Page 59

Page 59

Mysterious things cannot be explained by science, so we should be in awe of them.

Later in the evening, Beidou and Nan returned, and Yamanaka and Noriko, who were piloting the Aira, also returned to the ground.

"So, is this incident resolved?" Konno asked.

No one can answer.

"By the way, there's Yoshimura!" Nan Xizi reminded.

Yes, everyone also remembered Yoshimura.

When the Ultra Beasts attacked, the TAC team had not yet arrived at the scene for more than ten minutes. It was Yoshimura who attracted the Ultra Beasts' attention and bought time. Then he was chased by the Ultra Beasts all the way and accidentally fell into a cave.

That is the passage of an ancient tomb. Under the ground of Kibitsu is a group of ancient tombs. It is a group of tombs left by the ancient country of Kibitsu, which is more than a thousand years old. In the fifth century AD, it was an age older than Heian-kyo. At that time, the huge country across the sea was also in the most chaotic period of warlord separatism after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, when the "Sixteen Kingdoms" transitioned to the "Southern and Northern Dynasties".

In Kibi, burial civilization emerged, and ancient tombs were built one after another underground. There were royal tombs, tombs of officials and generals, and even halls for sacrifices. It was still a barbaric era, and living sacrifices and human sacrifices were common.

Although Yoshimura's communicator was broken, without the interference of the super beast, they found Yoshimura trapped underground in just half an hour after locating the chip in the TAC team emblem. After using the drilling equipment on the Eagle to directly drill a hole in the ground, they pulled Yoshimura up with a rescue rope.

"Ah, I'm finally saved. I thought I would be buried underground for the rest of my life."

After being rescued, Yoshimura was still in the mood to joke, and it was obvious that he was in good condition. He was not short of oxygen and was not injured.

"How's it going underground?"

"Don't mention it. It's dark, stuffy, and complicated. I get lost after turning a few corners."

Yoshimura was not a tomb raider or an archaeologist, so he could not appreciate the fun of the tomb passage. Fortunately, the tomb passage was just a simple tomb passage, unlike the densely packed traps in the novels - after 1,500 years, even if there were traps, they would have decayed long ago.

Apart from making it impossible for Yoshimura to find a way out, there was no real danger on his side.

"Lingya, this time it's all thanks to you, thank you very much." Beidou thanked.

His thanks were not abrupt, and the TAC team thought he was thanking her for singing the ballad of the Pure Spirit. Only Lingye, Beidou, and Nan knew that he was thanking Lingye for helping Ace who was trapped in the illusion.

Even Ace had never encountered such strange means as the Super Beast. If it weren't for Lingye, he didn't know how long he would be trapped in the illusion and what dangers he would encounter.

"But I feel like the matter hasn't been resolved yet. I met a strange monk before, and he might have summoned the super beast."

"Strange monk?"

Because of her identity as a 'shrine maiden', Captain Long no longer regarded Lingye as an ordinary little girl, and took her words much more seriously.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"Yes, it was a monk wearing a purple robe and a bamboo hat, holding a demon-subduing pestle in his hand. Oh, and he also carried a black cloth bag on his back."

Ling also described in detail the appearance of the monk she saw.

"Black cloth bag? Lady Miko, are you sure you are wearing a purple robe and carrying a black cloth bag?" The priest, who had not paid much attention to it, suddenly asked nervously after hearing this.

"Yes, there was nothing else in the sack except some rotten beans."

"That's right, Amaterasu, it's the black bag monk, the nursery rhyme is actually true!"

"Black Bag Monk?" Captain Long repeated the name, somewhat confused. "Priest, could you please tell me more about it?"

"I'm Ichiki Shusai, captain, you can just call me Shusai." Shusai paused for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. "The robes of ordinary priests are all beige, and purple robes are only worn by high-ranking priests of large shrines. Therefore, monks who can wear purple robes are all accomplished monks. The story of the black cloth bag monk has been circulating in the nearby villages for a long time, and it is said to have happened more than a thousand years ago."

Before today, everyone thought it was just an ancient story, a myth like Momotaro and Kaguya-hime, whose only function was to trick naughty children.

When Shusai opened his mouth, I don't know if it was a coincidence, a mountain wind blew, an extremely cold mountain wind. Even the sun hid in the clouds, and the sky became gloomy. Shusai felt a little guilty, but when he looked at Lingye, the one he believed to be the real shrine maiden, he felt much more at ease.

Before the 'Son of God', there are no taboos.

Chapter 75 Ultraman God

Miko, pronounced the same as "son of God" in Japanese, has been a "son of God" who exorcises evil spirits and carries out God's will since ancient times.

The shrine maidens in the palace have always been an important official who interprets the fate of the country. Kikurihime and Himiko are both legendary mythological figures. The shrine maidens in the folk are exorcists and practitioners who walk the earth to eliminate disasters and difficulties.

Shuuya was certain that the girl standing here was the real 'Son of God'.

Although she was very young and looked like she was not even ten years old, age itself was not important to the Son of God. What was important was the purest soul, bathed in God's grace, and acting on God's power.

With the witch here, there is nothing to be afraid of even if there really are evil spirits.

"This is a story that has been circulating in the surrounding villages. It is said that in the distant past, long before Heian-kyō, more than a thousand years ago, there was a 'Budai monk' in Kibi Province. No one knows which temple he practiced in, or whether he was a wandering ascetic monk without a temple, but he was an eminent monk. He usually hung a cloth bag by his side, and when he saw the rice ears and beans dropped by farmers in the fields, he would dry them and put them in the cloth bag. A grain of rice or a bean was insignificant, but over time, a lot of food was stored in the cloth bag, and when there was a disaster, he would take it out to help people who were starving to death."

Picking up every bit of kindness, no matter how small and insignificant it is, will produce good results over the years.

The monk always warned people like this.

"But one year there was another disaster, and Budai Monk wanted to use the grain in his bag to cook porridge to help the villagers, but it was robbed by a few strong men. They said strong men, but they were actually a few strong men in the village. They felt that if the grain was distributed to the dozens of people in the village, they would not be able to eat enough. So those strong men robbed the grain and beat Budai Monk to death."

A great monk can eliminate disasters and difficulties, drive away evil spirits, and will not retreat even when facing the ghost king or the demon generals. However, facing the fists and sticks of humans, he is just an old man.

No one knows what he was thinking or reciting before he died.

In the whole village, no one who had been helped by him offered a helping hand at that moment. Not a single one of them. They were afraid of the revenge of those bully villagers, so they just watched coldly as he died in the mud.

It's ridiculous. He made a lifelong ambition to protect the people, but was killed by the people he was protecting and betrayed by his own beliefs.

Naturally, the soul of the dead monk is full of malice and curses.

"Not long after, those who killed Budai Monk died suddenly and mysteriously. Not only that, there have been rumors of the Black Budai Monk ever since. A scary monk in a purple robe, the high monk who once saved the world has become a vengeful spirit. He carries a black cloth bag, which contains rotten beans and rice ears. The rice and beans that he once picked up one by one with the best wishes have become cursed objects. Once contaminated, he will suffer from all kinds of diseases or even die. The government has dispatched priests, monks and exorcists, but it's all useless."

The most terrifying evil spirits in the world are the evil spirits of the original believers who have fallen. No matter how pure the faith was, the malice after the distortion will be more terrifying. The sinful witches and evil wizards are much more terrifying than ordinary evil spirits.

"In the end, in order to save the Black Bag Monk from death, the village built a temple to worship him. Since they couldn't destroy him, they relied on offerings to eliminate his resentment. Year after year, offerings were made, and it took who knows how many years before he gradually disappeared. But now, a thousand years have passed, and the temple is no longer there, probably buried underground."

This is the story of the Black Bag Monk that Shusai told.

The TAC team had mixed feelings. They were the elites of the scientific community, and based on their positions and ideas, they were not willing to believe in such superstitious myths. However, what they witnessed today made it impossible for them to simply ignore it.

The curse and resentment attracted the Bull Demon super beast, so does the so-called "Black Bag Monk" really exist?

"A wood mage. In your opinion, how should this be handled?" Since this was beyond the TAC team's understanding, Captain Long asked the professionals.

Everyone present had seen that the rituals performed by these priests had indeed calmed the super beasts, restraining their desire to attack and keeping them calm for a long time. Later, because the rituals were disturbed, the super beasts began to wreak havoc again.

"The exorcism ceremony may be able to appease the resentment of the black cloth bag monk."

"Exorcism? Like what happened just now?"

"No, we are just ordinary priests. We can barely perform rituals for the village every year. How can we eliminate the thousand-year-old evil spirits? It's the witch's exorcism ceremony, if the witch is willing?"

The shrine maiden he was referring to was naturally Lingye.

Ling certainly didn't know what the exorcism ceremony was. She had seen the shrine maiden's ceremony on TV before. It was a ceremony held by the big shrine during festivals. The young girl was dressed up in gorgeous clothes, and there was a hint of religious mystery, which was pleasing to the eye.

But she couldn't dance, she hadn't memorized any prayers, and she didn't know anything about what was required for any ceremony. Because she wasn't a witch, she had never been a witch, not even for a day.

"I think this is a good idea." Beidou said.

"Brother Beidou?" Ling was not sure whether Beidou was joking. Beidou knew her identity very well. Gaia, is there an Ultraman who works as a shrine maiden?

But Beidou was obviously serious, because he knew Lingye's identity.

If the witch is the 'son of God' and the person closest to God, then who on earth is more suitable than Lingye? The will of the earth, from the human understanding, is undoubtedly God, and the supreme god of this planet, the creator of all life - the mother earth goddess Gaia is one of the five creator gods in Greek mythology.

"But I don't know anything."

"It's okay, the moves of the shrine maiden dance are very simple - well, it should be very simple, right? When I saw the Miyamizu shrine maiden dance before, it was the same as the school gymnastics." Ichikaki Shusai said. The Miyamizu shrine maiden he mentioned is the original shrine maiden Mitsuha Miyamizu in the village, who was later deceived into marriage by a man who somehow came from Tokyo and was no longer a shrine.

Although Mitsuha Miyamizu has gone to Tokyo, the shrine priest Miyamizu Ichiha (Mitsuha's grandmother) was also a great shrine maiden. Although she is old, there should be no problem for her to teach her the shrine maiden dance.

"But I don't believe in any god..."

"That doesn't matter. There are eight million gods. You can believe in anything you want." Shusai said something that was obviously blasphemous, but this is how modern Shinto is. Science is prosperous and there is not much room for the existence of gods.

"It's not that hard to understand. Ultraman, who has saved the earth time and time again, is also a god to us. There is a shrine in the village dedicated to Ultraman. You can just think of it as worshiping Ultraman."

"What? There's also a worship of Ultraman?"

These words were a bit abrupt, making people feel that the wall between reality and illusion was broken.

"Yes, that happened six years ago. A meteorite fell into the town. It was a meteorite big enough to destroy the entire town. It was Ultraman who suddenly appeared, smashed the meteorite, and saved everyone in the town."

If it were today, a meteorite of a few dozen kilometers in diameter would be easily discovered by the TAC team, even the defense forces could easily find it and use it as a daily training target for a group of rookies who have never been on the battlefield to destroy it in various ways. The extraterrestrial defense satellite system built in the Ultra Guard (Seven) era can deal with most meteorite-level hazards, and in today's TAC era, planetary-level hazards such as the demon star Koala are no problem (without the intervention of aliens and super beasts).

But looking back to 1966, six years ago, it was only in these six short years that humans could launch a satellite into Earth orbit, something as simple as that. Only the United States and the Soviet Union could do it. Meteorites flying from outside the solar system are truly unpredictable and unforeseeable.

Comet Tiamat, which orbits the solar system once every 1,200 years, has visited Earth many times, each time passing by at perigee. No one could have predicted that this time it would break up at perigee, with a large part of the body made of ice and rock falling directly to Earth. The huge size of the Comet made the Earth's atmosphere helpless.

This town survived under the protection of Ultraman. In this town with 8 million people, it is not surprising that Ultraman became the belief of the locals, and even built a shrine to worship him. The local government certainly will not stop it. It doesn't matter who you worship, Ultraman is real after all.

"Speaking of which, Miyamizu Miko foresaw the meteorite in advance and told everyone to take shelter. Although the meteorite was destroyed by Ultraman in the end, she must have received the 'oracle'. This is why everyone believes that she is the 'real Miko'. It's a pity that Miyamizu Miko was tricked into marriage by a strange man from Tokyo last year."

"But because of her father's request, she comes back to live for a few months every year. She can't just go to Tokyo and forget her roots."

That being said, in fact, she was just working for nothing. After she was stripped of her status as a shrine maiden, Kuchikamizak and shrine maiden festivals could no longer be selling points, but the daily maintenance of Miyamizu Shrine still needed people to maintain it - by the way, Miyamizu Shrine was the shrine where the village began to worship Ultraman.

You can buy various Ultraman statues and paintings (figures, posters), ranging from palm-sized to full-length, with different donations. There are even high-quality replicas of the original Ultraman, Seven, Jack, and this year Ace and Gaia, which are very popular. There are incense sticks every day. The business of the shrine seems to be more prosperous than before the Miyamizu Miko left.

Several surrounding shrines also wanted to follow suit, but because Miyamizu Miko's father was also the mayor of the town, they did not dare to openly steal the business.

Anyway, Ultraman won’t collect copyright fees, so there’s no need for any share of the profits.

"How about that, miko-sama, please help us expel that evil spirit. The thousand-year-old vengeful spirit of the Black Bag Monk, I'm afraid only a true miko in front of the gods can deal with it."

"OK then."

After being told this, Lingye could only agree. Although the shrine maiden sounded unreliable, at least there was the Light of Gaia. Compared to superstition, the Light of Gaia was real after all.

Miyamizu Shrine is also in the village, not far from the Mount of Olives. The mountain road is not very convenient for driving, so everyone followed Shusai and his group on foot.

When it was still some distance away from the shrine, Yaoyao could already see it. The shrine itself was not very tall, just a single-story building, but the more than ten-meter-tall Ultraman in the backyard was too conspicuous.

Ling didn't know how Beidou and Nan Xizi felt when they saw the statue of Ace standing like a Buddha and being worshipped by people. When she saw Gaia standing there, she always felt that she could dig out a four-bedroom apartment with her big toe.

Chapter 76 Miyamizu Shrine

Miyamizu Shrine is located on a small hill, with lush banyan trees and sycamore trees growing on it. It overlooks the lake in the distance and the scenery is very pleasant.

In the front yard, a hunched old woman with white hair was sweeping the fallen leaves with a bamboo broom.

"Oh my, a group of wood priests and all the magicians, what rare guests."

"Excuse me, Lord Miyamizu. Great to see you're here. I thought you went to seek refuge."

The old woman - Miyamizu Ichiha Shinshu leaned against the wall and put down the broom.

"My shrine is separated by several hills and is not in the evacuation zone. Besides, I am quite old, so I have to accept whatever happens. Birth, aging, sickness and death, natural disasters, diseases or Ultra Beasts, are all the same to me. There is nothing to avoid. What, are you here to discuss the Autumn Festival in two months? Ah, it seems not." Granny Miyamizu saw the TAC team members following behind. "Could it be related to Ultra Beasts? Let me make it clear in advance that although we worship the great Ultraman here, we are not capable of dealing with Ultra Beasts."

This was obviously a joke, and no one responded. Everyone looked around the courtyard.

"This place really is dedicated to Ultraman." Konno said as he looked at the prayer flags with prayer words of Seven, Ace, Gaia and other Ultra Brothers written on them.