This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 131 - 130. Divine Wood Forest

Chapter 131: 130. Divine Wood Forest

"Mr. Temple! No matter how hard I pulled on you just now, it was no use. What exactly happened? You were—"

Magong Yongshi looked at Beichuan Si with worry in her eyes, still showing signs of lingering anxiety.

In contrast to her nervousness, Beichuan Si shook his head, "I saw children."

"Children?"

Magong Yongshi was somewhat puzzled.

"Children missing their heads, with blood-stained ground—they kept hopping on one foot and singing nursery rhymes in the dusk, step by step toward the edge of the cliff."

Beichuan Si found the scene terrifying and eerie, but amidst the horror and strangeness, there was also an indescribable sense of tragic beauty.

Eerie yet beautiful.

"Missing heads..." Magong Yongshi’s eyes reflected a touch of sorrow as she spoke slowly, "In the legends of Shenzhu Village, the Evil Spirit would devour the heads of children to become more intelligent, right... the nursery rhyme..."

"It’s a very old nursery rhyme that has spread far and wide, known as the ’Kagome Song.’"

Beichuan Si shook his head.

He had heard this very famous Japanese nursery rhyme when he was in China.

Perhaps no one would remember it just from saying the three words "Kagome Song," but the song also has another prominent name—"Bird in a Cage."

In it, Kagome, the cage (kagome), refers to the ’Kagome woman.’

The so-called Kagome woman, also known as cage woman, represents pregnant women, and the bird in the cage stands for the unborn child.

The scene of ’being on the verge of dawn’ does not exist in this world—it signifies the ’hidden world.’

The next line, ’the crane and the turtle,’ symbolizes well wishes for the birth, but when the crane and the turtle (kame) fall, it implies miscarriage, premature death.

These children wandering in Shenzhu Mountain undoubtedly belong to the category of spirits who died prematurely.

Their fighting power is not strong, but they seem to have a natural advantage in befuddling the mind. If it hadn’t been for Nishijou Kurenai, Beichuan Si wouldn’t necessarily have died, but getting skinned and ending up in a sorry state would have been certain.

Perhaps these resentful spirits were venting their grievances for dying young in Shenzhu Mountain through the Kagome Song.

"The Kagome Song..."

Magong Yongshi obviously understood the meaning behind the song as well. Her face showed sadness, and she heaved a deep sigh.

Shenzhu Mountain, as a spiritual realm... and these unblessed child spirits who died there simply kept repeating the act of their death, forever performing their one-footed dance.

Just then, the system alert arrived on schedule:

’Kagome resentful spirits x3 collected, three junior intermediate-level resentful spirits, 4.5 skill points acquired. Remaining skill points: 6.’

After chatting with Magong Yongshi a bit more, Beichuan Si took out his water bottle, took a sip, and continued stepping toward the mountain peak.

Soon, he heard the sound of running water.

This sound might well be from what Magong Yongshi called the ’spring abyss.’

Beichuan Si’s spirit lifted as he maintained his pace, climbing step by step.

After another ten or so minutes, Beichuan Si finally reached the main path.

On the other side of the path, there was a small waterfall flowing into the mountain stream.

It wasn’t until he stood here that Beichuan Si’s vision broadened.

It turned out that the entire spring abyss had three tiers of height, from the mountain base to the middle of the mountain there were three waterfalls, the water branching off, part of it flowing into Shenzhu River, and another stream concealed by the dense forest with its destination unknown.

This deep and eerie atmosphere was captivating, but after the recent experience with the Kagome Song, Beichuan Si was invigorated, no longer susceptible to such influences.

"The villagers take purifying water from the spring abyss to drink, followed by blessings from the priest before descending the mountain."

"And Shenzhu Shrine does not allow any villagers to enter."

Magong Yongshi’s memory seemed to revive another fragment, and she spoke.

"Do you remember where Shenzhu Shrine is now?" Beichuan Si turned and asked.

"...My memory is still somewhat blurry, but what I can clearly remember is... to enter the Shenzhu Shrine, one must continue to walk upwards."

Magong Yongshi raised her head.

Her gaze followed the spring abyss upwards, ever upwards—

until it reached the summit of Shenzhu Mountain...

...

The main path was much easier to walk on than the smaller trails, and Beichuan Si continued to ascend the mountain.

Above the spring abyss was a forest.

Above the trees of the forest hung Shimenawa ropes, and zigzag-shaped Shide ornaments fell, conveying an indescribable sense of sacred solemnity.

"The Divine Wood Forest, this is the place where the Shenzhu villagers have most often disappeared without a trace. As soon as someone vanishes, villagers with torches would come to the Divine Wood Forest to search. If they cannot find the missing person in the Divine Wood Forest, then it is officially confirmed that the person has disappeared into the hidden world."

Magong Yongshi’s voice rose beside Beichuan Si’s ear.

"These Shimenawa ropes serve as a barrier set up to prevent the villagers from being pulled into the hidden world."

For some reason, the closer they got to the Shenzhu Shrine, the worse Magong Yongshi’s condition became, to the point where she could no longer maintain her physical form and had to take refuge in the small doll belonging to Nishijou Kurenai.

"Let’s go." Beichuan Si called out and plunged into the Divine Wood Forest.

Inside the Divine Wood Forest was a small path that had been frequently traversed by people, meandering deeper into it.

Walking on this long path felt as though the memory of the road itself was being inherited.

The cold mountain wind grew even more intense.

On the mountain path, there seemed to be fleeting figures.

As if inviting Beichuan Si—

Without a word, Beichuan Si immediately launched Jian Ding from his hand!

A deathly aura formed a line and coiled around the handle of Jian Ding.

Spiritual Dagger Technique!

Jian Ding glittered with cold light in the air, moving like a living creature among the figures before Beichuan Si pulled it back into his hand with the deathly aura.

As the figures exploded with resentment, they sank into the mountain.

Beichuan Si waited for a while but didn’t hear any system prompts.

This meant that those figures were just manifestations made of pure resentment.

Such things couldn’t even reach the level of ’vengeful spirits’; they were simply overflowing resentments.

Beichuan Si guessed that these were the resentments of those who had disappeared.

To cast shadows as people— it meant they hoped the villagers would find them.

But Shenzhu Village had already been wiped out, and even the main path to the Shenzhu Shrine had been sealed, so the thoughts of these vanished gods naturally remained unknown.

And within the vast Shenzhu Mountain, there were still many more strange, fantastical stories waiting for Beichuan Si to unearth.

"Let’s keep going." Beichuan Si regrouped and was about to continue up the mountain—

"Ah!!!"

Magong Yongshi trembled violently.

She shot out of the doll in an instant, her ethereal body quivering intensely.

It was a sign of an unsteady spiritual body.

"What’s wrong?" Beichuan Si swiftly moved to Magong Yongshi’s side.

"I... can’t do it. The Shenzhu Shrine... seems to be rejecting me."

Magong Yongshi’s form became even more ephemeral.