Merchant of the Underworld

The shrine maiden spoke something in Japanese, which of course we couldn't understand, and she asked in blunt Chinese: "What are you doing? Why did you break into the shrine?"

"Can you speak Chinese?" I was very surprised.

"I have read ancient Chinese books and learned Chinese grammar." Although the witch can speak Chinese, the grammar is not clear and it sounds weird. She raised the broom again and asked sternly: "Answer my question!"

"We are chasing a little fox. She stole our passports. If you don't believe me, you can ask him." I pointed at the man in the T-shirt.

The witch looked at us suspiciously and said, "Chasing a little fox? You're lying!"

"Then why do you think we broke in here late at night? Are we here to steal something? Is there anything to steal in the shrine?"

She glared at me: "We don't have any foxes here!"

I wanted to laugh a little when I heard her speak, but I held it back. It was a bit rude. Chinese is so difficult to learn, so it was good that we could communicate.

I said: "This is Inari Shrine, isn't it the fox that is enshrined?"

The witch sneered: "So, there are Guanyin temples in China, too?"

The man in the t-shirt explained: "To be honest, I am a Taoist monk from Lost Way Temple in Hong Kong. That fox probably led us here with some purpose. Can you take us in to visit? We will definitely not disturb you. Your place.”

The witch frowned and asked me again: "What about you?"

"I am a femininity dealer. You may not have heard of this profession."

The witch didn't understand what a feminine thing was. She only understood the word "businessman" and asked, "How come a businessman and a Taoist priest come together?"

I said: "Essentially, we are peers, similar to your Japanese Onmyoji."

She didn't understand, so she put down the broom and said, "Okay, I can take you in and take a look. If you don't have the passport, I will call the police and arrest you."

"Okay!" I nodded.

The witch led us along the mountain path. Although she was wearing a witch costume with wide robes and long sleeves, we could see that she had a good figure, neither fat nor thin, and she had curvy figures. Of course, I am not such a beast, so I treat the witch All have ideas.

The mountain path is very long and steep. There is a row of red sculptures with some lanterns hanging on them. The illumination is limited. Fortunately, the moon is very bright tonight.

There are dark woods on both sides of the road, and the chirping of birds can be heard from time to time. Some stone sculptures of foxes can be seen, varying in size. The largest one is about half a person tall. They stand like humans, wearing ancient clothes, with their hands clasped together, and their narrowed eyes half-smiling. If you were to walk here alone late at night, you would probably feel a bit eerie.

As I walked, my eyes suddenly opened up, and a tall red wooden gatehouse appeared. On it were the words "Inari Shrine" written in Chinese characters. On the cement seats on both sides, there was a fox squatting on each side, holding a bunch in its mouth. Ears of rice.

The witch led us into the gate. The yard was very large and spacious, the floor was swept clean, many trees were planted, there were rockeries and springs, and it was surrounded by some red Tang-style buildings. It looked very new, but I knew it must be older. Very long.

I can't help but feel like I've traveled back in time to the Tang Dynasty. It's probably not a problem to shoot a costume film here. I heard that last year's "The Assassin" starring Shu Qi had some scenes shot in Kyoto.

I paid attention to the Feng Shui pattern here and found that the layout was very clever. Someone must have given guidance when it was first built. This is a large shrine with a national treasure level in Japan.

At this time, the witch stopped, turned around and said to us: "Where is the passport? I will take you to find it. You are not allowed to trespass without permission."

I thought to myself that this witch was deliberately making things difficult for us. How would we know where the passport was if we didn't look around for it? But the man in the T-shirt suddenly said: "I feel the evil spirit, it should be there."

He stretched out a finger and pointed to the location of the main hall.

The witch asked doubtfully: "Are you sure?"

The man in the T-shirt nodded.

"Okay, I'll take you there." The witch said.

You must take off your shoes when entering the main hall. There is a statue of a god covered in red cloth enshrined in the main hall. Although it looks like a human, its face and expression are a bit like a fox. I asked the shrine maiden if that was Tamamo-mae? She said no: "Many Chinese tourists ask me this kind of question, which makes me laugh and cry."

"You can't laugh or cry." I corrected her.

Sure enough, there were several passports on the altar table. I picked them up and found that they were all for five people. There was something underneath the passports, which was a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva talisman!

This talisman was attached to a whole wooden board. The miko screamed and took it in her hand to check. Her eyes widened. The man in the T-shirt and I looked at each other.

I gave this talisman to the oden stall owner. The demon fox itself is an evil spirit and cannot touch the talisman casually, so I pried off the entire board. She put the charm here and took the trouble to bring us in. I thought to myself that this little fox must have done nothing good by arranging this.

The witch asked me: "Is this talisman also yours?"

This witch was wary of us all the way and didn't seem to welcome us. I didn't want to go out any further and went back to the hotel to rest early, but in the end I nodded and said, "I painted it!"

"You know how to draw such a charm?" She was even more surprised.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She clasped her hands together and said very sincerely: "Can you give me a few?"

She said it was a bit embarrassing to talk about it. There has been something wrong in the shrine recently. It seemed to be haunted. There were always strange movements late at night. Something was throwing bricks against the wall. Some people even saw a headless samurai on the mountain path. Walking around, scaring several witches, and last month there was a flaming head flying around the yard.

The priests in the shrines, large and small, have no way to do it. Although Japan has Shintoism and Onmyoji, there are no serious cultivation methods. As servants of the gods, the witch priests themselves have no ability to subjugate demons. Individual witches do He has divine power, but it comes from his bloodline. As for the Onmyoji in history, their inheritance has long been lost.

The miko said shyly: "My grandma was a famous miko in Kyoto back then, but by my generation, she has no magic power at all..."

"What's your name?" I asked.

The miko called herself Chiba Rin, and the man in the T-shirt and I introduced ourselves casually. I said, "Miss Chiba, how do you know this charm has magical power?"

"Because we also have Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's talisman." The witch said with shining eyes.

I was surprised. Not only did she know that this talisman had magical power, but she also knew its name. This girl seemed to have some knowledge.

"Can you two come with me? I want to see something." The witch stretched out her hand in a gesture of invitation.

I felt refreshed and thought that there was another business coming my way.