No one could have guessed that all of this sin and hatred had sprung from the purest of good intentions.
The disasters ravaging the land had made life unbearably hard for poor families, leaving many homeless and turning innocent children into orphans before they were even old enough to understand what they had lost.
"Amitabha... what pitiful children..."
The monk took in abandoned children and brought them back to the temple, raising them there.
Life was harsh. He did not even have the money to properly build the temple or commission a Buddha statue; there was only a clay idol in the hall. And yet he never abandoned a single child. No matter how much he suffered, he still did everything he could to raise them, spending every coin he had on their care.
"Because... I love children. Look at them—they're so cute, so pure, like angels sent down from heaven. As one who has left the secular world behind, I should hold compassion in my heart and do good wherever I can. Only by planting more good causes can one reap more good fruit."
The monk believed in karmic retribution, and that was why he wanted to accumulate virtue through good deeds.
He believed that this country was so plagued by disaster because the people living on this land had done too many wicked things and incurred heaven's anger. If he simply kept doing good and building merit, then sooner or later heaven's wrath would be soothed. Even if he himself did not live to see that day, perhaps the children would.
If it meant helping the children reach a happier future, then he wanted to keep trying.
He believed every one of his good deeds was seen by the Buddha. Taking the money that should have gone toward casting a Buddha statue and using it to buy food for the children—surely the Buddha would understand, and approve.
The monk not only took in abandoned infants, he also taught them the basics of reading and writing. People from the village even sent their own children to learn from him. Since he could chant sutras, he was effectively the only literate man in the village.
As some of the children grew older and came of age, they left the temple and the village, because there were more opportunities outside. They wanted to repay the monk in their own way for raising them, and when he heard them say so, he buried his worries in his heart and watched them go with quiet relief.
Then one day, something changed.
"I like you! When I grow up, I'll never leave you the way they did—never leave you, or the temple, or the village! I want to marry you! I want to become your wife and grow old with you and spend the rest of my life by your side! I want us to become that kind of closest possible pair!"
A little girl the monk had raised confessed her feelings to him.
There was no way he could agree.
He had already entered religious life and had no intention of marrying or having children. And he was already an old man; his conscience would never allow him to marry a girl so much younger than himself.
The children in the temple were, to him, sons and daughters, nothing more. He could not accept the girl's feelings.
He believed she was simply too young and had confused the love one feels for a father with the love one feels for a romantic partner. So after refusing her, he patiently explained the difference between the two, hoping to correct her misunderstanding.
At the time, he did not know that his firm rejection had planted the seed of hatred in the little girl's heart.
The catastrophe came on that very day.
That day, before everyone else, the little girl accused the monk of violating her—of inflicting brutal abuse upon both her body and mind.
"I didn't! I never did anything like that! There has to be some misunderstanding—!"
The monk was thrown into utter panic. He could not understand why the girl would tell such an absurd lie.
What he understood even less was why not one of the children he had raised in the temple was willing to speak up for him or prove his innocence. They all stood there in silence, watching as bystanders.
No one believed his explanation, because the fact that the little girl had been defiled was real. And until the moment the enraged villagers beat him to death, until his very last breath, the monk never understood what he had done wrong to deserve such a miserable end.
He had spent his entire life trying to do good and build virtue, so why had none of those good causes he had planted with his own hands ever borne good fruit in the end?
Children were supposed to be cute, pure, and kind. So why had they lied and slandered him in the end? Why had not a single one of them stepped forward to clear up the misunderstanding?
"Ghh... ghkghghgh...!"
That was right. Children were cute little angels... there could be no mistake about that.
But bad children—children who lied and harmed others—they were not angels.
They were demons!
Ah... those poor children. They had been possessed by hateful, damned demons! That had to be why they had become like this!
"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill...!"
All the demons who laid hands on children had to be killed...!
"Redeem redeem redeem redeem redeem redeem redeem redeem...!"
Every child had to be redeemed from the demons' grasp...!
They had to... they had to send every adorable child who was like an angel back to heaven, and cast every hateful, wretched demon down into hell!
They could never be forgiven... they all had to be killed...!
Otherwise, the disasters and strife on this land would never cease! Heaven would never forgive the sins they had committed!
"Namu... Amida Butsu...!"
Buddha... please witness what strength I have to offer... I swear I will kill every demon on this land...!
So please... forgive them... the children are innocent...
...
"Xu-chan, your expression doesn't look too good. Did something happen?"
Yoshida Saori looked at Xu Fu with concern, and her words immediately made Nagata Takaya and the others tense up.
"N-no way... don't tell me there's another one of those terrifying evil spirits nearby?!"
"Takaya! Watch the road! If your hands slip, we'll all die before any ghosts have to do anything!"
Morita Taku had regained consciousness on the way. He had not fully recovered yet, and his face was still pale, but he was basically fine now. His memory of being cursed by the monk evil spirit was very blurry, though his body still remembered the terror and danger of it.
Faced with the nervous, concerned looks around her, Xu Fu shook her head and put on a bright smile like the warm sun of early spring.
"It's nothing~! I just read an absolutely awful novel, that's all. The author's taste is seriously terrible. If I ever get the chance, I'd really like to pay them a visit. It left Xu Fu-chan in a bad mood..."
"A novel?"
Yasukawa Nagisa and Yoshida Saori exchanged a glance. Xu Fu had clearly been sitting there spacing out the whole time—when had she been reading a novel?
"You all better drive carefully, okay~?" Xu Fu rested both hands on the front seat and addressed Nagata Takaya in the driver's seat in an airy tone. "A helpful little tip from your cute Taoist~! The dolls I made can deflect evil spirit curses, but they can't stop traffic accidents caused by you lot yourselves. So if you get careless, you can still die, you know~!"
"Y-yes, ma'am! This humble one will do his best!"
Xu Fu's reminder seemed to make Nagata Takaya even more nervous. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.
By collecting the memory fragments lingering in the black souls sealed inside the tattered doll, Xu Fu had learned what the monk evil spirit had experienced in life, seeing his past as if she had lived through it herself.
That was why the monk had become an evil spirit after death. It was the starting point of all this hatred.
And because what she had seen came from the monk's memories while he was alive, anything he himself did not know remained hidden from her as well. She had no idea who had truly defiled that little girl, nor did she know why the other children had chosen to stand by in silence. The full truth had already been buried in the past.
There was no doubt that the monk had been a pitiable man, and even Xu Fu had to admit that. The saying "good people get no good end" fit his life perfectly.
But...
I can't stand by and let this tragedy spread further, drawing more innocent people into your hatred... I may not be able to save you, but I have to stop you from continuing down the wrong path.
When they passed a service area, the car pulled in.
"Let's rest here for a bit and head out again once Takaya isn't so tense anymore," Yoshida Saori suggested, earning unanimous agreement from the others.
They had only just barely escaped that haunted temple with their lives. If they turned around and died in a car accident right after, they would not even have anyone to cry to.
Xu Fu alone was completely unconcerned. With her abilities, even if they really did get into an accident, she could still make sure Yoshida Saori and the others came through unharmed. What she had said earlier had only been meant to scare them a little.
"Our great hero Xu-chan~! Is there anything you want to eat? Get whatever you want! We're paying!" Yoshida Saori patted her ample chest and declared without hesitation.
She had said "we" without even asking Morita Taku and the others for their opinion, but in truth, none of them had any objection. Xu Fu had saved all their lives. Buying her some food was nothing compared to a favor that huge.
"Senbei! I want senbei~! Senbei is delicious, so Xu Fu really, really wants senbei right now~!" Xu Fu declared at once, fussing and clamoring like a child. "Actually, Xu Fu-chan also wants something hot right now. Oden would be great. Fish cake, kombu skewers, and chikuwa rolls are all delicious. But if I get grease stains on these white clothes, they'll be really hard to wash out, and that would be sooo frustrating... If only someone could feed me..."
When she said that last part, Xu Fu deliberately shot Yoshida Saori a look, and Saori instantly understood.
"Sure. I'll feed Xu-chan some oden."
"Hm-hm-hm~! Saori, you really know what you're doing!" Xu Fu planted both hands on her hips and nodded in satisfaction, the corners of her mouth curling into a catlike little "W" of delight.
Ahhh! Xu-chan is way too cute~! Yoshida Saori squealed inwardly, completely conquered by Xu Fu's adorableness.
Inside the service area, Xu Fu also spotted a few Wandering Ghosts drifting around in confusion.
There really were an awful lot of those things in this world... and nobody was doing anything about them. They were just left to wander around as they pleased.
Good thing Ereshkigal was not here. If she saw the "state" this world was in, she might just faint from sheer outrage... Though then again, if Ereshkigal were here, those Wandering Ghosts would probably be properly managed and given a decent place to go. In that case, it might actually be a good thing.
Or maybe Nitocris could handle it too.
Besides senbei and oden, Xu Fu also bought a bottle of cola.
"Huh? Another free bottle?"
Xu Fu stared blankly at the clearly printed words on the cap, while Yoshida Saori and the others immediately crowded over to look.
"Whoa! It really says another free bottle!"
"Xu Fu-chan, your luck is amazing."
"Come on! Let's go trade it in!"
Even though they were not the ones who had won, they were more excited than Xu Fu herself, dragging her right back to the convenience store where she had bought it.
Using the winning cap, Xu Fu got another free bottle of cola from the shop owner. The moment she stepped back out of the store, she opened the new bottle.
The instant she saw the familiar "Another free bottle" on the cap again, the look in Xu Fu's eyes changed.
"You won again?!"
"No way—?!"
The people behind Xu Fu cried out too, and because they had not fully left the store yet, the owner inside heard them.
When everyone at the door turned in unison to look at him, the owner suddenly felt overwhelming pressure, and a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Hiss—was today a bad day to open for business or what?
Then came the third bottle, the fourth, the fifth...
Unexpected, or maybe entirely expected—every single one of them said "Another free bottle"!
Even the twenty-eighth bottle still said "Another free bottle"!
Xu Fu quietly sneaked a glance at the shop owner's face and discovered it had turned the color of pig liver.
For the twenty-ninth bottle, Xu Fu did not let anyone else see. She only peeked at it by herself.
"Well? Well?"
"Was it another one too?"
Faced with all the hopeful and worried looks around her, Xu Fu was silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"Nope, not this time. Looks like Xu Fu-chan's luck runs out here. Hehe~!"
That was a lie.
This cap also said "Another free bottle," but after seeing the shop owner's ghastly expression, Xu Fu was genuinely worried he might pass out if he took one breath wrong, so she decided not to push him any further. The man had suffered enough already.
Running a small business was not easy.
Besides, what was she supposed to do with that much cola anyway? If she drank it all at once, she would end up with a bloated stomach, wouldn't she?
Buy one bottle of cola, then win twenty-eight in a row.
Xu Fu could more or less guess where that ridiculous luck was coming from.
As an Avenger, Xu Fu's Luck stat was Rank A.
Poor Cu with his Luck E was probably already crying unconscious in the bathroom.
And yet Luck A did not make Xu Fu particularly happy. Among the Heroic Spirits who had helped her before, Nightingale had Luck A+, while Nitocris Alter had Luck EX—neither was worse than A.
Luck A? So what?
Could it instantly tell her what kind of world she was in? Could it lead her straight to the main cast?
Just as that thought crossed Xu Fu's mind, a little girl with a strange aura jumped down from a small van in the parking lot not far away.
She had purple hair and very little expression on her face, but what drew the eye most of all were hers.
The girl had double pupils—two pupils in each eye—and even more bizarrely, the smaller pupils were shaped like skulls.
After getting out of the van, the girl seemed to notice something. With those unusual eyes wide open, she turned to look toward the service area convenience store.