21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 270 - 267: Paying Homage

Stepping on the icy stone steps and making their way up the mountain, although it was already night, there were quite a few people on the mountain path, all carefully treading on the stone steps and climbing up while holding onto the handrails.

For Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi, the ice on the stone steps was really nothing, with their current physical condition they could easily crush the ice or even the stone steps themselves, not to mention just stepping on them without falling.

As they walked up the mountain, Yu Chen said to Hiromi Jounouchi, "Hiromi, try using True Vision to look at this mountain and feel if there’s anything different."

"Is there something different?" Hearing what Yu Chen said, Hiromi Jounouchi looked up at the mountain with some confusion, and as she looked up, her pupils turned into a dragon-like blue vertical slit.

As Hiromi Jounouchi activated her True Vision, which she had initially mastered, the originally dim view of the mountain suddenly changed before her eyes. The entire mountain shone with a golden light, and right where the Buddhist Hall was located on the mountain, there was a golden beam shooting straight into the sky. Within the beam, the image of Buddha was faintly visible.

And at Hiromi Jounouchi’s ears, the sounds of Zen chanting drifted by, while a hint of sandalwood reached her nose.

"Ah!" Seeing the brightly golden Buddhist Temple before her, Hiromi Jounouchi couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, overcome by the majesty displayed by the deities and Buddhas on the mountain, feeling an urge in her heart to kneel down and pray.

However, she suddenly heard a cold snort tinged with the sound of a dragon’s growl by her ear, instantly awakening her. She quickly closed her True Vision, and her pupils returned to normal.

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Knowing that it was Xiao Lan who had helped her come out of that state, Hiromi Jounouchi mentally thanked Xiao Lan, and also turned toward Yu Chen, who was smiling beside her, and seemingly still shaken, she asked, "Mr. Chen Yu, what I just saw was the whole mountain glowing, and the Buddha and..."

"That is the true appearance of this mountain," Yu Chen explained while supporting Hiromi Jounouchi’s arm, "When we were coming up just now, I glanced at the tourist information next to the mountain path; this Buddhist Temple on the mountain has been established since the second year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, so it has a history of almost fourteen hundred years.

Throughout the millennium, this mountain has absorbed the blessings of incense and the Power of Faith, gaining what’s called ’Buddha-nature,’ which is why you saw what you did. This is the foundation of a Thousand-Year Ancient Temple."

"Is it really that magical? But when we went to the Hachiman Daijingu Shrine in Kamakura last time, I didn’t feel any of this," Hiromi Jounouchi recalled their last visit to the Hachiman Daijingu Shrine with Yu Chen, a shrine with a history just as long, which hadn’t given her such sensations.

"Silly girl, back then you were just an ordinary person, how could you possibly sense the grandeur that Hachiman Daijingu Shrine has accumulated over a thousand years?" Yu Chen laughed at her, pinched Hiromi Jounouchi’s nose, which was a little cold from the frost, and then continued to explain, "Moreover, at the Hachiman Daijingu Shrine, I didn’t feel the presence of deities or Buddhas.

Although the power of faith accumulated there over a thousand years was very strong, it felt dead and listless, not full of Spiritual nature like this mountain temple."

"Eh? Dead and listless? Why would that be? Hachiman Daijingu Shrine is one of the oldest and most historical shrines in Japan, it shouldn’t be that way, right?" Hiromi Jounouchi was somewhat surprised and found it very strange.

"I also don’t know; matters involving deities and Buddhas are beyond my realm of inquiry, and I’m not particularly interested in such things," Chen Yu shook his head slightly.

Though he was curious, he didn’t want to provoke a shrine with a thousand years of history—who knows what kind of ancient relic they might produce: "Maybe when I progress to the legendary level and get ready to step into a higher realm, I might look into it."

Hearing Chen Yu say this, Hiromi Jounouchi could only let go of her attention to such matters and instead focused on the blessing ceremony at Risseiji Temple before them.

Chen Yu and Hiromi Jounouchi didn’t head up the mountain, for the blessing ceremony at Risseiji Temple was in front of the temple gate at the bell tower, not requiring them to climb over a thousand stone steps to the summit. It was merely at a location close to the mountain’s base, so many people gathered in front of the temple gate.

Seeing that too many people had congregated in front of the temple gate, Hiromi Jounouchi, feeling that it was too crowded to get through, furrowed her brow, and after tiptoeing to get a better look, she said to Chen Yu, "Mr. Chen Yu, it feels like we can’t get through with so many people. How about we just stand here? We can also visit the nearby Buddhist Hall to worship.

I remember that there’s an Ever-burning Lamp in the hall that has been lit for more than one thousand two hundred years without ever going out. Let’s go there and get a Disaster-Preventing Amulet for Mom!"

"Mhm, whatever you say, Hiromi," Chen Yu smiled and nodded, letting Hiromi Jounouchi lead him toward the gray-white wooden-colored Buddhist Hall beside them.

Although for Chen Yu, it would be very easy to get through the crowd, since Hiromi Jounouchi didn’t want to ’squeeze’ through, there was no need to insist on joining the throng.

Hiromi Jounouchi pulled Chen Yu to the front of the Buddhist Hall, and he looked up at the hall before him, feeling an ancient and profound presence.

This Buddhist Hall, unlike the vermillion lacquered buildings he had seen at the Hachiman Daijingu Shrine, was completely different. The surface of its weathered wooden pillars had turned gray-white, and one could tell at a glance that this hall was a true antique, not a so-called "historic site" that had been refurbished. Find your next adventure on novelbuddy

Besides the wooden steps in front of the Buddhist Hall, which seemed to have been replaced due to the constant treading of pilgrims over the years, everything else appeared aged, yet not decayed. On the contrary, it exuded a sense of tranquility and harmony.

With many people coming for worship, Chen Yu and Hiromichi Jounouchi waited in line on the side, observing the Buddhist Hall before them. Chen Yu also released his perception, wanting to find out what distinguished this Buddhist Hall containing a Dharma Lamp that had been burning for more than one thousand two hundred years.

Of course, Chen Yu wouldn’t be as unguarded as Hiromi Jounouchi, so when he used his transcendent senses to look at the Buddhist Hall, seeing the pillar of light soaring into the sky and the faint outline of the Buddha’s golden body within it did not surprise him. Instead, he felt it was only to be expected.

"Ah, it’s our turn, Mr. Chen Yu, quickly!" Seeing the person in front of her had cleared the way, after thanking them, Hiromi Jounouchi eagerly pulled Chen Yu forward. After they took their place, she placed her hands together and earnestly prayed to the image of the Buddha enshrined in the Buddhist Hall.

Today, he was just accompanying his girlfriend. As for what was special about the Buddhist Hall, as long as one knew it housed a true Buddha capable of performing efficacious works, wasn’t that enough? Watching Hiromi Jounouchi’s earnest expression, Chen Yu also smiled, withdrew his perception, and, like her, placed his hands together and worshipped towards the Buddha image.