【Wine Ci】Ksitigarbha Statue

Chapter 20

Ibaraki sat on the wooden corridor, looking up at the sky.The faint starlight filtered down, blurring the monster's face as if it was soaked in water.The little monk closed the sliding door and walked out. Ibaraki turned to look at him with the concentration of a leopard.The little monk said to him: "Master intends to let me go to Yanli Temple for further study."

"Xiaoyou plan to go?"

The little monk nodded, walked over and sat down next to Ibaraki: "Ibuki-san feels boring even after staying for a long time. It's boring on the mountain, and it's also boring at the bottom of the mountain. I just went to see what it's like to be envied by everyone." He stretched out his hand and pulled it away. Ibaraki's wrist, and said, "This is for you."

An ebony wood prayer bead, smooth in texture, has been rubbed in the hand for many years, tied with a red string, even the red string looks a little faded, lying in the palm of Ibaraki, it looks extraordinarily beautiful Shabby.Ibaraki held it carefully, for fear that it might be lost and could not be found for a while, so he said, "Your friend gave me this?" He grinned again, "It must be a good thing from my little friend. I will definitely treasure it."

The little monk said, "It's not a good thing." Then he said, "It sounds unlucky to give you monster beads. If you don't want them, return them to me."

He made a gesture to snatch it, but Ibaraki stood up subconsciously, raising his hand high and refusing to give it to him.After a while, I seemed to feel something wrong again, sat down again, and said: "What little friend gives can only be good. I am very happy to hold it, but if little friend wants to take it back—"

"I don't want to take it back. It's just for you." The little monk said.He sat cross-legged, slightly looking back at the moon in the sky.There was silence in the courtyard. He closed his eyes and said, "Master gave it to me when he ordered me to enter Echigo-ji Temple. I have carried it with me for so long. I don't know how long I will go to Enli-ji Temple. I will leave tomorrow." You can leave later. Mt. Hiei is no better than here. Maybe there is a mage who can find you, so don’t follow me. My master—that old monk is not so stupid. I can deceive others, and he will wake up sooner or later Suspicious. Aren't you going to find your friend? Go."

This is farewell.Ibaraki held the beads, feeling uncomfortable.I left this childhood Shuten, but I don't know if I can find a way to leave and meet Shuten-douji.If he can't find the exit, maybe he will be imprisoned in this timeline for a long time.Just like the story his best friend told him, because the chess game was too exciting, he stopped to watch it, and when he went down the mountain, he realized that the times had changed. Maybe Shuten Doji had already recruited another ghost general to rule the peak of the Yaozu.He thought for a while, then took a bell from the ankle ring and handed it to the young monk, saying, "I have nothing else to give to my little friend. Take this bell, and it follows me every day. I don't know if it gets on it." No matter how ghostly it is, no other ghosts dare to approach you if you hold it. If you come back one day, or want to find me, just ring it. No matter how far away I can hear you coming, if I didn't come..."

"What if you didn't come?"

Ibaraki thought for a while: "It probably means that I'm not here anymore, so I can't come to see you. Maybe it's because I've already found my best friend."

The little monk held the copper bell tightly and said, "Okay."

When he was leaving, the little monk stood on the mountain path and looked back, but he didn't see the monster. Later, he thought maybe it would be good if the monster wasn't there. Thinking of this, he put his hand into his pocket, and held the copper bell tightly again.

Ibaraki was standing in the Ksitigarbha Hall, and there was no one around.Today was a sunny day, so he thought it would be a good day to travel on a sunny day, and it would be much more convenient.A large piece of light poured down from the window, and the hall was filled with smoke. The Buddha statue smiled with its eyes closed, half immersed in the shadow, and half separated by the hazy smoke, which seemed extraordinarily strange.

The little monk once recited scriptures in this hall, Ibaraki listened, but couldn't understand a word, only felt that the little friend was so powerful in both civil and martial arts and fascinated, and vaguely memorized a few sentences, but he didn't dare to ask rashly.I also remember the smell of the Buddha statue at that time.Buddha statues are different from yin and yang, even if they are not on the opposite side, their existence will make the monster uncomfortable.In Shinto, human beings enshrine all superhuman beings as gods, and even the fierce ones call them gods to worship; Buddhism is different, it also tries to eradicate evil spirits while saving the people, so they themselves have an unbearable power for monsters breath.But Ibaraki remembered the smell at that time, which was completely different from the feeling brought to him by the Ksitigarbha Buddha statue now.

It was as if suddenly, something "lived".

Ibaraki stretched out his hand towards the Buddha statue.

The sunlight filtered through the window obliquely, and the shadow on the ground showed a huge and powerful ghost hand.The ghost's own miasma slammed into the Buddha statue violently, but it suddenly stopped two inches in front of the Buddha statue as if blocked by a barrier.Immediately after that, the still air circulated strangely, like a water surface broken by a stone, creating a circle of ripples larger than a circle.

The whole space began to spin and twist.The image of light is twisted into a ball of thread by an invisible hand, and the colors of the world are randomly stuffed into a black bottle.When the light was released again, the first thing Ibaraki-douji met was Shuten-douji's stunned gaze.

Moonlight quietly filtered through the woods.The bleak leaves in the cold autumn seem to be covered with a layer of frost.The breathing is cold, and the ghost is slow to the temperature, but the sudden change is extremely obvious.He was still in the summer just now, and in the blink of an eye, he entered the cold autumn.

Jiu Tun was one step ahead of him, and the ghost gourd was suspended above his head; this was the posture of preparing for battle.But the surroundings were quiet and unremarkable.Jiu Tun obviously saw him too, his expression was astonished.Ghost Gourd temporarily lost control of Jiu Tun, and fell to the ground with a slap.If it felt pain, it would probably grin its teeth in pain.

"Best friend?!"

Jiu Tun looked around: "This is the misty woods just after we crossed the river. The mist cleared." He spread his hands, with a rare confused expression, "...Is it an illusion?"

Ibaraki fumbled for his pocket in a hurry.Beads of ebony with a faded red string threaded through the center.He opened his eyes wide and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time: "No. It's not an illusion!"

Jiu Tun glanced at him, and his tone sounded complicated: "Ibaraki, as expected, you also saw it... went to the previous timeline?"

Shutendouji didn't react.The big silver-haired monster in front of him took a step forward, and turned upside down without warning.He suddenly panicked, thinking that the other party was injured somewhere he couldn't take care of.But Ibaraki's only arm circled around with real strength, he buried himself on his neck, his breath was hot and itchy.A head of messy but extraordinarily soft hair also covered his chest; Shuten habitually exposed most of his chest, Ibaraki's hair brushed against it, and gently swayed with his breathing, and it was very itchy when he brushed it over.

Shuten didn't know what's wrong with him, so he could only ask stiffly: "Hey, Ibaraki. What's wrong with you?"

Ibaraki whispered in his ear: "Best friend. I miss you very much."

Shuten's body warmed up little by little.He tried to put his arms around Ibaraki's shoulders, and he succeeded; the first step and the second would be easy, and finally he put his hands around Ibaraki, as if they were supporting each other.

It would probably be weird to say it.Shuten is pretty bad at this most of the time.He sighed, and said in an inaudible voice, "Me too....I miss you too, Ibaraki."

Ibaraki obviously heard it.Because when they climbed the mountain steps together later, the smile on the big ghost's face was like a child who got a long-awaited candy, and he couldn't hide it no matter how hard he tried.

Jiu Tun glanced at him again, snorted coldly, but thought in his heart, he still had to say it.

On the road, they briefly exchanged the two past timelines of each other, and very tacitly omitted a large part of the content.Ibaraki wanted to praise "my friend has been gifted with different talents since he was a child", but he was forced to look back at the unsightly human time and stopped viciously.Ibaraki wanted to praise many times, and even updated the praise in his mind over and over again, but Jiu Tun refused to let him say it.Shuten is also contradictory, obviously he has been able to listen to Ibaraki's praise calmly and calmly, but he still feels ashamed when Ibaraki praised him as a child.And he also hid his evaluation of Xiao Ibaraki very carefully, for fear that he would say something that he shouldn't say.Just when he glanced sideways at Ibaraki, he suppressed the idea of ​​reaching out to pinch his ear more than once; at the same time, Shuten also took a long time to succeed in the psychological struggle, not allowing himself to ask Ibaraki how you were before turning into a ghost Well, have you ever been bullied after becoming a ghost?

It is the best answer that Ibaraki can walk side by side with him safe and sound.

After hearing what Ibaraki said, Shuten said, "Sure enough, it has something to do with the statue of Jizo."

They have reached the gate of the temple on the mountain.This is a small temple, which has been abandoned for many years.When they walked into the courtyard overgrown with weeds, several ferrets that were about to mature fled in all directions, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.Jiu Tun continued: "We couldn't continue to be trapped in the past, maybe it was because 'it' didn't have enough power, and you bumped into it when it showed some clues, so we returned to the present world." As if thinking of something, he said to Ibaraki, "It won't end so quickly before that guy is caught."

He was right.

As soon as the door was pushed open, there was a cloud of dust.The temple is too small to be seen at a glance.A broken Buddha statue is enshrined, the finger-twisting arm is broken, and the head is missing.Ibaraki took a step forward, and as far as he could see, he began to shake violently. He quickly turned sideways to grab Shuten-douji's hand, but he only had time to grab the navy blue neckband on the back of Shuten's shoulder.The soft cloth slipped from his fingers in an instant.The lines of color and world continue to spin, spin.

He hurriedly called his best friend, but he knew where he was going again in his heart.

There is a thick layer of snow on the ground.A tall young man was staring at him.There was no expression on the young man's face, his eyebrows were raised, his eyebrows were slightly protruding, and he looked extraordinarily fierce.His appearance was so familiar, Ibaraki was just taken aback for a moment, and then called out: "Little friend?"

The person in front of him raised his eyes with a smile that was not a smile, and he already had an aura of power without anger.

Ibaraki was in a complicated mood and said, "Little friend, you have grown taller."