In the few seconds it took the candlelight to go out and flare up again, Toru Yamashita appeared like a phantom several meters behind Wen Zaizhong, who was performing his shamanic dance.
The old priest and Wen Zaizhong's personal attendants naturally knew what kind of trick this Ritual of the Lord of Mount Tai was.
Several attendants stared dumbfounded at first, then instinctively turned toward the old priest.
Your parish really went all out, finding someone dressed so much like Toru Yamashita to liven things up.
But the old priest looked just as bewildered.
Isn't he one of yours?
"Yamashita! It really is Toru Yamashita!"
The fat-faced Baba Yusuke's face turned the color of pig liver as he stammered in astonishment.
But hadn't he already drowned?
Even if there had been a one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival, security inside and outside the venue was so tight it was impregnable. Toru Yamashita could never have sneaked in!
Could it be... that Toru Yamashita's ghost really had been summoned?
"The Holy Son's powers are real!"
"The ghost of the devil Toru Yamashita has really come to face judgment."
Toru Yamashita appearing before everyone's eyes was far more shocking and convincing than the former prime minister possessing Wen Zaizhong earlier.
The mysterious, dim atmosphere prepared in advance, the specially made incense laced with drugs, the psychological suggestion combined with hallucinogens, and Toru Yamashita's grim face shifting in the flickering candlelight all irresistibly led their thoughts in that direction.
Even the believers who had still harbored doubts now believed completely. With tears filling their eyes, everyone prostrated themselves and kowtowed repeatedly.
Pity their misfortune, rage at their refusal to fight.
As the cold-faced Toru Yamashita swept his gaze over the believers, that was his only thought.
Just like his mother, they had been brainwashed beyond