tokyo creator

Chapter 274 The Tsuchimikado Family’s Big Adventure ([-])

Although it is called "Heian Kyo", this capital city located in the divine domain is not just a simple Heian period style, but more like a mixture of Kyoto from various eras.

On both sides of the road, there are ancient thatched shrines in the "Kami-made" style, Buddhist temples with tile roofs introduced in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Western-style buildings after the Meiji Restoration, and modern high-rise buildings with glass curtain walls.

Under the night and lights, buildings from all eras stayed on their respective sites without any rules.It's like some kind of game of jockeying for seats. The shrine is on top of the Buddhist temple, half of the Western-style buildings are stuck in the glass curtain wall, and many buildings are overlapping and fitting with each other in an incredible way.

Under the night, the city’s architectural style is weird, and it is connected along the street to form a weird architectural centipede, which is illuminated by gasoline lamps, torches, lanterns, LED large screens and other lighting types from different eras on both sides of the street. A bizarre and huge modern art landscape with the theme of time and space.

The streets were also crowded.

The composition of the walking crowd is equally chaotic.Ancient werewolves, shogunate samurai, office workers in suits and ties... These pedestrians from different eras walked hurriedly with indifferent expressions. Although they were so crowded that they were almost touching each other, they did not interact with each other at all, as if they could not see each other. .

But sometimes, when someone stops to do something like "greeting" and "handing over and taking things", they are not interacting with the people around them, but performing pantomime performances against the air around them. On.

And everyone has a faint edge of light on their bodies.

——Except for the Tsuchimikado brothers and sisters mixed in.

"...Brother, are these...the Soul Souls? Why are there so many?" Chunhai nervously grabbed Qingxing's sleeves and looked around nervously.

Compared with his sensitive younger sister, Qing Xing has always been much more adaptable.

The fear went away as quickly as it came. He was in high spirits at this time. While comparing the notes he took from his grandfather, he stretched out his hand and scratched the face of a fierce warrior who was walking towards him.

The warrior's face was expressionless and unresponsive, and there was no grasping hand in his pupils.

The next moment, Qingxing's hand seemed to have grabbed a phantom, instantly penetrating the warrior's head without any hindrance, and swung out from behind the warrior's head.

The warrior's expression remained unchanged, his steps continued, and he passed by him and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Qingxing stopped and looked down at his hands with an unspeakable expression.
"How is it?" Chunhai asked nervously.

"Hmm... I don't feel it at all, it's like catching the air. It's exactly the same as what grandpa's notes said." Qing Xing flipped through the book again, and read, "——'Spiritual Soul', 'Living Soul',' 'Zuohun', 'Yu Liuhun'... Among the many spirits in the God's Domain, 'Zuohun' is the most harmless one."

"——Because the so-called 'foot soul' is actually just the 'memory of the land'."

"It's just an image recorded on the land, recorded in the stone. It doesn't affect anyone or anything. It just serves as a background board, as another kind of 'weather' in the God's Domain, running silently. .”

"That is to say, although it seems like there are a lot of people..." He raised his head, looked at the bustling street, and curled his lips, "Among so many people, the only real living people... are probably the two of us."

Harumi whispered: "...I hope that until the end, I won't meet anyone else."

Qing Xing agrees with this.

"Well, we are weak after all. I just hope that we can get rid of a few Jade Souls smoothly, and then wait in peace until the end of the Shenzhi Festival."

"I thought my brother was going to win."

"Although I did praise Haikou, I'm not an idiot. How could I possibly do it? Just now, just seeing the ancestors, I was so scared that I almost peed. Not to mention facing other great gods and their Priests." Qing Xing said with a sad face.

After a pause, he sighed again and touched his sister's head: "Besides, I don't want Harumi to become Saio. Then we won't be able to see each other again for the rest of our lives, right?"

Harumi nodded silently.

Then she took out the map that had been circled by Kiyuki before, looked up and looked around in confusion, and said softly: "...But, brother, are we really Horikawa Dori now?"

"Who knows." Kiyoyuki said nonchalantly, "The so-called Horikawa-dori... seems to be a road in Kyoto that was rebuilt in the Muromachi period. During the Heian period, it didn't exist in Heian Kyoto at all."

"……elder brother."

"Haha, but don't worry. Because this place is not really back to the historical Heian Kyo anyway, it's just a divine realm." The young man pointed at the strange pedestrian building next to him, "Look, there's nothing you can do with it. Isn’t it a perfect match for the real Kyoto?”

"Grandpa said that in Heian Kyo, only the location of the shrine is absolute. Because the torii gate is a fixed entrance and exit. So there is no problem. The position I calculated based on the stars is the relative position to our home shrine." While comforting Looking at his sister, the boy took out a small set of Sinan from his arms.

The magnetic spoon on the dial turned for a moment, pointing precariously to somewhere.

"...Sure enough, let's go!" The young man pulled his sister excitedly.

The brother and sister carefully bypassed the crowds of foot souls, left the bright and crowded road, and walked into the dark and secluded alley.

Following Simon's guidance, they walked in the dark alley for a long time, and finally came to a torii gate hung with two scarlet lanterns.

Qingxing couldn't help but become nervous.

He stood under the lantern and looked back in the direction he came from - the unlit alley was already dark.

There were no stars or moonlight in the night sky.There was only that huge shadow of unknown origin, shaking like crazy for no apparent reason.

All of a sudden, the palm-sized area illuminated by the two red lanterns in front of me was actually the only light source nearby.

With the dim red light, Qingxing looked inside the torii...

It is half temple, half shrine, with overlapping outlines of abandoned and half-collapsed buildings.In the main hall, only half of the Buddha statues are left with hideous light and shadow.

Qing Xing swallowed, and his heart began to beat wildly.

Behind him, Chunhai had already pinched his arm without saying a word, obviously more scared than him.

"How about -" Qing Xing made a trembling voice, "Let's move to a brighter place first..."

Harumi nodded vigorously.

"Okay, then let's—" Before Qing Xing could finish his words, he was suddenly interrupted by a sudden and crisp "pop" sound.

--"Snapped".

The sound seemed to be the tapping of bamboo boards, coming from the darkness in front of the alley.

A bud-shaped light lit up.

"pat bang"

Immediately afterwards, there was the reverberating sound of the waist drum.

Another light shone, a twisting, transparent spirit body as tall as a person.

"--Ding"

Crisp rattles also join in.

More and more sounds came from the darkness, and soon they merged into a rhythmic percussion.

"Pap" - "Pap" - "Pap" - "Pap" -

Along with the percussion, one after another glowing humanoid spirits appeared from the darkness.They lined up in a row, twisting their detailless bud-shaped bodies as if dancing to the music, and marched towards the red lantern from the darkness.

Qingxing opened his eyes wide in horror, looking at the queue of approaching spirits.

"Oops, it's a living soul again! If you are caught, you will never be able to leave here!"

Fear made Qingxing sober up.As soon as he grabbed Harumi, he wanted to turn around and run away - but at this moment, in the darkness where they came from, there was actually the sound of "pat-ta-ping" percussion, and then another group of spirits appeared. body!
The percussion of the two groups of spirits intertwined into a strange rhythm, and at the same time, they marched towards the porch illuminated by the red lanterns, slowly.

Caught between two sides!

Qing Xing quickly changed his mind, took another look at the terrifying courtyard, and finally gritted his teeth and made a decision.

He covered the mouth of his sister who was about to cry, then pulled her and stumbled into the torii shrouded in red lanterns.

Then, the two of them leaned against a pillar, covered their mouths, and listened to two rhythmic percussion music, getting closer and closer from behind.

The two teams of percussionists approached and merged. --stop.

The two teams of spirits did not pass by each other as Qing Xing expected.

Because the two percussion pieces started playing behind them, and their positions stopped moving.

And - the percussion is getting into tune.

"Bang bang" - "Bang bang" - "Bang bang" - "Bang bang" -

Nearly ten breaths later, the two sets of percussion music had completely merged into one song, and they were just beating patiently outside the door.

Qing Xing's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he lay down.

While the waist drum was ringing, he heard countless inaudible "rustling" sounds that were getting louder and louder.

It was as if...two teams of spirits were squeezing behind them, shoulder to shoulder.

The living souls dare not enter the shrine yet.But Qingxing is not sure how long this situation can last.

He made a quick decision, without looking away, but reached out his hand to the left and grabbed his sister who also reached out her right hand in a tacit understanding.

Then, for fear that his sister would not know the seriousness of the situation, Qingxing said in the sternest voice possible: "Chunhai, don't look back, don't look left and right, just look at the main hall in front... let's go!"

When the words fell, he didn't care whether Chun Hai heard it or not, he just pulled Chun Hai suddenly and started running wildly.

"elder brother--"

Harumi exclaimed.

"Shut up!!!" Qingxing roared wildly, but just fixed the sight of the dark hall at the other end of the courtyard in his field of vision as a target - and then used another force to pull Chunhai next to him. In front of him, he blocked her with his body and pushed her forward with all his strength.

Running across the entire courtyard in the darkness, Qingxing and Chunhai finally rushed to the steps of the main hall.

After lying on the wooden stairs and panting for a long time, Qingxing suddenly realized that the percussive rhythm composed of waist drum, bamboo bangs and bells had stopped at some point.

"Don't look up!" He pressed Chun Hai's head, then gritted his teeth and looked back.

——Under the blood-red torii gate hung with red lanterns in the distance, the bright spirits lined up in several rows like a choir continued to wait there silently and stubbornly.

It seemed that he was determined to wait until them.

Kiyoshi was relieved once again - indeed, even in this magical place called "Heian Kyo", even if the living souls were originally priests and witches... After they became like this, they could no longer enter the shrines and temples. kind of place.

At least, they were safe for the time being.

Even if the souls guard the door of the torii gate, shrines usually don't have only one exit.And in the worst case scenario, they can wait here until dawn.

Qing Xing was thinking when he heard a muffled voice coming from Chun Hai.

Only then did Qingyue realize that he was still holding Chunhai's head tightly, so he quickly let go: "Ah!!!! Sorry."

"No, brother, listen carefully..." Chunhai was not angry, he just said.

Qing Xing was taken aback for a moment, and listened attentively——

The wind blows from the main hall, which is mixed with the sound of wooden fish knocking, and the faint laughter of a woman with a little echo.

"...human voice? You mean..."

"Only Yu Liuhun can make a human voice, right? Is that our target?"

Qingxing and Chunhai looked at each other, neither said a word, but tiptoed toward the hall together in tacit understanding.

The building in front of me is a fusion of temples and Buddhist halls, so the pillars in the hall are all in a mess.The slanting timbers, beams, and pillars are almost not in their original positions, but they cross and support each other, forming a piece of fence, dividing the space in the hall into many detours out of thin air, like a maze.

But there was no doubt about the target—right in the center of the temple.

Because the fence blocks most of the sight, it cannot block the half of the tall Buddha statue, nor can it block the light emanating from the feet of the Buddha statue.

In addition, there are more and more clear voices coming from there.

"……hungry……"

"don't want……"

"Just...one more time..."

"whee--"

"...It's rare that no one..."

Qingyuki and Harumi began to slowly move in from the outside.

But starting from halfway, Qing Xing felt embarrassed.

Because the two voices obviously came from a boy and a girl respectively, their contents were even more embarrassing, and soon, there were even more indescribable hesitating sounds.

Qing Xing secretly glanced at his sister and saw that her eyes were also wandering and her face was red...

In fact, earth-bound spirits, monsters, and ghosts... Because they exist closer to the nature and subconscious part of the human consciousness, there are often such restricted scenes.Qing Xing encountered him more than once while following his grandfather in exorcism.

——But the problem is, enjoying this scene with your own sister is another matter.

This time Yu Liuhun doesn’t know how to look at the situation! !

Fortunately, the maze road will soon come to an end.Beyond the last corner ahead is the sudden bright light coming from the center of the temple.

A few steps away from the corner, Tsuchimikado Kiyuki stopped.He regained his composure and then gestured towards his sister.

The other party also regained her calm miko posture, nodded, took out a bunch of charms from her bag and handed them over.

As if dealing cards, Tsuchimikado Kiyuki silently twisted a bunch of spells and held them in his hand.

Taking a deep breath at the end, he jumped out towards the light, sprinkled the spell with a "whoosh", and shouted at the same time: "Destroy ghosts and prolong life, kill thousands of ghosts, hurry like a law——"

The last word of the incantation stuck in his throat instantly, and Tsuchimikado Kiyoyuki froze in place for a moment.

In the center of the temple, on the pedestal under the half-image of Buddha, sat an ordinary young man in modern clothes. He looked at Qing Xing who suddenly jumped out and the spells scattered all over the sky, with a look of astonishment on his face.

And there was another girl with orange hair.

At this time, she seemed to be startled by Qing Xing. She straightened up again and looked back, her beautiful face full of surprise.

Looking at this scene, Qing Xing's mind seemed to be frozen.

"It's not Tamarihun, it's not Zuhun, but... brother, he seems to be a living person..." Harumi, who walked up to Qingxing at some point, whispered to him, while stretching his neck and looking around, as if he wanted to see clearly The scenery blocked by the orange-haired girl.

Ah, living people...

Qing Xing reacted immediately, but his first reaction was to suddenly reach out and cover Chun Hai's eyes: "——Don't look!!!"

At the same time, the orange-haired girl also reacted.

As she rushed forward, she didn't care that her body squeezed tightly onto the boy's lower body, and hugged him tightly like that. At the same time, like a fried fur fox protecting food, she turned her head towards Chunhai and showed her cute canine teeth angrily. Screamed: "-Don't look at it!!! This is for incense!!!"

(End of this chapter)