The old man and the young man walked slowly to the vermilion torii gate at the entrance of the shrine and bowed deeply and respectfully.

Then they stood up, walked through the torii, and came to a pond called Temizuya. They scooped water with a wooden spoon, washed their hands and rinsed their mouths, and then walked to the statue of Mahakala, the head of the Seven Lucky Gods, enshrined in it.

There was already a long queue in front of the statue.

The clear sound of hanging bells echoed in the shrine one after another. The two of them slowly moved forward with the team and finally came to the statue of Mahakala.

Yurina and Grandma Tsuru stood side by side, and first bowed lightly in front of the statue. Then Yurina reached out and grabbed the bell hanging above and shook it gently.

bite--!

When the bell rang, she took out five yen from her pocket and stuffed it into the box, representing her bond with the god.

They looked up at the statue of Mahakala, bent down at the same time, bowed deeply twice, stretched out their hands, clapped them twice in front of their bodies, and bowed deeply again.

"Mahakala, the kind and powerful god of fortune, please accept our prayers.

You are the god of war from the other side, you are the nemesis of all evil, you bring peace and happiness to the world, and dispel all misfortunes and ominousness... Please keep us away from disasters and ominousness, and give us happiness and hope,

May your blessing shine upon the earth."

Yurina finished her prayer and slowly stood up.

Beside her, Grandma He was still bent over, with her silver-white hair hanging down beside her old face. She murmured in a voice that only she could hear:

"I hope Xiao Youli can have a happy and beautiful future..."

Yurina didn't hear what Grandma Tsuru said. She just gently pulled the hem of Grandma Tsuru's clothes and whispered, "Grandma Tsuru, we should go. There are people waiting in line behind us."

Grandma He stood up, smiled at her, and walked back with her.

As the two men reached the entrance of the shrine, they saw four or five figures gathered together on the street opposite the shrine. They lit cigarettes, talked, and scanned the surroundings as if they were looking for something.

When Yurina saw them, her whole body suddenly trembled!

Grandma He looked at her in confusion and asked, "Xiao Youli, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

“No…no.” Yurina’s face turned a little pale.

She was silent for a moment, then looked up at Grandma He and said seriously, "Grandma He, I want to go to the nearby store to buy something. Can you go back by yourself first?"

Grandma He was startled.

"Can you go back first?" Yurina said again, her expression a little anxious.

"good……"

Grandma He didn't understand what was going on and just nodded.

Yurina forced a smile at the corner of her mouth, waved to Grandma Tsuru, and quickly ran towards the small shop next to the shrine, her figure gradually disappearing from Grandma Tsuru's sight.

Although Grandma He was a little confused, she shook her head, took a step forward, and walked towards the door of the shrine.

She walked through the vermilion torii gate, onto the street, and staggered slowly toward the container.

At this moment, on the opposite side of the street, the men looked at Grandma He, then quickly looked away. They stared at the gate again with vicious eyes, took a deep puff of cigarette, and cursed:

"Didn't we see that girl entering the shrine? Why hasn't she come out yet?"

"A brother saw her go in with an old lady, so it shouldn't be wrong."

"This shrine has only one exit and is surrounded by high walls. She could only come out from here. There is no other way."

"Wait a little longer, it should be out soon."

“…”

shrine.

Yurina cautiously poked her head out of the shop, and her face suddenly turned bitter when she saw the figures sitting across the street.

"Why are they still here..." she muttered to herself.

Yurina looked around. The shrine was surrounded by high white walls. Not to mention a little girl like her, even if two adult men stepped on her shoulders, they might not be able to climb over it. There were no trees around, so there was no possibility of escaping by climbing over the wall.

Can I only go out through the main door?

She frowned and looked at the figures, her eyes flickering, as if she was thinking about something.

"Little girl, why are you standing here? Are you going to buy anything? If not, don't block others!"

The owner of the shop felt unhappy when he saw Yurina standing at the door of the shop stealthily, not buying anything and blocking other customers from entering.

Yurina turned around and made a strong "hush" gesture to him. She swept her eyes across the store, hesitated for a moment, and nodded heavily.

“I’m buying something!”

…

"Tsk, she's been inside for so long, why hasn't she come out yet?" The vicious man sitting across the street stood up impatiently, "Let's just rush in and find her!"

"Brother, you can't go crazy. It's a serious crime to cause trouble in the shrine!"

"We are gangsters. Our heads are hanging on our belts. Are we afraid of being caught by the police?"

"Brother, this is different!"

The vicious man in the lead was about to say something else when a young man next to him suddenly stood up:

"Look! She seems to be coming out!"

Everyone turned their heads at the same time and saw a short figure in a black raincoat rushing down the stairs and running to the other side of the street.

The vicious man was stunned.

"She must have discovered us and is trying to confuse us this way. It's really... a child's trick." He sneered and said, "Chase her!"

As soon as he finished speaking, three short figures in black raincoats rushed down the stairs, laughing and playing, and ran in the opposite direction of the street.

The four people were wearing the same black raincoats, and they were running so fast that their faces could not be seen clearly. This sudden change made them stay where they were.

"Brother, which one should we catch?" the young man asked blankly.

“Damn it, chase them separately!” The vicious man ran after the three children. Then, as if he had thought of something, he stood still and said, “No, you guys chase them separately. I’ll continue to watch from here.”

"good!"

The other thugs dispersed and chased along both sides of the street. After hesitating for a moment, the vicious man gritted his teeth and strode up to the shrine to start searching.

We can’t have a conflict in the shrine, so it should be okay for him to go in and take a look around, right?

When he searched the shrine thoroughly and still couldn't find Yurina, he scratched his head in annoyance and cursed a few times.

Just then, his cell phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Brother, I caught the child who ran out alone at the beginning. It's a boy, not the girl!"

"Asshole! What the hell is going on?"

"The little boy said that a little girl about his age wanted to play the ghost hunting game with them. She gave each of them two lollipops and said it would be more fun to play with a raincoat..."