This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 119 - 118: Between the Coffins

Chapter 119: Chapter 118: Between the Coffins

Beichuan Si approached the desk but before he could make a move, a clear childish voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Sister Yongshi!"

Beichuan Si turned around and saw a little girl, dressed in a white kimono with short hair, who appeared to be only seven or eight years old, standing behind him.

Accustomed to these ghostly apparitions appearing out of nowhere, Beichuan Si watched as the little girl ran through him towards the desk.

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with long hair had already appeared at the desk.

The candlelight had flickered to life without him noticing.

She was also dressed in a pure white kimono, with white chrysanthemum petals scattered neatly over her clean sleeves.

Her long hair cascaded down like silk, with neat bangs across her forehead.

At the corner of her eye, there was a beauty mark shaped like a teardrop, which added significantly to her allure.

Piecing together the way the little girl addressed her, this must be the repeatedly mentioned Magong Yongshi.

Her slender, beautiful eyes visibly brightened upon seeing the little girl.

But Magong Yongshi still pretended to scold her, saying,

"Tong, why did you sneak into the library again? If the head of the family finds out, he won’t let you off easily, so be careful or you’ll end up confined again."

Tong?

Beichuan Si, upon hearing this, subconsciously took a closer look at the little girl.

Her mid-length hair did indeed make her look very similar to the current Magong Tong.

"A young Magong Tong?" Beichuan Si stayed silent for a while before looking back at them.

"Um—" Magong Tong pouted after hearing Magong Yongshi’s words: "As long as Sister Yongshi doesn’t tell Grandpa Sonokata, he will never know anyway, and Granny Dongzi won’t let me be locked up."

"I certainly wouldn’t tell the head of the family," Magong Yongshi said as she gently pinched Magong Tong’s chubby little face with her pale fingers before continuing,

"What are you up to this time? Just to be clear, I don’t have toys or snacks, and there are very few places I can go."

"I don’t want any of that stuff!" Magong Tong’s mouth turned up dissatisfiedly: "Didn’t you promise last time you’d tell me a story when I came to see you, Sister Yongshi?"

Magong Yongshi nodded with a smile, "There was such a matter."

She was about to continue talking but then her bright eyes suddenly narrowed, and she abruptly turned her head to look in the direction of Beichuan Si!

Indeed.

Her sharp, profound gaze seemed to traverse the long years, coming to rest upon Beichuan Si.

Beichuan Si could even feel her scrutinizing eyes sweeping over him.

Magong Yongshi watched Beichuan Si for a long time until, unable to wait any longer, Magong Tong tugged at her sleeve back and forth, prompting her to reluctantly pull her gaze away.

A hint of sorrow flashed across her face as she let out a deep sigh, "So... this is the tragic end of the Magong family?"

"Yong, Yongshi Sister..." Magong Tong, seeing Magong Yongshi’s melancholic expression, worriedly clutched her sleeve.

"It’s okay... It’s fine; weren’t we going to tell Tong a story? I won’t break my promise."

Magong Yongshi gently rubbed Magong Tong’s little head, her voice softened, "This time, I’ll tell you a story about a young man and a...shrine maiden who was confined for years."

With Magong Yongshi’s gentle voice, a story began to slowly unfold in her narration.

At the shrine atop the mountain, there was such a shrine maiden.

The priests of the shrine had high hopes for her, and countless people respected her.

Even the most revered elders in the village would respectfully address her as ’Elder’.

The shrine maiden was neither sad nor happy.

She had her duties.

The maiden confined in the shrine—one day as she passed by a pond, she saw a young man.

Under the cherry blossom tree.

The young man smiled at her.

The shrine maiden’s heart raced, and she hurriedly fled.

Returning to her room, she found herself unable to calm her heart; thoughts cluttered her mind, and her emotions were in disarray.

She knew she had fallen in love with the young man.

"..."

At this point, Magong Yongshi suddenly stopped speaking.

"Sister Yongshi, is that all?" Magong Tong looked at Magong Yongshi with a puzzled expression and blinked in confusion.

"Tong, sister is already quite tired today, you should go back now, just in case the head of the family comes over," Magong Yongshi said with a faint smile, squatting down to look at Magong Tong.

"...Oh..." Magong Tong nodded, not quite understanding, and looked at Magong Yongshi with concern: "Then you should rest early, Sister Yongshi. I’ll be leaving now."

Beichuan Si watched as the fading silhouette of Magong Tong disappeared at the doorway, then turned to look at Magong Yongshi sitting at her desk.

After seeing off Magong Tong, Magong Yongshi sighed deeply.

She lifted the brush in her hand and meticulously wrote a sentence on the paper.

Having done this, she placed the paper into a box adorned with white chrysanthemum patterns and a locking clasp.

Afterwards, in front of Beichuan Si, Magong Yongshi set the key on top of the nearby bookshelf.

She took one more deep look in the direction of Beichuan Si and nodded slightly to him.

—

The fading silhouettes receded like the tide, and the candle unnoticeably went out.

Beichuan Si felt as though he had been in a dream.

"In the Soul Guiding Ceremony, there are some outstanding individuals; powerful shrine maidens can even faintly see into the future..."

Beichuan Si did not understand what Magong Yongshi had seen, but her recent demeanor seemed as if she had truly seen him.

He walked to the bookshelf to pick up the key and then pulled out the dusty white chrysanthemum-patterned box from the drawer.

Without any hesitation, he opened the box.

The yellowed sheet of paper lay quietly inside.

There was elegant handwriting on it.

’Courtyard, between the coffins.’

"Between the coffins..."

Beichuan Si’s gaze flickered.

This must be a clue from what Magong Yongshi had seen, left for him.

"Even if the fate of the Magong Main Family is told to the people of the village, the ritual must still commence... and that story just now..."

Beichuan Si did not believe that Magong Yongshi would idle away the time telling Magong Tong an entirely irrelevant story.

The Shrine’s maiden... the secluded maiden.

It was known, there was a Shrine in Shenzhu Village.

Shenzhu Shrine.

If what she was talking about was something that happened in Shenzhu Shrine...?

"Then who exactly is this maiden? Does she hold an unusual position in the upcoming ceremony?"

"But as per the information seen earlier and Magong Yongshi’s own words, ’Sister has very few places she can go,’ she too must be under confinement."

So how did she come to know this?

Merely through the maiden’s divination?

This seemed too...

Beichuan Si squinted his eyes.

Perhaps to understand all of this, he must visit ’between the coffins.’

If Beichuan Si remembered correctly, there was a towering, thick iron door opposite the courtyard.

That should be the gate leading to ’between the coffins.’

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