Chapter 73 The Legend of Tamamonomae
"Master Liansheng, are you thinking about something?"
Hase Shuichi walked closer, unconsciously using honorifics.
In the past, he dared to regard Pinggong Qianye as a high school monk with great magical powers, but now, he just felt inexplicable awe.
Even a simple conversation like this could make him feel stressed.
“I’m thinking about the origin of this stone.”
Hiramiya Chiye spread his palm in front of Hase Shuichi, and the ordinary stone was faintly flickering with a faint light.
“This is… ah!”
Hase Shuichi only took a glance and felt as if his soul was being pulled and hurt, and he cried out subconsciously.
Upon seeing this, Pinggong Qianye closed his palms and covered the stone inside his palms, preventing it from spreading its soul-sucking power.
After a while, Hase Hideichi recovered and said with a little fear: "I have never seen a similar stone, but if it really has an extraordinary origin, there are records of such a stone in history."
"Killing Stone."
"It comes from the great monster Tamamonomae."
When talking about Tamamonomae, Hase Shuichi looked a little fearful.
Legend has it that at the end of the Heian period, during the reign of Emperor Toba, a beautiful woman appeared who was transformed from a white-faced, golden-haired nine-tailed fox. She was knowledgeable and extremely beautiful, and was called the most beautiful woman by people at that time.
Because of her intelligence and unparalleled beauty, she soon entered the palace.
The nine-tailed fox called himself Tamamonomae and attempted to get close to the emperor, but was discovered by the famous Onmyoji Abe Yasuchika.
After its true identity was revealed, it changed back to its original form and flew into the sky to escape. Taiqin used the power of the magic mirror to shoot it down on the desolate plains of Nasu.
Then the nine-tailed fox was surrounded by the arriving army and was eventually eliminated.
It is said that its body turned into a killing stone.
Pinggong Qianye listened to the narration of this legend silently, and he believed it 80% in his heart.
He had once crushed a piece of stone, and only a hair was left inside. Perhaps that was the fox hair left after Tamamonomae's soul left her body.
However, there didn't seem to be any fox smell on that hair.
According to the legendary ending, the Killing Stone that the great demon Tamamonomae transformed into must have shattered and disintegrated into small stones by now.
Some fall into rivers, some fall into forests, and some may fall into cities.
The ability to absorb souls and increase growth makes it easy for the souls of the dead and evil spirits to gather near the small stone, and cultivate vicious creatures that harm people.
Although they are not very strong, for ordinary people, one careless move could be fatal.
Perhaps the great monster Tamamonomae has now awakened and is hiding in the dark, gradually recovering his strength.
Tamamonomae, the nine-tailed fox, is a great monster active in the Heian period and is indeed very exciting.
In fact, Hiramiya Chiye had heard another version of the legend of the nine-tailed fox Tamamonomae.
It is said that the white-faced, golden-haired Tamamonomae of Japan is the nine-tailed fox demon Daji from the Shang Dynasty.
It did not die with the collapse of the Shang Dynasty because it had nine tails to save its life.
Because the Shang Dynasty had fallen, there was no place for it in the world, so it traveled across the ocean to Japan and became the legendary Tamamonomae in Japan.
But this is just a wild history legend, and it is difficult to verify its authenticity today.
"Master Rensheng, do you think the great monster Tamamonomae is still alive?" Hase Shuichi asked anxiously.
"It's possible."
Pinggong Qianye nodded and said seriously: "This possibility is still very high."
"..."
Hase Hideichi took a deep breath. What a horrifying truth!
In order to destroy this great monster, not only did Onmyojis recorded in history like Abe Yasuchika, but the entire country was mobilized to surround and kill it.
In this era, the world is changing, making it more suitable for demons and monsters to survive and practice.
If the great monster Tamamonomae really comes back to life, he will definitely become a very terrifying existence!
That would definitely cause a horrific catastrophe.
Why didn't I feel panicked?
Hase Shuichi silently glanced at Pinggong Qianye. The sky is about to be in chaos, and there must be a demon.
This sentence seems to be very applicable to the Master Liansheng in front of us.
It was late at night, and Hiramiya Chiye did not refuse Hase Shuichi's kindness and returned to the temple in his red Porsche.
Before leaving, Hase Shuichi insisted on entering the main hall to worship Vairocana Buddha.
It is said that it is a taboo not to worship Buddha in a temple. After returning home, Pinggong Qianye took a bath, lay on the bed, took out his mobile phone, and went to the forum of Pudu APP.
He edited the events of the night into a complete story with skillful techniques and artistic processing.
As for the dog spirit he had dealt with before, he did not upload it.
"I never expected it! The truth behind the urban legend of the late-night singer turned out to be like this!", Chiya Hiramiya quickly came up with the title for this incident.
He feels that when he chooses titles now, he is becoming more and more accustomed to the naming logic of UC shock style.
After the article was finished, Pinggong Qianye checked it and posted it on the forum.
Soon, several familiar IDs showed up to show their support.
They were busy building buildings, moving stools, making speeches, and sending emojis.
"When I saw this title, I knew that Master Liansheng would be in a good mood tonight."
"Late Night Diva... I've never heard of this. Is there such an urban legend?"
"I don't know, but the stories told by Master Liansheng are indeed interesting."
"It's amazing how a stone can create an urban legend."
"I seem to have seen similar stones, but I smashed them into pieces."
When I read Hiramiya Chiya's comments here, I paid extra attention, thinking about whether I should send a private message to ask, maybe I can find clues about the great monster Tamamonomae.
But soon, that person shared his little story with the stone in the comment section.
The whole story is very simple. The man received a commission to exorcise evil spirits in Nagano. After he solved the evil spirit, a stone like this fell off.
The man was also frightened by the stone's special ability to absorb souls at first, and realized that it might be an ominous thing, so he raised his Zen stick and smashed it to pieces.
There was nothing inside except powder.
It turns out that not every small killing stone contains a fox hair.
Pinggong Qianye read this short story carefully and continued to read the comments.
The familiar ID Sutian Wubian also came to leave a comment.
As Hase Shuichi's master and a Samadhi temple abbot, his knowledge exceeds that of 99% of the people on this Pudu APP.
"Could this stone be the killing stone?"
"Could it be that the great demon Tamamonomae has also resurrected and returned?"
"It's normal to think about it. It wasn't completely dead in the first place, and it turned into a killing stone just to give itself a chance to revive and start over."
Under Suda Mubian's comment, many people soon came to discuss with him the matters concerning the Killing Stone and the great monster Tamamonomae.
Although Pinggong Qianye was also very curious, she still kept peeking at the screen the whole time.
They talked about the mystery of Tamamonomae's resurrection and Tamamonomae's possible whereabouts now.
"Where else could it be hiding? Perhaps it is still wandering around Nasu (Tochigi Prefecture), where it fell, collecting remaining souls."
Under Sutian Wubian's words, there was an ID called Daqian Guangming who replied: "I went to Nasu three years ago, it is no longer there, and the Killing Stone has long been broken."
"You went to look for it yourself?"
Su Tian Wu Bian replied, his tone slightly respectful, and then said: "Let's talk about this kind of thing in private."
Hey, is this an important person coming?
The fact that he could make a temple abbot like Sutian Wubian show respect shows that this Daqian Guangming netizen, as his name suggests, has an extraordinary status.
Judging from his tone, it seemed that he had deliberately tried to cause trouble for the great monster Tamamonomae, but did not encounter him.
This person is most likely a great monk who has reached the Homapin realm and has learned how to use the Internet.
While Pinggong Qianye was still pondering, he received a private message from that Great Thousand Light.
[I was very happy to hear that Master Liansheng appeared in Tokyo. I wanted to visit him, but I was too busy with work in Kyoto to get away. July this year is a big month for sacrifices, and it is easy for Tokyo to have disasters and evil spirits. Fortunately, Master Liansheng is here, and I feel at ease. Remember, ghosts and monsters can harm people, but evil spirits can also cause disasters! ]
There is an ancient flavor in his words, he must be an elderly monk.
Was his last sentence a reminder to himself to be careful of the evil spirit that would bring disaster to the world during the summer festival in July?
Logically speaking, issues concerning evil spirits and disasters are basically handled by Shinto practitioners, and it is not the turn of Buddhist practitioners to intervene.
Maybe there really is some big problem within Shintoism.
Hiramiya Chiye was thinking about it. When he was chatting with Yaezakura, the shrine of Tsukimi Shrine, he seemed to have got some clues about this.
After thinking about it, Pinggong Qianye finally replied: If there is any disaster causing trouble in the world, Liansheng will kill it with all his strength!
(End of this chapter)
