[4] One side passes

(Forbidden World, April 12, 2014, Saturday, afternoon; Japan, Yami Sannan)

The town's café is flanked by four people at a rectangular table that lets in sunlight through a transparent glass window. Sitting on the opposite side of the passage is Mikoto Misaka's tablemate, a short-haired girl named Geng Wujiang. Mikoto Misaka had told him before that the other party was a descendant of the local guardian shrine family, claiming to be a young girl soul slayer.

"Oh, do you want to see something on the mysterious side?"

Hearing the request of the three of them, the girl in front of her took a sip of coffee with a lot of sugar and nodded.

"Yes, but I might disappoint you, the shrine has been abandoned for a long time. ”

Eh, it seems to be different from the situation on Yun Chengyu's side! Geng Wujiang's words made the party a little confused.

It's not that I can't understand the integration of Japanese spiritualists and shrine maidens into modern society—just like those Taoist masters in China who are professors in colleges and universities, but even the shrine has been abandoned, so it's too thorough, right?

After all, judging from the information on the Internet, there are still many religious places such as shrines and temples in the "outside world", and the Japanese authorities have not banned Shinto and Buddhism.

One party looked at Yun Chengyu suspiciously, but found that the other party was also quite surprised. After the two sides exchanged glances, they decided not to talk about this matter for the time being-Yun Chengyu's identity on his face was after all an ability from the school city.

The four of them then checked out and left the café, and Geng Wujiang led them to the side of Yejian Mountain.

"Even before the school was built, there was a small shrine on the top of the mountain, and it was about 300 years old. ”

A few people walked while listening to Gengwujiang tell the history of the town.

Later, with the development of industry, the mineral deposits in this area of Mt. Yesimi were developed, and the original small mountain village at the southern foot of the mountain became the current small town. It was also during that time that due to the development of science and technology, people gradually regarded rituals such as the removal of spirits, bans, and blessings as superstitions, and the number of people who worshipped shrines became more and more scarce......

"In addition, the Geng family, which is the guardian family of the shrine, has a declining inheritance, so the original shrine was abandoned. ”

However, after a journey of about ten minutes, four people came to the foot of the mountain. The route into the mountain began with a mossy stone staircase, but branched off halfway up the hill, and they turned into an overgrown, apparently deserted dirt road.

The afternoon sun shines through the gaps in the leaves, leaving specks of light on the forest paths, and the dark shadows of the slanted foliage sway with the breeze blowing across the hills.

"This way...... Ah, basically no one will walk, so it's all overgrown with weeds. ”

After walking along the dirt road for nearly 20 minutes, under the prompting of Gengwu River, a party traffic noticed the imperceptible fork in the road. The dirt road overgrown with weeds is hard to see if you don't see a lot of artificially paved stones through the grass stems and blades.

"This is the road to the shrine, and the section in front of it is still occasionally walked, but this section is completely abandoned. ”

"Eh, aren't there even kids going there to play?"

Hearing Mikoto Misaka's question, Geng Wujiang shook his head, frowning slightly, but then sighed again.

"Because there's some bad stuff...... Well, you believe in science anyway, so you don't care about that. ”

"If something really exists, scientists who pursue empirical evidence will not pretend not to see it. Fang Tong raised his eyebrows, chuckled, and took the initiative to walk to the front of the team, "Let me open the way, classmate Geng." But if there are evil spirits or something like that, please ask Geng to protect us. ”

"When...... Of course no problem!" Geng Wujiang's face was slightly red, "I'm a serious soul exterminator!"

"No, isn't it a shrine? As a descendant of the shrine's guardian family, Geng's ability to bring us here shows that there must be no danger in the shrine, right?"

"Yike...... That's right, that's it. So let's go. ”

After receiving the other party's affirmation, one party walked forward with open arms. Under the effect of [Vector Manipulation], the weeds on the gravel road and the shrubs on both sides silently turned into pieces, and as soon as the branches blocking the road touched his body and arms, they were broken by the changing stress, and then thrown into the grass on both sides.

After a few minutes of advancement, the scene ahead suddenly became clear after the last bush was torn apart by the ability of one side to pass. The wooden torii gate is dilapidated, with peeling layers of lacquer on its surface, and behind it is a "stone section" that no one has stepped on for years—in fact, a stone staircase that slopes upwards.

"That's the abandoned shrine in Yami Sannan. Are you going to go up and have a look?"

"Isn't it okay? there won't be any remnants of the technique...... Something like that?"

"It should ...... No, definitely not, after all, it was originally a place guarded by our family, and I can be sure that these generations have not come here to set up the technique, I asked my grandmother. ”

Quite a suspicious look...... Fang Tong thought to himself, and involuntarily looked at Yun Chengyu. At least the latter's path is very reliable, and at critical moments, when you need to deal with enemies on "that side", it is more secure to feel more secure than to rely on the unreliable soul slayer classmate who has been certified by the [Void Creator].

The not-so-long stone section is followed by the "approach", which is the path to the shrine. As Geng Wujiang said before, this is a small shrine with only two low and narrow "main halls" and "worship halls", which are used to worship the gods and worship and pray respectively.

"As for the legendary 'Treasure Hall' that houses treasures......" Gengkie stretched out his hands to Mikoto Misaka, who was full of anticipation, "It's a pity that there doesn't seem to be such a thing, Misaka-san." ”

At this time, Fang Tong noticed that Yun Chengyu's face was a little strange.

Did you notice something?

But Yun Chengyu didn't mean to say anything, and it was not easy for one party to ask him in front of Geng Wujiang.

"By the way, Mr. Geng, what's the name of this shrine?"

"What's the name...... Well, to be honest, I don't really know. It seems that because of some kind of change, a lot of family information has been lost. Geng Wujiang also felt a little embarrassed when he said this, "But it is said that it is enshrined to a god who is in charge of ice and snow and cold, so it should be a relatively unpopular little god." ”

After walking around the shrine, everyone didn't find anything strange, and the "evil spirits" that they casually said before were even more nonsense. Going down the mountain, saying goodbye to Gengwujiang, and then returning to the residence, Fang Tong immediately looked for Yun Chengyu curiously.

"Ah, you don't think it's right, do you...... How to say it, I don't mean to slander classmate Geng, but she doesn't seem to have condensed spiritual power, and this should be what magicians in East Asia have in common. ”

Leaning against the railing of the rooftop, Yun Seungyu explained to him in detail what he had observed.

"Moreover, that 'treasure hall' was obviously just hidden by a very simple trick, and Geng didn't seem to notice it at all. If it weren't for her intention to hide it from us, and her acting skills were extremely outstanding......"

"Probably that 'Girl Soul Eliminator' is just a setting given to him by a patient with secondary two diseases. ”

Next to him, who was walking along the railing—for the Demon King, it was purely a cute rather than a death—Nanamiya Tomoyin stumbled, fell from the third floor with a thud, and then flapped his wings and flew up again.

"Bingo, you basically guessed it...... Although it may be possible that the Geng family does have a magician inheritance, our dear Geng Wujiang classmate Sang obviously has not learned home...... Well, the follow-up thing, I and Sora will watch the show. ”

……