"Be careful, don’t be fooled!" Minamoto Tamako had the air of someone who had been through it all. Hugging her knees with her hands, she solemnly declared, "I encountered this before; there was someone impersonating Mr. Fu Jian... From what I know of him, this one is definitely fake too!"
"Oh? How can you tell?" Fujiwara Homare asked.
"Mr. Fu Jian, like me, is a partner in justice, and would never be so hasty to kill!" Tamako’s expression was grave, then she changed her tone, "However, this is an urgent situation, Criminal Police have the authority to enforce the law and shoot down armed criminals..."
"This isn’t the time to get hung up on this, is it?" Fujiwara Homare finally came around, "How do we leave here? It doesn’t look like Master Asahara plans to let us go easily..."
Just as he finished speaking, a shadow loomed over them.
The two turned around simultaneously, to see Asahara Shoko standing by the table, leaning in to glare at them. His face still carried traces of anger as he forced a fake smile, "You are the son and daughter of the Police Department, how could I possibly prevent you from leaving?"
As he spoke, he personally helped them up, even dusting off nonexistent dirt from Fujiwara Homare, indicating that they only needed to go through a small procedure, and could leave at any time.
Fujiwara Homare was overjoyed; he felt his prestige was restored, that even the Sect Hierarch had to dust him off. It was clear that the Fujiwara family’s influence was enough to intimidate the wicked.
"What procedure?" He blurted out, "The sooner we get it done, the better. I still want to go to Thailand and Cambodia for a few weeks..."
The tour guide had already been booked online, claiming to have arranged ’emperor-level’ service for him. He had run away from home just to witness some ladyboy dances, but unfortunately, his plan was disrupted by the Aum Truth Sect midway.
Asahara Shoko clapped his hands, and believers escorted a man and a woman in from the back door of the hall, forcing them to kneel at the end of the long table.
Fujiwara Homare turned back, realizing these two wore earplugs and face masks, with their mouths sealed. He thought the man looked somewhat familiar, but couldn’t recognize him, bewildered as to what act was unfolding.
Minamoto Tamako recognized the woman as Shirakawa Miki. She found it odd, wasn’t Aunt Shirakawa a fervent believer of the Aum Truth Sect? What was happening here?
Asahara Shoko approached, casually took Holy Water handed over by a believer, dipped his hand in and sprinkled it on Shirakawa Miki and the other man’s heads.
The two were somewhat disoriented, unable to see or hear, only looking upwards blankly and letting out muffled sounds.
"Namo Guru Vajra Throne..."
"Transform the outsider into white bones..."
"Cleanse the end of the world’s filth and wickedness..."
"May all beings in the six realms attain salvation..."
Asahara Shoko chanted continually, as if in prayer. The curtains on both sides of the hall were drawn open, revealing a peculiar Buddha statue painted ash-white, with three eyes and four faces, four arms, and a black snake coiled around the neck.
All believers respectfully knelt, including Asahara Shoko, raising their hands high to loudly invoke the name of the fundamental god of all.
Fujiwara Homare felt this scene was supremely bizarre; not well-read, he couldn’t comprehend it, so he turned his head and quietly asked Tamako for her opinion. She was serious, analyzing with grave complexion, thinking it might be a kind of worship ceremony and that joining it could mean initiation into the church.
Fujiwara Homare believed her, planning to feign worship, thinking the cult congregation was easy to deceive, no smarter than himself.
However, after the group worshiped the deities and finished chanting the prayers, they did not invite Fujiwara Homare to join the ceremony but instead set up cameras, aimed at Fujiwara Homare, Minamoto Tamako, and the kneeling Shirakawa Miki duo.
Fujiwara Homare wondered if there might be a "YP" session next? He had heard some sects did so, having orgies with believers during ceremonies. He didn’t mind sacrificing a bit of flesh, just felt uneasy with so many people around, and Tamako watching, making it hard to let go...
"Sacrifice murder and death to the Supreme Destructive god, and you can leave." Asahara Shoko finished speaking, believers took out various torture instruments, spread them on the long table, as a strong smell of blood mixed with rust wafted over.
"Eh?" Fujiwara Homare was taken aback.
"Do you remember him?" Asahara Shoko pointed at the man kneeling and said, "During your high school days, he took the girl you had a crush on..."
Fujiwara Homare wore a ghostly expression, wondering how he knew that? He never mentioned his crush to anyone! And is a crush considered being taken away? He wasn’t a fool, at least he could tell what ’taking’ meant.
"Now, unleash your fury on your enemy!" Asahara Shoko shoved a dagger into his hand.
"No..." Fujiwara Homare glanced down at the knife in his hand, full of rust and utterly blunt, sure to cause tetanus with one cut, "I have no deep hatred with this guy, could you capture the right person? I really dislike Minister Suzuki of the cabinet; he often criticizes me face-to-face... Why didn’t you capture him?"
Asahara Shoko didn’t reply, wealthy kids were indeed troublesome, smooth sailing from childhood, vendettas were taken care of immediately with parents backing them up. If indeed encountering untouchable foes, even the church wouldn’t rival them... Asahara Shoko impatiently pushed him, indicating they had to complete the sacrifice ceremony to leave.
"Isn’t this making me kill someone?" Fujiwara Homare’s delayed reaction finally caught up.
"It’s a sacrifice to the Supreme God." Asahara Shoko said.
"That is killing someone, isn’t it?"