Miketsu and the others waited inside the Seven-Story Pagoda. Before long, the tiger named Hoshi rushed back, a bulging cloth bag clutched in her mouth.
"Oh dear... that was close, thankfully it wasn't lost. I apologize for making you all worry," Byakuren said with a relieved smile, taking the sutra bag from Hoshi's mouth, which made Miketsu feel a little embarrassed.
Byakuren then rummaged through the sutra bag for a moment before pulling out a gold-inlaid, carved box. Opening the box, inside was an ancient, dark yellow sutra scroll. Byakuren carefully took out the scroll, slowly unrolled it on the ground, and meticulously read its contents.
"This is a secret scroll left by Master Kukai. You can use it to communicate with the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the Celestial Realm. The Buddhas most suited to you will establish a connection with you through it. You can gain power by performing syncretism with them," Byakuren explained, pointing to a large blank space at the end of the scroll after turning to the last page.
"You just need to place your hand here, and I will chant the sutras to activate the scroll."
Miketsu looked at Byakuren and then said,
"I can believe you? After I establish a connection with a Buddha, I won't be corrupted by her, and I'll still be myself."
"Please rest assured, this secret method has been revised by Monk Myoren. The connection between you and the Buddha will not be absolute. You only need to maintain limits when performing syncretism in the future.
As for how to make you believe me, I can only say that an ascetic does not lie. I will not deceive you, nor would I wish to harm a god who cares for all beings, Lord Inari Okami..." With a kind smile, Byakuren met Miketsu's gaze firmly. From the address "Uka," she had already roughly figured out which deity Miketsu was.
Seeing Byakuren's demeanor, Miketsu let out a slight sigh. She then sat cross-legged before the scroll and, as Byakuren had instructed, placed her hand on the large blank space at the end of the scroll. Byakuren then closed her eyes and began to chant the sutras. Amidst the Sanskrit sounds, the characters on the scroll emitted faint glows, as if coming alive. They began to dart across the dark yellow paper of the scroll, then one by one, they swam out of the scroll and climbed onto Miketsu's arm, beginning to move all over Miketsu's skin.
At this moment, Miketsu felt a blur before her eyes. She felt as if she was in another space, with countless colorful rays of light above her head, and profound patterns unfolding out of thin air on the ground. The sutras chanted by Byakuren transformed into a chorus of thousands in Miketsu's ears. For a moment, waves of Sanskrit sounds filled the entire space, as if she were in a colossal chanting ceremony, yet Miketsu couldn't understand a single word of these sutras.
Suddenly, in this illusory space, ethereal figures appeared out of thin air around Miketsu. Most of them had circular halos behind them, their hands clasped together, seated on treasure lotuses, silently observing Miketsu, who was at the center.
Miketsu probably knew that she had now connected to the so-called Western Pure Land, and these ethereal figures were likely the various Buddhas...
Are they observing me? Observing my nature, combining it with their own, and then deciding whether or not to perform syncretism with me.
Finally, after several minutes of this observation, one of the ethereal figures seated on a treasure lotus finally lowered its posture and descended before Miketsu.
The eyes of this ethereal figure were filled with peace, and the halo behind her was bright but not dazzling, making one feel utterly comfortable when it shone upon them. Miketsu thought, this must be a great compassionate Bodhisattva.
"A compassionate Bodhisattva and a benevolent Inari Okami, this is truly a perfect match. Perhaps we can get along well in the future."
Just as Miketsu was thinking this, the ethereal figure, clearly also female, extended her hand towards Miketsu. Miketsu, at this point, probably understood the other party's intention.
And so, Miketsu also extended her hand. Just as Miketsu's hand was about to clasp with the Bodhisattva's ethereal figure, an unexpected event occurred.
Another ethereal hand suddenly reached out from somewhere, grasping Miketsu's half-extended hand a step ahead.
Instantly, the entire space fell silent, and the waves of Sanskrit sounds abruptly ceased.
Not only was Miketsu stunned, but the Bodhisattva who was about to grasp Miketsu's hand was also stunned, and all the Buddhas present, witnessing this, were uniformly stunned.
This situation was clearly unforeseen by everyone.
Miketsu turned her head to look at the other ethereal figure tightly grasping her hand. She had no treasure lotus nor a halo. Instead, a dense, bloody aura wrapped around her, and her eyes revealed fierce red light.
At the moment Miketsu and the ethereal figure's hands clasped, the ethereal figure suddenly began to change. Her form rapidly materialized before Miketsu's eyes, becoming clearly visible.
This was a maiden, a maiden who looked exactly like Miketsu!
Unlike Miketsu's conservative miko attire, the maiden's clothing was exceptionally revealing. She only wore wide culottes on her lower body, while her largely bare upper body was adorned with numerous gold ornaments: necklaces and chokers around her neck, bracelets and anklets on her wrists and ankles. Two curved, hollowed-out gold plates barely covered her chest, a light, flowing sash wrapped around her body, and her feet were bare.
Her face, also with white hair and red eyes, displayed an expression entirely different from Miketsu's. The original gentleness and softness were gone, replaced by an eerie smile full of mockery. She continuously scanned the startled Bodhisattva beside her and the bewildered Buddhas around, like a child who had successfully played a prank.
Finally, her gaze settled on Miketsu. Miketsu looked at the maiden who looked exactly like herself, her eyes wide with astonishment as she met her gaze.
The maiden tugged at Miketsu's already held hand, pulling her closer. In an instant, the two maidens with identical bodies and appearances were almost face-to-face, their lips meeting directly, under the gaze of the Buddhas. Miketsu's mind suddenly went blank.
"Hello there... From now on... we are one."
A moment later, the maiden's lips parted from Miketsu's. At an extremely close distance, the maiden's voice was playful.
"Alas..."
At this moment, at the very top of the illusory space, from the source of the myriad rays of light shining down, a long, deep sigh resonated, shaking the entire space. The Buddhas were disturbed, turning en masse towards the source of the sigh. Miketsu and the maiden beside her also turned their gaze simultaneously.
There, Miketsu saw an ethereal figure as vast as a mountain range, emanating an aura like the boundless sky and ocean. The brilliant light illuminating the entire space emanated from him. He was now looking at Miketsu and the maiden beside her.
Suddenly, the illusion shattered, and the entire space collapsed with a roar. Miketsu returned to the real world. The sutra characters on her body quickly flowed back onto the scroll, and Miketsu involuntarily slumped backward, her hand leaving the surface of the scroll.
At this very moment, on the ancient scroll, in the blank space where Miketsu had placed her hand, there was now a depiction of a maiden dancing in mid-air.
Wrapped in flowing sashes, adorned with gold ornaments, one hand grasping a sword and the other a vajra, her face was identical to Miketsu's, but it bore an eerie smile Miketsu had never possessed. Beneath her dancing form were piles of human bones and skulls, a truly terrifying sight.
Below the maiden's portrait, a Sanskrit phrase was written. Below the Sanskrit, there were four Chinese characters transliterated from it.
"Dakini-ten"
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