36 ‌Super‌ ‌Defined‌ ‌Real‌ ‌World‌ ‌

Aoki Yano was an inspector in Shibuya. 

Although he hadn't personally come across any paranormal events before, he had seen quite a few of them. As a Japanese, he held kami-sama in high reverence and he brought his family to receive blessings at the Meiji Shrine every festive occasion. 

Therefore, when he saw Mr. Ikeda bringing a monk from nowhere to the scene, he felt ridiculous. 

The police department had offered to invite a Shinto priest from the Meiji Shrine to handle the case. He could not understand why Mr. Ikeda chose to believe a mysterious monk but not a Shinto priest from a famous shrine. 

'Look at him, he has such a babyface, and he seems like a high-schooler who attends school every day. He doesn't even know that he needs credentials to be a monk, does he? By the way, can this kind of baby even handle the scene? I hope he can still hold himself when he sees the bloody scene inside the car,' Aoki Yano thought sarcastically.

However, not only did the little monk not pass out, but he also remained calm. He even closed his eyes and began chanting the Rebirth Mantra. 

'It seems like I was wrong. He's got some guts!'

Aoki Yano was a little embarrassed. When he saw the scene last night, he couldn't help himself and throw up at the side. He reckoned that he would not want any meat to appear on the dining table for the rest of the week. 

Be that as it may, soon he would know whether or not Baishi Shū was deceiving Mr. Ikeda. After being an inspector for so many years, he had handled quite a number of cases that required the participation of Shinto priests from the Meiji Shrine. Hence, he was pretty familiar with the drill.

When he was younger, he was given a rare opportunity to test out a clairvoyance talisman. Although he was terrified, he accepted the offer without any hesitation. After all, a chance to take a look at the other side of the world was not something that came easily. 

The clairvoyance talisman he used that time was crafted by a Seikai level Shinto priest. Originally, he wanted to give the talisman to his junior, but the Shinto priest was very kind. He gave him not only one but two clairvoyance talismans. After that, he used the clairvoyance talisman on the young Aoki Yano. 

He still couldn't forget the scene he saw that day. 

The world became blurry, as if it was covered in mist. All the colors in the original world melted away and the traces left behind by the evil spirits slowly surfaced. Although he could not see very clearly, he was still awestruck by the magical moment. The impact brought forth by the mysterious world was so huge that he never forgot it his entire life.

As such, he deeply believed that only an experienced Shinto priest from a famous shrine could ward off evil spirits and bring peace to the world. 

'What about this monk? Hah, maybe he hasn't seen the true face of the world before,' Aoki Yano sneered inwardly. 

While he finished surveying his surroundings, Baishi Shū suddenly said, "Ikeda Shinn?"

'For real? He can see ghosts?' Aoki Yano looked at Baishi Shū with interest.

According to the Shinto priest he had worked with before, the reason an evil spirit killed a human being was that it wanted to consume his or her soul. Since Ikeda Shinn's body had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of meat pulp, how could there be any possibility that his soul had not yet dissipated? 

Apparently, Mr. Ikeda did not know about this. He went forward, grabbing Baishi Shu's hand tightly and asking, "Master Baishi, did you see my son?"

"Yes. Your son's soul is still here, but…" Baishi Shū paused for a moment halfway through his sentence. He turned his head around as if he was looking for something. After that, he continued, "Mr. Ikeda, I can help you see your son. You will also be able to hear your son's voice." 

'Wow, I didn't know a monk could help a normal person see ghosts. Please show me how you are going to do it, Master Baishi,' Aoki Yano muttered inside his heart as he watched from the sideline, his eyes gleaming with sarcasm. 

He was not simply going to be an onlooker. As an inspector, he would respect the decision of the family of the victim to bring over a monk or a Shinto priest to conduct a funeral rite. However, it was a different case for the monk in front of him. He did not believe in Baishi Shū and if he found that he was taking advantage of the Ikeda family, then he was going to take him down. 

In the next second, when he saw Baishi Shū pull out several talismans, he was stunned.

'Hold, hold on a second, is that... a clairvoyance talisman? Why the hell is he using a clairvoyance talisman? Isn't that supposed to be the tool of a shrine priest? Is he really a monk? He's making me so confused!'

"Hold on, Master Baishi, isn't this…" The question slipped out of Aoki Yano's mouth without him realizing it. 

Baishi Shū gave him a glance and explained, "This is a clairvoyance talisman. It allows a normal person to see evil spirits." 

'Of course I know what it is! What I want to ask is why are you using a clairvoyance talisman! Aren't you a monk? Besides, I didn't see you take out any talisman just now when you were observing the surroundings. Are you Superman? Don't tell me that your eyes are special and you can see ghosts without using the talisman,' Aoki Yano snapped inwardly. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Baishi Shū in disbelief. 

However, Baishi Shū seemed to have misunderstood him. He thought Inspector Aoki was staring at him because he wanted to try the clairvoyance talisman. 

The creation process of a paper talisman was easy. It just required a paper tag, a small pinch of cinnabar, and some spiritual power. This explained Asada Senna's thriftlessness in spending her paper talismans. After all, those ingredients were cheap and easy to get a hold of. 

The last thing Baishi Shū lacked was spiritual power, so he did not have to worry about overspending his paper talismans as well. Unfortunately, to use a paper talisman, one needed to have spiritual power. Simply put, normal people could not use or activate a paper talisman, as they did not possess any spiritual power. 

Wiping away a smile, Baishi Shū replied, "Well, I can give you one if you really want to try, Inspector Aoki. After all, it is relatively easy to craft one of these paper talismans." 

After some hesitation, Inspector Aoki nodded and said, "Then I will gladly accept it!" 

His skepticism had turned into curiosity. He wanted to know whether the paper talisman in Baishi Shu's hand was real or not. 

Then he saw Baishi Shū flicking his fingers and two paper talismans fluttered out. One of them fell on his body while the other landed on Mr. Ikeda's body. The moment the two talismans touched their skin, they were engulfed in flame and soon turned to ash, releasing the power within. 

A flicker of light flashed across Inspector Aoki and Mr. Ikeda's eyes. In the next second, an entirely new world appeared before them. It was a monotone world with a gloomy and dark ambiance. Wisps of mist began to thicken and the temperature plummeted. When both of them looked in front of them, they saw black hair intertwined into a huge spider web, with a massive cocoon in the center of the spider web. 

If the quality of the world Inspector Aoki saw that year was 180p, it was 1080p now. 

"Please, please, help me! Who is it? Who is out there? I beg you, please help me! Argh! Why is it so painful? Help me! Please help me!" 

Inspector Aoki fell to the ground when he heard the scream, consisting of nothing but pure despair and pain. 

"Master Baishi!" 

On the other side, Mr. Ikeda remained frozen for a good while. When he heard the scream, his eyes turned bloodshot as he charged towards the car that was enveloped in the hair. 

"Shinn! Shinn! Don't worry, daddy is here! I will save you!" 

"Dad? Is that you? Dad! Save me! Dad!!!"

Since Mr. Ikeda was charging forward at full speed, Baishi Shū could not stop him in time. He crashed into the hair and instantly fell unconscious. 

Looking at him, Baishi Shū felt speechless. 

Before giving both of them the clairvoyance talismans, he had already performed a full scan of the surroundings. Since the yin energy was mostly attached to the hair strands, as long as they refrained from touching the hair strands, it was not likely that they would receive any counterblast. At worst, they would only feel weak for a few days, not pass out, like Mr. Nakano had last time.

However, he hadn't expected Mr. Ikeda to go out of control and pounce forward when he heard his son's voice. 

Mr. Ikeda's reaction made Baishi Shū aware of one problem. Even though he said he only wanted to see the evil spirit get destroyed before his eyes, it was difficult to tell whether or not he would be blinded by his rage and rush forward again when he saw his son's killer. 

As a monk, as well as the curve-wrecker in his school, Baishi Shū felt that he should avoid this kind of thing from occurring. 

He looked over to Inspector Aoki and an idea popped up in his mind. 

'Why didn't I think of this earlier?!' His eyes shone. 

He figured he should get a pair of handcuffs from Inspector Aoki. He could cuff Mr. Ikeda up so that when he was exorcising the evil spirit, Mr. Ikeda would be prevented from rushing blindly at the evil spirit.