I have a ghost diary

“Okay, Sister Bella,” Chu Jiang said without turning his head.

Belfast clenched her fist, feeling an urge to beat the brat up, but she forced herself to hold back.

"There's something I need to remind you of. After I was hallucinating before, I perceived some very scary things."

Upon hearing this, Chu Jiang temporarily stopped in his tracks.

"Those terrible things are beneath the Abyss of Ghosts. I don't know how to describe them. I only know that there are piles of negative emotions, dark thoughts, and all sorts of bad things there."

"If you get too involved, even if you don't die, you might never get out. So I advise you to be careful and not to ruin yourself for a single condition."

Chu Jiang pondered for a moment, "I understand. There are two women in this world I still can't forget, one of whom is you, so I will definitely not die down here."

“Ha, what a scumbag,” Belfast sneered mercilessly.

PS: 2+2.5k

Chapter 396 Headless Ksitigarbha

Upon re-entering the Ghost Abyss, Chu Jiang no longer saw any trace of the dozen or so eight-headed serpents; it seemed they had disappeared once more.

To Chu Jiang's surprise, the perspective of the illusionary world was still there after he returned here.

But Nie Xiaoqian is gone. What should we do? She was the heroine of this story.

Forget it, there's no use thinking about it. Chu Jiang tried to contact Suwa Zao Xue, but there was no response.

Chu Jiang doesn't have time to look for them now. Let them figure out how to save their own lives. They are all top-notch ghost masters. They can't just come down here to hold him back, can they?

They continued to venture deeper into Ghost Abyss, but Chu Jiang still hadn't found a way to break the deadlock.

As mentioned before, Ghost Abyss is like a bottomless pit, and the deeper you go, the colder it gets. As for ghosts, you won't see a single one.

He couldn't just plunge straight into the deepest part like a meteorite. Putting aside the question of whether there was even such a concept as a deepest part, according to Belfast, the bottom of Ghost Abyss was like a malevolent black quagmire, and whether one could get out once trapped was still unknown.

Therefore, Chu Jiang could only continue to descend along the edge, testing the limits little by little.

Halfway there, to Chu Jiang's astonishment, he saw Sister Bei again!

For a moment, he thought the other person had disobeyed and run down again, but then he realized that this wasn't like Sister Bei.

Moreover, Belfast, standing close to him, repeated the same lines from before: "Sleepless on this moonlit night, I wish for a peaceful reunion."

This made Chu Jiang realize immediately that the person in front of him was likely just a pure illusion, just like Yan Chixia and Grandma before him.

So Chu Jiang simply ignored the other party. As long as he didn't believe it, he wouldn't be harmed by the illusionary world.

......

After reaching the farthest point he had ever been, Chu Jiang took only a few steps forward and was surprised to see a Ksitigarbha statue by the roadside.

However, what's a bit strange is that the stone statue is headless, as if it had been broken off, and the gap is not very smooth.

Jizo statues are a common sight on the roadsides in island nations, and their origins naturally have historical roots.

From around the mid-Heian period, the Pure Land Buddhist faith became very popular in this small country.

Regardless of whether they were nobles or commoners, they all believed that the Dharma-ending Age had arrived. They firmly believed in the idea that "suffering in this life leads to happiness in the next" and that those who could not enter the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss would surely go to hell after death.

Since not everyone has the opportunity to enter the Pure Land, at this time, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who once made the great vow "I will not become a Buddha until hell is empty," becomes a savior-like figure in their hearts.

As a result, the belief in Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva spread widely in the island nation.

Another island nation's folklore believes that if a child dies young, it is because of the sin that caused its parents grief that it is unable to cross the Sanzu River to reach the underworld.

That's not all. The spirits of these children who died young can only be tormented by evil spirits on the Saihe Plain. They must build towers of stones day and night, but just when they are almost finished, the evil spirits will knock them down with a stick, and so on endlessly.

Just then, the "useful" Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva appeared again.

The people of the island nation believe that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva allows the spirits of deceased children to hide in his robes and listen to him chant sutras, thus protecting the children from the torment of evil spirits; at the same time, Ksitigarbha can also accumulate merit for the children, ultimately enabling them to attain liberation.

Therefore, in island nations, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is also the guardian deity of children, especially those who die young; this has led to various forms such as Mizuko Ksitigarbha, Koyasu Ksitigarbha, and Koshou Ksitigarbha.

Furthermore, during its spread, the Ksitigarbha faith also combined with the local Japanese deity, the Daozu God, which is similar to the local land god of Kyushu. As a result, Ksitigarbha statues sprang up everywhere.

......

Why was Chu Jiang surprised? Because this headless Ksitigarbha was the only thing he had seen with man-made traces after entering Ghost Abyss, not counting the things in the illusion world.

Did the Seireitei people set this up here? It doesn't seem like it... It wasn't mentioned in any of the materials I've seen before.

With a tentative thought in mind, Chu Jiang once again entered Chu Zombie state and reached out to touch the stone statue.

With that one touch, he saw countless dead souls!

Moreover, all the dead were children, with empty eyes and gaping mouths; their numbers were countless, and they were all squatting on the ground piling up stones.

The moment Chu Jiang saw the spirits, they all tilted their heads and looked in his direction in unison.

Chu Jiang immediately let go and retreated, but it was no use. The child ghosts all got up and gathered around him from all directions; they stretched out their hands as if they were desperately trying to grab him.

Their mouths opened and closed, emitting eerie chanting sounds, somewhat like the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, but extremely distorted and terrifying.

When Chu Jiang heard these voices, all sorts of negative emotions in his heart were stirred up again.

This reminded Chu Jiang of the ascetic monk he had met before who believed in ghosts and Buddhas. The evil scriptures that monk chanted were similar to, but different from, those he was hearing now.

Although he didn't know what had happened, Chu Jiang decisively used the Ghost Dragon Jade Seal again, letting the five ghost dragons help him bear the pressure.

Before he could make any further move, he witnessed an astonishing scene.

snake!

A giant serpent with eight heads and eight tails, eyes like red lantern fruits, covered in moss, cypress and cedar wood, with a festering, bleeding belly and black clouds floating above its head, suddenly appeared deep in the Ghost Abyss.

This Yamata no Orochi is very different from the shadowy figures we've seen before; not only is its appearance more realistic and clearer, but its physical characteristics are also very similar to the Yamata no Orochi in Japanese mythology.

As soon as the giant serpent appeared, it did not attack Chu Jiang. Instead, it used its eight heads to bite the spirit of a child, dismembered it, and swallowed it whole.

The other child ghosts sped up, surging towards the Chu River, seemingly unwilling to become the next victim.

This surprised Chu Jiang. So these ghosts didn't want to kill him, but rather sought his protection?

Does this person think of themselves as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?

But what about the previous "Jizo"? The statue's head is missing; does that mean the previous Jizo was killed by Yamata no Orochi...?

As Chu Jiang pondered, more and more child ghosts rushed towards him.

Chu Jiang didn't want to be captured by them, so he simply used the Ghost Domain to separate them.

But to his surprise, the ghosts ignored the ghost realm and broke through, swarming around him! The touch was cold and slippery, sending chills down his spine.

In that instant, Chu Jiang was startled, but as soon as he looked up, before he could retaliate, he found that all the strange things in front of him had disappeared.

His right hand was still resting on the headless Ksitigarbha, as if everything that had just happened was just a vivid nightmare.

Chu Jiang immediately withdrew his hand and retreated, cold sweat unusually appearing on his forehead...

Chapter 397 Two Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas

Chu Jiang looked around, but he saw neither the countless ghostly children nor the Yamata no Orochi; however, the feeling he had just experienced was still vivid in his mind, and he could not convince himself that it was all an illusion.

And did he really let go?

Chu Jiang looked at his hands repeatedly, and suddenly, he released the five ghost dragons from inside the Ghost Dragon Jade Seal.

Then, to his astonishment, he saw his own faces reflected on the surface, those faces, now bearing negative emotions, gradually fading away, as if they had just survived a fierce battle...

After much deliberation, Chu Jiang did not run away, nor did he try to bypass the strange headless Ksitigarbha, but continued to move forward.

This is clearly a very crucial thing; the serpent itself might even be hiding inside Jizo.

I'm here to solve this problem. Unless there's absolutely no hope, Chu Jiang will never give up!

......

While Chu Jiang was attempting to re-engage with Jizo, Soga Hayate was on her side.

She has already turned away five suitors with her demanding conditions, and all of their attempts have ended in failure.

Then the story moves to the part where the emperor of the island nation, having heard of Princess Kaguya's unparalleled beauty, tries to summon her to the palace.

When summoned, Princess Kaguya refused to obey, even at the cost of her life.

Therefore, the Emperor and his grandfather conspired to use hunting as an excuse to deliberately break into their home at the foot of the mountain in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Princess Kaguya's appearance.

The Emperor's operation was swiftly successful. He was stunned by Princess Kaguya's beauty and grabbed her sleeve, attempting to take her away.

According to the plot, Princess Kaguya should then conceal herself and disappear from the Emperor's sight, thus making him back down.

But the moment her sleeve was grabbed, Princess Kaguya felt a sense of disgust from the bottom of her heart for some reason.

Princess Kaguya hated the Emperor's rude behavior. Looking at the man in front of her, dressed in luxurious clothes and sporting a small mustache, her eyes suddenly narrowed!

Then the Emperor's head was severed from his neck, and blood gushed out!

Even more horrifying, his head was upside down, with his skull pinned to his neck and the severed end facing the ceiling.

Then, the headless corpse fell onto the tatami mat with a thud...

Princess Kaguya was stunned by what she saw. What was going on?

How could the Emperor die? There's still an important storyline to come: I will correspond with him for three years, deepening our relationship; and when I return to the Moon World, I will give him the elixir of immortality.

Suddenly, Princess Kaguya clutched her head in pain, and her figure began to flicker.

A few minutes later, she finally lowered her hand while panting, and her mind cleared again. She remembered everything!

She is not Princess Kaguya at all; she is Soga Hayayuki, the apple of the Soga family's eye!

When Soga Hayate realized this, the world in her eyes gradually collapsed and dissipated, and the bleeding corpse of the emperor also disappeared without a trace, just like a dream bubble.

Seeing herself back in the Ghost Abyss, Soga Hayayuki felt both relieved and somewhat fearful.

This experience was so outrageous; there was no mention of anything like it in the previous Seireitei action reports.

If it weren't for her personality clashing with Princess Kaguya in "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," causing her to do things that didn't fit the script, she might have foolishly continued acting.

In that case, Princess Kaguya will eventually return to the moon world, and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter will come to an end.