10 Consecrating A Bicycle

A penny beat a hero.

For two years, Baishi Shū had been so devoted to his monastic training and learning, yet at the end of the day, it was really such an irony that he was still paranoid about money.

The next day, at 7.30 a.m.

After Baishi Shū finished his morning service, only then did he remember that it was the weekend and that school was closed. 

Sitting on the sewn seat, the old abbot remained silent as he watched Baishi Shū, who bustled around, preparing to go to school, only to find that it was closed today. When he saw Baishi Shū push his bicycle back, he said, "Shinsei, your heart is a mess. What's wrong?" 

"Yes, abbot," Baishi Shū simply admitted. He sat down beside the abbot and placed his bag down. The reason for the discomfort in his heart was that he could not understand why Asada Senna would get such a lucrative remuneration even though her spiritual power was not that strong at all. 

Be that as it may, he was just experiencing a slight hiccup in his mind. He envied her. That much was true, but the envy did not contain a trace of malice. 

Even though Asada Senna's spiritual power did not do justice to the remuneration she received, in the end, she still settled the task the police department assigned. Therefore, she was entitled to receive the reward. 

Furthermore, Yotsuya Suga Shrine's reputation was well earned. Not only because they had a famous enshrined in their shrine, but they also had the rank of experienced Shinto priests and priestesses. 

Would really half a million yen matter to them? Obviously, not. 

It was evident that they did not really care about the remuneration. The reason they sent their younger members to assist the police department was to hone their skills while at the same time protect the living from the harm of evil spirits. Meanwhile, the remuneration offered by the police department was merely a token of appreciation to show their gratitude. 

Baishi Shū was well aware of all this. Therefore, even though he was envious of them, he was not going to let that pull him down. He was going to work harder to make Reimei Temple great and spread its name resounding far and wide throughout the entire continent. By then, he would not have to worry about money anymore, and he could put all his heart and effort into learning, practicing, enriching himself, and saving the world. 

Trouble came and went very fast. Soon enough, Baishi Shū put the matter at the back of his mind and went on with his life.

He had earned 250,000 yen yesterday. Plus the 500,000 yen that he saved up, he had 750,000 yen right now. It was more than sufficient to repair the Buddha's statue as well as repaint the temple walls. 

It was a rather good start. 

Today was the weekend. Baishi Shū intended to go to the city on his bike to look for an interior designer. As for which interior designer to choose, he just had to ask the old abbot. 

After he got a phone number from the old abbot, he made a phone call to the interior designer and got him to go over to the temple tomorrow. 

Baishi Shū did not forget what he wanted to test since yesterday night after seeing Asada Senna's camera. He kept circling around the bicycle, which he bought from a supermarket, for a staggeringly low 9,000 yen. The abbot could not fathom what he was doing, so he asked, "Shinsei, what are you doing?"

"I'm thinking about how I can consecrate my bicycle."

Before the old abbot could come around to his senses, Baishi Shū finally found a method. 

This was the first time he was consecrating a complex object such as the bicycle. Before this, he had tried consecrating small Buddha figurines, and the process was rather simple. All he had to do was keep focused, chant the scriptures, and inject spiritual power into the idol. 

A consecrated Buddha figurine had a power that could calm one's mind. Besides that, it could bring warmth to the wielder and ward off evil. 

As for what fortune it could bring to the wearer… Baishi Shū had no idea either.

He planned to disassemble the bicycle and inject his spiritual power part by part to gain a better effect when he reassembled them. 

The structure of a bicycle was complex because he was comparing it to a Buddha figurine. Placed next to a sophisticated electronic device such as Asada Senna's camera, its components were far fewer. 

'Bicycle frame, tires, pedals, front derailleur, chains, and cassette… A bicycle consists of 25 components,' Baishi Shū murmured.

As for how much spiritual power he should inject into them, it was not up to him, but on the materials of the bike itself. 

After several bouts of trial runs, he found that different materials could withstand different amounts of spiritual power. Some of them could handle up to 100 units of spiritual power while others could only sustain roughly ten or so. 

It was far fewer compared to a Buddha figurine made of jade. After all, he had spent 300 units of spiritual power consecrating a jade Buddha, and that was only a thumb-sized pendant. 

If he had enough money, he wanted to order a bicycle made of jade since the effect would be much greater. However, he was not in the condition to do that right now. 

Consecrating each component would take him about 20 minutes, so it was impossible for him to finish it in one morning. After he grabbed his lunch, he continued his project and only finished it at roughly 4 p.m. 

Admiring the fruit of his work, Baishi Shū felt quite proud of himself. He even had a mysterious feeling as if the bicycle had developed a conscience, only with him standing next to it.

"A bicycle has 25 components, and it took me a day to consecrate all of them. I wonder how the guys at Yotsuya Suga Shrine consecrate a complex electronic device such as the camera. Perhaps they have more people, so they can do it faster?" Baishi Shū wondered. 

The old abbot had been watching him hop here and there from the sidelines since the morning. After he heard his question, he could not hold himself back anymore and replied, "They just simply blessed the camera with some kind of spells. Do you really think they have that much time to disassemble an entire camera and consecrate it component by component?"

Up until now, the old abbot still could not quite believe what he just saw. 

Had his disciple disassembled a bicycle and consecrated each part? 

Hmm...

The old abbot was well aware that his disciple possessed spiritual power. Right now, he was very curious about what the bicycle had become. Could it soar into the sky or drill into the ground? Or it could go into the city on its own and exterminate the evil spirit?

Baishi Shū was looking forward to his masterpiece very much as well. Without wasting a single second more, he hopped onto the bicycle, and then...

Ding, ding, ding…

The bell on the bicycle chimed merrily with every flick of his thumb. He rode on his bike and bounced around in front of Reimei Temple like a monkey performing a trick on its bike in a circus. 

Then, nothing more. 

Truth to be told, whatever he performed just now could be easily done by changing the bell or finding a highly-skilled cyclist. Even though it seemed like nothing, Baishi Shū was delighted. 

His original intention was to make the bicycle more comfortable to ride. Right now, not only had he achieved his goal, but the effect went far beyond his expectations. His bicycle felt new, and he felt like he became one with the bicycle when he was riding it. What more could he ask for?

"Since you are a religious tool now, let's give you a name. How about Hakuryu?" Baishi Shū patted the saddle with a satisfied smile plastered on his face. 

A monk and a dragon. It was the perfect match. 

As for why the bicycle was brown and not white… Who cares? 

Baishi Shū did not continue to consecrate his undergarments or his shirt, as it would take too much time. It was already 4 p.m., and it was the time for scripture chanting and learning. 

Learning was like sailing against the current. You either kept forging ahead or you kept falling behind. As a student, it was fine to take a short break during the weekend, but indulging oneself wantonly with feasting and other kinds of entertainment was not allowed. When one returned to school, it would take more time to get back on track.

Baishi Shū did not plan to while away his time with some meaningless activities. He took a collection of essays about some ancient chronicle of changing land of grudges into a blessed land from the old abbot. He also took out a university-level reference book titled "Soil Geography" that he got from his teacher, hoping to find a way to alter the land of grudges.

Man's determination would conquer nature. The history of mankind was the process of environmental transformation. It was not wild imagination to turn a land of grudges into a blessed land. However, before he could achieve that dream, he first had to enrich himself with all kinds of knowledge, and he was more than willing to do it. After all, he was a monk that loved learning.