Eh, worth it as trophies and curiosities anyway. Its a soldier's right to loot.

"I'm going to go towards the walled city of silk now. You're welcome to come along."

"I've certainly not got anywhere else in mind to go yet!"

So she thinks she will.

Megi finishes setting up cleansing and seals and so on, and the soldiers decamp, and she says goodbye to various friends (with a last hurrah in privacy, in Yhal's case), then assumes her more usual form once they're clear of any immediate travelers.

"Do you want to try a shortcut through the Spirit Realm? This would also involve visiting a graveyard. Or maybe you want to see the path to the city and how things change along the way. It's pretty stark."

"I could go for either, I think!  Is the Spirit Realm, like, any more dangerous than getting lost there - or overworld travel - sorry, taking the actual road - would be on its own?"

"It would be dangerous to get lost in the Spirit Realm- Or World, the words are used interchangeably. We can exit back to the real at any time unless we go way off into the void or the mists, but exactly where and when can be... Variable. Sticking to the path is pretty safe. And kitsunes are sort of at home there, to an extent."

"Yeah, I was already factoring in the non-predictability of random Spirit Realm exits into the risk profile.  Are there, like, monsters in there, though?"

"There are spirits. There are mostly not curses. Monstrousness is relative. Sort of treat them like wild animals? Wary and not bothering each other."

"Then I think getting used to the Spirit Realm while I know someone who can walk me through it would be a better idea."

"Then off to visit a graveyard we go." It's the same one as before; The blue blobs milling idly around are gone now- "I saw to their last requests earlier, and joyfully, nobody has since died!" 

The red torii gate stands tall. "Now, gates like this are symbolically entrances to the Spirit World. It's a place shaped largely by belief and stories, more than physical reality. Graveyards are where the dead pass into the Spirit World and eventually on to Great Wheel of Reincarnation- It's a place you can visit if you really want to, in the spirit world, but I do not recommend, it's way too intense, in a bad way- And because the gates are symbolically passageways, and often blessed by the Light Gods besides, they become real passageways for those with the means to enter."