This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 98. Magong Dongzi

Chapter 98: Chapter 98. Magong Dongzi

When Master Yutian said those words, Magong Tong, who was on the side, initially stared in surprise then her expression suddenly turned to panic. With her mouth agape, she stammered "ah, ah, ah, ah..." for quite a while before swallowing the thousands of words she had wanted to say, and looked towards Beichuan Si in a flustered manner.

It should be known that she was just introducing Beichuan Si, and someone else speaking about it this way would surely upset Beichuan Si, right?

However, Beichuan Si’s expression remained unchanged, just staring at Master Yutian with twinkling eyes.

This Master Yutian seemed to have the ability to, to a certain extent, utilize good intentions and the power of faith.

Ordinary people might not be able to see it, but Beichuan Si could clearly see the faint golden aura flowing around him.

It was just that the aura was so thin that Beichuan Si felt he could snuff out all the golden aura around him with just a puff of deathly air.

Since the other party had said that, he must have found something on himself.

Beichuan Si pondered for a moment and asked calmly,

"Mage, why would you say something like that?"

It was only then Abbot Yutian realized his slip of the tongue. He chanted a Buddhist mantra, then said apologetically, "I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Beichuan, I misspoke."

"The reason I said that was because I noticed an inauspicious look on Mr. Beichuan’s face, which is a sign of great misfortune and death. I see that Mr. Beichuan has had this look for quite some time, yet he still appears as an ordinary person, so it was out of urgency that I spoke rudely."

A sign of great misfortune and death?

Beichuan Si thought about the constitution that the system had endowed upon him.

It’s always been attracting bizarre, supernatural phenomena...

The ’sign of great misfortune and death’ mentioned by Master Yutian was probably just that, right?

Indeed, if an ordinary person had a constitution that naturally attracted bizarre and supernatural phenomena, they probably wouldn’t know how many times they had died by now.

And moreover...

There are indeed people in this world who possess the ability to attract luck and fend off misfortune...

Beichuan Si took another glance at the Master Yutian in front of him.

Although the golden aura flowing around Master Yutian was indeed rather weak, he still possessed abilities not held by ordinary people.

Only, the other party’s perceptive abilities did not seem to be as sharp as Beichuan Si had imagined, at least he had not detected Nishijou Kelian who was hidden away.

While Beichuan Si fell into thought, Magong Tong on the other side was getting even more flustered.

’A sign of great misfortune and death?’

This was the first time she had ever heard such an unsettling phrase from Master Yutian’s mouth.

Even the bad luck on her had simply been glossed over by Master Yutian with a phrase "dangerous but safe."

Magong Tong’s mouth trembled as she dragged out her words, "Is there, is there, is there, is there, is there a way to resolve this? Master Yutian?"

"This is the first time I’ve seen such a vicious face. I’m powerless and can only leave it to fate," Master Yutian said with some embarrassment. He had been reciting Buddhist scriptures for twenty to thirty years, had some understanding of attracting luck and fending off misfortune, but the evil thoughts on Beichuan Si were simply not something that could be dealt with by those simple means.

He was helpless.

"What are we going to do about this, Beichuan!" Magong Tong jumped up in fear, looking at Beichuan Si with concern.

The person concerned, Beichuan Si, still looked calm and composed, whereas she, the bystander, was shivering so much she couldn’t speak clearly.

"It’s okay, Master Yutian also said to leave it to fate, and besides, Magong, you see, I’ve grown up without anything happening to me, right?"

Beichuan Si casually reasoned, which still managed to comfort Magong Tong a little.

"That’s right, Mr. Beichuan has managed to hold on until today and remains like an ordinary person, I believe that the days ahead will surely bring good fortune to the virtuous," Master Yutian chanted another Buddhist mantra and formed a Dharma Seal before asking, "What brings Miss Magong and Mr. Beichuan here today? Is there something you need to do?"

"I wish to pray and offer sacrifices at Granny Magong’s spiritual shrine,"

Before Magong Tong could speak, Beichuan Si took the initiative to say.

"For praying and offering sacrifices to relatives, please head to Hanedan Spirit Garden," Master Yutian stepped back two steps, his expression amiable as he spoke, "I have some other matters to attend to, so I won’t accompany you both for now."

True to his role as the abbot, Master Yutian was quick to adjust his mindset after the initial shock and regained his composure. He chanted a Buddhist invocation and then made his way toward the direction of the main hall.

It seemed that the other party really did have urgent business, otherwise he wouldn’t have left after just a few words.

"Then... Beichuan, we should also head to Hanedan Spirit Garden..." Magong Tong whispered softly beside him.

"Mhm," Beichuan Si looked thoughtfully at Master Yutian as he walked away towards the main hall, then nodded.

...

The spirit garden, within Japanese temples, is actually just another name for cemeteries where graves are enshrined.

Hanedan Spirit Garden was hidden to the west side of the main hall, presumably to capture the concept of Western Paradise.

But while Master Yutian referred to it as a ’spirit garden,’ the ’spirit garden’ before them was in fact more like an auxiliary hall within the temple.

The entire garden was encased under a roof covering the Four Directions, with incense burner tables set up in the Four Directions within. The spiritual shrine cabinets were neatly fixed against the blue-walled interior, with numerous small cabinet doors.

If Beichuan Si wasn’t mistaken, each of these cabinet doors contained an urn.

On the spare sides were erected long wooden boards slightly notched on both sides, symbolizing pagodas, known as stupas, covered with names of the deceased.

In the swirling incense smoke, there was an air of simplicity and solemnity.

According to Magong Tong, this was because Yutian Temple temporarily couldn’t afford to allocate cemetery land, and hence had to use this kind of ’auxiliary hall’ as a cemetery.

Since it was a workday today, the only people to pay respects were Beichuan Si and Magong Tong, leaving the entire spirit garden silent, without a soul in sight.

Magong Tong had originally planned to lead Beichuan Si to her grandmother’s shrine cabinet.

But to her complete surprise, without her guidance, Beichuan Si was the first to walk up to Magong Dongzi’s shrine cabinet.

"Beichuan..." Magong Tong sensed that something about Beichuan Si seemed different, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed, so she simply called his name softly.

"Don’t worry, Magong," Beichuan Si dispelled the slight worry in her heart, turned his head towards Magong Tong and said, "You should still remember what I said to you earlier, right? I’ll let you see Magong Dongzi once more, but likewise, I want to ask you some questions."

"..." Magong Tong.

Beichuan was yet again saying things she couldn’t understand.

While she too dearly wished to see Grandma Dongzi, she knew that it was utterly impractical.

At least Master Yutian couldn’t help her with this.

Beichuan Si glanced at the surroundings and seizing a moment when no one was to be seen, he patted the edge of his collar.

Then... to Magong Tong’s astonishment, a small doll emerged from the collar of Beichuan Si’s shirt.

The sneaky movements of the doll, as if it were a living thing, made Magong Tong’s lips quiver,

"Bei- Bei- Beichuan!" she exclaimed, "Your doll..."

With an expressionless face, Beichuan Si gestured for her to be silent, and Magong Tong quickly covered her mouth with her pale hand.

While her eyes were wide with shock, she saw the ominous little doll which had climbed onto Beichuan Si’s shoulder begin to emit a golden powder.

This golden powder floated into the air, morphing and dispersing, and eventually formed the shape of a person.

The figure gradually materialized, becoming the distinctly older face familiar to Magong Tong.

It was indeed Magong Dongzi, who had passed away nine years earlier!

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