Zongman I fight weirdness in everyday world

A little later, after school, inside the Yanagi Forest Shrine.

"Judging by the fractured lines on your palm, with so many branches, I fear your life will not be smooth. However, your career line is so outstanding, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. After enduring many trials, you will ultimately achieve success."

"Really!? Master?"

Master Miyamoto pressed his hands together in prayer, a kind smile on his face, looking at the middle-aged salaryman sitting opposite him, whose face was clearly weary, and said with a smile.

"A monk does not speak falsely."

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

Watching the middle-aged salaryman, overjoyed, take out several large bills from his wallet and throw them into the shrine's offering box, Master Miyamoto smiled contentedly.

"Master, um..."

Rukawa Urushihara, who had witnessed the entire process, cautiously inquired.

"What you told him... was it all true?"

Before Master Miyamoto could reply, Yosuke answered first.

"How could it be true? Have you ever seen a monk telling fortunes by reading palms?"

Rukawa Urushihara was stunned upon hearing this, hesitating and whispering.

"But... if that's the case, then isn't that equivalent to lying...?"

"Hey, that's a harsh way to put it."

Master Miyamoto and Yosuke spoke in unison, then smiled at each other. A simple exchange of glances gave Rukawa Urushihara the feeling of seeing longtime friends who understood each other tacitly.

Is this the resonance of abstraction?

"I sit here not to tell fortunes."

Seeing Master Miyamoto looking profound and otherworldly, Rukawa Urushihara couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Then what were you just doing...?"

"I am providing emotional value, understand?"

Master Miyamoto rubbed a string of prayer beads, slowly saying.

"I don't believe in so-called fate in this world. But luck over a period of time does exist. After all, if an ordinary person is haunted by evil spirits and ghosts, they will feel listless, physically tired, and their state will be affected in work, love, and everything they do, which is what people call things not going smoothly."

Hearing this, Rukawa Urushihara originally wanted to say, where in this world are there ghosts and evil spirits? But then she thought... as a shrine maiden, wouldn't it be inappropriate to say such atheistic words?

Moreover, that day in the shrine's storeroom, she had personally seen a sword floating in the air.

Someone with a more suspicious mind would definitely think that someone present at the time was using some kind of trick, but Rukawa Urushihara's mind was very simple. Rather than suspecting Yosuke and the others who had come to the shrine to help her, she unhesitatingly chose to believe another possibility.

Supernatural phenomena really exist in this world.

Seeing Rukawa Urushihara silent, Master Miyamoto didn't mind and continued.

"I don't have the ability to save all living beings from suffering, that is Buddha's job. What I can do is give people the courage to face the many setbacks in life and continue to rise to the challenge. After all, as the saying goes, the anthem of mankind is the anthem of courage."

Hearing this, Yosuke couldn't help but retort.

"Wait... the first half of what you said sounds like an enlightened monk, the middle part is like a chicken soup for the soul, and then you switched to a two-dimensional mode? Are you playing a mix-and-match game here?"

"Hey, the principle is the principle, isn't it?"

Master Miyamoto pressed his hands together, smiling.

"Just like your shrine, if you really encounter visitors who are being troubled by evil spirits and ghosts, that is the job of the gods. But most people come to the shrine wanting to obtain something or wanting to escape some kind of predicament. And your duty is to give them confidence, which is providing emotional value, understand?"

Rukawa Urushihara nodded, seeming to understand.

"Master Miyamoto, you are indeed an enlightened monk."

"Of course."

Yosuke looked at Master Miyamoto and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Speaking of which, you're so professional, were you a psychologist when you were young?"

"No, I wasn't."

Master Miyamoto waved his hand, slowly saying.

"Before I became a monk, I worked as a host for a while."

Yosuke: "...Good work... No, amazing work."

Rukawa Urushihara's eyes sparkled, and she looked at Yosuke curiously.

"Yosuke, what is a host?"

"Someone who herds cows."

"I see."

Seeing Rukawa Urushihara's innocent and pure appearance, Mitsuha Miyamizu couldn't help but sigh and rub her forehead, thinking that this girl was too easily deceived.

Although she didn't know what a host was, could a job that Yosuke praised as amazing be normal?

Herding cows? No way.

However...

Mitsuha Miyamizu glanced around, only to see that besides the place where Master Miyamoto was sitting, the tarot card reading area of Granny Kagome was also crowded with visitors, mostly young people.

And those who were older and thought that tarot cards were unreliable would go to Mr. Oda Noten for a traditional exorcism ceremony.

Of course, there was a fee, which could be directly put into the shrine's offering box, but money was not the most important thing.

Rukawa Urushihara looked at the crowds gathered in the shrine, her expression somewhat surprised.

She never expected that Yosuke could not only invite the famous light novel author Kasumi Utako to hold a signing event at his shrine, but even invite Mr. Oda Noten, the most famous exorcist in Kyoto, Mother Kagome, the highly popular tarot card master, and Master Miyamoto, an enlightened monk who was the head of a temple.

Moreover, it seemed that these three were very familiar with Yosuke?

His connections are really amazing.

Amidst the bustling and lively scene, like a temple fair, in a hidden corner, a man wearing a mask and a hoodie inadvertently glanced at Rukawa Urushihara standing there, a chill in his eyes.

...

Two hours later.

Looking at the sky, which was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, Rukawa Urushihara, holding a broom, finally finished cleaning the entire shrine. She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and a smile couldn't help but appear on her lips as she recalled the lively scene just now.

Since the founding of the Yanagi Forest Shrine, it had never had such popularity as it did today. Even the offering box for receiving donations had been replaced two or three times because the amount of donations was too large.

Of course, this was mainly due to the efforts of Oda Noten.

The prices of his goods were all very expensive. Although most of them were useless, the psychological comfort they provided, coupled with his reputation as the most famous exorcist in Sakura Province, made them completely worth the price.

Money was one aspect, but more importantly, it was the reputation that Willow Shrine would spread after today's event.

Even people like Oda Notō, the Divine Mother, and Master Miyamoto were willing to come here to hold events at the shrine. How could it be fake?

This could also be considered a celebrity effect in another sense.

Just then, Ruka Urushihara suddenly heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the shrine.

She turned her head to look and saw several people wearing hooded robes, dressed strangely, and with obscured faces, standing there quietly. This somewhat eerie scene frightened Ruka Urushihara, who wasn't very brave to begin with, and her body trembled slightly, but she immediately adjusted her emotions, revealing a smile and speaking in a gentle tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the worship time for today has already passed. If you want to worship, please come a little earlier tomorrow."

"Worship?"

One of them raised his head, revealing a Hannya-shaped mask, and said with a tone of disdain and contempt.

"In this shrine of yours, there is no god, so what is there to worship?"

Even though Ruka Urushihara had a good temper, she couldn't help but frown when she heard such direct questioning of her own shrine. She looked at the strangely dressed people opposite her and said with displeasure.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since you are not here to worship, then please leave."

"Hmph, you imposter, it's truly disgusting."

One of them walked straight into the shrine, looked at the offering box placed there, and kicked it directly.

"Bang!"

Hearing the sound of the wooden offering box breaking, Ruka Urushihara was truly angry this time. She immediately took out her phone from her pocket, bit her silver teeth, and said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't leave, I'm going to call the police."

"Hmm?"

Hearing this, one of the men made a questioning sound and suddenly raised his hand, speaking in a deep voice.

"Tear them apart, Inugami."

As the words fell, Ruka Urushihara suddenly saw a long, snake-like monster with a fierce dog's head, several meters long, appearing behind the other person. Her expression changed, and she took several steps back, her voice trembling.

"You… you are… you are a spirit user…"

Although Ruka Urushihara didn't know the true identities of Yae Xing and the others, she naturally knew about the news that had caused a stir in Sakura Province and even the entire world some time ago.

According to Sakura Rikka, there were indeed evil spirits and monsters in this world. After humans met certain specific conditions, they could possess the power to fight against them, which was the so-called spiritual power.

"Mask," "Keela"… these people, including Sakura Rikka herself, were the spirit users she described.

Ruka Urushihara's attitude towards this was one of doubt, after all, this kind of thing was too unbelievable. Although there was a battle that the entire Sakura Province saw, like a live broadcast, Sakura Rikka was, after all, a vicious criminal who had killed many innocent people and blown up Shitennoji Temple. Who knew if what she said was true or false?

Most ordinary people have the same view as Ruka Urushihara.

But only after witnessing it with her own eyes at this moment did Ruka Urushihara realize that there were indeed people with special powers in this world, and judging from this… it seemed that the visitors were not friendly.

"This guy…"

The spirit user who had summoned his Soul Incarnation looked at Ruka Urushihara's flustered appearance and couldn't help but frown.

"You're not a spirit user? That's strange. In that case…"

He muttered to himself, exchanged glances with several companions, and none of them had anticipated such a development.

The ominous long sword with evil spiritual power that was sent to Willow Shrine some time ago came from these people. The purpose was very simple, to test whether there were people with spiritual power in Willow Shrine.

Since they found no traces of evil spirits or strangeness in Willow Shrine when they came today, and it was even more popular than before, it meant that the long sword had been resolved. The biggest suspect was naturally Ruka Urushihara, the shrine maiden who hosted the event today.

But looking at her appearance now, it seemed like she was seeing something like a Soul Incarnation for the first time?

Then who solved that ominous long sword?

"Forget it."

The man waved his hand, and his eyes revealed undisguised fanatic killing intent as he looked at Ruka Urushihara.

"Since you are not a spirit user and are just an imposter using the name of the gods, then you have no value at all. Tear her apart, Inugami."

Looking at the long, snake-like monster behind the other person, opening its mouth with two rows of sharp canine teeth, rushing towards her to bite, Ruka Urushihara was so frightened that her whole body stiffened. She just stood there blankly, her body feeling like it had fallen into an ice cave, unable to move even a finger.

In her beautiful eyes, the ugly face of Inugami was reflected.

"Am I… going to die here…"

Watching Inugami's mouth getting closer and closer to her, Ruka Urushihara's thoughts suddenly jumped to that familiar maid cafe, and the faces of every good friend appeared in front of her, as well as Yae Xing, Miyamizu Mitsuha, Kitagawa Marin, and others who, although she had only known them for a short time, had been helping her during this difficult time for her shrine.

Just at this critical moment, there was a sudden loud noise.

"Bang!!!!!"

A black shadow fell from the sky, directly stomping Inugami, who was about to bite Ruka Urushihara, into the ground.

"That is…"

Standing in the distance, the several mysterious people wearing robes, although they only saw that short moment, couldn't help but reveal a look of horror in their eyes as they looked at the faint black flames that emerged from the splashing dust.

"You, really…"

A woman's voice came from the entrance of the shrine. Ruka Urushihara looked up and saw a petite figure, whom she had seen on television, standing there quietly in a bone-white trench coat.

"It would have been fine to walk from the ground. Was there any need to fall from the sky?"

"Does it even need to be asked?"

The dust gradually dissipated, and what appeared in front of them was a familiar figure that made the mysterious men and Ruka Urushihara change their expressions, but their emotions were completely different.

A hint of a smile appeared in the eyes under the black mask, and the hem of the coat flowed like burning flames.

"Of course, it's to show off."