Northeast of Musashi Province, in the more distant eastern lands, stood a sacred mountain filled with a holy aura.
It was Mount Hakurei.
Legend held that this was where the legendary holy monk Hakushin had passed away in meditation.
In life, Hakushin had been a kindhearted, accomplished monk with powerful spiritual abilities.
In an age plagued by famine and disease, this monk had selflessly shared what little food he had with the starving and traveled far and wide to help the sick, saving countless people across the land. People therefore revered him, gradually worshipping him as a deity in their hearts and, for a time, treating him as their sole faith for staying alive.
Sadly, the day came when even he contracted an unknown illness and collapsed.
Back then, people had gathered helplessly around Hakushin's sickbed, hoping only that this monk would answer their various pleas.
Moved by this, Hakushin decided to become a "sokushinbutsu," so that he could continue protecting this land after death.
Seeing hope, the people followed the holy monk's instructions: they placed the gravely ill monk inside a wooden barrel and buried it underground, leaving only a breathing tube connected to the outside.
And so.
Amid countless prayers, the holy monk buried underground closed his eyes and silently recited Buddhist scriptures, choosing to sacrifice himself.
As for the people aboveground? All they needed to do was pray with clear consciences.
Impurity was purity, and purity was impurity;
Good was evil, and evil was good;
Life was death, and death was life;
On Hakushin's land, Mount Hakurei was the holy monk's home...
After this enlightened monk died, his body became a mummy, which the living placed on an island in the middle of a large lake at the foot of Mount Hakurei.
Sealed beneath the Buddhist hall