This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 124 - 123. Stone Cave

Chapter 124: 123. Stone Cave

Beichuan Si had not yet entered the underground palace, when the damp air surged towards him like waves.

He took a sip from his water bottle and turned his head to look at Magong Yongshi, who materialized and floated mid-air, signaling her to lead the way.

After all, this was a secret place of the Magong Family, and there might be hidden mechanisms inside.

Magong Yongshi seemed to understand Beichuan Si’s intention. She maintained her materialized form and descended, her black wooden clogs clinking crisply on the tiled floor.

Seeing her walking down, Beichuan Si followed closely behind, step by step descending.

The two remained silent for a long time without communication. About halfway through, Magong Yongshi suddenly stopped, brilliance flickering in her bright eyes:

"I can feel my memories reviving, Mr. Temple."

"What do you remember?" Beichuan Si asked.

"The rituals held between the stones, the ceremonies to worship the stones," Magong Yongshi resumed walking as she explained,

"Every five years, a ’Purification Ceremony’ must be conducted."

As she spoke, a self-mocking smile appeared on Magong Yongshi’s ethereal face: "Actually, whether the ’Purification Ceremony’ is conducted or not doesn’t affect the stones. It’s purely used by the Magong Main Family to enhance the reverence for the ritual and to boost the sense of honor within the family group."

"What do you think, Mr. Temple, someone from the big city? Isn’t it incredible that they convince the main family members through such a barbaric and bloody ploy?"

Beichuan Si shook his head in understanding.

"I can understand."

"Huh?" Magong Yongshi didn’t expect his reaction. She paused slightly and gave Beichuan Si a curious look.

Under her gaze, Beichuan Si’s expression remained unchanged as he pursed his lips: "Just as you said, the real intention of the Magong Main Family isn’t to conduct the ’Purification Ceremony’, but to sanctify the ritual itself, to legitimize their actions, causing the members of the Magong Main Family to be more convinced—"

Beichuan Si hesitated:

"But I still don’t quite understand what exactly the ’God of Calamity’ that the Magong Family and the Shenzhu Family desperately try to suppress is."

His piercing gaze made Magong Yongshi instinctively step back, while Beichuan Si continued: "Is the ’God of Calamity’ merely a disaster as the words suggest, or a natural catastrophe? Or is it a terrifying vengeful spirit? —I want to know all this. Only by understanding can we solve the problem of Magong."

"Magong... are you referring to Hitomi?" Hearing the familiar name, Magong Yongshi paused: "I also vaguely saw it from Hitomi before, you are her benefactor, I can vaguely feel...you are the key to breaking the deadlock."

Magong Yongshi shook her head and sighed: "As for your doubts... I remember the concept of ’God of Calamity’ very clearly. It is something that everyone in the village knows, but it is rarely mentioned."

"The so-called ’God of Calamity’ simply refers to disaster. It has been recorded since a thousand years ago—"

"It is said that within Shenzhu Mountain lives the God of Calamity, and the villagers living in Shenzhu Village suffered from the threat of ’shinobu.’ The villagers started to be frequently ’spirited away,’ silently pulled into the hidden world. Even if they were found later, they would be deranged and insane."

Magong Yongshi’s gaze sharpened, her voice growing softer: "The people in Shenzhu Shrine refer to this phenomenon as ’God of Calamity,’ meaning ’the time when disaster falls.’ And this phenomenon was such that moving away from Shenzhu Village had no effect."

"When the God of Calamity descended, it was silent. No matter where they were, the villagers of Shenzhu would mysteriously disappear and lose contact with their families."

"Fortunately, in the end, Shenzhu Shrine proposed the concept of ’ritual.’ Though in that era, the ritual was still in an experimental phase...fortunately, in the end, the ritual was somewhat effective, and the phenomenon of the ’God of Calamity’ was significantly alleviated, allowing the traditions of Shenzhu Village to continue to this day."

"One of the reasons Shenzhu Village has always closed its doors is because of this, as rituals and the God of Calamity are not matters to be known by outsiders. And as you have seen, the villagers of Shenzhu possess a high sense of discipline, organization, and exclusivity."

"Because that is a distorted folk custom passed down over a thousand years."

The sense of distorted exclusivity born from distorted folk customs is very easy to understand.

Magong Yongshi’s memory of the God of Calamity was very clear, her words flowing smoothly without any hesitation.

Magong Yongshi’s words now might be key to breaking the situation in the future, so Beichuan Si remembered them carefully.

One person and one spirit, one walking and one stopping, exchanged quite a few words along the way.

Her words perfectly explained why the Magong Family and the Shenzhu Family held such lofty statuses.

The Magong Family, primarily driven by financial power and connections.

The Shenzhu Family, known for their mysteries and handling rituals.

In Shenzhu Village, calling these two families the leaders during the Meiji and Taisho Era was not an exaggeration, as they were genuinely similar to the leaders of the entire village.

As he spoke, Magong Yongshi suddenly stopped and did not continue leading the way.

A cave appeared in front of them.

"This is where the sacred stone is located, Mr. Temple. This is my limit, if I go any further, I might not be able to maintain the balance of my soul." Magong Yongshi’s form grew even more ethereal.

Just standing outside the underground palace where the sacred stone was kept was almost too much for her.

Magong Yongshi took a deep breath, her hand waved and an ethereal stone bottle appeared: "Please use this to encapsulate the stone dew, Mr. Temple."

"Okay." Beichuan Si did not waste words and moved straight into the cave.

The further he entered, the more Beichuan Si felt a damp air emanating from inside.

After passing through this dampness, Nishijou Kurenai suddenly crawled out from Beichuan Si’s collar, and the golden aura around her thickened.

It seemed the stone dew not only had a purifying effect on Magong Yongshi but also benefited Nishijou Kurenai.

It was not until then that Beichuan Si began to somewhat believe Magong Yongshi.

Because what benefits good spirits can only be poison to malevolent spirits.

For any malevolent spirit, besides the aura of death, benevolent thoughts constrain them most.

And for Magong Yongshi to dare consume something that’s equivalent to "poison" for her current state—

Beichuan Si’s thoughts jumped as he advanced deeper into the underground palace.

The interior of the stone cave was far more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

It could comfortably accommodate fifty to sixty people without feeling crowded.

But Beichuan Si paid no mind to such trivial matters.

He looked up at a massive stone in front of him—

"Is this the sacred stone?"

Beichuan Si murmured to himself.

The sacred stone in front of him was nearly as tall as he was, the entire rock was spherical on the top, squarely cut on the bottom, and wrapped with a white sacred rope.

On the stone walls of the cave, sacred ropes were also hung, clinging to the stone walls, winding around in an irregular circle.

It was like a concentric circle altar, suppressing all the malevolent spirits below.

Around this circular altar were scattered fire baskets, still containing moist charcoal, indicating that rituals indeed used to take place here.

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