Chapter 107 Shiranui
I don't know fire.
Fire is born from water, and its existence is unknown.
Scattered into thousands of flames, like stars in the clouds.
There is a strange fire in the sea, and people don’t know its name, so they call it unknown fire.
Thousands of lights greet each other, the sea and the sky meet, and when the door is opened, you can see the unknown fire,
————————"A Hundred Demons: The Second Volume: Fog"
The clouds covering the sky dispersed, and the moonlight was not very bright, adding a bit of haziness.
On the sea surface, the red lanterns that had once sunk into the depths of the sea returned from the depths of the sea with the help of the sea water.
Thousands of lights are lined up in a line, like a long flaming dragon hovering over the coastline.
But none of the red lanterns were pushed onto the beach by the sea.
The line of lights that seems very close is actually dozens of meters away from the coast. It is difficult to touch unless you are on a yacht or other sailing vehicle.
Some tourists, relying on their good swimming skills, took off their clothes, jumped into the sea, and swam forward.
But no matter how hard they swam, the line of flames formed by the red lanterns still kept a relative distance from them.
Whether they are moving forward or backward, the distance between them always seems to be the same.
It was not a light they could touch.
It is a wonderful sight like a mirage.
It is only suitable for taking photos from a distance, not for touching or owning.
"This is the light that grandma was looking forward to."
"If you keep thinking about it, there will be a response."
Horii Suzune looked down at the girl sitting on the beach with tears in her eyes, and she had a deeper understanding of this sentence.
The girl's grandmother's lifelong concerns finally brought her a happy ending that allowed her to rest in peace after her death.
Shiranui, is she such a gentle monster?
Horii Suzune stared at the thousands of lights in the distance for a long time, then looked away and glanced at Hiramiya Chiye beside her.
He was seen looking out to the distant sea from time to time, and sometimes looking down at the girl sitting on the beach, as if he was thinking about something.
There were a lot of people here, so she didn't ask.
But she believed that this scene was just the beginning of the story, not the end.
"Does the great monster Shiranui really exist?"
The young man who followed Kurokawagoe murmured, and he also heard the girl's story just now.
"All ghost legends have their basis in reality, and human beings should have more awe for everything in the world." Kurokawa said with emotion.
Pinggong Qianye looked at him curiously, and thought his conversation was full of stories, so he smiled and started chatting with him.
It's still early, not yet late at night.
Whether it is a small monster or a big monster, late at night is often the time when it likes to appear.
During the conversation, Chiya Hiramiya learned that Kurokawagoe, the patrol captain of the seaside park, was from Wakayama Prefecture.
It is a good place and has a close connection with Shingon Buddhism.
In the northeast of Wakayama Prefecture is Koyasan, the head mountain of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism.
On the top of the mountain surrounded by peaks is Kongobuji Temple, the head temple of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, which was founded by Kobo Daishi and has a history of more than 1200 years.
There are more than 120 temples scattered around Kongobuji Temple, forming a religious city.
It can be said that it is a holy place for practicing Tantric Buddhism.
It is also a place that Chiya Hiramiya must visit during her summer vacation travels.
Time passed quickly as we chatted. About half an hour later, the red lanterns on the sea began to separate into two columns and retreat back into the depths of the sea.
From a distance, it seems as if a passage of lights is interwoven, as if inviting someone to follow the guidance of the passage of lights and head towards the sea.
The girl who had been sitting on the beach and staring at the sea calmly, now stood up and walked towards the sea in front of her, as if she wanted to go through the lighted passage and head to the depths of the sea.
"Yumeko, what do you want to do?"
Horii Suzune, who had always been paying attention to the girl's situation, grabbed the girl's wrist and stopped her from walking towards the sea.
“There, it’s calling me.”
The girl had a bewildered look on her face. She pointed her right index finger toward the depths of the lighted passage and murmured.
Horii Suzune glanced at Hiramiya Chiye, and seeing that he was signaling her to continue stopping the girl's behavior, she did not loosen her hand that was holding the girl's wrist, but instead held it tighter.
The girl tried to struggle but didn't use much strength. Perhaps she knew deep down in her heart that she shouldn't go blindly to the sea.
"Bah!"
Pinggong Qianye recited the "Ba" mantra, which sounded like the sound of a Huangzhong Dalu bell in the girl's heart, and the lingering sound echoed.
The "Ba" mantra in the "Six-Syllable Mantra" can purify the karmic obstacles of animals and eliminate their suffering.
"I, you..."
The shocked girl wiped away the confusion in her eyes, stopped walking, turned around, and looked at Pinggong Qianye with a complicated look.
"It's still early."
Pinggong Qianye just said this simply, and the girl withdrew her gaze, lowered her head slightly, and didn't know what to say.
The light channel on the sea did not last long and disappeared after about ten minutes.
At this point the entire sea returned to silence, and there was no longer a single light on the dark sea surface.
As the night deepens, the clock approaches twelve o'clock.
Horii Suzune's cell phone rang, and she sighed, "Hiramichi-san, Yumeko will be in your care from now on, so you must not bully her."
After saying this, Horii Suzune answered the phone and chatted for a few words.
Ten minutes later, Yuji Horii appeared nearby. Apparently, he came to pick up his daughter.
Seeing that there was a young girl beside Pinggong Qianye, his expression looked much better.
"Hiramiya-san, remember to tell me what happened here tomorrow."
Horii Suzune gave the girl a warning, waved to her, and followed her father home.
On the nearby beach, only the girl and Chiya Heimiya were left alone.
During the conversation between Horii Suzune and the girl just now, Hiramiya Chiya learned that her name was Yumeko Kazama.
Kazama is the surname of her grandmother's adoptive father, and Mengzi inherited it from her grandmother.
According to her account, her grandmother never married in her life. She picked her up from the beach when she was old and raised her as her own granddaughter.
The two of them were alone, with no one else around, and Pinggong Qianye was no longer shy about anything.
"You are a Shinto practitioner, right?"
"You, figured it out?"
Yumeko Kazama, who was sitting on the beach, tilted her head slightly, looking a little surprised.
"The lanterns that were flowing into the sea in the river just now were obviously cast under some kind of magic. It should be the secret magic of your Shintoism."
"..."
Fengjian Mengzi was silent for a while, then smiled and said: "You are right."
"That is a secret technique that can endow all things with spirituality. I awaken some spiritual wisdom in those flames, hoping that they can carry lanterns and wishes to the depths of the sea."
Having said that, Yumeko Kazama gently gathered her hair that was messed up by the sea breeze.
"When I learned that my grandmother's greatest wish was to see Master Shiranui again, I knew I should go look for the mysterious power associated with it."
"So, I became a miko at a shrine."
"As for the specific identity, please allow me to keep it secret for the time being."
Pinggong Qianye didn't care about this, and he had no intention of exploring the identity of this so-called shrine maiden.
After all, he had even met the goddess before and had spoken to her many times.
Speaking of the goddess, Pinggong Qianye looked up at the moon. The moon was not round tonight, but there were still rays of moonlight falling.
The distance from here to Tsukimi Shrine is dozens of kilometers. With Yaezakura's ability, she should be able to see here from the osmanthus tree in the moonlight.
Maybe she could see everything he was doing at the moment.
Obviously, his strength is not as strong as mine, but his ability to see from a thousand miles away is indeed enviable.
I guess I have to wait until I develop the ability of clairvoyance before I can compare with her.
Putting his distracting thoughts aside, Hiramiya Chiye looked at Kazama Yumeko again.
"Your grandmother has fulfilled her dream."
"It's a pity that it happened after she passed away. If she could see this scene when she was alive, she would have no regrets." Yumeko Kazama looked at the sea with surging waves.
"She got what she wanted while she was still alive."
"What do you mean by this?"
Yumeko Kazama suddenly stood up from the beach, looking confused, as if she didn't understand what Hiramachi Chiye said at all.
"So you don't know anything."
Pinggong Qianye whispered, organizing his words before continuing: "You have heard your grandmother tell her own story, then, do you know the story that happened to you?"
"??"
There was great confusion in Yumeko Kazama's watery eyes.
She couldn't understand the meaning of this sentence at all.
She even didn't know why she didn't want to go home so late, and instead chatted on the beach with a boy she had only known for less than a night.
She had absolutely no reason to justify her behavior tonight.
"If you keep thinking about it, there will be a response."
Pinggong Qianye repeated this sentence again, his eyes slightly lit up.
"What on earth are you talking about!"
Yumeko Kazama was a little annoyed. A lot of things had happened tonight, and this guy was playing tricks on her again. It was really hateful.
Doesn't he know that the Riddler is unwelcome wherever he goes?
"When your grandmother was alive, Shiranui had already appeared."
"impossible!"
Yumeko Kazama interrupted Hiramiya Chiye's words with great confidence.
It was obvious that her grandmother passed away with regrets, there was no doubt about that.
Pinggong Qianye's eyes fell on Fengjian Yumeko and stared at her for a while, then said in a deep voice: "Have you ever thought that you are actually the echo that your grandma is always thinking about?"
"You, this is impossible..."
Yumeko Kazama's body trembled and she quickly took a few steps back.
"You are Shiranui."
"You are the echo of what your grandmother always remembers."
Hiramiya Chiye spoke in a calm tone, but what she said made Kazama Yumeko fall back on the beach.
"Ugh……"
A low murmur, almost like a gentle breeze, was heard, and a ball of bright red flame slowly formed in Yumeko Kazama's shadow.
Replaced the shadow that originally belonged to Yumeko Kazama.
The big monster, Shiranui.
(End of this chapter)
