Page 68

Page 68

Ling didn't mind. In fact, she thought she had nothing worth watching. Her so-called exorcism was just a few simple moves of the Kagura dance that she learned from Granny Miyamizu. Compared to the Kuze Miko who had been practicing since childhood, she knew more.

"Do you need to prepare anything?" asked Beidou Xingsi.

Previously at Miyamizu Shrine, the altar and various ritual objects were extant, but of course not here.

What does the exorcism ritual require? If Kuze Hanane were to answer, she could give many very specific answers.

First of all, the shrine maiden must wear a formal shrine maiden costume and a chihaya that suits her status. The accessories she wears on her head include a crown or a hairpin, and the props she uses include a Kagura bell, a spear bell, a cypress fan, a bat fan, etc. In addition, there are swords, mirrors, sakakisama, etc. The most famous are of course the three sacred treasures, which can even subdue the demon Yamata no Orochi.

During the ceremony, priests are also required to accompany the performance with Kagura flutes and Japanese drums.

But Lingye's answer was very simple.

"If it's convenient, please prepare a Kagura bell."

"Just the Kagura bell?" Hisayo interrupted, sounding a little unbelievable.

"Correct."

It's not that Ling is arrogant, but because she has only seen her mother-in-law use the Kagura bell, so she can only imitate it. She can't use other props, and she can't even pronounce the names of the tools.

Beidou was not surprised. According to Shinto, all these tools have only one purpose, which is to please the gods and get their attention.

But Ling didn't need it, because God was always with her.

Chapter 87: Unqualified Kagura Dance

There are many shrine maidens who practice at Izumo Taisha, and most of them probably don't like her - Kuze always feels this way. If she were in her place, she probably wouldn't like someone who is always treated specially.

There are always people who say strange things, and they won't say them to your face, but according to a certain law, whether the two parties are willing or not, the words said behind their backs will definitely float into the ears of the parties involved. Those are certainly not pleasant topics.

She was trained to be the next master since she was young. She was different from others in her daily practice, work and rest, food and lodging. The back mountain of the shrine was a forbidden area that ordinary people were not allowed to enter, but it was where she practiced every day. There was a clear pond, towering ancient trees with umbrellas that blocked the sun and clouds, and a huge rock tied with a rope, on which hung paper pendants, which was quiet and ethereal.

For clergy, it should be an honor to be close to the divine body every day, but that is not what she wants. She also wants to chat with everyone about TV series and the new albums of her favorite stars. Is this an excessive wish?

But she is always alone.

Ding Ling——

The weather at night is very good, and the firefly plains and the flying fireflies are fascinating.

Ling also held the Kagura bell, which was brought by Kuze. As a tool for daily practice, she was used to carrying it with her.

The current time is 1:50 in the morning, ten minutes before 2: in the morning when accidents frequently occur.

Normally at this time, Ling would have already fallen into a deep sleep. The disruption of her biological clock made her a little uncomfortable. Just now at eleven or twelve o'clock, she felt sleepy and almost fell asleep while sitting. Now that the time has passed, she is more energetic.

This is the courtyard of Ryoko's house. The courtyard is not big, with a few fruit trees planted in it, as well as a stone platform and a few stone benches for cooling off. There are also fireflies lingering around the fruit trees, flying a few times, and then flying away.

Ryoko was sitting in a wheelchair, right across from Reiya.

Because it was really late, she felt a little sleepy, but also a little nervous.

"We can start now." Beidou checked the time on his watch and said. Nan Xizi was also beside him.

Outside the garden, Yoshimura and Konno were also fully armed and waiting in case of any emergency. In the summer, the grass should be the most bitten by mosquitoes, but there were surprisingly no flies or mosquitoes here.

"Amitabha, may Buddha bless you." Konno muttered.

"Captain, you really believe in exorcism." Yoshimura fiddled with the TAC gun in his hand. Compared to the so-called exorcism, he certainly believed in the weapon in his hand more.

"Hush, Yoshimura, don't say such things casually." Konno interrupted him hastily, "There is a saying: It is better to believe it than not to believe it."

You can choose not to believe in religion. It is a personal right to believe in religion or not, but the bottom line is not to offend others easily. It is disrespectful to yourself and others.

"Why, don't you believe in your Buddha? You keep mentioning Amitabha all day long. Could it be that Buddha and the eight million gods are also good friends?"

Seeing Yoshimura still like this, Konno was too lazy to pay attention to him. This guy is like this, he definitely has no bad intentions, but he often doesn't care about what he says, which easily offends people.

During the Ushio-god incident, this guy fell into the ancient tomb and had no idea what was happening outside. Yoshimura didn't see the shrine priest using bonfires to exorcise the Ushio-god, or the shrine maiden named Reiya singing and performing an exorcism dance, so it's no wonder he didn't believe it.

At this time, the clear and crisp sound of Kagura bells came from the garden.

"here we go."

"Captain, are their convoys coming soon?"

"Yes, Noriko just contacted me and said that he is already on the winding mountain road. There are about ten minutes left."

Captain Long asked Ling to exorcise the spirit, but what he didn't mention was that the transportation operation of the V7 missile would begin tonight.

The TAC team believed that the 'evil spirit' that frequently appeared in Firefly Plains was targeting the transportation plan of the V7 missiles.

The V7 missile developed by the arsenal built deep in the mountains is a large missile, more than 15 meters long, longer than the entire fuselage of the Airo, nearly 3 meters in diameter, and weighs more than 30 tons. Conventionally, it needs to be launched using a special missile vehicle. In addition, only the large weapon rack carried by the Sky Fortress can be used in conjunction.

Such missiles are certainly not transportable by ordinary small vertical take-off and landing aircraft. If they are transported by air, large transport aircraft must be selected. However, such transport aircraft cannot take off and land in densely forested areas without runways, so land transportation is the only option.

The place where the evil spirit appeared is at the mountain pass where the winding mountain road exits the mountain, which is a must-pass place for land transportation.

It was probably a trap set by the Yawa people to prevent the Eagle at TAC headquarters from being equipped with V7 missiles. But even so, Captain Long still decided to carry out the transportation operation as scheduled.

Ding Ling——

The sound of the Kagura bell broke the silence of the night.

Under the glow of fireflies, the girl held the Kagura bell with her fingers forward, and the ringing of the bell trembled.

Kusyo Huayin, something in her heart trembled.

Lingye's feet were on the grass. But Kuze had an illusion that the witch didn't seem to be stepping on mud, but was gently brushed by the tender green grass, standing in the air. The grassland became a green ocean, with ripples in the ocean, and she was in the center of the ripples.

Ling was also dancing. To be honest, her dancing was not very pretty, or it could not be called "dancing" at all.

If you add music, stretching and chest expansion exercises, it is actually no different from radio gymnastics. Even if you use the standards of radio gymnastics, if your posture is not standard and your movements are not smooth, these will undoubtedly be deducted points. Deduct points, deduct points, and if you fail, the teacher will ask you to go off the stage and practice more.

The Tsurugi priest of Izumo Shrine sneered.

Even the apprentice shrine maidens in the shrine would not dance like this. If the shrine god saw them, they would have to practice more and practice again without any rest. Kagura dance is a dance performed by shrine maidens to please the gods. It originated from the mythological era of Tenten-no-mikoto. Legend has it that Amaterasu was furious because Susanoo was not doing his job and causing trouble everywhere, so she hid herself. Amaterasu symbolizes the sun in mythology. When the sun did not come out for many days, animals and plants suffered a catastrophe. So Tenten-no-mikoto performed Kagura dance to attract Amaterasu, and the sun rose from the horizon again.

This was the earliest shrine maiden who pleased the gods, and is also the origin of the legendary Kagura dance.

I wonder if there is any god who would be interested in substandard radio gymnastics?

But Kuze shushed him, which was a rare time when she was not very polite, because even if she used the most peaceful words, it was undoubtedly to shut Tsurugi up.

This is very inconsistent with the impression that Kuze usually gives people, because she is always gentle and kind to everyone.

From Kuze's perspective, what he saw was slightly different from what Tsurugi saw. The Kagura dance was indeed quite unfamiliar, perhaps it had never been practiced. Some of the movements were completely wrong, and even seemed a bit arbitrary.

Well, it's not an illusion. The movements just now were obviously random. Was it the wild horse spreading its mane? Then it was the white crane spreading its wings. Sure enough, it was really the white crane spreading its wings. Don't think she doesn't know Tai Chi. Although she was holding the Kagura bell, she was doing movements that had nothing to do with Kagura dance. It's really interesting, this little shrine maiden.

But what Jiuze didn't quite understand was that the apparently random dancing movements actually carried a certain charm. It was a feeling that couldn't be explained or made clear. It was as if the entire world had become a stage, and she was standing in the center of it. There was no need to emphasize it deliberately, and every move was natural.

She even had an illusion that it wasn't that Ling couldn't dance Kagura, but that she didn't need to overemphasize the so-called standard, just like Tenten Nvming, no matter what moves she performed, it was Kagura. Because she was the beginning, the beginning of the myth, the source of this ritual. Who can say that the so-called rituals today, those so-called standard Kagura dance moves, were not performed casually by Tenten Nvming back then?

After thousands of years of evolution in the mythological era, it has become the Kagura dance of today, but looking back in time, it may have been just an impromptu dance by Tenden Nvming.

The song was not long, and Ling finally pointed the Kagura bell Yaoyao at Ryoko.

"finished?"

Beidou asked, somewhat uncertainly.

Unlike before, the black bag monk was visibly destroyed, but Ryoko did not change at all. If he did not know Lingye's ability well, Beidou might have thought it was just an ordinary "shaman dance" like everyone else.

Ling also shook her head.

“There are no evil spirits here.”

"what?"

Beidou and Nan were both surprised. Especially Nan Xizi, she was sure she saw it. Just yesterday morning, the "ghost" in a white kimono escaped her pursuit, flashed away, and suddenly appeared again, exactly like a ghost. If this is not a ghost, not a vengeful spirit, is she suffering from hysteria?

Priest Tsurugi sneered but said nothing. After all, he had been reminded by Kuze that he dared not offend Kuze Miko, the designated next shrine master. But that did not stop him from criticizing her in his heart.

It was a familiar argument. The so-called shrine maidens were just like this. Fortunately, he had some expectations in his heart. It turned out that they were no different from the shrine maidens and priests in their shrine.

If there is no way to exorcise evil spirits, then they say that evil spirits do not exist. What a familiar routine. If the employer is still worried, will the next sentence be to add incense fees? Then invite more shrine maidens to hold a grand fasting ceremony. Same recipe, same taste. All shrines in the world are the same.

But Kuze would probably be disappointed, right?

She usually focused on spiritual practice, and it was rare for her to come out from the back mountain. She wasted the whole day of her rare vacation in anticipation.

God knows how much homework the god had given her in order to get this whole day off. Tsurugi had dissuaded her, saying that no matter whether gods had ever existed, they had long since disappeared. But Kuze was sometimes so stubborn, so stubborn that it gave people headaches and heartaches.

The outcome was already known.

As a clergyman, if you still want to keep your faith, you have to believe in the so-called "believe it and it exists, don't believe it and it doesn't exist."

This is the concept of Wan Jingyou. The so-called God is in your heart. Cultivation is actually cultivating the mind, and praying to God is actually praying to yourself. God will not bless you, but only strengthen your heart in the process of worship and clarify your true wishes.

If even this is abandoned, then it would truly be a liar under the guise of a shrine.

Zhemu believes that there is a god in the heart, but that is only in everyone's heart. This is to urge oneself to abstain from greed, anger, ignorance, and to get rid of unnecessary desires. In addition, there is no miracle, and everything is unclear. In an era of scientific development and the prosperity of humanity, this world has long been a materialistic world.

But Kuze Kanon is different. She has lived a life almost isolated from the world since she was a child. The only things that keep her company are sacred trees, boulders and ponds. Now that she is 15 years old, it is normal for her to have the hobbies and aspirations of an ordinary girl, but she is still trapped in the shrine.

Such constraints became a deep oppression, making her need spiritual sustenance, and the only one she could choose to rely on was the god she believed in. A shrine maiden was a pure woman who devoted her whole body and soul to serving the gods, so she at least wanted to know whether the one she served really existed.

Tsume was a little afraid to look at Hisahi, fearing that what he would see was a deep sense of loss.

But Jiuze was not lost. On the contrary, her eyes were brighter than ever.

Chapter 88: Exorcism Failed

A convoy was coming on the mountain road a few kilometers away. At the speed of the car, it would only take two minutes to enter the tunnel and reach the Firefly Plain.

At the front were several military jeeps equipped with weapons, with machine guns and mortars ready to fire. Then came the Black Panther patrol car of the TAC team, driven by Captain Long, with team members Yamanaka and Noriko sitting in the car.

"Really? The exorcism failed. 'Evil spirits don't exist', Ling also said so?" Captain Long was communicating with Beidou through the communicator. After listening to Beidou's report, he was silent for a moment, then nodded, "I see, it seems that we did make some mistakes. The convoy will arrive at the Firefly Plain in two minutes, everyone stay alert."

"Captain, what is going on?" Shan Zhong, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked in confusion.

"There is no evil spirit. I don't think Ling made this judgment blindly. It's very likely that we found the wrong enemy from the beginning." Captain Long said, but he didn't seem nervous. "But it doesn't matter. It's better if there is no evil spirit. Our TAC team is professional in dealing with super beasts."

"So that's what it is. It's the Yabo people who are causing trouble again? So this time we have to fight with real guns and real bullets." Yamanaka took out the TAC gun and checked the bullets.

As Captain Long said, this is not a bad thing for TAC. Compared to those mysterious things that break the world view, super beasts are more familiar to them.

Behind these escort vehicles are large military trucks loaded with V7 missiles.

The front of the truck was pulling a long carriage, which, if opened, would have a missile launcher. However, this truck was not a missile vehicle after all, and could not withstand the high temperature of missile launches. Once an emergency launch was launched, the truck itself would not be able to be saved. The impact force of the missile and the temperature of the tail flame were no joke, enough to tear the front of the truck apart and melt it.

This is just a transport vehicle, not designed to launch missiles.

In the Firefly Plains, Ling also put away the Kagura bell. In front of her, Ryoko was still sitting quietly in the wheelchair, nervous and uneasy, and still not quite sure about the situation.

Not a vengeful spirit.