After getting lost in the abandoned village, they gradually became confused and infatuated

The wooden door opened, and the familiar hall came into view.

Unlike before, the hall was dark now.

The wall-mounted lamps and candles on the surrounding walls were all extinguished.

Only the hazy moonlight shines through the window and casts spots, and some outlines can barely be seen clearly.

Optics Valley Falcon couldn't help but frown.

"Why is it so dark?"

"Have everyone inside taken a rest?"

"But it's not right... I came at this time before."

"Or, what happened to Jixiang Shrine?"

Mitsutani Hayabusa naturally thought of the mysterious girl who attacked him at night, and the new power he had gained inexplicably.

I always feel that there may be some connection between the two.

Optics Valley Falcon murmured in his heart, but when things came to a head, he couldn't run away from the battle.

Moreover, Yuyin Rei may also be inside, waiting for him to come to the rescue.

No hesitation.

Optics Valley Falcon walked in directly.

He has no weapon in his hand now.

All three bullets in the pistol were empty. This thing is no different from scrap metal.

It was useless to carry it with him, so he simply gave it to Matsuguchi Asuka to use as a handy hammer to smash some hard-shelled fruits.

Moreover, with his current abilities, holding a weapon would be in the way, so he might as well go empty-handed.

In other words, his true abilities lie in other aspects.

After exploring the hall for a while, Kotani Falcon's eyes became accustomed to the darkness around him.

There is no need to go to the previous warehouse.

Based on his memory, Optics Valley Falcon came to another corridor that he had not entered before.

The corridor is very short, and after walking for less than a minute, we came to the end.

When I opened the wooden door, I saw a canteen filled with tables, chairs and benches.

These wooden tables and chairs are very old, and the air is filled with a musty smell full of age.

The kitchen and side dish area are even more reminiscent of the Showa era.

There is a red brick stove, a large black pot heated by firewood, a wooden lid placed aside, and a hand-operated bellows for blowing air.

A cutting board made of a wooden stake, and a simple kitchen knife forged from black iron.

Even the most thoughtful period drama would not be able to produce so many exquisite old objects.

What an eye opener.

Just when Mitsuya Hayabusa was about to explore further, the door on the back side of the kitchen suddenly opened, and two witches came out.

Optics Valley Falcon dodged and hid in the shadow of the corner.

The two shrine maidens didn't notice Mitsutani Hayabusa, and just walked in the darkness, walking forward without any lighting, chatting with each other.

It seems that for them, this kind of walking in the dark has become a normal thing.

Mitsutani Hayabusa also learned from their mouths why the shrine had to extinguish all the lights.

"Hey......"

"Although we have long been accustomed to it, half a month before each memorial ceremony, all open flames in the entire shrine must be extinguished."

"It's okay when it's sunny, but if it's cloudy, you won't be able to see anything at night and it won't be convenient to do anything."

Another miko smacked her lips and echoed.

"Yes, yes."

"Ouch... I feel so annoyed~"

"The memorial ceremony is so far away in the back mountain!"

"Even though Tsukuyomi-sama has repeatedly emphasized that open flames will affect the memorial ceremony."

"But I always feel that since we are so far apart, even if it has an impact, it can't be that far away."

"I don't know why."

"Hey......"

They walked to the door without saying a word, and then one of the witches suddenly stopped.

He shook his head suspiciously.

"Eh?"

"I remember the door was closed when I came here."

"Why did it open again?"

Another miko said absently: "Did you not close it tightly?"

The witch was very puzzled: "It shouldn't be..."

"I remember closing it from the inside."

The other miko waved her hand.

"Hey, why do you think so much?"

"Our shrine is completely closed to the outside world."

"Except for us witches, let alone anyone else coming in, the chance of discovery by chance is extremely low."

"Moreover, the entire shrine is within the scope of protection."

"No one who is not recognized by the shrine can come in."

"I'm so suspicious every day that I have a nervous breakdown."

Chapter 137 The Chosen Sacrifice

Another miko patted the miko on the back and waved at her.

"Go, go, go!"

"Go back to bed quickly."

"There's still work to be done tomorrow morning."

"The new sacrifice has been chosen. It is the jade dog that was previously responsible for guarding the main entrance."

"I have to take care of her bathing and dressing tomorrow."

The witch looked at her companion in surprise: "It's actually a jade dog... Oh my god!"

The other miko sighed and spoke.

"Everything is arranged by Tsukuyomi-sama."

"In short, the jade dog has been selected and became a sacrifice."

"During this period, in addition to our daily work, we are also responsible for bathing and dressing the jade dogs."

"Make sure she is in spotless condition before the ceremony."

The miko remained silent.

After a long time, he sighed helplessly.

"Hey......"

"We, the lowest level of miko, can't decide anything."

"It's just a pity for Sister Jade Dog."

"She is obviously so gentle...and very friendly to us."

The other miko also sighed.

"The more I think about this kind of thing, the more sad it becomes."

"Since we can't change anything, let's just accept our fate and be a heartless person."

The witch nodded: "You are right."

"Let's go."

The two witches muttered to each other, chatting incessantly.

Not long after, he disappeared at the end of the corridor.

After making sure that the sound disappeared completely, Kotani Falcon walked out of the shadows.

Looking at the deep darkness at the end of the corridor, he frowned.

"Jade dog?"

"It seems like a type of Noh noodles used for decoration in Japanese musicals."

"It seems that the witches call each other by the name of the mask."

"In that case..."

"Jade Dog... Jade Dog..."

Kotani Hayabusa quickly rummaged through his memory for information related to the Jade Dog Nengmian.

Soon, the name Jade Dog was associated with the dog-faced witch who let him go before.

"But, what did the two witches just say mean?"

"The jade dog was chosen as a sacrifice..."

"Sacrifice..."

The word "sacrifice" gave Optics Valley Falcon some bad associations.

There are several elements that are indispensable in Japanese village ghost stories.

An isolated village with strange customs, bizarre memorial ceremonies, and a gloomy and strange environment.

These elements constitute the very famous village literature in Japan.

The reason why this kind of literature can arise and flourish in Japan is inseparable from the Japanese environment.

Japan is a country where natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions occur frequently.

In order to escape the fear of death caused by natural disasters, people worshiped various gods, Buddhas and demons.

The so-called 800 million gods have the soil for development.

When people live for a long time under the shadow of fear that they may die at any time, their mentality will naturally develop in an extreme direction.

And because of Japan's customs of "reading the air" and "fear of being disturbed", people's extreme emotions have been suppressed in their hearts and they have never been able to vent them.

Over time, many dark and cruel thoughts grew in their hearts.

In terms of belief, the more bloody, cruel, and bizarre it is, the more they believe it and the more fanatically they pursue it.

Same as Korea.

This also explains why crab leg tissue in Korea and Japan is always springing up like mushrooms after a rain and cannot be cured.

Among these bloody and cruel beliefs, the most bloody and violent form of human sacrifice is the most respected.

Just like the witch hunts in medieval Europe.

People attribute all their dissatisfaction in life to some weak people around them, accuse them of being "witches", "demon", etc., and then execute them in the name of justice.

It seems that only in this way will their lives get better and better.

However, after the subsequent evolution of civilization in the Middle Ages, this backward trend of thought was gradually abandoned.