Chapter 86: The Living Need the Graves

Before the “Ogosho” returned to Kanto, he met with his daughter.

“When are you returning to Kanto?” the “Ogosho” asked.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t answer, her eyes fixed on the water’s surface. “What is it?”

The two of them were in the Central Divine Garden of Heian Shrine, standing on the Wolong Bridge.

The Wolong Bridge was not a bridge, but a spaced path paved with stones on the water’s surface. Perhaps its winding shape resembled a dragon, hence the name ‘Wolong’.

The surroundings were lush and green, with trees like screens. The duckweed on the water’s surface stretched on and on. The only thing that dared to disturb them was the chirping of cicadas in the forest.

“I heard,” the “Ogosho” put his hands behind his back, his tone casual, “that Minamoto Kiyomoto is infatuated with you?”

“You want me to get close to him?” Kamibayashi Miko moved her gaze from the water’s surface to her father.

“He’s just like me when I was young,” the “Ogosho” looked at the sky. “Ambitious, conceited. Last night, he was able to stop in the end because of you?”

Kamibayashi Miko looked down at the duckweed, silent.

The “Ogosho” continued:

“If he were alone, he would sooner or later be harmed by his own shortcomings. But if you are by his side, he won’t go to extremes.”

“Didn’t you tell me that as a Divine Miko, I must be a banner for cultivators, remember my mission, and not have any selfish intentions?”

“The way you looked at him last night didn’t seem like you had no selfish intentions,” the “Ogosho” stared at his daughter.

“If you’re after the scriptures in the Xiangye crown, you don’t need to go to such trouble. Minamoto Kiyomoto will announce them himself,” Kamibayashi Miko said with a blank expression.

“Scriptures? No, what’s important is him, this person,” the “Ogosho’s” image was completely opposite to the carefree one at the Summer Festival. His emotionless voice revealed a natural sense of entitlement to everything.

His figure slowly faded. Before he completely disappeared, he said:

“What you do is up to you, but you probably don’t want that kid to become like your father.”

Kamibayashi Miko stood alone on the Wolong Bridge, watching the duckweed drift with the waves.

All along, wasn’t it her father himself who made her persist in her duties as a “Divine Miko”?
Why did he change immediately when someone who might surpass her in cultivation appeared in the future?
Then what about the days and nights she spent alone at Hakusan Shrine, and then, with the determination to die in battle before the age of 25, she walked out of Hakusan Shrine—what did these missions that she had persisted in until now count for?
Was the “Divine Miko” a joke from the beginning?

“Miss Kamibayashi, come with me to Uji!” From the shore, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice came.

Kamibayashi Miko took a deep breath and put away her sunken emotions.

“While I have time today, I want to go and sweep my father’s grave. Are you coming or not?” Minamoto Kiyomoto walked onto the Wolong Bridge. Although there was a stone for each person, he had to stand on the same stone as Kamibayashi Miko.

As he got closer, he saw Kamibayashi Miko’s face and said with concern, “Are you in a bad mood?”

“It’s nothing,” Kamibayashi Miko tried to make her voice sound calm.

But in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s ears, it sounded cold. Without thinking too much, he knew she was in a bad mood.

He didn’t ask what the father and daughter had talked about just now, but said with a smile:
“I learned a spell from the Xiangye crown. It’s very fun. By the way, in China, spells are called curses, and divine power is called magic power. It doesn’t matter. Watch this.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto closed his eyes, rubbed his palms together, and muttered something.

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him with a calm expression.

The divine power on his body became more and more active. The granite under his feet trembled, and the lake water rippled.

Suddenly, all the strange phenomena disappeared.

Minamoto Kiyomoto pulled his ear with his left hand and pressed the tip of his nose with his right index finger.

“Miss, hello,” he said in a sexy and pretentious voice, with a nasal tone, “Allow me to introduce myself. I am a piglet, but you can’t eat me.”

Looking at his upturned nostrils, Kamibayashi Miko tried to maintain a blank expression, but her shoulders couldn’t help but tremble.

“Don’t be sad,” Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled and let go of his hand, saying as if coaxing a child, “No matter what, we’ll face it together.”

“I’m not sad,” Kamibayashi Miko stepped on the stones one by one and walked towards the opposite bank.

“Then didn’t I make a fool of myself for nothing? No, you have to pay me back. You have to perform a pig’s nose too,” Minamoto Kiyomoto chased after her.

“I’m not a piglet. Where would I get a pig’s nose?”

“You woman, you’re clearly a pure and noble Divine Miko. Why do you always like to play tricks and pretend to be confused?”

Hearing ‘Divine Miko,’ Kamibayashi Miko’s mood darkened again.

“The Ogosho wants me to get close to you,” she said as she walked.

“For the scriptures in the Xiangye crown? Give them to him. Wait, I can’t give them all at once. I’ll divide them into sixty parts and give you one part a year, so you can get close to me for a lifetime,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied with a smile.

“He not only wants the scriptures, but also you, this person.”

“He plans to marry you to me and make me the crown prince? Please allow me to refuse. I want to get you with my own abilities.”

Kamibayashi Miko had already said her five sentences, but she turned her head and glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto, conveying her opinion on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s words—

Speak civilly, don’t say things like ‘get you.’

The two of them left Heian Shrine and went to Uji.

They didn’t take a special car or ride the wind. They took a bus and a train, just like Kamibayashi Miko using her phone’s flashlight function for lighting.

“The Ogosho said you are ambitious and conceited, and that you will harm yourself sooner or later. He wants me to watch you.”

On the Kyoto municipal bus, the two of them sat in the last row, with Kamibayashi Miko sitting by the window.

“If the degree of conceit is half-baked, it will indeed harm oneself. But I’m different. I… I will harm myself, so you have to watch me carefully.”

Kamibayashi Miko looked at him. Seeing his serious and nodding appearance, she couldn’t help but reach out and poke him in the waist.

“…It hurts,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at Kamibayashi Miko’s eyes and said perfunctorily.

Kamibayashi Miko withdrew her hand in annoyance, rested her left elbow on the windowsill, and supported her chin with her palm, looking out the window.

The road and the water were covered with cherry blossoms, turning them into a flower road and a flower river.

The sunlight was bright. Her black hair, which was hanging on the side of her cheek, was like a crystal cluster, as if it were glowing.

“Can I kiss you, Miss Kamibayashi?” Minamoto Kiyomoto was mesmerized.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t turn her head, but stretched out her right hand and poked someone’s waist again.

“…Hiss!” Minamoto Kiyomoto held his waist with both hands.

After getting off the bus at “Tofuku-ji,” they changed to the JR Nara Line and arrived in Uji in about half an hour.

Along the way, Minamoto Kiyomoto talked about the scriptures and curses he had seen from the Xiangye crown. Kamibayashi Miko gave suggestions and guided him on which one to cultivate first.

For the two of them, the Xiangye crown had no practical significance in improving the maximum power of their curses.

The curses they cultivated, such as the “Mahavairocana Sutra,” were already at the top level.

The Jiajing Emperor had collected so many scriptures because he wanted to understand the mystery of longevity, but he had spent his whole life and had no results in the end.

But it was not useless. Although he could not understand longevity from it, it could help Minamoto Kiyomoto to perfect his Minamoto clan’s From the Heart Style.

There were also some practical or magical curses.

For example, a divine ability about possession could not only allow one’s capacity to forcibly occupy someone else’s body, but also allow one’s divine power to not be lost, but to be stored in one’s capacity and brought to the new body together.

If Ashiya Doman had known this divine ability, he would not have been angered by Minamoto Kiyomoto at the Summer Festival.

Unfortunately, although the body could be changed, the lifespan could not be increased. Moreover, whether it was the Jiajing Emperor or Minamoto Kiyomoto, they would not abandon their own bodies.

The bodies of the people in the world, put together, were not as good as a single hair of their own—this was a thought that people with deep capacity would have.

◇

“Uncle Nagatoku, Uncle Nagatoku, Brother Kiyomoto is here!” Minamoto Kiyomi rushed to find Minamoto Nagatoku, who was discussing matters.

“What? Where is he?” Minamoto Nagatoku stood up, and the clansmen and officials under him also stood up.

“Asagiri Bridge!” Minamoto Kiyomi said quickly.

Minamoto Nagatoku walked out the door, and the people behind him followed. Halfway there, he turned back and said, “Kiyomi, you come too!”

“Oh, okay!” Minamoto Kiyomi was stunned for a moment, then replied.

A group of people rushed to the Asagiri Bridge and saw two figures with extraordinary temperament from a distance.

The young man was confident and awe-inspiring, and could not be looked at directly; the young woman had snow-white skin and bright eyes, and was exceptionally beautiful. Under the sunlight, the two of them were like jade carvings.

“Lord King of Tsukushi! Lady Divine Miko!” Minamoto Nagatoku bowed and walked over quickly.

“…I fell here at that time and knocked over someone else’s shaved ice,” Minamoto Kiyomoto was pointing at the small platform by the bridge and telling Kamibayashi Miko about what had happened at the Uji River Fireworks Festival.

Hearing Minamoto Nagatoku’s voice, he withdrew his hand and looked over.

“I’m here to sweep the grave,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “Please lead the way.”

“Of course, of course. This way, please,” Minamoto Nagatoku knew the personalities of the two and didn’t waste any words, leading the way directly.

He secretly glanced at Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hair. He was not wearing the Xiangye crown.

“You and Kiyomi stay. The rest of you can go,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

“Alright,” Minamoto Nagatoku changed his tone and said to his subordinates, “Go and do your own things.”

“Yes!” The officials and clansmen who had followed him bowed and retreated.

The graves of the Minamoto clan were mostly buried on “Hoshozan,” which was southeast of the Asagiri Bridge.

On the way, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Minamoto Kiyomi, “Kiyomi, thank you for last time.”

“It’s a small matter~” Minamoto Kiyomi was very happy. “Brother Kiyomoto, you were so cool at the Summer Festival! You actually turned into a yokai!”

“I can teach you if you want to learn.”

Minamoto Kiyomi was stunned and then quickly said, “No, no, no, Brother Kiyomoto, I can’t!”

Although it had only been two days, the cultivation world had already thoroughly studied Minamoto Kiyomoto’s yokai body curse—these people had named it themselves.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s own strength, although it was a miracle for his cultivation time, was only at the level of a cultivator who had participated in about fifteen battles.

Among the cultivators at the Summer Festival, as long as they were from the middle reaches or above, they could defeat him.

He was able to defeat Ashiya Doman entirely because of the yokai body curse.

Who wouldn’t want such a curse? Minamoto Kiyomi also wanted it, but she didn’t dare, and she knew it was impossible.

For anyone, it was impossible to really give this curse to others.

“It’s not for you alone. Starting from tomorrow, I will hold a lecture at the Daigokuden of Heian Shrine. Anyone who comes to listen can learn it. It’s nothing special,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

Minamoto Nagatoku, who was beside him, was shocked by these words.

“But,” Minamoto Kiyomi hesitated, “if you teach it to others, won’t you lose your advantage, Brother Kiyomoto?”

“The advantage is not the curse,” Minamoto Kiyomoto didn’t explain much. “But, I don’t recommend you learn it.”

“Why? I have the remains,” Minamoto Kiyomi said curiously.

For ordinary cultivators, the remains were something to pursue for a lifetime.

For example, the little girl at Gotokuji Temple, who was eroded by a yokai and needed the remains to save her life.

The warrior named ‘Sawairi’ had taken out all his money, but it was not enough to buy a divine spring flowing from the remains, let alone a complete piece like the one in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand.

But for a family member like Minamoto Kiyomi, it was not easy to obtain the remains, but it was not difficult either.

“After you listen to the lecture tomorrow, wait for a while, and you will know why you can’t learn it.

“Brother Kiyomoto, are you going to say something fake?” As soon as the words came out, Minamoto Kiyomi covered her mouth, knowing that she had said something wrong.

Minamoto Nagatoku quickly apologized. Minamoto Kiyomoto waved his hand, telling them not to mind.

“It’s not fake, it’s dangerous.”

“How dangerous is it?” Minamoto Kiyomi asked again.

“Besides me, no one can master it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

Even someone with a deep capacity like him had succeeded by luck, because he happened to have a similar capacity to the red and black evil dragon.

Others? Not to mention success, ninety-nine percent of them couldn’t withstand the first round of attack from the yokai remains.

“Miss Kamibayashi,” Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his head and asked Kamibayashi Miko with a smile, “shouldn’t I have announced it? Then someone will say that I deliberately spread a fake curse and harmed people.”

“If you don’t announce it, someone will say it about you,” Kamibayashi Miko said with a smile, watching the show.

“That’s true,” Minamoto Kiyomoto sighed. “Sometimes I feel that, compared to you, I’m more suitable to be a ‘Divine Miko,’ willing to be scolded to save the world.”

Kamibayashi Miko patted his shoulder, “I’ll give it to you.”

“I was joking!” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s body surged with golden divine power, then calmed down and became stable, like a golden river.

Minamoto Nagatoku and Minamoto Kiyomi’s eyes and mouths were wide open.

Kamibayashi Miko laughed, but it didn’t stop her from reaching out and chopping Minamoto Kiyomoto’s waist.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s divine power immediately turned back to black, and he couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

Minamoto Nagatoku and Minamoto Kiyomi finally came back to their senses from their shock.

“This is where you go to sweep your father’s grave,” Kamibayashi Miko was no longer smiling and reminded him with a flat tone.

Minamoto Kiyomoto put away his laughter, his expression blank, and walked gracefully.

“Hoshozan” was shaded by green trees. As far as the eye could see, there were all pine trees with beautiful shapes.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s father’s grave was already covered with flowers and wine, and the tombstone was also cleaned.

Looking at these things, Minamoto Kiyomoto said to Kamibayashi Miko:

“I once read a sentence in a book, ‘The dead don’t need graves. It’s the living who need them.’ Today, I finally understand this principle.”

Minamoto Nagatoku lowered his head in embarrassment. The flowers he had offered were among them.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at his father’s tombstone, and a wave of sadness washed over him.

But he was ashamed, because the sadness didn’t last long.

After a while, the shame also disappeared.

Standing here, he was not thinking about his father, but about his adventure of merging with the remains of the red and black evil dragon by the sea in Shikoku.

If he had failed, would he have ended up like his father?
His own grave would probably be chosen on a high place on Shodoshima where he could see the sea.

After choosing, what about his mother?
When he turned around and went down the mountain, stepping on the steps and passing through the shade of the trees, Minamoto Kiyomoto changed his mind.

“Miss Kamibayashi, I’ve thought about it. The yokai body curse—let’s just call it that—I won’t announce it anymore.”

“Okay.”

Whether he announced it or not, Kamibayashi Miko had no opinion and supported his decision.

Minamoto Kiyomoto felt that it didn’t matter if he was scolded, and there were not a few people who scolded him now. But if he announced the yokai body curse, he didn’t know how many people would lose their families and friends.

‘From the Xiangye crown, I’ll pick some simple and easy-to-learn curses with great power and teach them,’ Minamoto Kiyomoto thought.

‘And the little girl at Gotokuji Temple. Just a while ago, a temple sent a divine spring. I’ll send it over when I get back.’

(End of Chapter)