Walk to the opposite side of the road, pass under the tall torii gate, and see Matsuo Koban on the left. Two police motorcycles are parked at the door.
Kirino Akane said that we have to go deeper for a while and only after turning the next intersection can we see the true form of Matsuo Taisha Shrine.
"Yeah."
Soya responded casually, and then glanced at the young policeman on duty at the entrance of the police station, wondering why he didn't stop Tsukuyomi, who looked suspicious, and now he had disappeared without a trace.
"Zonggu, you seem to be thinking of something bad."
"...Is there any?"
The two of them continued walking forward, and gradually they could see some ancient monuments surrounded by stone fences under the tall pine trees on the roadside.
The sound of gurgling water can be heard behind the bushes on the other side. The branches cover the leaves, hiding a small river. As soon as you pass the corner, a clear stream sandwiched between the two bridge decks appears between Soya and Kirino Akane.
in front of.
The river is only two or three meters wide, shallow and fast, carrying a fallen leaf from nowhere that suddenly appears and then disappears.
"The river water is so clear."
"Um."
When we walked to the bridge, the road under our feet changed from an asphalt road to a patchwork of stone slabs. In front of us was a straight shrine, with the orange torii gate of Matsuo Taisha Shrine at the end.
In front of the torii gate, Tsukuyomi's back disappeared briefly. He did not enter the shrine, but ran to the other side.
"..."
He must have felt something, Souya thought.
Judging from the map, he chose the direction where Tsukuyomi Shrine is located.
"Tsukiko..." Kirino Akane also looked over there.
"Don't worry."
Continuing along the shrine, approaching the torii of Matsuo Taisha Shrine, you can see the main hall in the depths at a glance. The shrine in the rain did not have many worshipers, and it was deserted and quiet.
"This is Matsuo Taisha Shrine." Akane Kirino said, "The 'God of Sake' is enshrined here, so my parents come here to pay homage every year."
"Isn't your family a wine seller?"
"Hahaha, it's all related to wine, that's pretty much it."
Soya glanced inside the club, then looked in the direction where Tsukuyomi disappeared just now, "Has Kirino been there?"
"That side..." Akane Kirino glanced at the sign next to the night light, "Is it the parking lot? I've never been there."
"Let's go and have a look."
She followed and said, "Okay."
In the light rain, Arashiyama is full of green and fresh. After passing the shrine at the foot of the mountain, the road turns into black asphalt road again, with low residential buildings on both sides.
After walking forward for three to five minutes, you can see the spacious parking lot, which is connected to the shrine.
The two of them did not go in, but just passed by outside and looked at it at the same time. The shrubs between the parking lot and the road were neatly trimmed, and there were drops of water on the leaves.
A clump of morning glories hangs from the courtyard wall on the roadside. There are no people on the road, and it is very quiet. Telephone poles stand tall, and the cables above and below are clearly layered, cutting the sky.
Jingle bell——
Suddenly a crisp ringing sound came from behind.
Akane Kirino followed Soya to a stop and looked back. Several elementary school students rode bicycles from far to near and quickly passed by the two of them.
Jingle bell——
In the blink of an eye, the primary school students wearing bright yellow raincoats were riding away again.
"That's great..."
Looking at their backs, Kirino Akane showed a longing look on her face, "Soya, let's go cycling again tomorrow."
"You are really busy."
"That's too much! There's nothing else to do tomorrow anyway, right?"
"Do you know how far it is from Jinhu City to here? It takes more than an hour by train."
"We have all day."
"Let's talk about it later," Zongya said perfunctorily.
Akane Kirino suddenly stopped, "Where are we going now?"
"There is Tsukiyomi Shrine ahead..." He looked back at her, "Tsukiko should be waiting there now."
"Tsukuyomi Shrine? How far is it?"
"It should be there soon."
After walking forward for a while, the road suddenly became clear on both sides.
One side is a long and narrow grassland with swings, climbing frames, slides and other recreational facilities, but no one cares about it in the rain.
On the opposite side of the grassland, there are two steps up and down between tall pine trees. On the upper side is the Tsukuyomi Shrine, which is also unknown.
"It doesn't look very small either."
Soya stopped in front of the torii gate and looked at the forehead bundle hanging in the center.
"'Tsukuyomi God'..."
He looked up the stone steps. The main part of the shrine was a wide courtyard, and he could only get a glimpse of it in front of the torii gate.
"Do you want to go in?" Kirino Akane asked.
"Um."
Entering the shrine, Soya immediately saw Tsukuyomi standing in front of the main hall.
Just as he was about to go over, Kirino Akane held him back.
"The hand water house is over there."
"I know, let's talk about it later."
"If you go to worship without washing your filth, the gods will be displeased."
"..."
Zongya wants to say that he is actually quite familiar with the god here, and the other party won't mind - not to mention that the god himself often doesn't take a bath for several days, and he is not a clean person.
It’s just that I can’t say it out loud.
"All right."
After washing off the dirt in the hand water house, the two walked to the front of the main hall and found Tsukuyomi with his eyes closed and motionless, as if he was feeling something.
After looking at him twice, Soya focused his attention on Kirino Akane's face.
"Um?"
She quickly noticed and tilted her head.
"fine……"
It seemed like she couldn't see anything.
After thinking about it, Zonggu took off the amulet again and asked her to hold it for now.
From a new perspective, Tsukuyomi remained unchanged as expected, as quiet as if he had fallen asleep standing up.
"Is Yuezi praying?"
Kirino Akane was gearing up, but finally resisted the idea of poking him.
"I guess so."
"What are you praying for?"
"Pray that I can pay back the money soon or something like that."
Kirino Akane chuckled, and Tsukuyomi also opened his eyes at this time and glanced at him with a hint of sadness.
"I will definitely pay you back." Zonggu said immediately, fearing that he would be distracted by this matter and affect his absorption of the power of faith.
"it's over."
Tsukuyomi let out a long sigh, "So young..."
"What's so little?"
"The power of faith, what else can it be?"
He responded, and then realized that the person asking the question was Kirino Akane.
"The power of faith?" she continued to ask.
"..."
Tsukuyomi pursed his lips, not being able to answer, and looked at Soya again.
He glared at him and then began to explain:
"The comics say that the statues in the shrine embody the faith of a large number of worshipers, and it can be felt... He takes it seriously."
Kirino Akane stared at the statue for a while, not knowing how much she believed it.
"The Tsukuyomi-sama here is different from the one at Fuun Shrine. He has a male image."
"yes."
"Why?"
"There are biases in the interpretation of myths."
"So is Tsukuyomi-sama a male or a female?"
"There are too few records in mythology..." Soya glanced at Tsukuyomi, "Who knows."
In addition to Tsukuyomi God, there are also priests such as Shotoku Taiko Shrine and Mifune Shrine inside the shrine. There is even a stone of Tsukiyomi that can bless safe childbirth in the name of Tsukuyomi. The three of them started walking around in the shrine again.
After Kirino Akane was attracted to another place and walked a little further, Soya asked: "There is very little power of faith here?"
"yes."
Tsukuyomi nodded and sighed again.
"No one comes to worship in such a remote rural place. I have absorbed all the power of faith in that statue, which is less than one-third of the statue in Jingzi's house."
"It's so different..."
Zonggu sighed with emotion for a while, then asked: "Then what were you running for just now?"
"The feeling is coming."
"What does it feel like?"
Tsukuyomi looked ahead, "It's like this in morning dramas. I don't know why, but I have to run."
"..."
Kirino Akane turned around and saw Soya bumping Tsukuyomi with her elbow.
"What are you playing at?"
"nothing."
Soya responded and pulled Tsukuyomi to the other side.
"After absorbing the power of these beliefs, how much has the efficiency of Tsukuyomi-sama's induction increased?"
"It's probably more than ten times the original amount."
He was overjoyed at first, and then realized that this was only because Tsukuyomi's previous divine power was too weak, so the improvement was so obvious.
However, it is always a good thing to improve efficiency, and Tsukuyomi Shrine is not the only one. I have searched for Tsukuyomi Shrines or Tsukuyomi Palaces in various places, and the little things add up. One day, Takako Tsukiyomi will regain his former glory...
…
"..."
The style of the year?
"What?" Noticing his gaze, Tsukuyomi frowned, "Suddenly you looked at me with such pity."
"fine……"
Zonggu shook his head, took another deep breath, and regained his composure.
"Do you have anything else to do? If not, we will leave for Ise Shrine now."
Tsukuyomi stopped talking and looked at the main hall again. The statue in the center was cold and speechless.