Otaku Witch
Chapter 1053 - 1053: 626. Hyakki Buddhist Dharma

Amidst the mesmerizing Buddhist chants, Dorothy found herself in a trance. In that dreamlike state of being half-drunk and half-awake, she suddenly heard the sounds of a lively commotion.

The noise was loud and somewhat cacophonous, as if she were in the midst of a temple fair surrounded by vendors and tourists.

The homebody witch followed the sound and saw a parade of bizarre and peculiar figures.

This was clearly not a normal human parade, but a procession composed of non-human demons, with various grotesque demon forms pushing the limits of human imagination, causing one to marvel at how creatures could appear in such ways.

Upon seeing this parade, Dorothy abruptly snapped out of her stupor.

Night Parade of Hyakki.

The word sprang into her mind, and this time it wasn't the witch's version she'd seen previously, but the true demon Hyakki.

The homebody witch widened her eyes, carefully observing this demon procession. Her gaze quickly settled on a few at the forefront of the Hyakki.

These were the Three Great Demon Kings. One was a towering figure with a giant gourd of wine on his back, drinking as he walked, a fearsome ghostly apparition; another sat high in a palanquin carried by little demons, a beautiful woman swaying with nine tails; and the last was a fearsome tengu in monk's robes with wings spread behind him, exuding a solemn aura.

However, the Three Great Demon Kings quickly passed by Dorothy without sparing the homebody witch a glance, as if she didn't even exist.

Following them were various demons in a grand procession, including a gigantic spider with a bull's head, a half-human half-snake woman, a beauty holding a green flash, and a headless monstrosity....

Similarly, these demons all ignored the homebody witch.

Just as Dorothy was feeling a bit perplexed, her attention was suddenly caught by an old man in the middle of the procession.

The old man wore a black haori and carried a katana strapped to his waist. Though somewhat bald, he had a dignified demeanor.

The reason the homebody witch noticed this old man was because they were dressed exactly alike. She looked down at herself, then at the old man, and found their attire couldn't be more identical.

The next moment, it seemed the old man also noticed her, raising his head to look over at her.

As their eyes met, the originally stern-faced old man suddenly broke into a gentle smile, and then his figure dissipated into numerous peculiar characters that enveloped Dorothy.

Faced with such an anomaly, the homebody witch initially intended to resist, but after slightly discerning the content of those monster characters, she paused her action.

The characters described a type of demon.

"Nothing is forbidden, all thoughts originate from the heart—Slick Ghost."

With such a specter, Dorothy seemed to recall hearing of it in her past life. It didn't appear to be a particularly formidable monster, its only noteworthy feat being its knack for freeloading.

The legend goes that as dusk approached, when households were preparing for evening feasts and everyone was busy organizing dinner, a stranger, uninvited, might abruptly appear in the home and casually seat himself at the master's chair, smoking the host's pipe and drinking the host's tea, as if he were the master of the house.

Moreover, since this person was well-dressed in high-end clothes, with a dignified appearance and extraordinary poise, the household members assumed he was an esteemed guest acquainted with the master, not daring to neglect him and thus hosted him hospitably.

But after inquiring with the master, they would suddenly realize something was amiss: the stranger was just a freeloading trickster. However, by the time anyone tried to find him again, he would be long gone.

This is the record Dorothy heard of the Slick Ghost in her past life.

The monster's tale is somewhat entertaining, living up to its name, for it truly dealt with matters with slyness, perfectly exploiting human nature's weaknesses, a naturally devious monster.

For such an uninvited guest freeloading at a banquet, if you tried to chase him away, you would seem unfriendly and risk becoming the butt of jokes among relatives and friends, spoiling the festive atmosphere. Yet, if you didn't chase him away, you'd inconvenience others and eat a dumb loss yourself, which was quite a headache.

But still...

"Damn, why would I have a connection with such a disgraceful little pest? Could it be that I'm a Freeloader Ghost who enjoys getting things for nothing?"

Dorothy was furious, trembling with anger.

Having more or less fully digested the contents of those characters, she figured out what was going on.

This Hyakki Inheritance was the demonic Buddhist practice that had been passed down on Monster Mountain, a peculiar Buddhist secret technique that advocated turning into a demon before achieving enlightenment, a method of the Demon Buddha sect.

The Hyakki on the Night Parade of Hyakki depicted various evil thoughts within human nature. A cultivator of this method would manifest corresponding demon forms based on their evil thoughts, gaining demonic powers.

Subsequently, the stronger your evil thoughts, the stronger your demonic power, and as your demonic power grew, the cultivator, originally human, would irreversibly transform in the direction of a demon.

At this point, you truly transform into a demon through thought.

An authentic practice of this Buddhist law is to leverage the power of demons with a Buddha nature, not indulging without restraint but to walk the Buddha's path in the body of a demon.