The White Tengu’s Sacrificial Bride: A Poisoned Lady’s Temporary Marriage

“I was offered as poison bait to a Tengu—but the one who appeared didn’t devour me…”Shino, a young girl living in a poor village in Joshu (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), is sold due to poverty. Just before her fate is sealed, she is "rescued" and taken in by a man named Takenouchi, who claims to be an onmyoji (spiritual practitioner).However, his true intentions are sinister—he secretly forces Shino to ingest poison, intending to offer her as deadly bait to a man-eating Tengu.Abandoned deep in the mountains at the brink of despair, Shino encounters a mysterious figure: a white-winged Tengu who calls himself Sakyo.Thus begins a Meiji-era romantic folklore tale of a sacrificed girl and a lonely white Tengu.