After a bumpy journey.
Yuan and Iwanaga Kotoko finally arrived at their destination. It was a wild fishing town located in the middle of Shibuya and Shinjuku.
At this moment-
The mute effect on Kotomi Ishinaga had also lost its effect and was lifted. She looked at Yuanyumo with a bitter expression.
"Director, you're too much. If you continue like this, you won't have a girlfriend.”
"Is that so?"
Yuanyumo ignored Kotoko Ishinaga's resentment and tapped the mask on her face. As for what she meant, it was obvious.
"Humph!"
Kotomi Iwanaga snorted unhappily.
Although she didn't want to admit it, with the director's devilish face and excellent temperament, as long as he slightly announced his tendency to seek the opposite sex, who knew how many women would surround their White Fox Law Firm.
It really made her feel a hundred times displeased. It was simply "attracting bees and butterflies".
It was surprisingly appropriate to use this word on the director.
Then, Ishinaga Kotoko ignored this infuriating director. She used her walking stick to knock on the ground as an outlet to vent her anger as she strode toward Wild Fishing Town.
"It's quite interesting to tease this little girl sometimes.”
Looking at the angry Ishinaga Kotoko, who was puffing up her cheeks, Yuanyumo followed behind her with a smile.
After walking for 200 meters…
In the blink of an eye, Yuan and Ishinaga Kotoko had truly stepped into Wild Fishing Town.
The air in Wild Fishing Town was fresh and clean. It was not a bad place in Shibuya District. The air was mixed with too much car exhaust and industrial waste gas. The first thing that came into view was the rugged stone road, which was paved with gravel of different sizes. There were no cars on the road, so it was extremely wide.
On both sides of the stone road were two-story wooden buildings, arranged in an orderly manner.
Almost every household had built an independent open space with fences. Some people planted fruits and vegetables there, while others raised livestock... It was a scene of idyllic scenery.
"Could it be that so many people, especially middle-aged people, like to live in the countryside? It's indeed a different flavor.”
Yuan said.
The pace of life in the big city was not only fast, but there were also all kinds of oppression and exploitation at work. Although the debauchery could make people infatuated for a while, it was followed by a sense of emptiness after wanton fun.
Moreover, the impetuousness of the big city would slowly return to peace as long as they lived in the idyllic scenery for a period of time.
But-
It was common for people to come to rural areas to live in groups before the supernatural revival. After the recuperation of reiki, countless people racked their brains to squeeze into big cities like Kyoto and Tokyo. At least on the surface, they would be safe and would not be involved in supernatural incidents.
Sanchao Town, where the Earth Imperial Sect was located, was still very rare.
The Wild Fishing Town in front of them was still in good condition. Although there were traces of being invaded by supernatural events, it was not obvious. It was obvious that the Onmyoji who arrived in time had taken care of it.
"…Why do I feel like it's a little similar?”
"Like what?"
At this moment, Kotomi Ikenaga's anger had dissipated quite a bit, and she couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Qing Rao Village. This place gives me a feeling similar to Qing Rao Village.”
Kotomi Ikenaga was stunned.
Of course, she knew the name of Qing Rao Village. It was the core of the Wedding Dress Tree incident. From the beginning to the end of the entire supernatural incident, in a sense, it revolved around that village.
The Green Lake in the park area of Feng City University's affiliated school was the former site of the Green Lake Village.
"If there's anything in common, I can't say for now. It's just a similar feeling.”
Yuan looked around.
The buildings in Wild Fishing Town had undergone the changes of the times, so they naturally lived up to the simplicity of Qingrao Village. But where did the familiar similarity come from?!
Doubts could not help but arise.
"Director, let's ask someone about the information we need.”
Kotomi Iwanaga urged.
Yuan nodded and buried this doubt in her heart. She had to get down to business first.
There were not many people in Wild Fishing Town. Almost all of them were old people. The younger ones had run to the big cities. Only the old people were reluctant to leave the home that they had lived in for their entire lives.
"Uncle, the two of us are from the government. It's convenient for us to ask you about someone.”
Yuan and Iwanaga Kotoko were standing at a corner as they politely called out to an old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
"What are you talking about? Speak louder.”
The old man was obviously a little deaf. He said,"You two little kids, wait a moment.”The old man took out a hearing aid from his pocket and put it on his ear.
"What did you two kids just say? Uncle, I'm a bit hard of hearing. You guys must be from the big city.”
"Uncle, we are from the government. We are here to investigate the situation and want to ask you about a person.”
Yuan handed the official document to the old man and repeated what she had said earlier.
This official document was not forged, but it was genuine. It was specially distributed to the major paranormal agencies by the government so that they would not encounter unnecessary obstacles in the process of dealing with paranormal incidents.
Even though Yuan would only show her Onmyoji ID during supernatural incidents in the past because it would be more convenient and clear at a glance, he still had to consider the feelings of the residents in a rural area like Wild Fishing Town. Anyone who showed their Onmyoji ID would know that this place was definitely related to supernatural incidents. If anything went wrong, it could cause panic.
This was not what Yuan wanted to see.
"Officials, little kid, tell me who you want to inquire about. I'm very familiar with every door.”
The old man flipped through the official documents and handed them back to Yuan with a simple smile on his face.
"Masayoshi Kuda…"
Yuan had just said this name.
Instantly, the old man's expression changed drastically. His turbid eyes were filled with fear, as if he had heard a taboo name. He looked in the northwest direction repeatedly, as if mentioning this name would bring bad luck.
"I don't know, don't ask me…"
"You two little kids, that's not something you can ask about…"
After saying that, the old man waved his hand and left, ignoring Kotomi Yanyong and Yuanyumo's attempts to stop him.
Yuan frowned. There must be something going on here, but she didn't know if it was because of the so-called " curse of the goddess " or something else.
"Let's go and ask the others.”
Kotoko Ikenaga nodded.
Then-
Yuan and Kotoko Ishinaga stopped five or six old men of similar age.
Before they asked for the name " Masayoshi Kuda ", they were all amiable. However, when they said the name " Masayoshi Kuda ", they were all as afraid as tigers and did not dare to say anything. Their expressions were the same as the old man who asked the question at the beginning, with fear.
In the end.
Just as Yuan was about to use her spiritual words to get them to tell the truth, a drunkard was still a little unwilling under the temptation of money. However, he still said what Yuan and Ishinaga Kotoko wanted to ask.
" Since your officials are here to investigate 'Masayoshi Kuda', it seems that something has happened to the last member of the Kuda family. He…he must have gone missing…"
Wine Meng was slightly younger than the other residents who were questioned. He looked to be less than 50 years old. He also carried a wine pot in his hand. When he was addicted to alcohol, he would pour a few mouthfuls into his mouth to satisfy his craving.
"You know."
Kotoko Ishinaga looked at Drunkard in shock.
She and the director had speculated at the White Fox Law Firm that Masayoshi Kuda was missing and not dead. Yet, this drunkard in front of her actually insisted on it.
" Of course, offending the goddess is a curse. First, they go crazy, then they disappear. Even a girl like Masayoshi Kuda can't escape the goddess 'curse.”
" He's really crazy about money. He…he even dared to touch the Goddess Temple…"
Hearing Wine Meng's words, Yuan felt as if she had grasped a crucial point.
" Curse of the Goddess, Temple of the Goddess…"
Then, Yuan asked,""Tell me more about the Goddess 'Curse and the Goddess Temple.”At the same time, he handed over a note with a large face value.
Wine Meng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took it and placed it in his waist pouch. After looking around and seeing that there was no one around, he muttered softly.
"Regarding the Goddess 'Curse and the Goddess Temple, we need to start from the legend of the Goddess that has been passed down in our Wild Fishing Town.”
" Legend has it that a long time ago, the exact era of the incident could not be verified. Back then, the ghosts and monsters were far more reckless than now. They treated us humans as livestock that could be slaughtered at will, and everyone lived in despair..."
This was the legendary period of the goddess.
Both Ishinaga Kotoko and Yuanyumo had a rough guess.
A thousand years ago, during the Heian Era, there were demons and monsters, and hundreds of ghosts walked at night…During the rampant period, humans only dared to go out during the day and could only pray that they would not be targeted by ghosts at night.
" And…and at this time, a goddess descended upon our Wild Fishing Town. Not only did she eliminate all the lurking ghosts in the town, but she also planted a divine tree in the town to prevent our town from being invaded by ghosts. She…"
" Divine Tree?!!"
Kotomi Yanyong and Yuanyumo looked at each other. Clearly, they had the same thoughts.
This scene…
It was very similar to the wedding dress tree at that time. It could also protect the town from being invaded by ghosts. It was also made by others, but one of the protagonists was a noble lady and the other was a goddess.
This was probably the source of the familiarity between Wild Fishing Town and Qingrao Village.
"Please continue…"
Yuan said.
Wine Meng took a sip of the wine in the wine pot and moistened his throat before saying,"Speaking of the Divine Tree, I think it's just an old tree that has lived for a long time. I used to think so, but after the incident with the Kuda family, I changed my mind.”
"In the legends of the goddess, the goddess left not long after planting the goddess…Our ancestors transformed the place where the goddess temporarily lived into a female temple and even erected a statue of the goddess.”
" As for the Kuda family, even I can only say that they brought this upon themselves. Mr. Kuda is a famous scholar in Wild Fishing Town. He is a good person, but he likes to compare himself too much. He insisted that his daughter, Masayoshi Kuda, enter the school affiliated to the Peak City University. That is a famous aristocratic school. It is not something that we can afford..."
The school fees of Feng City University were not cheap.
On this point, Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuanyumo, former students of Feng City University's affiliated school, had the most say. Just one year's tuition fees alone was enough for a middle-class family to save for several years.
Now that she thought about it-
It was indeed unreasonable for Masayoshi Kuda, who was born in Wild Fishing Town, to be able to enter the school affiliated to the Peak City University.
" In order to let his daughter, Masayoshi Kuda, enter the school affiliated to the Feng City University, Mr. Kuda stole the antiques from the Goddess Temple while guarding the temple. By the way, you two are outsiders and don't know about 'guarding the temple'. Our Wild Fishing Town has a tradition. Every family will send a male to guard the Goddess Temple for a month..."
As Wine Meng spoke, he would occasionally look in the northwest direction. It was the same direction that the old man looked in when he was terrified.
This meant that…
The Goddess Temple and the so-called Divine Tree were in the northwest direction.
" Therefore, after Kuda's father stole the ancient relics of the Goddess Temple, he sold them and sent Kuda to the school affiliated to the Peak City University.”
Kotomi Ikenaga said.
Wine Meng nodded." At first, we thought that the small town was stolen by a thief from outside when we were negligent in guarding the temple. Until a year ago, the Goddess Temple was stolen again. This time, it was said that the antiques that were stolen were left behind by the Goddess. Although the antiques that were stolen before were not bad, most of them were worshiped by our ancestors. As for the antiques that the Goddess left behind, they had been passed down for a long time. At least, they existed before the Goddess Temple was built. A real treasure."
" At that time, Wild Fishing Town caused a great sensation..."
"What is it like? The thing that was stolen this time?"
Yuan asked.
"It's two hairpins. They're extremely exquisite hairpins that haven't decayed even after countless years. Even if those who know nothing about them know that they're extremely precious treasures, the main reason we guard the temple is to prevent thieves from stealing them.”
As expected--
A flash of understanding appeared in the eyes of Yuan and Ishinaga Kotoko. They had finally found the origin of the hairpin.
" Then, how did you find out that it was Masayoshi Kuda's father who stole the antiques from the Goddess Temple? Also, you haven't told me about the Goddess 'curse…"
Kotomi warned.
" Actually, you should know the rest of the story. After the theft of the hairpin, Mr. Kuda's personality changed drastically, and then Mrs. Kuda... It was as if Masayoshi Kuda had noticed something and left Wild Fishing Town early. Not long after Masayoshi Kuda left, Mr. and Mrs. Kuda went completely crazy. They began to become like wild beasts, unable to communicate with each other, and even ate blood. We had no choice but to lock them up.”
" It was also here that we found a small portion of the antiques stolen from the temple, including a hairpin, in Mr. Kuda's house. The news about the Kuda family offending the goddess and being cursed spread like wildfire.”
" And, the most terrifying thing was that within a few days, Mr. and Mrs. Kuda, who were locked up, disappeared without a trace.”
Wine Meng's words also revealed a trace of fear.
As one of the younger members of Wild Fishing Town, he was the one who imprisoned Mr. and Mrs. Kuda with a few people who were about the same age. The two living people disappeared without a trace under his eyes, and now he felt a lingering fear just thinking about it.
Immediately, Wine Meng suppressed his fear and sighed." The curse of the goddess, coupled with the strange disappearance of a supernatural event, has caused the Kuda family to become a taboo topic in our wild fishing town.”
The general situation-
Yuan understood what was going on, but there was a key point in Wine Meng's words that he had to pay attention to.
"You mean…you found a hairpin in Jiutian's house?”
"Yes, but I don't know where the other hairpin is. It was completely unknown whether it was sold by Mr. Kuda or taken away by Ms. Kuda. At that time, in order to return this hairpin to the Goddess Temple and pray for the Goddess 'forgiveness, we held a three-day ceremony. In this era of supernatural revival, no one dared to go out at night. Even the house of the Kuda family was burned down by us to appease the Goddess' anger.”
"So there are three of these hairpins.”
Yuan muttered to herself.
"What three?"
Wine Meng asked curiously.
"I'm fine. Thank you for your cooperation."
"Sure, sure." Drunkard chuckled as he counted the money in his hand. Seeing that there was nothing else for him to do, he didn't know where to go to buy more wine.
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