Chapter 280: The Curse

“Unto Shrine?” Otome Sakagami jokingly said, “Didn’t the Majin break the seal and destroy Unto Shrine?”

This… Kimura Kazuki was silent and speechless. Obviously the whole village knew about this incident, and it was treated as a superstitious joke.

Seeing that Kimura Kazuki and Sei Shigeru were quiet, Otome Sakagami thought she said something wrong and she subconsciously stuck out her tongue. Then, she placed the dishes on the table, wiped her hands on the apron, and said carefully, “Actually, there’s another legend about Unto Shrine, do you want to hear about it?”

“What legend?” Kimura Kazuki asked. Since the entire Sakagami Village knew about this and even treated it as a joke, then maybe Sakagami Village knew something else. Now that Otome Sakagami asked, he also became curious.

Sei Shigeru curiously looked toward them while eating his meal. Since noon until now, he had not eaten anything, so he was completely famished.

“I heard that the thing that sealed the Majin, is called the Jade of Four Souls.”

Hearing about the Jade of Four Souls, Sei Shigeru’s hand which was holding his chopsticks stopped for a second before he continued eating. Nonetheless, he was really not used to eating with the lights off.

Kimura Kazuki squinted his eyes as he looked at Otome Sakagami. He watched as she thought to herself for a second. Then, she remembered something and continued saying, “My grandpa told me about this, but grandpa passed away a few years ago. I think grandma should know a little about this too.”

“The Jade of Four Souls… There is indeed such a legend.” Grandma Sakagami thought deeply for a while and spoke, “According to the legend, the four souls from the Jade of Four Souls, Happy Soul, Harmonious Soul, Rude Soul, and Wondrous Soul, symbolize love, family, courage and wisdom respectively. If the Jade of Four Souls were to fall into the hands of evil, it will turn into an evil spirit or a wraith. If it’s in the hands of the kind-hearted, their bodies and spirits will be purified.”

Happy Soul, Harmonious Soul, Rude Soul, and Wondrous Soul? The moment Kimura Kazuki heard these phrases, he thought for a while and immediately knew that these were the names for the three hun and seven po by the Japanese in the olden times. Or in other words, those were the names given to human souls by the shrine maiden who became the Jade of Four Souls.

The three hun and seven po was the teaching of Chinese Taoism which was deeply rooted in people’s hearts. It was normal for this older part of Japan to not know about it.

“The Jade of Four Souls is a mythical item, we have never seen it as well. But it was first obtained by our ancestors, to use the Jade of Four Souls to seal the Majin. Rumors had it that by gaining the Jade of Four Souls, no demons or monsters could ever go near you. If you wear it long enough, your spirit will be purified and health will be improved.” Grandma Sakagami could not help but laugh while she told the story. “Of course, these are all myths, they’re not real.”

“They are indeed not to be believed,” Otome Sakagami said with a laugh. “Such a legend exists only because the villagers refuse to rebuild the shrine.”

Hearing what she said, both Sei Shigeru and Kimura Kazuki suddenly came to a realization.

No wonder Unto Shrine was left idle even after being destroyed for a year. Just because a portion of the Sakagami villagers were unwilling to pay for the reconstruction, they used this legend to warn the people of Sakagami Village. If they were to renovate the shrine, there might be disasters upon them all. On top of that, there were a lot more people who did not want to rebuild Unto Shrine, so they went along with the myth.

It was impossible for them to chip in, so they used this terrifying myth to scare everyone in order to maintain the current situation. After some time, those who wanted to repair Unto Shrine would probably have given up as well.

After all, Unto Shrine had no contribution to Sakagami Village. Besides, every generation had to choose someone to become the Onmyoji and shrine maiden. This had left the parents who had high expectations for their children grudgeful. But only because of the ancestor’s teachings did they not rebel.

“Are there any other legends?” Kimura Kazuki smiled. As he saw Grandma Sakagami and Otome turn to look at him, he laughed. “I’m really interested in these kinds of stories.”

Otome Sakagami thought really hard, but ultimately said in disappointment, “There is no more. I only know about the Majin being sealed by the Jade of Four Souls and the Unto Shrine still holding the Jade of Four Souls. But a lot of people from the village went to Unto Shrine before and they didn’t find any Jade of Four Souls, so this story was probably made up by someone.”

So that was why Unto Shrine had signs of being searched.

“That must be a lie.” Grandma Sakagami rolled her eyes at her granddaughter. “How could there be a Jade of Four Souls in this world?”

Otome Sakagami stuck out her tongue, then looked at Kimura Kazuki and said, “Kimura-kun, I’ll pack these up for you two, you can bring them for Harunaka and the others to eat.”

“Thank you for the hard work.” Kimura Kazuki smiled lightly. “We’ll pay you.”

“What is there to pay for?” Grandma Sakagami waved her hand. “If you insist on paying me, I will chase you out.”

“This…”

“Yeah, these are just some common dishes. If you’re paying, that means you’re looking down on us.” Otome Sakagami faked being angry too.

At last, Kimura Kazuki and Sei Shigeru did not get to pay for the food. After they took their leave from Grandma Sakagami and Otome, they rushed toward Unto Shrine.

When Otome Sakagami could no longer see the two’s shadows, she turned her head and looked at her grandma. “Grandma, do you think they can find the Jade of Four Souls?”

“I don’t know…” Grandma Sakagami thought deeply and said, “But these two have come to investigate Unto Shrine, so they must not be some normal people. We have already let out so much. Would they give up without finding the Jade of Four Souls?”

“We should have given out more information. I remember that the Jade of Four Souls was in the pond in the tunnels. If they don’t search in the pond, wouldn’t they find nothing at all?”

Grandma Sakagami was speechless. “Do you think they’re idiots? If we said too much, we might be suspected. Besides, from their perspectives, we’re just normal humans. That young man just now, he didn’t seem to believe us.”

“Do normal humans move at night?” Otome Sakagami whispered, “Not only that we move at night, we also live by sucking blood. Are we not the same as the vampires from novels and movies?”

“I do wish that we’re vampires. That way, we would have longer lifespans.” Grandma Sakagami sighed. “Your grandfather died of old age. My guess is that I myself have less than a few years left.”

At this point, Grandma Sakagami continued speaking, “Otome, go to the chief’s house and ask the chief if he’s ready.”

“Okay,” Otome Sakagami replied. She was on her way to the chief’s house just now, but was met with Kimura Kazuki and the other in the process, so she had to bring them home.

Grandma Sakagami felt comforted as she watched Otome Sakagami go out the door, but little did she notice the glimpse of red lights deep in Otome Sakagami’s eyes when her back was facing herself.

When Otome Sakagami left, Grandma Sakagami looked at the starry sky outside the door and let out a sigh. In her heart, she was quiet.

The starry night was beautiful, but light was where common people looked forward to. It was time for the curse of Sakagami Village to be lifted. Or else, the unusuality of Sakagami Village would be found out eventually and by then, it would be the destruction of this village.

Hopefully those two could take the Jade of Four Souls away.