After walking along the footpath at the foot of the mountain for a while, Soya found the starting point of the landmark before Kyoko could say anything.
It was a half-meter-high stone tablet, more than ten centimeters thick, and nearly as wide as his shoes. Most of the tablet was hidden in the weeds.
The surface of the stone tablet was mottled and covered with moss. Zonggu bent down and stared at it for a moment before he recognized the Chinese characters on it - [God's Domain].
"Is this right here?"
Jingzi walked over and said, "Yeah."
Zong Gu raised his eyes and looked into the woods. There were overgrown trees and grass, and it was a mess, with no path at all.
"I'll lead the way."
Kyoko walked to the front and said, "Sotani-san, just follow me."
"good."
After pushing aside the bushes, the two people who had just descended from the mountain started climbing up the mountain again.
It is difficult to open an umbrella in a dense forest, and although the layers of leaves above block the rain, water droplets on the leaves will fall down if you move it slightly.
After walking for a while, Zonggu's coat quickly got wet.
Fortunately, after going deeper for a while, the view became much wider, and a path appeared that could be passed normally.
"Feel sorry."
Jingzi turned around, her body and hair were already wet, "In order to prevent irrelevant people from coming in, the previous section of the road was intentionally kept as it was and was not opened up."
Zonggu nodded, expressing understanding.
After all, there is a shrine halfway up the mountain. If an uninformed person saw it, they might mistakenly think that this is the road leading to the shrine.
Jingzi walked to the side of the road, pushed aside the weeds, and revealed the second stone boundary marker inside.
She fumbled a few times, lifted up a thin thread, and after straightening it, a long rope covered with wooden signs floated swaying between the grass.
Soya took a closer look and saw that the wooden sign hanging on the rope was very similar to the ema sold in the shrine, except that the content depicted on the board was more solemn and sacred, full of warnings.
"Isn't it forbidden to enter the divine realm...but it doesn't look very conspicuous."
Jingzi glanced a few times, put down the rope, and looked over again.
"Sotani-kun, you can take off the amulet and look at it again."
"Almost forgot."
Zonggu took off the amulet and temporarily hung it on a low branch nearby. His spiritual sense was released, and the long rope hidden among the grass suddenly became extremely obvious.
Not only that, the long rope also formed a translucent curtain two to three meters high.
The color is so light that it is almost invisible in the daytime. It is somewhat similar to the barrier that Jingzi used to set up with talisman paper. This is the function of those wooden signs.
"..."
He reached out and touched it. Although he encountered some resistance, his fingertips easily broke through the barrier and reached the other side.
Jingzi looked on from the side, "This limit of strength can only stop spirits at the level of wandering spirits."
As for the spirits that need boundaries to block them, they are only wandering spirits with weak consciousness and almost dementia. Other spirits will take the initiative to go around when they see the boundaries.
"The only real divine domain is Takamagahara." She continued to explain, "But the shrine enshrines the medium that transmits the power of faith to the gods, that is, the statues of gods. The purpose of establishing boundaries is to protect the gods' beliefs from interference."
"I see."
This is also the main reason why most spirits linger in the human world but rarely set foot in the realm of shrines. Gods who have retired from the world will not impose divine punishment, but their believers are often more ruthless.
"Let's go."
The two of them continued up the mountain along the path in the rainy forest.
The so-called inspection mainly has two aspects of work: one is to inspect and maintain the boundaries connecting the stone monuments, and the other is to eliminate interference.
But when it came down to it, it was just ordinary work that was relatively laborious. After getting familiar with it, Zonggu also helped.
Approaching another landmark, he leaned down to push aside the grass and lifted up the long rope that was soaked in rain and felt heavy.
Wow——
The wooden signs are swaying on the long rope, making a dull sound when they collide with each other.
Jingzi quickly scanned and checked, and just as he was about to signal Sogu to let go, a wooden sign suddenly fell down and disappeared into the grass.
"..."
She looked at Zong Gu, he sighed, took a step back with his left foot, and clenched his hand tighter.
"Go find it."
"Um."
Approaching the place where the wooden sign fell, Jingzi rummaged around for a while and found the wooden sign, but could not hang it up again.
"Sotani-san, let it go first."
She first reminded Zong Gu, and then explained the situation, "The connection has been broken, and a new spiritual tablet needs to be replaced."
"Yeah."
Putting down the long rope, Zonggu rubbed some dirt on his palms and said, "Between the No. 9 stone tablet and the No. 10 stone tablet, I remember it."
Jingzi curled her lips and walked quickly back to him, her scarlet hair brushing against the wet grass blades.
After all, the main task of this trip is inspection, and only one wooden sign fell off, which has no impact on the boundary. It can be recorded uniformly, and the repair work will be carried out later.
"Let's go to the next place."
"Um."
The mountain forest is quiet, and the lush branches and leaves in early summer cover the sky, making it slightly dark below.
Going deeper into the forest, the tall trees also blocked most of the rain falling from the sky. In order to facilitate movement, the two of them only opened umbrellas when necessary.
"Sotani-san is here today, do you have any special arrangements?"
Jingzi walked beside him, "A complete inspection will take more than two hours."
"Did it take so long..."
Zong Gu muttered and then said: "Nothing, I just want to record the commissions handled yesterday."
"Did you encounter another commission related to the spirit body?"
"yes."
He looked ahead. As they went deeper, the terrain under their feet became much steeper.
"Fortunately, these are just ordinary incidents, otherwise I would have to ask Kyoko and Miss Noma for help again."
Kyoko smiled slightly.
At the end of May, the Unnatural Phenomenon Research Department received a commission to go to Ishibe Town near Nosu Town to investigate an abandoned building making strange noises;
After arriving, Zonggu saw nearly a hundred spirits gathered together, and in the middle there were two evil spirits fighting each other.
Without thinking much, he immediately asked Akane Kirino, Yoshikawa and the others who were accompanying him to stay away from the place, and then contacted the station of the agency that had jurisdiction over this area, which was Fuyun Shrine.
Minami Noma came quickly with a group of shrine maidens including Kyoko, sealed the abandoned building with a talisman barrier, and then shot all the spirits inside with several rounds of magic-breaking arrows, and the matter was resolved.
"Fortunately, Soya-kun discovered it early..." Kyoko said, "Nearly a hundred spiritual bodies with strong consciousness are killing and devouring each other, which is enough to give birth to several evil spirits."
"Just good luck."
Zong Gu took a step forward, breathing slightly.
"I also didn't expect that under the nose of the organization, there would be so many resentful spirits and evil spirits gathering together, just to get more crazy power."
Kyoko followed beside her, her face turned rosy from climbing, and she didn't know whether the drops on her forehead were sweat or raindrops.
"From a certain point of view, spiritual bodies are human beings who are not bound by reason... Desires and obsessions are infinitely amplified. Once incited, madness is inevitable."
Zonggu nodded, held his breath, and climbed up the steep slope in front of him.
After all, this is just a forest path that is rarely traveled by people. It is very difficult to walk, and there are many steep slopes along the way.
The next landmark was just a few steps away. Sogu just glanced at it before turning back and reaching out to Kyoko below.
"Thanks……"
Taking advantage of the strength to go uphill, she gasped slightly and her chest also rose and fell, but it was not obvious.
After she stood firm, Zonggu let go of her hand and looked down at the rugged mountain road she had walked.
"How often do inspections like this take place?"
Jingzi also turned her head and looked back. The path was hidden among the branches and leaves, and only every step she and he took as they climbed up was clear.
"There is no fixed time. When I remember, I will come over and inspect it."
"Yeah."
Sweat soaked the side of her face, which was white and crystal clear, with a faint pink color. A strand of black hair stuck to it, twisting and scratching.
"Is it Kyoko who comes here every time to inspect?"
"Yes. Ms. Noma occasionally comes with me."
"It's really hard work."
When she looked back, he had already looked away, turned around and walked towards the stone monument.