Chapter 478 "Cong Yu Wan"
I don't know how long it took, but the shrine maiden's Kagura dance ended. I bowed and saluted amid the sound of crisp bells, and slowly retreated.
Only after the shrine maiden returned to the shrine and disappeared did the atmosphere on the scene begin to return to liveliness.
"It's really beautiful, the Kagura dance of the miko-sama."
"Yeah, no matter how many times I see it, I still think it's beautiful."
"After all, it's one of our Hoori's specialties. Nowadays, many foreign tourists come here just to watch the dance of the miko, right?"
Kurama Koharu, Matawa Roka and Kurama Rentaro expressed their thoughts freely, and the tourists around them looked like they were still not satisfied.
Seeing them like this, Aize had reason to suspect that perhaps he was the only one who could see the unbelievable scene just now.
Anyway, he didn't believe that if the people present were like him, they would be indifferent if they saw such a beautiful priestess suddenly grow animal ears on her head.
Especially the locals, if they saw the witch with animal ears, there would definitely be an uproar, right?
Aize's mind flashed back to what the taxi driver said when he arrived at Suizhi Town by taxi.
"I've come all the way to this land where dog spirits reside to watch the festival. There are so many people who have nothing to do these days..."
Thinking of this, Aize fell silent for a while.
The legend of dog spirit possession has been circulating in this area since long ago.
It is said that after the wars of the Warring States Period ended, the remaining souls of the monsters that had been conquered began to haunt this land, giving rise to a particularly serious curse.
Especially the lord of this land, the women in his family seemed to be carrying this curse and had caused a lot of trouble.
"The cursed land where the cursed princess serves" - this rumor gradually spread in the surrounding area, giving rise to the rumor that the dog spirit was possessed.
Because of this, in the eyes of the locals in the surrounding area, Suiori Town is an ominous place, a cursed place, and is therefore hated and even rejected.
In recent years, Suizhi Town has become more and more lively, with more and more tourists coming from foreign countries, but there are not many people from the country traveling here, and the number is even very small compared to the base number of foreign tourists.
This is all because of the rumor that dog spirits are possessed here, which makes the locals fear and hate this place.
Aize has known about this since he was a child, but he has always disagreed with it.
But when he saw the witch with animal ears on her head, Aize suddenly felt that the curse might not be groundless.
“Dongdong—dongdong—”
His heartbeat was still beating strongly, telling Aize that the abnormality in his body was continuing.
All of this was telling him...
"Perhaps, the town of Hoori is not as simple as I thought before."
Perhaps there are some unknown secrets hidden in this small town.
This secret may even subvert people's three views.
“Isn’t this an everyday world?”
Aize rubbed his brows and for the first time suspected that he might have traveled to a not-so-simple world.
"Hey, Aize." Kurama Rentaro suddenly patted Aize's shoulder, woke him up, and said, "What are you daydreaming about?"
Aize came back to his senses and saw everyone looking at him.
"Are you tired?"
"Do you want to go back and rest for a while?"
Both Ma Ting Luhua and Kurama Koharu spoke with some concern.
"I'm fine." Aize shook his head, pondered for a while, and then asked with determination: "Can I go into the shrine to take a look?"
Aize saw that many tourists were queuing outside the shrine and entering the shrine in order.
He wants to go in and take a look.
"It should be okay, right?" Although Ma Ting Luhua didn't know what happened to Aize, she still replied, "There are other activities going on inside, and now is the time for tourists to enter."
"But if you want to participate in the event, you have to draw a list in advance, okay?" Kurama Rentaro seemed to know more than Ma Niwa Roka, and said, "Of course, if you don't want to participate in the event, that's another matter."
"Grandpa is inside the shrine now." Kurama Koharu habitually pulled the corner of Aize's clothes and said with a sweet smile: "Brother, do you want to go in and see Grandpa?"
Kurama Genjuro is the executive committee member of this event. If Aize and others enter as relevant persons, there should be no problem.
"Then go in."
Now that Aize has made up his mind, he has no intention of hesitating.
"It would be nice to say hello to Grandpa."
With that said, Aize took the lead and walked towards the shrine, asking his friends to follow quickly.
The four of them came to the interior of the shrine and were not stopped along the way, but they arrived at their destination very smoothly.
It was a slightly spacious room, which seemed to be the enshrinement area of the shrine.
The tourists who came to participate in the event were lined up in an orderly manner. The line stretched forward and finally came to a high platform.
This platform is located at the deepest part, and on it sits a rock the size of a rockery.
The rock was surrounded by a circle with ropes hanging around it. There seemed to be something stuck on the top of the rock. Someone walked up to it, stood in front of the thing, and stretched out his hand towards it.
"Dongdong-dong-dong-dong-dong-"
At this moment, Aize felt his heartbeat quicken.
The rhythm and strength of the beating made him wonder if his heart was about to burst.
But even though it was like that, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, he felt like his adrenaline was rushing, his whole body was getting warmer, and he felt a little excited.
"The thing stuck on it..."
Aize already knew what was stuck on the oversized rock.
However, before he could take any action, a voice rang out.
"Rentaro, Xiaochun."
This is an old voice.
The owner of the voice was an old man with white hair and gray eyes, wearing a kimono, and a beard. His wrinkled face was full of seriousness and rigor, and he was as strong as a rock.
"grandfather!"
"grandfather!"
Kurama Rentaro and Kurama Koharu immediately spoke up and called out to each other, their expressions becoming fearful.
"Grandpa."
Aize's attention was temporarily diverted and he looked at the old man walking towards him.
The old man in front of him was none other than his grandfather, Genjuro Kurama.
"Is it Aze?"
Kurama Genjuro looked at Aize with a stern and sharp gaze.
That look was like a sword, so sharp that it seemed to be able to cut people, and it was indeed easy to make people feel afraid.
Basically, Kurama Genjuro is such a person. He is strict, serious and rigorous, so Kurama Rentaro and Kurama Koharu are very afraid of him. Even Aize's unreliable mother dare not talk back when Kurama Genjuro is angry. His father is like a mouse seeing a cat every time he sees Kurama Genjuro. He either looks for an opportunity to slip away or behaves as honestly as a partridge.
On the contrary, Aize was not very afraid of his grandfather since he was a child, because he knew that although Kurama Genjuro was very strict, he also cared about him, otherwise he would not value him, ask him to practice kendo, and draw up a training plan for him.
"Long time no see, Grandpa."
Aize greeted Kurama Genjuro.
"Yeah." Kurama Genjuro nodded seriously, looked at Aize, and said, "Not bad, he has grown a lot, and is much stronger than Rentaro."
Kurama Rentaro couldn't help but look at Aize, then looked at himself and found that Aize was indeed stronger than him.
"I heard that you won the national kendo championship, right?" Kurama Genjuro looked at Aize with a hint of praise in his eyes and said, "It seems that you haven't neglected kendo over the years."
"It's just the same as before, I just keep my hands on the sword every day, I didn't practice it deliberately." Aize replied truthfully: "I just participated in the competition for fun, I didn't expect the opponent to be so weak and only know how to show off."
It’s not that Aize is too arrogant, but it’s indeed the fact.
Compared to the swordsmanship that Genjuro Kurama taught him since he was a child, the kendo he practiced for the purpose of participating in competitions was indeed too childish.
You know, when Kurama Genjuro was young, there were still samurai brandishing swords and guns on the streets. Therefore, he practiced kendo since he was a child. He was an expert in swordsmanship, and all the swordsmanship he learned throughout his life was very practical, and some were even swordsmanship specifically for killing people.
Under the instruction of Genjuro Kurama, Aize, who began to practice swordsmanship at a young age, was also trained in actual combat. Therefore, his swordsmanship is very practical, much better than those kendos that exist for entertainment and competition.
However, Aize is a genius who has been able to play with all kinds of weapons since he was a child. Even if he has not touched a bamboo sword for a long time, once he touches it, he will immediately get back in touch and exert 100% of his strength. This has led to his dominance in kendo competitions, and no one can be his opponent.
National Kendo Champion?
For him, it was something he could get with his hands.
"It's good to know that you haven't wasted your skills. Whether you can win the championship is secondary." Although Kurama Genjuro was very satisfied with Aize's achievements, he was still stern as usual, saying: "You still need to be modest and cautious. After all, no one in this era will fight with real swords. Don't underestimate the world."
"Got it, Grandpa." Aize accepted the lesson for the time being and said, "What about Zhinadu Village..."
"You can move in first." Kurama Genjuro naturally did not forget why Aize came back this time, and said to him: "Rest for a night, and we will talk about work tomorrow."
"Okay." Aize nodded and agreed.
Seeing him looking calm and composed, his friends beside him were very impressed.
"Aze is still the same as before, not afraid of Mr. Genjuro at all."
Ma Ting Luhua said in a low voice.
"Yeah, brother is really amazing. I don't dare to talk to grandpa like that. I feel nervous every time grandpa stares at me."
Kurama Koharu smiled sheepishly.
"Tsk, I'm obviously the grandson, but I'm not favored as much as the grandson."
Kurama Rentaro was muttering there.
"That's because you're too frivolous, Brother Lian. Grandpa doesn't like your attitude."
Kurama Koharu became disgusted again.
The three of them were whispering there, unaware that Aize and Kurama Genjuro had changed the topic.
"The event that's being held now is the one that's been rumored, right?"
Aize turned the topic to the nearby activities.
"Yes." Kurama Genjuro nodded and said, "Allowing tourists to try to draw the sacred sword is a special event that will only be held during the Spring Festival."
As mentioned before, Hoori prayed to God during the Warring States Period and was eventually granted the Divine Sword, which enabled her to slay monsters, repel invaders, and restore peace to Hoori.
The sacred sword was finally enshrined in the Kenji Shrine and inserted into a stone.
According to rumors, only those who are recognized and chosen by the Imperial Sword can pull the sword out of the stone.
That's right, just like the Sword in the Stone in the legend of King Arthur, no one can pull out the sword stuck in the stone unless they are qualified.
In order to attract tourists, Hoori holds a special sword-drawing event during the Kasuga Festival. The challengers are decided by lottery, and tourists can try to draw the sacred sword enshrined in the Kenmi Shrine.
This is the most famous activity in Hojiri. A lot of information can be found on the Internet, which attracts a large number of tourists, especially European tourists. They have been familiar with the story of King Arthur since childhood and are usually interested in this activity.
"Can I come over and take a look?"
Ai Ze pressed his chest and asked Kurama Genjuro.
"Go ahead if you want to." Kurama Genjuro didn't stop him, but just said, "Just don't interfere with the event."
Aize nodded, took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards the rock.
After a while, he walked through the crowd of tourists, came to the platform, and finally saw the knife stuck in the rock.
It was a very standard samurai sword. The handle and jaw were of very common types, but the blade was as bright as silver, flashing a cold arc of light that was breathtaking.
At this point, half of the blade of the knife was inserted into the rock, with only a section of the blade and the handle exposed.
Tourists walked up one after another, and no matter they were muscular men or slender women, they would use all their strength to pull out the knife with their faces flushed, but they were still unable to pull the knife out.
That is the sacred sword bestowed upon Hoori by God, and its name is - "Kusamemaru".
“Buzz…”
The blade of the divine sword stuck in the rock flickered for a moment, but no one could see it, not even the tourist standing in front of it with the sword drawn.
Only Aize could clearly see the light on the blade.
"Dongdong-dong-dong-dong-dong-"
His heartbeat became more intense than ever at this moment.
Suddenly, Aize felt an impulse in his heart.
He wanted to draw his sword.
(End of this chapter)
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