Chapter 324

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Chapter 324: Pleasing to the Eye

Yingzhou is a magical place, where various foreign beliefs can take root and blossom.

However, in this land leaning towards the East, many beliefs unavoidably assimilate into Shintoism.

Many foreign deities choose to blend with the local gods, resulting in the emergence of significant variations of Shintoism throughout history, such as Buddhist Shinto, Confucian Shinto, and even State Shinto.

In a time filled with mystery, deities and beliefs were never mere empty spiritual symbols.

Anyway, it couldn’t hurt to believe a little, ×.

There are immense benefits, come quickly and believe in my deity, √.

Driven by benefits and spiritual solace, the two were intertwined, leading to a significant growth in the number of believers.

Leaving aside the abundance of wicked followers in Goryeo, the followers of Shintoism in Yingzhou were also numerous. Ise Shrine, Inari Shrine, Nara Kasuga Shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, and so on, all had actual deities residing within them. They truly brought benefits to the local believers and helped to dispel calamities and resolve difficulties.

In present times, the shrine serves as a disaster management organization, overseeing the entire Yingzhou region.

It was under the direct control of the shogunate, responsible to the shogun himself. Though it had only been half a century since it emerged onto the stage of history, it experienced significant growth during the peak development of this shogunate generation. However, its establishment was not an overnight occurrence. Long before that, it had already gathered a large number of exceptional witches, who had established collaborative relationships with the shogunate and various local shrines.

Shrines, regardless of their names, are organizations established due to the existence of gods.

Without the presence of divine beings, there would not exist witches and priests who serve and worship the gods.

For centuries, the shrine existed without ever receiving any care from the gods in the past.

The shrine’s witches, almost all of them, were witches.

They believed in gold, even though in this remote island nation there was no trace of the mysterious metal. Over the past few centuries, they stubbornly declined any other gods’ offers, wholeheartedly devoted to worshipping the long-gone deities.

Until the shrine was taken over by the shogunate, becoming a governing body under its control.

Until the Bloody Red Moon released the Scarlet Curse once again twenty years ago.

Until an internal division occurred.

The shrine was divided into two factions, with one faction leaving the shrine while the other faction became the shogunate’s warriors.

The former returned to the fields, continuing to uphold tradition, while the latter abandoned the deities it had once worshipped and became a professional disaster relief organization.

The former sheltered and cared for the descendants of witches afflicted with the Crimson Moon disease from all over, continuing to worship the gods who never returned. It was heartening to know that at least this faith had been rewarded to some extent, as even the miraculous Golden Miracle of Europa could still take effect across the vast ocean.

The latter, having completely abandoned the stance of witches, never mentioned their former beliefs. The advantage was that the sword witches no longer had to worry about traditions and their pressures, but the drawback was that they remained ignorant of their own origins.

Nowadays, most sword witches have little knowledge of the witch’s blood flowing within them, nor do they know their origins. They are even unaware of the witch’s self-aware awakening, perceiving their own awakening as a catastrophic transformation caused by the Crimson Moon disease.

…

Kokonohana Nori was filled with indescribable astonishment.

She was a sword witch who had experienced the internal division of the shrine decades ago, and she had once seen that portrait.

The story goes that this unique portrait was created using a painting technique that was completely different from the artistic style of Yingzhou. The exquisite technique used in this oil painting originated from Europa several hundred years ago, during a golden age of cultural prosperity in the empire. Even today’s allied nations cannot match the cultural glory of that ancient empire.

The apparition of the young man in front of her now and the divine portrait she had seen as a young girl… It wouldn’t be accurate to say they were an exact match, but rather, they were perfectly identical.

In the graceful form of his soul, Bai Wei hadn’t taken a moment to observe himself in the mirror. His appearance was not that of this current lifetime, but rather, it resembled more closely that of an emperor or mentor.

In the story, he looked different in the two lifetimes.

After being possessed by the Golden Power, he became significantly different from the typical appearance and demeanor of the people from the Ming Country.

He hadn’t really expected Kokonohana Nori to recognize him. But it was probably for the best if she didn’t recognize him. After all, it would be difficult to explain the change in hair color, eyes, and the mysterious source of it all. Did he have to claim to be a Super Saiyan?

But Kokonohana Nori did recognize him, she just wasn’t certain. After all, in her understanding, witches only believed in the existence of the dead.

She didn’t believe at all that this deity could protect her faith.

People only see what they want to see. If she were to go to Europa and truly see the witches who were being protected, her heart wouldn’t feel relieved but rather filled with anger and sorrow. She couldn’t understand why the witches in Europa could receive blessings while those in Yingzhou couldn’t.

The funeral attendant did a great job of controlling her expression, without showing her thoughts, and instead, she continued speaking to seek more information.

Even if that was a deity, the object of the former shrine’s faith, she couldn’t confirm it, could she?

To him, the current witches hardly knew anything.

She asked, "What is going on here?"

Bai Wei replied, "You have merely awakened, that’s all."

"Awakened?" The funeral attendant had never heard of it before.

"In order for a witch’s talents to be fully unleashed, they need to undergo an awakening. The Scarlet Curse triggered your awakening, but it also caused your bloodline to go wild. All you need to do is expel the influence of the Scarlet Curse, and you will be able to complete the awakening ceremony smoothly. Considering your age, it is already quite late for the awakening, so there is no risk involved." A figure in the darkness affirmed, "Without a doubt, you are the successor of the witch bloodline."

"Witch…" Nori Kokonohana pondered, "Not a shrine maiden?"

"A shrine maiden is a woman who serves the gods, while a witch is born with it. Because of your unique bloodline, you have contracted the Blood Moon Disease." Bai Wei said, "It seems you are not aware of your witch heritage."

Kokonohana Nori shook her head, of course she didn’t know. Or rather, she had never cared about it.

There are too many witches in Europa, and many of them are village girls.

Across the endless sea, who would care about each other’s existence?

Only the Kurosawa Yaka lineage of shrines would try to acquire golden resin and create special medicine to save people.

She seemed a bit surprised. The Scarlet Curse only affects those with witch bloodline, but when it was mentioned like that, it somehow made sense.

"Why weren’t some sword witches affected?" you may wonder. Well, that’s because they were born and raised in Yingzhou, a place without any witch bloodline.

"But if that’s the case, why wasn’t it affected in the past?" asked Kokonohana Nori.

"Because there was no red moon in the past, and you are still alive now, perhaps it’s because after the red moon appeared, you have grown up and your resistance has increased."

Bai Wei unexpectedly said, "I didn’t expect that within the shrine, there would be a person with a witch bloodline, and you had no idea about the awakening of witches."

"No," Kokonohana Nori shook her head in disagreement.

"What is it?"

"Not just one," the funeral attendant gritted her teeth and said.

"That is a few?" Bai Wei asked.

"Inside the shrine, over 90% of the sword witches are actually female witches," the funeral attendant looked at the young man between reality and illusion, staring into his eyes. "All of them are witches."

Bai Wei, "…"

Bai Wei thought to himself, "Is there really such a thing?"

But Igarashi Shimizu, Yoshine Ise, and Saki Jingūji, they were not…

In an instant, Bai Wei found the answer: because they were not, they could take action in December. Other sword witches simply dared not expose themselves to the moonlight.

Bai Wei remained silent for a long time.

He had encountered quite a few sword witches before, but the survivorship bias is truly remarkable. The shrine was a government department, so how coincidental was it that they only recruited witches? The sword witches he knew happened to not be witches, which led him to never consider this possibility. However, now that he had come across the awakening of the Kokonohana Nori, it finally shattered the prejudice brought about by his fixed mindset.

"What do you think?" Kokonohana Nori asked.

"Is this… important?" Bai Wei countered.

The funeral attendant could hardly resist the urge to ask him directly what his true identity was, but she managed to hold back.

She knew very well that the anxious feelings in her heart stemmed from various experiences in the past.

If the ‘Your Majesty’ worshipped in the shrine truly appeared in Yingzhou, it would be a good thing for many witches. It would mean that they no longer had to fear the crimson moonlight from tonight onwards. However, her past experiences had left her with a deep-rooted feeling of annoyance and resentment towards this deity. She wanted to question why he couldn’t have appeared earlier.

She felt both joy and worry, a complex emotion that was hard to put into words. Even the witch who had once abandoned her beliefs didn’t know how to handle herself. She both hoped it was true and hoped it wasn’t.

"Nothing," she swallowed her words.

Bai Wei continued, "If you are lost here, I can show you a way out."

"Do you know how to walk?"

"Nature."

"I still need to find the whereabouts of the other two missing sword witches."

"I’m not sure about this, but you can try exploring here," Bai Wei said patiently. "I will also tell you about the changes and specific paths of this Underworld labyrinth."

"Thank you…"

"Sure," Bai Wei replied in a calm tone.

Kokonohana Nori watched the figure from behind, unable to hold back and asked, "Why are you helping me so much?"

The young man didn’t turn around and said, "Because I find you pleasing to the eye."