Chapter 78: Kagome Hall (Part 6)
Chapter 78: Kagome Hall (Part 6)
Shikatori’s actions naturally caught Fang Jing’s attention.
He also noticed that a few others looked a bit strange too. Among them were three people: Old Man Qiao, President Utsumi, and Butler Saeki.
Old Man Qiao coughed once to hide his odd behavior. Beside him, President Utsumi quickly put on a blank face. As for Butler Saeki, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
“Fuyuko, you shouldn’t go to the back mountain next time. After it rains, the slope becomes dangerous. You should be more careful.”
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi was good at reading people’s expressions. He clearly noticed the change in the three people’s faces and understood something, but he didn’t point it out. Instead, he smoothly changed the subject.
“I remember that Madam Fumiko recently appeared on that show called ‘Super Modern Times.’ I even recorded it on purpose…”
“That’s right… I watched that episode too. I saw it three times from start to finish… because that episode had A·D1 Agency’s Jin Shēn Mǎ and Rogers as guests. That episode was really amazing.”
“Hehe! It was just that a friend invited me to be a guest.”
Madam Fumiko grinned, showing her bright red lips, and said with a laugh: “I didn’t know that your favorite stars are Jin and Rogers, Fuyuko. Speaking of which, I have their autographed photos.”
“Wow! Please, I must see them!”
When the topic turned to something she loved, Nagakabe Fuyuko’s eyes sparkled like stars.
Fujimatsuri also seized the moment and stirred up the conversation, chatting with others about other fun topics. This helped ease the awkwardness that had just arisen from the earlier subject.
“Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi is such a smooth talker. Luckily, with him at the table, the situation didn’t get too awkward…”
He noticed that Shikatori, who had originally wanted to lead the conversation, was now speaking less. He grew quiet, and his gaze turned a bit darker.
Fang Jing frowned slightly, but after thinking it over, he decided it was none of his business. He didn’t need to worry about these people’s affairs, and there was no need to think too much about it…
After dinner ended, everyone had different plans. Fujimatsuri intended to take two friends out. They would go down the mountain and drive to the city.
Fujimatsuri and his two friends, Nagakabe Fuyuko and Watanabe, were all college students from a university in a neighboring city. Since they had come to this city, they naturally wanted to go out and have some fun.
Utsumi, Shikatori, and a man named Toriumi Kotaro planned to continue their card game.
Old Man Qiao seemed unable to stay up late and was going back to his room to rest.
Butler Saeki and his granddaughter had things to do. Another woman, Madam Esumi, hadn’t shown up since the meal was served. It was said that she went to take care of Tsurutada, who had been hiding in his room all along.
Madam Fumiko needed to do her nightly beauty routine and was also preparing to return to her room. Before leaving, she told Fang Jing that he could come to her room, and she would be happy to give him a free fortune-telling.
“You are very welcome to come…”
As she went upstairs, she didn’t forget to give him a flirtatious glance, which made Fang Jing shiver and feel a bit scared.
(Staying in this big mansion feels a bit stifling. I should go out for a walk and practice some boxing!)
Being inside the mansion gave him an indescribable, uncomfortable feeling.
Fang Jing planned to take a short walk nearby. He had no intention of going to the back mountain. From the expressions of Shikatori and the others, it seemed there might be some problem with the back mountain.
…As for whether there were buried bodies or hidden treasures in the back mountain, these were not things Fang Jing cared much about. He just wanted to honestly look at the owner’s collection. He had no interest in mysterious events or detective story plots.
Passing through the front yard and the flower garden, he found a small, undisturbed wooded area around Kagome Hall, which was a bit lower than the slope.
When Fang Jing walked over, he found the space was quite open, but it sloped a bit to the right. Not far to the side was a patch of dark, dense trees.
“Aishū Village has no lights at all.”
From here, he could also see Aishū Village below. The village was completely silent, without even a faint light to be seen.
It was still early, but the lights in Aishū Village down the mountain had all gone out.
“Kagome Hall… Aishū Village. I feel like there’s some connection between the two?”
The mansion deliberately built in the shape of a hexagram, and the strange attitude of the ordinary villagers in Aishū Village, made him feel quite puzzled.
Faintly, there was a sound.
He tilted his head to listen and found that the sound seemed to be coming from the dark trees nearby.
Fang Jing didn’t think too much about it and walked straight toward that direction.
“…Is that her?”
It was an unexpected person. It should be that Toriumi man’s daughter—Toriumi Arisu.
The girl… Toriumi Arisu should be about the same age as him. She wore a light green blouse and denim overalls, with wine-red wavy hair falling in front of her chest and a beret on her head.
To be honest, Toriumi Arisu’s appearance didn’t look like a local; instead, she had a mixed-race feel.
Her delicate face, pointed chin, and tea-red curly hair were all very striking.
Especially her wine-red long hair—he initially thought it was dyed, but when he got closer, he realized it might be her natural hair color.
“What is she doing…?”
Toriumi Arisu was sitting in a duck-sitting pose. Fang Jing soon noticed that there was something like a cane on her right side.
There was a rustling sound on the grass as she shifted to a kneeling position, clasped her hands together, and made this gesture toward a tree hollow, which made Fang Jing even more curious.
“You… are Toriumi Arisu, right? What are you doing here?”
“There is a tree hollow here…”
Toriumi Arisu lowered her hands. Her voice was surprisingly pleasant.
Earlier in Kagome Hall, she had been very quiet and rarely spoke. When she suddenly spoke, Fang Jing realized her voice was very clear and bright.
“I can see there’s a tree hollow, but what are you doing…”
“If you see there’s a tree hollow here, you should know what I’m doing.”
Her reply was straightforward and quite blunt. After saying this, she straightened up, picked up the cane from the ground, and began walking forward while tapping the ground with it.
Wait, could it be that Toriumi Arisu can’t see?!
Fang Jing, a bit curious, stretched out a hand and waved it in front of her eyes.
Sure enough, her eyes had no focus and didn’t follow the movement of his hand.
Smack!
The tip of the cane almost hit his waving hand.
“…I really can’t see, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel your hand waving around.”
Realizing the cane hadn’t hit him, Toriumi Arisu wrinkled her small, delicate nose slightly, pursed her lips, snorted, and walked past him.
Fang Jing also walked to the tree hollow and crouched down. He found a simple little shrine inside, with a stone-carved fox statue enshrined in it—a small fox stone carving, probably a local fox spirit or something similar, which was quite common in rural areas.
A piece of pastry was placed under the tree hollow, likely as an offering.
“…On a mountain like this, probably no one comes to make offerings to such a small shrine.”
Fang Jing muttered to himself out of habit.
The blind girl walked forward at a steady pace and spoke unhurriedly: “So isn’t it pitiful? They enshrine it on a whim… and then abandon it just as carelessly.”
This girl’s hearing is too sharp!
…Maybe because she can’t see, her hearing has become stronger!
Fang Jing shook his head. He stood up and instinctively glanced toward the direction of Kagome Hall.
At that very moment, he felt a cold gaze staring at him from afar.
He abruptly turned his head and looked toward Kagome Hall.
The second floor!
It should be on the second floor, at that window—there was the shadow of a woman.
Swish!
The next second, the figure disappeared from the second-floor window.