This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 145 - 144: Concubine (14th Update)

Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Concubine (14th Update)

Most of the documents on the desk pertain to the financial expenses of the Shenzhu branch family and the repairs of the Shrine.

Beichuan Si also found the details of the Shinra Bell incident from that year on the desk.

The purification ceremony was mostly prepared by the Shenzhu branch family, who also killed that young man.

The man who was killed was named Asao Shizuka, and the shrine maiden who committed suicide for love was named Shinju Rina.

At the time, the purification ceremony was conducted by Shinju Rina for Asao Shizuka, who was deeply attracted to her solemn and sacred beauty.

In the days that followed, they met every night outside the Water Shrine.

But how could their every move escape the attention of the Shenzhu Main Family and the branch family?

The Shenzhu branch family took the man into the underground palace to kill him, but there was no sinking of the body because of the upcoming festival.

No one expected that after that, the Shinra Bell incident would occur.

Just as Beichuan Si was about to flip through more documents, his movements suddenly froze. Jian Ding in hand, he swiftly turned around, his arm hooking in a sharp sweep of Jian Ding’s blade through the air behind him.

There, a Spiritual Body was twisting, preparing to materialize.

With a splurch—

Jian Ding entered flesh, and the shrine maiden’s vengeful spirit let out a wail of despair before retreating back into the darkness.

Beichuan Si’s body remained tense in situ for a long time, scanning back and forth, only sheathing Jian Ding once he was sure the adversary had indeed retreated.

However, deep bewilderment still lingered in his eyes.

This shrine maiden’s vengeful spirit did not attack upon seeing him, completely out of sync with the usual behavior of vengeful spirits.

"Could it be that Shenzhu Shrine also has something like the Soul Suppressing Stone to suppress vengeful spirits?"

Just like Magong Yongshi originally harboring resentment but being subdued by the Soul Suppressing Stone, thus not turning into a vengeful spirit.

If Shenzhu Shrine also had such things, could it be possible that Shinju Rina retained a sliver of reason?

If such grounding and focusing artifacts existed, this would be understandable.

After all, Beichuan Si’s understanding of vengeful spirits was limited; most of his conclusions were drawn by himself, with the system offering no hints whatsoever.

Although there might be special cases among vengeful spirits, the general rules still held fast without issue.

If Sakura Yuki had had such a handy tool back then, could she have shown mercy?

These were all still unclear.

Beichuan Si didn’t care much; if the shrine maiden’s vengeful spirit appeared again, he could simply observe its behavior before taking action.

He flipped through more items on the desk and pulled open all the drawers.

Within his ruthless stance of preferring to kill wrongly rather than spare an adversary, he actually uncovered an ancient document.

The Shenzhu Main Family seemed to favor the form of shrine documents bound with red string; compared to other files and records, these were much easier to distinguish.

’Shenzhu branch family, underground palace.’

’The underground palace is used jointly by the Shenzhu Main Family and the Shenzhu branch family.’

’All punishments for those sent to the underground palace are managed by the Concubine.’

’If there are Soul Suppressing Twins contaminated by impurity, they are to be sent to the underground palace, where the Concubine extracts their tainted blood for cleansing, with the cleansed blood replacing the person of the Soul Suppressing Twins. A sufficient amount of blood is required without regard for the life or death of the Soul Suppressing Twins.’

’What is considered impurity?’

’Harboring unclean romantic feelings is to be unclean.’

’Those with a heavy longing for the mortal world are unclean.’

’The Soul Suppressing Twins must maintain their own purity at all times.’

’They must not be contaminated, they must not be unclean.’

"Concubine?" Beichuan Si murmured the term.

In ancient Japanese, ’閥’ shared a homophonic relationship with ’punishment.’

That is to say, the main duties of this Concubine were related to punishment and matters concerning the Soul Suppressing Twins.

The Concubine served as a safeguard; if the Soul Suppressing Twins cooperated and remained untainted, there would be no need for the blood purification ritual. However, if the Soul Suppressing Twins indulged in any unclean behavior, she would be the one to carry out the blood purification ritual.

After all, no one can guarantee that every generation of Soul Suppressing Twins will behave obediently, so the presence of the Concubine is nothing but normal.

Furthermore, the records in the document made Beichuan Si think of something else—

Magong Dongzi’s diary.

Beichuan Si fished out his own notebook and squinted at the notes under the flashlight:

Why did Mazi want to flee?

And how could they do that to her?

Blood... so much blood... Mazi, she will be okay, right? She really will be, won’t she?

Why did they have to do this?

It hurts so much for Mazi... I can feel it, she...

Then the diary entries continued:

’August 10th, 1965.

I borrowed a pen from the nurse and pulled over my notebook, propping it against the hospital bed.

The weather today is so cold... perhaps it’s because I’ve lost too much blood?

What’s the point of... that kind of thing?

I finally understand why Mazi ran away; if it continued, perhaps I, too, would have died.

Mazi... I might come to see you soon.

But there’s no helping it... if it’s really as Father and Mother said...’

From here, it can be seen that Magong Dongzi might have been one of the Soul Suppressing Twins from the previous generation of Magong Yongshi.

A corner of the truth of bygone days unveiled itself, as Beichuan Si sorted through his thoughts once again.

Firstly, according to Magong Dongzi’s records, it could be ascertained.

This Shenzhu Mazi must have fled during the ritual.

Such action was intolerable ’unclean behavior’ to the Shenzhu Main Family, thus they collected her fresh blood, allowing the Concubine to perform the blood purification ritual.

According to the records in the document, the blood purification ritual had to ensure a sufficient amount of blood, so that a certain other important ritual could proceed smoothly.

Beichuan Si then recalled the blood-stained stone platform in the Kikuchi Yu video.

That must have been where the crucial ritual took place.

Magong Dongzi had undoubtedly gone through the ritual right there.

"But Magong Dongzi survived, which suggests that the ritual might not necessarily cause the death of the Soul Suppressing Twins. It’s just that Shenzhu Mazi did something superfluous, breached a taboo, and was killed due to excessive bloodletting by the Concubine."

Hidden beneath the Shenzhu branch family’s residence was an underground palace, which might dispel the myriad doubts plaguing Beichuan Si.

"We must also explore near the flower pond, and search for the underground palace."

Having identified these two objectives, Beichuan Si solemnly packed away the documents, triple-checked for any other materials, and departed the room.

Next to the study was the master of the house’s living quarters, with a big hole gaping in the roof. Many documents were damaged by insect activity and mold, rendering their text illegible. Since Nishijou Kurenai had not discovered anything significant, Beichuan Si chose not to waste more time in the master’s residence.

He planned to check the entrance hall on the ground floor next, which should lead directly to the courtyard.

And to look for the path to the underground palace, of course, he had to go to the ground floor as well.

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