"Strange, there really is a temple!"

"Did any of you just see that?"

"Could it be Takao Yamobin Temple?"

"How is it possible, it is a tourist attraction, it must be on the tourist route, how can it be in such a no-man's land."

Facing the temple in the mountains and forests, everyone was surprised, but no one refused to stay overnight.

After all, the living experience in the house is far better than living in a tent, and the temple generally does not refuse to stay overnight, and it would be really stupid to have a temple to stay in a tent if you have a temple.

The group quickly agreed to stay in the temple today and continue the unfinished journey tomorrow morning.

This made Nigami and Kazuki breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, and at the same time, he was a little less embarrassed and guilty.

After all, if he really forced everyone to camp in such a place because of his girlfriend, I'm afraid he won't have the face to participate in this small group in the future.

Seeing that he could finally rest, Jiuye Haruka didn't care about what he said and never left, and followed the group to the direction of the temple.

As they got closer, everyone realized that this temple was unexpectedly large, and it looked like it was probably more than an acre in area.

The quaint brick walls surround the temple, the square temple is covered with houses on three sides except the main entrance, and a high main hall is located at the back of the temple's central axis, from which you can see the stupas in the distance.

"It's not like a wild temple, I didn't expect there to be such a temple in the no-man's land of Mt. Takao, I've never heard of it!" Some people were amazed.

"Whatever, isn't it good if the temple is bigger, if it's bigger, we will have a place to sleep."

White smoke could be faintly seen rising from the temple, indicating that there were monks inside, and when they got closer, they heard the sound of the Buddha bell being struck.

The temple looked far away, but the crowd quickly arrived at the temple door.

Looking at the plaque on the lintel, someone read it out.

"Yuan-Xing-Temple"

"Hey, hey, that's an unlucky name! This shouldn't be the Yuanxing Temple, no wonder it will appear in such a deserted place, maybe it will eat us all tonight! ”

One climber joked with a playful smile on his face, and then another gently poked him.

"This is in front of other people's temples, don't make this kind of joke, it's too rude, and besides, that Yuanxing Temple is in Nara, and it's long gone."

"It's just a joke, don't take it seriously."

The two gods and one tree stepped forward and gently buckled the door knocker, but there was no response.

He increased his strength and slammed it a few more times, while shouting, "Is anyone there?" We are mountain climbers, so we came to stay overnight because it was getting late, and we asked the priest to take us in. ”

A few more shouts, still no response.

Everyone felt that something was wrong.

"Is there no one?"

"But there was a bell ringing before."

"Isn't it really a youkai? Have you seen the video on the Internet some time ago? ”

Some people don't look good, and more and more people have proven that the video that detonated the Internet some time ago was really filmed.

Although the government still hasn't said anything, this silence itself says something, and if you look at Todai Shrine, which has recently been broken through the threshold, more and more people are already realizing something.

Although the relevant popularity has decreased a little because there has been no follow-up for a long time, it is still in people's minds after all.

For example, this time, if it had been before, they would never have thought of a monster or anything, but now they are a little frightened.

"Don't talk nonsense, this is Mt. Takao, and Yakuo-in is here, if there were really any monsters, they would have been suppressed by the Buddha a long time ago."

Moriya refuted and calmed everyone's minds a little.

He stepped forward and pushed the door hard.

"Squeak——! Squeak——! ”

The door was pushed open, but no one dared to enter, after all, this was more like a development in a horror comic, and Haruka Kuno shrank directly behind the two gods and one tree.

It was Yuto Moriya who mustered up the courage to walk in first, and Kazuki Nigami followed behind him, and the others followed.

"Is anyone there?" Yuto Moriya shouted.

The sun had already set half of the horizon, and the last remnants of the sun shone on the temple through the layers of trees, and the dusk light, which was half-blocked by the wall, illuminated the upper part of the opposite house.

The light divides the temple into two parts, the light above and the darkness below, and the people in the temple are already completely in the dark.

No one responded, and there seemed to be no monk activity in the temple either.

"Bell——! Bell ——! ”

The majestic bell rang again, giving everyone goosebumps.

"Behind the main hall!"

Faced with such a strange situation and atmosphere, even Moriya Yuto, who firmly believed that there were no monsters, was a little hairy in his heart, and he gritted his teeth and walked towards the apse.

The group followed him in silence, if it was really a monster, then there was no point in them running away at this moment.

After walking to the main hall, finally, everyone saw the picture that made their hearts breathe a sigh of relief.

An old monk hunched over was struggling to carry a wooden stake, striking the Buddha bell again and again.

"Mage!" Moriya shouted to the old monk, but he still struck the Buddha bell as if he hadn't heard.

He stepped forward and shouted again beside him, this time the old monk had finally noticed him.

Only then did the group see the appearance of this old monk, the old face covered with dense ravines, the snow-white eyebrows were long, and almost only a slit of eyes could still see the cloudiness of the old state, and no one would doubt that the monk was already a hundred years old.

And such an old monk wearing a cyan robe still carried a heavy wooden stake to strike the Buddha bell alone, which made the young people present inevitably feel some emotion in their hearts.

The previous tense atmosphere had long since dissipated without a trace, and if it was an old monk like this, it was normal for them not to respond, after all, he couldn't hear clearly when he spoke in his ear now, and he must have been even more inaudible before.

The old monk looked at them in amazement, as if he wanted to speak, but his teeth had already fallen out, and it was extremely difficult for him to speak, and he couldn't say anything for a long time, and finally he could only express a little apology that he couldn't hear.

Moriya Yuto expressed his intention to him, and in the face of everyone's request to spend the night, the old monk readily agreed.

He stumbled to tell the story of this temple to everyone.

One by one, the monks left or died, until he was the only one left to stay at the temple.

Occasionally, a monk from Yakuo-in would come and bring him some rice noodles, hoping to take him away, but after nearly a century of chanting, he could no longer give up here, just waiting for the day when he could no longer ring the Buddha bell and die here.

In this way, year after year, to this day he is still striking the Buddha bell.

The old monk sighed, and then arranged accommodation for everyone.

There were no other monks in the temple besides him, so all the houses were free for them to live in, but they had to prepare their own bedding.

There was nothing wrong with that, they had sleeping bags with them.

It was getting late, and everyone ate some quick food and went back to their rooms to rest.

Haruka Kuno didn't live with him because of a quarrel with her boyfriend, but chose a separate room.

Lying in his sleeping bag, Haruka Kuno couldn't sleep for a long time.

The memory of breaking up with a friend, the memory of breaking up with her best friend, the memory of quarreling with her boyfriend, and the pictures of each memory replay in her mind.

She knew that there was a big problem with her character, and she tried her best to correct it, but it didn't work, and she couldn't help but do it when it was time to do it.

Haruka Kuno retracted his head into his sleeping bag and hugged his head hard.

"Why am I so useless......

She blamed herself in her heart and wanted to go to her boyfriend's room and apologize to him.

She apologized over and over again in her heart, even though she knew no one could hear.

"Does an apology work? Why don't you die? ”

A strange voice sounded in Haruka Kuno's ears, startling her up.

She looked out the window.

With the moonlight on his back, an old monk was sitting there.

Because of the backlight, she couldn't see his face clearly, only it was pitch black, but she could see his eyes.

The copy couldn't even open its eyes were staring at her at the moment, and they were full of strange turquoise brilliance.

She heard the old monk speak again.

"You're so useless, why don't you hang yourself?"