Tokyo: My Hundred Demon Scroll

“If it’s just missing and the person is still alive, then in the common sense, the other person should just be lost or gone.”

Similarly, they won't search for it or care about it.

But there will never be a memory of the other person dying in a car accident.

“The memory of death has appeared,” Miyako said. “Kotani, your classmate…”

Miyako didn't need to continue; Gu Yun understood that Tamura was completely dead and beyond saving.

Tamura and Tanigumo were not close friends; they were merely acquaintances.

He is the class monitor, so he has to interact with every student.

I remember he was a rather cute little boy, shy and timid, like a small animal, innocent and naive.

"Do ghost stories devour souls?"

"will not."

Miyako: "But those who are killed by ghost stories will have their souls trapped in the world of ghost stories. Only by destroying the ghost stories that killed them can they regain their freedom."

The soul is protected by the laws of the underworld; ghost stories cannot devour it, but can only allow it to sink into terrible memories.

For example, make him believe that he is still alive and repeatedly experience the process of dying.

As for the Slit-Mouthed Woman, it's said that Tamura encountered a terrifying, strange woman on his way home in the evening, and was then cut open by her and tortured to death.

This kind of experience will repeat itself again and again.

Like an endless cycle of reincarnation, it will only stop when the soul is tormented into a 'true spirit'.

"The true spirit is the soul's final self-awareness, excluding memories and sensations."

The longer ghost stories exist, the more people they harm, and the more true spirits they imprison accumulate.

Therefore, in this world, ghost stories are almost universally targeted by demons, humans, and gods; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everyone has the right to kill them.

"All things in the universe are interconnected and mutually restraining; this relationship also exists between different species and humans."

These supernatural beings are natural enemies of humans; once encountered, humans have almost no power to resist.

Even sorcerers, unless the suffering person happens to be nearby like Gu Yun, will have their memories altered and won't even know that the ghost stories have harmed people.

It's like the police system: if no one reports a crime and they're not at the scene, what are the police supposed to do?

Can you conjure up a case out of thin air?

Fortunately, demons and monsters are able to suppress supernatural tales.

"Ghost stories want to exist in reality, and their wish is to become demons."

Miyako: "Therefore, the demonic power of demons has a very strong suppressive force on demons."

Furthermore, if a demon encounters a strange tale and they are compatible, it can devour it to strengthen itself.

"Demons can devour strange tales, but they dare not easily devour curses."

Miyako continued, "Because the curse will drastically change the nature of the demon, or even kill it and reshape it into a completely new individual with its flesh and blood."

Curses are extremely powerful, invisible forces that can attach themselves to individuals and provide immense power.

Curses are offered to anyone, whether human, monster, ghost story, or even god.

Therefore, here, curses are used to subdue monsters, destroying their spirits and turning them into demons.

"Faced with a curse, neither humans, monsters, nor ghost stories can exorcise it."

"Only the power of the gods can defeat curses."

Therefore, within this restraining relationship, true deities, such as the Water Goddess and the Void Illusion, can easily purify the curse and completely eliminate it.

"In the end, humanity restrained the gods."

This relationship is actually quite puzzling; why do humans restrain the gods?

Is it because of faith? Does God need human faith?

There are many different versions of this story.

Miyako explained, "First, the gods cannot directly interfere with human behavior. Second, as the spreaders and creators of almost all filth in this world, humans will constantly cause trouble for the gods."

Moreover, human agency is so great that it can even kill some of the gods, who are powerless to resist.

For example, the river god of a river.

If humans simply fill it in, what will the river god do?

If the river god is the spirit of faith, then the river is its essence.

The river was filled in, and naturally, it died.

If they were fish demons or water demons with physical forms, they might not die, but their divine power would be greatly weakened, and they would be homeless and miserable.

"Won't the gods retaliate?"

"How to retaliate, and against whom?"

Miyako said, "This kind of thing is not something that one or two people do. If someone offends the gods, they can bring down divine punishment."

"But what about a group of people, thousands upon thousands of people who have committed such acts? Even a god could not do anything to them."

When humans act according to the will of the group, it is said that the law does not punish the masses, and even gods cannot resist it and can only let it be.

Therefore, humans can restrain the gods, and the gods, no matter how much they hate them, are powerless to do anything about it.

Chapter 39 Defeating the Slit-Mouthed Woman

"let's go."

As night fell, Miyako and Tanigumo rode out of the house in an ethereal divine chariot.

They first arrived at the riverbank next to the school.

Gu Yun rarely comes here; he usually comes by car.

Sakuramantei is an elite school, but that doesn't mean all the students are from wealthy families; there are also some children who live nearby.

These students make up a significant proportion of the student body, and most of them walk to school.

Tamura was one of those students.

"The ghost stories are different from ordinary demons. The aura they possess is not demonic power, but rather resentment that leans towards curses."

Resentment and willpower differ by only one word, but they are two completely different things.

“Resentment is not like curses, because it is too faint for ordinary eyes that can see ghosts to perceive its existence.”

"In this situation, exorcists need specific spells to assist them."

Miyako: "But for us, all we need to do is activate the Spirit Vision Technique."

Miyako was her grandfather's disciple. Her spiritual vision technique was entrusted to her grandfather by Kogoro so that he could pass it on.

As Miyako's spiritual level improved, her spiritual vision ability also greatly increased. She began to use spiritual vision in reverse, just like Gu Yun, to conceal her own attractiveness.

If your spirit level exceeds 50, you will be under the watchful eye of the gods, which is not a good thing.

"see it?"

The two activated their spiritual vision together and focused their power on their eyes.

The next moment, the world that they could not see with their Yin-Yang Eyes was revealed to the siblings.

The air was filled with black particles, the ash of the evil god, like mold, drifting everywhere like volcanic ash, countless in number.

"This is the third layer of the world, but the resentment does not reside here."

If it's a curse, then this is enough.

However, because resentment is weaker than curse, they also need to adjust their spiritual vision to stabilize their status between the second and third levels.

"This is…"

In Gu Yun's eyes, the ashes of the evil god disappeared, replaced by wisps of translucent gray ribbons: "Is this the power of resentment?"

"Yes, these gray ribbons are the resentful forces that give birth to the ghost stories."

If curses originate from the world itself, then they are not only created by humans; every blade of grass and every tree can be cursed.

In contrast, resentment must come from sentient beings.

Among all animals, humans are clearly the most numerous intelligent beings.

“If it is God’s will, we can see it by raising our spiritual level to between the fourth and fifth levels.”

Miyako had tried it before; the power of her wish was a beautiful golden ribbon that stretched all the way to the sky.

"Spiritual vision is truly amazing."

Previously, they could only rely on their senses, but now they can see it directly with their naked eyes, in a concrete form, in their eyes.

“Exorcists are powerless against ghost stories because they can’t see them or find them.”

Ghost tales can enter the virtual world, but the virtual world is not something that a mortal body can enter.

Furthermore, with numerous separate and numerous virtual worlds, you have no idea which virtual world the strange tale you are dealing with originated from.

This means that once a ghost story commits evil, exorcists are completely unable to track or find it.

Unless you're incredibly lucky and happen to encounter a ghost story that devours humans, taking you along with it.

“Ghost stories cannot exist directly in reality,” Miyako continued to explain. “They create something called ‘Yu,’ which is like a small barrier that captures humans in the form of a spider web.”

Simply put, ghost stories have their own small subgenre.

This realm is generally immovable and needs to be attached to something in reality, a certain area, or a certain ritual or procedure.

Then it's like a spider web, waiting for humans to step on it.

"If this paranormal event really was caused by the Slit-Mouthed Woman."

“According to the ghost story of the Slit-Mouthed Woman,” Miyako said, “its strange realm is located in only two places.”

On the way to and from school?

"Xiao Guyun is so smart."