Ayasezaka is a small hill. It is estimated that the journey from bottom to top will take less than ten minutes, and it can be completed in a few minutes. The vegetation on the mountain is lush, mainly red maples, as well as some cherry blossom trees, wild cherry trees, etc. It is early spring at this time, and from a distance it looks like a sea of pale yellow trees with pink flowers blooming in it. The size of Inari Shrine is not small, but it definitely pales in comparison to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Not to mention anything else, the majestic Senbon Torii Gate is a sight to behold as soon as it arrives. There is a road just a few steps outside the torii, and there is a bus stop not far away with many vehicles. Higashino Yu stood in front of the torii gate and looked inside. A staircase lined with bluestones went straight up the hill. He could feel that the entire Ayase Saka was filled with an aura as majestic as a mountain and as deep as an abyss. It was the majesty of the abode of the gods. Iori Miko stood at the foot of the stairs and sniffed, her delicate and cute little nose twitching slightly, and gently pulled Higashino Yu's hand to walk up the stairs. The girl whispered: "Nisan Higashino, grandma is making lunch. Today there is tempura and fried pork cutlet." Why is your nose as sharp as mine?
Dong Yeyu was stunned for a second, and was caught off guard when his hand was grabbed by the girl. Because he was afraid of dragging the girl down, he followed a few steps forward, stepped into the torii gate, and entered the 'divine realm'. The sea of trees on both sides of the stairs swayed in the midday breeze, making a rustling sound, and mottled light and shadow swayed on the bluestone. Nothing happened, and the divine power diffused in the shrine did not have any impact on him. As if it was just an illusion, something like a mirage. If there weren't real gods in this world, Higashino Yu would even think that he was hysterical. Is this the air in the shrine? It seems to be no different from the outside. Higashino Yu followed Iori Miko as he slowly walked up the stairs. He was a little nervous at first, his body tense, ready to escape at any time. But after thinking about it for a while, I simply relaxed a little. If Inari God really wanted to cause trouble to him, he would have done it long ago when he was practicing in the apartment, so why wait until now? Higashino Yu then began to observe the scenery and environment inside the shrine with peace of mind. Red maples are planted on both sides of the stairs. The leaves of red maples in spring are light yellow in color and are not particularly lush, but the branches are dense and can make people imagine the grand scene of autumn. At regular intervals there are stone lanterns enshrined by believers, with electric lights inside and the names and other information of some people engraved on the base. Occasionally, another path extends from the stairs, and at the end is a small shrine, which contains the statue of a certain god, but there is no statue of the god. Shinto gods here in the island country generally don't have statues, and worship halls often just have a beautiful mirror to symbolize the gods. This is related to the fact that Shintoism mainly focuses on nature worship and is an animistic polytheistic belief. It regards various animals and plants in nature as gods, and some foreign gods will also be accepted. Accompanied by the sound of footsteps and the tapping of canes on the stone slabs, a car occasionally passed by on the road below the mountain. There was a whistle in the distance, which gave Higashinoyu who was walking on the stairs an even more peaceful feeling.
At this time, Iori Miko held Higashino Yu's hand, feeling inexplicably happy, and began to introduce the interior of the shrine with a calm expression and a soft and ethereal voice. She originally just wanted to give a brief introduction. Just talking turned into sharing my past with my friends. The girl is holding a cane, but her steps feel brisk for some reason. This is the first friend she has been waiting for for a long time, and she can't wait to share her own world with her friends. So Miko wanted to tell Higashino Yu everything she knew about the years she spent in this hill, whether it was boring or not. "Higashino Nissan, there is a guard forest over there. In autumn, their leaves will turn red, which is very beautiful. You can play hide and seek in it." "Then what if I can't find Miko." Dong Yeyu answered as if teasing a child, but his tone was very serious, making people think that he was really troubled by this. Iori Miko held his hand and shook it slightly: "It doesn't matter, I will let you." After walking up a distance, the girl pointed to the forest on the left and said. "There is a stream here with fish in it. It will be very comfortable if you put your feet in the water in summer, but be careful not to get your skirt wet." Higashino Yu imagined putting his feet in the stream. He felt that this seemed a bit immoral. "Do fish hate this? I heard that the current is the wind for fish. If the wind smells like foot odor, they probably won't like it." Iori Miko blinked and felt sluggish for a moment, thought about it, and then said seriously. "No, grandma said that Miko is sweet, so bad monsters come to bite me, so she asked me to stay in Ayase Town when I'm not in school." After she finished speaking, she seemed to have come to something, and pursed her mouth slightly. Dongquan's misty eyes stared at Dong Yeyu, without looking at him, and began to introduce other places. Fragrant? Haha, I am a ten-year-old doctor. You don’t need to tell me whether my feet are fragrant or not. I can tell as soon as I lick them. This is called professionalism. Of course, Dong Yeyu is not so perverted. He just remembered the jokes from his previous life, and he felt nostalgic for a while. How about buying a smartphone? After two generations of owners, it’s time for the old man to retire and take care of himself. Anyway, I have a lot more savings now. When I make some more money, I will send part of the money back to the orphanage, buy a fruit phone, and see if I can go back to my country and surf the Internet. I haven’t surfed in more than ten years. Even in the men’s room of Tieba, I still have the expectation to see if 8U has changed. Just as he was about to walk up the shrine, he met several old ladies coming down from the mountain. They probably knew Miko and greeted her with a smile when they saw her. "Isn't this Miko? Good afternoon, Tomoko is waiting for you to come home for dinner. You see, this child is getting cuter and cuter." Iori Miko responded very obediently, "Good afternoon, Grandma Shuko, Grandma Mari, and Grandma Miho. I'm just about to go home." Several old ladies nodded cheerfully, then looked at Dong Yeyu who was standing aside, their eyes lit up, and they looked up and down for a moment, "Who is this?"
"This is Tono Nissan, yes." Iori Miko was stunned when she said this, and she suddenly didn't know how to introduce Higashino Yu. Your own friends? My own brother? still? "I am Miko's brother." Dong Yeyu continued and said with a smile. He saw that several old ladies looked puzzled and even looked at them with a sense of scrutiny. They probably thought of themselves as men seducing little girls. He also explained: "My name is Higashino Yu, and I am the descendant of Mr. Iori's good friend. I am now studying in Tokyo. Thanks to Mr. Iori's care, I am a brother and sister with Miko. I was also hired by the old man to work with me on weekends. Yuzi is a tutor." After hearing this, several old ladies suddenly nodded, and then started the seven aunts and eight aunts mode. "Are you still studying? Where are you studying?" ".Tachibana High School." "Tachibana High School?! Okay, okay, do you have a girlfriend? Young man, our family-" Seeing that the situation seemed to be turning into a blind date meeting, Dong Yeyu was about to make some excuses to get out of it. Iori Miko stood between them calmly, pursed her lips, bowed slightly to the old lady, and spoke in a childish voice without any emotion. "Grandma Shuzi, Yuzi is hungry and needs to go home quickly for dinner. Please talk to us next time. Goodbye." With that said, he pulled Dong Yeyu towards the shrine, leaving a few old ladies looking at each other. After walking farther away, Iori Miko said softly. "Grandma often knits with them and chats. Grandma Shuzi and the others talk a lot. If they don't interrupt, they won't be able to make it in time for lunch." "Right and sane." Dong Yeyu agreed, saying that he was really hungry, and he had had enough of this scene of seven aunts and eight aunts in his previous life. The two quickly climbed to the last step of the ladder. Stepping onto the shrine, there are some open spaces on both sides of the outer shandō with signs of use, and there are also trash cans. “During the festival, vendors will come in and set up stalls.” Iori Miko pointed to the open space on both sides of the shrine, "They sell Teppanyaki, octopus balls and so on. I like to eat Taiyaki. What does Higashino Nissan like to eat? Takoyaki?" "There are too few octopus tentacles in the takoyaki. I still prefer to eat a whole piece of squid on the teppanyaki." Higashino Yu remembered the snack street outside the university in his previous life. The ten-yuan octopus balls had almost no octopus in them, but only flour balls. Simply a profiteer!
"Aunt Xiongcang will sell squid teppanyaki, and Miko will bring you to eat." Iori Miko imagined the grand occasion of the Yonomiya Festival, with the delicious snacks on both sides of the shrine, tourists in yukata, beautiful lanterns, and fireworks displays. By then, I should be able to go to the snack street with Tono Nissan, and the money I saved since childhood can be shared with friends! The corner of the girl's mouth raised slightly, and she suddenly remembered something, and pointed to the other end of the shrine: "That's the worship hall over there. Is Higashino Ni-san going to pay homage to the god?" Higashino Yu looked in the direction directed by Iori Miko, and first saw the hand water house, which was used to clean the hands and mouths of believers. Behind the Temuisha is the second torii gate. There is a plaque hanging on this torii gate with the name Inari Ojin written in gold-painted Chinese characters. There are two bronze fox statues standing next to the shrine behind the torii gate. Further inside, you can see the Tamagaki and the shrine gate-somewhat similar to the gates and walls of domestic temples. However, Tamagaki has some special meaning. Entering Tamagaki means entering the true divine realm. "Well, when you visit for the first time, you always have to say hello to the host." Dong Yeyu nodded solemnly. This is just like paying homage to the pier. As a monster coming to the abode of the gods, it would be rude not to pay homage. It might offend the gods. Iori Miko then brought Higashino Yu to the water house: "If you want to worship the gods, you must wash your hands here first!" She picked up the wooden ladle in the sink, scooped some water for herself to wash her hands, and then scooped it for Dong Yeyu. "Thanks." After washing his hands, Higashinoyu found that the word "wash the heart" was also engraved in regular Chinese characters on the wall of the pool. Thinking of the previous torii and the stone carvings along the way, he sighed in his heart that the island country is full of traces of Chinese culture. After washing his hands, he followed Iori Miko to the front of the worship hall. He followed her example and bowed twice, then patted his hands twice, and finally put his palms together. "Okami Inari, I want to know if my transformation can be seen through by the demon slayers." He prayed to Inari God, put a five-yen coin into the cash box, and pulled the bell - the island country also likes to use homophones to express auspiciousness, and five-yen means good luck. The bell is a big bell hanging above the cash box, tied with a thick rope and hanging down. The believers can pull the bell to attract the attention of the gods. Ding Ding. The crisp bell sounded, and Dong Ye Yu did not notice any changes. He did feel that there were signs of the existence of gods in the worship hall, but He did not seem to respond to him. "Dong Ye Ni San, draw a lot." Iori Miko on the side reminded in a low voice. Uh, I thought the gods would send a message to me directly. Dong Ye Yu felt that he seemed to be not as favored by the gods as Miko. What about the Inari God who liked foxes? But think about it, there is still a big difference between wild foxes in the countryside and fox immortals who have practiced well. Thinking of this, he picked up the lottery tube on the side, shook it, and drew a lot from it. The head of the lot read: Great luck. The main text below reads "If you follow the way of Inari, you can have nothing to fear." Finally, it is a regular blessing for believers to get the blessing of Inari God.
What is the Way of Inari? Higashino Yu thought about it. Inari God is the god of prosperity, the god of harvest, and the god of rice. In other words, as long as he doesn't waste food, he will be able to get what he wants? Or is it that his transformation skills are superb and he will not be discovered, and the Way of Inari is just a conventional term? Higashino Yu didn't expect the answer, but he never wastes a grain of rice, works hard and studies hard every day, and it fits the fortune no matter how you look at it. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more at ease. Now that he has the guarantee of the gods, he can try to mix into the ranks of demon exorcists to make rice in the future-Inari God, as a well-known god in the island country, will not be so idle as to entertain himself. Higashino Yu decided to go to the appointment with Asumimi Sanae in the evening, and by the way, see if he can repay Mrs. Sakurada's kindness. After all, if he broke the appointment, he would have to return the 50,000 yen to Miss Witch. "It's a good luck!" Iori Miko's eyes, which were misty in the winter spring, lit up slightly, and she was happy for Higashino Yu's good luck. She brought Higashino Yu to a big tree with a shin and a coin hanging on it, which was full of fortune sticks. The girl pointed to the rope for the fortune sticks: "Higashino Nissan, tie the fortune sticks here, and you will be connected with the gods." Well, if it was in the previous life, Miko would really be suitable to be a little shaman, too skilled Higashino Yu tied the fortune sticks to the rope according to Miko's words. As soon as he tied it, the sea-like aura of the gods suddenly expanded, and a feeling of panic overwhelmed Higashino Yu. In just a moment, the surrounding scene had changed instantly, the sky became hazy, bright enough to be dazzling, giving people a feeling of pure holiness. The surrounding cherry trees were in full bloom, the pale yellow red maple leaves turned orange-red, and the fragrant breeze occasionally shook off a few fallen leaves, laying an orange-red carpet for the shrine. Higashino Yu turned around and looked up with some vigilance, and suddenly found a person standing on the approach not far away. It was a woman, her face was blurred, her figure was plump and tall, she was wearing the clothes of a shrine maiden, a white dress and a red hakama, holding an exquisite big pipe. Dongye Yu could feel her eyes looking at him, and just when he wanted to ask, she just nodded, and in the blink of an eye, the scene in front of him changed back. "Higashino-kun, Higashino-kun?" Higashino Yu came back to his senses, breathing a little hurriedly and looking around. When he turned his head, he found that Iori Miko's eyes were fixed on the place where the shrine maiden was just now, and Iori Tadamichi was standing next to him. The old man's expression was very calm, and he smiled when he saw him return to normal. "Higashino-kun, I thought you would come back in the afternoon, but it's just right, Tomoko made a hearty lunch, let's eat together." It's too late to divide the chapters today, so I'll just post a big chapter. Thanks to my brother Meng for the monthly ticket recommendation ticket, please vote for the monthly ticket, please collect and please read
