According to the "Konjaku monogatari shu" (The Tale of Times Now Past), he accompanied the exorcism that his father was asked to do, and told his father, Tadayuki, that he saw numerous oni (Japanese ogre) gather around the offering at the time of the exorcism.
「今昔物語集」によれば、幼少時に父が祓いを依頼されたので付いていき、その祓いの最中に供物に無数の鬼が集っているのを見て、父・忠行に告げたという。