I’m Really Unnerved In Tokyo

"Drinking tea requires three sips. The first sip is 'emptiness', the second is 'taste', and the third is 'body'. The taste of tea is like the taste of Zen, the emptiness of samsara and nirvana..."

Looking at the empty tea bowl on the table, Mochizuki Koji was slightly taken aback, then smiled relieved.

"...Your drink is a coincidence of the Zen meaning of not breaking, not standing, breaking and then standing. It is worthy of being a teacher of Kawasaki Master Temple."

"Although I don't quite understand, have you misunderstood something..."

He unhurriedly took out a new tea bowl, re-brewed and stirred a bowl, passed Araki Sosuke, and handed it to Tokimoto Ichiro.

"If you want to heal Ayano's soul trauma, there is a legendary thing that may be able to..."

While the three of them passed the tea, Mochizuki Koji looked at the bookshelf behind them with deep eyes, and spoke eloquently.

"Something in the legend? You mean..."

Tokimoto Ichiro seemed to have thought of something, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to stroke the long beard on his chin.

"In the legend, the "Undead Elixir" can heal all injuries in this world. "

"Immortal medicine? No, it's impossible..."

Muttering those four words in his mouth, Tokimoto Ichiro looked dazed and shook his head slightly.

"You also said that the 'undead elixir' is just a legend. It has never been recorded in the world for thousands of years, and it is impossible to exist in this world."

"Principal Mochizuki, are you referring to the elixir of immortality in 'I don't see Kaguya Ji, An uses the elixir of immortality'?"

After pondering those four words for a while, Kou Yumao carefully asked for proof.

In Japanese folk allusions, when it comes to "undead medicine", there is usually only one source of the legend.

That is "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", which has no known origins such as the time of writing and the name of the author, but has been known to every household for nearly a thousand years.

"Tale of Bamboo Climb", created around the tenth century, is the originator of Japanese monogatari literature. It tells the story of "Kaguya Hime Hosotake" was born, grew up in the heart of bamboo, and rejected the marriage proposals of many nobles and emperors. In front of the bewildered ordinary people, the story of putting on the feathers of the sky, ascending to the sky and returning to the moon.

"That's right, it's that thing. The 'Undead Elixir' is real, and we, the Mochizuki clan, have the best say on this point."

"What I want to say next, I hope that after you leave this tea room, if it is not necessary, don't pass it on to the third person..."

Seeing the four people nodding their heads in agreement, Mochizuki Koji's wrinkled and aging face showed a rare look of pride: "The reason why we are so sure is because our Mochizuki clan is the clan that Kaguya Ji left behind in the world."

"What? The story of Princess Kaguya is actually true?!"

"Impossible, I thought it was just nonsense made by the ancients..."

Hearing that this "fairy tale" that I have heard since I was a child and has been changed countless times by manga is indeed true, it is difficult for several people to digest for a while.

"The Mochizuki family, whose original surname is Sanuko, are Kaguya Hime's adoptive parents. Because they miss the departed Kaguya Hime too much, they look up and worship Mingyue every night, hoping for her return, so they changed their surname to 'Mochizuki'."

Ignoring everyone's exclamation, Mochizuki Koji seemed to be lost in memory, and he spoke eloquently.

"At the beginning, before Kaguya Ji put on the 'celestial feather robe' and left, she bestowed a trace of 'celestial blood' on her adoptive parents who remained in the world, and at the same time asked them to bring the elixir of immortality and the letter to Emperor Suinin at the time .”

"However, Emperor Suihito did not take the elixir of death. Instead, he asked the Mochizuki clan to seal this thing that did not belong to the human world. After that, Emperor Suihito passed away quickly due to excessive grief and lack of food. "

"So, if there is really any elixir of immortality, and it was sealed by your Mochizuki clan, then try to find a way to get it out now..."

Araki Sousuke raised his brows slightly and asked curiously.

His intuition told him, if it was that simple, why would Mochizuki Ayano's grandfather pour bitter water on himself and others here at night?

"Why……"

As he expected, Mochizuki Koji sighed, stood up slowly, and walked towards the bookshelf behind.

"Even within the Mochizuki clan, the sealed place of the undead elixir is an extremely top-secret matter, and the method of opening it is in the hands of the royal family."

He struggled to remove a green, thigh-thick ancient scroll from the shelf.

"Spanning nearly a thousand years, experienced hundreds of years of ghosts, countless wars, and the dark age of shogunate rule, these secrets have long been buried in the dust of history, and the only remaining clue..."

"careful."

Yamada Kengo hurriedly stepped forward to give him a hand, for fear that the elderly man would be crushed by the thick and long thing in his arms.

"...Only this thing."

As the heavy scrolls were spread out on the table, one after another, exquisite paintings with simple and simple style and watercolors were displayed in front of several people.

"Such an ingenious painter... what is this..."

The rough and primitive style of painting, vivid characters, and profound color schemes are perfectly integrated in these pictures.

"This is painted by the sages of the Mochizuki clan, the treasure of the town that has been passed down for thousands of years, "Bamboo Tori Picture Scroll"."

Looking at the wonderful brushwork and composition, Tokimoto Ichiro couldn't help but stand up and look carefully at the artistic treasure in front of him.

"So that's it, the painting on it is about the story of Princess Kaguya..."

Kou Yumaumi looked carefully at the lifelike stories, just like reading a comic book.

The story structure of these connected drawings can be roughly divided into three parts: "The Birth of Kaguya Princess", "The Proposal Problem", and "Ascension to Heaven and Return to the Moon", and the content is similar to those stories in folklore.

"So, is the clue to the elixir here?"

Yamada Kengo also touched his bald head and began to investigate carefully like a detective.

"Hmph, Kengo is so naive!"

Under the backlight, Araki Sousuke was sitting upright, his expression in the shadows was a bit hard to see.

"If these clues were simply hidden in these pictures, the Mochizuki clan would have already cracked them in nearly a thousand years..."

"So that's it, I'm still too tender, what Senior Araki meant..."

Kengo Yamada sincerely asked Sousuke Araki who didn't know what was going on.

"According to my many years of experience, according to the methods used by the ancients, I am afraid that this scroll must be burned and soaked in water to reveal its true appearance, or else it is necessary to cut open the interlayer and piece together the shredded parchment hidden inside..."

"Ahem, my ancestors of the Wangyue family have already tried all the methods Araki-kun said..."

Koji Mochizuki covered his mouth and coughed lightly, interrupting his logical analysis.

"I have even borrowed the world's top equipment over the years and conducted various scientific analyzes and tests. Even the most basic constituent materials cannot be analyzed..."

"The only conclusion that can be drawn is that "Taketori Picture Scroll" is a grievance."