Chapter 19 third quarter

Turn around from the main road of Azabu Ryudo Town and walk about 100 meters to the headquarters of Shamanism.Ninety percent of the passengers on the crowded bus got off here, and the bus was almost empty when it drove away. Seeing this scene, the two criminal policemen realized the power of shamanism and showed dumbfounded expressions.Especially Guan, although he had already heard about the prosperity of shamanism, he did not expect it to flourish to this extent. After the believers got off the bus, every time they passed by, they would raise their right palms in front of their chests and whisper in their mouths.

"Do you know what they are reading?" "I can not hear clearly." "They read 'Miei Miei'." "It's really inefficient to say hello to everyone you meet." Guan said with a smile.Seeing these people, he thought of the ants crawling hurriedly on the ground in midsummer, bumping their heads and waving their tentacles to smell each other's body odor. Turning to the corner of the shamanism headquarters, there is a man wearing a white turban and a white hakama, holding a small red paper lantern to direct traffic there. There is also a hexagonal frame printed on the lantern, with plum blossom patterns Teaching emblem.Whenever the red lantern swayed vigorously, the footsteps of believers moved forward and stopped neatly.

"The movements are really neat." "Much more useful than those guys in the traffic class." When the two criminal policemen made biased comments, the ranks of believers continued to flow.Among them are all different ages and clothing. There are eye-catching office girls and proprietresses in plain dresses; Old man in turban.The criminal police were pushed forward by the crowd. "When the patriarch was hospitalized with stomach ulcers last year, those believers lined up between this sidewalk and the shamanism headquarters, lit an oil lamp in their left hand, and kept praying that the patriarch would be healed."

"It's superstitious." "The head office charges fuel money, seat cushion money and venue fees, which is pretty accurate." "I can't stand it. But the patriarch should have supernatural powers. Why can gastric ulcers be cured without being sent to the hospital?" "However, he doesn't seem to have such a great ability. Originally, it didn't matter if he didn't need anesthesia during the operation, but when the scalpel touched his body, he immediately cried out in pain." "Haha, as expected." "He was crying because his stomach ulcer was too painful, I was just joking." Sudou said dissatisfied.

After entering the gate, there is a majestic chapel that was said to be inspired by Todaiji's picture postcards on the inside of the thousands of square meters of white gravel.The bonfires lit in the four corners of the courtyard illuminated the curtain with the tortoise-shaped religious emblem and the clean white gravel very brightly.Sudou and the others shuttled among the crowd and went around to the back of the chapel.A gently curved corridor stretches out from the side of the chapel, connecting to the priest's residence that looks like a wooden tea room. "What was the godfather doing before?"

"He was originally an expatriate who came back from North Manchuria, and later sold tofu in a small rural town in Chiba County. I heard that he got up early in the morning, and when he was grinding beans with a stone, he fell into samadhi, and then suddenly thought of becoming a Patriarch of new religions." As the footsteps got closer and closer to the ancestor, the two also lowered their volume.When the two arrived in front of the entrance, they saw hydrangeas blooming under the light of electric lights on both sides of the entrance. These hydrangeas seemed to know what it means to pretend to be a tiger, and proudly stretched their flower stems.

Hearing Sudou's voice, a middle-aged woman came out.Perhaps the phone call beforehand worked, and they were immediately taken to the Siping room next door. The tatami mats in this room are covered with a red carpet, and tables and chairs for receiving guests are placed on it. It looks out of place with this cypress Japanese-style building, which makes people feel a bit out of place.Sudou and Guan felt restless and kept looking around. After waiting for five minutes, there was a sound of clothes rubbing, and a shrine maiden dressed like a white beat appeared in front of them, as if she had jumped out of an illustration of a period novel.As if she knew that her attire would frighten others, she led the dumbfounded two people through the long corridor with an attitude that was so cold that it was a bit repulsive.

The two were taken to a six-ping room facing the courtyard again.The eight-foot-long table placed in the center looks very miniature. "This room is built like this, even if Master Nichiren ran out, it wouldn't be surprising." "Shamanism is derived from Shinto. If it is to appear, there should be Amaterasu." The two talked and looked left and right. Usually there should be a niche, but there is an altar, with divine wine cups, offerings, leaves of red and light trees and other items lined up on it, and a strange statue of a fox or a raccoon is exposed from between these offerings face, showing its sharp teeth.On the scroll hanging in the middle, the ink is still fresh. Maybe the writer is too pretentious?People who see it can see it or not.The police officer pinched his chin and looked left and right several times, but finally gave up and turned his gaze to the courtyard.Under the lighting of fluorescent lamps, the courtyard is as bright as day.

There are two maple trees and one old plum tree.Maple is a variety with relatively small leaves. It is only the beginning of June, and the leaves have already changed color. Guan feels that its efficiency is very in line with the style of modern society that values ​​speed.Next to the plum tree is a beautiful courtyard stone, and under the fence there are several chrysanthemums with large leaves growing vigorously.This courtyard has its own clear and quiet elegance in its simplicity.When Rikyu came here, he would probably say he wanted to make tea; if he called Basho here, he would probably want to compose a haiku.

Just when Guan took out a cigarette and was about to light it, he heard someone approaching them with gliding steps in the corridor. When the paper sliding door slid open, the godfather in a simple and elegant hakama bowed towards them gracefully in the Ogasawara style. The kneeling priestess nodded and walked into the room. The Godfather is in his sixties, with a very ordinary face, a man who is not very attractive in appearance.He completely ignored the presence of guests in the room, and after kneeling in front of the altar, he began to sing in a strange rhythm, as if reciting a poem, with a mournful tone like a begging festival, which was quite similar to the Royal Song.Although I don't know what he is singing, but the intentional use of unclear pronunciation may be his uniqueness, and believers will be grateful to him when they hear it.

The patriarch's worship became more and more passionate.He kept waving the coins, and every time he waved, he would clap his hands.It's not good for Guan to light up Peace brand cigarettes at this time, so I have to wait for him to finish his performance.From the exaggerated movements of the ancestor, it can be clearly seen that this is a special performance because of the presence of the guests.Guan felt stupid for his attitude of emphasizing that he was a religious man, and at the same time began to feel disgusted. "After receiving the call, I have been waiting for the arrival of the two masters. What is the purpose of your coming here...?" When they were finally able to talk face to face across the table, the Patriarch said very politely.Maybe it's Guan's prejudice, the way he speaks sounds like he is in a hurry, as if he wants to end the meeting with the criminal police as soon as possible. "Do you know that Kosuke Nishinohata, who used to be your disciple, was killed?" "Yes, I know. I don't have access to newspapers and radio. It was the Miko who informed me of this. I deeply regret this matter." "I heard that he betrayed the shamanism, so the headquarters see him as a thorn in the side?" Sudou was different from before, and asked after him with a positive attitude. This may be the tactics Sudou would use when the target was an old fox who had seen strong winds and waves. "There is no such thing. It is personal freedom to believe in this religion or not. Not everyone can convert even Buddhism. Of course, there will be some people who cannot accept our teachings no matter what. There is no way. We There’s no room for comment.” "Because you are the patriarch, so you can be so broad-minded. However, I think that among those who have not practiced as deeply as you, there should be some people who are not happy with the situation of a large number of non-religion in the Nishi-no-hata company. For example, Chita Hanpei kind……" The godfather didn't answer, but turned his gaze to the courtyard.His eyes blinked violently, and his nostrils trembled constantly.His face looked ordinary from the front, but when viewed from the side, he was actually deeply chiseled and looked very impressive.Guan has no interest in or knowledge about physiognomy and phrenology, but he still stares at the profile of the patriarch, admiring in his heart: the man who can found a sect really has a different face. "I don't believe Chita would do such a thing." "I don't want to believe it either." Sudou immediately countered. "However, we have heard that President Nishiwata was often threatened with explicit words: 'If you dare to withdraw from Shamanism, I will make you look good.'" The Patriarch looked at the two of them, stretched out his body over the table, and said in a low voice, "Actually, I'm also wondering whether this matter might be caused by Zhiduo." "You mean...?" The Godfather lowered his voice. "Although Zhidu Banping was a hero when the religion was founded, it may be because he was too considerate of the shamanism. Sometimes he would do some very cruel things. When these things got to my ears, I would say a lot of words to persuade him. He doesn't want to be like this, but maybe it's because of his insidious and violent personality, he doesn't listen to what I say, and he often makes trouble everywhere. This time he is also very angry about Mr. Nishiwata, I have already Tell him to be careful with his words and deeds..." To put it simply, the ancestor was just worried that Zhiduo's actions might ruin the reputation of Shamanism. Sudou asked about Chita's situation yesterday. "He slept very late, didn't get up until around ten o'clock, and went out after breakfast. When he went out, he never told anyone where he was going." "Didn't he come back after that?" "There is no connection to the phone." "What was he wearing when he went out?" "I passed by the man who served the meal. He was wearing a black tennis shirt, gray trousers, gray bird cap, and black short shoes and went out. He was driving the car of the headquarters." "What car?" "I don't know anything about the car. I think it's an American called a Plymouth or a Breemouth." "What about the color?" "grey." Now it's finally confirmed.What the driver Yi Ting saw at Xinqiao should be Zhita's car. "Do you know where Chita might be hiding?" "It should be a branch, right? There are twenty-five branches in the capital, and five in the capital." "Godfather, you give an order to the head of the branch, if Zhiduo has come to the branch, please ask them to contact us as soon as possible?" "No, this is not very good." The Godfather said with fear on his face. "Forgive me for not being able to intervene in the matter of Zhiduo. Even what we talked here today, please don't let it out. If I annoy that man, then I will be finished." It seems that his usual supernatural power is completely useless when he meets Chita.Compared with the police directly intervening in the internal investigation of the religious circles, it is actually much more efficient to let the godfather ascend to the top, and it will not make the problem bigger; but no matter how much Sudou persuades, the godfather just refuses to agree.It seems ridiculous that the ancestor of a sect would be afraid of Zhita, but this incident also unintentionally reveals how dangerous this man is. Afterwards, Sudou and the others checked Chita's room and found that he had taken away the necessary clothes and more than three million passbooks.His idea of ​​killing the president and sneaking into the ground to avoid being chased is obvious. The detectives left the headquarters after borrowing the photos.The bonfire in the courtyard burned even more vigorously than before, illuminating the passionate believers bright red.The sound of the taiko drum suddenly sounded from behind the two of them drove them away, and mocking tones echoed around them. "The sound caused a lot of trouble to the people nearby. There used to be a high-end hotel next door, but because of the sound, no guests came to stay, and it was finally dumped." Even the words of the chief criminal policeman sounded intermittent.

---

Notes: