I work as a yokai exterminator, ask me anything? Part 2

[280] The woman who came to inquire with us was asking about her older sister. Her sister was married and had an 8-year-old child, but that child drowned and died. The sister was incredibly sad, but then, like a bolt from the blue, her husband divorced her. So the sister was really down for a while, but around the first anniversary of the child’s death, she started saying nonsensical things like “My child came back!” Everyone who knew the sister thought she’d gone mad from grief, but only the younger sister, the consultant, insisted that her sister wasn’t crazy. One night, the younger sister visited her sister’s house and found it pitch black inside. She heard faint whispering coming from her sister’s room. When she went to the room, the door was ajar, and her sister was sitting in front of a mirror, whispering something. As the younger sister’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a faint, black shadow-like figure reflected in the mirror. Its outline was very blurry, but the younger sister said it was undoubtedly the shape of her sister’s child.

• [281] Are you training to be a novelist?

[282] Then recently, as the child’s 9th birthday approached, she suddenly started cleaning the house, buying children’s toys, and things like that. When asked why, the sister said she was preparing because her child was coming back on their birthday. She rejoiced, saying that until now she could see the child but couldn’t hug them, but this time she could finally hold them! The younger sister got scared and went to consult another psychic or someone similar, asking what was going on. The psychic apparently said something like, “The child died by drowning, so in the Five Elements, it belongs to Water. And since something strange was reflected in the mirror, that’s Metal in the Five Elements. Your sister’s child appeared as a ghost because they were buried with Metal and not Earth.” (It was long-winded, and I didn’t really get it, but that’s probably the gist.) That person didn’t want to get involved further, so she came to us.

[283] >>281 I dreamed of being one for a bit when I was little, but with writing skills like these, I probably couldn’t make it. Anyway, Sensei said this wasn’t our area of expertise, introduced her to another place, and sent her home. Afterward, Sensei said to me, Sensei: “Maybe that psychic wasn’t entirely wrong.” Me: “Huh? What do you mean?” Sensei: “Not being buried with Earth probably means they weren’t cremated. In other words, the child of the woman who just came wasn’t properly cremated and given a memorial service, so they turned into a ghost.” Me: “But can that really happen just from that?” Sensei: “Well, it’s probably more about where the child’s body ended up.” Me: “Come to think of it, where did the body go then?” Sensei: “Probably only two people know.” Me: “Two people?” Sensei: “Probably that woman’s sister and her husband. They got divorced suddenly, right? Maybe the husband loved the child so much he took the body and hid it somewhere. And the only one who knows where the husband is, is his wife, the sister.” And with that, Sensei concluded the talk, saying things like “People shouldn’t do stupid things.”

[284] Well, what this story means and what I’m trying to say is, if you want to employ youkai or spirits, you probably need the right “tools” and “emotions.” Both seem hard to come by in modern society.

[285] Sorry for jumping topics again. I’m outside right now, so I’ll continue the story when I get back.

• [286] Sounds like you’re busy. Take care.
• [288] Do you think the techniques and talismans written here are real? The talisman info is deleted here. Maybe to prevent people from doing it? Here’s the original source with the deleted info. Around post 50 here is the original text before it was summarized. An onmyouji from a certain thread said he’d seen similar talismans. But elsewhere, people said they were talismans used by a fake onmyouji who appeared on TV long ago, and that the Hari-kaji technique mentioned there was something he showed off on TV, so this was likely inspired fiction. Apparently, many people tried it and nothing happened. As the original text says, it mentions things like it won’t work if your power is less than the shikigami’s. I think most people probably can’t activate the talismans. I personally don’t want the power to activate such things just by writing them, but can ordinary people easily activate them, whether writing on paper or drawing on mirrors or glass with their fingers?

Onmyouji: An official position in ancient Japan’s Ritsuryo system, responsible for astronomy, calendrics, divination, and magic. In modern times, it can also refer to folk magicians or priests.

Shikigami: Spiritual beings said to be employed by Onmyouji. Like demons or spirits.

[291] Good evening. I’ll continue after dinner. >>286 This is the busiest time of year for us. It’s also the easiest time to study. >>288 As I wrote quite a while ago about talismans, we don’t make them ourselves. We use ones Sensei buys from somewhere. Maybe Sensei could, but idiots like me… understanding the principles behind how those talismans are made or whether they’re correct is too difficult, so I’ve kind of given up trying to learn. So, if you ask me what I think, I can only say I don’t know… But if it’s just my impression, I think they look kinda cool. Also, I laughed a little seeing ordinary people trying to make talismans. I think truly ordinary people probably wouldn’t actually perform these kinds of charms.

• [292] Watching.
• [294] I’m reading too!
• [295] Take care! Watching.
• [297] Do you respect your master (Sensei)?

[298] I’m back. >>297 Enough, I suppose. Okay, the continuation. The first time I met Sensei, he looked quite respectable, wearing a suit. At first, I thought he was a doctor or something. He asked things like “How are you feeling?” or “Where does it hurt?” and pressed on my stomach. When I told him nothing hurt specifically, but I felt sluggish, Sensei started asking about recent events. School, family, friends… it felt like small talk, but eventually, we talked about my sister, the test of courage, and also my dreams. Sensei was a really good listener, and it was quite fun talking to him. After I finished talking, Sensei left the room and started talking with the adults in the next room.

Kimodameshi: A Japanese custom of testing one’s courage by visiting scary places like cemeteries or abandoned buildings at night.

[299] After a while, Sensei came back. This time, he was holding a live chicken. He said, “Sorry, this might surprise you, but bear with me for a moment,” and killed the chicken right there. Then, he spread out newspapers, placed a tray on top, and started butchering the chicken there. As you’d expect, the chicken struggled quite a bit, feathers flew everywhere, and honestly, I was a bit freaked out. As he started butchering the chicken, the room filled with a raw, fleshy smell. I said I wanted to leave the room or that I didn’t understand the point of doing this, but Sensei told me, “Stay here.” Watching Sensei silently butchering the chicken was lightly traumatizing. After a while, another smell started to fill the room besides the raw one. It was the smell of something burning. Then, Sensei turned off the room lights. He placed a single candle in the middle of the room and started a process like draining the chicken’s blood. But here, even I noticed something felt a bit off. The amount of blood coming out of the chicken was clearly too little. I hadn’t butchered a chicken before, but it was a gut feeling, you know? My expectation of how much blood should come from a chicken that size was far, far less than what actually came out.

[300] Then, once the chicken stopped bleeding, Sensei opened the window and threw the chicken outside. He extinguished the candle, turned the lights back on, picked up the drained blood, and started to leave the room. When the sliding door (fusuma) opened, I saw my mom trying to come in, but Sensei quietly shook his head and stopped her. I didn’t understand what was going on anymore, but I somehow grasped that Sensei wasn’t a doctor, but more like a shaman or something. After a bit, Sensei returned, this time holding a chick. He placed it in my hand and told me, “Crush it with your left hand.” At that moment, Sensei was just a madman to me.

[301] Well, we argued and stuff, but in the end, I did as Sensei said. And when I crushed the chick… something else felt a bit strange happened. As I crushed the chick, my body felt slightly lighter. And the burning smell had disappeared too. Then, even though I thought I’d slept plenty that morning, I suddenly felt exhausted and incredibly sleepy. Sensei collected the limp chick and stuff, said, “You’ll be fine for today, so go to sleep,” cleaned up the room for me, and I just slept.

• [302] >>291 So, even the OP who does youkai extermination can’t make (or activate?) them. Does that mean if an ordinary person writes a talisman, it won’t have any effect, good or bad? Is that correct?

[303] Restrictions are scary… (wry smile). That night, I slept soundly without any dreams. When I woke up in the morning, it was a pretty good awakening, but the red spots hadn’t disappeared; in fact, they had spread up to my knees. It was around 7 AM, so I wondered if Mom and Dad were awake and left my room, planning to raid the fridge since I was hungry. Then, I saw Sensei in the living room area. When I showed my face, he said, “It’s just the two of us today.” Of course, my first reaction was “Huh?”. I mean, it hadn’t even been a day since I met Sensei, and after the chicken incident, even though I understood it was for my sake, he was still a scary person to me, and being alone with him felt a bit unpleasant. I asked where my parents went, but he didn’t tell me then. He made instant noodles for breakfast, but eating felt awkward. At home, we usually chatted lively during meals, but Sensei seemed to be the type who doesn’t talk while eating. When I tried to say something, he gently stopped me, saying something like, “Let’s talk properly later.”

[304] >>302 I’m not particularly psychically sensitive or anything, so you probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. Well, it’s true that activating or making them is definitely impossible for me. Shikigami and stuff are outside my expertise. However, for example, if you put strong feelings into cursing someone, there’s a possibility it could summon youkai or something like that. There are examples like the story I wrote this morning.

• [307] Interesting.
• [309] The term “Youkai Extermination” sounds manga-ish, but there are people who make a living doing exorcisms and spirit cleansings, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were people specializing in youkai, I guess.

[310] >>309 This is just my image from manga too, but for example, exorcists read the Bible, right? For youkai, there’s something similar where you recite something like a poem. Originally, these things were all passed down from ancient times, and now we might not fully understand their meaning, but supposedly there were poems for each of the Yaoyorozu no Kami (Eight Million Gods), and furthermore, three million poems for the youkai of the time when the poems were created. You use those to “negotiate”? or something like that with the youkai. In that sense, maybe demons and youkai are similar (lol).

Yaoyorozu no Kami: The Shinto concept that gods reside in all things. Yaoyorozu (eight million) is a metaphor for a vast number.

[311] But those poems and such are gradually being lost, and now only mostly unorthodox methods and the most commonly used ones remain.

[312] Ahhh, I wasted time chatting and now it’s this late again. Sorry, I have to get up early tomorrow, so I’m going to bed now. I’ll try to wrap up the story quickly. Good night.

• [314] >>291 So, even the OP who does youkai extermination can’t make (or activate?) them. Does that mean if an ordinary person writes a talisman, it won’t have any effect, good or bad? Is that correct? >>312 That was interesting. Good night.
• [315] Ah, negotiating with poems was mentioned earlier. Demons and youkai remind me of GeGeGe no Kitaro (lol). Please share more interesting stories again.
• [335] I want to hear OP’s story~ Are you tired today?

[337] Good evening~. I couldn’t come today because I was a bit busy. Looks like everyone’s discussing difficult topics. I think people who believe will believe no matter what you say, and people who don’t believe won’t believe no matter what you say, so it’s pointless to try and “win” an argument. But whether they exist or not, I think it’s a good thing to feel, how should I put it, awe or reverence towards nature, or the world. So we don’t mistakenly think humans are the greatest. However, there’s one thing I can say for sure. If you say you believe in youkai or the afterlife, you definitely won’t be popular. Source: me, doing this kind of work. Sorry I can’t talk much today. It’s late, so I’m going to sleep. Good night.

• [338] These kinds of threads always attract people who act smug, but it’s so tactless… This particular person is so full of themselves it’s comically pitiful. Obon is getting closer, I wonder if OP and OP’s Sensei are busy.

Obon: A Japanese Buddhist event in summer to welcome and honor the spirits of ancestors.

[340] >>338 Calling it “tactless” is also a bit grating, so you should probably avoid saying that. If there’s anything strange, it’s not strange at all to state your own opinion, but the two who seem to be fighting probably understand what the other wants to say, yet they seem to be just picking at each other’s words endlessly. It makes me wonder if they want to play word games or what they’re trying to achieve. It would be much more refreshing to state your own opinion, understand the opponent’s argument, and then say something like, “I see, then our ways of thinking are different. Don’t talk to me, you horrible person!” (lol). Sorry if that sounded a bit harsh. But this way of thinking is crucial when dealing with youkai. Youkai have their own interests, and humans have theirs. When they clash, you say something like this through poetry: “I see, then we are enemies. However, I will exterminate you for my own interests too, so let’s settle this without holding grudges!” Okay, this time for real, good night.

• [342] Take care, rest well.

[349] Well, it’s been a little while, but here’s the continuation of the story. Starting from after I had breakfast with Sensei. After breakfast, Sensei asked if I remembered the chicken he threw out the window yesterday. When I answered that of course I remembered, Sensei took me to see the chicken carcass. The chicken’s body looked like something had torn it apart and eaten it; bones were scattered around. Well, it’s the countryside, so the possibility of some wild animal coming to eat it was high, but Sensei showed it to me and said, “You are now cursed by the things that ate this. If this continues, you will die. The cause is probably because of the ‘things’ your grandpa burned. Have you heard that story?” I replied that I had just heard it from grandma. Sensei then said that unfortunately, my grandpa seemed to have incurred the wrath of some very persistent entities, and they probably wouldn’t stop coming back no matter how many times they were exorcised. That type won’t give up until the entire family is dead. So, ordinary methods might be almost useless now. He then said there were three paths I could choose.

• [350] Watching~.

[352] The first option was for me to give up and die. I was feeling quite normal at the time, but that was probably because the chicken distracted me. He said that probably, when night came again, something really bad would happen this time, and I would die. So, before that happened, Sensei would make various preparations and offer me up on the kamidana (household Shinto altar) in place of the cat god. Basically, for some reason, probably triggered by something that happened to my sister on the day of that test of courage, the cat god stopped protecting the house. Cats are fickle, so once they give up, no amount of pleading will work. So, the story was basically “Become a legend, young man,” as a replacement (lol). In other words, after I died, they would enshrine me as a god or something, and I would protect the family. In this case, Sensei didn’t specialize in ghosts, so there was the risk that doing this might not actually have any effect. But, from Sensei’s perspective, it was the easiest, so it was the recommended method.

Kamidana: A small altar found in Japanese homes for enshrining Shinto kami (gods).

• [353] Watching.

[354] Come to think of it, there are things like Hitogami (human deities), right? It’s similar to that, but completely different, so be careful. It’s different from guardian spirits too.

Hitogami: A Japanese belief system where living or deceased humans are enshrined as gods.

• [355] Intriguing.

[356] Sorry. Sensei called me on the phone. Gotta go for a bit.

• [357] See you later! Take care.
• [358] Waiting for you.
• [365] Maybe Sensei found this thread and is giving you a serious scolding.

[367] Good evening. Came by since I have some free time. Probably can’t stay long, so just a brief explanation. Using chickens for youkai extermination seems to be a pretty common method. Well, the methods vary, but they seem to be collectively called “Kokeodoshi.” At least, that’s what Sensei calls it. Maybe the “koke” comes from the chicken’s “kokekokko” (cock-a-doodle-doo) (lol).

[368] Kokeodoshi is generally divided into four types. If I go into the methods, some people might try them carelessly, so I can’t describe them in too much detail, but we call them “Shu,” “Ka,” “Shikko,” and “Kawarawari.” The first one, “Shu,” mainly involves killing a chicken and using its blood. In the old days, people killed chickens or cows and prayed to the gods, kind of like that. It’s like killing the chicken and feeding it to the youkai? Often used for animal Nyuudou (large, often monstrous monks or creatures). “Ka” is like a substitute. This apparently relates to palmistry; supposedly, there used to be a hand sign that indicated someone would kill people. They would make such people hold a chick in their hand and perform a ritual where they killed the chick instead of the people they might kill in the future. Well, Sensei made me do this too, but the reason will become clear later.

• [369] Welcome back~. Don’t push yourself, write slowly.

[370] “Shikko” is probably the least used method. You put a chicken and its laid eggs in a house infested by youkai and let the eggs hatch inside. It’s a method that takes a bit of time, but something like that. Mainly used for Nyuudou like snakes or insects. The last one, “Kawarawari,” is a method used for mischievous youkai. You summon the youkai, then kill the chicken by decapitation. Afterward, you beat the chicken’s head with a stick until it’s completely smashed. This apparently scares most such youkai away. That’s about it. Well, I’ll continue the story when I have time again.

• [371] >>370 Scared away… Like, “Damn… This guy’s crazy…”?
• [374] Didn’t read carefully, so I don’t know, but is it like a small-scale hunters’ association? (lol) What do youkai do to get exterminated?
• [375] Only read the beginning. >>370 Killing living things for non-existent beings… Cults do it too, but what’s fun about disrespecting life?

[376] >>375 It’s not really about fun, if I had to say, it’s a business, maybe? If you call it a scam or cult-like, I can’t really argue. But I don’t think we’re doing anything that bad? Think of it like fortune-telling or feng shui. Also, yeah. Those kinds of religions probably teach that there’s something more important than life. For example, honor for ancient nobles, or a waifu figure for an otaku. A little while ago, there was that elementary school student who committed suicide to stop their school from closing… It might seem stupid to others, but I don’t think it’s strange for such things to exist. That’s what makes humans human, maybe? Though brainwashing is definitely wrong. >>374 It’s a bit different from a hunters’ association, I think? If you’re interested, I wrote various things before, the extermination methods are like that. I dropped out of middle school, and my writing’s probably rambling and hard to read, though.

• [377] Looking forward to it.
• [378] >>376 > If I had to say, it’s a business, maybe? I don’t deny earning a living by supplying where there’s demand. But the method, or rather, the act of disrespecting life just for performance, felt extremely unpleasant to me. Long ago, places like the Pana-Wave Laboratory were criticized on TV, but it’s the same thing, just scalar electromagnetic waves replaced with youkai.
• [380] >>378 I understand your strong desire to condemn the “wasting of life” based on your own sense of justice, but saying that to someone raised in a different culture, with different common sense and environment, feels a bit tactless. Sorry if I offended you.
• [381] >>378 Roosters aren’t commercially viable, so most are shredded as chicks. If you eat chicken or eggs, I want you to realize that your own life rests on similar sacrifices.
• [384] OP, please continue.
• [385] >>380 Well, different places, different customs. There are still countries where witch hunts happen. Guess it’s the same cultural level. >>381 That’s obviously taken into account. I understand that the evaluation can change 180 degrees depending on the perspective, but my personal view is that I cannot accept the “playing youkai extermination” perspective.

[387] Well, well, it’s like this. Ultimately, the discussion boils down to whether youkai exist or not, rather than the life of a chicken, right? If they exist, it’s not a waste. It’s a common thing, but some people say, if you can negotiate with youkai, then actually summon one and show us! But there’s something called the Eighteen Prohibitions Six Great Rules about that. There’s a rule that forbids doing such things. Even explaining why it’s forbidden is kind of prohibited. So even if asked to prove it, I can’t say anything back, so I think it’s up to the individual whether to believe or not. However, if >>385 doesn’t believe. Just reading this kind of thread is a waste of your own life, so you should stop. If you just want to win an argument, there are probably better professors at universities than a middle school dropout like me. And if you’re the kind person who thinks, “What foolish people! I must save them!”, then probably most people here are just here for fun, so maybe go to a church and say “God is dead!” or something. Sorry if my tone was bad, I’m tired after a tough job. But when someone calls what I do for a living “playing pretend,” it makes me want to cry a little, so I’d appreciate it if you could understand that too. Sorry for the long post. I’ll write the continuation next time.

[388] The second method. A method called “Tana-oroshi” (inventory check/taking down from the shelf). This was a method the sensei really didn’t want to do, or rather, absolutely didn’t want to do. This leads to the discussion of how a Nyuudou becomes a god. Normally, something that has become a Nyuudou lights the divine fire (Shinka), gains divinity (Shinsei), and is given godhood (Shinkaku) to become a god. What this means is a very complex story that even I don’t fully understand, but simply put, they become just a soul (probably slightly different, but something like that), vow to become a god and fulfill that role. Then, they are given that role by humans, and finally, the Nyuudou becomes a god. However, this path is very arduous, and gods aren’t born so easily.

[389] For example, the vow part. Humans sometimes become gods too, right? The vow uttered at that time is called “Kougan.” Specifically, it’s something like, “I will fulfill my assigned role forever. Even if, later, the people who enshrined me forget me, even if my dwelling becomes a roadside stone, even if no one remembers me.” But, realistically, hardly anyone can actually do that, right? Even if they mean it when they vow, whether that heart truly won’t change with the flow of time is doubtful. Therefore, becoming a god isn’t necessarily fun. Only those who are truly good and expect nothing in return can fulfill the role properly. Still, sometimes gods break taboos and fall into becoming youkai.

• [390] Hmm, hmm.

[391] The cat god, actually, wasn’t made a god in the true sense. It was simply flattered like, “Hey, you’re a god~” to get protection. So it was actually just a regular youkai. And Tana-oroshi is a method to temporarily make such a god not a god. Why does such a method exist? Maybe ancient people created it to kill gods. Gods can’t die as long as they are gods, you see. Well, given what it does, it’s extremely sacrilegious. Then, used in combination with Tana-oroshi is something called “Hasetsu,” which was originally like a curse. What it does, simply put, is temporarily drag the god down from its divine seat. The enraged god naturally tries to curse the person who performed the ritual, but the caster then diverts it by saying something like, “No, no, look! I’m just a human with no power, how could I possibly drag you down? It was this Nyuudou here!” and gets them to tear apart the ones you want gone instead.

[392] However, there are roughly two dangers to this method. One is whether you can really trick the god. The other is whether the god can defeat the ones you want gone. According to Sensei, while there were eight million gods in ancient times, by about 200 years ago, there were probably only around three hundred thousand or so. The reason for this is, well, some broke the taboos themselves and descended into youkai, while many others apparently died fighting other youkai during this ritual while they weren’t gods. Gods were actually quite weak sometimes. So, maybe that’s why Japan’s national power gradually weakened, leading to the final war and whatnot.

[393] If the god loses, they get killed. So, who bears the karma (gou)? The caster does. Divine punishment (Tenbatsu)? maybe descends. I also wonder what divine punishment is. Maybe an incurable disease? So, with the possibility of divine punishment falling on the caster, and the possibility of the god directly cursing the caster, the actual success rate is apparently less than 20%. Sensei’s own master supposedly died from this. Therefore, Sensei said that while this method, if successful, could probably drive away the weasels, he personally didn’t like it.

• [394] Watching.
• [395] Fell asleep?
• [397] Must be busy.
• [399] It’s not a youkai, but… Before starting kindergarten, when I slept in bed, I sometimes saw strange things several times. Lumps of clay wriggling around, or frog-like things hopping. I don’t know if it was delusion, a dream, or reality. I haven’t seen them once since starting elementary school. Are there youkai that only small children can see? If so, are they still wandering around unseen now?

[401] Morning. Fell asleep yesterday. >>399 It depends on the region, so I can’t say for sure, but there used to be a similar youkai called Hae-makura (Fly Pillow). Apparently, it hopped around and just kept buzzing like a fly, disrupting sleep. It’s not that only small children can see them well, but maybe youkai find kids easier to tease because they’re less troublesome than adults.

• [402] >>401 Thanks for the reply. It was in Katano City, Osaka. Kisaichi district. It’s Osaka, but very rural. What I saw didn’t do anything bad. It was just definitely there, and I could touch it with my hand. It wriggled when touched, so I got scared and went to call my parents, but they couldn’t see it. The Hae-makura does mischief, huh? Nothing bad happened to me. I can’t see anything anymore now, but I was just wondering if something might still be nearby.
• [426] Is OP here yet? Can’t sleep at night waiting.
• [427] OP, waiting!
• [430] OP, waiting!
• [433] OP, too slow.
• [439] No one ever saw OP again after he lost the battle against the youkai… THE END Look forward to Master OP’s next work!
• [443] Leaving us hanging (lol).
• [446] Bump.
• [463] Bump.
• [465] Bump.
• [518] Bump.

[532] I’m back. Long time no see. I had a long-term job come up and was busy with various things, so I couldn’t come here. Well, I didn’t expect this thread to still be active, so thanks to those who bumped it. Shall we continue the story?

• [533] Welcome back! We were waiting!! Good job (´∇｀).

[535] I completely forgot where I left off, but I guess it was the third method? The third method was called “Kari-biraki.” I don’t really know what Kari-biraki entails exactly, but maybe it means “temporary opening”? To explain this, I first need to explain how humans are born in a youkai sense, maybe? This is also something I learned from Sensei, but in the Kojiki and other Japanese myths, the birth of humans isn’t directly depicted, but apparently some god said that humans were born from clay. The origin of that might be the Chinese myth where a god, who was half-snake, created humans in their image by kneading clay and breathing life into it.

Kojiki: Japan’s oldest extant chronicle, compiled in the early 8th century, containing many myths and legends.

[536] Seems like evolutionists would get mad hearing this, but when the god breathed, the clay lumps started moving, reproduced, and became the humans of today, or something like that. Maybe Japanese mythology was also influenced by that continental human creation myth. But well, this shows how the human soul is how close it is to a god’s existence. In other words, the basic human composition is mostly clay, and the soul-like part is like the breath of a god. But gods probably don’t have physical bodies, so the expression “breathing” is strange too. Ultimately, the god’s breath is also a part of the god, and if you trace it back, the pure human soul becomes a part of god. Of course, that “part” is probably like a single cell for humans, but qualitatively it’s the same. And from a god of the creation-level, no less.

[537] So what? If you ask that, that’s the end of it. But the Kari-biraki method utilizes this. It was a very dangerous method that spiritually kills a human.

[538] I don’t know how much detail I should go into, so I’ll write it very concisely, but basically: Prepare various things -> Douse yourself with water -> Cut off all your hair and burn it -> Mix the ashes with mud and knead it -> Apply it to your body -> Rinse it off with water -> Sleep -> Various things are done during that time. It would be quite problematic if people tried this, so please forgive the omissions here. What does this achieve? Youkai perceive the soul part of a human as the human itself, but this method supposedly makes the soul temporarily flow out of the body along with the mud. This can apparently trick the youkai’s eyes, be used for human sacrifice (hitobashira), and various other things. But actually doing it causes various problems. After all, it means the soul disappears.

[539] Even after performing this ritual, the soul is quite resilient and apparently returns to the human body after a while. But the real problem is that youkai gladly tear this soul thing apart, preventing it from returning. During the ritual, you sleep, but if the soul hasn’t returned to the body when you wake up, what happens? That human spiritually dies, apparently.

• [540] Humans are part of God? Is that true for the Korean people too, who are said to have no God?

[541] >>540 Saying “are said to have” makes it confusing. Just because “it’s said,” maybe they do have one. I don’t know much, but didn’t the Jews initially say they were abandoned by God or something? I’m clueless about religion and ethnicity, so I’d rather not debate it? In terms of youkai, continental youkai and the ones here have strong territorial awareness, so I don’t think they interact much. This also stems from the Emperor’s contract stuff; the youkai over there trace back to the “Qing” dynasty at the latest and haven’t updated anything since, so youkai extermination there is supposedly more troublesome.

• [542] You’re back. Glad to hear it~.

[543] When you spiritually die, apparently you don’t look much different at first glance, but what happens is… I’ll hold off on explaining that for now. I’ll talk about it later when the opportunity arises. It’ll get long, so let’s move the story forward for now. So, the plan was to use this method to trick the weasels for a while and make them think I was dead. Then, the satisfied weasels would leave. However, there were two problems. One was that I would definitely die spiritually. Moreover, the weasels didn’t just want to kill me; they seemed to be cursing my entire family. So even if I was somehow saved, the rest of my family would likely be wiped out. And the rest of my family couldn’t use this method. The reason is simple: because they’re not virgins. Seriously, being a virgin is amazing in this world. Virgins at 30 are seriously strong, like wizards.

• [544] >>541 Not trying to debate. Just curious. So there are exterminators like you in other countries too. Might be obvious, though. Looking forward to the continuation.

[545] After Sensei explained the three methods in detail, he told me to decide which one I wanted to choose. It didn’t feel like my own story at all; I was just like, “Ah, hmm, okay.” But when faced with choosing, the answer was obvious. Of course, I chose the first method. I decided to die.

[547] How should I put it… I didn’t want to be a burden to others. Well, there wasn’t much reason, I just didn’t want to bother anyone. The second method meant Sensei would bear considerable risk. I had only just met him, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask a near stranger to risk his life to save me, especially since the success rate was low. The third option was out of the question. What’s the fun in only me surviving if my family gets wiped out? My parents had already spent money and caused trouble for me, and the thought of being saved alone like scum was unthinkable for my middle-school self back then. Besides, becoming a god sounded a bit intriguing. You know, I was in middle school, so you get it. I kind of admired that sort of thing.

[550] Sorry, but I’m getting sleepy today. I won’t disappear, but I probably won’t be able to stay for long periods, so sorry if it takes time to reply. Good night.

• [551] Take care. Looking forward to it.
• [552] Good night. Waiting patiently.
• [559] Sounds like tough work…
• [563] Oh, welcome back! Looking forward to tomorrow~.
• [576] Otsu (thanks for your work). After seeing the story, I made the Emperor’s picture my phone wallpaper, but I feel bad for His Majesty putting him between the bills in my wallet.

[577] Sorry for popping in and out randomly. Okay, continuation from the other day. When Sensei learned I chose the first option, he seemed somewhat relieved. Well, the other two methods would have been troublesome for him one way or another, I guess. Anyway, I did various things as Sensei instructed. First, I took a bunch of laxatives, used an enema, and stayed in the toilet until nothing more came out. Then I took some sleeping pills, explained that this would let me pass away pleasantly without bad dreams. My last meal being instant ramen was a bit disappointing, but I reluctantly accepted it. At the time, I was watching Gundam SEED Destiny or something and wondering how it would end as I prepared to sleep.

[579] >>576 Well, actually, there are apparently various reasons why banknotes feature faces of important people, but I don’t know the details. It seems the bills themselves act as charms against evil. Byodoin Phoenix Hall is supposed to be good too. As soon as I slept, I had a dream. It was also a slightly strange dream; I was aware I was dreaming. And I thought things like, “Ah, Sensei lied. He said I wouldn’t dream.” In the dream, there was this constant BGM like ‘ta-ta-ta-ta’ playing, and the setting was the school I attended, but I was a transfer student there. During preparations for something like a school festival, the homeroom teacher suggested doing a play and decided to hold auditions. The teacher pulled out a script-like thing and said, “We’re doing this play, but there’s one thing I want you to be careful about during the audition. Anyone who takes this audition can never leave the audition room again.” For some reason, my little sister was in my class, and she was super motivated to take the audition.

[580] Mistake in the previous post, it wasn’t that you couldn’t leave the room if you auditioned, but those who failed the audition couldn’t leave. Even though I was aware “Ah, this is a dream,” for some reason I followed my sister to the audition room. The room was the music room, and my mom and dad were there, whispering to each other in the back of the classroom. And there were other strange things in the room. I remember a BBQ grill leaning against the wall, golf clubs scattered on the floor, and the music teacher dismantling the piano piece by piece. I started getting more and more anxious, trembling for some reason, and the faces of the dozen or so people auditioning seemed to distort. Then, the homeroom teacher came in and said, “Let’s start the audition now.” At that moment, terror exploded inside me for some reason, and I bolted out of the music room.

[581] I ran to somewhere like the school courtyard, and the girl I kinda liked from my class was there. She approached me and asked something like, “Huh? Weren’t you going to the audition?” I stammered “Ah, uh,” unable to answer. Then, she smiled slightly and said “Doubt.” At that instant, screams came from above. Looking up, I saw the classmates who were auditioning, along with my sister, dad, and mom, hanging by their necks. It’s hard to describe, but it was a dream, so somehow ropes appeared and they were hanged. I rushed to a second-floor window-like place and stared intently at my hanged sister. Then I felt immense regret, thinking, “If I had stayed for the audition then, maybe we could have died together.” And I woke up.

[582] When I woke up, it was pitch black around me. My head hurt badly, and for a while, I didn’t know who I was or where I was. After a few minutes, I finally realized I was in a room in grandma’s house. It seemed to be a different room from the one I remembered falling asleep in. Did someone carry me? I wondered vaguely. My throat was terribly dry, so I decided to go to the kitchen.

[583] Is there anyone good at dream interpretation? I still don’t understand the meaning of that dream. As I went to leave the room for the kitchen, I tripped over something roundish near the fusuma (sliding door) and fell. It felt like something relatively large, I clearly felt its mass or weight. Wondering what it was, I looked at my feet, but nothing was there. Then, my head suddenly cleared. Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to die? Why am I alive? And where’s Sensei? What time is it, what happened? Various thoughts swirled in my head. Anyway, there should be a clock in the room, so I turned on the light. It was 1:30 AM. I was extremely anxious and scared, so I turned on all the lights in the house and turned on the TV in the living room-like area. There was no one else in the house besides me. One thing that bothered me slightly was that there was strange black, sticky mud-like stuff? Hard to describe, but stuff like that was everywhere in the house.

• [584] Sensei was gone too? That would make anyone anxious.
• [585] What happened?
• [590] In this case, it could be under the influence of youkai, so dream interpretation might not be reliable, right? If taken literally, the meaning seems to be as dreamt, though…

[603] Continuation. At that time, I desperately needed the toilet, but seeing the black mud and stuff scared me, and I couldn’t muster the courage to go by myself. So, I peed in the kitchen sink. Thinking back, it’s a gross story. Grandma’s house had the largest living room connected to the kitchen area, so I opened the fusuma between the living room passage and the kitchen all the way, closed all the doors to other rooms, and placed desks and chairs in front of them, making a light barricade. I didn’t know why I was doing that at the time, but I think I was half-panicked, acting on primal fear, and wanted to create my territory? or something.

• [604] Hmm.
• [605] Hmm, hmm.

[606] By the time I finished all that, even though it was summer and cool at night, I was drenched in sweat. I took barley tea from the fridge, guzzling it down while staring blankly at the loud TV. From the direction of the entrance (which, of course, the door leading there was sealed), the phone at grandma’s house started ringing loudly. I jumped in surprise, but after calming down a bit, I rejoiced, thinking maybe it was contact from my parents. Then, I quickly moved the chairs and desks I had carried myself again, and the moment I put my hand on the doorknob, a terrible feeling washed over my entire body. I can’t quite explain it, but something was definitely on the other side of the door. It felt like it was holding its breath, lurking. Thinking back now, maybe it was paranoia, but at that moment, I froze with my hand on the doorknob. Then, the phone rang continuously for maybe 2-3 minutes? After that, it went silent.

[607] I sighed in relief and took my hand off the doorknob, but then I was shocked. The hand that had been holding the doorknob was somehow covered in soot. I rushed to the sink and washed my hands. Honestly, I didn’t want to move at all anymore. But I gathered my courage again and rebuilt the barricade. While blasting Home Alone on the TV at full volume, I kept drinking barley tea. When I needed the toilet, I just kept peeing into the kitchen sink. Occasionally, I heard noises from other rooms, but I told myself it was the wind and continued my siege. Since I had slept quite a bit, I was wide awake despite it being the middle of the night and stayed like that until almost 4 AM. Then, I heard a slight noise from the entrance area, and Sensei’s voice called out something like, “Hey, you awake yet?”

• [608] Heart-pounding.

[609] I still didn’t do anything, just kept staring at the TV where Home Alone had finished and now Sister Act was playing. Then, the door area started rattling violently. When I ignored it further, the door was pushed hard, BAM BAM, creating a gap through which I could see the other side slightly, and it really was Sensei there. Sensei managed to push open the barricaded door, came in, saw me, and said something like, “Ah, looks like I scared you. You didn’t answer the phone earlier.” Sensei was covered in mud from head to toe, and had a mosquito bite mark on his cheek. I immediately started asking Sensei where he’d been, what about Mom and the others, wasn’t I supposed to die, and various other things.

• [611] Anticipation.

[612] Sensei stopped my questions with a “Calm down, calm down,” and said since I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight anyway, let’s talk slowly. And what Sensei started talking about was… the origin of Onmyouji and that kind of youkai extermination in Japan. Originally, these things traced their roots back to the continent, specifically China. And in China, things like feng shui, the I Ching, etc., were compiled long ago, but they actually started applying them to youkai extermination during the era of the Three Kingdoms. Well, it’s a famous story, but back then, when Cao Cao was unifying northern China, his enemy was Yuan Shao. Cao Cao was heavily outnumbered in terms of money, army size, food supplies, population, and land. Of course, Cao Cao eventually turned the tables and won.

[613] One of the strategies Cao Cao devised to close that gap even slightly was to secretly order some of his subordinates to rob the tombs of past nobles and aristocrats. Of course, tomb robbing, if discovered back then, was seriously bad (mainly because the populace would hate you), so it had to be done in utmost secrecy. At the time, when nobles died, they were buried with vast amounts of grave goods. Cao Cao targeted that. He wanted to collect those gold and silver items to use even a little for military funds. And ancient tombs were often built according to feng shui principles; the better the feng shui, the better the tomb that was built. The insides of the tombs had traps, but many followed the principles of the I Ching. To make tomb robbing easier, Cao Cao’s subordinates first studied those two things while proceeding with their work. And thanks to that, vast sums of money fell into Cao Cao’s hands, but then a problem arose. Since they were robbing tombs, naturally, curses followed, or rather, filth attached itself to them. And so, they started thinking organizationally about various countermeasures against such things.

• [614] Still interesting as ever.
• [619] Oh! You’re back. Thanks for the interesting story~.
• [641] Want to hear the rest of the story!

[679] Well, whether youkai actually exist or not, I don’t think I have the responsibility to prove it, and whether you believe it or not isn’t that important, I think. Continuation of the story. Then, as Sensei was talking like that, I wondered what the point of discussing this now was. More importantly, I was concerned about what my parents were doing now, and why I was alive. When I told Sensei that, he said, “Well, wait. We’re getting to the main point.” Tomb robbing is the root of exorcism, Onmyoudo, and things like that. This means there’s a major difference from rituals or festivals performed out of gratitude or awe towards the gods. The underlying meaning is rooted in repentance and atonement.

• [680] OP, take care. Please continue.

[681] As the saying ‘inga’ (cause and effect) goes, things have a cause (in), and a result (ka) follows. In my family’s case, my grandpa first barbecued the weasels. That’s why they held a grudge. Youkai, especially, don’t usually get involved with humans without reason. This is important in terms of accumulating ‘michiyuki’ (spiritual progress), but it’s not very relevant to the current story, so I’ll skip it a bit. Simply put, if youkai associate too much with humans, they tend to be tainted by human desires or something, so it’s apparently undesirable. Well, some approach humans out of amusement, but those are usually weak ones, rarely threatening human life, mostly aiming for mischief. And such mischievous ones, if you teach them “Hey, mischief isn’t good,” they listen obediently. Therefore, although I initially talked about tricking or driving away the weasels with three methods, actually, about half of it was a lie.

• [682] Restrictions lifted! OP-san, reading with great interest. Support.

[683] Actually, the real method Sensei used was, well, our specialty: negotiation. As I’ve said many times, although we talk about youkai extermination, at least people like me and Sensei don’t have the power to kill or seal youkai. We might be able to temporarily repel them, but if the grudge or resentment is deep, they’ll come back soon enough. Moreover, the person who repelled them might also be resented, making it a rather losing proposition. Sensei presented these terms to the weasels: Indeed, my grandpa killed the weasel family. The sin is heavy. Therefore, the weasels probably want to wipe out my family. But, will killing them truly atone for the sin? Will the weasels’ feelings truly be settled just by that? Probably not, killing them likely won’t resolve the hatred. So, let’s do this instead.

• [684] Anticipation.
• [699] Super interesting. Fun.
• [701] Bump.

[760] Continuation. Killing them is wasteful, so let’s keep them alive. Making them suffer while alive will satisfy your vengeance much more than simply killing them. Moreover, compared to ordinary killing, that approach is less karmically heavy for the youkai side. Initially, of course, the weasels didn’t agree to this plan immediately. True, tormenting them like that might be much more fun. But they had waited too long, so they really wanted to kill them right now. So Sensei proposed something new: Alright, how about this? Let’s leave only the most family-loving person in this house alive and kill everyone else. That way, you’ll feel somewhat satisfied, and the remaining person will suffer greatly in grief and agony. Plus, I can get a lot of money from the remaining family member. It’s killing two birds with one stone. How about it? Won’t you team up with me and trick the members of this house?

[761] Sensei never intended to save the whole family from the start. A sin is a sin and needs atonement. He was, in a way, very fair. That’s probably why he can negotiate with youkai, I think. Balancing not just human interests, but also the youkai’s interests, and furthermore, all of his own interests on the scale. This was the job of ‘youkai extermination’ born from the past tomb robbers. Besides, in reality, he didn’t do nothing at all. In fact, where my entire family was about to die, he found a way like this to keep one person alive.

• [762] Hmm…

[764] And about the three methods discussion. With this story, Sensei apparently tested family love or something like that. Choosing the first method means prioritizing family over self, so family love must be wonderful. This method was actually just a simple youkai warding-like thing, meaning “Let’s torment this one alive, hehe. Marking them, right?” The second method emphasized my own danger, designed to extort lots of money as thanks from the person who chose it. It’s a real method, but one that modern humans trying it would just fail. Apparently, my grandma chose this method. She had promised to pay a large sum of money regardless of success or failure. The third method simply made one more susceptible to youkai attacks. My dad and mom apparently chose this one. Maybe they were scared, both of them.

[766] After hearing Sensei’s story, I was stunned. Well, basically, I was “saved” in the end, apparently. But it wasn’t like I escaped the weasels or anything. Rather, he said something like, “The weasels will probably continue to enjoy tormenting you nightly.” From here on, it’s not really related to youkai anymore, and it’s a story I don’t want to remember, so I won’t go into details. But, after various things happened, my dad, mom, and grandma passed away one after another within the following week. I was in middle school, had no relatives at all, and no prospects. Sensei suggested adopting me, but I was like, “Like hell I’d become the son of a bastard like you! Die! You terrible person!” So Sensei said, “But you have no future anyway, right? Plus, the weasels will keep tormenting you. Why not become my apprentice? I happen to need someone to help with work, and I can’t exactly hire part-timers. Well, I won’t pay you a salary, but you’ll gain some knowledge, you know?” He argued convincingly. Back then, I was urban-raised and naive about the world, so honestly, I didn’t know what to do. And I fell for Sensei’s smooth talk and was half-forced into apprenticeship. My family’s inheritance and stuff were cleverly taken by Sensei. Quite a while ago, someone asked how I felt about Sensei. Well, honestly, I don’t really know myself. There’s hatred, or something like it, and also respect, but still, I can’t forgive him.

[767] Well, that’s my family’s story. Sorry for dragging it out unnecessarily. If I had better writing skills, I probably could have summarized it concisely. Sorry for rushing the end too much.

• [768] Master… Wh-what a pathetic guy…
• [769] It’s such an unreal story, but somehow realistic…
• [771] That’s a super heavy story…

[772] As a palate cleanser, are there any stories you’d like to hear about?

• [773] Getting money taken… I couldn’t accept that.

[774] >>773 Well, thinking about it now, I also think it was unbelievable. But back then, I was sheltered, naive, and probably stupid. Plus, with my family wiped out, I was mentally wrecked and feeling hopeless. I had absolutely no relatives either.

• [775] Details about the Southeast Asia incident, please.
• [776] Do requests really come in that often?
• [777] What happens when you die spiritually?
• [778] Are there busy and slow periods each year?

[779] >>775 Next time, should I talk about that? It’s not as long as the story I just told, but it will be of reasonable length. >>776 Don’t get many. But in my case, I often can’t sleep well, so that makes me stressed every day, and when I’m irritated, I don’t come to the message board much. >>777 In the main story, it was just something Sensei made up to trick me, but apparently, spiritual death really exists. You supposedly lose desires and things like that. Also, nothing feels fun anymore. So it often leads to suicide or disappearance quickly. >>778 Relatively busy in summer. However, this “busy” often includes cases where we go to the site and find out it was actually a misunderstanding. In summer, people get scared of ghosts, so that also increases work due to false alarms. In those cases, we do something plausible-sounding and get paid. Around 200,000 yen.

[781] I don’t understand the logic, but I think being a virgin is amazing, though maybe not the absolute strongest.

• [785] Interested in the curse story.

[786] >>782 Travel expenses, and also, materials for exorcism-like stuff cost a fair bit, so that’s part of it, maybe. I don’t know if it’s effective, although Sensei says it is. Since there isn’t a clear result like a youkai actually being there and then disappearing, I describe it as “exorcism-like.” It’s a bit worse than fortune-telling, but I’ve come to accept that maybe it’s something like that. Maybe I’ve been poisoned by Sensei’s influence. >>783 No. I don’t know the reason exactly, but it seems to cause some problems.

• [787] Thanks for the reply. It’s a harsh world, but take care of yourself!!

[788] >>785 Okay, maybe starting tomorrow night, I’ll tell that story. Let’s make today a Q&A session.

• [792] >>788 Thank you! Don’t push yourself, just come when you can, but looking forward to it.
• [795] >>788 Is it okay to ask why OP doesn’t sleep well at night? I’d be relieved if it was just the master’s snoring.

[800] >>795 I’m living alone now. I always have nightmares and get tormented, so I don’t sleep very well. Maybe it’s the weasels’ fault, I’m half-resigned to it. Also, sometimes things suddenly make noise in my room. I’m used to it now, but it’s still irritating when it happens. Working out helps calm me down when that happens.

• [815] OP, can’t you spiritually revive someone who has died spiritually?

[817] >>815 If a dead person can come back to life, maybe it’s possible.

• [820] >>817 Seriously… that means resuscitation is basically impossible, right…? If someone dies spiritually during normal life, what could be the possible causes? Maybe unknowingly incurring a youkai’s grudge?

[824] >>820 If you live normally, you should be fine, I think? Because it’s scary stuff, I don’t think it happens often. With curses, affecting the physical body is probably faster than causing spiritual death for many of them.

[827] Good night.

• [828] Waiting for the next story!
• [834] >>827 Thanks for the answer! Good night!

[852] Good evening. Well then, shall I talk a bit about what happened in Southeast Asia?

• [853] Yes, please.

[854] This happened around this time last year. Sensei said he was going to Malaysia to visit a friend and asked if I wanted to come too. Surprisingly, Sensei offered to pay for my travel expenses this time. Maybe it was because Sensei was in a really good mood after finishing a job that paid well. Since becoming an adult, I received a meager salary from Sensei, but I often had to pay my own transportation fees like the Shinkansen for work, so this was a very unusual offer. It wasn’t related to work either, so I thought, why not, and decided to go along. Well, I was in the mood for a light vacation.

[855] By the way, this story is slightly different from youkai-related stuff, more like the “people are scary” type. This friend of Sensei’s was someone who helped him with work long ago, apparently a Chinese old man. He supposedly had strong spiritual powers, was knowledgeable in an obscure field called Kinpai-jutsu (Gold Plate Art?), and was an all-rounder dealing with everything from youkai to exorcism and feng shui. He was apparently quite famous locally. I’ll talk more about Kinpai-jutsu later. As for me, I had saved up a decent amount by then, so I planned to act separately from Sensei soon after arriving and just meet up when it was time to go home. Before going, I researched hotels and prices, planning to enjoy myself alone. But Sensei, perhaps sensing my plan, told me on the plane, “Malaysian women are amazing, you know, hehe,” and asked if, after meeting his friend, he should take me to a place where I could learn the wonders of Southeast Asian women. I agonized “Hmm” for about 3 or 4 minutes, but being a man, losing my virginity in a foreign country didn’t sound bad (lol). I cancelled the hotel I had booked alone.

[856] Then, from the airport, Sensei took me to the friend’s house. First, we took a bus, transferred 2 or 3 times, then endured a 1.5-hour taxi ride, and after that, walked for another hour down narrow streets that cars couldn’t pass through (it was in town, but somehow narrow). And we finally arrived. By the way, during that time, I was, of course, the luggage carrier. I started to wonder if maybe Sensei just brought me along as a luggage carrier. The place where Sensei’s acquaintance lived was a very old apartment-like building, and it seemed like the entire building belonged to that person? It looked shabby, but the inside was quite clean and seemed like a nice place to live.

[857] Greeting Sensei and me was a very handsome young man, probably about the same age as me. He spoke fluent Japanese and was talking to Sensei, but I was mostly ignored. Maybe they thought I was hired luggage help. From the conversation, I gathered the young man’s name was Wang something, he was Chinese, and a disciple-like person to Sensei’s friend. Being ignored annoyed me slightly, so I had childish thoughts like, “Wang? Like a dog?” (Wan means ‘bark’ in Japanese). Then, we were guided inside and finally met Sensei’s friend. He was also incredibly handsome. I later learned he was older than Sensei, in his late 50s, but he looked like an attractive middle-aged man in his 40s.

[858] Someone asked before, but as I mentioned, handsome men are somewhat rare in our line of work. The exact reason isn’t clear, but recently I’ve started thinking maybe it’s because handsome men have stronger feminine aspects? It’s just speculation, so don’t worry about it. I felt like this master-disciple duo completely shattered that jinx, and I became slightly intrigued by them. At first, the attractive middle-aged man chatted with Sensei in Japanese, saying things like “Long time no see.” Then, noticing my presence, he asked, “Who’s this kid?” Sensei introduced me, and the man introduced himself as Lee something. Mr. Lee looked me over curiously for a bit, then led Sensei and me to seats and had Wang-kun serve tea. While they were doing that, Sensei and Mr. Lee chatted about various things. Just as I was about to bring the tea to my lips, Sensei warned me, “Better not drink that tea.”

• [859] Sensei was younger than I imagined (lol). I thought he was more of an old man.
• [860] I always imagine Sensei like Meme Oshino from the Monogatari series.
• [862] Curious about what happens next!

[863] I gave Sensei a “Huh?” kind of look. Sensei, looking exasperated, said, “I taught you before, didn’t I? Be careful in clean rooms.” Then, I finally remembered and understood. “Could this house possibly be raising Gu (蠱)?” I asked. Mr. Lee answered, “Yes.” Well, Gu is relatively famous, so it’s described quite detailedly on Wikipedia, but it’s different from the shikigami-like things most people probably imagine. I mentioned quite a while ago that probably no one can use those kinds of shikigami anymore. So, what exactly is Gu in reality? It’s late today, so I’ll continue tomorrow. Going to sleep. Good night.

Gu (Kodoku): A type of sorcery originating from ancient China. It allegedly involves placing numerous poisonous creatures in a container to let them cannibalize each other, using the spiritual power of the last survivor. Used for curses or gaining wealth.

• [864] Just got here.
• [866] Take care. Looking forward to the continuation.
• [867] >>863 I’ll study up on the wiki! Good night~.

[876] Okay, first about Gu then. Gu is a kind of technique to artificially create something similar to a youkai. Well, the methods are described variously on Wikipedia, but there, Gu is used as a tool for curses: crush the Gu and make the target drink it, and the target will be cursed and die. However, according to my Sensei, that’s utter nonsense.

[877] Thinking with modern common sense, if you force lots of insects, snakes, etc., to cannibalize each other, the survivor will naturally accumulate tons of parasites. Even without that, it’s extremely filthy. If you crush something like that and make someone drink it, they’ll definitely get sick one way or another. And since medical care was poor back then, they’d probably just die. However, using Gu just for this is the lowest of the low. Ultimately, it’s no different from just poisoning someone. Real Gu masters are far more terrifying. As I said initially, true Gu is a kind of artificially created youkai, and it apparently holds extremely negative feelings towards humans. And its power is rather similar to a Zashiki-warashi. In an old tale, a certain wealthy family historically kept Gu generation after generation. A new bride entered the family, but she wasn’t told they kept Gu. One day, when the other family members were out and the bride was alone watching the house, she suddenly heard a noise from a large tub placed in a room. When the bride checked, there was a large snake inside. Startled, the bride quickly boiled water and poured it on the snake, killing it. After the other family members returned and heard the story, they all started crying, and shortly after, every member of the family died from illness.

Zashiki-warashi: A house spirit yokai from Japan’s Tohoku region, depicted as a child. Said to bring fortune to the house, or cause its decline if it leaves.

• [878] No causal relationship between youkai and other worlds?
• [879] I heard Kodoku (Gu poison) was amazing, but was it just the parasites that were dangerous?

[882] I’m no expert on Gu, so sorry if my explanation isn’t great or detailed enough. Ultimately, what Gu does, simply put, is act like a “parasite.” The person who created the Gu makes it “possess” someone else. Depending on the Gu created, it absorbs luck, lifespan, etc., from the possessed person, and when the possessed person dies, it returns to the creator. However, one thing to be careful about here is that Gu tends to settle in more comfortable environments, so sometimes it finds the possessed person’s house comfortable and stays there. In that case, both the creator and the possessed person get drained of various things and die. Moreover, Gu apparently kills its creator if it doesn’t kill someone periodically, so once you create one, you have to kill someone new every three years or so. Otherwise, it kills the creator. Furthermore, if the Gu is discovered and killed by another practitioner or someone, the creator still dies. That’s roughly it, I think?

• [884] Maintaining and controlling it sounds tough.
• [885] Wasn’t Gu brought in by immigrants from Baekje in ancient times? I think it was related to the four-eyed dog (Yotsumeinu).
• [886] Feels like an Osaki-gitsune (fox spirit).

[887] So, how do you unleash the Gu? There are various methods for this too, but all methods seem to require a cycle of “giving” -> “receiving.” For example, you hide the Gu in something like a wallet and leave it on the roadside. Then, if someone pockets (nekobaba) that wallet, the Gu attaches to the person who took it. The unleasher’s side is “giving the wallet,” and the picker’s side is “receiving the wallet.” This kind of relationship is established, and the Gu possesses the person who picked it up. That’s why you shouldn’t carelessly pick up things you find on the street, and even if you do, it’s better to report it to the police. And the troublesome part about Gu is that while the creator might set it up, Gu, unlike shikigami, has its own will, so it often attaches itself to someone independently. For example, suppose someone keeping Gu invites a friend for a meal. Even if they are close friends, the host is “giving a meal,” and the friend is “receiving a meal.” If this relationship is formed, the Gu might attach itself to the friend without permission and drain them to death. Well, that’s relatively mild. In severe cases, just offering a handshake, if accepted, can be enough for it to possess the other person. Therefore, people keeping Gu cannot form proper relationships. Their own family members die first.

[888] >>884 It’s tough, or rather, impossible. By the way, in the case of shopping, you give money -> receive something in return, so there’s apparently no risk of being possessed. Characteristics of a house with Gu include being spotlessly clean, being located in a densely populated area, and having no photos displayed, among other things. Of course, there are preventive measures against Gu too. When receiving food or drink at someone else’s house, first tap the bowl with your chopsticks. Carry green onions (negi) with you and nibble on one before entering someone else’s house. Try drinking water with plenty of salt and ginger after going out, etc. Incidentally, drinking alcohol in a house with Gu is strictly forbidden and apparently very dangerous.

• [890] Japanese people have long had the custom of always giving something back when they receive a gift. Could this be partly the reason? Like cancelling it out.

[891] Bringing the story back, remembering all this, I put down the tea I was about to drink. If they were keeping Gu, even if the other party had no ill intentions, carelessly receiving anything from them was a very risky act. At the same time, I thought, what a dangerous thing to keep. And offering tea, aren’t they totally planning to make it possess me? Then Sensei, perhaps reading my thoughts, explained that Mr. Lee wasn’t keeping the Gu by choice. Apparently, it was something inherited from his parents, similar to the weasels for me. And the reason for offering tea anyway was because the Gu might lose affection if manners were considered poor. So, even if it did possess someone, it was their own responsibility.

[892] >>890 That might be exactly right. By the way, Kodoku (蠱毒) is read “kodoku.” In other words, “loneliness” (孤独, also kodoku). Sorry, but that’s it for today. I don’t know if I can come tomorrow, but if I have time, I’ll continue the story. Good night.

• [894] Thank you (^-^).
• [895] Thank you! Looking forward to the continuation. Good night.
• [896] Looking forward to the continuation.
• [897] Looking forward to the continuation! I wish you’d publish a book (lol).
• [898] Thanks again for today. By the way, if you receive a cursed object from someone like that, do you also give something back when returning it? Also, is relying on an expert like OP the only way to break such ties? Is simply burning or throwing away what you received dangerous?
• [899] So interesting.
• [904] If the Emperor’s photo is effective, does that mean the theory that Emperor Meiji was an imposter is false?
• [909] OP, can you shoot something from your hair?
• [925] Found this interesting and read it all at once, but didn’t expect Kodoku to appear. The part about impurities leaving with menstrual blood makes so much sense. Sometimes I feel incredibly exhausted, unwell, mentally unstable, filled with loneliness, despair, and irritation. When I feel so physically and mentally drained that I think maybe it’s okay if I just die, invariably, thick, black, clotty menstrual blood comes out all at once (not just on heavy days). And when that happens, I instinctively feel relieved, thinking, “Ah, good, all the bad stuff came out…” And afterward, the previous discomfort disappears as if it were a lie. Friends with psychic abilities often tell me I have a constitution that tends to pick things up easily. I’ll try the ginger and salt water.
• [928] Came back to see if there were new posts, and found some randoms having a long debate. Take that elsewhere, this is a Q&A thread (and OP’s storytelling thread), so it’s off-topic.

[929] >>898 In the case of curses, if you’re prepared to take the other person down with you, burning it might be okay, but if you don’t want that, you should probably take appropriate measures. If Gu attaches, it seems there’s usually no way out other than mutual destruction. >>904 Never heard of that incident, so I Googled it. So that happened, huh. Well, maybe what’s important is the family line rather than the bloodline itself. >>909 Dandruff, sometimes. >>928 Well, personally, I think it’s fine. It’s a good placeholder while I’m away, and some discussions are educational for me too.

[930] Once the general small talk was over, Mr. Lee said he had something he wanted to show Sensei and led Sensei into another room. I tried to follow, but Mr. Lee said, “It’s boring for young people,” and told Wang-kun to give me a tour of the town instead. I had no choice but to go with Wang-kun and take a walk around the area. Wang-kun’s Japanese was also very good, but his attitude felt somewhat off, like he was subtly looking down on me, which was slightly annoying.

• [931] Continuation is here──(ﾟ∀ﾟ)──！

[933] >>932 Thanks~. However, Wang-kun’s demeanor itself was polite, and he seemed willing to listen to requests normally. We wandered the town with him for a while and ate various things at food stalls, and Wang-kun was quite impressive. What was impressive was how incredibly popular he was with everyone. I couldn’t understand the local language, but he seemed to know almost everyone in town; everyone greeted him, and shops would just give him food for free. We arrived locally around 3 PM, walked around town for 2-3 hours. There weren’t any particular tourist spots, but the foreign culture and such felt fresh. There were amulet shops too, and out of curiosity, I bought various things. Then Wang-kun spoke up, “Those things are useless. If you want something effective, I’ll give you one.” Remembering the Gu, I politely refused. After wandering around, we returned to Mr. Lee’s house to find Mr. Lee and Sensei gone.

• [934] Hmm, hmm…

[935] According to Wang-kun, there was apparently a note left, saying, “Going out for drinks, please watch the house until tomorrow morning.” Well, they seemed like old friends, so maybe they had things they wanted to talk about alone. But until the next morning… surely it wasn’t that “place where I could learn the wonders of Southeast Asian women” he mentioned, right? I thought, but decided to trust Sensei’s promise to take me when we left and endure it. Wang-kun prepared a room for me and then gave me various warnings for spending the night in this house. First, never touch your eyes with your hands during the night. If you must touch them, use something like a cloth as a cushion. Never say words related to “death” during the night. If you absolutely must say something, use vague terms like “that kind of thing,” and so on. The room prepared for me was, well, like a business hotel room, and it had no windows. But, it seemed relatively comfortable, so I nibbled on green onions every so often, blew the Gu-repelling flute-like thing Wang-kun gave me at regular intervals, took a bath, and just as I was about to sleep, the incident happened.

[936] Next time, in the next thread.

• [937] What a cliffhanger…!
• [938] Let’s move.