If it weren't for the guidance of the dangerous moon to lead the way, Duanmu Ci was afraid that even if he took the map and looked for it, he wouldn't be able to find where the Yinian Wen Shrine was, because this place was really remote. He would never have imagined that in Shinjuku, a place where every inch of land is at a premium, there would be a quaint shrine hidden behind the winding bluestone alleys.

Duanmu Ci and Wei Yue stood under the "torii" made of cherry trees, and described it properly.

A torii gate is a Japanese-style structure that resembles a Chinese torii and is usually erected on a thoroughfare leading to a shrine or at a wooden fence around the shrine. It is mainly used to distinguish the divine realm from the secular realm inhabited by humans, and it is regarded as a kind of enchantment, representing the entrance to the divine realm, which can be regarded as a kind of "door".

Wei Yue said, "Duanmu-kun, please clean up your mood, it is rude to enter the shrine with a mundane atmosphere, and after this torii, it is the realm of the gods, and it is isolated from the mortal world." Although Duanmu-kun does not worship our Japanese gods, please keep the most basic respect! ”

Duanmuci asked, "You Japanese gods are many, but I don't know which one is enshrined in this shrine?" ”

"Chiba Shusaku is in power."

"It's him." Duanmu Ci was stunned.

Chiba Shusaku Seimasa was a swordsman of the Edo period and the founder of the "Hokushin Ichito-ryu", and the kenshu dojo genbu kan he established in Nihonbashi, Edo, became the "Three Dojos of Edo" together with the "Kagashin Wise Stream" and the "Shinto Munnen-ryu" training hall.

The Japanese have always had the tradition of "from man to god", and after the death of Chiba Shusaku, he was naturally worshiped as a god by his disciples, and a shrine was specially built for it, completing the transformation of "from man to god".

"It seems that this senior of Terashima Moriyoshi is a swordsman who practices 'Beichen One Sword Stream'." Duanmu Ci said, this is a matter of course, if it is a person who practices the "Mirror Heart Wise Flow", no matter what, he will not become the presiding priest of the Ichinian Bun Shrine that worships Chiba Shusakuse.

That's right, although Tejima Moriyoshi is a swordsman, he is also the presiding officer of the Ichinabun Shrine, because this position is hereditary and has been passed down for hundreds of years, and he doesn't want it and can't help it.

After walking about thirty or fifty steps through the torii gate and the bluestone brick-paved Shinto, Duanmu and Wei Yue came to the "Temizusha", a pool of water set up at the entrance of the shrine, where those who enter the shrine must first be "cleaned" and scoop a pool of water with a small scoop of water to wash their hands or rinse their mouths.

After the two went in, they first picked up a wooden scoop with a long handle at the clean basin, then scooped a scoop full of water, first washed the left hand with the handle in the right hand, then washed the right hand with the handle in the left hand, and then scooped the water with the handle in the right hand and put it in the left hand, then used the left hand to send the water into the mouth to rinse the mouth, then washed the left hand, and the last time the water flowed down the handle to rinse the scoop handle, and then put the wooden scoop back in its original place as it was.

This process is very troublesome, but it is very ceremonial, Duanmu Ci and Wei Yue are both people who attach great importance to etiquette, and they are meticulous in these procedures.

Today is probably not the weekend, there are very few tourists and worshippers in the shrine, some worshippers can obviously read the martial arts skills, Duanmu Ci while washing his hands in the "hand water house", while guessing the identity of those worshippers in his heart, it is estimated that they are some "Beichen Yidaoliu" heirloom disciples, come here to pay homage to the master of the sect.

At the corner of the main hall is a hollowed-out woodblock filled with "ema", a type of prayer board with wishes written on it, and worshippers at the shrine write their wishes on these "ema" and leave them at the shrine in the hope that their wishes will come true. Duanmu Ci also walked over and wrote a piece, which was nothing more than some words and phrases of "happiness and health".

After Duanmu Ci finished writing, he turned his head to look at what Wei Yue wrote, and found that Wei Yue wrote on "Ema", "May kendo be prosperous, martial arts will be long, and the world will be peaceful." ”

The payment is "the source of the danger month".

As a descendant of the source family, Wei Yue used the self-title of "minister" to Chiba Shusakumasa, which was not in accordance with the etiquette system, because Chiba Shusaku Seisa was just a common man. However, Wei Yue still said this, which shows that he regards Chiba Zhou as a monarch in the way of the sword.

Only then did Duanmu Ci remember that the original kendo school practiced by Weiyue was "Beichen Yidaoliu".

Wei Yue put his "Painted Horse" in the corner of the woodblock, and Duanmu Ci asked, "Aren't you afraid of being discovered with such a blatant payment?" ”

"No one will find out." Wei Yue tied the "ema" on the woodblock, "The kendo of the Gen family is generally 'Ichito-ryu', and they don't come here to worship. ”

Duanmu Ci let out a "hmm", and didn't ask why Wei Yue didn't practice "One Knife Flow" like other Yuan family members, but practiced the more artistic "Beichen One Knife Flow".

At this time, the priest wearing a white robe walked out of the main hall, holding a wat board in his hand, bowing slightly to Wei Yue, obviously knowing his identity, and then asked, "Is Yuan Gongzi going to make a personal offering today?" ”

Wei Yue nodded, "It's all here, is it still this step?" Saying that, he motioned for Duanmu Ci to stay where he was, and then turned around and followed the priest to the worship hall to make a gift, and he didn't know what he was paying tribute to, anyway, when he came back, Duanmu Ci always felt that Wei Yue seemed to be a little different, and then took a closer look, and the small folding fan of "Ya Song Zhai" in his hand was gone.

"Since I have already been consecrated in the worship hall, I don't need to go to the sacrificial hall to pray, and I ask you two to come with me." The priest turned around and walked ahead to lead the way.

Passing through the main hall, you will find the apse, where there is a wooden sign that reads "Please Stop Tourists" to indicate that this is not a place that can be visited or worshipped by tourists. Of course, for Duanmu Ci and Weiyue, who had the priest personally leading the way, this wooden sign could be completely treated as if it did not exist.

There is a small forest between the main hall and the apse, and the fact that a small unpopular shrine can occupy a small forest in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, where land is at a premium, is at least two things to say. First, Ichi-Nunbun Shrine has a long history, at least before the prosperity of Shinjuku City. Second, there are powerful people behind this shrine, and at least there is a powerful parliamentarian to back it up.

Otherwise, the Ichinun Shrine would have been moved away a long time ago, so how could it stay to this day?

Just as Duanmu Ci was following the priest through the grove, he suddenly saw a girl in white clothes and scarlet pants running out of the apse in the woods, running towards the other side with red straw shoes under her feet, and disappeared under the eaves in an instant.

"It's a shrine maiden." Duanmu Ci thought to himself.

As an ancient priesthood, the witch has a very long history, the legend has appeared in prehistory, and there are detailed records in the "Zhou Li", and there were witches in the court during the Tang and Song dynasties, and then they were annihilated. However, the Japanese shrine maidens have been inherited, but there are very few official shrines in Japanese shrines now, and they generally come to the shrine to work, using the shrine maiden as a part-time job.

Duanmu Ci didn't pay too much attention to it, and before the priest came to the apse, this apse was very exquisite, not as magnificent as ordinary palace-like buildings. It is a building that is ventilated on all sides, and it is not so much an apse as a "back pavilion", but an enlarged version. There is no wall in the apse, only dozens of gauze curtains and bamboo curtains hang from the eaves as a shield, and with the wind blowing, the curtains also float up.

Duanmuci stood outside, and could even see the situation inside the apse.

The layout in the apse is very simple, with a plain white screen, a few tatami mats, and a knife holder.

In front of the plain white screen, kneeling sat an old man dressed in white, the old man closed his eyes and sat still, his eyebrows did not move, there was nothing around him, and a long knife was placed horizontally in front of his knees.

It seems that a samurai who has been sealed for a long time can still draw his sword and fight at any time.

……

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