Kamakura, City of Yokai / Arriving at the Kamakura Inn

'What kind of magical Spirit artifact brings good fortune? I knew it! Why did I still have bad luck even after buying something like this?! I want my money back! Give me my money back!'

'Could it be that all psychics are frauds?'

'The Psychic Association should come out and give us an explanation!'

Now, not only is his position at the TV station in jeopardy, but his main job is also affected. His colleagues at the association are also having their work affected because of him and are starting to have complaints about him.

"No... we have to find a way out."

"Explosion Teacher, do you have any ideas?"

"Looks like we have to get serious, Director... Let me get ready, then we'll find a big guy to perform the ritual!" The Explosion Head Uncle said in a low voice, his face grim.

"Eh... are you serious?" The Director looked up, swallowed, and asked.

The Explosion Head Uncle said, "No! This is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the show's reputation will be ruined. If we don't find a big scene that can create a sensation, the audience will be driven away by rumors. And this time, to prove the show's authenticity, it has to be real."

"Teacher! Are you sure you want to do this? Are you willing to take that much risk?" the Director asked the Explosion Head Uncle seriously.

"Because I'm unwilling to accept it! I don't want to be called a liar in the future," said the Explosion Head Uncle.

"I know! Me too! We finally made a great show, how can we just do nothing and watch it disappear?" The Fat Director clenched his fist and said.

"Let's do it! With our own strength!" The Explosion Head Uncle gave a thumbs up and said coolly.

"Okay! Go ahead and do it!" the Fat Director said, giving a thumbs up.

"Yeah!!! Go! Go to the underworld of Japan--!!!" The Explosion Head Uncle and his group members shouted, raising their fists.

Chapter 854 Kamakura Capital of Yokai

At Mashiro and Shirou's house, the two were packing their luggage in the living room.

Alice returned from running errands and excitedly called out to the two, raising her hand high, "Shirou ~! Mashiro ~! I'm back! Huh? Where are you two going?"

"The Capital of Yokai," Mashiro replied briefly, though she seemed somewhat excited.

"The Capital of Yokai? What's that? A new amusement park?" Alice asked in surprise.

"Well, now that Alice's matter is settled, Mashiro said she wants to go out and gather information, so we're planning to go to Kamakura, which is known as the Capital of Yokai," Shirou explained.

"The Lord of Demons and Monsters! Snow Woman! And a Kappa~! Traveling with Shirou ~!" Mashiro exclaimed excitedly, secretly flashing a V-sign at Alice.

"Eh? How about I go with you guys too?" Alice forced a stiff smile, looked at Mashiro, and blinked as she spoke.

"Alice, you still have a lot of things to do, and the place we're going to might be a little dangerous, so it's probably best if you don't go," Shirou said bluntly. After all, Mashiro might have an accident, and he wouldn't be able to protect both of them at the same time.

Upon hearing Shirou's words, Alice leaned back, covered her head, and said helplessly, "Ha... I guess I'm no match for him... Oh well, I do have a lot of things to do anyway, and now's not the time to think about this and that."

"I've already prepared dinner and put it in the refrigerator. It's all your favorite dishes, Alice. Just heat it up in the microwave and it'll be ready to eat," Shirou said to Alice.

Alice stared wide-eyed at Shirou and said, "Damn it! I'm going to do something that will absolutely amaze you all! Just wait and see how incredibly envious I am, and then I'll take care of you!"

"Speaking of which, why do you insist on going to Kamakura? Is there anything special about it?" Alice asked.

"Well, Kamakura has a lot of yokai legends since before the Edo period, like the story of Minamoto no Raikō and the Four Heavenly Kings defeating yokai. It's also a gathering place for yokai, with a powerful Oni Tribe clan there. It's said that there's a hidden passage connecting Japan to the underworld, and everyone who dies passes through there." Shirou said, referring to the information he found on a paranormal website.

"The Grim Reaper? Is there a Grim Reaper there?" Mashiro asked expectantly.

"Probably, but don't go with them, okay?" Shirou wasn't joking; he was genuinely worried.

"Even I know that, Shirou. What do you take me for?" Mashiro said somewhat sullenly. If she really died, she wouldn't be able to draw manga anymore, and she wouldn't be able to get married!

"Huh? Was I wrong this time?" Shirou said in surprise.

"Are you sure you're okay? I have a feeling that if it were you, you really would go inside!" Alice said worriedly to the two of them.

"No, humans and ghosts are different. Even if there is an underworld there, you need a token or proof to enter," Shirou said, waving his hand.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the production team...

As agreed, they wanted to make a big splash and achieve a comeback with a real paranormal show, so they came up with a project to travel to the underworld. However, what they didn't expect was that when they were about to take the first step of the project...

When they arrived at the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Temple on a small hill in the suburbs, only two people showed up: the paranormal expert with Explosion Head Uncle and the program's Director. They couldn't get through to anyone else by phone, even after waiting for two hours.

"A bunch of disloyal bastards! We agreed to work together, but none of them showed up!" the Fat Director shouted angrily.

"I heard that these past few days, they've been trying to pull strings to transfer to other programs, and some even want to go back to their hometowns to farm," the Explosion Head Uncle said calmly.

"That bastard producer! He's been skimping on the budget, not even giving me decent props. And now he's run away! Is he trying to pin the blame on me for everything?" the Fat Director said angrily.

"Well, after all, it's just the two of us who have nowhere else to turn. If this continues, I'll be kicked out of the entertainment industry and expelled from the Psychic Association, losing my job completely. You'll also be held accountable, relegated to the second tier, and never have a chance to rise again," the Explosion Head Uncle said.

"Damn it... I've been putting up with this all this time for no reason!" The Fat Director clenched his fists and said angrily.

"Well, let's think about it another way. If we can turn the tide this time, then no one in this production team will dare to disobey us anymore. From now on, we'll be the ones making the decisions," the Explosion Head Uncle said.

The Fat Director, now brimming with fighting spirit, exclaimed, "Yes... I'll carry the camera! If this works out, I'll become a top-tier Director at the station, and you'll be the permanent star of the show! We'll regain public recognition!"

"Yes, that's the right way to think about it. As long as I perform, you can film everything! And then you'll achieve success and recognition!" said the Explosion Head Uncle.

Kishimojin, the goddess of Hinduism and Buddhism, is often depicted as a compassionate woman holding an infant and is considered a guardian deity of children. However, in the spirit world, this name is also used to refer to ghosts of similar nature, specifically those that are companion ghosts, such as pregnant women who are murdered, resulting in the death of both mother and child, and the overwhelming resentment that forms a terrifying ghost.

The situation here is somewhat different. The Kishimojin here is indeed a goddess, but she is mixed with demons and monsters.

"This is a well-known cemetery for abandoned babies in this city," the Explosion Head Uncle said, pulling a cigar box from his pocket, cutting open a cigar, and continuing.

"Like a high school girl, a delinquent who dropped out, accidentally got pregnant, didn't have an abortion in time, gave birth, and then abandoned the child in the wild or in a toilet. If it wasn't discovered in time, the baby would die, and then those babies would usually be buried here by the government."

This temple enshrines Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who governs reincarnation. In her compassion, she did not choose to purify the mouthless infants as she would other evil spirits. Instead, she guided each one individually, leading them into the cycle of reincarnation.

However, the number of abandoned infants was simply too great. Before the Bodhisattva could guide these infants into the cycle of reincarnation, their consciousness was invaded by the Baby Vengeful Spirit, corrupted by resentment, and turned into monsters. Now, they have become chaotic evil spirits.

"Now, every midnight, the Kishimojin here wanders around with a group of vengeful infant spirits. If there are young women or children, she will devour them. So this place has become one of the notorious paranormal forbidden areas in the paranormal association," said the Explosion Head Uncle.

"Huh? Why? Why are we coming to such a dangerous place?" the Director asked.

Chapter 855 Arrival at the Kamakura Hotel

"Because if we want to go to the underworld, we need to get the token. The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva here has been assimilated with the Oni infant, so her true self has been blocked by the underworld and she has lost the right to be an incarnation of Buddha. But the treasures on her body are still genuine! As long as we get that thing, we can enter the underworld!" said the Explosion Head Uncle.

"What! You're trying to steal from the Buddha? That would be a sin against the gods!" the Director exclaimed in surprise. Japan had not been influenced by materialism and had always believed in animism, remaining quite superstitious about supernatural phenomena.

Although he's not a Buddhist, he's still afraid of Buddha statues, and now he's actually trying to steal from the Bodhisattva! I should have just let him be the one to suffer the cold shoulder; at least I'd still have a chance to live.

"Everyone says it's already a monster, tainted and pitch black, even Buddha wouldn't recognize it. Even if we destroy it, it's still doing a good deed by ridding the people of a scourge!" the Explosion Head Uncle said, puffing out clouds of smoke.

If you want to leave, then go ahead, though that's what I'd say, but it's actually too late.

The Fat Director, being an ordinary person, couldn't see anything, but the Explosion Head Uncle clearly saw that they were surrounded by a dark, indistinct mass of shadowy figures. Trying to descend the mountain now would only make things more dangerous.

The Explosion Head Uncle looked up and saw hundreds more stone steps leading up to the black iron gate of the cemetery, where a dark mass of children's spirits writhed...

"Babies abandoned at birth... how pathetic. Tonight, I'll perform a ritual to help you pass on! Although it's also for my own future!" The Explosion Head Uncle threw down his cigar, which hit the ground and sparked, then pushed open the iron door.

Inside is a cemetery filled with the ashes of abandoned infants, and in the very center of the innermost part is a temple dedicated to a female bodhisattva, an emanation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva who governs reincarnation.

The image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva varies in Japan. It originated from India, spread to the Western Regions, then to China Korea, and finally to Japan. It underwent several modifications along the way and was eventually localized in Japan.

For example, in India, Guanyin is a middle-aged man with a small mustache, a famous deity even before Buddhism. However, in China, she evolved into a woman draped in a white veil. Buddhist Buddhas are known for their ascetic practices, often becoming emaciated from hunger. But during the Tang Dynasty, plumpness was considered beautiful, so the popular Buddhist statues developed towards a fuller, more rounded appearance.

However, its sacredness is beyond doubt; it is a temple recognized by the head office of Japanese Buddhism.

But at this moment, the female bodhisattva sitting in the temple had long lost her holiness. Her face was blurred, her whole body was emanating a black and gloomy aura, and thick black energy was growing in her belly. She was clearly the evil goddess who had devoured all the children in a city before being enlightened by the Buddha —the Demon Mother!

Small black creatures crawled out from around the Buddha statue, seemingly approaching the Explosion Head Uncle and the Fat Director.

"What do we do now?" the Fat Director asked.

"Turn on the camera! I'll go up and snatch it!" the Explosion Head Uncle shouted.

The female bodhisattva had a hand forming a mudra, which was avoided by the black mist and the vengeful spirit of the infant. The only part that still radiated Buddha light was the target of his journey.

Shirou and Mashiro took the Shinkansen to Kamakura, the legendary capital of yokai (Capital of Yokai). As one of Japan's ancient capitals, although few historical records remain due to war, some famous attractions and temples still stand. People are still very enthusiastic about traveling here to experience the ancient atmosphere.

In this world, Kamakura is famous for another thing: 'yokai' (supernatural beings). Since ancient times, it has been a gathering place for yokai, leaving behind countless ghost stories and tales.

Today, the people of Kamakura have become accustomed to the existence of yokai and live in harmony with them.

With one hand dragging his luggage and the other holding Mashiro's hand, Shirou looked at the ancient city of Kamakura, which had a different charm from the big city, and arrived at the door of the hotel he had booked.

"Oh, guests, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you!" A beautiful young woman in a kimono greeted them, her eyes crinkling with a smile, every movement exuding a natural allure. This place felt more like geisha's quarters than a hotel.

At this moment, the beautiful young woman in the kimono leaned into Shirou's arms.

"Wait?" Before Shirou could react, Mashiro pulled him backward forcefully from behind.

"Shirou! I feel something's off about this woman. Stay away from her," Mashiro said, shielding Shirou behind her.

Upon hearing Mashiro's words, the other party laughed happily and said, "Calling me 'older sister' is fine too. You have such a sweet tongue. Please make yourself at home here. Shirou-kun, you should too."

"Alright, alright, old woman, you're too old for that, don't bully the young people." At this moment, a dark-skinned man over two meters tall with gray hair lifted the curtain and walked out from inside the door, saying.

"Oh, you're so annoying, shopkeeper. I was having a great chat with the young man, don't come out and ruin it." The proprietress patted the burly man who came out and said.

"I am Ushiichiro, the owner of this Ushi-gyū Inn. She is my wife. Welcome to Kamakura. Please rest well at our inn." The two-meter-tall, gray-haired man, along with his proprietress, bowed respectfully to Shirou and Mashiro.

"Yes, please take good care of us these next few days." Shirou, along with Mashiro, bowed in return.

"Sure, sure. It's because Mashiro- chan smells so good that I couldn't resist teasing her a little," the proprietress said with a smile.

"???" But Mashiro still looked at the proprietress with a puzzled expression.

"Haha, Mashiro- chan, guess how old I am this year?" the proprietress asked Mashiro with a smile.

"Thirty years old? Thirty-five?" Mashiro looked at the proprietress, who looked to be only in her twenties, yet she was married to a gray-haired man nearing sixty and was being called "old woman." Mashiro confused.

"No, actually I'm only three years younger than my boss. I'm already fifty-five this year," the proprietress said with a grin, covering her face.

"No way?!" Mashiro and Shirou both widened their eyes and exclaimed in surprise. Even though Japan has mastered one of the three great evil arts of East Asia—makeup—and many young women can use makeup to impersonate female college students in their early twenties, this level of skill is still too exaggerated.

"Is the proprietress a monster?" Mashiro asked, proprietress eyes shining.

Chapter 856 The fox spirit proprietress

"Hey, Mashiro, that's really rude of you to say that!" Shirou quickly said. He felt that ever since Alice arrived, the child had changed in some ways. She seemed to be more conscious of protecting him, but when it came to demons and monsters, she was still the same as before.

"Haha, I'm not a monster. If it were a real monster, upon seeing a cute child like Mashiro- chan, it might not be able to resist pouncing on her and eating her, in every sense of the word~!" The proprietress is indeed human, but since ancient times, many monsters have mingled among humans in Kamakura. Some of them have more open-minded views on race and will cross races for love, eventually giving birth to offspring.

The proprietress was a descendant of those mixed-race individuals, but she only had a very thin layer of fox demon blood left in her body, and her personality was also like that of fox spirit—flirtatious and seductive. Her husband, on the other hand, had some bull demon blood, so his body was stronger than that of an ordinary person. Of course, these were things that were not worth mentioning to outsiders, and she wouldn't say more about them.

"Is that so..." Mashiro lowered her head slightly, then raised it again and asked, "Are there any monsters here?"

"Yes, that's true. Because of the economic downturn, we've been inviting yokai customers to stay at our shop lately. Most of them are good guys, but yokai and humans have different personalities and customs, so their tolerance for delicious food is rather low. So Shirou, you'd better keep a close eye on your cute little girlfriend," the proprietress reminded her.

"I know, thank you, proprietress." Shirou, sensing something amiss, nodded and thanked her.

Mashiro has an extraordinary affinity with spirits; I wonder what it will be like for the demons here? If she's to be taken Tang Monk, he'll have to drag Mashiro away from this place as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Mashiro hasn't reached that point yet.

In Kamakura, a place overflowing with demonic energy, although humans and demons have reached a balance, the laws are still imperfect, and human police still find it difficult to intervene in the affairs of the Demon Realm. According to the Pareto principle, bad people always make up 20% of good people, and even if all bad people are killed, another 20% of the remaining humans will start to do evil.

This is a fact that even human society cannot change, unless a new ideology emerges that can encompass everything, a new idea that transcends natural selection, capitalism, Marx, and so on; or a technological revolution; or a genetic mutation in the human body.

For example, if people could kill without being killed, and be beaten without feeling pain, and if no one was afraid of fighting or arguing, there would be less violence.

If no one uses money anymore, then no one will engage in low-skilled professions like robbery.

However, these are only prospects for the future. Modern people still need to use modern methods to solve the problems they face now.

Human society is rife with outlaws and wars, not to mention the even more chaotic Demon Realm.

If Mashiro were to actually encounter a villain among the yokai, the consequences would be unimaginable. Shirou immediately felt extremely uncomfortable and dared not think about it any further.

Shirou had already prepared the Magecraft barrier he was setting up, and he and Mashiro were inseparable from each other as they prepared to take a bath. Fortunately, the inn had mixed-gender bathing facilities, so it was fine!

"Anyway, from today onwards, don't leave me. Wherever you want to go, we'll go together. It's a promise, Mashiro," Shirou said, extending his hand to the girl.

"Yes, it's a promise, Shirou." Mashiro smiled and placed her hand in Shirou's palm.

"Then please follow me, I'll take you to the guest rooms inside," said the innkeeper, Ushiichiro, as he lifted the curtain and led the way into the inn.

The inn here is a very traditional Japanese inn. Shirou and Mashiro were arranged in the middle tatami room, and when they opened the window, they could see the whole street and the distant mountains.

Since it was already quite late, the proprietress soon led her maids, dressed in kimonos with sashes tied at the cuffs, to set out a variety of sumptuous dishes on the large table in the living room.

After that, the boss Ushiichiro, brought over a quick bed and blankets, which were laid out in the partitioned bedroom. But why were the makeshift beds on the floor all connected together? And why were all the pillows placed in the middle, all connected together?

Before Shirou could even open his mouth to complain, the other person seemed to sense Shirou's gaze and gave him a thumbs up!

Boss Niu, you have such thick eyebrows and big eyes, I never expected you to be this kind of guy!

However, it was only 7:30 pm, far from bedtime, so Mashiro pulled Shirou over to the counter to chat with the proprietress.

"If you want to learn about yokai, is there anything I can do for you here?" Mashiro asked the proprietress.

"Yes, if I had to say something, it would be the Night Market," the proprietress said, resting her chin on her hand and thinking for a moment.

"Night Market?" Mashiro asked, puzzled.