21st Century Necromancer

Kamakura is an ancient coastal city. Since Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura Shogunate, marking the beginning of samurai rule in Japan, it has had a history of over a thousand years. It is the third well-known ancient capital of Japan, following Kyoto and Nara.

However, walking through the streets of Kamakura, one does not feel the prosperity of Kyoto or the rich historical depth of Nara.

The feeling Kamakura conveys is one of tranquility and peace, with the sea breeze gently blowing, bringing only serenity and leisure.

Moving through Kamakura’s main and side streets, modern and ancient buildings reflect off each other, without any sense of abruptness, letting people feel only harmony and integration. Furthermore, on the other side of the city is the azure sea; at a glance, the view where the sea meets the sky would open the heart of even the most troubled person.

Holding his girlfriend’s hand, walking down the tree-lined path surrounded by greenery, heading for the Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine, Yu Chen also rarely enjoyed such a relaxed and pleasant feeling.

"Mr. Chen Yu, is this your first time in Kamakura?" Holding onto Chen Yu’s hand filled Hiromi Jounouchi with a sweet feeling, but not speaking made her feel as if something was missing, so she took the initiative to start a conversation, "Didn’t you go to university in Tokyo? Didn’t you come to visit during the holidays?"

Hearing Hiromi Jounouchi’s question, Yu Chen just smiled, shook his head slightly, and said, "At that time, I had a heavy academic load. Regular coursework already filled my time, plus I had to work part-time, so I didn’t have much spare time. As for the holidays, I was busy with research and experiments, so I didn’t have time to go out and play.

On top of that, I had to return home every year, so I really haven’t been to Kamakura before."

"It seems that the University of Tokyo is not as perfect as imagined! At the very least, your university life was much more boring than mine! Back then, I traveled all over Tokyo with my friends!" Hiromi Jounouchi put on a proud expression and laughed at Chen Yu, "Well in that case, let your big sister take you on a good tour of Kamakura! This is a sacred place for samurai families!"

Seeing Hiromi Jounouchi’s enthusiasm, Yu Chen naturally wouldn’t dampen his girlfriend’s spirits and allowed her to lead him through the tree-lined path to in front of the Chozuya.

"Mr. Chen Yu, I’ll tell you, the section of the tree-lined path we just walked through that’s a bit higher than the road is called ’Danke,’ built by the founder of the Kamakura Shogunate, Minamoto no Yoritomo, in hopes of a safe childbirth for his wife Hojo Masako.

It has nearly a thousand years of history," Hiromi Jounouchi said as she used the ladle in the Chozuya to clean her hands, telling Yu Chen about the history of the Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine.

When mentioning "a thousand years of history," her face involuntarily revealed a proud expression. Your journey continues with empire

Yu Chen didn’t mind his girlfriend’s little pride and affectionately pinched her nose, which elicited a bout of playful complaining, before he also cleansed his hands with a ladle and then entered the Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine with her.

In fact, as soon as Yu Chen and Hiromi Jounouchi had walked past the Torii Gate on the tree-lined path before, they had already stepped into the divine domain of the Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine.

In Japanese culture, the Torii Gate represents the entrance to the place where the deities reside. Erecting a Torii Gate signifies to those who come to worship that beyond the gate is where the deities dwell, and mortals must maintain reverence.

Apart from the oddity of some shrines with a Thousand Torii Gates, it is not common for a shrine in Japan to have multiple Torii Gates. Generally, only one Torii Gate is erected at the entrance of the shrine’s approach to mark the boundary.

In fact, from the moment they stepped over the Torii Gate, Yu Chen had already felt the extraordinariness of this thousand-year-old shrine.

The accumulation of a thousand years of faith had converged into a Power of Faith that was extremely astonishing.

For ordinary people, these were invisible and intangible things, but in the eyes of Chen Yu, who had obtained an upgrade in his Life Level, what gathered here from a thousand years of faith was a column of light that seemed to shoot straight up to the heavens.

All around Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine, in every area shrouded by the Power of Faith, there was a faint, elusive pressure that still felt as heavy as a mountain to Chen Yu.

This pressure did not originate from the Power of Faith but emanated from the shrine itself, as if each flower, each grass, each brick, and stone were the source of this pressure.

"Barrier? Divine domain? It seems I really have come to the right place!" Chen Yu silently praised to himself. The presence clearly distinct from the Power of Faith in front of him certainly corroborated his conjecture that there indeed existed applications of Supernatural Power in this world.

Considering that the source of the pressure was these ancient buildings, Chen Yu deduced that it must have been a technique laid out when Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine was built. Whether such techniques still existed, he did not know, but judging from the unified sense of the entire shrine, obviously, the upkeep of such mechanisms hadn’t been poor over the nearly past thousand years.

Walking inside Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine, Chen Yu didn’t entirely open up his perception but instead toured the millennium-old shrine just like any other ordinary tourist together with Hiromi Jounouchi.

As for the black cat Audis that he had brought along, it was tucked into a backpack he was carrying on his back. However, the state of Audis at this time was not very good, huddled into a ball inside the backpack, even the tip of its tail trembling.

Clearly, the pressure emanating from Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine made it feel fear and apprehension.

But Chen Yu certainly couldn’t leave just because Audis was scared. He came here this time to investigate Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine, and it was not possible for him to leave before his goal was accomplished.

"Mr. Chen Yu, look at the Dance Hall up ahead where a wedding ceremony is being held! That’s where Minamoto no Yoritomo had Shizuka Gozen dance the Shirabyoshi. However, back then, the Dance Hall hadn’t been built yet. I once came here on a school trip during high school. I even told my classmates that I definitely wanted to hold my wedding here someday.

Thinking about it now, it seems such a naïve idea!" While introducing the history of the Dance Hall to Chen Yu, Hiromi Jounouchi, stirred by the memories, also sighed with sentiment.

Hearing Hiromi Jounouchi’s sigh, Chen Yu thought for a moment before asking her, "Is it very troublesome to get married here? If possible, how does one apply?"

"Uh, that..." Hiromi Jounouchi clearly did not expect Chen Yu to ask such a question. She indeed did not know how to apply for holding a wedding at Tsuruoka Hachimangu Shrine.

Just as Hiromi Jounouchi was at a loss for words, a Priest in white and blue clothing walked by, bowed to the two of them, and then said, "If you wish to hold a Shinto wedding ceremony here at the Shrine, you simply need to submit an application in advance, register the time of the wedding, and pay a certain fee. The Shrine has prepared the necessary attire and music and dance for the ceremony.

However, considering the protection of the historical site and the selection of an auspicious hour, only one ceremony can be held per day, so you must sign up and queue. The fee is approximately between 200,000 and 250,000 yen."

Upon hearing the Priest’s explanation, Hiromi Jounouchi’s interest was piqued, and she took hold of the Priest to meticulously inquire about the details of the Shinto wedding ceremony. It wasn’t until the Priest had gone through a detailed explanation of the entire ceremony that she happily thanked him.

The Priest did not mind and simply smiled, saying "You’re welcome," before turning his gaze toward Chen Yu, or rather, the backpack on his back, and said with a serious tone, "Sir, the contents of the backpack you are carrying seem somewhat inauspicious!"