The bodies of the countless mummies lining this area have been horrifically mangled.
They must have been people who came from outside the village.
The Martyr Tome describes them like so:
"A kusabi is one who ill belongs in Minakami, mummified and offered up to the 
. The greater the agony a kusabi endures, the more the quaking of the is quelled."
Ordinarily, mummies such as these were once Buddhist monks who underwent strenuous ascetic training, volunteering to render their bodies and perish in such fashion so as to relieve the common people of that which ailed them.
Kusabi are different, however, and were not made mummies by their own hands.
Rather, they were forcibly transformed into their unsightly state. This is because, in order to soothe that which cannot be seen, they were made to suffer pain beyond comprehension. The villagers likely required outsiders to take this role so that ties of familiarity would not subconsciously prevent them from maximizing the pain.
It's easy to therefore imagine that the individuals found here all perished before being offered up as kusabi. Only those who can endure the pain are made into kusabi and sacrificed as part of the Shadow Ritual.
Thinking about it all makes me wonder just what sort of place this is that we're dealing with, for people to go to such extremes.
Unfortunately, I didn't find the entrance to the Deep Path inside Eikado Temple. I'll turn my attention now to the inner depths of the Kurosawa household, though the heavy surveillance won't make such an investigation easy. Luckily, the house is less populated when the chief priest and the others descend upon Kureha Shrine. I'll wait until their next visit before I make my move.
Folklorist's Note 14
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 This page contains spoilers for a recent release. |
Folklorist's Note 14 | |
| |
| Kanji | 民俗学者の手記 十四⛓ みんぞくがくしゃのしゅき じゅうよん |
| Game | Crimson Butterfly Remake |
| Author | Seijiro Makabe |
| Chapter | Final Chapter: Crimson Butterfly |
| Located at | Eikado Temple, Deep Path |
| Obtained | As part of the Kusabi side story |
| Description | Written remarks from a folklore scholar who came to study Minakami Village, describing the mummies found in the Deep Path. |
| Related Notes | Folklorist's Note 1, Folklorist's Note 2, Folklorist's Note 3, Folklorist's Note 4, Folklorist's Note 5, Folklorist's Note 6, Folklorist's Note 7, Folklorist's Note 8, Folklorist's Note 9, Folklorist's Note 10, Folklorist's Note 11, Folklorist's Note 12, Folklorist's Note 13, Folklorist's Note 15, Folklorist's Note 16, Folklorist's Note 17, Folklorist's Note 18, Folklorist's Note 19, Folklorist's Note 20 |
ここに並べられているいくつもの即身仏は、
惨たらしく身体を切り刻まれている。
いずれも村の外から来たマレビトだろう。
「儀式ノ書 人柱」には次のようにある。
「楔には皆神のものにあらざるものをこれにあて、
即身仏と成して
に捧げる。」
「楔となるものの受けし苦痛が大きけるほどの
震えは鎮まる。」
即身仏は本来、民衆の苦しみを救うため、厳しい
修行を経て自らの体を木乃伊とした僧だ。
楔は、修行して自ら成ったものではない。人の手
で即身仏にさせられている。
見てはならない場所を鎮めるために、想像を絶す
る苦痛を与えられたのだ。
容赦なく苦痛を与えるためには、マレビトである
必要があったのだろう。
そして、ここに並べられている者たちは、おそらく
楔として捧げられる前に死んだのだ。
苦痛に耐えられた者だけが楔となり、「陰祭」の
人柱として捧げられる。
そこまでして鎮めなければならない場所とはいっ
たいどのような場所なのだろうか。
鍈火堂には本道への入り口はなかった。
監視の目は厳しいが、黒澤家の奥を調べてみよ
う。
宮司たちが暮羽神社へと参る時には、黒澤家も
手薄になる。
そのときを待つ。