Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Both Mr. Hirao and Baishi Shū soon arrived at the reception room where Investigator Ueno from Arakawa was waiting for them.
Since he was not listed as a suspect in Nishimura’s murder case, the atmosphere in the reception room was rather peaceful and not as grim as usual interrogation processes. The time of Nishimura’s death was 12 o’clock at midnight. The footage from the surveillance video along the street, as well as the commute record near 12 midnight, had provided enough alibis for Baishi Shū to purge himself of suspicion. Therefore, although he was the last person in contact with Nishimura, he was the least obvious suspect. The reason Investigator Ueno came to him was to ask him to make a statement.
Since Baishi Shū knew Investigator Ueno was just doing his job, he cooperatively told him everything that happened last night and the details of their conversation.
After he finished giving his statement, he asked, “Investigator Ueno, could I follow you to the police station after school?”
“Of course, that is not a problem, but why would you want to go to the police station?” asked Investigator Ueno in surprise.
His surprise was not totally unfounded. After all, being approached by an investigating officer to give a witness statement was not something everyone would readily accept, despite the fact that they committed no crime. Under normal circumstances, they would quickly send the investigator away after making their statement for fear of getting into serious trouble. However, the student in front of him was different. He remained cool and level-headed throughout the entire investigation process, and now he requested to go to the police station?
As if he saw the surprise on Investigator Ueno’s face, Baishi Shū hastily explained, “I’m sad to hear that Mr. Nishimura has passed away. As a monk, I want to recite the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra for him so that he could find peace in the Pure Land.”
Baishi Shū was truly grief-stricken. He had encountered many things ever since he came to this world two years ago, but none of them left as deep of an impression as the death of Hiroshi Nishimura.
Life was unpredictable.
Nishimura was a benevolent man. He took a financial hit when his house was turned into a haunted house after one of his tenants accidentally set it ablaze and killed himself, but he did not blame the tenant at all. After Baishi Shū helped him get rid of the evil spirit, he did not mourn his loss but instead grieved over the death of the unfortunate tenant.
There was a saying that you reap what you sow. As an empathetic and compassionate person, Nishimura should have led a good life. Yet, he was not rewarded for his kindness. A tragic disaster befell him and he died.
Although Baishi Shū knew nothing was permanent in life, he was both sad and angry at Nishimura’s death. At the end of the day, he felt that this should not be how the world run. All Nishimura ever wished for was a good and simple life. He could not understand why the world just could not grant him such a simple wish.
With that thought in mind, Baishi Shū wanted to recite the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra for him so as to help him secure a favorable rebirth.
Besides, if possible, he also wanted to ask Nishimura’s soul about his unfulfilled wish.
After a human died, his or her soul would linger at their dying spot for a short period of time before finally dissipating. However, if they remained in the physical world for too long, they would slowly lose their senses and eventually turn into wandering souls or evil spirits.
Baishi Shū did not know anything about this in his former incarnation, but as of now, especially after he had activated his Divine Eye and was able to see through Yin and Yang, he was certain that this was the truth.
Japan had a plenitude of legends and myths revolving around different deities, demons, spirits, and ghosts. Coupled with the oddly active spiritual events in this world, even ordinary people knew one or two things about this specific topic. Baishi Shū had even learned that some of the larger shrines or temples would cooperate with the police departments around the country to help deal with incidents that normal people could not handle.
This was also the reason why some of the shrines or temples, and their respective Shinto priest and monk were so popular and well-respected amongst the worshippers. Apparently, it was something not made available to Baishi Shū, who came from a small temple. He had only heard from the old abbot several times.
After hearing what he said, a serious expression dawned on Inspector Ueno’s face. He fell into thought for a beat before finally nodding. “Alright then, I will leave that to you.”
…
Even though he was going to recite sutra upon Nishimura, he had to finish his class first.
Aside from the anger and sorrow that was twisting his heart, the death of Nishimura had made him realize that he was still too weak. Had he been stronger, even if it was still not enough to protect the entire world, at the very least he could guard a small area and prevent an unfortunate incident like this from happening.
Hence, Baishi Shū did not ask for leave but returned to his class to study even harder and enrich himself
Perhaps he was stimulated by the incident, for Baishi Shū had several enlightenments and his spiritual power soared.
Since the old abbot had never taught him anything about the levels of spiritual power or demons, Baishi Shū could not tell whether his spiritual power was considered high or low when compared to other people.
Nevertheless, that was not an issue for Baishi Shū. He had improvised a method of his own to help him quantify the progress of his training. He used the amount of spiritual power raised whenever he recited the “Diamond Sutra” once as the basic unit.
He needed only half an hour to finish reciting the “Diamond Sutra”. Each day, he would spend five hours reciting the sutra to get a total of 10 points of spiritual power. Over the two years period, he had obtained 7,300 points of spiritual power through reciting the sutra.
Each enlightenment would grant him a lot of spiritual power, but enlightenment was something that could only come by luck and could not be sought. He had 137 enlightenments over the two years’ time, and every enlightenment would give him 80 points of spiritual power, so the total of spiritual power he got from his enlightenment was 10,960 points. When he summed up the 7,300 points of spiritual powers he got from reciting the Diamond Sutra and 10,960 points of spiritual power from the enlightenment, it brought the total number to 18,280 points. Then, adding in the 40 points of spiritual power he got from his first awakening, he had a whopping 18,300 points of spiritual power right now.
The spiritual power would not disappear, and it would replenish by itself over time. Baishi Shū had yet figured out the mechanism behind. Although he was very clear that he had 18,300 points of spiritual power right now, he could not tell how strong he really was since he had never met with Shinto priests or monks from other shrines and temples.
As for the old abbot, he was a capable monk.
According to the old abbot, he had defeated and dissipated countless demon kings and spirit kings when he was young. He would travel from one end of Japan to another, smiting demon after demon and spirit after spirit, and there was nothing they could do but cower in fear. Even the Shinto priests and priestesses from the shrine would avoid him when they heard of his name.
That was the most glorious period in his life. Everyone would chant his name when he appeared, and nobody had to fear demons or evil spirits anymore.
Baishi Shū was skeptical towards the story the old abbot told him, as it sounded very familiar. Nevertheless, it proved that the old abbot indeed had spiritual power as well. It was just that no matter how meticulously Baishi Shū studied him, he still could not gauge how much spiritual power he actually had. Perhaps this was what they said a great man always hid his light under a bushel?
The old abbot was a true grandmaster who had achieved the pinnacle. With Baishi Shū’s current spiritual power, it was impossible for him to see through him. Just like those web novels he used to read, those main characters who had reached the late-stage of their cultivation would stay in the city and put on a front of being extremely weak.
Could those small potatoes who were only in the early stages of their cultivation see through the main character’s facade? Nope, they could not. They could only see the surface and nothing more. Hence, Baishi Shū did not take pride in his meager spiritual power.
‘I still have a long way to go,’ he thought inwardly.
The high schools in Japan ended very early. Their school session finished at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. After the class ended, Baishi Shū took his school bag and left school.
His peers did not feel weird or surprised seeing him leave the classroom the moment the bell rang. This was mainly because he would not stay at school for an extra second except for when he was on duty to clean the classroom.
This kind of behavior caused many girls in the school to stamp their feet and sigh disappointedly, but at the same time made them fall even more for him. They said this probably was what made him into the curve wrecker of the school. A lot of them respected his choice instead of chastising him as a shut-in. However, if he was just an ordinary student, their reaction would be entirely different.
What a double-standard.
After leaving his school, Baishi Shū did not return to the temple. After sending a message to the old abbot, he jumped onto his bike and beelined towards the police station in Arakawa City.