From Earthbound Spirit to Tokyo Evil

Three months later, the number of believers has grown to more than 30,000. Because of the uniqueness of the Xiachuan sect, most people will become devout believers under the influence of their relatives and friends as long as they experience the blessing ceremony once. The weight of these more than 30,000 believers is actually far more important than the 100,000 believers claimed by those so-called new religions.

"Can the sect still keep its secrets?" The results of Kinoshita Takashi's investigation have not yet come out, but Natsukawa has begun to worry a little.

Since its inception, the sect has regarded secret missionary work as its most important principle, and has even given up on the speed of development, preferring to go slower and slower to ensure that the secrets will not be leaked. Whether it is Asakawa Manabu or the Mukuro Organization, Natsukawa has been closely following the information on whether the sect has been targeted by Akasaka.

But believers are just ordinary people, and ordinary people make mistakes. Even if they are not intentional, with such a large base of 30,000, the possibility of the secret being leaked becomes very high.

"God, we have set up a special department to study and deal with confidentiality issues." Sato Kentaro answered carefully. "I can't guarantee that no believers will accidentally tell others about the sect, nor can I guarantee that nothing related to the sect will be leaked during the missionary process. But with the active operation of this department, I can guarantee that these leaks have not attracted the attention of the Zonglian and Akasaka.

Lord God, in fact, we have long ago given up the initiative to preach, which has a greater risk of exposure. Almost all of the new believers now are close friends who have been attracted by word of mouth from old believers. By developing in this way, the risk of leakage has been reduced to a minimum. "

"Are there any government officials, celebrities, police officers, etc. among the believers?" Xia Chuan asked.

"Yes, there are district councillors, deputy police chiefs, university professors, newspaper editors, and radio hosts, but the number is not large. We mainly consider that it is difficult to develop with this type of people, and the risk of leaking secrets is high. Unless their family members have joined the sect first, we can ensure that they will not leak secrets in the process of contacting and understanding us. Otherwise, we try our best to avoid contact with these people. I have also talked to them specifically, asking them to be more vigilant in their daily work and life, not to preach, and even more so not to publicly advocate anything related to the sect, and to keep a low profile in all actions."

"Very good." Xia Chuan couldn't help but feel satisfied. This was all he could think of.

It seems that after such a long period of training, Sato has been completely transformed and is now capable of taking on important tasks. Although these arrangements are certainly made with the contributions of the core members of the sect, it is also Sato's credit that he was able to discover their talents and give them the opportunity to contribute their wisdom and strength.

"You're too kind." Sato replied happily.

"What's going on with Yui Aoki?" Natsukawa suddenly asked sternly.

"Yes!" Kentaro Sato was keenly aware of his dissatisfaction and immediately fell forward. "When the main shrine was destroyed, some believers witnessed you fighting against the evil spirits and destroying the evil gods. In the process of asking them about this, we realized that Miss Aoki was most likely a shrine maiden secretly serving you in the main shrine, and she might have other important missions. Therefore, during your temporary absence, in order to implement your will and to ensure her safety, Kawaguchi-san took the initiative to protect her and help her continue to hide her identity. The sect also secretly arranged some people to ensure their safety. Lord God, has our stupidity caused you trouble? Then we can..."

Is that right?

That makes sense.

"What other arrangements are there for Yui Aoki?"

Sato's report left Natsukawa a little speechless.

It turned out that the apartment they lived in had been secretly bought by the sect, and except for Aoki Yui, the original tenants were all terminated in a way that would not arouse suspicion. Now the other tenants in the building were all devout believers arranged by the sect, and even the two shops on the left and right sides of Shintsuru Manor and the bakery opposite were all owned by the sect.

Not only that, they are also actively trying to get believers to infiltrate Beifeng Girls' High School to work as school workers or security guards. However, because the school has always been conservative in hiring and there is less staff turnover, they have not been successful yet.

From their perspective, this arrangement should be appropriate. But from Xia Chuan's perspective, it would be impossible for him to approach Aoki Yui in his current identity without attracting attention.

"Assholes! If you do this, won't Aoki Yui's identity be known to everyone? Get rid of these people immediately!"

"Yes!" Sato Kentaro agreed hastily. "And Kawaguchi-san, too?"

"Reina Kawaguchi?" Natsukawa hesitated for a moment.

Ever since Nomiya Wakana's accident, Aoki Yui has been depressed and has few friends. Now that she has finally opened up her heart, it must be a huge blow to her to suddenly make Kawaguchi Rena disappear, right?

"Reina should continue to hide. She should have returned to this kind of life." He then said. "But let her stop doing unnecessary things and study hard."

"Yes!" Kentaro Sato replied.

Chapter 9: Love comes from the heart

What a worry!

Natsukawa ended the conversation with Sato, completely forgetting that he had been secretly praising Sato Kentaro for his complete transformation just a few minutes ago.

However, this is actually the state of the real primitive gods. They possess great power, are moody, do whatever they want, have temperaments and interests similar to humans, and can also make mistakes, fall into traps, lose their composure, become furious, and even become jealous, vain, greedy, and have uncontrollable weaknesses.

Those perfect gods who are above human nature, omniscient and omnipotent are actually just fictitious tools used to attract the ignorant masses and prevent the power of will from being monopolized by a few individual outliers.

However, Natsukawa did not have such awareness. He considered whether he should inform all his subordinates who possessed magatama and tell them that he had returned. But after thinking for a moment, he only greeted Asakawa Manabu, Kawaguchi Rena and Kiryu Ichiryu.

They either already knew about their recovery or would know the news soon, and saying hello was just a routine matter.

As for the Nomiya sisters and Inaba Rika who were part of the Mukuro Organization, out of caution, Natsukawa decided to hide this news from them for the time being.

The others are fine and should be able to keep the secret, but as for Nomiya Wakana, Natsukawa really can't trust her.

She probably wouldn't leak secrets on purpose, but no one could tell when someone who did things without thinking would let something slip.

Since this is the case, then let's not say anything. It is obviously more beneficial for him to continue to maintain the status quo.

In the previous battle, Akasaka couldn't say that they did nothing and paid no price, but compared to the mobilization state of the Styx Society that they had to deal with alone, Natsukawa could say responsibly that they just showed off their presence and didn't put in their full effort.

To make a malicious guess, Tokyo Watch and Akasaka probably did this to see how powerful the Skeleton Society is, and also wanted to use this opportunity to let the Skeleton Society and the Styx Society fight each other, weakening the power of both sides at the same time.

In the end, they were successful, but they probably couldn't have guessed that three months after Xia Chuan disappeared, he was actually stronger than before.

The biggest weakness and limitation no longer exists. If he wants, he can just take Yui Aoki away and leave the Tokyo stage for Akasaka and Styx to play on their own.

If Minghe hadn't intentionally or unintentionally approached Xiachuan's weak spot time and time again, he would never have resorted to this desperate measure.

It was not him who was most responsible for the city of Tokyo, but he had to jump out and attract the greatest hatred and suffer the most severe beating. By chance, his biggest weakness completely disappeared, so what reason did he have to jump out and bear all this?

Now that I have the freedom to move, everything has changed.

During the three months of his sleep, Akasaka sheltered the members of the Mukuro Agency and actively rebuilt Nishio Hisa's Natsukawa headquarters, simply trying to make amends and restore the relationship between them, but in Natsukawa's view, these actions were completely a cat crying over a mouse.

The expectations of Tokyo Watch and Akasaka are nothing more than that the Skeleton Society will continue to jump out and stand on the front line against the Styx Society, sharing and attracting firepower for them.

It’s a nice thought.

Anyway, the shrine maidens can still pray for strength from him with the help of the Kagura dance, proving that the Skeleton Society still exists and still possesses power. From Akasaka's perspective, there is no reason to turn against him and add another enemy.

As for the Styx Society, the Skeleton Society fell into silence, with only a few witches occasionally coming out to move around, but they probably wouldn't have to put all their strength into beating them to death.

This is his proper position as a bystander.

So, there is only one last object left to consider.

Should I tell her so that she doesn't worry and feel sad anymore; or should I give her a surprise?

Of course I choose the latter! Otherwise, wouldn’t all the work I did before be in vain?

So... Xia Chuan found himself suddenly in a state of doing nothing and having no goals again.

It seemed that there was no point in going back to continue practicing magic, so he simply hid all his things, quietly slipped out of the abandoned factory, bought a fashion magazine at a roadside newsstand, and prepared to eat at each restaurant according to the food menu recommended in the magazine.

This is not meaningless work, and it is certainly not because he is craving for delicious food.

Yui is used to eating food prepared by Matsushige Goro. If I don’t carefully select and screen the restaurants on the list, how can I take her out to enjoy delicious food in the future?

The stall owner looked at him a few more times with surprise when he was giving the change. Xia Chuan lowered his head to look at himself. Although the clothes he had just casually picked out after his shirt exploded didn't fit him very well, they weren't enough to attract attention, right?

He walked forward while reading a magazine, and the girls walking towards him kept staring at him, which made Xia Chuan feel uncomfortable. He quickly found a reflective glass to see if there was anything wrong with him.

The results surprised him.

I don't know when, he turned back to the way he was when he just woke up!

This is?

Xia Chuan suddenly understood something that he had never figured out before.

Why does Luoshan always keep that dead skeleton-like appearance, why do Takahata and Yoshiyama, who clearly know how to transform, look like that most of the time, and why don't the monsters of the Styx Society simply change their faces after being wanted, but continue to act with the faces of wanted criminals.

He has actually always wanted to ask this question, but he has never found the right opportunity or person. Now it seems that after the monsters transform into humans, their appearance is not completely controlled by themselves and can not be done as they please.

It is possible to change if you really want to, but perhaps just like him now, if you don't continue to invest spiritual energy to maintain it, it will soon return to its original state.

For most monsters who don't rely on their looks for a living and have limited spiritual power, unless they have no other choice, they probably won't waste their precious spiritual power on such things and would rather let it go.

What should this be called?

Phase comes from the heart?

It seems that my soul is indeed beautiful and cannot be changed.

However, do I really have to look in the mirror every day to make it uglier?

Xia Chuan looked around and saw someone secretly looking at him. However, this was Tokyo, after all, where there were the most handsome men and beautiful women in Japan and it was always at the forefront of fashion. It was not a small place like Toyama, so no one was taking pictures of him with their cell phones or coming to harass him.

A photo of a celebrity taken by paparazzi in a magazine suddenly gave him inspiration.

Maybe it won't be that troublesome.

Mask, sunglasses, and hat, these three-piece celebrity outfit should be enough to deal with fangirls, paparazzi, and scouts, right?

Looking at it in a positive way, this face is actually his best disguise.

Just like Kamio Hitomi has never been suspected of being a monster, Akasaka and the Styx Society probably wouldn't think that someone with his appearance would be a member of the legendary Skeleton Society, right?

Chapter 10 Secret War

Xia Chuan quickly purchased the items he needed at a nearby drugstore and sporting goods store and hid his true appearance.

In other countries, this kind of makeup would probably attract attention, but there are many people with rhinitis in Japan, and many people wear masks on a daily basis. Although it is not the peak season for rhinitis, his appearance is not very eye-catching. Although some people will quietly pay attention to him, as if they want to see if he is a star who goes out shopping after a simple disguise, for him, the situation of always being paid extra attention to has obviously decreased.

It turns out that some things don't necessarily have to be solved with drastic methods... Xia Chuan couldn't help but start thinking back to what he had done before, and he had to admit that he probably overreacted in certain things, which ultimately made the problem even more serious.

However, things have already happened, and there doesn't seem to be anything bad about it now. All I can say is to try to avoid it in the future.

He started looking again according to the food list in the previous magazine, but when he got there, he found that there were long queues in front of every restaurant.

Probably all of them were curious people like him who came here after reading magazines.

Xia Chuan's choice was of course to turn around and leave. As a god, it would be too cheap for him to wait foolishly like an ordinary person.

But, don’t Japanese people like to queue too much? Seeing that they don’t care about it at all, and even seem to enjoy it, Xia Chuan deeply feels that he still can’t really integrate into this country after all.

He simply found a buffet restaurant that was not on the list and started binge eating. At this time, he suddenly received a message from Kentaro Sato.

"What happened?"

"God, the security department discovered a person who was secretly investigating the sect. After catching him, we were about to take some measures against him, but he suddenly claimed that he knew Asakawa Manabu, and also knew me..."

"Kinoshita Takashiya?"

"Yes. Lord God, do you really know about this?"

This guy... I don't know if the sect's security department is too capable, or if his level is too low.

However, this indirectly proves that the sect's ability to protect itself is not bad. At least, an investigation like Kinoshita Takashi's, which was conducted secretly without any reason, entered their field of vision at the beginning and was easily caught by them.

However, what is the so-called “taking measures”?

Could it be that there is already a black glove organization similar to the Inquisition in the sect?

"No!" Kentaro Sato hurriedly explained. "I just wanted to conduct the most basic questioning after I found him, to find out what his purpose was. He may have suffered a little, but he was definitely not injured! God, without your instructions, I would never dare to take extreme measures."

These words made Xia Chuan feel comfortable, but, well, some things can only be left in the dark.

He slept for three months before waking up. Who did Sato report to during these three months? Xia Chuan felt that they might not dare to kill people to silence them, but kidnapping, detention and brainwashing would be difficult to avoid. In order to protect the safety of the sect, Xia Chuan felt that this level of violence was completely understandable.

As long as those people are turned into devout believers, there will be no crime or violence, but rather it will be the training and test of God from them.

As for those who have not yet become devout believers, we must of course continue to educate and influence them, and continue to hone and test them.

"It was me who asked him to conduct a reverse investigation into the sect," Xia Chuan said.

But this guy is too useless, and he confessed so quickly. He even mentioned Asakawa Manabu's name. What if he was caught by someone other than the sect's members, but other enemies who were investigating the sect?

"Give him a lesson as punishment for his failed investigation and leaking secrets, and then let him go."

"Yes!" Kentaro Sato replied.

At this moment, Xia Chuan suddenly thought of something.

There are 30,000 believers, but there is only one full-time shrine maiden, Reina Kawaguchi. This ratio is too exaggerated no matter how you look at it.

"By the way, Sato, there is a serious shortage of shrine maidens. The work of selecting shrine maidens needs to continue for a long time. If there are girls of the right age, with clean backgrounds and devout faith, then continue to let them participate in the selection of shrine maidens."

In fact, according to Aoki Yui's training model, girls with insufficient talent can still become shrine maidens. However, even if there are a lot of willpower, it is not a waste. Since there is already a large enough base, and there are enough organizations and personnel to perform this work, then of course the best choice is to select the most suitable candidate.

"Yes!" Sato Kentaro was so excited that he almost shouted after a moment of surprise. "Please rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter properly!"

Xia Chuan noticed his emotions, but did not think too much about it. Given the relationship between the two, there was no need for him to pay attention to what Sato Kentaro was thinking.

But for Kentaro Sato, this is the supreme honor and power given to him by God.

If there is only one full-time shrine maiden, Reina Kawaguchi, in the sect, even if she has no direct actions or intentions to seize power, after a long time, there will always be believers who will have extra admiration for her because of the abilities she has demonstrated, and naturally form a small circle with both power and influence around her, threatening her position.

But if the priestesses were merely girls selected in batches to serve the gods under his auspices, then the worship and influence would be divided, diluted, and weakened. As he held the power to select and recommend the priestesses, his position in the sect would become increasingly stable and eventually unshakable.

By the way, at what age should a shrine maiden retire?

Sato has already started thinking about this tradition.

God did not state it explicitly, but both Kawaguchi Rena and Aoki Yui are high school girls. This shows that God is no different from other gods in legends in this matter. They all prefer young and pure girls.