Chapter 769 Help From An Old Friend
The leader of the priests had been about to make his move when the youngster who was tens of metres in front of him suddenly disappeared from sight.
Only to re-appear before him.
Bang!
He had no time to wave the gohei in his hand or even react before a punch struck his nose bridge.
A sore feeling suddenly burst out from his nose bridge before spreading through his whole body. Instantly, he felt as though all his strength had been sapped away. Clutching his nose, he hunched down as tears gushed out uncontrollably.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound rang out tens of times in quick succession, sounding like popping beans.
Every one of the priests clutched their noses and hunched down. They were, however, still maintaining the two-row formation. It was a very amusing sight.
All the two rows of priests could do was listen to the footsteps of Chen Xiaolian and Miao Yan, who walked towards the hall behind them. They could not even utter a single word, let alone get up to stop them.
“Stop!”
This time, the voice had come from the hall. The sound did not contain any particular emotion. Rather, it was soft and cold.
“Stop your bitchy ass.” Chen Xiaolian maintained a nonchalant smile on his face as he continued walking towards the entrance of the hall.
Again, one kick.
Bang!
This time, the doors of the gate were not bolted from the inside. As for Chen Xiaolian, he also did not exert as much force with his kick.
The closed gate was kicked open but its doors did not fly out like earlier.
Inside were two rows of priests, similar to the ones outside. They too, wore pure-white kariginu robes.
Behind the two rows of priests were two figures. The two figures were on their knees, facing one another.
Like the other priests, one of them was a middle-aged man in kariginu robes. However, only the top part of his robes was white while the robes under them were purple in colour. More, there were also patterns embroidered onto the purple robes.
In his hand was another gohei, but it was clearly much bigger compared to the one wielded by the earlier priest.
The one opposite him was an old man in monk robes. His hair and moustache were white, but his face was ruddy. He looked very healthy.
The old man turned his head to glance at the gate, a look of utter surprise on his face.
“Chen… Xiaolian?”
Standing not too far behind him were two figures.
One of them was the bald girl, Nagase Komi. The other one was a young man that Chen Xiaolian did not recognize.
“It’s been a long time, Great Teacher Sawakita.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and waved at the old man. It was as though they had bumped into each other in the street. “You look younger.”
The old man was none other than the Shogun, Sawakita Mitsuo, whom Chen Xiaolian had met in the punishment instance dungeon and the Romania instance dungeon.
This instance dungeon was in Japan, containing Shintoism. Thus, Chen Xiaolian had been wondering if Sawakita Mitsuo would be summoned to participate in this instance dungeon.
Earlier, upon reaching the back of the mountain, seeing the unusual situation made him more confident in his speculation.
As a professor of Shintoism at the Gakushuin University, Sawakita Mitsuo could already be considered as the ‘national teacher’ of Japan’s imperial family. Given his status, would any shrine in Japan make light of him?
Even if this plot of the sealed Gods of the Land was something injected in by the instance dungeon, even if the priests guarding the back mountain were characters added by the system, they were still followers of Shintoism.
As long as they followed Shintoism, they could not deny Sawakita Mitsuo’s identity.
Back when he was walking up the mountain trail, Chen Xiaolian was already pondering what he would do if he were in Sawakita Mitsuo’s shoes.
It was very simple. He would head to the shrine and make use of the imperial family’s prestige and request the other party to release the seal and hand over the mitama.
By taking advantage of the situation, he would not even need to fight.
Given Sawakita Mitsuo’s gift of gab, Chen Xiaolian believed that this was not a difficult feat for him.
Looking at the present state of affairs, it would appear that Sawakita Mitsuo had just managed to persuade the other party and they would be releasing the seal soon.
His timing… was on point.
“Great Teacher Sawakita… you recognize them?” The middle-aged man seated opposite of Sawakita Mitsuo gently rapped the floor twice and the two rows of priests blocking the entrance to the hall took a step back.
“A… young friend.”
Sawakita Mitsuo leaned slightly towards the middle-aged man. Then, he turned his head towards Chen Xiaolian. He had been about to say something when Chen Xiaolian waved a finger. With a smile on his face, he interrupted Sawakita Mitsuo. “Back when I was outside, I was already thinking that you must be here. The item… although it would appear that you have yet to obtain it, they already trust you, no?”
Sawakita Mitsuo’s face abruptly sank.
The same was true of the middle-aged man seated opposite him.
“Chen-san…” Sawakita Mitsuo’s face gradually took on a wry smile. “The old saying is true, haste makes waste. I was thinking of pulling a trick here. Unexpectedly, I would end up bumping into you here.”
Saying that, he stood up and shook his head slowly. “Since Chen-san is also aiming for Izumo-taisha, I can only… choose to back away. Let’s go.”
His final sentence was for Nagase Komi and the young man who were standing behind him.
“Great Teacher?”
Seeing Sawakita Mitsuo getting up to leave, Nagase Komi did not hesitate to follow suit. However, the young man became shocked. After spacing out for a moment, he shouted, “We’re… leaving? Why?”
“Naito! What’s up with your tone?”
Sawakita Mitsuo did not say anything. It was Nagase Komi who had suddenly turned her head to shout at the young man. “Are you questioning Great Teacher’s decision?”
She was several years younger than the young man, a girl. However, her bald head and tattoo gave her shout a certain level of ferocity.
“I… of course, I am not questioning it. I just…” The one known as Naito gritted his teeth. Although he felt somewhat fearful, there was an unconvinced expression on his face. “We are already on the verge of succeeding, but with just one word from this fellow, all our efforts will go to waste…”
“Baka!”
Glaring at him, Nagase Komi’s hand suddenly slapped Naito. A slapping sound rang out and a palm print instantly appeared there. “Know your place!”
“Hai!”
Despite taking the furious slap, Naito did not fight back. Instead, he quickly bowed towards Nagase Komi.
“Let’s go!”
Nagase Komi turned and performed a bow as well. It was for Chen Xiaolian, a 90-degree bow. Then, she swiftly followed Sawakita Mitsuo.
“No need to rush, Great Teacher Sawakita.” When Sawakita Mitsuo was about to walk past him, Chen Xiaolian suddenly extended his hand to stop him, a smile on his face. “I haven’t said that I would snatch it from you. Why the rush to leave?”
“Oh? Chen-san, what do you mean?” Sawakita Mitsuo halted in his tracks, casting a confused look at Chen Xiaolian.
“I have known you for quite some time now, but I have never seen you take action before.” Chen Xiaolian looked at him. “If I hadn’t come, you would probably, by using your identity, easily obtain this mitama and complete the first phase, no? Although I have disrupted the situation here… as long as you decide you want the item here, I will not snatch it from you. I just want to see for myself, how the legendary Shogun fights.”
“Chen Xiaolian?” Miao Yan, who was beside him, turned her head and frowned. “Why are you being generous at a time like this?”
“Don’t worry.” Chen Xiaolian waved Miao Yan off with a smile. “Great Teacher Sawakita is an old friend of mine. Letting him have one mitama is nothing big. Besides, with me here, are you afraid that we would not be able to obtain the quest item and enter the second phase?”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned towards Sawakita Mitsuo. “Great Teacher, you managed to arrive earlier than us. I believe you must have a better means of transportation. The other mitama are too far from here. You wouldn’t mind us hitching a ride after this, will you?”
“Err… naturally. I am lucky to be able to fight alongside Chen-san.” Sawakita Mitsuo looked straight into Chen Xiaolian’s eyes. A moment later, he determined that Chen Xiaolian was not joking. Slowly, he nodded. At the same time, he also secretly released a sigh of relief. “So, in this instance dungeon, we can be considered as… allies?”
“The quests for the next phase of this instance dungeon have yet to be issued, so it’s hard to say. However…” Chen Xiaolian shrugged. “As long as the instance dungeon does not make it mandatory, I would not make an enemy of my old friend. And if I can help, I will surely help.”
“Then… I thank you, Chen-san!” Sawakita Mitsuo’s eyes lit up and he bowed solemnly towards Chen Xiaolian. After that, he turned and bow again. “Divine Master Amago, I am sorry…”
Upon hearing the first sentence from Chen Xiaolian just now, the middle-aged man in purple under robes had already sensed that something was amiss. He had long since gathered up the priests under him and they waited in a formation. When Chen Xiaolian finished his conversation with Sawakita Mitsuo, he still did not understand what was going on. However, one thing was certain…
Be it the male and female intruder or Sawakita Mitsuo, both parties were here for Okuninushi, who was sealed within this shrine.
Moreover, the fact that Sawakita Mitsuo was lying to him from the very beginning meant that…
He was the enemy!
Divine Master Amago swiftly waved the gohei in his hand, drawing a certain pattern with it while he chanted.
The other priests around him also gripped their gohei, shouting at the same time.
The shout from tens of priests combined, causing the entire hall to shake.
“Repel evil! Break!”
A formidable wave of spiritual coercion swept forth as the gohei in the hands of every priest fluttered despite the absence of wind.
Strange-looking symbols twisted into existence from each of the gohei, shining with translucent light.
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