The creak of an ox carriage broke the silence of the night. As it trundled along the road, suddenly what looked like white mist appeared in front it. The mist gradually started to take the form of humans who then came in a stream towards the carriage.
Among them were bizarre shapes that one could hardly call human, proving that they were not living human beings. Still, only one man inside the ox carriage noticed their presence while none of his companions seemed to notice anything strange.
The man in the ox carriage quietly called the carriage to be stopped and started to chant a sutra. Perhaps protected by his sutra, the grotesque group was lumbering past the carriage without turning their attention to it. At the tail end of the procession there was a richly dressed man who looked strikingly fearsome. He appeared to be groaning.
While chanting his sutra, the man could hear his voice saying: "Tokihira... Tokihira! You will pay Tokihira! Even in death you cannot escape!"
His voice was full of malevolence. The owner of that voice was none other than the vengeful spirit of Sugawara no Michizane whose grudge for Fujiwara no Tokihira had not waned at all, although he had died of illness at a young age last year. As a matter of fact, even this year many of the Fujiwara clan had died unnatural deaths under mysterious circumstances.
"What a fearsome thing the grudge of men is."
While chanting his sutra, the man in the ox carriage could not help but think aloud. Hearing that, the vengeful spirit of Michizane scowled fiercely at the ox carriage. However, the expression on his face appeared to say that he did not have time to waste on someone like this, and as he withdrew his gaze, he finally went past the ox carriage.
"Tonight, someone of the Fujiwara clan will once again die."
This time the man started to chant a sutra for whoever that miserable victim would be.
陰陽座百物語 第廿壱話「百の鬼が夜を行く」
ぎしぎしと夜を行く牛車の行く手に俄に白い靄の様な物が立ち込めた。その靄は次第に人の形を取り、こちらに向かってぞろぞろと歩いてきた。
中には人とは思えぬ奇怪な形をした物もあり、それらが生きた人間では無い事を証明していた。しかしその存在に気付いていたのは牛車の中の男一人で、お供の者は誰一人その異変には気付かない様子であった。
牛車の中の男は静かに車を止めるように言い、経文を唱え始めた。その経文に守られてか、異形の集団は牛車に気を留める事無くぞろぞろと過ぎ去って行く。その最後尾には見るからに立派な身形をした一際壮絶な形相の男の形のものが陣取り、何やら呻いていた。
経文を唱えながら男が聞いたその声は「時平… 時平！許さんぞ時平！死んでもまだ許さんぞ！」と言う。大層恨みのこもったものであった。間違い無くその声の主は怨霊と化した菅原道真であり、昨年、若くして病死した藤原時平への恨みは以前衰えず、実際、今年に入ってからも幾人もの藤原一族が謎の変死を遂げていた。
「人の恨みとは恐ろしい物よ」
牛車の男は経文を唱えながら、ついそんな声を漏らした。するとそれを聞き咎めた道真の怨霊は一瞬牛車の方を睨み付けた。しかし、こんな者を相手にしている暇は無いと言った表情で直ぐに視線を移すと、遂に牛車を通り過ぎて行ってしまった。
「また今夜も、藤原一族が一人、命を落とす」
牛車の男は今度はその哀れな誰かの為に経文を唱え始めた。
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