"The truth...?" Asamiya Eiyo stood behind Kitagawa Temple, his face full of surprise.

Kitagawa Temple didn't answer, just glanced around.

He glanced up and scanned the past, and he could clearly see the traces of the massive mudslide.

The mudslide rolled down the steep slope of the mountain, sloping down, and the huge kinetic and potential energy was enough to tear apart anything in its way, and the road up the mountain was covered and leveled.

At least from the perspective of Kitagawa Temple, the road that Asamiya Yongyo said has been completely buried. Looking further up is the gloomy Shenzhu Mountain.

It is a spiritual area for sacrifices, and it is the place where the gods live in the village and where all legends are spread.

Green hills, strange rocks, and waterfalls that fly down in the mist.

In terms of scenery alone, Shenzhu Mountain is indeed very beautiful, and the whole mountain area reveals an inexplicable sense of tranquility.

But here's the weirdness –

The Divine Residence Mountain is too quiet.

It was so quiet that you couldn't hear the slightest movement.

Standing here, Beichuan Temple can only hear the strange sound of the cold wind howling through the mountain stream and inexplicably 'whirring'.

It stood quietly in front of Beichuan Temple, making Beichuan Temple feel an indescribable sense of discomfort all over its body.

Beichuan Temple squatted down again, he stared at the bones in the soil layer for a long time, and suddenly spoke up: "Yongshi, is there any collective ritual in the village of the gods?" It's the kind of ritual that all the villagers must attend. ”

"Huh? This one... I can't remember a little... It's just such a vague concept..."Asamiya said embarrassedly.

"Really?" Kitagawa Temple's heart moved.

Why did the whole village come to the side of the road up the mountain?

The only conclusion that Kitagawa Temple came to was the ceremony.

His inference is not groundless.

Hideki Hirasaka and Chitose Watanabe in front, the experience of the two of them being hidden by the gods and the little accounts that Watanabe Chitose told him afterwards are enough to explain everything.

Someone is guiding the villagers, there are priests guiding the villagers - what are they trying to do when they go up the mountain?

There is no way to know about these Beichuan temples.

"Look at this, can you think of anything?"

Kitagawa took out his notebook from his backpack and flipped to one of the pages.

"Okay." Hearing this, Asamiya Yongshi floated from behind, and his delicate eyes swept over the notebook.

The things recorded in the Kitagawa Temple notebook are very concise, and the clean layout makes it easy for her to read.

It is a record of the afterimage that Kitagawa Temple obtained from Hideki Hirasaka.

It's time for the ritual again. ’

'Every time I perform a ritual, it makes me feel uneasy. ’

But it can't be like this, I'm a priest. It is the priest of the shrine. ’

'Granny Vi told me that the fire will lead us to the spring...'

'Ahh But the mountain... That deep mountain... It's going to be one with me. ’

"The Resident Fire will lead us to Izumibuchi...", Asamiya Yongshi recited this sentence, her slender eyebrows furrowed and finally soothed, and she said in an uncertain tone, "This... It should be referred to as a ritual in the shape of a mountain. I remember. ”

"Whenever the soul-attracting flower blooms, the gate of the spring will also be opened, and from where the water of purification will be discharged, and drinking the water of purification will also be able to ward off disasters and pray for peace, and the ritual of the shape of the mountain is to hold the fire in your hand and go up to the road, and the fire will reflect the road ahead and dispel evil spirits."

"Standing on the fire to light the road ahead?"

Standing fire...

It's a completely new concept.

Seeing the doubts in Kitagawa Temple, Asamiya Yongshi explained with the memories of the bumps in his mind: "The so-called standing fire is the fire enshrined in the shrine, and after a year of worship, the cultivated standing fire has the function of dispelling evil spirits. ”

"Is it a dark blue flame?"

"The color... I don't remember exactly. Asamiya looked a little painful.

Seeing this, Beichuan Temple did not force her to continue thinking about it.

According to the current clues, it is likely that the villagers were buried by the mudslide after performing the ritual of 'the shape of the mountain'.

This is also the main reason why the villagers were wiped out overnight.

"No matter what, there's no way up here." Kitagawa Temple stood up from the spot and raised his head.

There was a mountain wind blowing violently from behind.

It's like a man's big hand.

Push him into the mountains—

......

Since the main road could not be climbed, Kitagawa Temple naturally embarked on the road that is said to be infested with evil spirits.

It's a mountain trail that can be overlooked if you're not careful.

The path is not too rough, as if someone has come here to renovate, and the small bluestone slabs are stacked on top of each other like ladders.

"You can see the spring abyss from here, and this path can eventually lead to a little bit of the spring abyss at the bottom of the mountainside, where the height should not be cut off by the mudslide, and you can go straight up."

"Hmm." Kitagawa Temple nodded, focused on his feet, and didn't answer Asamiya Eiji's question too much.

He walked upwards step by step.

But for some reason, there was a faint trace of blood in his sight.

Gradually, there were bursts of quaint nursery rhymes in the ears of Beichuan Temple.

Beichuan Temple couldn't help but raise its head.

There is an indescribable poignant scenery in front of my eyes.

It was a few small children, dressed in red, green, and pale yellow, and treading to an inexplicable beat.

The creepy thing is that these little kids don't have heads!

With bare jaws, empty heads, and long sleeves, they dance eerily one-legged dances.

The crisp children's voice sounded, like a curse, and the voice was flat—

They sang and read it one by one.

'Kagome, Kagome. Cage, cage. ’

'O caged bird. ’

'When will it come out?' ’

'At dawn of night, the crane and the turtle slipped and fell—'

The sound is ethereal and ghostly, from far and near...

'Who's behind it?' ’

Listening to this nursery rhyme, Beichuan Temple subconsciously looked back.

It turned out that it was not that the voice was close, but that the body of the child who lacked a head had already held hands and circled around Beichuan Temple at some point.

It was dusk, and around me were tiny bodies that were constantly stretching shadows and beating.

The eerie one-legged dance is still dancing, as if it will never stop. From the bodies of those children who lacked heads, Kitagawa Temple could inexplicably feel the resentful gaze.

"Brother Temple!"

Nishikujo's pitiful voice suddenly exploded in his ears!

Beichuan Temple suddenly came back to his senses, and the balance in his hand was turned out, and all the children's bodies were cut in half with one flip!

The scene of dusk disappeared, and the elongated shadows disappeared.

When Kitagawa Temple looked up again, he found that he had unconsciously come to the edge of the cliff, and he would fall down with just one step.

This strange and peculiar scene made Beichuan Temple's face change slightly.

What just happened?