Kikai Banashi Hanasaka Ikkyuu

A clever young monk faces a soul-devouring ayakashi who turns riddles into deadly bargains. Karma challenges his victims to contests of wit: winners receive a wish, while losers have their souls devoured. Hanasaku Ikkyuu once eagerly sharpened his mind by solving difficult riddles, but after his mother falls ill and his cleverness proves unable to help her, he abandons it. Karma seeks Ikkyuu out, hoping to defeat him and claim his soul. On the day they meet, Ikkyuu has rescued a young beggar boy, who then falls sick with a mysterious illness. Karma offers Ikkyuu his dangerous bargain, raising the possibility that the monk’s wit might once again help those around him.