Chapter Nineteen: Peaceful Exorcism and Resolute Security—A Blessing for All

At the foot of White Stone Mountain, a tightly secured barbed wire fence completely blocked the path leading up the mountain. Standing outside the fence, the cold concrete wall resembled a coffin lid, sealing off the adjacent clearing—the place where Asami and the others had died.

On the ground lay various offerings, alongside shattered ritual implements left from an exorcism.

“This is the place where the evil aura is most concentrated. To seal the gateway between this place and the mortal world, the exorcists of the Kinki region paid a heavy price,” explained the abbot of Chongming.

A woman dressed in a suit, her face cold and expression sharp with a princess-cut hairstyle, glanced indifferently at the concrete pipes before her.

“Have someone dismantle this place. That entity has already left,” she said.

The abbot was momentarily taken aback by her words. After a brief pause, he turned to the woman known as the strongest contemporary exorcist.

She was Haruko Bika, born into a spiritual medium family from Okinawa, with a bloodline granting her extraordinary spiritual powers—the most powerful psychic in her family’s history.

“‘It’ has left?”

Haruko cast a cool glance at the abbot, then turned to gaze back at the bustling city not far away.

“If it were still here, you and I wouldn’t be standing so calmly talking like this. You’re lucky; it seems ‘It’ isn’t very interested in humans.”

“I don’t even know what those fools did to summon such a thing.”

The abbot recalled how exorcists from Osaka had gathered here to seal the gateway, believing it to be another victory for humanity’s exorcism efforts. Yet, according to Haruko, all the exorcists were injured, thinking they had successfully sealed the gateway, only to find that the entity had simply ignored them and let them go.

The abbot’s expression darkened with irritation at the thought, but soon he sighed resignedly and collected himself.

“Miss Haruko, do you know where this entity came from?”

Haruko turned slightly to face him.

“I am an exorcist, not a god. With so many supernatural incidents each year in this island nation, not all have clear causes.”

With that, she walked toward a vehicle parked nearby. Compared to an unknown entity whose reasons for appearing and disappearing were unclear, Haruko had more pressing matters to attend to.

---

As for the idea of completely sealing this entity, Haruko hadn’t even considered it.

With her spiritual power growing stronger, she gained a deeper understanding of the saying, “When humans are powerless.”

Most entities could be expelled or sealed, but some were not even worth provoking.

As long as they didn’t interfere with the mortal world or cause harm, ignoring each other was best for both humans and such beings.

Those rookies who rushed to exterminate every evil sighted were inexperienced. Veterans like the abbot and Haruko never thought of fully suppressing such entities.

Exorcists often speak of “sealing” rather than “extermination.”

Sealing means suppression; extermination means eradication.

Suppressing someone versus killing them is obviously the easier path.

Moreover, pushing such entities too far could have dire consequences. Haruko’s encounters with these beings always ended with restraint.

If it ever came to a desperate fight, she wasn’t sure if she would survive—but if the entity was cornered, many innocent lives would surely be lost.

The abbot understood this well too, so after a wry smile, he accompanied Haruko as they drove away from White Stone Mountain.

On the way back to the city, the abbot glanced over at Haruko sitting silently by the window.

“So, Miss Haruko, what do you think is the connection between what happened at White Stone Mountain and the incidents in the city?”

Haruko’s response was cold.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. With the economic boom in recent years, people here have grown restless, always seeking thrills. Heaven only knows what they did to attract such an entity.”

“If they’re courting death, then so be it. Not to mention the notorious reputation of the Aoshi Group in Osaka.”

The abbot frowned slightly.

“But some students and their parents have no ties to the Aoshi Group.”

Haruko sneered.

“Solving crimes is the police’s job, not the exorcists’. Whether or not they’re involved doesn’t concern me. We exorcists only intervene when supernatural disturbances arise. Without evil, what right do we have to meddle in law enforcement?”

---

“What does it have to do with us?”

With that, Haruko lost interest in the conversation, closing her eyes and leaning back against her seat.

The abbot sighed silently, fingers twisting the Buddhist prayer beads in his palm, then closed his eyes to rest.

After all, the recent exorcism ritual had not only left other exorcists injured but had also taken a toll on the abbot himself.

Returning to the city, Haruko bid the abbot farewell, watching the black sedan disappear down the street. She pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and exhaled deeply.

Though exorcists like the abbot, who could not tolerate evil spirits disturbing the human world and bringing death and suffering, were not many, their presence prevented the island nation’s exorcist community from becoming a feared, dreaded faction like those across the ocean.

However, this also left the island’s exorcists dispirited—not due to lack of ability, but because their sense of duty often led them into inescapable torment.

Haruko remembered clearly an infamous case that shook the entire exorcist circle three years ago.

A promising young exorcist, while on a mission, uncovered a tragic truth beneath layers of deception: after exorcising a female spirit, it was revealed that her transformation into a vengeful ghost was entirely caused by her husband.

Domestic abuse, torture by cigarette burns, forced relations despite her pregnancy causing multiple miscarriages.

In the end, he resented her docility for hindering his desire to bring other women home.

Once, under the influence of drugs tricked by a mistress, he and the mistress murdered his wife, then coldly dismembered her when sober.

Though the man received his just punishment, the exorcist was stabbed to death on a rainy night by the man’s mother, consumed by irrational hatred.

Tragic cases like this were not isolated.

Since then, the island’s exorcists have distanced themselves from mundane social issues, no longer intervening in everyday ethical matters.

Focusing solely on exorcism and leaving law enforcement to the police has been better for everyone.