I'm a teacher in Tokyo!

He is considered one of the shrine's elders and is very powerful, which is why Kotoko entrusted this matter to him.

Baptism, in essence, is the process of enabling human spirituality to connect with the divine and to utilize the power of the gods.

Kotoko is the only shrine maiden in recent years who has successfully undergone "baptism" without dying suddenly. She possesses the power of a god in a human body, and that is the reason for her strength.

With Kotoko's strength, she's already considered one of the top figures in this world, but just now—

Having served her for many years, he knew Kotoko very well and had just seen the fear of this thing on her face.

Even though Kotoko tried to suppress her fear, he could tell from the latter's subtle movements.

She was terrified of what was in the box, but to be honest, in his mind, there shouldn't be anything in this world that could frighten Kotoko.

—In fact, he didn’t detect the slightest malice in the box.

A few days ago, Kotoko summoned a medium and set up a ritual altar, seemingly trying to obtain information about a piece of scrap paper;

Five mediums died during that ceremony, and the rest are still in the hospital.

He felt that the contents of the box were related to something from that ceremony—

His thought faltered there, and the next moment, the entire car suddenly came to a halt. With a sharp stop, his forehead slammed against the box he was holding in his hands, shattering it instantly, and a notebook fell out.

He instinctively grabbed it with his right hand, covered his forehead with his left hand, and was just about to look ahead;

But at this moment,

The driver in front turned his head straight towards him, revealing his eyes, which were mostly just whites.

"Beautiful Village and Mountain Trees—"

He was dizzy from the impact, but instinctively he still raised his hand, preparing to chant an incantation.

But at this moment——

As the car sped away, the sedan, which had been stopped in the middle of the road, was pushed forward and crashed into the truck in front of it. It was like a loaf of bread being squeezed together, and the whole sedan was crumpled up with blood seeping out from the gaps.

At the same time, a piece of paper stained with the medium's blood slowly drifted from the car window as if blown by a gentle breeze and landed on the forehead of a woman standing to the side.

Just as the woman was about to tear the paper off, she heard what sounded like her name being called from behind.

Almost instantly, she looked up at the sky, her gaze slightly dazed.

The next moment, she tilted her head slightly and revealed a strange smile;

She then grabbed the paper and ran wildly towards a certain spot, ignoring the fact that her high heels broke, her ankles were bruised, and the wound on her abdomen from her recent abortion surgery had reopened and was bleeding.

Charge recklessly and sprint forward;

Wearing high heels, she scaled walls and rooftops, completely tearing open the wound on her abdomen and causing bleeding from her genitals;

The entire pair of pants was soaked in blood;

It paused briefly in an alleyway, then abruptly stopped, crumpled the paper into a ball, and swallowed it whole.

……

"Hello? It's me, Kotoko."

While Yoshizaki was idly reading a book, Kotoko suddenly answered the phone.

Kotoko didn't seem to be afraid of the Po-Xu Demon, so she didn't pay much attention to the phone call—but in fact, Yoshizaki knew that the Po-Xu Demon had now evolved to the point that any "information" carrier that was responded to by another person would be cursed.

So whether it's a message or a phone call, it doesn't matter anymore.

"is it?"

Yoshizaki noticed a hint of sadness flash across Kotoko's face, but she quickly hardened her expression.

"Then please help me find a piece of paper that was torn from the notebook. Yes, that's very important."

"We did not find anything similar at the scene."

"Is that so? Okay, I understand."

Kotoko hung up the phone, her eyes filled with worry: "Mr. Yoshizaki, that piece of paper has gone missing. Mr. Hidemura, who was escorting it, has unfortunately perished."

"But fortunately, based on the cleanup of the traces at the scene, I speculate that it was not caused by your curse, but rather by the Po-Xu Demon."

The driver was found to have a history of abortion after an investigation.

But what Kotoko was really worried about was why the Po-Xu Demon would want to take that piece of paper away.

You must know that the Po-Xu Demon is an intelligent being; it sensed something from that piece of paper.

Or was all of this really just an accident?

These doubts flashed through her mind, but she did not share these worries with Yoshizaki Kawa, because the Po-Xu Demon would target those with weak wills, and Kotoko did not want to shake Yoshizaki Kawa's mental defenses.

Her tone remained calm: "In that case—we need to get started as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 102 Moonlight and Battle

The original plan was to wait until late dusk, just as night was falling, because at that time, although it seemed like night had fallen and evil energy was increasing, it was actually the time when evil energy and qi were most clearly separated.

At that time, when exorcising demons, the Tao would prevail and the evil would disappear, while the evil would prevail and the Tao would retreat. Whichever side gained the upper hand could crush the other side as quickly as possible and completely expel the demon, thus avoiding a protracted battle.

The demon's resentment is inexhaustible; how can humans compare? A protracted tug-of-war would inevitably result in heavy casualties.

Therefore, Kotoko prepared a dragon and tiger image mirror and many exorcists, intending to directly crush that Po-Xu demon.

However, if the situation were to change to the point before dusk, although it might seem like a period of heightened energy, there would actually be evil within good, and yin and yang would not be separated but rather in a state of confusion. For both sides, the only way to deal with this situation would be for one side to sweep away all the bad luck and then use the power of thunder to suppress the evil spirits.

Otherwise, it will be a protracted battle, and when night falls, we will gradually fall into a disadvantageous position due to the enemy's exhaustion.

But clearing away bad luck isn't so easy. Most of the complaints, hatred, and anger within families, as well as human weariness, will erupt at this time!

Perhaps the latter also knew this, which is why they tried to bring the matter forward.

But there was no time to wait any longer; the importance of that piece of paper far outweighed that of the demon!

"Miss Kotoko, what do you need me to do?"

Yoshizaki asked, in fact, from the beginning until now, he had no idea what he could do in the exorcism ritual.

"Now that you've lured the Po-Xiong Demon here, there's nothing more for you to do, Mr. Yoshizaki. Your most important task now is to protect yourself."

Yoshizaki's role is simply to lure the demon in; his greatest contribution is simply to stay here and not cause trouble.

At that moment, Kotoko heard a noise downstairs and pointed to the window towards Yoshizaki Kawa:

"Listen, the birds are singing."

Following the direction Kotoko pointed, I looked out the window;

"Cheer! Knock!"

The next moment, a grand, ritualistic ceremony began, with clear and melodious voices calling out ancient words. Accompanied by the sounds of flutes and zithers, elegant music filled the air. Outside the window, on a high platform erected downstairs, a girl dressed as a shrine maiden moved barefoot to the front of the platform, waving willow branches.

Before dusk, the stale air rose, and Yoshizaki Kawa, who was originally drowsy, suddenly felt that the air seemed much fresher, and his spirits were invigorated. At this moment, even his vision became much wider and clearer.

At this moment, Kotoko had already placed the mirror depicting the divine dragon and tiger on the wooden table. Seemingly for Ankisakikawa's sake, she said in a calm tone:

"This is a mirror depicting a deity, a dragon, and a tiger. It dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the 9th year of the Zhenguan era, Emperor Wenwu Dasheng Daguangxiao, mindful of Emperor Xiaode's benevolent rule, bestowed it upon Japan along with a Taishan stone paperweight inscribed with the characters 'Renzhi' (仁治, meaning benevolent governance). It was then revered as a national treasure."

"A strong nation, a strong people, happiness and well-being—these are symbols, and thus they are imbued with extraordinary power."

Yoshizaki looked at the page and the paperweight engraved with seal script, feeling a strange sensation in his heart. In this messed-up world, what was the situation like in other places?

While he was lost in thought, Kotoko's voice came through;

"Mr. Yoshizaki, please do not leave this area for the time being. I am about to begin—"

Kotoko took a deep breath, her face even calmer than before. After a brief pause, she began to slowly chant invocation to the gods.

"The eight million gods from Takamagahara, by order of the Imperial Ancestor God, gathered together. After several discussions and deliberations, it was decided that Imperial Grandson would rule Toyoashihara Mizuho Province to establish a peaceful and stable nation. However, within the territory entrusted to Imperial Grandson's rule, there are..."

Yoshizaki stood at the window sill, the sounds behind him growing distant;

He looked down at the exorcists, who were dancing tirelessly, but there were several high platforms in the distance that were completely deserted.

Was it because they sacrificed themselves on their way here?

His mood was somewhat heavy, but just then, he seemed to notice something and looked towards the end of the street;

Perhaps because the turbid air was cleared, he felt that his foggy eyes could see more clearly than before, so he was able to see the scene over there;

At that end, a blood-stained figure was running wildly along the wall, but it seemed as if there was some kind of barrier on the other side of the street, and no matter how she ran, she could only circle around it.

At that moment, she seemed to notice herself;

next moment--

She opened her arms and tentatively probed along the transparent barrier, like a performance artist, pressing her hands into the air and patting it faster and faster—

The next moment, she leaned back slightly, and almost instantly, she used her waist to slam her head against the transparent cover.

Almost instantly, Yoshizaki saw blood spreading through the air and then slowly flowing downwards.

She slammed into the transparent dome again and again, her forehead flesh was smashed open, and her body was covered in blood and gore.

If it were a saccharine male or female lead in a stupid movie, they probably would have stopped Kotoko or gone to save that guy by now.

Yoshizaki Kawa watched silently, thinking to himself, "Even in a circus, this would be a center position."