Chapter 1: High school student as main job, monk as secondary job
He may be ill.

I got sick a long time ago.

He always believed that he should have a brother or sister whom he had never met and had no chance to see.

Whenever Horii Yuji couldn’t sleep in the dead of night and looked at the empty space around him with no trace of anything left, he would always have such thoughts.

But according to the household registration, he is the only son in the family, and there is no trace of any other name except his.

His parents also told him many times that they did not have any other children and he was their only child.

He would not have any brothers or sisters who had died long ago or were adopted away at a young age.

Yes, this should be an indisputable fact.

Whether it is his parents’ statements, the evidence from nearby neighbors, or the lonely name on the household registration book, they all tell of an indisputable fact.

But he just couldn’t help but fantasize about it, and would subconsciously confirm this matter inadvertently.

Because he always felt that he had a brother or sister, even though he couldn’t see them, but that didn’t prove that he or she didn’t exist.

Perhaps it was because of the loneliness as an only child when he was young that gave him the desire for companions. Every time he saw the household registration, he couldn’t help but scan it again and again, hoping to see another name different from his in the empty name column.

He should have a brother or sister, but he cannot see it yet.

This strange thought has been with him since elementary school until he grew up, and even he himself can’t remember how many times he has thought about this question.

Until his parents died one after another and entered the ghost register.

Until he moved out when he got married and became the head of the household.

This strange wishful thinking gradually faded away.

That should be a small psychological knot left behind by the strong desire for knowledge and excessive delusions when I was young that could not be satisfied.

Although he still thinks about this matter from time to time, compared with daily trivialities such as work, eating, sleeping, and making phone calls, his thoughts on this matter have become extremely low in priority.

For a long time, he would not think about this matter again. Even if he did, new troubles and sorrows would soon fill his mind.

He is no longer young and is no longer a child who can bury himself in the quilt and daydream all day long.

He also has his own children.

A daughter, who is also an only child, and there are no other names in the empty name column in her household registration.

He began to forget about it.

Although it would always flash suddenly at some inadvertent moment, it was probably gradually buried by his daily life.

It was not until his wife Mieko died of illness that this idea, which had been buried deep in his heart, reappeared.

Every time when he woke up in the dead of night and couldn’t fall asleep again, he would always turn sideways and look at the empty space next to him with nothing but the white wall.

There’s obviously nothing.

Even after turning on the incandescent light that illuminated the entire room and searching carefully several times, nothing strange or unnecessary could be seen.

The thought that he should have a brother or sister kept lingering in his mind.

So, he often sat up straight late at night, smoking and looking at the empty space beside him.

If he went out to work and the small bed could not accommodate two people, he would feel like there was a pair of eyes watching him above his head.

This feeling seemed to fill the missing gap where he was unable to find answers when he was young.

He gradually got used to this strange feeling, and his daughter was growing up.

When school started in April this year, she became a freshman in high school.

He felt that his life was approaching perfection and he no longer had any regrets.

As to whether he really had an invisible brother or sister, he did not bother to think about the answer to this question.

A few days ago, a major crime occurred in the Central District, and many people died.

He is a policeman with 15 years of experience. Being in his prime, he went to investigate with several young police officers.

This was a murder case. The murderer was an office worker in the IT industry. The victims were his wife and his father-in-law and mother-in-law who came to Tokyo to visit their family on the holiday.

The criminal did not escape, but stayed at the crime scene holding a bloody kitchen knife.

In a case like this, although the death of the deceased was tragic, it was actually simple to investigate and handle.

After all, the criminal has been identified. The only thing left is to investigate the motive for the crime and then write an article about the whole case in appropriate language.

He solved the case expertly.

Then I woke up again in the dead of night.

His delusion of having a sibling seemed to be gradually becoming a reality.

In the empty seat next door, there was a dark and difficult-to-see figure, which was different from usual.

He tried to communicate with the other party, hoping to get an answer from the figure that would satisfy his fantasy from childhood and even for many years now, and the answer to the question that had been lingering in his mind.

When he reached out to touch the figure beside him, a wet and cold touch came from his fingertips, as if he was touching a pool of ice water that had just melted.

As he touched it, the figure seemed to be gradually solidifying, beginning to have a specific outline, long, thick black hair, and even a faint, indescribable stench.

The long black hair began to grow like a bunch of dense water plants, entwining around his fingers and spinning in circles.

He opened his mouth to ask the question he had been wondering about for years.

The long black hair flowed down his palms and arms, climbed up his cheeks, and into his nostrils and mouth.

The suffocating feeling of being completely blocked made him feel as if he was about to die.

At this moment, a loud and powerful voice accompanied by a bright light that was bright enough to blind his eyes made him dazed for a moment.

“Om Amo Gavi Luzoan, Mahamu Naram…” Horii Yuji closed his eyes subconsciously because of the strong light from the incandescent lamp above his head. He couldn’t see directly and could only hear the voice that sounded like a spell through his ears.

During his years as a policeman, he had come into contact with many monks and could hear their chanting which was different from the normal tone of speech.

In addition to the young voice chanting the spell, there was also an inexplicable scream filled with hateful horror.

The hair that was blocking his mouth and nasal cavity was pulled out bit by bit by an irresistible force, and he gradually got rid of the feeling of suffocation and was able to breathe freely.

When his eyes gradually adjusted to the strong light, he slowly opened them, just in time to catch a glimpse of a dark shadow with long black hair beside him being dispersed by a fist emitting light.

I vaguely felt that there was a bright flame burning there, driving away all the dark evil spirits.

Tick-tick, it’s the sound of some liquid dripping.

It was blood. A strong smell of blood came from his fingertips.

He subconsciously looked over and saw that the five fingers of his right hand had cracks on their tips.

Drops of blood dripped from the wound onto the mat where he was sleeping.

“This……”

Horii Yuji couldn’t figure out what was happening at the moment and looked at the young man standing beside his bed.

He looked young, about the same age as her daughter, and was much taller and stronger than the average skinny boy.

Even with the cover of a white shirt, it is difficult to conceal those strong and powerful arm muscles.

He has short, fine black hair and a handsome face, which seems a bit inconsistent with his strong physique.

“It’s all right now, Mr. Horii, you can go back to sleep.”

“Wait a moment!”

Horii Yuji used his intact left hand to support himself on the mat and struggled to stand up. He raised his voice a lot, “Who are you and why are you in my house so late at night?”

“Hiramiya Chiye, the main job is a high school student, and the secondary job is a monk.”

Pinggong Qianye said with a smile: “It was your daughter who invited me to your home as a guest.”

“Pat your head, and the Buddha will bless you.”

He stretched out his hand and circled Horii Yuji’s head three times.

A feeling of brightness, vastness, compassion, and beauty suddenly rises from the depths of my heart.

When Horii Yuji gradually came to his senses, Hiramiya Chiya had already left the room.

He was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up, found a bandage from the drawer to bandage his wound, changed into the black windbreaker he often wore when going out, opened the door and went downstairs.

In the living room on the first floor, his daughter, Horii Suzune, who was always well-behaved and sensible, was making tea for the young man named Hiramiya Chiya.

The two were still talking in low voices, and there was a stack of banknotes on the tea table.

Horii Yuji didn’t hear the conversation clearly, but he vaguely heard them mention some unusual existence of ghosts and spirits.

With a gloomy face, he sat beside his daughter under her concerned gaze.

He sat upright, and habitually examined Pinggong Chiye with the same eyes he had used for many years to examine suspects.

Pinggong Qianye didn’t care and just smiled kindly.

The cost of his attack tonight was 20 yen, and he also converted an evil spirit with a danger level of 2, increasing his merits and power.

Great harvest.

“Mr. Pinggong’s family owns a temple. He is good at performing some services such as salvation, exorcism, exorcism, and rituals.”

“After realizing that there might be some strange problem with you, I invited Hiramiya-san to come to my house to help out, which led to what happened tonight.”

“You don’t think it’s normal for you to stay awake in the middle of the night and whisper to an empty place, do you?”

Horii Suzune’s calm voice broke the strange atmosphere and caused Horii Yuji to fall into a long silence.

“This is my business card.” Hiramiya Chiye handed the business card he carried with him to Horii Yuji at the right time.

Weilian Ancient Temple?

Abbot Liansheng?

A little expert in exorcism, a great ghost remover?
A one-stop service for collecting corpses and bones, and a complete ceremonial ceremony for the salvation of the dead…

Horii Yuji’s mouth twitched slightly, what a mess, but he still nodded and put the business card away.

“That was a vicious spirit that died not long ago. It must have followed Mr. Horii back home from some tragic death scene.”

Horii Yuji’s heart moved, and he thought of the murder case he had encountered a few days ago.

“Dealing with the evil spirit is simple, but there is one thing that is quite complicated.”

Pinggong Qianye’s expression became more serious. “Mr. Horii has believed for many years that he has an invisible brother or sister. This feeling is correct and not just a delusion.”

An expression of extreme shock instantly appeared on Horii Yuji’s face. This problem has been bothering him for decades!

From childhood to today, next month will be his 40th birthday.

He was not recognized until today!

Hiramiya Chiya motioned for Horii Yuji to calm down before continuing, “Just now, I used my diamond eye to see through and found that Mr. Horii’s soul was weakened to some extent.”

“It must be that he encountered some evil spirit when he was young, and part of his soul was taken away.”

“It could also be that the soul is branded and remains.”

(End of this chapter)