Female Swordsman Training Dojo

On the first day of the Great Purge, Harunobu visited the hometown of the monk Shoryo, namely Hongan-ji Temple in Osaka. The monks there were even more enthusiastic than the two from Shitennoji Temple, welcoming Harunobu all the way into the main hall and offering him a large amount of wealth and treasures—before they gathered the entire temple's strength to launch a surprise attack on Harunobu.

Then they were all wiped out by Qingxin. They were so weak that there was nothing worth describing them. Even searching their souls after pulling them up didn't reveal anything noteworthy. They were just a bunch of weaklings.

The two monks had been chanting in their hearts for a long time, their eyes almost closed, when they suddenly heard Qingxin's words and became excited.

"Please walk this way, watch out for the steps."

"I just swept the floor for you, it's slippery, very slippery."

The two of them kept silent about the Honganji Temple, because they didn't know what the abbot was planning to do. Maybe he really intended to follow the example of Honganji and fight Taira no Harunobu to the death.

Unlike Osaka Honganji Temple, which has lost its abbot and whose resources have been practically depleted, Shitennoji Temple is much stronger. If they fight to the death, they might actually have a chance—otherwise, Harunobu wouldn't have brought King Arthur with him.

But in the end, that's all.

Chapter 468

That's it. Even the Heavenly King, whose strength is multiplied by a super-powerful Gundam, was utterly defeated by Harunobu. These monks can't possibly pull off anything else. If they really had that kind of power, they would be the next Four Heavenly Kings, or some kind of Arhat or Bodhisattva.

Harunobu was that confident, even with Izanami hidden in his crotch.

And so, Qingxin arrived at the main hall of the temple without incident. There was nothing strange about it; it was just that the golden Buddha statues were different, and the decorations were different as well.

Come to think of it, it's strange that Shitennoji Temple, despite being called Shitennoji, also enshrines Kannon Bodhisattva...

Inside the main hall stood a tall, thin old man with extremely long earlobes and a sorrowful face; although he was wearing a rather magnificent robe, he exuded an aura of compassion and concern for the people.

This is what you call a great and virtuous monk, at least much better than those meat-eating and alcohol-drinking monks at Honganji Temple.

Harunobu approached: "You are Kakumei, the abbot of Shitennoji Temple?"

"It is indeed this humble monk. Ah, please forgive my negligence, Section Chief Ping. It is truly that this humble monk is willing but unable to do so." Monk Jueming adopted a very humble posture, but without being overly obsequious, and simply gave a normal explanation.

Qingxin had no interest in chatting with an old monk any longer, so he went straight to the point: "Abbot Jueming, do you have any explanation for the matter of your temple's enshrined Heavenly King of Growth colluding with the traitorous organization Tongxin Society? Or should we save everyone's time and just let me kill you all?"

The two monks leading the way were already trembling, because Harunobu had unleashed Thunder Breathing as he spoke. And accompanying the thunder was Harunobu's murderous intent, amplified by countless human and demon heads. The fact that the two monks were only trembling and not scared to death showed that they did possess some real skill.

The monk Jueming's already troubled face grew even more somber, and his posture became more hunched, but his tone remained calm: "Lord Ping, what are you saying? Our temple has always worshipped Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and Salvation, and Izanami. When have we ever worshipped the Four Heavenly Kings, those wild dogs?"

?

Hearing Monk Jueming's words, Qingxin was momentarily stunned. The two trembling monks even forgot to tremble, staring at Monk Jueming with their mouths agape, as if they were looking at a complete stranger.

The only one who didn't react was Arthur, a British village girl who knew nothing about Buddhism. However, she sensed the pleasure coming from Qingxin's crotch and immediately frowned.

Izanami emerged from Harunobu's crotch—in the form of black mist, of course.

Then the black mist condensed into the mature and alluring image of Yakumo Kurenai, which Izanami was already quite accustomed to using. She lay on Harunobu's back and seductively licked Harunobu's earlobe: "You say I'm the savior of suffering, Guanyin Bodhisattva? Aren't you afraid that when she comes back, she'll stuff you into a jade bottle and refine you for forty-nine days?"

Judging from her current posture clinging to Qingxin's back, the way she skillfully licked Qingxin's face, and the lecherous look in her eyes that seemed to want to devour Qingxin whole, she was less like Guanyin and more like a demon from the Desire Realm. Even the two monks leading the way couldn't get past the mental hurdle and couldn't bring themselves to agree.

However, Monk Jueming put his hands together and said very sincerely, "Praise be to Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves us from suffering! Giving away one's own body and comforting believers is truly a great merit."

At this point, even Qingxin was starting to lose his composure. He understood what the monk Jueming was thinking; it was simply a matter of "if you can't beat them, join them." Since the Four Heavenly Kings couldn't save their lives, he would just offer sacrifices to Izanagi, figuring out that the remaining three Heavenly Kings wouldn't be able to retaliate against him anyway.

As for Guanyin, if she were still alive, she would have appeared long ago. It's obvious she's either already dead or has disappeared somewhere; in any case, it's impossible for her to appear.

So, should we accept the monk's surrender?

To be honest, Shitennoji Temple is a relatively rare force that doesn't collude much with the Doshinkai. Perhaps it's because the Four Heavenly Kings wanted to preserve their strength; the monks of Shitennoji Temple didn't participate in the Doshinkai's plans, and even the ritual of summoning the spirit was performed by the monk Shōyō of Honganji Temple.

In other words, they didn't have much personal grudge against Harunobu, and it was even easier to talk about official business, since Harunobu was the person in charge! Even the Shiranui ninjas in charge of supervision, their fire demons were Harunobu's people!

However, accepting the surrender of these monks doesn't seem to offer much benefit. Forget about the accumulated wealth of this thousand-year-old temple; even if they were all killed, it would still belong to Qingxin. At most, two or three percent would go into the public treasury, and Qingxin wouldn't care about that little bit of money.

After thinking for a while, Harunobu patted Izanami's hand that was groping his chest: "You decide, little Izanami; consider it a gift from me. You don't seem to like using knives, and I don't have any more Asauchi knives on hand right now."

"Huh? Really?" Izanami's face lit up with surprise, and she hugged Harunobu tightly. "Thank you, my husband~"

"You've been hinting at it every day, you idiot." Harunobu pulled Izanami off and hugged her. "But just think of it as me trying to please you, so that you, this insecure idiot, won't overthink things every day."

"!"

Izanami's "struggling" movements suddenly froze, and she collapsed limply into Harunobu's arms. A few wisps of black mist quickly disappeared into his crotch, causing Harunobu's expression to tighten.

"You bastard... hiss—"

"Since you said such a foul during your teacher's college entrance exam, we have no choice but to do it this way."

King Arthur, watching Harunobu and Izanami entwined together so intimately, abruptly showering everyone with their affection, couldn't help but feel a twisted expression. Meanwhile, the monk Jueming, who had maintained a perfect facade, began to regret his actions. Perhaps he should have chosen to worship the Ame-no-Mikoto of Tokyo instead of the Mother of the Underworld?

However, it seems too late to talk about this now.

Having thoroughly vented her joy and excitement, Izanami, in her satisfaction, finally remembered the new gift she hadn't yet opened. She looked at the monk Jueming, who was bowing his head and chanting sutras: "Indeed, I have no followers now, not even as many as that aloof jerk; but let me make this clear, my husband dislikes evil people, so..."

Regarding this, Abbot Jueming had long been aware of it, and put his hands together and said, "What Guanyin Bodhisattva said is true. We shall follow the Bodhisattva's will in everything. All monks in this temple who have violated the precepts shall be here to await their punishment."

The sudden burst of Buddhist light suppressed the fat and thin monks who were trying to turn and run away, and the sound of bones breaking could even be heard from the knees of the two who were kneeling on the ground.

That's quite a strong will to survive, but oh, Guanyin Bodhisattva...

Harunobu looked at Izanami with a sigh, then suddenly gave her a meaningful smile, which Izanami instantly understood, returning the same smile.

King Arthur could no longer stand it. How could a dignified knight indulge in lust!

"Qingxin, don't you have other things to do?"

indeed.

Qingxin squeezed the jade-like hand in her hand and looked at Monk Jueming: "Can you still contact Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the Yellow Springs?"

The author says:

Chapter 469

Author's note: Hehe, I'm determined to make the Perfect Attendance Guy survive.jpg

Chapter 439: Torture

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva—that was Harunobu's main target at Shitennoji Temple. Although he didn't seem to appear at all during this entire incident, and he never directly confronted Harunobu, Izanami was already Harunobu's woman. Naturally, his various underhanded actions were completely exposed, and he ended up on Harunobu's hunting list.

Even setting aside his petty actions, just the fact that he was vying with Izanami for control of the underworld already sealed his fate.

In Japan, due to the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, the Buddhist concept of hell refers to the underworld (Yomi), and naturally, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva resides there. Since the source of the underworld is in the hands of Izanami, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's subtle methods cannot escape Izanami's notice.

She was sealed away before, and she was hoping that the Tongxin Society would help her escape, so Izanami did not do anything about it, and even pretended not to notice.

But now that she's free, there's no need to worry about anything. Izanami originally planned to go and kill that bald monk who chanted sutras in her house all day, but surprisingly, the bald monk disappeared from the underworld.

Clearly, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva knew that Izanami would not let him go, so he fled directly from the underworld and hid in some secret divine realm.

Once he left the underworld, Izanami, who had been sealed away for hundreds of years, could no longer catch him, which led to the current problem.

Incidentally, none of the monks at Honganji Temple really knew where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva could be hiding, including the monk Jōyū.

Qingxin found Zhengru's soul in the Yellow Spring Reincarnation Array, which is a magic array that can destroy pre-anchored souls. Unfortunately, even after using a soul-searching technique, he still couldn't get any news about Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

However, he did provide a useful piece of information: the divine realms of the Four Heavenly Kings were all located at the Shitennoji Temple. And apart from the Heavenly King of Growth, who was killed by Seishin, the other three Heavenly Kings had long since ascended to the underworld and were hiding there.

Therefore, Qingxin was asking the monk Jueming where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was, rather than asking about the remaining three Heavenly Kings.

The reason for asking this question was simply to test whether Monk Jueming had truly surrendered or was merely feigning conversion and intending to repent later.

Under Qingxin's amused gaze, Monk Jueming put his hands together and said in a deep voice, "This humble monk does not know where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is, but the Three Heavenly Kings must know; please ask Guanyin Bodhisattva and Lord Ping to wait a moment, this humble monk will use magic to summon them to come and pay their respects to you two."

They are indeed clever people; they even used the Reiwa greeting.

Harunobu nodded in satisfaction and patted Izanami, who was sneaking up on him: "Be serious, she's going to be your subordinate from now on."

“Just three pieces of trash.” Izanami snorted, but still managed to wriggle out of Harunobu’s arms, putting on a stern and imposing face.

Once this entire process was completed, Monk Jueming's magic was finished—judging from the speed, he had already prepared the preliminary ritual steps long ago.

In short, amidst a burst of Buddhist light, three beams of light flew out from the three Buddha statues in the hall and landed in front of Monk Jueming, condensing into three imposing figures that were extremely similar to the Buddha statues but only the size of ordinary people.

"Jueming, what is the purpose of summoning us?"

"Could it be that the old woman's lover, whose bones are practically rotten, has come knocking on our door?"

"Brothers, don't worry. If that ruthless, bloodless monster really came, how could this place still be so peaceful? If you ask me, it should be that the Bodhisattva has finally sent word!"

"Yes, Fourth Brother is right."

"Since that's the case, Jueming, why don't you quickly recite the Bodhisattva's mantra?"

The three Heavenly Kings spoke imperiously, but before Jueming could speak, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

"Yes, Jueming, why don't you tell them the Bodhisattva's mantra?"

The old woman, half-rotten to the bone, and her bloodless, tearless, ruthless killer lover spoke in a low voice. Upon hearing this sudden, strange yet familiar voice, the three Heavenly Kings instantly transformed into three streaks of light and shot off in different directions.

Unfortunately, the surging black mist was one step ahead of them, and before Jueming could even use the interception measures he had prepared in advance, it blocked all three streams of light.

"Izanami! What are you doing here!"

"Jueming! How dare you betray us! Aren't you afraid that the Bodhisattva will banish you to the eighteenth level of hell?!"

Two of the three kings shouted loudly, while the remaining one looked furious, clearly deeply resentful of Jueming's betrayal.

Monk Jueming kept his hands clasped together and sighed softly, "There is an old saying in the Tang Dynasty: 'Those who understand the times are heroes.' The two Heavenly Kings should not seek further suffering."

Qingxin scoffed and added, "What is a Bodhisattva anyway? Does he have the right to tell who goes to hell?"

Izanami leaned on Harunobu's shoulder and gently waved her hand. Instantly, the invisible black mist transformed into several cruel instruments of torture, binding the three Heavenly Kings tightly.

Izanami's biggest insecurity lies in her unsightly physical form, though she honestly didn't care when she was alone before. But now that she's with the lecherous Harunobu, she naturally cares a lot about her physical appearance.

It's fair to say that these three Heavenly Kings have precisely stepped on Izanami's most sensitive landmine. And that's not all; Harunobu is also quite displeased.

What do you mean by a ruthless killer, a heartless monster? He's been doing good deeds all along! He's the kindest person in Japan, okay?

Of course, he's used to being slandered, especially by enemies. But it's one thing to insult me, but to insult my wife too?

The two men, burning with rage, watched with cold faces as the torture instruments formed from the power of filth began to operate automatically. Although the shapes created by the power of filth were merely for show, the torment inflicted on the three Heavenly Kings by this power was no less severe than actual torture.

Because the three Heavenly Kings were currently in a soul state, and the power of filth could erode souls and dissolve magical power, this ordeal caused the previously unyielding three Heavenly Kings to collapse instantly.

"Spare us! Spare us! Mother of the Underworld! We were wrong! We were wrong!"

"Lord Ping! Lord Ping! Have mercy! Please have mercy! Kill me! Kill me!"

"That bastard Ksitigarbha forced us to do it, sirs, sirs, please—"

Harunobu had experienced the feeling of his soul being attacked; such spells were not uncommon. However, the spells of ordinary casters were certainly not comparable to those of Izanami, and ordinary magical power was even more different from the corrupting power of Izanami.

So the appearance of the Three Kings is actually quite normal; you can't call them spineless.

Of course, Harunobu had no sympathy for them, so he did not stop Izanami's torture, but coldly asked, "Where is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?"

Qingxin had expected this to be a long interrogation, but to his surprise, upon hearing his question, the three Heavenly Kings immediately shouted in unison, "The Yellow Springs Reincarnation Array!"

Chapter 440: Demon Realm

Upon hearing the three Heavenly Kings' instructions, Harunobu and Izanami's first reaction was disbelief. They had dealt with the troublesome Yomi Reincarnation Array and the Ethereal Cicada Pavilion as soon as they had a spare moment, and they had taken three powerful sorcerers—Yakumo Kurenai, Shiranui Ran, and Izanami—with them. Even if there were any magical mechanisms he hadn't discovered, these three couldn't possibly have missed them.

However, facing yet another round of torment about to begin, the three Heavenly Kings unleashed their fastest speed ever, uttering a divine incantation: "Wait! The Demon Realm! It's the Demon Realm! There's a Demon Realm inside the Yellow Springs Reincarnation Array!"

"What the hell?"

Harunobu looked at Izanami with a puzzled expression. The power of impurity was naturally circulating, causing the three Heavenly Kings to let out another shrill scream.

You can think of the Demon Realm as a man-made hidden world.

Chapter 470

Or you could say it's a special, super-large barrier; however, compared to these two, the Demon Realm differs in quality and level. Izanami briefly explained the key points to Harunobu, then waved her hand to stop torturing the three Heavenly Kings.

"Even if there is a demon realm, how could it possibly hide from me and Yakumo Red?"

The three Heavenly Kings hurriedly replied, "Because that is not our magic framework, but a foreign one, and it is specifically designed by foreigners to target the Yellow Springs Hell. You probably didn't miss it, but you mistook it for something else."

"Foreigners' magic, specifically targeting hell?"

Harunobu and Izanami looked at the only foreigner present.

King Arthur's red eyes flickered slightly as he posed the first question: "What exactly is the demon realm you speak of?"

Izanami controlled the power of impurity to form a tiny barrier on the spot, within which she used the power of impurity to outline several strange and grotesque monsters, making them behave in a regular manner.

“I see, it’s a plane.” King Arthur nodded. “I think I know what’s going on now, it’s Limbo.”

Limbo, also known as the Hell's Edge, the Border of Hell, or the Gap Between the Mortal World and Hell... in short, it generally refers to a kind of independent realm that is neither part of Hell nor part of the human world. Different works have different settings for it, but the most famous one is probably the one mentioned in Dante's *Divine Comedy*.