tokyo creator

Chapter 291 The Ceremony of Branch Sacrifice

"...Did King Gion send you to die?" Hui Yuanchu pondered for a moment and came to a conclusion.

"Master Saimiya, please stop saying such things. If you just want to humiliate me, of course I will regard it as the loser's obligation and accept it calmly. Even the King of Heaven himself will say this... But what you said just now can be regarded as disrespectful to the Shenzhi Festival itself." Miko Asakami frowned and corrected her seriously again, "Lord Tenwang, send us to assist Lord Saimiya in completing the ceremony."

Haiyuan initially looked up at Qian Shen, observing her expression - and then he realized that these words were not a joke, nor were they self-defeating.Simply serious and even a little proud.

Qing Xing on the side could not hold his breath again.

"Wait a minute! You... no, you guys, aren't you afraid of death? Don't you want to go home? Even if you lose for a while, you can at least escape, right? No need at all, no need to--"

Perhaps he was too excited and Qingxing couldn't continue talking for a while.

And Hui Yuanchu thought to himself that this might be the reason why Qing Xing just asked Hui Yuanchu to stop Qian Shen from committing suicide - Hui Yuanchu glanced at Harumi who was hiding aside.This younger girl has had straight eyes and pale face since before, and she has not recovered yet.

...so, want to know the answer to this question.If we don't ask clearly, the scene of "the witches falling down one by one like straw" will definitely become Kiyuki and Harumi's nightmare for decades to come.

Miko Asakami also glanced at them with a strange expression.

Huiyuan looked at this look and suddenly realized that from just now, the expression on Qiangami's look at their group was the same as the expression on Qingyuki's look at those suicidal witches before... almost becoming a mirror image.

——It is "channel".

Asakami, as well as the other priests and shrine maidens of Yasaka Shrine's Shosumo Shrine, are not on the same thinking channel as Kiyuki and him.

The so-called "channel" means that even when facing the same thing, there will be different or even opposite understandings.Moreover, each takes the understanding of this channel as "natural".

So when people from two channels meet and talk about the same thing, they will have a feeling that the other person is not the same kind, but a monster.

I know what the other party wants to say, but I can't understand why the other party thinks that way, because the other party's thinking violates the thinking instinct of this channel.

...It seems to be this feeling, Hui Yuan, who had nothing to do with himself, thought at first, and then he became slightly interested.

Which channel Qing Xing is on, he has naturally learned from the previous relationship.

He's just an ordinary person who doesn't want to die and will be sad for the betrayal of his companions, but is willing to give up everything for his family.

Therefore, in the eyes of such people, the Shenzhi Festival is just a hellish fight between evil spirits.

...quite ordinary people.

What about Asakami?In her channel, what is the "natural" understanding of the behavior of Miko Asagami and others, or in other words, the "Kamizhi Matsuri"?
The beautiful witch opposite was silent for a moment, as if she had figured something out, and her expression softened a bit.

"I'm sorry." She apologized as soon as she opened her mouth, then looked at Qing Xing and asked: "Are you...?"

"I am Tsuchimikado of Seimei Shrine."

This time, Qian Shen showed a little "understanding" and "it's true" expression.

"...I'm sorry." She apologized in advance again, then looked at Qing Xing, raised her chin and became rude, "-but with all due respect, your company's inheritance seems to have been lost. "

"——You!" He cared about the other party with good intentions, but he was ridiculed for no reason at all, and it also involved the inheritance of the social family. Qing Xing blushed all of a sudden.

Hui Yuanchu explained with "good intentions" as if adding fuel to the fire: "Ah, just forgive him. He was almost ambushed and assassinated by people from other small shrines who thought they were friends."

"I see. I thought it might be like this...are you small societies like this? You don't know what the Divine Branch Festival is anymore." She was obviously the loser, but the miko became arrogant, and her face showed With a look of contempt, "You probably regard this ancient and sacred ritual as a despicable battle royale like the one in the movie?"

"...Isn't it?"

"The Divine Branch Festival is a festival. In order to please the gods, we dance." Asagami stared at Qingxing and said, "...No matter what form it takes, this will not change."

Qing Xing was stunned.

"No matter what form the dance is." Asakami repeated, "So, different shrines are not enemies, but dancers together."

"...Dancing together? What kind of dancing is this!" Qingxing obviously couldn't agree.

Asakami continued to speak calmly: "It's just that in a sacrificial dance, there are different roles. For example, we, as the king of heaven, play the role of the 'sacrifice of other Zhaigu' , just such a role.”

"But you guys really did this for a fake show, right? Is someone really dead?"

"This is to protect everyone." Contrary to Kiyoyuki's excitement, Asakami remained calm and whispered, "For the happiness of the country and the people, sacrificing and dedicating is something we have long realized... Now it's just a matter of changing It’s just one form. And it’s not just us. Didn’t the final winner also sacrifice his entire life in another form?”

"Shut up!" Qingxing waved his hands passionately, with an expression of disgust on his face, "...fighting to please the gods is disgusting enough - but according to what you said, that's not Has it really become a human sacrifice?" "——The Lord Fengguo, is it a cannibal?"

Qian Shen just looked at him quietly.

After Qing Xing calmed down a little, Qian Shen said softly: "The Lord Feng Guo will not eat people."

"Don't talk about cannibalism, Lord Feng Guo... can't do anything."

"Only if someone takes action first, Lord Toyoko will respond."

"No matter how much you offer, you will be given as much as you want. You cannot deceive Lord Fengguo."

Asakami's voice gradually became louder: "...So, if you want to obtain something as precious as 'happiness', and also want everyone to be 'happy', of course you have to sacrifice your most precious thing, right?"

"Don't you even have this awareness?"

"Or maybe your idea is that as long as you are fine, it doesn't matter how bad the world is?"

For a moment, Qingyuki was completely suppressed by the aura of the black-haired miko: "..."

Faced with this problem, he instinctively looked at his sister.

Hui Yuanchu watched this scene from the side and almost laughed out loud.

He slightly simulated the confusion in Qing Xing's heart at this moment - looking at his sister, he certainly didn't mean "as long as he and his sister are fine, the world will be fine".But it's just that - the ordinary boy who had always only thought about himself and his family was suddenly asked a world-scale question, and was caught off guard for a moment.

Asakami looked at Qingyuki, and he didn't know how much he understood. In short, he showed a somewhat disappointed look: "...Really? It turns out that all the small societies outside that have not been favored by Saigumi have fallen to this point. …”

"In short, this is the orthodoxy of the ceremony. It is not as barbaric as you imagined." She softened her tone slightly and said, "...You can't become a Saio with such thoughts."

Kiyoyuki held his head, still looking confused: "It's not what we wanted to do... Saiou and world peace have nothing to do with me in the first place. I just want to live an ordinary life with Harunami and grandpa... …”

Qian Shen opened his mouth, but finally remained silent.

But the boy finally stabilized.

"I am willing." He gritted his teeth and said, "If it's for Chunhai, I'm willing to sacrifice my life."

"But - I don't believe that the only way to be happy is to pray to the gods! I would rather rely on my own efforts!"

Asakami looked at him with some pity and said softly: "...If we encounter another disaster like the one that befell Tokyo half a year ago, what's the use of human efforts?"

Qingxing opened his mouth, unable to answer, so he could only remain silent.

Asakami sighed.

"Human efforts are limited. They can neither fight against natural disasters nor impress the gods."

"Humans...even just to survive, they cannot leave the gods."

This sentence made Hui Yuanchu thoughtful.

"So -" Qian Shen Gongyue exhaled, as if she had finally confirmed the answer, and relaxed, "Only serve the gods wholeheartedly and beg the gods -"

"Is there no other way..." Qing Xing said to himself unwillingly.

"Huh -? In this case, it's better to let Laixiang be the land god." Suddenly a voice sounded from the side.

Tsuchimikado Kiyuki and Asagami Miyazuki both turned around in shock and looked at the speaker.

Ibuki Rika was squatting there with her legs spread inelegantly, holding her cheeks in thought, and then blurted out what she was thinking about unconsciously.

"If Laixiang is the Lord of Feng Kingdom, he will definitely love you all and bless you all?" She seemed to be imagining that scene, and muttered, "Laixiang is easy to talk to, and he doesn't care about everyone's sacrifices. How precious is it, as long as everyone... loves Laixiang with sincerity, that's all right?"

Tsuchimikado Kiyuki, and Asagami Miyazuki looked at Ibuki Rika with indescribable expressions.

It's like - watching the third channel pop up.

At this moment, a strange whistling sound gradually sounded in the clear sky.

(End of this chapter)