To be honest, Lin Tian really didn’t know how to address this Heavenly Master Girl. He had only heard her ntion her lineage once, stating she was a Heavenly Master from the Zhang Family, aning this girl’s surna was Zhang.
Glancing at him, the Heavenly Master Girl lifted her chin slightly and said indifferently, "You can call Heavenly Master, or Lord Heavenly Master."
Lord Heavenly Master, huh, Lin Tian shook his head with a smile and said, "Then can I call you ’Your Excellency’? ’Your Excellency’ sounds more grand and imposing."
He had been joking, but the Heavenly Master Girl responded seriously, "I dare not accept the title of ’Your Excellency’; it is the honorific for our founder. How could we juniors claim such a title?"
"Alright, alright, I’ll call you Heavenly Master Beauty, is that okay?" Lin Tian quickly stopped this pointless form of address and then added, "You haven’t answered my question yet. What’s inside these shrines? Is it like the relic pagoda in Fanyin Temple, containing Shariputras or human remains?"
The Heavenly Master Girl seed not to object to the title "Heavenly Master Beauty." She pointed to one of the shrines beside the staircase and said, "Go over there and see for yourself, what’s inside this shrine?"
Curious, Lin Tian walked over and took a closer look. Inside the shrine, instead of sothing like a brocaded box, there was a stone mill made from jade. It appeared sowhat weathered due to exposure to elents like wind, rain, and sunlight.
"What’s inside?" asked the Heavenly Master Girl. Ning Luoxi also went over to look but didn’t understand what it ant.
"It’s a small stone mill, carved from low-quality jade, not worth much money," replied Lin Tian truthfully.
"Of course it’s not worth money; it’s rely a symbol. The shrine contains a stone mill, which represents a monster from Japan," said the Heavenly Master Girl.
"A monster?" Lin Tian and Ning Luoxi exchanged glances, still puzzled.
"The Japanese don’t just worship deities, many tis they worship and pay tribute to monsters as well, like the Orochi, who according to legend, has killed countless people, but the Japanese still regard it as a Divine Beast, even a National Guardian Beast," she explained.
"The monster represented by this stone mill is called Red Bean Granny. In the countryside, there’s a strange old lady called Red Bean Granny. Depending on the locality, they call her Washing Red Bean Granny, Sieving Red Bean Granny, Milling Red Bean Granny, or Rice Mill Granny. But they all have one thing in common; you can hear the sound of washing red beans by the river— swish swash swish swash."
About this Red Bean Granny, there is a nursery rhy, which goes like this: ’Beans grind and grind, turning to flour to eat, Catching people to grind and grind, turning to flour to eat...’ The Heavenly Master Girl humd the words in a strange tone."
Her voice was quite pleasant, but paired with these lyrics, it sounded incredibly eerie.
"Are you saying that inside these things are monsters worshiped by the Japanese?" Ning Luoxi asked.
The Heavenly Master Girl nodded, then shook her head and said, "They can no longer be considered monsters; they are monsters or spirits tad by Onmyoji, and should be called Shishen."
"Shishen? What is that?" Lin Tian asked, puzzled.
"Shishen are spiritual bodies enslaved by Japanese Onmyoji. The power of a Shishen is related to both the spirit’s inherent strength and the Onmyoji’s spiritual power. During battle, Onmyoji summon their Shishen using talismans and incantations. This is a technique of Yin Yang, and nearly every Onmyoji has their own Shishen," explained the Heavenly Master Girl.
"So it seems to share similarities with our Huaxia’s Daoist techniques," Lin Tian pondered and said, "It’s like Demon Exorcists have a kind of summoning technique that also uses talismans to summon Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals."
Last ti while Lin Tian was chasing down a few Half Zombies, he encountered the Heavenly Master Girl and her senior brother. Both of them had used that kind of Daoist technique. But of course, he couldn’t speak openly about it, otherwise, the Heavenly Master Girl would realize he was a zombie.
The Heavenly Master Girl shook her head and said, "That’s not called a summoning technique. Summoning is the term used by Western countries. We call it Divine Descent Technique or Divine Descent Arts, and in Japan, it’s called Shishen. The three have significant differences."
"Every Onmyoji has their own Shishen during their lifeti. After the death of an Onmyoji, the Shishen will also perish, and after the death of the Shishen, symbolic objects are placed as tributes inside the shrine," she continued explaining.
"I see," Lin Tian said, suddenly realizing the truth.
"When we were coming up earlier, did you notice the twelve archways in front? Do you know what they represent?" asked the Heavenly Master Girl.
"The Chinese Zodiac? The twelve constellations?" Lin Tian guessed casually.
Ning Luoxi, on the other hand, shook her head, indicating her lack of understanding. She was an Ancient Martial Artist, not very knowledgeable about matters concerning Onmyoji.
The Heavenly Master Girl being a Demon Exorcist, and thus sowhat a colleague of Onmyoji, understood these matters most clearly.
"The twelve archways represent Shishen. Legend has it that in Japan’s history, there was a very powerful Onmyoji who had twelve very formidable Shishen, and to this day no Onmyoji has surpassed him."
"Flying Snake, Vermilion Bird, Liu He, Gouchen, Azure Dragon, Noble, Heavenly Empress, Great Yin, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, Da Shang, Sky—these twelve are the most powerful Shishen, and the twelve archways represent this idea," the Heavenly Master Girl explained.
"Damn it, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise—are those not our Huaxia’s Four Divine Beasts? How could Huaxia’s Divine Beasts possibly be Shishen of an Onmyoji? And the Flying Snake, it too is a powerful Divine Beast from ancient legends, sothing a re Onmyoji can control? What does an Onmyoji count for!" Lin Tian said with disdain.
The legends of the Four Divine Beasts are well-known in Huaxia, being righteous Divine Beasts worshipped by the common people, unlike Japan’s Orochi, a ferocious monster regarded as a National Guardian Beast. Only a place as peculiar as Japan would equate sothing as brutal as the Orochi with the protection of their nation.
The Four Divine Beasts had a deep-rooted place in the heart of Huaxia. Hence, Lin Tian was particularly incensed upon hearing that the four were included among the twelve Shishen.
The Heavenly Master Girl said, "It’s impossible for there to be Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise among the twelve great Shishen. Japan’s culture is deeply influenced by Huaxia culture, and many Japanese know the legends of the Four Divine Beasts. They think the Four Divine Beasts are formidable and probably used their titles because of that."
"Are the titles theirs to use? I’m going to smash this place right now; equating our Huaxia’s Four Divine Beasts with these third-rate monsters, despicable!" Lin Tian said angrily.
"Do you all think I’m too nationalistic?" Lin Tian cald down a bit before asking.
Neither Ning Luoxi nor the Heavenly Master Girl shook their heads. Ning Luoxi said with a stern expression, "The culture of Huaxia is the soul of the Huaxia Nation. So things are sacred and not to be desecrated, or else in the long run, our soul will be lost. Unfortunately, many people nowadays don’t care, even so experts and scholars claim that the dragon is a symbol of evil in Western countries and suggest changing our Huaxia’s Dragon Totem to sothing else, under the preposterous claim of aligning with international standards. Such experts are destroying the roots of the Huaxia Nation!"
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