Inspector Aoki didn’t know that Baishi Shū was worrying whether he would become an experimental subject or not.
He thought for a moment when he heard the question. Then, he replied seriously, “I guess we’ll report it as an accident. Regardless of the situation, generally, when a paranormal event happens and if there is casualty, we will announce it to the public and record it as a suicide or accidental death. Death can’t be prevented and there is no way to see through a person’s heart. As long as the condition is favorable, evil spirits and yokai will be born. A paranormal event is unpredictable and telling the truth to the public will only create unwanted chaos. Thus, rather than having everyone living in fear, we decide to tell a little white lie.”
Baishi Shū did not make any comment. After all, the government had to do what they needed to do. Just like Inspector Aoki had mentioned, death could not be prevented. The hearts of humans were the hardest thing to see through, and there was no way one could know what the other was thinking. So long as people held grudges and the conditions were met, evil spirits and yokai would be born.
Hence, the paranormal event was unpredictable. However, it was different this time. There were too many victims involved.
“Would the public accept this kind of excuse?”
“Well, what should we tell them, then? Should we tell them that a girl turned into a yokai due to domestic violence and trapped everyone inside a wall? And that it’s all thanks to Master Baishi’s effort that everyone was rescued in the end? No offense Master Baishi, but I don’t think that is possible. Like I said, to maintain social stability, we need a little lie,” Said Inspector Aoki as he laughed.
Baishi Shū felt that he was right. As he said, sometimes a lie was more acceptable than the bitter truth.
After he got the answer he wanted, Baishi Shū took his leave.
He did not take the monorail back to Reimei Temple since Inspector Aoki offered him a ride. As he walked towards the car, he sank deep into his thoughts.
The world was sending him a warning message, that was the only thing he could be absolutely certain about. It was telling him that people were suffering and he needed to do something about it. However, Baishi Shū felt his strength was not enough, or to be more precise, he felt having spiritual power alone was inadequate. After all, there were so many holy monks that had greater spiritual power than him but still couldn’t solve anything. This could only mean one thing—knowledge was very important. It was only by combining the knowledge of the new era, the scriptures that had been passed down since ancient times, and his own understanding that a true path of redemption, meant to change the world, could be paved.
The best example that was born under the idea was the Baishi Universal Deliverance. Its appearance had proved that he was not on the wrong path.
While they were on their way back to Shibuya, Baishi Shū asked for compensation from Inspector Aoki. At the end of the day, without financial support, he could not continue his studies. Besides, the price of his service was cheap. Even though he had marked up his price, it was only 20 thousand yen. Of course, he would not refuse if his client wanted to pay more.
For example, Inspector Aoki gave him 50 thousand yen as his remuneration. He told him that this was the standard remuneration given to clergy for working with the police department. He could apply for reimbursement from the police department as well.
As for the clairvoyance talisman, Baishi Shū had no idea what to do with it either. He had never expected the effect to be so strong, he had just injected 10 points of spiritual power during the crafting process.
‘Should I reduce the amount to one point of spiritual power next time? But how effective can the talisman be if it only has one point of spiritual power?’ He wondered.
In the end, Baishi Shū advised him to chant the Heart Sutra once every day to ward off the poisoning effect of the yin energy.
Inspector Aoki nodded. Initially, he was a Shintoist. Right now, he became a devout follower of Baishi Shū after witnessing his boundless spiritual power.
…
They soon arrived at Shibuya. After he bade Inspector Aoki farewell, he headed towards Yoyogi Park. Along the way, he bought himself a new handphone.
Though a handphone was the root of slothfulness, it was really inconvenient living without it. Sauntering down the street, he arrived at Reimei Temple very soon. Surprisingly, the old abbot was not playing with his phone tonight. Instead, he was sitting on the futon, staring at the Buddha statue.
When he sensed Baishi Shu, he turned around and asked, “Is it the soul orb again?”
The moment he received Inspector Aoki’s phone call saying that he saw a yokai, he already knew what was going on.
As expected, Baishi Shū nodded.
“Yeah, it was a little girl this time. She was abused by her parents and friends in school. The soul orb drew out her hatred and negative emotions, so she turned into a yokai.”
“What a sin,” the old abbot sighed. Baishi Shū didn’t know whether he was referring to the parents, the students, the person behind the scene, or Tong Ling.
There were not many people who were innocent in this matter. It was just that no matter what, it was none of Baishi Shu’s business. All he could do right now was find out the perpetrator and erase the existence of the soul orb from the surface of the world. Otherwise, every time there was a yokai born using the soul orb, it meant an innocent soul had been consumed.
“Don’t worry, abbot. I have pinpointed the girl’s apartment with my Divine Eye. When an evil spirit or a yokai appears, I will know instantly.”
“Amitabha…” The old abbot nodded slightly. Then, he realized something was not right.
“Shinsei, are you saying that you are using your Divine Eye to observe… Nakano city?”
Although Nakano city was pretty close to Shibuya, the crow-fly distance from Reimei Temple to Nakano city was about several kilometers. He was going to monitor an apartment several kilometers away, not to mention there were many obstacles, such as trees, buildings, people, and so on.
Baishi Shū nodded simply. He asked, “Yes, anything wrong?”
The old abbot fell silent for half a second before saying, “No, you may proceed.”
After that, Baishi Shū returned to the futon, took out a book from his bag, and began reading.
Since he had to monitor Morishita Akiko’s apartment, his reading speed and efficiency was not as good. However, it was fine for him, as he knew that to catch a big fish, one must cast a long line.
He intended to study and train endlessly for the next two days while monitoring Morishita Akiko’s apartment at the same time. If nothing happened on Wednesday, it meant the person had already achieved his goal.
At that time, he had to think of another way to get to the person.
…
In fact, the battle ended sooner than he expected.
At around 1:00 a.m. that night, his fish showed up.
Nakano City, Morishita Akiko’s apartment.
A four-faced creature went through the wall and appeared on top of the table.
“Do we have to be so cautious? It’s midnight and I’m sure the monk is already asleep,” Jovial said.
“Besides, even if he hasn’t slept yet, we are a couple of kilometers away from him. Even Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken from the Meiji Shrine would not be able to sense us, let alone that monk…”
“Well, better safe than sorry. That monk is too terrifying. While he’s still a fledgling monk, he is capable of exorcising Warui-Otoko. In the past few years, he’s crossed every evil spirit over in one palm. Even Akachan is no match for him…”
“No yokai or evil spirit knows how strong he really is,” Cowardice said cravenly.
It turned out that he was not spineless enough.
If he was really afraid of Baishi Shu, then he should have stayed in the jungle and not came out to wander around.
Inside Reimei Temple, the candlelight was swaying with the wind. Holding a book in his hand, a smirk appeared on Baishi Shu’s face.
“I see you.”