The Strange Tales of Tokyo Monk.
Chapter 290 7 The Sinner Should Be a Guardian God
Chapter 290: The Seven Evil Lords Should Be the Guardian Gods
Meiji Jingu Shrine, Shibuya District, Tokyo.
Jingu Shrine is located in the center of Tokyo, covers an area of 70 hectares, close to the Shinjuku business district, and occupies the entire area from Yoyogi to Harajuku. It has the largest green space in the center of Tokyo.
The flying snow bent the green grass and trees, covering the entire Meiji Shrine with a white blanket.
Despite the continuous falling snow, there are still many devout believers who brave the wind and snow to come and worship, hoping that the gods can drive away the snow disaster.
Meiji Jingu Shrine did not stop such worship. Instead, it sent a number of people to clear the snow on the main roads leading to the main hall to make it easier for believers to come and worship.
Walking along the approach to the shrine, you will see two camphor trees connected by a shimenawa rope in a dense forest.
This is the couple’s kusu tree, which symbolizes Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken and is regarded as a sacred tree.
At this moment, a group of priests from Meiji Shrine gathered near the couple and were holding a worship ceremony.
The three old priests in the lead each held a divine fortune, a dagger, and a string of Kagura bells.
Behind them, the other priests were arranged in order according to the color level of their hunting robes.
Few people know that the seven deadly sinners imprisoned by the Meiji Shrine are being suppressed under these two nanmu trees, with the shimenawa as a barrier.
On weekdays, many tourists pass by. When they pray to the symbols of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, the power of faith generated will naturally turn into a seal to strengthen the Seven Sins.
During the ceremony, some priests looked at each other and saw fear, worry, and other emotions in each other’s eyes.
Because today’s grand festival is to release the Seven Sinners who have been sealed for a long time, and to confer them as the guardian gods of Meiji Jingu.
He was given the divine power to control the flying snow so that he could deal with this sudden snowstorm.
Inside the Meiji Shrine, the blowing snow and wind gradually calmed down and became very slow as the festival progressed.
It was so slow that one could easily reach out and catch it. The endless flying snow seemed to be bound by invisible threads and could no longer fly freely.
This scene was witnessed by everyone in the Meiji Shrine.
With hearts of piety and reverence, they stood quietly by, ready to witness the miracle that was about to happen.
The speed of the flying snow was getting slower and slower, until it stopped in mid-air and could not fall down.
The central area of the festival is the center of two nanmu trees connected by a shimenawa rope. At this moment, the soil here is dug up.
One foot, three feet, ten feet… until they went three and a half feet deep, and then they revealed a closed golden door covered with various talismans to exorcise demons and monsters.
As the talismans were torn off one by one, the golden portal was opened, and a fist-sized ball of dazzling golden light slowly floated in front of everyone’s eyes.
Dazzling, sacred, pure, spotless, magnificent…
Some priests with higher cultivation levels overcame the dazzling vision and gradually saw clearly a figure sitting cross-legged with his back to the living beings in the dazzling golden light.
He was reading Shinto scriptures and practicing with full concentration.
It was as if He was the god that people should worship devoutly, rather than a demon that had been sealed deep underground for 20 years.
Is this the Seven Sins?
Is this the Lord of the Seven Sins, the uncrowned king of demons?
How could he be the Lord of the Seven Sins?
Looking through the many Shinto shrines, is there any existing deity that can have such grace?
Most of the so-called gods do not possess real charm. They are just another kind of existence that possesses powerful forces.
Rather than a god that can make people sincerely convinced and worship from the bottom of their hearts.
The three old priests were also amazed and delighted.
During the 20 years since the Seven Sinners were sealed, the priests of Meiji Shrine have been preaching to them month after month, trying to influence them and transform them into the guardian gods of the shrine.
Now it seems that this plan has paid off. Long before the snowstorm, the old priest who was in charge of guarding the Seven Sin Lords used the Omi-shin to predict the future every year.
In the first three years, every divination was bad.
From the 3rd to the 6th year, every divination was unlucky.
It was not until the seventh year that the fortune-telling gradually showed Sueyoshi.
Then it was good luck, slightly good luck, medium luck… Starting from three years ago, the divination results for three consecutive years were all very good luck.
There are seven stages in total, from very bad, bad, moderately good, good, slightly good, moderately good, to very good.
This undoubtedly proves that the Seven Sins have been improved little by little over time.
The good fortune predicted by the divination sticks for three consecutive years was enough to prove that the time had come to appoint the seven evil lords as guardian gods.
To this day, when snow falls from the sky, it is the day when the gods are born.
The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism are all false, imaginary beings that do not exist in the world. Only the gods worshipped by Shintoism are real gods that exist in the world.
At this moment, even though the seven evil lords in the golden light had escaped, they were still flipping through books as if nothing was happening around them. They had no intention of escaping, nor did they have any intention of talking to anyone.
He seemed to be immersed in his own world.
There was no sound when turning the pages of the book, but an invisible force was emanating from the surroundings, causing all the wind and snow to freeze and become still.
Outside the Meiji Jingu Shrine, snow was howling in the sky, but inside the shrine, the wind and snow were paused and everything was quiet.
The three old priests looked at each other. The most prestigious priest, the Heart Sea Priest who was also the current guardian, stepped forward and said respectfully: “The world is not going well, and the snowstorm has come. We are willing to appoint you as the guardian deity of the palace. May you use your supreme magical powers to stop this snowstorm.”
As the Heart Sea Palace spoke, the Seven Sinners in the Golden Light stopped flipping through the books and slowly said, “I want a small wooden board.”
“Naturally.”
Although he didn’t understand what the Seven Sins Lords wanted the small wooden board for at the moment, the Heart Sea Priest still asked people to prepare it.
After a while, some shrine staff brought three wooden boards of different sizes.
As the man approached and hadn’t spoken yet, the smallest piece of wood floated up and flew in front of the Seven Sinners.
He used his fingers as a carving knife and slowly carved on the small wooden board.
About 3 minutes later, the Seven Sins carved the wooden board into the shape of an ema, with dazzling patterns and words that no one could understand.
He slowly stood up, and the fist-sized ball of light gradually expanded as He stood up.
It didn’t stop until it evolved into a Tai Chi portal that was half white and half black.
The Seven Sins walked out of the Tai Chi portal with clear black and white, and hung the ema he had carved on the shimenawa rope between two nanmu trees.
It was not until this time that everyone present at the Meiji Shrine saw the true appearance of the Seven Lords of the Sin.
He is a little over 1.80 meters tall, with a delicate appearance, but not particularly handsome. His face reveals a faint smile that makes people feel like a spring breeze. His eyes, clearly black and white, seem to contain an inconsolable sadness.
He also wears a hat and hunting robe, which are the same in shape as the priest’s uniforms worn by normal priests, but there is a big difference in color.
Black and white are mixed together, like a chaos where black and white have not yet been distinguished.
Even from such a close distance, the image of the Seven Sins Lord seemed sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.
The Heart Sea Priest took a few looks and spoke again: “This time we hope that you can become the guardian deity of the Divine Palace, ascend to the throne, and dispel this disaster of snow.”
(End of this chapter)