Chapter 117: The Six Realms Of Buddhism, Nishaku Bodhisattva Wishes To Bestow Rain And Dew
What’s Master Huijue’s background?
After asking this question, Shangshan Che could clearly see Lili Zi’s action of picking up meat with chopsticks suddenly freeze.
Her pupils contracted slightly, and she suddenly recalled that Master Huijue had just praised her state of mind as impressive, yet she was constantly running the Jade Heart Incantation and Spirit Condensing Technique.
From the outside, she should appear no different from an ordinary JK.
But Master Huijue had discerned a Sword Heart as radiant as the great sun at first sight upon meeting her.
And she herself… hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Master Huijue at all, only realizing after Shangshan Che’s reminder.
Doesn’t that mean the other’s state of mind cultivation is definitely superior to hers?
Lili Zi picked up the meat and put it in her mouth, exhaling pleasantly, thinking to herself: “Heroes under heaven are truly as numerous as carp crossing the river.”
“—The chief disciple of Hongyuan Temple’s abbot, someone’s already calling him Hongyuan Temple’s Hōshu.”
“But that’s normal too. Master Huijue had near Ghost God level strength even before the Tide arrived, so it’s only natural for him to become the leading figure of the new generation in the Buddhist sect.”
Nanjo Emi shrugged: “But he seems to have been meditating in the temple all along until two days before the Tide came, when he finally came down the mountain.”
Shangshan Che let out an “oh.”
No wonder Master Huijue was wearing that Ghost Fire Youth outfit; he clearly has no understanding of the current society.
But after years of eating vegetarian and chanting sutras on the mountain, he could still accept such a bizarre outfit right away—not surprising for a master’s state of mind.
“Also, he’s about to become one of the Special Affairs Office’s ‘seeds.’”
Shangshan Che was first stunned—someone almost at Ghost God level strength still needs to become a Special Affairs Office seed?
Based on what Nanjo Emi just said about his “leading figure” status and that level of strength, not to mention being on par with Nanjo Emi, he should at least get a position not much lower than hers.
But he immediately reacted.
It wasn’t that Master Huijue needed to become a Special Affairs Office seed; it was that the Special Affairs Office’s “seeds” needed Master Huijue to demonstrate their value.
At the same time, this also showed the attitude of Master Huijue and the faction of monks he represented.
—Ever since the Tide arrived, the Special Affairs Office’s public education activities in various places had been obstructed everywhere, and establishing new bases while recruiting people had been very slow.
Among them, there were surely no shortage of ancient families and long-standing dojos stirring trouble behind the scenes.
If Onmyōdō and Breathing Techniques—such supernatural knowledge—were popularized to everyone, how many would still be willing to spend big money and great effort to apprentice?
By the same logic, if supernatural knowledge spread widely, the transcendent status of these influences standing above ordinary people might not only fail to solidify but would at least be shaken.
—Hongyuan Temple naturally couldn’t escape worldly concerns either.
Shangshan Che scratched his head in confusion,
“So isn’t Master Huijue a vested interest? Why is he stubbornly choosing to cooperate with the Special Affairs Office?”
“How would I know something like that? We’re not that close for me to pry. If it’s good news, that’s fine.”
Nanjo Emi rolled her eyes, took the beer from the server and sipped a little: “If you want to know, go ask him yourself.”
With that, Shangshan Che’s mobile phone vibrated—Nanjo Emi had forwarded the monk’s Line ID to him.
He looked down, and a shiny bald head came into view.
Master Huijue’s Line profile picture was a selfie of himself with a sunny smile, and his Line name was actually “Master Huijue” too—real-name usage indeed.
Shangshan Che clicked to add friend, and in the verification message wrote “I’m Shangshan Che.”
In no time, the friend request was approved.
【Master Huijue】: Hello, Benefactor Shangshan. （smiling emoji）
Staring at this deathly smile, Shangshan Che couldn’t hold back and explained to Master Huijue that this expression doesn’t count as friendly nowadays.
【Master Huijue】: Oh! I see, so these different expressions have many meanings, right? This path of expressions is truly profound! （thinking emoji）
Shangshan Che: Transfer to human support.
Though he thought that, Shangshan Che still very amicably had an exchange with Master Huijue in the style of forums from a dozen years ago when they first emerged.
Watching their chat on the phone, Lili Zi finally couldn’t hold back and asked: “Shangshan Jun, ask him what level his state of mind cultivation is at?”
Shangshan Che was curious too, so he did as asked.
Soon, a smiling emoji came from Master Huijue, which was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a “laughing loudly” one.
【Master Huijue】: This humble monk thinks this is probably a question from Benefactor Tokugawa.
【Master Huijue】: This humble monk’s state of mind has just reached the Formless Abyss not long ago, about the same as Benefactor Tokugawa.
【Master Huijue】: Sorry, Benefactors. Something came up on my end; I might not be able to chat for a bit. （contemplating emoji）
Formless Abyss?
Shangshan Che’s brow twitched—this monk tossed out an unheard-of new term and ran off, like some self-taught cliffhanger dog dangling the appetite.
Fortunately, Sister Nanjo was still sitting across from him.
Sensing Shangshan Che’s inquiring gaze, Nanjo Emi didn’t reply but opened a PDF file on her phone and pushed it over.
The filename was—《System Summary: A Rough Explanation of Buddhist State of Mind Cultivation》.
Shangshan Che flipped through it a couple times and found the general explanation for “Formless Abyss.”
—All phenomena return to emptiness and delusion; the abyss of awareness hides true suchness.
Hmm, sounds impressive but incomprehensible.
Still, he could see that this state of mind rank “Formless Abyss” was the fourth of the six layers in Buddhist state of mind cultivation.
Master Huijue had even specially marked in red font that this level was roughly equivalent to Clear Sword Heart in swordsmanship state of mind.
Lili Zi stared at these brand-new terms, slowly reading them out,
“Heart Observation Mirror, Clarity Storehouse, Heaven-Human Path, Formless Abyss, Illuminating the Sea, Empty Color Wheel…”
Among them, Formless Abyss was further divided into the three great terrifying realms of “No Self, No Form, No Abiding,” requiring the cultivator to possess great courage, great perseverance, and great wisdom to cross this abyss of utter emptiness and reach the Other Shore of awakening.
Reading these bizarre Buddhist terms, Shangshan Che felt his brain expanding.
Lili Zi’s eyes lit up, and she half-stood excitedly: “Sister Nanjo, can you copy this file for me first! Also! Is there anything more detailed?”
Nanjo Emi had no intention of unnecessarily increasing her workload.
She smacked her lips tasting the bland alcohol, then pushed Master Huijue’s Line over to Lili Zi: “Chat with him yourself; I’m out.”
—Though Shangshan Che hadn’t fully grasped these terms and explanations, he could still understand the words “roughly equivalent to Clear Sword Heart.”
Plus, the monk had reached three-and-a-half stars before the Tide… doesn’t that mean Master Huijue is actually a Four-Star or above Ghost God level figure?
Just now, a tiny Korean BBQ restaurant table had gathered two Ghost God levels!
Terrifying!
Shangshan Che leaned back slightly, drawing in a cold breath, only to have Nanjo Emi stuff his mouth with chopsticks holding snowflake beef glistening golden.
Slightly tipsy Nanjo Emi lifted her gaze: “Eat up; I’ve already called Mafuyu to pick us up.”
Shangshan Che blinked, swallowed the beef, saw Nanjo Emi freeze slightly, then helplessly corrected: “Manatsu.”
In an instant, an awkward silence fell between the two.
Lili Zi beside them noticed nothing, engrossed in studying that PDF file; it’d be impressive if she could spare any processing power to eat meat.
Half an hour later.
Full Shangshan Che and the others, along with Nanjo Emi who hadn’t drunk enough, stood at the doorway.
“I’m not going to Yokohama.” Lili Zi’s gaze was drawn to a familiar van slowly approaching from afar; she continued, “I still need to stay by Runa’s side and teach her the Basic Spirit Absorption Method.”
Lili Zi waved casually: “Take care, Shangshan Jun.”
“Won’t die, don’t worry.”
Shangshan Che perfectly mimicked Lili Zi’s auspicious phrasing.
Vroom vroom vroom…
Accompanied by the fading dull rumble of the engine, the battle-scarred old van stopped in front of the three.
“Nanjō Great Officer, get in.”
The passenger window rolled down, revealing Shizuma Manatsu’s gaunt face with a bit of pallor and dark circles.
Shizuma Manatsu’s eyes shifted slightly, showing faint surprise.
She hadn’t expected to see Lili Zi and Shangshan Che here.
Shizuma Manatsu smiled faintly, greeting them without her former energy: “Long time no see.”
Lili Zi nodded: “Long time no see, Manatsu.”
Shangshan Che didn’t reply; he stared at Shizuma Manatsu in her Special Affairs Office clerk uniform, sighing inwardly that she really looked the part.
He vaguely remembered first seeing her in the school cafeteria—carefree, sunny, very approachable yet attentive.
But the current Shizuma Manatsu resembled Shizuma Mafuyu from Shangshan Che’s first encounter far more than her past self.
She exuded the terse, competent aura of a workplace veteran from head to toe.
“Save the chit-chat for next time.” Nanjo Emi opened the car door, “Shangshan Jun, get in.”
Following Nanjo Emi aboard the van and sitting in a seat about to buckle up, Shangshan Che realized the seatbelt spot was empty.
Looking closely, he recalled this was the seat where he’d snapped the broken seatbelt last time; stray threads still dangled from the break.
Shangshan Che was speechless.
So they just fixed the van enough to make it drivable, huh.
He switched seats and asked Nanjo Emi, whose cheeks were slightly flushed from drinking: “Sister Nanjo, you’re already Arakawa Ward’s facade, yet you drive something this cheap?”
“Cheap?”
Nanjo Emi pointed to the trunk: “They hang out back there playing while rushing around every day; it’s picked up quite a bit of qi, enough to ward off casual Demons and Monsters no matter what.”
“If we just swapped it out, we’d need to specially hire an onmyoji skilled in Astronomy Path and carving to inscribe incantations for the exact same effect.”
Shangshan Che looked where she pointed—deep in the shadows, the Nure-onna and the big and small Hiyori Bo shikigami, now utterly different from before, were happily playing rock paper scissors.
Moments later, markers popped up above their heads.
—【Nure-onna（Three-Star）】
—【Hiyori Bo（Two-Star）】
The Water Ghost has become Nure-onna… no wonder the appearance changed so much.
In the trunk’s empty space, the Nure-onna had neatly combed all her disheveled black hair back, wearing a form-fitting long white robe.
Her pale face was exquisitely doll-like, as if molded from TPE material; she huddled tightly in the van’s corner, knees drawn up, as if that brought her more security.
At first glance, a total social anxiety gloomy beauty.
Hiyori Bo had grown a size larger, in an indigo dress, more like a miniature person than a Daruma Doll.
The two shikigami noticed Shangshan Che’s gaze.
Nure-onna curled up even tighter, trying to pretend she hadn’t seen and muddle through.
Hiyori Bo first traced a heart in the air, then grabbed the very unwilling Nure-onna’s hand and together made a heart at Shangshan Che.
Look how sensible other people’s shikigami are!
By contrast, Two-Foot Adult just madly sucks his tail after he incarnates as a four-tailed fox—incorrigible.
Shangshan Che smiled faintly, turned back and asked: “Sister Nanjo, what path are your shikigami on?”
Nanjo Emi closed her eyes, her voice faint,
“Life Contract, a relatively rare path. Their breakthroughs or lack thereof are highly tied to me, so no need for much external aid.”
“—Once I break through, they’ll naturally breakthrough easily too.”
Nanjo Emi: “But at the same time, if anything happens to them, I’ll suffer equally severe consequences.”
Hearing this, Shangshan Che understood why few onmyoji took this path.
Because for most onmyoji, losing shikigami is common and almost inevitable.
Cases where the initially contracted shikigami accompany the onmyoji to the end aren’t just rare—they’re virtually nonexistent.
Because onmyoji contract shikigami from the start precisely so they can do things the onmyoji can’t or finds inconvenient.
In critical moments, onmyoji using shikigami to block fatal blows is commonplace.
—But I won’t let that happen.
Shangshan Che nodded and released Two-Foot Adult from the Ksitigarbha Statue.
“Two-Foot Adult, go play with those two…”
“Popo!”
Just appearing, Two-Foot Adult bristled like a startled cat and shrank tightly into Shangshan Che’s arms.
She buried her face, trembling all over,
“Po! Che Adult, where is this? Why so many scary qi!”
Shangshan Che blinked in astonishment; it was his first time seeing Two-Foot Adult this scared.
She’d been pretty calm facing Snow Woman before.
He gently patted the white hat on the girl’s head: “Don’t be scared; they’re all friendly forces nearby.”
Friendly forces?
Two-Foot Adult shrank and lifted her little head, first spotting Nure-onna staring silently with eerie eyes.
Then she looked down, sensing the omnipresent gazes in the van—from the profound shadows surging as if ready to swallow her whole at any moment.
Th-this… are all friendly forces?
Two-Foot Adult gave a dry laugh, then saw petite Hiyori Bo float slowly before her, emanating warm light.
“Hello.” Hiyori Bo said in less-than-standard speech.
Th-this is a friendly force!
Watching Two-Foot Adult half-heartedly dragged off by Hiyori Bo to join the rock paper scissors team-building, Shangshan Che finally leaned back for a short nap.
The trunk was lively; only from the surging shadows in the car shot a subtle gaze,
“All grown up and still playing kid games with Hiyori Bo… cheap.”
Shadow Woman snorted coldly, but couldn’t shift her gaze.
…
Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City, Tsuzuki Ward suburbs.
Several hours passed in a flash.
Shangshan Che got out of the van with Two-Foot Adult, hearing Nanjo Emi’s groggy voice from the passenger seat,
“Call me if there’s trouble; I’ll come as fast as I can.”
“OK OK.”
Bidding farewell to Nanjo Emi who had other tasks, Shangshan Che knocked Two-Foot Adult’s little head, face dark: “Teaching underage shikigami to play cards? You really came up with that!”
Just now when Shangshan Che opened his eyes, he heard “three with one” and “king bomb” noises from behind; turning around, he found Two-Foot Adult, Nure-onna, and Little Hiyori Bo playing Fight the Landlord.
If left alone, would they team-build at a bar in a couple days?
“Rock paper scissors is too boring, and I happened to see a deck of cards nearby so…”
Two-Foot Adult was about to admit fault when she spotted the temple gate looming not far away, with a plaque reading 【Hongyuan Temple】 in big characters.
“Po!” Two-Foot Adult hugged Shangshan Che’s leg, sobbing, “Che Adult I was wrong po, I’ll never do it again, don’t exorcise me…”
Among the tales of Hachishaku-sama, it was indeed written that the protagonist was sent to a temple and barely escaped Hachishaku-sama’s pursuit.
Looks like Two-Foot Adult was especially afraid of “Buddhist” things; a common flaw in supernatural phenomena, constrained by the stories that birthed them.
Shangshan Che couldn’t help worrying if her tablet could properly absorb incense and source power once placed.
Grabbing the sobbing, snotty Two-Foot Adult, Shangshan Che took time to explain the reason for coming.
Two-Foot Adult’s crying stopped abruptly: “So from now on I’ll carry Buddhist light, and occasionally manifest through the tablet to bestow rain and dew on those children…”
Shangshan Che chopped her with his hand, cutting her off: “Forbidden!”
Two-Foot Adult grinned sheepishly, tugging his clothes coquettishly: “Just kidding; with Che Adult by my side now, how could I look at those other crooked fruits.”
Shangshan Che sneered; he knew exactly what Two-Foot Adult was thinking.
Reaching Hongyuan Temple’s entrance, Shangshan Che saw the majestic stone lions standing solemnly on either side of the gate.
The two stone lions’ mouths opened and closed, eyes huge as copper bells, every pattern lifelike, symbolizing “ah-woo breathing,” seemingly implying life lies in the breath.
Animals like lions and foxes were common at Japanese temple and shrine entrances.
So Shangshan Che had been puzzled by the cat stone sculptures at Edo Castle’s gate—he’d never heard of placing cats at doorways.
Shangshan Che stepped forward and lightly struck the door cymbal twice, producing a crisp metallic ring.
Soon, two young novices in kesas struggled to push open the heavy temple gate, instinctively showing joy upon seeing Shangshan Che.
The two young novices asked in unison,
“Excuse me, are you Benefactor Shangshan Che?”
“That’s me.”
Seeing the young novices’ gazes shift to Two-Foot Adult, Shangshan Che immediately said: “This is my shikigami; I’m here for her this time.”
The wary looks vanished with his words; the young novices nodded and gestured toward the temple depths: “Senior Disciple Brother Master Huijue has already spoken to the elders and abbot. Benefactor Shangshan, just follow us.”
“—Senior Disciple Brother said the tablet spot is a bit off, but it’s already sufficient for your shikigami.”
“Excellent.”
Shangshan Che smiled and nodded, holding Two-Foot Adult’s slightly trembling hand as he entered Hongyuan Temple, stepping onto the clean stone steps.
The temple wasn’t large, likely because it was built in a small place like Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama City, knowing few visitors would come, so the buildings were scaled down proportionally.
Even so, the temple being empty except for hurried monks and novices was a bit odd.
Shangshan Che raised the question.
One young novice slowed, pressed hands together, and smiled, pointing to distant Amida Hall: “You see truly, Benefactor. Today, a demon is indeed confined by several of this monk’s masters and senior brothers in there for subdual, so the gate isn’t open.”
Shangshan Che held his breath and listened; sure enough, aged voices chanting “om mani padme hum” and such emanated continuously from Amida Hall.
He recalled Master Huijue mentioning before departure that “my senior brothers might run into some trouble.”
But now it seemed he wouldn’t need to handle this so-called “trouble.”
“I see.” Shangshan Che lightened his steps, “If placing the tablet would disturb those masters subduing the demon, we can handle my matters later.”
The other young novice waved it off: “No no, just a doll lesser demon; it’s been arrogant for a few days thanks to its strange powers, but with our temple’s six elders acting together, we’ll easily suppress it.”
Six elders acting together…
That thing locked in the hall wouldn’t be a Three-Star or even Four-Star Great Demon, would it?
Shangshan Che’s mouth twitched; he subtly quickened his pace—Master Huijue really thought highly of him, entrusting something like this to a first-time meeting.
If the six elders slipped up even slightly and the Great Demon broke out, what would he use to subdue it?
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as hoped.
Before Shangshan Che could reach Mikaido Hall with the young novices to place the tablet, the Six True Words chants from Amida Hall intensified dramatically.
The Buddhist chants had burst out of the hall, echoing through the entire temple, but the emotional fluctuations within seemed to grow stronger.
Just as an ominous premonition rose in Shangshan Che’s heart, Amida Hall’s doors exploded with a boom, and several aged bodies in kesas flew out!
The two young novices stared blankly that way, seemingly not yet reacting to what happened.
Shangshan Che’s scalp numbed; he immediately wanted to grab Two-Foot Adult and run out of the temple—a vicious demon even multiple Buddhist masters couldn’t suppress, how could he handle it?
But before his escape steps could move, Shangshan Che puzzledly looked at the “Buddhist masters.”
—These masters didn’t seem as strong as imagined?
He peeked into Amida Hall’s interior.
—Wait, the spiritual power fluctuations from inside aren’t even Two-Star?
Out today, didn’t hit 8k sorry meow
But still begging for monthly votes!
Because tomorrow I’ll make it up!
