Chapter 31: Reverse Clap!
"Just leave these two items... she doen't need the extra stuff."
Luke picked up a talisman, a dagger, and the Buddhist beads, tossing the rest back to Kasumizuki.
"Tsk— Why are you so stingy?"
Kasumizuki put her hands on her hips, pointing haughtily at Luke.
"It's rare to get a student. What's wrong with buying a little more?"
"No money. Unless you give them to me for free."
"In your dreams—!"
Luke stood up, handing the Buddhist beads to Miko.
The dark brown beads were only finger-sized; they might fit perfectly on her hand...
Yotsuya Miko held the beads, wrapping them round and round her smooth, fair forearm...
"...Forget it, leave it like this. Better than nothing," Luke said, looking at the beads that almost completely covered Miko's slender forearm, nearly becoming a bracer.
The beads are small, but there are many of them.
And the number couldn't be reduced.
These beads were all inscribed with characters.
Although he didn't know their meaning, he knew that if even one bead was missing, the effectiveness of the string would be greatly diminished.
Luke glanced at Kasumizuki and said speechlessly, "Don't you have any with fewer beads?"
"Yes! Of course, I do... But given her spiritual sensitivity, do you think less powerful tools would be useful against strong evil spirits?" Kasumizuki shot him a look.
"True." Luke nodded in agreement.
"Then leave it like this. Bigger has its advantages, right? After all, besides encountering evil spirits, maybe if she runs into a bad guy, she can use it like brass knuckles."
Miko, Kasumizuki: "..."
Kasumizuki put away the box, stuffing it under her skirt.
"Don't say such violent things to a child."
"Teacher, then this..." Miko timidly held the dagger covered in runes and seals, asking softly.
The gleaming metallic edge made her a little scared.
Maybe it was fear of the sharp blade, but even under the sun, she could still feel waves of cold air spreading from it in her hand, along with... the lingering stench of blood in the air.
Luke's Spirit attribute wasn't low; naturally, he could also sense that this dagger was a dangerous weapon.
There was a saying in the supernatural world: evil spirits fear evil people...
This also applied to spiritual items.
Only dangerous weapons could most effectively subdue evil spirits.
But, Miko still didn't dare to put it away.
"Just keep it in your pocket or something. Anyway, this dagger isn't big," Luke said casually.
"The talisman is for exorcism, the beads for defense, the dagger for offense – a good combination. No matter how scary this dagger is, it won't actively harm people. Just be careful yourself."
Then he quickly urged Miko.
"Don't just stand here. Find an evil spirit, test if the spiritual items work well..."
Luke's words made Miko stiffen all over.
Although she had adapted much more than before, facing an evil spirit alone still made her little heart pound wildly.
"I-I'll go right now."
But under the pressure of his gaze, Miko mustered her courage, scanned her surroundings, and searched for an evil spirit.
With Mikasa guarding her, Miko gradually walked away.
"Got it?" Luke asked Kasumizuki.
"Mm." Kasumizuki nodded, producing a strand of black hair from her palm.
She gently pinched the hair, rubbing it between her fingertips...
Very clean hair, not a speck of dust on it.
Looks like the hair's young owner took good care of her appearance.
"Although it's not as good as blood, nails, or the like, it's enough for one divination," Kasumizuki analyzed casually.
This was the result Kasumizuki obtained when she got close to Miko – a single strand of Yotsuya Miko's hair.
"Let me take a look..." Kasumizuki wiped the constant smile off her face, calmly removing the glove covering her hand.
"Let's see if she's really what you said... an evil spirit reincarnated, or just a simple girl."
With the glove off, Kasumizuki flexed her hand.
Her right hand was smooth and clean, no different from an ordinary person's.
But her left hand was covered in scars, full of crisscrossing marks left by sharp blades.
The palm lines were barely visible, and the connections between her fingers and palm had unsettling stitch marks.
"Been through a lot, huh," Luke remarked.
"Don't worry. Although it's been chopped quite a bit, with my exclusive medicine and the blessings of the gods, this hand can still move flexibly, no different from a normal hand."
Kasumizuki maneuvered her fingers, making wave-like motions in front of her chest.
Luke nodded silently.
Beginning the ritual, Kasumizuki lightly cut her palm.
Blood gradually seeped from the cut and was gently squeezed onto the hair by its owner.
The offering was ready.
Kasumizuki handed him a mirror, ordering concisely, "Hold this steady. I want to see her past life."
"Oh." Luke nodded, taking Kasumizuki's mirror.
Kasumizuki took a deep breath, reversed her hands so the backs faced each other, and gently clapped them together.
Reverse Clap.
An urban horror legend flashed through Luke's mind.
The principle of the Reverse Clap was to clap hands in the opposite way.
In traditional clapping, people usually strike the palms of both hands together, while the Reverse Clap involves hitting the backs of the hands together.
Just like his earlier method of seeing ghosts, observing through the small gap in his fist was an alternative way.
This Reverse Clap was similar...
Monks pressing their palms together was usually seen as respect towards deities, used for prayer or meditation, a sacred gesture...
But filthy, dirty evil spirits couldn't perform the action of putting palms together, so their clapping could only take the form of the Reverse Clap.
And humans performing the Reverse Clap was generally seen as a way to express negative emotions like dissatisfaction, disapproval, or disagreement.
But in the eyes of exorcists, it meant more than that; it signified sending a signal to the evil spirits wandering the spirit world, although generally, such actions were useless.
But for Kasumizuki, a miko serving the gods with innate Yin-Yang Eyes, the Reverse Clap was not useless.
Her gaze fixed tightly on the mirror surface, her usual smiling face now devoid of all emotion.
Luke didn't know what she saw; the mirror showed nothing unusual.
But his spiritual sense, far exceeding an ordinary person's, told him Kasumizuki was watching a scene from another world, and the rushing sound of water beside his ears was definitely not an illusion.
"Phew."
Not long after, perhaps only ten seconds, Kasumizuki stopped clapping.
She skillfully took out a clean bandage, tore off a piece, and wrapped it around her hand.
"Nothing wrong. She's not some evil spirit reincarnation, just a simple girl..."
Kasumizuki said, sounding slightly relieved, returning to her usual state.
"Then her Yin-Yang Eyes?" Luke glanced at Miko, who had just stabbed an evil spirit to death with the dagger and was now bouncing on her toes, unable to suppress her joy.
"Maybe it's a bloodline passed down from ancestors, awakened by some unknown reason," Kasumizuki guessed.
"Anyway, that's the only speculation for now."
"Mm." Luke nodded silently.
Perhaps this was the best answer.
"I'll keep an eye on her," Kasumizuki said, turning to leave.
"Right, about that building incident from before, let me continue investigating. I have no leads on either the cat or the mannequins."
"Doesn't matter," Luke waved his hand dismissively.
There were plenty of unclear things in the world; this one didn't make much difference.
...
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