Baishi Shū stood steadfast on the roof, with his gilded staff in his hand. The moonlight showered his shoulder, forming a silver halo of light around his body. He had a faint smile on his face, and he exuded the vibes of a holy monk. If it were not for his black monk robes and his clean-shaven head, he was certain that his image as a holy monk would be even more perfect.
Just as he was lamenting about his image, the girl, who had been turned into a yokai by the soul orb, materialized from the wall and flew up to the roof. Newton would have certainly clawed his way out of his coffin if he got wind of this scene.
“You are…?” Hoshino Riho asked hesitantly. She had encountered too much tonight.
Firstly, it was a four-faced yokai who said that it had seen an atomic bomb explode before. Then, it was a young monk who hung outside her window like a ghost. If the yokai had not shown up first, Hoshino Riho would have certainly thought of the monk as a pervert.
Upon seeing the four-faced yokai’s reaction, it was apparent to Hoshino Riho that the monk was actually very powerful despite his young age. Just by standing there, he scared away a hundred-year-old yokai.
“I’m Shinsei,” Baishi Shū answered. Then, he added, “I haven’t taken the tonsure yet, so you can call me Baishi Shū.”
Without waiting for Hoshino Riho’s response, he continued, “I suppose you just got turned into a yokai not long ago, right? You seem rather confused.”
“Yes… I woke up to this yesterday night…” Hoshino Riho spilled the truth after a short hesitation. After all, even the yokai that seemed really powerful could only run with its tail in between its legs when Baishi Shū showed up, so she dared not to keep any secrets from him.
“I was scared. I didn’t know what happened to me, so I didn’t go to school and stayed at home today… Master Shinsei, I…”
“I understand,” Baishi Shū interrupted.
Everything was as clear as the sky the moment he activated his Divine Eye. Initially, he wanted to exorcise the four-faced yokai and their organization tonight, but little did he expect that the yokai would come to Hoshino Riho’s house first. According to what the four-faced yokai said as well as his observation, although she had turned into a yokai, she still retained her human self. She did not give in to her yokai part and had been refraining herself from hurting people around her.
As a victim, she was a good person or a good yokai.
Baishi Shū was not Fahai in the “Legend of the White Snake”, and he did not hold any prejudice towards yokai. The Legend of the White Snake was a Chinese legend, and one of his favorites.
That was why he respected Hoshino Riho’s tenacity and was willing to give her a chance.
“You’ve been artificially transformed into a yokai by that four-faced yokai. This is not what you wanted and I know it very well. Unfortunately, due to my limited knowledge, I still have no idea how to reverse the transformation. However, I’m willing to learn and I’m sure I can learn the method sooner or later. So, here is my suggestion. Are you willing to become the subject of my experiment and help me find out the way to reverse the transformation? If we ever succeed, not only you can become human again, but you will gain a tremendous amount of merit too!”
“Huh?” Hoshino Riho understood every word that he said, but when he put them into a sentence, she could not understand them at all.
‘What did he say? I’m an artificially turned yokai? Can a human artificially get turned into a yokai? Why didn’t I feel anything at all? What am I supposed to do as a volunteer in his experiment? Talking about experiments, is he going to cut me open or what? But what will happen to me if he cuts me open? Although he said I’ll gain a tremendous amount of merit, will I still be alive by then?’
Hoshino Riho wanted to say no to his suggestion. However, the moment she raised her head and saw Baishi Shu’s gaze, nothing came out of her lips.
What kind of gaze was that? It was the kind of gaze of a scientist looking at his little white mouse, or when a person was looking at his tool. It was the kind of gaze a kid would give his parents when he wanted to buy a certain toy.
It was the kind of gaze filled with desire.
Due to her personal experience, Hoshino Riho often thought of the worst.
‘If I say no, will this monk eliminate me straightaway?’
After all, it was the monk’s job to get rid of every evil spirit or yokai they met. As unwilling as Hoshino Riho to admit, she was a yokai right now. It was considered reasonable for him to wipe her out of existence if he had no use for her.
Her heart trembled and she lowered her head down. Then, she nodded.
“So, is that a yes? That’s great!” A wide grin broke across Baishi Shu’s face as he truly felt happy in his heart.
He had been curious about the difference between a yokai and a human ever since he bumped into Ayumi. Unfortunately, a yokai was also a living thing. He could, without any scruples, exorcise those sinful yokai, but he could not bring himself to confine one just for him to carry out his experiment.
He had once wished for a volunteer yokai that would allow him to carry out his experiment on it. Right now, the volunteer had appeared.
An artificially turned yokai who had never committed any sins or killed anybody was considered a victim. If he could find a way to extract the soul orb and reverse the transformation, not only would he be able to save Hoshino Riho, but he could also save the other poor souls whose lives were affected by the soul orb.
‘Life is always full of coincidences.’
“But right now, I have something more important to do. I need to chase after the four-faced yokai and put an end to their wicked plan. You can wait for me here. When I return, I will bring you to Reimei Temple… You can also take the opportunity to say goodbye to your family and friends…”
“I don’t have a family,” Hoshino Riho interjected. Then, without giving Baishi Shū a chance to ask anything, she continued, “Master Baishi, are you going to chase after the four-faced yokai? But that yokai has already run very far away…”
“Rest assured. I have already pinpointed them with my Divine Eye. No matter where they go, they won’t be able to run away from me,” Baishi Shū replied firmly. “Truth be told, I let go of that yokai because I want them to lead me to their comrades. This way, I can rope in every one of them in one clean sweep and send them all to pay for their sins in front of Buddha.”
If it were not for Hoshino Riho, Baishi Shū would not have revealed himself so quickly. He would have waited until the four-faced yokai returned to their base and then round them up from the net in one haul.
Looking at the grin on Baishi Shu’s face, Hoshino Riho abandoned all previous thoughts about running away. Although the monk had a smile on his face all the time, his heart seemed black.
…
On the other side of the town, a shadow was jumping from one building to the other. When the moonlight shone in the shadow, one could see that it had four faces with four different expressions. It was the four-faced yokai.
As if they were being chased by something terrifying, they did not let down their guard and continued running forward at full speed. It was only after they realized that Baishi Shū was not coming after them that they slowed down and took a break. Then, all of the four faces began chatting.
“What the hell is that? How come the monk could get to us? We were so far away from him!”
“And why didn’t the technician give us a call to warn us about him?”
“You guys have no idea… When I saw the monk, my heart almost stopped…”
“Stupid! Four of us share one heart, don’t you remember?”
“What should we do? Since the monk could get to us, it means that he has already found a way to locate us. He’s going to catch up to us sooner or later. How are we supposed to run away from a person like that?”
“Let’s go back to the base!”
“But how about Big Boss? Won’t we be leading the monk back to our base?”
“Screw it! If we don’t lead the monk to Big Boss, he’s going to get to us sooner or later. At that time, we will be as good as dead!”
“If we return to the base, at least, we still have our comrades to back us up, not to mention that Big Boss is there. Big Boss is the most powerful among us, so I’m sure he can defeat the monk!”
“If the monk is audacious enough to come to us, we will take the opportunity and eat him!”
“You are right…”
“So, what are we still waiting for? Let’s go back to the base!”
Under the moonlight, the four-faced yokai moved further and further away towards the west.