Chapter 194: Yuki

Chapter 194: Yuki

“We will arrange for someone to meet up with you next, Osawa. You just need to figure out a way to get him onto the island.”

Osawa Kyotaro only knew this much information. He was not even clear about who he was dealing with.

But Osawa Kyotaro did not care about this issue at all. The other party had given him a large sum of money, which helped him pay off his debts. Osawa was no fool; he just kept his mouth shut and handled the matter.

“Are you Mr. Osawa? It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Fang Jing was also very clear about Osawa Kyotaro’s information. In fact, he was the one who personally selected him—the breakthrough point in Professor Horikawa’s archaeology team.

Horikawa Shinjo was a well-known professor in the archaeology field, a scholarly researcher with a rigorous style and a steady personality. He himself was a difficult target to break through.

Under Horikawa Shinjo, there were several teaching assistants and Osawa Kyotaro, a teacher. These individuals were potential directions to choose from.

Among them, Osawa was the primary target because he had embezzled the budget and had bad habits like gambling, playing Pachinko, and betting on horse racing.

“Pleasure to meet you!”

Osawa first gave a dry laugh, then put on a serious face and said, “By the way, Kume, let’s talk about the main matter now.”

“…”

Sensing the seriousness in Osawa Kyotaro’s tone, Fang Jing nodded slightly.

“I arranged an identity for you, saying you are my nephew. You came here to help during this period. Don’t worry, this identity is not a problem. No one will ask too much about you. Even if someone does, don’t reveal anything…”

“Okay.”

Fang Jing reluctantly nodded.

The two exchanged information again, aligned their stories, and fabricated a set of excuses to avoid contradictions if questioned.

After this brief conversation, the two moved forward on the asphalt road where there were no cars.

The weather was extremely hot. Even though the shade from the locust trees by the roadside provided some cover, the heat was still unbearable.

Yamaryo University in Koizawa City was a higher education institution with a hundred-year history. It had about 20,000 students, a beautiful campus environment, and excellent teachers with years of teaching experience. The quality of the faculty was guaranteed.

In terms of hardware, the school had advanced facilities such as a library, a network center, sports venues, student dormitories, and student canteens, which were comfortable and clean. Yamaryo University also had an affiliated high school and an affiliated kindergarten.

The school’s mission was “Benevolence, Trust, Sincerity, and Love.” The school emphasized student autonomy, kept up with the times, and strived to cultivate talents who could adapt to the changing demands of the era.

The archaeology department at Yamaryo was also a very famous one. Among the current professors in the archaeology department, Horikawa Shinjo was the top-ranked and highly renowned. In his early years, he participated in the excavation of the Munakata-Okinoshima ritual treasures in the Genkai Nada Sea, about 60 kilometers from Kyushu.

It was precisely because of that archaeological activity that Professor Horikawa became widely famous.

“Including you, there are twelve people in total. Did you bring all your luggage?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.”

Osawa continued speaking. At 3 p.m., the entire team would take a bus from Koizawa City to a neighboring city with a port, then board a ship to Yūmi Island.

Yūmi Island was a small island near the Izu Islands. Most areas of the island were undeveloped, preserving the original scenery of forests and coastlines.

In earlier years, fishermen lived on the island, but as time passed, apart from the followers of the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect, even wild animals were rarely seen.

“Osawa, so this is the nephew you brought along? Haha, he really looks talented, not much like you…”

After boarding the bus, Fang Jing and Osawa Kyotaro greeted another associate professor who was part of the twelve-member team.

This associate professor’s surname was “Tomatsu.” He was a somewhat round-looking uncle, wearing a pair of round glasses, and his entire person had a round appearance.

“Hahaha! He’s a kid from my hometown. He wanted to find a job during the summer vacation to get some early exposure to society. I thought it was a good opportunity, so I asked him to come and help.”

Osawa had a smile on his face and patted Fang Jing’s shoulder, asking him to sit in the back seat of the bus.

At the back of the bus were several university students. They were gathered in small groups, either playing cards, chatting, or on their phones.

For everyone on the bus, this was likely an ordinary journey.

Only Fang Jing had a faint feeling that this trip would not be as peaceful as these people imagined.

—————-

The sea breeze brushed against his sweaty forehead, taking away the body’s heat.

After the initial discomfort of boarding the ship subsided, Yuki gradually felt like enjoying the scenery.

Seagulls cried, and before him lay the sea view of the Izu Peninsula. However, now that he was on the ship, looking up at the sea not far away, what replaced it were boats floating on the water.

Fishing boats and small boats were stacked layer upon layer, like reclaimed land.

A transport ship was also docked in one corner of the port.

The sunset had already fallen on the sparkling sea.

On the dock, workers were doing their final tasks. After nightfall, there would not be many people at the port.

“Are we going to Yūmi Island next—?”

A hint of hesitation appeared in Yuki’s eyes.

He raised his wrist to look at his watch. It was five minutes to six.

Yesterday at 3 p.m., all the staff at the newspaper went to the conference room for a meeting.

He was stopped by the editor-in-chief, Kio.

“Yuki, what news have you been working on recently?”

…What’s up?

Yuki was stunned for a moment, but he still answered honestly.

“It’s about the bankruptcy of the Susukino company. I found out that the company will apply for bankruptcy according to legal procedures tomorrow. The total debt is over 600 billion yen…”

A single company applying for bankruptcy was not a big deal, but what Yuki focused on was that the real owner behind the company named Susukino was a state minister.

This was his conclusion based on insider information and his intuition as a journalist. If it was really as he expected, then this matter was not that simple…

Editor-in-chief Kio said in a low voice, “I see. Leave that case aside for now. I’ll have Miyawaki take over.”

Yuki carefully glanced at the ashtray on the editor-in-chief’s desk. It was full of cigarette butts, like a sea urchin.

“You mean letting Miyawaki take over my work…”

“Last time, when you were covering the story about the local councilor’s only son hitting and killing someone with his car, you were almost targeted by gangsters. If it weren’t for the passing students, you would probably be in the hospital by now.”

Hearing the editor-in-chief’s words, Yuki could only smile bitterly.

He was probably worried about him from another angle.

…It was a hit-and-run caused by street racing. The driver was the son of a local councilor. After hitting and killing someone, that good-for-nothing son leisurely drove a second-tier actress to a bar for drinks, then returned to his high-end apartment for fun.

It was not until the next day that the police carried the drunk councilor’s son out of his apartment.

What Yuki was truly interested in was not the councilor’s son, but the councilor himself. He had visited one of the councilor’s mansions, a super luxurious residence built in the expensive metropolitan area.

To be honest, a councilor’s salary was not that high, and Yuki clearly knew that this councilor had no additional income.

But what was puzzling was that he could own over ten similar mansions in his electoral district, Tokyo, and various places at home and abroad.

Once, the councilor lost three million dollars at a casino in the Philippines and paid it off on the same day he returned to the country.

No one knew where such a large amount of money came from.

“He must have a tree in his backyard that grows money, cultivated by artificial acceleration. That’s the only way this local councilor could spend so lavishly…”

That was what Miyawaki, the young reporter working on the case with him, said at the time.

“Alright, it’s fine to let Miyawaki handle it.”

Miyawaki was three years younger than him, a passionate and energetic journalist. Whenever Yuki saw Miyawaki, he felt like he was looking at his younger self.

—Bold and driven, overflowing with a sense of justice.

If the case was handed over to Miyawaki, he would not complain.

“But you didn’t call me over just for this, right?”

Editor-in-chief Kio had called him over, probably for another reason.

He was familiar with his old boss’s habits. If the boss specifically called him, there was probably another task to assign.

“Do you remember three years ago, when you and Maeda worked together and went to Hakone for an interview—?”

When Kio mentioned “Maeda,” Yuki’s heart skipped a beat.

Maeda was a senior who had always worked at the main office. After the incident three years ago, he left the newspaper and became a freelance journalist.

But something happened recently. For some reason, Senior Maeda suddenly went missing.

Yuki remembered that a few days ago, he specially visited the Maeda family to see Maeda’s wife—Mrs. Tamako—and their daughter, who was still in high school.

They chatted for a while, and it seemed Mrs. Tamako also had no idea why her husband had disappeared.

…

“Are you referring to the murder case involving the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect?”

“That wasn’t a murder case, was it? After the police closed the case, they said it was not intentional murder.”

“Even if it wasn’t intentional harm, it was still a terrible incident. Under the guise of faith healing, they abused the patient to death. In the end, only one person involved in the case received a light sentence.”

Yuki sneered, “Our country’s laws really only care about the human rights of criminals, completely ignoring the victims and their families.”

Originally, based on the police and witnesses’ testimonies, the people involved in the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect would likely have been given heavy sentences.

But somehow, the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect managed to do something afterward, and the court’s ruling was clearly lenient.

“…”

Editor-in-chief Kio did not say much. As an old editor, he had probably seen it all when it came to such vicious incidents and the wicked trends in society.

“The Shinzaki Tenrikyo Sect proactively contacted our newspaper this time, inviting us to visit Yūmi Island.”

“Yūmi… Island? What is that place?”

“It’s an isolated island in the Izu area, bought at a high price by the Shinzaki Tenrikyo Cult. It’s like the private kingdom of the founder, Hayashizaki Ichi.”

“Hmph… Do they want us to promote the cult?”

“Pretty much, but this is also a good opportunity.”

Editor-in-chief Kio clasped his hands together and said in a low voice, “For us, this is also a good chance to fight back against them.”

Probably because of this last sentence, Yuki was stirred. He did not attend the following meeting. Instead, he actively gathered information and decided the next day to go to Yūmi Island.

“Wow—! The sea view here is really nice.”

The ship had officially started sailing on the sea. Yuki originally thought there were only himself and a few other passengers, but after a quick glance, he realized it was a group of university students.

“All young people? How lively…”

Yuki took a cigarette out of the pack. The sea breeze blew in through the open window, and his hair fluttered in the wind.