Tomo-sama's Rescue Plan - Hell Chapter

It took her and the maid a day to prepare all kinds of instruments for the sacrifice. Although the offerings were a bit shabby, she thought that the Lord God would not mind it. After all, the famine was just over, and everyone had a good time. It's hard work, it doesn't matter if the offering is simple.

After changing into the priestess costume, she walked to the altar, holding a string of bells, and danced to the sound of the maid's taiko drum.

She practiced this sacrificial dance seriously for a whole year, and it was originally prepared for him.Every time she practiced, her mind would always be on that spring afternoon a year ago, when the bliss god child in black cassock performed Kagura for her in the courtyard. The child's hair color and pupil color were unique , Glittering in the sun, just like the fairy in the depths of the forest in the legend, and she seems to be particularly talented in dancing, so every movement is very graceful, and she firmly remembers all of them in her heart.

This time, she no longer felt nervous and flustered.

He probably won't come this spring, she thought.But it doesn't matter, there will be next spring, the next spring, as long as the two of them are alive in this world, there will always be a day when they meet again.

The big snake quietly entrenched on the altar, feeling a strange throbbing for the first time since it became tangible.

——Is that Kagura dedicated to me?

it asked consciously.

The girl turned her head to look at it in the next movement, and when her eyes met, she also smiled silently.

——Yes, it is dedicated to the gods.

——But it is also dedicated to my friend Xiaobai, because I believe Xiaobai will definitely help everyone.

——Why should I care about the life and death of human beings?

Big snake asked puzzled.

——I am the incarnation of the river, an eternal existence, what relationship do these ephemeral lives have with me?

——Because it is the responsibility of the gods to help everyone, Xiaobai must shoulder his own responsibility like me.

The girl answered solemnly in Kagura.

Arakawa's water god tilted his head in confusion, watching the little human girl dance in front of him, feeling unable to reject her strong will.

--All right.it says.

——I can fulfill your wish, because you are my only friend.

After the Kagura song ended, the girl wiped her sweat and made a face at the altar.

"I heard Xiaobai's promise, don't go back on it!"

The footsteps of many people suddenly came from the gate of the shrine. The maid looked up and was stunned.

"Master Liusheng...how do you...?" Realizing that her tone was inappropriate, Ah Jing quickly knelt down, "Master Liusheng is here, it is a great honor for me to wait! Master Baiji is performing a sacrificial dance for the gods, please... "

The general's side servant, Patriarch Liu Sheng didn't even look at her, with a complicated look on his heavy face, he looked at the little daughter who ran out of the palace expressionlessly.

"My lord father!" She called out happily, but immediately realized that something was wrong.

The way the man stared at her was not her father's eyes, but as if he was staring at something evil.

She knelt silently and saluted the general's servant.

"Bai, your elder brother has passed away."

Master Liu Sheng's voice was not loud, but it was like thunder.

She raised her head, speechless in astonishment.

"Ah, brother Asong...how could..." After a long time, she said in a dull voice.

"You are also nine years old." Yagyu-sama said, "Last year's drought and this year's plague were both severe, and the Yagyu family lost an important heir again. It must be that the God of Arakawa is dissatisfied with us, and it is you who should perform our duties." It's time for the duties of the wild maiden."

"I have fulfilled my responsibility." The girl said anxiously, "I just performed a sacrificial dance for the God of Arakawa, and it agreed..."

She suddenly seemed to realize something, her voice stuck in her throat, and her eyes slowly opened wide.

"Father, do you mean...you want me...to sacrifice?"

Yagyu-sama nodded solemnly, "This is the meaning of your existence as a witch. The Yagyu family supports the witch to support the god of Arakawa at such a difficult time. Prepare yourself, and the date will be set in three days."

The hall fell silent for a moment.Only the sound of breathing can be heard.

"What...you're lying..."

The girl lowered her head, trembling all over, then raised her head with all her strength, "Xiaobai is not a monster that eats people! It is a god! You have been destroying it all the time!"

"What are you talking about, stop talking nonsense." Master Liu Sheng frowned, "There is no room for negotiation on this matter, and your mother agreed at the beginning. Hurry up and prepare."

"Mother, too..."

The girl covered her mouth and knelt on the ground weakly.

"But I, but I...I have an appointment with that kid...

As if something that didn't exist suddenly collapsed, she burst into tears.

The giant snake on the altar became restless.

——Why are you crying?

The consciousness of the snake god gradually became restless.

—Did these people make you cry?

—Hey, I'm talking to you.

—Do these filthy humans dare to make you cry?

A violent aura suddenly permeated the hall.The incense burner on the altar cracked in two, as if something huge was about to appear from the void.

Even Yagyu-sama had a trace of surprise on his face, he took two steps back, and immediately a group of warriors around him drew their shining swords and surrounded him.

But the girl stood up silently, turned to face the altar, and stretched her arms towards a huge existence they couldn't see.

"Xiaobai, don't worry, it's fine."

She spoke softly, as if comforting a child's mother.

"Xiaobai is a good boy, your power should be used to protect important people, not to destroy, so learn to control yourself."

Her voice seemed to have a hypnotic power, and the anger of Arakawa God slowly calmed down.

The giant snake in the void restrained its soaring killing intent, and turned back into the snake she was familiar with.

—Don't cry.

it says.

——Shall we go to the mountains to play?Don't cry.

"Well, I won't cry." The girl wiped her tears and smiled.

She turned around and looked straight at the man who had given her life.

"Father, I agree with your decision, and I will fulfill my responsibilities as the Priestess of the Desolation. Please give me three days, I still have some things to arrange."

The girl's voice was flat and cold, as if she had grown up in an instant and turned into another person.

Back in the room, she began to tidy up her desk slowly, tidying up the spread papers with handwriting, and putting the books away neatly.

The big snake silently crawled into the room, and huddled in a corner in some confusion.

"Xiaobai, let me tell you a story." She said.

"A long time ago, the Buddha turned into a fairy and practiced in the mountains. A king brought people to play, because one of his maids sneaked away to listen to the fairy's lecture. The king was so angry that he pulled out his sword and went to the fairy to settle accounts."

"The king chopped off the fairy's hands, feet, ears and nose successively, and the fairy endured it all. But the king still said, I don't believe you are a fairy, show me if you have the ability."

"So the immortal said, if my ability is real, let my blood turn into milk and my body recover. Before he finished speaking, his blood really turned into milk, and his body really recovered. The king was convinced now, and the immortal did not blame him, but said to him: "When I practice to become a Buddha in the future, I must be the first to save you. "

"This is a story in the Diamond Sutra. Later, the Immortal became a Buddha and taught his disciples that when I was cut into pieces by that king, I had no image of myself in my mind, nor any other It is precisely because I am an invisible existence that I have no resentment in my heart. Therefore, when you want to save others, don't care whether your body will perish. As long as your heart is in the invisible place, you can become anything tangible."

The girl sighed softly, and held the silver bell on the table in her hand.

"I'm going to the invisible place, but I will always be with Xiaobai, if possible... I would like to dedicate my soul to you, so that Xiaobai can replace me and experience all the beauty and happiness in the world thing."

"There's only one thing... I want Xiaobai to forgive me for being wayward."

She raised her head slowly, as if she wanted to use the power of her soul to imprint a brand new will in the soul of the God of Arakawa.

"Although I'm not reconciled, I can't fulfill the promise I made with that kid. He is so similar to Xiaobai, both are good boys, but I'm worried that he will disappear... those people are eating him, I can see it .”

"So please Xiaobai find him, no matter how long it has been, no matter what he has become, please protect him instead of me, don't give up, don't let him disappear."

"This is my only wish to Xiaobai, please."

She hugged the god of Arakawa tightly, and the snake god returned a gentle hug.They cuddled together and spent the last three days and nights of the girl's life.

On the evening of the third day, Shirahime, the maiden of Arakawa Shrine, boarded the temporary altar built by the bank of Arakawa.Mrs. Yagyu led the elders and warriors to the scene of the sacrificial ceremony. It is said that Mrs. Fujitsuki fell ill because of the grief of losing her son, so she was rarely absent from this grand event in Edo City.

Wearing a gorgeous Chihaya, holding a paper fan and a string of bells, the Ara no Miko presented the last Kagura dance to the God of Arakawa.The crowd burst into bursts of cheers accompanied by the sound of the taiko drum. People suffering from drought and disease felt that they had truly been redeemed from the gods at this moment.

The holy hour has come.

The maiden Shirahime stood on the edge of the altar, facing the rolling waves of the Arakawa in the night.The river seemed to have opened its bloody mouth, waiting for its own sacrifice.

A thunderbolt suddenly exploded in the sky.In the light of lightning, people who were close started to scream and pray, because they witnessed the appearance of the giant snake in the water.

The giant blue snake with a golden horn poked its head out of the river like a dragon.

Accompanied by that moment, heavy rain fell on this dark world.

"It's raining!" the crowd yelled.

"It's raining! The god of Arakawa has appeared!"

"Master God has been protecting us!"

"It's great, the crops are saved!"

In the heavy rain, the witch's face was covered with rainwater, showing a smile that fulfilled her wish, but what she said was not a pre-drawn prayer:

"I feel so lucky to know Xiaobai!"

"I'll keep watching you, so Xiaobai can't eat people anymore! Remember?"

"Remember our agreement too!"

She closed her eyes, pressed the silver exorcism bell engraved with lotus patterns tightly on her chest, with an ethereal and clear voice, she made her last prayer to some god.

"Please, grant me salvation."

Like a white bird with wings spread, the witch flew up in the night wind and fell into the huge mouth of the God of Arakawa.

The heavy rain lasted for three days, moistening the dry land on both sides of the Arakawa River. Perhaps it was because of the protection of the gods that even the disease that had been raging before disappeared without a trace after the heavy rain.The current General Yoshimune was very happy when he heard the miracle, and specially arranged a grand firework display by the side of Arakawa on the second day after the rain stopped.People who have been suppressed for a long time in the famine year came from all directions, gathered on the riverside that was said to be blessed by the gods, and enjoyed the superb view of fireworks blooming in the night sky.

At the moment when the last fireworks exploded in the sky, no one noticed that a slender bare foot stepped on the river bank somewhere near the Arakawa Shrine.

It was a woman with long bluish-blue hair, her clean body exuded a pearl-colored light under the moon, like an ancient ghost, but those dazed and blank golden pupils seemed to have just arrived. Into the world of babies.As if she was learning to walk for the first time, she carefully adapted to the unfamiliar legs, taking one step after another.

The last scales on the body disappeared after landing, and the newly born god suddenly heard a sound that had never been heard in the body.

thumping... thumping...

She stroked her chest in surprise, seeing the vast night sky ignited by fireworks and the long road ahead.

A small silver bell trembled gently on her left wrist, like starlight, like faith, like an unattainable dream.