Chapter 193: Entering the Island

The documents that Ōsumi brought were related to the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect on Yūmi Island.

To be precise, they were insider information about this.

It must be known that over the past few months, Fang Jing was not idle.

He also used various methods to inquire about Yūmi Island and the Shinzaki Tenrikyo on the island.

And the information that Ōsumi recently gave him was particularly important.

Returning to his home, Fang Jing sat on his own bed and looked through this information.

Because the Shinzaki Tenrikyo was a strange organization, the entire island was in a state completely closed off from the outside world.

Due to this factor, what exactly happened on the island was almost impossible for outsiders to know.

The Shinzaki Tenrikyo also refused visits from outsiders, and the entire island became like an isolated “private kingdom.”

“Archaeological findings on Yūmi Island?”

He flipped to one of the pages, and his tone became a bit surprised.

This part of the information clearly revealed this, and it was currently the island’s biggest secret.

It was said that about half a year ago, some ruins from the Asuka period were discovered on the island.

The Shinzaki Tenrikyo seemed to intentionally prevent outsiders from accessing this information and had blocked the news.

In private, this sect sent people to secretly carry out excavations, and during this period, they were unusually contacting a professor from a university’s archaeology department.

“So… the Shinzaki Tenrikyo might have discovered something on the island. And for this, the closed-off cult organization even made special contact with the outside…”

Fang Jing felt an inexplicable stir inside. He guessed that the ancient ruins discovered by the Shinzaki Tenrikyo might have some connection to the “wedge” he was pursuing.

(Is there some hidden connection between Yūmi Island and the Ichinose Apartment? I think I should make time to go to that island and investigate the actual situation…)

The trip to Yūmi Island was inevitable, but Fang Jing himself was also carefully considering how to proceed. The island might be full of mysteries, and there was a high possibility of encountering strange phenomena or bizarre attacks.

“This time, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect discovered the ruins on the island, which might be an opportunity. In any case, I need to prepare to enter the island…”

It was an island completely closed off to the outside, controlled by a cult organization, and considered private property. Using force to get on was not an option.

The Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect was a new religious group.

With the progress and development of Japan’s social economy after the war, people’s lives improved greatly, but this improvement was only on a material level.

During the rapid process of urbanization, a marginalized group of people also emerged. Some were marginalized due to life circumstances, some due to dissatisfaction with social changes or other spiritual reasons, and some because they or their family members had incurable illnesses.

Since they could not find spiritual comfort in traditional religions, some new religions emerged to fill this need.

According to statistics from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, there were over 5,000 such small religious groups registered in the 1980s, and today, the number of these new religious groups has multiplied several times.

However, in Fang Jing’s view, this religious group was more like a “cult.” Of course, from a legal standpoint, the establishment of the Shinzaki Tenrikyo was not problematic.

But through continuous information gathering, Fang Jing also learned about some of the dark secrets of this sect.

For example, high membership fees and forced monthly donations from followers.

Moreover, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo also had publishing ventures, releasing various religious publications and books, all of which could generate large amounts of money.

Additionally, this sect ran hospitals, schools, and insurance businesses and also raised funds through the Shinzaki Institute Foundation.

Furthermore, the organization’s leadership had political ambitions. With a large number of followers, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo was very attractive to political parties seeking votes.

On the other hand, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo had also been involved in multiple lawsuits, including financial disputes with followers, high-level members involved in large-scale fraud cases, and sect members performing unauthorized medical treatments on fellow believers, resulting in deaths.

It was said that the sect’s headquarters were originally located in the Hakone area, and they moved to Yūmi Island for this reason.

One problem that was giving Fang Jing a headache was that getting onto the island was a bit troublesome.

The island refused outside visitors, and moreover, he needed to stay on the island for an extended period to complete his investigation and exploration, so he needed an identity that would allow him to move around freely.

Thinking about it this way, he could only focus his target in this direction.

“…Horikawa Shinjo, professor of archaeology at Yamaryo University in Kozawa City.”

A faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of Fang Jing’s mouth.

——————————

The summer sun was scorching, and the cicadas were chirping loudly.

But even on such a blazing hot day, Fang Jing braved the intense sun and arrived near Yamaryo University in Kozawa City.

After figuring things out, he began making arrangements and prepared to reach Yamaryo University in Kozawa City.

However, he did not come here to meet with Horikawa Shinjo, the archaeology professor at Yamaryo University.

He had originally considered this because, during this period, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo seemed to be inviting Horikawa Shinjo to the island to investigate the ruins.

It was obvious that such investigation work could not be done by just one or two people.

Fang Jing wanted to sneak into Horikawa Shinjo’s archaeology team, but later he discovered that Horikawa Shinjo was a rather rigid, strict scholar. Trying to get into his team through him directly would be very difficult.

However, switching focus and targeting the personnel under Horikawa Shinjo was much simpler.

As he was walking up the slope leading to Yamaryo University, someone called out to him.

“Oh! You must be Mr. Kume, right?”

A man, panting heavily, hurried over from the side.

“Yes, I am ‘Kume.'”

Hearing someone call his fake surname, Fang Jing narrowed his eyes slightly and looked the man up and down.

This was a man wearing a patterned shirt with a very frivolous demeanor. He was a lecturer at Yamaryo University, Osawa Kyotaro.

Although he held the title of lecturer, Osawa was obsessed with playing Pachinko and betting on horse racing. Due to his personal interests, he had accumulated large debts.

Osawa Kyotaro even embezzled the budget from his own archaeology department to pay off his debts.

But recently, the university had been auditing the budgets.

Osawa Kyotaro was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. If his deeds were discovered, going to jail and serving time would be almost unavoidable.

It was at this time that a remarkably capable person appeared and told him that he could repay his debts and also cover the embezzled budget.

However, the other party seemed to have a small request.

And this request was to bring one person along when Horikawa Shinjo was invited to Yūmi Island.