grappling point and see if i can get an even better look:
At the far end i see there's another one of those guys with straw hats. This one might be dicey. I turn around and i see a big tree with a bunch of Emblems on top. Those might defintiely turn out to be useful:
While up there, i take a panoramic view of my surroundings:
Beneath me i spot a monk, who gets what was coming to him:
Up ahead i see another one. No mercy for those guys anymore, they have desecrated everything that makes Buddhism what it is, and do not deserve to live:
From here i make it to the second guy with the straw hat but there's no grappling point so i can't leap behind him:
What's with those collapsed bridges btw:
It made sense in the Ashina Castle since it is not unusual for armies to sacrifice bridges in order to block a venue for a possible enemy advance, but why would anybody do it here, the monks aren't at war with anyone, as far as i know anyway. Plus it's a complex of temples, not a castle.
I decide to backtrack and check out if the opposite side offers a better attack point. On the way there i spot that fire guy again, i'm actually not entirely sure if i can take him out without being seen:
More damn bodies on this side too:
Yep, that's those damn bandits:
Next to them i see a grappling point but judging from its position i'm pretty sure i'm gonna land right in front of that guy with the straw hat and not behind him. How the hell am i gonna do this.
I go all the way around again, and from the roof i see a grappling point that would put me behind that rock:
I land next to it and manage to remain unseen, but this is no good. I have both straw hat guys on either side and i'm sure the one on the bridge will spot me in a nanosecond which would alert the second one.
At this point i'm pretty tense as i have a ton of sens on me. I was farming those monk guys to make sure i had enough cash to just empty out every item on that racoon guy's inventory just in case he decides to disappear again. Still, i have a lot of ways to just bolt out of here if things go south, so i decided to just opt for recklessness as usual. I sprint out of this rock and just run straight up to that first straw hat guy. Right at the last second (millisecond really), i somehow manage to land a stealth deathblow, and it's now time to party:
I kill the two bandits in the span of a single second and it's now time to face the other straw hat guy head on:
I decide to stay on the defensive just so i can see what he can do. He is pretty wayward and seems to share the same problem the monks with the staff had with their perilous attacks. For some reason the timing is screwry and every time he did that i always ended up side stepping instead of doing a Mikiri. On my fourth try, the guy manages to land a full hit which takes out a ton of my health, but worst of all, i end up falling right where those two bandits were. Now i can't even take any screenshots if i hope to survive this. I quickly kill the one sitting down. He is an axe guy but to my luck he does that whole croggy animation when standing up which allows me to just kill him really fast. Sadly, i'm not so lucky as the shield guy does a charge and while avoiding it i land straight into that straw hat guy right in the middle of a perilous attack and actually get killed. Too pissed to even remember to take a shot of me laying on the floor, i quickly heal and jump up on that rope point. The guy with the straw hat follows me there but this time i'm not fucking around. I get to his face and start pounding that nimble bitch, pushing him all the way to where he was originally, until he goes down and doesn't get up anymore.
I then quickly make my way back to that shield guy and smash his ugly face into a bloody mess:
I now remember to at least take a shot of that dead straw hat guy lol:
On the side i see a grappling point and after hooking myself to it i end up in front of a small cave:
I take one last look behind me:
And then it's time to move on. At the end of the cave, i finally find a Sculptor's Idol. This must have been the longest stretch between check points i've seen in this game. After turning on the thing quickly, i now see i'm faced with two different paths:
Not sure which way to go, maybe i'll flip a coin, but that will have to wait for next time.