tokyo creator

Chapter 272 God and Buddha
"Zaiou died while in office." Guanxu continued, "This has not happened for a long time.

"And at this time, some internal problems occurred in the shrine...

"In short, the result is that the shrine fell into chaos for a while. The Kamie Festival to select the new king has been delayed until now and has just begun.

"Fortunately, they finally did not forget that during this period, in Kyoto, Nara, Kashima, Katori, Usa, Suwa, Izumo, Fujinomiya... these eight places, they first set up Saio Dai to guard them on behalf of Saio. job.

Hui Yuan wanted to ask questions.

But he just opened his lips: "Wait--"

Guan Xu raised his hand to stop him with an unhappy expression.

"From now on, don't interrupt me." After the previous "warm-up", he seems to be really about to enter the class now, and said impatiently, "My explanations are all thoughtful and well-structured. It echoes back and forth. And your so-called problems——[-]% didn’t listen carefully to what I said before, and the other [-]% were impatient to wait for what I said later, and none of them made sense!”

After he finished speaking, he shut his mouth tightly and stared at Hui Yuanchu with an unkind expression. The meaning was obvious - if Hui Yuanchu still didn't understand, then he didn't plan to say any more.

Hui Yuanchu had no choice but to swallow his words angrily...

Guan Xu stared at Hui Yuanchu for a while, until he completely shut up, and then continued: "Yes, there is not one Saio Dai, but eight. Because one is not enough. This is the gap in qualifications. .

“Under the original inheritance system, every Saiou was the only shrine maiden chosen by the Lord of Toyo Kingdom.

"And now...how can it be possible to satisfy the gods by randomly choosing a miko and sending it to her?

"After all, Saio Dai is just a temporary substitute, and the gap between him and the real Saio is all-round.

"For example, it used to be that only one Saio was able to guard the whole country. But now, eight Saio Dai can barely cope with the area they are in...still overwhelmed.

"For another example, because the Saio Dai lacked the natural control of the Saio, in order to prevent their physical and mental fluctuations from interfering with the country, protection and restraint spells were added to them for a long time, but they also harmed them. body and mind...

"The final result is - just not just 'eight'. The Saio dynasty of each place has changed several times in the past six months.

"——So, the 'generation' of Saio Dai is 'acting', not 'replacing'. Saio cannot be replaced. Saio... must be re-elected as soon as possible.

"In short, this half year without Saio can be said to be the most vulnerable period in the history of this country. If another disaster of the same level as the Messenger Disaster occurs during this period, will this country really be destroyed?" Guan Xu added He clicked his tongue and said, "It's a pity that this kind of thing didn't happen. Most people don't know that they have been living with the end of the world day and night for half a year."

Then he took two more puffs of cigarette, took a break, and then moved on to the next topic.

"So, half a year later, the Shenzhi Festival was finally held."

"But at this time, they encountered a new problem...that is, because of Saio's sudden death, this time the Kamizhi Festival cannot be carried out in the usual way."

"Because the original ceremony is actually very simple. It can be said that there is only one step: the eight candidate shrine maidens perform a Kagura dance in front of the god together. After the ceremony, Saio will announce her successor."

"Do you understand what this means?" Guan Xu raised his head and glanced at Hui Yuanchu, and quickly asked and answered, "Yes, considering that Saio is actually the dependent body of the Lord Fengguo, so... In fact, every new Saio can be regarded as being selected by the Lord Toyo Kuni himself.”

"...Because of this, when the previous Saio passed away suddenly, he lost the channel to communicate with the Lord Toyokuni, and no one knew what criteria should be used to select a new Saio who could satisfy Lord Toyokuni. king."

"But this matter really can't be delayed any longer..."

"So, in the end, the palace ministers and young palace ministers of the shrine finally reached an agreement after a heated debate and decided that this time the Shenzhi Festival will take the ancient form again..."

After a pause, Guan Xu sneered, with a hint of coldness in his voice: "——Let's choose the Saio through 'fighting'."

"First, at the guarding place of Hachichu Saiodai, under the watchful eyes of Saiodai, each shrine sent candidates to hold their own sacred branches to fight. The one who finally captured all the sacred branches was the local candidate shrine maiden. Will take over the responsibilities of Saiodai.

"Finally, the eight candidate shrine maidens who have already shouldered the responsibilities of the Saio Dai and guarded their respective lands will be sent to the shrine together, and they will be asked to decide the last one in front of the god.

"——In this way, Lord Toyo will be able to keep an eye on the whole process of the witches fighting.

"...Then the miko who survived in the end has been proven to have always been protected by Lord Fengguo, and must also be the most loved by Lord Fengguo.

"This is the Saio Selection: Divine Branch Festival."

Guan Xu finally took out the pocket watch in his arms, looked at it, and said simply: "Okay, it's been 25 minutes since we got here. I'm done. You can ask questions."

Then, he said nothing again and began to smoke in a daze.

Hui Yuan stood there, sorting out the information he had obtained, and comparing it with what he had experienced before.
Then he raised his hand and said, "Teacher Guan? I want to confirm that I understood your instructions correctly."

"Say."

"First of all, the Divine Branch Festival is now being held in eight places at the same time."

"Correct."

"Secondly, taking the Kyoto competition area as an example, many shrines compete for the place to go to the shrine by seizing each other's sacred branches?"

"Yes."

Huiyuan thought for a while and asked for Laixiang: "So, who are the opponents?"

Guan Xu chuckled twice: "More is more, less is less..."

Then he changed his posture, took another sip of wine, and then said: "You should have realized that this time, the places where Saiou was specially set up to guard are actually the eight areas where candidate shrine maidens are selected under normal circumstances."

"As a thousand-year-old capital, Kyoto has always been the most competitive place... because there are so many powerful big companies."

"And the so-called big shrine... means no matter how the social structure has changed over the past thousand years - 'shineishe shrine', 'imperial sacrificial shrine', 'shangqishi shrine', 'official coin shrine'... these titles represent the highest status, They are always firmly placed before their shrine names.”

"So, although in theory, as long as it is a shrine registered under the 'Shrine Shinto' recognized by the Shinto Main Agency, regardless of its size, it is eligible to participate in the Kamize Matsuri... But in fact, the final winner will only come from those few shrines. A big house."

“So much so that later, for Saio who came from other shrines besides Kamo Shrine, aliases related to the shrine to which he belonged were unofficially formed.

"I can tell you clearly that you basically only need to pay attention to these five - the 'Kusasaigu Shrine' of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the 'Bosatsuin' of Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine, and the 'Four Gods White Tiger' of Matsuo Taisha Shrine. , the ‘Gion’ of Yasaka Shrine, and the ‘Kanasai-in’ of Hirano Shrine.”

After a pause, Guanxu added unhurriedly: "Ah, the name of Huzhai Palace can be deleted...after all, it has been defeated by your "Laixiang Shrine" that no one has ever heard of. 'Yeah."

Hui Yuan initially frowned.

He didn't care about Guanxu's ridicule for the time being, and he decided to ask her directly what the Lord of the Palace of Fushimi Inari Taisha was thinking about afterwards.

At this time, Hui Yuanchu's thoughts were focused on another issue.That was the enemy he encountered, and they were not in the five shrines Guanxu mentioned.

"Are these the only enemies?"

"Otherwise?" Guan Xu asked back.

"——But just before, we encountered an attack by the Crusaders. The Inari God's Palace Secretary can prove it." Hui Yuanchu stared at Guanxu and said seriously, "...Although it has nothing to do with Shinto, you can take a closer look For social news, you should also know about the ‘Crusader’, right?”

Then he unexpectedly discovered that Guan Xu didn't show any surprised expression at all, as if he had expected it.

"Crusader..." He touched his unshaven chin and seemed to be thinking, "How should I say..."

After a moment, Guan Xu raised his head and asked: "That attack took place within the territory, right? In...'Ping An Jing'."

"Yes."

That attack undoubtedly took place within the divine realm.After annihilating these dolls, they left the divine realm through the torii gate.

"Then, it's not a crusade. Those who can enter the divine realm must be the priests and shrine maidens who have registered at the shrine. And if you have the strength to attack Fushimi Inari Taisha, you can't escape the other five shrines-" There was a pause. , Guan Xu shook his head, "Forget it, I'll just tell you the truth - the one fighting you should be the 'Bodhisattva-in' of Shi Qingshui Hachiman Palace."

Hui Yuan was stunned: "What are you kidding about——"

A sense of absurdity surged up, and Hui Yuanchu swallowed his own words.

The meaning of Guanxu is not obscure.It was a fact that the Crusaders attacked, and he did not deny it.But what he emphasized was the "identity" of the Crusaders at this time.Saiou is so important, Hui Yuanchu can now fully understand why the Crusaders want to get involved in this matter.And the method they adopted seems to be to "pretend to convert" and become members of Shinto.

But compared to "How could Shinto accept such a thing", Hui Yuanchu found it more absurd, but "How could the Crusaders accept such a thing"

After all, they were a group of true believers.

To them, the need to hide their beliefs might be as good as killing them.

After a moment of silence, Hui Yuanchu gathered his thoughts and started asking again: "So, which god do they believe in?"

Hui Yuanchu suddenly realized from Guan Xu's attitude that there were problems with the Shrine's attitude towards the Crusaders and the Crusaders' attitude towards the Shrine.

Therefore, he needs more information to confirm what happened.

"Which god?" Guan Xu chuckled twice.

Then, he showed a very strange expression and said: "The Great Sun Tathagata."

"..." Hui Yuanchu was silent for a moment, "Wait, say it again?"

"——The Great Sun Tathagata."

Hui Yuan's thoughts were all confused: "...Tathagata Buddha and so on are not Shinto at all!!"

Guan Xu exhaled and knocked on the cigarette rod: "It seems that you also need to make up for your Japanese history.

"The combination of gods and Buddhas, local traces, two Shinto, Ise Shinto, the separation of gods and Buddhas...haven't you heard of these?
"Historically, Buddhism and Shinto have been confused for a long time to the point where they were almost merged into one...

"It has even reached the level of 'building Buddha statues in shrines, chanting Buddhist sutras for the gods, and claiming to the outside world that their gods are the incarnation or patron saint of a certain Buddha and Bodhisattva.'"

"The Great Sun Tathagata... Anyway, according to the two Shinto texts, it is the same existence as the origin god of Shintoism, 'Tianyu Zhongzun'." Guanxu said lazily.

Hui Yuanchu held his head: "Wait, wait, you said that it is history, and gods and Buddhas... yes, the separation order of gods and Buddhas! After the Meiji Restoration, didn't gods and Buddhas completely separate??"

Guan Xu turned to look at him and sneered: "So, those guys are back again."

"I said it before. The reason why a new Saio was not elected immediately after the death of the previous Saio was because there were some problems within the shrine or Shinto... That's it."

"——Okay, I told you so much out of my responsibility as the organizer of the ceremony. But in terms of my position, I can't be too biased towards one party... In short, it's okay for the Shrine to recognize their beliefs. It’s part of the shrine’s Shinto. Do you understand? Don’t ask about anything else.”

Guan Xu finally said, putting the cigarette holder into his mouth again, as if refusing to speak again.

At this time, Hui Yuanchu also roughly understood.

In short... the shrine is divided into two factions, right?One of the factions actually became the backstage of the Crusade.

"Teacher Guan, which side are you on?" Hui Yuanchu raised his head and asked.

The shrine is actually far away in the sky, so we can leave it alone.But Mi Yi, who is presiding over the ceremony, must first confirm his position.

"Me? I'm a neutral faction." Guan Xu said absently, "It doesn't matter which side wins."

"...If the Crusaders win, they will destroy the world."

"That's better."

"..."

Wasn't this man's misanthropy an act? !
Hui Yuan was a little nervous at first and continued to test: "Then what do you think of the group?"

"The cooperation between the group and Inari Taisha Shrine has nothing to do with me. I was just appointed by the shrine to preside over the ceremony. I don't care about other things."

Hui Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Okay, you can just turn a blind eye.

Guan Xu took out his pocket watch again and looked at it, then closed the cover with a "snap" and put it back in his arms. At the same time, he said unceremoniously to Hui Yuanchu: "I'm going to rest. You hurry up and leave."

"Ah, okay, but where I live..."

"Yeah, but it seems there are no extra guest rooms..." Guan Xu touched his chin, then turned his head and said expressionlessly, "You can solve it yourself, or go and sleep with that little fox."

Then he snorted coldly and said: "Anyway, I think she is very happy."

"Get out, what are you still doing here? Do you still want me to give up my room?" Guan Xu began to yell at people simply and rudely.

Hui Yuanchu shrugged, got up and left.

Anyway, he won't feel embarrassed.Moreover, Laixiang had invited him just now.

……

Arriving at Laixiang's door, Hui Yuanchu's hand had just grasped the handle when he heard the door next door open with a click.

Lord Inari Miyaji stuck his head out and looked at him with a smile.

After looking at Hui Yuanchu's movements, she made a knowing expression: "Ah, I won't delay you young people for too long, I will just say a few words."

Then, she walked out of the door and said: "Guan Miyi should have explained most of the things to you, right? In addition, let me explain it clearly-"

She looked serious and said sincerely: "I did request Miss Zhe before, hoping to get her help in the Shenzhi Festival."

"So, after I met your honorable master and saw you and Laixiang together, I naturally thought that you were the person sent by Miss Zhe, and that you knew everything inside."

"But it seems that although your identity is correct, there are still some misunderstandings and obstacles in the communication between us."

"So, I first confirmed the above point for you. This should be the most important point for you, right? Then if you have any other questions, I am always ready to answer your questions."

"I was rude before, sorry." Finally, the woman bowed deeply to Hui Yuanchu.

Hui Yuanchu hesitated for a moment and said, "Ah, okay -"

"Well, although I'm rude again, I really need to confirm with you -" the woman raised her head after bowing and looked at Hui Yuanchu intently, "You will help Laixiang, right?"

Hui Yuan thought for a while and replied: "If that is Laixiang's wish."

Lord Gong Si let out a long breath.

"Then, I wish you a sweet dream... But I still hope it can be gentler. After all, the elderly do not sleep well." Then she returned to her smiling expression and flashed back to herself without giving Hui Yuanchu any chance to speak. In the house, the door was closed.

……I see.Isn't it a cooperation between the two organizations "Shinto" and the "Group", but a personal request from "Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine" to "Oriu Aoi"?
Hui Yuan was thoughtful at first, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Gently unscrewing the door, Lai Xiang had already fallen asleep with the quilt between her legs.

...Didn’t this fool himself propose a fight until dawn?Why did you fall asleep first?Hui Yuanchu thought helplessly.

But just as he sat down next to her, the girl turned over, gave up the quilt and hugged his thigh.

——It’s not a prank, it’s not pretending to be asleep.

The girl just hugged him tightly in her sleep, and then uttered two bytes as if she was mumbling in her sleep: "——Papa..."

(End of this chapter)