Chapter 72: The Foolish Girl, Simple Thoughts

The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent.

The chaotic situation, whether people panicked by the terrifying monster and desperately trying to stay far from Higashi-Osugi, or those squeezed in the crowd just wanting to leave but blocked on the road, angrily arguing with others, or even fighting each other to escape, teeth knocked out and bleeding...

Without a single exception, everyone here suddenly fell silent, stopped crowding, stopped fighting, stopped all movement, and even their restless minds calmed down.

They were somewhat dazed, unable to react, feeling as if they had heard something, and then their hearts became peaceful.

Trying to recall carefully.

Yet they could not remember what they had just heard; they only felt that the sound could cleanse the body, mind, and soul, washing away all kinds of troubles, anger, dissatisfaction, and resentment...

It was very strange.

Under such circumstances, a voice so important that could calm them should not be forgotten, yet they simply could not recall it clearly.

"Amitabha."

An old Monk wearing a wide-brimmed hat walked slowly along the road, weaving through the crowd, heading toward Higashi-Osugi.

Passing right by people.

Only after he had passed did that person slowly react, realizing someone had walked past in front of him.

Like a single grain in the vast ocean, inconspicuous and hard to catch.

Or like a flower in water, seen within the water; reaching in to probe, ripples spread, the flower vanishes, not a flower yet seeming like a flower, utterly mysterious.

Many people noticed the old Monk and felt the same sensation.

They only felt someone pass by their side; turning to look, they saw only the back of a monk with an otherworldly aura carrying a faint ancient air; then blinking once, the scene became strange, and the old monk who had been not far ahead in their line of sight had somehow arrived on the other side.

These people were absolutely certain: the old Monk walked very slowly, yet in the blink of an eye, he had crossed a great distance, ethereal and extraordinary.

By the time they blinked again, the old Monk was already gone, vanished into the crowd, as if he had never appeared.

"An illusion?"

They were somewhat bewildered, as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight, yet felt no fear at all, only tranquility.

"Um... did an old Monk just pass by my side?"

Having spoken these words, he himself paused in surprise.

Wait, how did I know the Monk was an old Monk? I clearly didn't see his face.

Was it because the old Monk's back carried an aura of faint antiquity, so I unconsciously assumed he was an old Monk?

"No, I didn't see any Monk," said an unfamiliar passerby nearby, with a strange expression.

This person must be sick; where is there an old Monk?

Besides, can't you see? Everyone here suddenly calmed down; no one is moving. If someone really were moving, it would be clearly visible.

However.

Just as the passerby nearby and the surrounding pedestrians were thinking this, someone not far away spoke up.

"I also just saw an old Monk pass by my side."

The speaker was ten meters away from here.

Since the road had fallen silent, even at a distance of ten meters, the sound was easily heard, but what was surprising was why the passerby nearby and the surrounding people saw nothing, only the person ten meters away saw it, and moreover, only that person ten meters away saw it; even those around him saw nothing.

Next, as a few people mentioned that an old Monk had brushed past them, everyone was puzzled, scratching their heads, faces full of confusion and astonishment.

That shouldn't be.

The road is so quiet, no one is moving; why didn't we see the old Monk, while only a few people did?

If we say our eyes deceived us, surely so many people wouldn't all be deceived.

If they saw it wrong, that's even more incorrect; one person seeing it wrong is fine, but surely not dozens of people all seeing it wrong.

At the same time.

While everyone on the highway was surprised and confused.

Inside the Higashi-Osugi blockade line.

"The Atsuta Shrine of the Omikami family?" Mori Takeshi's gaze fell on Omikami Xia Mei, hesitating slightly: "Omikami Shinto priestess, are you sure you can fight the monster?"

It was not that he did not believe in Omikami Xia Mei's supernatural identity, but that she was simply too young.

In his impression, a high master who has attained the Dao should be elderly; after all, cultivating supernatural power is not that easy; it requires years of arduous practice.

He feared that Omikami Xia Mei's cultivation was insufficient and she could not defeat the Six-Eyed Monster.

"I don't know."

Omikami Xia Mei shook her head, responding somewhat awkwardly:

"Actually, this is my first time fighting a monster. I cannot be certain if I can defeat the monster, but I want to try. It is not because I want to show off anything; I simply do not wish for anyone else to be hurt by monsters again; I just want to do what I can."

In fact.

On the way here, Omikami Xia Mei learned of the monster's terrifying destructive power through a mobile phone livestream; in that instant, her heart wavered, and doubt arose.

Doubt about herself, doubt about the Shinto path.

She recalled that before departing, her grandfather had pulled her aside, his eyes red, desperately urging her, repeatedly emphasizing that he did not know whether the supernatural power of the Shinto path truly existed, but he knew he was not supernatural, and neither was his granddaughter.

At first, she thought her grandfather believed the monster was so powerful that even he could not defeat it, and that going herself would be suicide.

But the moment she saw the livestream, this thought vanished into thin air.

The monster was not merely powerful; it was utterly world-destroying.

Could human power truly deal with monsters?

Omikami Xia Mei doubted herself, her heart wavering; perhaps... what her grandfather had said in the deep mountains and old forests was actually true, that the Shinto path was fake, all a lie told to deceive her.

She raised the thought of turning back.

This thought never diminished; instead, it kept growing, until after witnessing the monster annihilate the entire First Division's forces, it spread to infinity.

However.

In the end, she did not retreat, because she witnessed the monster brutally killing an officer and eating his eyes.

In an instant.

Images of individuals floated through her mind: her mother, her father, her grandfather, many kind and amiable elders of the family, her newest like-minded friend Kamikawa Mitsu, and all those familiar to her, every single one appeared.

Demons cause chaos, human strength cannot oppose them; this world will fall into destruction. At that time, these familiar relatives and friends of hers will not be spared.

They... might, like the officer, have their brains pierced, their eyes gouged out, their heads separated from their bodies, and they might even die in a more miserable way.

No.

Impossible!

Amamiya Xia Mei panicked; she did not want to see her family die miserably.

She must know that the true reason for her obsession with the Way of the Gods was not the power of the Way of the Gods, but rather the justice and kindness it revealed, which she loved deeply.

Amamiya Xia Mei simply believed that the Way of the Gods brings happiness to people, that the Way of the Gods can fill the world with peace; in such a peaceful world, if the people are happy, does that not mean her family and friends are happy too?

At this moment.

Amamiya Xia Mei did not retreat even a bit; instead, she reaffirmed her conviction that the Way of the Gods truly exists! What her grandfather said was a lie.

Because she dared not think: if the Way of the Gods is false, then who can deal with the demon invasion? This is only one demon; there are many more to come. The vision of Yun Lake proves there are tens of millions of demons.

If the Way of the Gods is false, and demons invade in force, how can humanity oppose them?

She deceived herself; she prayed to herself.

She hoped, she sincerely and immensely hoped that the Way of the Gods was real; only then would humanity have a sliver of hope, only then would there be a means to defeat the demons, and only then would her family have a chance to live.

So, she made a decision: she would attempt to deal with the demons and prove the existence of the Way of the Gods.

Since demons truly exist, the possibilities of the Way of the Gods and Buddhism being transcendent are not necessarily non-existent.

You may think she is foolish, but this is the only thing she can do. After all, if one demon can appear, surely a second, a third, and even a mass appearance can follow; by the time we strive then, it will be too late.

She is already prepared; even if she ultimately dies at the hands of demons, as long as she proves the Way of the Gods exists, everything is worth it. At the very least, she has given her family a spark of hope to live on.

"I am going."

Amamiya Xia Mei tightly gripped the demon-exorcising bow in one hand and pressed her other hand firmly onto the rustic satchel of shikigami paper at her waist; she bit her red lips and moved toward the direction of the demons.

Great Lord of the Gods.

If you truly exist...

Please protect my family, please help me defeat the demons; I do not want my family to die.

(PS: Four updates today!!!! There will definitely be substantial content!!)

(PS: Some might find Amamiya Xia Mei annoying and think her ideas are foolish. Actually, dear readers, you are standing from a God's-eye view, so you think she, due to being chuunibyou, led a group of people into a trap and is now going to sacrifice her life, which is why you think she is foolish. But you cannot look at it that way.

Amamiya Xia Mei simply does not know. You should view things from her perspective. She was indoctrinated with education in the Way of the Gods from childhood, which is why she believed in the Way of the Gods so deeply, and only then did she inadvertently lead the people of the Way of the Gods and Buddhism into a trap. But she simply did not know she was leading people into a trap; she only deeply believed in the Way of the Gods and did not want her faith to be insulted. Furthermore, the decision she made here—actually, I think if anyone else were in her place, learning that their family is extremely likely to face mortal danger, I ask you, who would not act without hesitation? Do not use a God's-eye view to criticize the characters in the story...)