"You can't speak Japanese?"
The girl wasn't wearing a bracelet, so I couldn't understand what she was saying.
"Where's your bracelet?" Luo Qiushui asked.
"You don't understand Japanese?"
The girl asked, even more astonished.
Luo Qiushui looked up, pointed to the bracelet on her wrist, and said something that sounded similar to Chinese and Japanese, explaining the current situation.
"I see."
The girl looked thoughtfully at the blue "bracelet".
"Why are you dressed as a witch?"
Luo Qiushui asked.
"Because I admire shrine maidens. You don't speak Japanese, so are you here to visit?" the girl asked.
Luo Qiushui nodded.
Where are you going now?
The girl asked.
Luo Qiushui pointed down to the place commemorating Abe no Seimei, and she believed the girl could guess where she was referring to.
"It's there!"
The girl was somewhat surprised.
"That Onmyoji."
Her pronunciation was very clear. When she said the words "Onmyoji", Luo Qiushui suddenly had an idea and told her that she used to be an Onmyoji, but now she was an Onmyoji who had lost her shikigami.
"Are you an Onmyoji?"
The girl asked in surprise, looking Luo Qiushui up and down before shaking her head, "You're not."
Luo Qiushui neither agreed with her nor explained why she said that. In her heart, she was simply herself.
Seeing that she didn't speak, the girl hesitated. "Since you are an Onmyoji, how could you have lost your shikigami? Are you here to find those shikigami?" she asked.
Luo Qiushui didn't know why she had come here either, and she looked bewildered.
Perhaps they're just seeking peace of mind.
"Since you are an Onmyoji and do not know the purpose of your visit to Japan, why don't you go down the mountain later and go there (Abe no Seimei's garden) to find a shrine maiden? She will surely be able to resolve your doubts."
The girl said confidently.
"Locals say she's a fox spirit who protects people, and they hope she can bring you good luck."
Luo Qiushui remembered what she said and thanked her, "Thank you."
"It's okay."
The girl giggled.
At this moment, Qiu Haitang and the boy who had entered the shrine came out. The boy looked up and saw the girl dressed as a shrine maiden first, and hurriedly ran to their side.
"How did you get here?" he asked.
His words carried a reprimanding tone.
The girl lowered her head, as if she had done something wrong.
Did you make things difficult for her?
The boy pointed at Luo Qiushui and asked.
The girl shook her head.
"Miss Luo, don't believe a word this girl says. She's a notorious swindler in the neighborhood," the boy said nervously.
Luo Qiushui paused for a moment, opened her mouth but didn't say anything.
The girl wasn't angry when she heard his description of her. She just made a face, picked up her things, and ran down the mountain path, disappearing from sight in no time.
This was the first time Luo Qiushui had ever seen someone run so fast and with such natural movements.
"Miss Luo, let's go down the mountain."
The boy made the suggestion.
Neither of them objected.
As Luo Qiushui followed the boy down the mountain, just before they reached the bottom, she saw a round object at the bottom of the steps.
"Bodhidharma".
She bent down and picked it up.
The boy glanced at it, somewhat surprised. It was really strange that this thing had appeared here; there hadn't been a stall selling this kind of thing here for a long time.
"It still looks new."
Qiu Haitang took the round, chubby Bodhidharma from her hands and tied it to the end of her hair with a red string.
Secure it in place, and Luo Qiushui led Damo through the mountains, the clear sound of bells echoing through the valleys.
“It’s a bell.”
That's what the boy said.
Luo Qiushui smiled.
With the adorable Daruma doll in hand, they returned to the flying car, where the driver was still there, holding a small guinea pig model.
"These are for you."
The boy said to them.
Qiu Haitang looked at the guinea pig and put it in his pocket.
"It (the guinea pig) is a tropical silver-grey breed, and the locals have recently taken a liking to these little creatures," the boy explained.
"Why are you sending us rats?" Qiu Haitang couldn't help but ask.
Although it's cute, this isn't something you'd find in Kyoto.
"Hmm... I had a feeling you would need it."
The boy smiled.
After a short rest, the four headed toward the place commemorating Abe no Seimei. Before they even got there, they saw a huge stone sculpture with a five-pointed star on it.
"The five-pointed star is Abe no Seimei's unique symbol. Although we are now far removed from him and many people do not even know him, the number of people who admire and respect him has never decreased every year, which feels like a strange thing."
The driver parked the car in front of the memorial hall.
Luo Qiushui and Qiu Haitang stepped out of the car and stared at the memorial hall for a long time, their gazes lingering there. The rich ancient atmosphere was palpable.
Beneath the enormous cherry blossom fairy, pink cherry blossoms sway in the wind; the ancient mansion and elegant doors and windows seem to perfectly recreate that era.
"Is this a preserved building?"
The boy looked up, pointed to the cherry blossom tree, and said:
"This tree is."
"Um?"
"Thousands of years have passed, and the ancient sites have long since turned to dust, but this cherry blossom tree blooms here every year."
"It hasn't been cut down?"
Qiu Haitang picked up a cherry blossom and placed it on Luo Qiushui's head. Another cherry blossom was stuck on the red Bodhidharma, just like Bodhidharma holding a petal.
"Of course it was cut down."
The boy's eyes were filled with longing.
"Legend has it that one of the shikigami in Lord Abe no Seimei's household was a flower spirit, so cherry blossom trees grow here every year, even if no one deliberately plants them."
"I see."
Qiu Haitang looked at the tree carefully.
Real cherry blossom trees are indeed more beautiful than cherry blossom branches that only bloom.
“Let’s go inside,” the boy said.
The three people went inside, while the driver stayed at the door to look after the flying car.
The small Abe no Seimei Memorial Hall was crowded with people; it was packed with people at a glance, though most of them were standing in a neat and orderly fashion.
"Everyone, look this way..."
A gentle voice came from the source of the voice, and they looked towards it to see a pretty woman leading a group of people, who seemed to be touring the place.
"Is she the witch here?"
Luo Qiushui thought of what the girl had just said to her.
"What witch?"
The boy didn't understand what she was saying.
“There are no witches here,” he said.
Luo Qiushui was somewhat disappointed. After admiring the scenery in the courtyard for a while, she walked to the back of the courtyard, where there were also some trees whose names she did not know.
"There are so many trees here."
As Qiu Haitang helped her brush off the fallen petals, she said...
A gentle breeze blew by, and their bodies were stained with various colors; the flower petals surprisingly didn't look out of place on them.
"It smells wonderful here."
Luo Qiushui said.
This is nothing like her courtyard, which only has one tree and then layers of houses where the shikigami live, making it very crowded.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
