Youkai Yashiki/Stage 3

Although it's not quite the same, the second stage is supposed to represent the kanji 凶 which stands for bad luck or fortune. This level is punctuated by the presence of many invisible ladders which are necessary to find in order to complete the level. Even if you don't follow the walkthrough, you are bound to learn about their existence through trial and error.


 * Talisman 1: From the start, walk to the left. Fight the fire spirits and remember the location of this screen in case you need to recharge your batteries.  Walk one more screen to the left, and you will actually wrap around to the right side of the map.  Climb up the rope and the screen above will resemble the screen you started on.  There happens to be a hidden ladder right near the left edge of the upper platform.  Find it and climb up to the screen above.  Continue climbing to the next screen, and there you will find the first talisman waiting on the upper platform.
 * Talisman 2: After collecting the first talisman, go ahead and use the well to transport yourself around the stage. Keep dropping down the well, and by the fourth time you use it, you will end up in an underground room at the very bottom of the map, with an Onigiri waiting for you beneath the well.  Drop down and collect the Onigiri, and then climb up the ladder on the left side to the room above.  You will find a lamp and the second talisman both situated on high platforms.  Shoot the lamp in hopes of collecting a sixth battery.
 * Bonus section: After you grab the second talisman, climb back down to the room below, and intentionally walk into the fire to the left of where the Onigiri was waiting. You will appear to die, and then the "NOW LOADING" screen will appear.  When you arrive, you will see two enemies floating around, and two gaps in the floor.  There are two ways to reach the bonus prize in this section, which happens to be another flashlight.  If you already collected the flashlight from the Stage 2 bonus section, this won't enhance your firepower at all.  You can either drop down the left gap to get directly to the flashlight, or drop down the right gap and make your way to a well which will lead you back to the Flashlight.  Dropping down the left gap is faster, but you must be careful not to land on the fire situated below the gap.  Push to the left as you fall to land safely on a block.  The hop over the single "blocks" of fire to collect the Flashlight and another Onigiri.  Continue on until you reach a well, and drop down.  Hop off the well, and climb up the ladder to the screen above.  Watch out for the enemies as you clear the long gap to the right, and drop down the well to return to the stage.
 * Talisman 3: Whether you visited the bonus section or not, from the room below the second talisman, walk to the left. Defeat the slimes and attack the lantern for its contents.  Don't forget that red slimes break into two weaker slimes.  You'll find another Onigiri one screen to the left.  The "moon" in the sky will fall down to attack when you're close to passing beneath it.  Keep going left, and you will encounter two fire spirits and a fake moon.  One more screen to the left contains three fire spirits, and the screen beyond that has two fire spirits and a fake moon.  You should be able to recharge your batteries quite easily.  The next screen contains an Onigiri, a lamp, and a well.  Drop down the well, and you will be transported one screen above.  You will find an invisibility item here.  Drop down the well, and you will seemingly reappear in the same room, but rather, you are now on the opposite side of the map, and the third talisman is right below you.  You may climb up and shoot the lamp in the room above if you wish, but it's not necessary
 * Talisman 4: Now you must drop through the wells until you return to the room below the second talisman (where the bonus section can be accessed from) and make the trek to the well all the way to the left again. Once again, shoot the fire spirits to power up your batteries.  Drop down the well, and now climb up the ladder when you arrive.  The stage will appear to dead-end, but the truth is, there is a long sequence of screens with invisible ladders starting with this screen.  The first invisible ladder is on the right side of the screen.  Climb up to the screen above, where the hidden ladder will be to the left of the left-most visible ladder.  These two screens will repeat themselves until you arrive inside a room with a well and a lantern.  Ignore the well, and shoot the lantern before climbing up to the next room where you will find the fourth talisman on the middle platform.
 * Talisman 5: From the fourth talisman, don't stop your ascent. Climb up the rope to the screen above, which should look familiar to you.  Once again, the hidden ladder is to the left of the left-most visible ladder.  You will arrive in a new room where the fifth talisman is waiting to the left of a well.  Climb up the rope, hop over the well and collect the talisman.
 * Boss lair: All you must do after grabbing the fifth talisman is jump on top of the well, and you will be transported to the boss' lair.

Boss
The boss of this stage is a rather odd looking creature, a monster with three big eyes and full lips. Despite the different appearance, the strategy against this boss is remarkably similar to the previous boss. It spits projectiles at you which can be shot down with your flashlight. You want to jump up just slightly high enough to shoot puffs of light into its open mouth. The height that you can successfully hit this boss seems a little more forgiving than the last boss, but this boss requires more hits to defeat. Rapidly alternating between jumping and firing seems to work against this boss as well.