Chapter 24 The 23rd night Kamubari enters the Tao

The worst hooligans, penniless, basically live off food and drink.Such a person will never be able to make a fortune and become rich, and the reason seems to be so. However, a miracle happened to him.Hachinohe was originally a rogue, a criminal, and everyone hated him, but at the beginning of the new year this year, he made a fortune. He swaggered into the largest tavern in the city, sat down on the stool, and looked around with disdain. People around were surprised and couldn't believe it.This Hachinohe dared to be so presumptuous in Mr. Ijuin's shop, presumably he was desperate?

Yijiyuan has a very good personal relationship with the city lord and is quite powerful, and this wine house is his property. Hachinohe should know this, but he can't see that he is timid, not like the usual Hachinohe at all.Someone discovered that Hachinohe's clothes had also changed. In the past, he was ragged and unkempt all day long, but now he appeared in front of people in bright clothes, with an extremely arrogant look on his face. Something must have happened to Hachinohe.Everyone thinks so. I saw Hachinohe placing the burden in his hand heavily on the table and making a "clang".There seemed to be something hard and heavy in the baggage.

Then Hachinohe clapped his hands and called out to the waiter at the tavern. This winery is managed by Monosuke, the nephew of Lord Ijuin. He was dissatisfied when he saw Hachinohe pretending to be pretending, but he still put on a fake smile, stepped forward and sneered at Hachinohe: "Master Hachinohe, I am so sorry , our store has nothing to sell to poor ghosts." Immediately, the customers in the store burst into laughter. Hachinohe was not ashamed or annoyed, he patted the package on the table slowly, and said to Mozhisuke: "Don't make fun of me, I dare to sit here today, so I have my capital." The package was handed to Maozhisuke, "You accept the things in this package, it is my food and drink money for this year. From today on, after I come, you only need to serve me with food and drink. If you take good care of me, I will return next year. Keep visiting."

Monosuke curled his lips, took the package with disdain, and secretly scolded Hachinohe for being arrogant, but when he weighed the package, he felt that it was heavy in his hand, and there was an inexplicable temperature. "This is..." Monosuke asked. "Just untie it and see." Hachinohe said with a smile. So Monosuke placed the package on the table and unwrapped it. When I opened it up, it was suddenly dazzling, it was actually a large piece of gold!Glittering, real gold. For a moment, there was no sound in the store, and everyone stared at the big gold nugget dumbfounded.

Mounosuke was the first to wake up, looked around with the gold in his hand, and murmured, "Amazing...Amazing..." "I'll talk about it later. I just want to ask if this gold is enough to eat and drink in your shop for a year?" Hachinohe asked arrogantly, squinting his eyes. "Enough, enough!" Mounosuke nodded hurriedly, holding the gold nugget in his arms. "That's good." Hachinohe smiled, "I'm a little hungry now, please prepare some side dishes and a pot of sake for me." "Yes, please wait a moment." Mounosuke said, hugging the gold nugget even tighter, and then rushed into the back hall.

The guests around exploded in an instant, and everyone gathered around, asking each other about the origin of the Hachinohe gold nugget. Hachinohe smiled without saying a word, narrowing his eyes slightly. For a time, Hachinohe's big gold nugget caused a lot of trouble in the city, and word of mouth was full of stories about the big gold nugget in the streets and alleys. Everyone felt strange. No one had seen Hachinohe do any profitable work, nor did he do business. How could he become so rich overnight? Many people asked Hachinohe to ask, but Hachinohe didn't say a word. So the "big gold nugget" became even more mysterious, and rumors spread.

Some people say that Hachinohe did business without capital, killing travelers in the wilderness outside the city, and robbing the gold nuggets. But the guards in the city denied it, saying that there had been no murders recently. Some people say that Hachinohe has learned alchemy and can turn stones into gold. But the wizard in the city denied it. She said that there was no such magic in the world. Some people say that it is not real gold, but counterfeit. But Mounosuke of the wine shop denied it. He said that it was excellent pure gold, and it was genuine. Some people say that Hachinohe picked up the gold in a latrine. He walked into a latrine on the night before New Year's Eve, chanted a spell, and then the gold fell from the sky.

But Master Yijuin denied it, he said, impossible...impossible... Not long after, Master Yijiin died, and his death was very strange. Next to his body was a large gold nugget from Hachinohe, stained with bright red blood. Yijiyuan's head was broken, and there was a lot of blood. The patrol who rushed over looked at the body and concluded that Mr. Yijiyuan died of being smashed on the head by a gold nugget. The servants in the family said that Master Yijiyuan had been alone in the room before his death, and no one else went in. So everyone guessed, how could it be smashed by a gold nugget if it was so good? Could it be suicide?This is impossible, Mr. Yijiyuan's career is booming, and he married a concubine last year, so there is no reason to commit suicide.

So, what is going on? Push back the time, to the time before the New Year, when Hachinohe was still a pauper. In fact, the rumors in town are half true. Hachinohe did indeed walk into a latrine on the night of New Year's Eve, and it was an ordinary latrine.After Hachinohe walked in, he recited the mantra respectfully: "Jamubari enters the Tao...Jamubari enters the Tao...Jamubari enters the Tao..." The mantra was repeated three times in a row. The rumors of the people in the city are: After reciting the spell, gold will fall from the sky. Not so. The fact is that after Hachinohe recited the mantra, what fell from the sky was a human head.

At that time, Hachinohe was extremely terrified, but he still held back and stuffed the head from his cuff into his clothes, and went home in fear all the way.When I got home, I took out the head and found that the head had turned into gold. This is the true origin of that piece of gold. If you ask, why do people's heads appear in the toilet for no reason? In fact, this is the monster at work. Had to push back time again. A few years ago, when Master Ijuin was still a poor man, there was only one soba noodle stall in Ijuin at that time, and he made a living by selling soba noodles.Fortunately, he has a wife who depends on him for life, and his life is not very miserable.

Ijuin's wife has outstanding craftsmanship, and she is getting better and better. Finally, her soba noodles are famous far and wide, and the number of customers gradually increases.Ijuin worked hard to learn the craft from his wife, and soon he was able to make the same soba noodles. Therefore, one noodle stall was changed into two, and two noodle stalls were turned into noodle shops, and the business became more and more prosperous. Originally, this kind of life should get better and better, but Yijiyuan gradually became dissatisfied. He often thought that his wife was good in everything, but unfortunately she was too ugly.How can a man spend his whole life with only an ugly woman?He wanted to take one side of the room, but he couldn't tell his wife, knowing that his wife was kind to him, and it was against his conscience to make such a request. The more Yijiyuan thought about it, the more unwilling he felt, and he was depressed for a long time.When his wife asked him what was on his mind with concern, he faltered and prevaricated. Finally, one night, Yijuin came up with a good idea: if the current wife is not in the world, all problems can be solved easily. In this way, you can take concubines without violating your conscience, at least Yijiyuan thinks so. So he killed his wife, and when she went into the toilet at night, he stabbed her to death with a knife. He thought that things were done neatly and seamlessly, but unexpectedly, everything that happened here was seen by a thief. The thief is Hachinohe. Hachinohe was secretly delighted, and planned to blackmail Yijuin and ask for a hush money, but he thought of a legend. Legend has it that if someone dies in a latrine, he will become a monster three years later.From now on, if someone enters the latrine on the night of the big dark day before the New Year, and shouts three times "Jamubari enters the Tao", the head will fall off, and if you put the head in your sleeve and take it home, it will turn into gold. . Thinking of this, Hachinohe secretly became greedy, thinking that those hush money is not as attractive as gold after all, and besides, he can get it every year.Three years is not a long time, just wait, if the legend does not come true, it will not be too late to threaten Yijiyuan. Thinking of this, Hachinohe concealed what he saw. Yijiyuan thought he had succeeded, and after waiting for a few days and seeing no movement, he returned to his normal life contentedly.Someone asked about his wife, and he replied that she was in poor health and had returned to her natal family to recuperate.To avoid suspicion, he endured three years of celibacy.In the past three years, his business has been getting better and better. He opened several wine houses, became friends with the city owner, and built a new house. The former residence was left unused, including the toilet. Three years later, Yijiyuan thought the time had come, so he entrusted a matchmaker to find a young and beautiful wife. However, who would have expected that soon after, he would die violently at home. Before Yijiin died, he had been staring at that large piece of gold in a daze. Ever since the day he saw this piece of gold, Yijiyuan felt a little panic in his heart.He always felt that this gold nugget was a little ominous, but he couldn't tell what was so weird, and he thought it was a pity to throw it away.Such a large amount of gold has never been seen before. Also, what he was worried about was the rumors in the city, the rumors in the toilet... The gold surface was smooth, reflecting Ijuin's face. Yijiyuan looked at his face, which was yellow and golden. Suddenly, the reflected face changed, just for a short moment, that face became someone else's face. Yijiyuan suddenly felt the hairs all over his body stand on end. Although it was only for a moment, Yijuyuan could clearly see it—it was the face of his ex-wife. In a panic, he threw the gold nugget far away. After the sound of "Dang Clang", the gold nugget did not move, remained silent, and said nothing. The air seemed to freeze, a little damp. Yijiyuan felt that the gold nugget was getting weirder and weirder, and the gleaming golden light seemed to remind Yijiyuan of the good things he had done. The air is getting more and more humid, mixed with an unpleasant smell, smelly. It's the smell of toilets. Yijiyuan suddenly went crazy, rushed to the gold nugget, knelt on the ground, knocked his head on the gold nugget, repeatedly knocking, blood spattered.After knocking a dozen times, Yijiyuan fell to the side, convulsed for a moment, and could no longer move. Ijuin's death did not cause much sensation, and all his property was inherited by his only relative, Monosuke. Monosuke was naturally very happy, but he had to put down a sad expression to make arrangements for Yijuin's funeral. He took all the things in Ijuin as his own, together with that young and beautiful wife. However, Ijuin could no longer find that piece of gold, and it disappeared inexplicably. Soon after, Monosuke sold the land where Ijuin's former residence was located. The buyer demolished everything on the land, including the latrine. (Finish) This is the monster that appeared in Master Toriyama Ishien's monster painting collection "Illustrations of the Past and the Past: Hundred Ghosts". It is the "monster of the toilet" that has been spread all over Japan.It is an "imported demon", and its prototype is Zigu, the famous Chinese monster toilet god. It is described as a "monk who spits out birds" in "Pictures of the Past and the Past" and "A Monk Who Spits Out Birds". The original text notes: On the night of the Great Darkness Day, recite loudly "Jamubori enters Dao Guo Gong", and this monster will not reappear. There is a legend in the area of ​​Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture that if you recite three times in the toilet on a dark day, the head of a person will fall from the sky. Wrap up the head and take it home. into gold. There is also a similar record in the book "Jiazi Night Talk" in the Edo period: when you enter the toilet at three o'clock in the night, you will shout "Yanpoli enters the Tao", and the head of the Taoist will appear under your feet, put the head in the sleeve of your left arm, Take it out and look again, the head has turned into a gold coin. In ancient times, the Japanese used to enshrine Kamupari images in the latrines to drive away evil spirits and ghosts in the latrines. Akita Prefecture has a folk custom of placing dolls in the corner of a latrine, while in Shimane Prefecture it is customary to place a pair of male and female dolls in a latrine. Legend has it that Kamubari hated being seen when he entered the Tao. If he was seen, he would become angry and take revenge on those who saw him.Therefore, in the past, before entering the toilet, no matter whether there was anyone in it, the Japanese had to knock on the door, or read a sentence "Jamubari Entrance", to remind the monsters in the toilet that someone is coming in, and hide if they don't want to be seen. hide.