Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

"Well, I don't know either," Kotekawa Kami said softly. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's not too late to know now."

Chapter 54 Listening to the Ghost Tell Terrifying Stories from the Other Side of the Mountain (4000 words)

As dusk falls, at the foot of the rugged, rocky Mount Myogi, a stunningly beautiful young woman rests her chin on her hands, gazing blankly at the sky, her mood seemingly troubled, exuding an air of pitiful vulnerability.

Kami Kotekawa understood her perfectly. No matter which older sister suddenly learned that her younger brother had spent three years in deep guilt and pain before becoming withdrawn, "willful," and unapproachable, she would not be in a good mood.

What to say?

Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too does life bring unpredictable changes; we must always look forward.

He said softly, "It's getting foggy; it'll probably rain tonight."

"Mmm," the girl replied with a nasal tone.

"The local baked buns and noodles are delicious. If we can't see that Master Yiyuan, let's go and have a big meal."

"Ah."

"...It's getting dark, should we make some preparations?"

"Ah."

"..."

Hu Tao snapped out of her daze, looked at the small Buddhist altar that had been set up, and then said, "The offerings have been set up. Now it just depends on whether Master Yiyuan is willing to see us."

Kotegawa looked at her and said, "Why don't you get up first? I'll go bake you two steamed buns."

"I'm not very hungry, I'll just stay here."

"but……"

"?"

He looked at Hu Tao, who was still clinging to his lap and refusing to get up, and sighed, "Aren't you uncomfortable sitting like this?"

Hu Tao frowned, shifted her slender waist, and reached down with one hand: "It really hurts. What's in your pocket?"

The young man grabbed her hand and said calmly, "It's just a sword hilt."

"...You always carry a sword hilt with you?"

"Well, absolutely."

Hu Tao lowered her head, her eyebrows furrowing considerably: "Take it out and let me see. You carry it with you every day, just how precious is it?"

"No!" Kotekawa Kamimi pressed down on her other hand, his expression serious: "It can't be revealed easily, or it could lead to someone's death."

Hu Tao paused, her little face becoming more serious, but as she looked, her shoulders started shaking. She buried her head in his chest and burst into laughter: "What sword hilt? It's just a 'beep'! Even a little kid knows that! But the way you're seriously lying is so funny, pfft... I can't take it, my stomach hurts from laughing!"

Kote Kawakami's old face turned bright red instantly, his shoes digging into the ground, his mind and body immersed in an extremely shameful experience.

He was enraged and embarrassed: "You knew all along?"

"No, I just figured it out, but it's just too, too funny..."

Hu Tao nestled on his shoulder, laughing so hard she felt weak all over.

Kotekawa Kami took a deep breath, grabbed her tightly with both hands, lifted her up, and swiftly left his seat.

Hu Tao cried out "Ouch!" and slumped onto the stool.

Kotegawa got back into his car and went off to sulk.

The little girl stood up, rubbed her bottom, and nimbly ran to the car with her hands behind her back. She then climbed in and sat obediently beside it, saying, "I apologize."

After saying that, she suddenly turned to the side and sat on his lap again, wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and offered him her pink and plump lips.

Just then, an old cough was heard outside.

The sky darkened without us even realizing it.

But the surrounding fog was thick, and the shadow of a small temple could be seen faintly.

Kotekawa Kami glanced at it, then reached out and closed the car door.

After what seemed like a few minutes, the two men, whose faces appeared normal, got out of the car one after the other. They looked around at the white mist and walked toward the dilapidated temple ahead.

Nearly a hundred candles were burning inside the temple, arranged in layers like a pagoda, all offered around a Buddha statue. Under the statue was a small, square tea table. In front of the tea table, an old monk in monk's robes, with a kind face and heavy eye bags, was brewing tea. The tea in the white glazed teacup looked very healthy.

Behind the old monk, a cat with two long tails was stretching its waist lazily, its two front paws resting on its back.

The two looked at each other again and again. Shirakawa Kurumi tugged at his sleeve: "Say something!"

Kotekawa Kami nodded and said to the old monk, "Excuse me, are you the Great Master Gien?"

The old monk pushed the teacup to the table and put his hands together in prayer: "This is the name I used in my lifetime."

Kotekawa Kami also made a hand seal and gave a fist salute, saying very politely, "Then please come with us? Don't worry, we are all professionals and generally won't resort to violence."

The old monk was immediately stunned: "Huh?"

Hu Tao was also stunned, and quickly said, "Don't say such scary things! The employer didn't tell us to tie them up and take them back!"

"So, does this mean the mission is complete?" Kotekawa Kami frowned. "After all, without any proof, people won't believe it!"

The employer hadn't said what to do after seeing the ghost, and Hu Tao was also a little troubled. She thought for a moment, then looked at the solemn-faced old monk and said politely, "Master Yiyuan, a scholar hired us to find you, but didn't say what he wanted you to do... Do you have any clues?"

Master Yiyuan frowned in deep thought, then suddenly relaxed and gestured, saying, "This old monk understands... Please, distinguished guests, have a seat."

Kotegawa and Kurumi sat down cross-legged, while the other ran out and brought in a small stool, sitting down next to them.

The old monk's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the two of them and slowly said, "Let me first tell you a story from the past."

Kotegawa Kami pretended to listen, while Kurumi took out a small notebook.

"This story is a little scary."

The old monk's voice lowered, a gust of wind suddenly rose outside the temple, and the flames of hundreds of candles dimmed considerably. Even the two-tailed cats bristled.

A mournful voice, like weeping and lamenting, came from within the white mist. The two glanced back but didn't pay it any mind, continuing to listen to the story.

"Before his death, the old monk made a great vow: even if his life ends, he will become a ghost to reform evil spirits and deliver the souls of the dead. After delivering three thousand souls, he will then attain perfect enlightenment!"

He looked at the two young listeners and continued his story: "So after the old monk died, he really did become a ghost, and all of this must have been the will of the true Buddha; so the old monk, in his ghost form, set off for a place where evil spirits were rampant, intending to open the Buddhist gates wide and save the evil spirits..."

At this point, he suddenly sighed: "Unexpectedly, more than half a year ago, a terrifying killing star came to the mountains. In just a few weeks, all the evil spirits and vengeful spirits in the mountains were either dead or fled. In the end, the mountains were even empty!"

"I felt I couldn't afford to offend them, so I had no choice but to move as well. I moved to the foot of Mount Myogi and settled down here again."

He looked around, a hint of relief on his face, and continued, “Three months ago, when the old monk was preaching and trying to convert evil spirits, a human being tormented by a vengeful spirit broke in and begged the old monk for help. Being a compassionate monk, the old monk had no choice but to let the evil spirit leave first and let him stay in the temple overnight. He claimed to be a professor of Buddhism at a university in Tokyo, and the scriptures he was studying happened to be the texts left behind by the old monk before his death. The old monk talked with him all night, about scriptures, Buddhist history, and the great vows the old monk had made.”

The old monk's eyes were filled with reminiscence: "It was truly a delightful evening. I never imagined that anyone could have such a profound understanding and study of the words I left behind... Before parting, I thought it over and over again, but I still revealed my true identity to him and thanked him for giving my words a new brilliance."

"He was shocked and frightened." The old monk smiled kindly and sighed. "Now that I think about it, he must have been very scared, right? Otherwise, why would he not have come here again after so much time has passed, and instead have sent a lot of bounty hunters? But I think he probably didn't come here to subdue me."

Listening intently, Shirakawa Kurumi said thoughtfully, "So what the customer actually means is that they want us to help you exorcise the evil spirit? Or is there anything else you need help with?"

Kami Kotekawa, who was standing nearby, nodded and said, "That should be it... Is there anything I can help you with?"

The old monk clasped his hands together and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "I do have a rather urgent matter at the moment. Myogi-sama resides in Myogi-san. Although he has allowed me to settle here, he forbids me from performing rituals to exorcise evil spirits. Therefore, I would like to ask you two distinguished guests to go to Nagano and inquire about someone for me. If that person has already left Nagano, I would like to move back to Nagano."

Kamiko Kotekawa was taken aback: "Eh? Back to Nagano?"

On the other side, Shirakawa Kurumi was also a little dumbfounded. She turned her head strangely and looked at him. They both saw the surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

They exchanged glances.

Hu Tao: "That killer star, could it be..."

Even Kami Kotekawa was unsettled: "It shouldn't be, right?"

The old monk looked at them and said, "Distinguished guests... could you do me this favor?"

Kotekawa Kami snapped out of his daze and tentatively asked, "What's the name of the person you're asking about?"

“I am ashamed to say that I do not know his name, but that person is certainly not an unknown person.” The old monk clasped his hands together and bowed his head slightly: “I know that the man’s surname is Nagano and he lives in the Ina City area.”

"..."

Hu Tao silently turned her head and gazed at Kotegawa Kami without a sound.

Kami Kotekawa scratched his head. Well, it really was him after all.

Feeling a little stung by the gazes from the side, he coughed and said to the old monk, "If you want to move, then move back. That person has already gone to Tokyo."

"Went to Tokyo?" Master Yiyuan asked in shock. "Distinguished guest, do you know that person?"

"He and I are from the same hometown... His name is Kotegawa Kamimi, right?"

Master Yiyuan's eyes widened considerably. He stood up and said with great delight, "His name is indeed that. So, our honored guest really knows him!"

His somewhat ethereal body circled back and forth in front of the two a few times, then turned and pulled a piece of paper from the offering table, handing it over: "Today is truly a lucky day. You two are indeed honored guests of this old monk. Please take this letter back with you..."

Kotegawa Kami took the letter, and the surrounding scenery turned into white mist, disappearing from the spot along with the old monk.

Kotekawa Kami looked at the letter in his hand, sniffed it, and nodded slightly.

The old monk wasn't lying.

Shirakawa Kurumi, who was standing next to him, wanted to speak, but he shook his head. Before getting up and leaving, he glanced at a small stone hole in the wall, which led to the old monk's house.

He and Hu Tao got into the car and left. After they had gone quite a distance, she finally spoke, her voice filled with deep doubt: "What was so scary about that story?"

Kotekawa Kami thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Perhaps it's more terrifying for him?"

The girl was speechless.

That makes sense...

She picked up the letter, on which was written a line of text. She looked it over and handed it to Furutekawa Kami, asking in confusion, "It's all in Chinese characters, what does it say?"

Kotekawa Kami glanced at him and said, "Do no evil, do all good."

"Hmm..." Shirakawa Kurumi nodded thoughtfully, tilted her head slightly, and asked in confusion, "So what do you mean?"

He was momentarily speechless, then explained it again in her native language.

"Oh, so that's what it means!" she exclaimed, flipping through the letter and muttering to herself, "Seven million in hand? A 50/50 split, no objections, right?"

"This time it really was a coincidence; that Venerable Master Yiyuan has a very good temper."

"Let's go! Shall we go get some noodles?"