This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 154 - 153: Shihui (23rd Update)

Chapter 154: Chapter 153: Shihui (23rd Update)

Beichuan Si paid no attention to the fallen bookshelves.

He walked straight to the side of the Shenzhu Family Head’s corpse.

Nine years had passed, and the corpse had become desiccated, resembling dried jerky which seemed as if it could be easily torn apart with a light pull.

The shriveled body was covered in numerous knife marks.

It seemed the knife-wielding priestess had indeed mutilated the Shenzhu Family Head’s corpse after his death.

Such a brutal and sadistic attitude...

Beichuan Si fell silent for a moment.

But he also gleaned some information.

The knife-wielding priestess was a product birthed by misfortune.

Although he still couldn’t grasp the identity of the other party, seeing the actions of the Shenzhu Family Head before dying, he knew that the blooming of the Soul Summoning Flower must have a repressive, or even an expulsive effect on the knife-wielding priestess.

Beichuan Si reached out and searched around on the withered corpse.

He came across a scroll that looked like an official document in his hand.

"Indeed, something was hidden."

A flash crossed Beichuan Si’s eyes.

The fact that the Shenzhu Family Head carried this document before death indicated its importance.

Most of the document was stained with black blood, but opening it posed no problem whatsoever.

Beichuan Si wedged the flashlight under his arm and flipped through the document with both hands.

Recorded on this scroll was the ritual related to the welcoming of the divine flower!

Even Beichuan Si couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement.

After such a long investigation, he had finally grasped a clue!

The ancient document read as follows:

"Shenzhu Shrine, the ritual for welcoming the divine flower."

"The ritual for welcoming the divine flower is a ceremony produced through the Soul Suppressing Twins."

"The ritual for welcoming the divine flower must be held once every forty-five years."

"The divine flower, that is, the Soul Summoning Flower, serves as the conduit for opening the path to the Nether Spring and the underworld, with the affliction also entering the Yellow Springs."

"During this forty-five-year period, twins will inevitably be born to the Magong main family."

"The eldest and the second daughters should immediately undergo the Soul Guiding Ceremony to enhance their spiritual sensitivity, in preparation to become the Soul Suppressing Twins."

"The eldest daughter is to be raised by the Shenzhu family, and the second by the Magong family. Since the souls of twins are interconnected, growing up separately is more conducive to the enhancement of their spiritual sensitivity."

"The Soul Suppressing Twins, who have undergone the Soul Summoning Ceremony, have powerful spiritual sensitivity, and their cleansing blood can cause the Soul Summoning Flower to bloom."

"The two Family Head keys combined can unlock the gate to the nether."

"Fill the gate to the nether with the clean blood of the Soul Suppressing Twins, offered by a calm-hearted concubine."

"Remember, the blood of the twins must remain pure."

"Otherwise, it will be unable to suppress the affliction, but rather will cause it to go berserk."

"One who is entwined by the fierce affliction will transform into ’calamity’."

"Talismans, blessings, sacred dances, and purification rites are all useless."

"If one wishes to send the ’calamity’ back into the Yellow Springs, another ceremony needs to be initiated."

That was where the record ended.

Beichuan Si, having received so much information all at once, couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

He quickly began organizing his thoughts.

First, the critical information recorded in the document included the forty-five-year cycle, the Family Head keys of both the Shenzhu and Magong families, twin blood, and the calamity.

"Let’s recall first," Beichuan Si murmured to himself.

The first was the forty-five-year period.

Magong Dongzi’s diary had noted that her ritual was held in the Showa year 40.

Showa 40, that is, 1965.

And Shenzhu Village had been destroyed nine years prior, which was 2010.

The failure of the ritual led to the descent of the affliction, and with the affliction’s arrival, the villagers conducting the Mountain Shape Ritual at the foot of the mountain were buried by a mudslide.

Shenzhu Village was thus annihilated.

Neither the Magong family nor the Shenzhu family survived.

Then there were the Family Head keys of the Shenzhu and Magong families.

If not mistaken, the key of the Shenzhu family must be matched with that of the Magong family.

This was also the main reason why the key of the Magong family was only half.

"So the reason Magong Dongzi only gave me half of the key is because opening the Nether Door originally requires the combination of keys from both Shenzhu and Magong."

Beichuan Si murmured to himself.

The key of the Magong Family was secured in his waist pouch.

He no longer needed to return on the same path to retrieve the key.

Next up was the blood of the Soul Suppressing Twins.

According to the records, if the twins’ blood was not pure, it would lead to the failure of the ritual.

And the failure of the ritual would engender a ’disaster.’

That must be the essence of the knife-wielding shrine maiden Beichuan Si had seen.

"That means... Shenzhu Zhong really is one of the Soul Suppressing Twins..."

Beichuan Si thought about the memory he had seen.

In the memory, Shenzhu Zhong met a young man and fell in love with him.

It was precisely because of this that her blood was no longer pure, ultimately causing the ritual to run amok—

What followed this was most critical.

The identity of ’disaster.’

If Beichuan Si was not mistaken, ’disaster,’ which is the knife-wielding shrine maiden, should be the Concubine.

The Concubine, involved in the midst of disaster, transformed into a ’disaster,’ slaughtering everyone from both the Shenzhu branch family and the Shenzhu Main Family.

"This line of reasoning should be correct."

With the current clues, this was the only conclusion he could come to.

But Beichuan Si still felt like he was missing something.

Was there a fatal flaw in his reasoning?

"All those things... must be thoroughly investigated."

Before that, he would take this hypothesis as a reference.

Beichuan Si gently pinched the ebony hairpin.

Shenzhu Zhong...

The directly failed ritual...

Most importantly, that inexplicable sense of disharmony...

The sinister and icy feeling still lingered around his neck, making him terribly uncomfortable.

Beichuan Si pondered for a moment then shook his head and walked into the room.

The last place the Shenzhu Family Head had visited was the study.

This could be seen from the overturned bookshelves outside.

Beichuan Si shone his flashlight towards the desk on the other side.

Many books were placed on the desk.

It seemed that the Shenzhu Family Head had also consulted many documents here before his death.

Right in the middle, there was a pale yellow diary.

The diary was already spread open, and Beichuan Si could see the words on it at a glance.

The dense, reluctant, and frantic sentences.

’Why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail why did it fail?...’

Clearly, the heap of materials accumulated here had not been able to dispel his confusion.

Beichuan Si couldn’t help but flip the notebook forward.

"Hm?"

The record there struck him as odd, and the dissonance in his heart grew heavier.

On this page of the notebook, it was written:

"Yongshi’s words concerned me, but no matter what, the ritual must be carried out."

"Shihui... Can she truly bear her own mission?"

"But no matter what, that child has no way back now... This is her destiny."

"I hope the ritual will proceed smoothly."

"She also is an exceptional shrine maiden."

Below that, the Shenzhu Family Head seemed to have lost the mood to continue writing in his diary.

Yet, his fragmented words had cast huge doubts within Beichuan Si.

Shihui?

Again, Shihui?