Chapter 198: Yūmi Island (Part Four)
Chapter 198: Yūmi Island (Part Four)
The interview was finally over.
Shusu Yuki was pretty exhausted too.
“Let us conclude today’s meeting—!”
“Hayashizaki Ichi”, hooked up to a breathing device, ended the meeting.
Soon, a door in the completely sealed room across the tempered glass was pushed open. A girl dressed in white appeared inside the room.
This was the collective attire of the believers on the island.
She gave a slight bow to Hayashizaki Ichi, nodded her head at Yuki on the other side of the glass, then walked quietly behind him. She slowly pushed his wheelchair out of the room.
Shusu Yuki yawned and prepared to leave the building. This was the largest house on Yūmi Island, a mansion with white painted walls. Its style was rather antique. Behind it, the eaves of several houses connected, and the surrounding evergreen plants grew extremely dense, as if the entire property was shrouded in thick greenery.
“Thud!”
Just after stepping outside, he couldn’t help but rub the back of his head. He turned around and looked down, surprised to find a small paper ball had been tossed from an upper window, hitting him squarely on the back of his head.
He picked up the paper ball from the ground and unfolded it.
“Meet at Demon Gate Cave, northeast corner, midnight.”
What’s this…
Yuki froze for a moment. But his reaction was quick. He swiftly hid the note on his person, turned, and left without looking back.
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“So, there was some false alarm today?”
During the meal, Osawa Kyotaro slid over to Fang Jing’s side with a mysterious air.
“Heard from the student group… a guy named Azasa said he saw a dead body.”
“A dead body—?!”
Fang Jing was momentarily stunned.
However, he quickly composed himself. He figured that if a real murder had happened, the college students in the cafeteria wouldn’t be so calm, chatting and laughing nearby.
“Since it’s called a false alarm, that means it wasn’t real…”
“Right. Later, Yuki and some others went to check it out. Didn’t find anything unusual.”
After saying this, Osawa slipped away quietly.
Fang Jing ate his coffee rice, pondering the information he’d gathered that day.
Shusu Yuki seemed to have become a bit odd after returning from the “Shrine”.
After dinner, Fang Jing pretended to sleep on his bed. He wasn’t really asleep; he suspected Yuki might be up to something that night.
As night fell, the sky began to change, and the sweltering heat turned damp, signaling a shift in the air’s humidity.
At midnight, Shusu Yuki, who had been lying on his side on the bed, rose.
He quietly put on his coat, tiptoed to the door, pushed it open, and slipped outside.
“Finally making his move, huh?”
Fang Jing also got out of bed.
He was very curious about Shusu Yuki’s actions.
So he got dressed, made sure the windows and doors were closed, and rigged a small trick on his door to prevent anyone from sneaking in later to check if he or Shusu Yuki were asleep.
Shusu Yuki hadn’t learned any tracking or counter-tracking techniques. Once outside his residence, he followed a mountain path, moved onto a fork in the road, looked around, and headed towards the forest.
The verdant forest sat at the island’s center. It seemed the place Yuki was heading to required passing through this forest.
“Strange—? Shusu Yuki seems to be going northeast… meaning… no, probably towards the ‘Demon Gate’ at the northeast corner… meaning…”
He naturally remembered clearly what Kuzunoki, a leader of the Shinzaki Tenrikyo, had said after they arrived on the island.
Kuzunoki had stated that the cliff to the northeast was a forbidden territory, off-limits to trespassers.
“Shusu must know this too, yet he came here. Seems there must be a reason.”
Fang Jing continued to follow Shusu Yuki. The former had no idea someone was tailing him.
On this isolated sea island, a pale blue moonlight bathed the scene, making the night hazy.
Dark clouds were drifting across the night sky from the other end.
After walking for about ten minutes, they finally emerged from the forest. Shusu Yuki stepped from the darkness into a wide basin surrounded by towering cliffs on three sides, with sparse trees scattered around. The sight felt very enclosed.
He followed a winding mountain path upwards. It was built as stone steps, a pilgrim path laid with bluestone slabs.
A short flight of stone steps ended at a standing Torii gate. Yuki exhaled a deep breath from his lungs.
He looked up, knowing that above the pilgrim path stood a small shrine.
This shrine was located in the “Demon Gate” direction, built by fishermen long ago.
Behind the shrine was a sea cave. The cave was small and unremarkable.
He checked his wristwatch and confirmed it was exactly midnight.
“The person who gave me the note should be here. Just who could it be?”
Shusu Yuki felt it was probably not a trap.
Furthermore, it was unlikely the cult and its Founder, Hayashizaki Ichi, who’d invited the newspaper reporter, would set something like this up.
After talking with Hayashizaki Ichi, Shusu Yuki understood the man’s real motive: he simply wanted the newspaper’s coverage to boost his “fame”.
For the increasingly prominent Shinzaki Tenrikyo, using the paper that had previously reported the “Hakone Incident” to rekindle interest in the cult would surely spark a wave of buzz centered around “Shinzaki Tenrikyo”.
“Hayashizaki Ichi didn’t seem to have any particularly sinister intentions.”
However, from Shusu Yuki’s perspective, his purpose on the island was always to expose the cult’s true nature.
The closer his reporting matched reality, the better his chance of uncovering the truth that Shinzaki Tenrikyo was actually a “cult”.
Thinking of this, the journalist’s sense of justice seemed to ignite again within him.
He roused himself, slapped his own cheeks lightly, and strode towards the shrine.
The narrow yard was overgrown with thick green shadows. Untended for a long time, the shrine was desolate, surrounded by bushes and wild grass.
A moss-covered stone lantern lay fallen on the ground, a cycad growing beside it.
He saw a cave entrance at one end behind the shrine, right next to the main hall – a dark opening like a gaping mouth.
But a light shone from within the cave entrance.
It was an old camping lantern. Its light was only visible upon getting close to the cave.
“Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Shusu.”
Standing by the cave entrance was a girl. She had beautiful long black hair, her bangs cut straight across at her brow level.
Her features were delicate and fine, like crystal or glass crafts.
She was clearly dressed as a believer of Shinzaki Tenrikyo. Under her white robes, her plump chest seemed to rise unnaturally, as if emphasizing this dynamic, ample flesh, starkly contrasting with her finely crafted, beautiful appearance.
Just standing there, she radiated a quiet gentle aura.
“My family name is Hayasaka. I am Hayasaka Muko. Hello, Mr. Shusu.”
It was her.
Yuki recognized her. She was the girl he’d seen earlier, the one who’d pushed Hayashizaki Ichi’s wheelchair out of the room.
She must be a member of the cult.
“You know me.”
“Yes. Because of the ‘Hakone Incident’… I heard a little. You must understand, that incident is a bit of a taboo within the cult.”
“Given that, how exactly do you know about it?”
“Precisely because it’s taboo in the cult, I found opportunities to investigate. Thanks to that, I learned about you… and Mr. Maeda’s situation.”
Maeda was his former senior colleague, the other reporter who had investigated the Hakone Incident with him.
Hearing this girl, Hayasaka Muko, speak the name of the respected senior he looked up to, Shusu Yuki couldn’t help but feel a spark of curiosity about her.
“Alright. But I don’t understand, Miss Hayasaka, you specifically sought me out… is there something you need?”
Hayasaka Muko pressed her lips together tightly. She didn’t speak. Just bowed her head nervously, her expression turning very tense.
Yuki noticed how stiff the girl looked. He said gently, his voice calm, “Don’t be so tense, Miss Hayasaka. Since you asked me here, you must have something important to tell me. Whatever you want to say, I promise no one besides me will ever know.”
“Then, Mr. Shusu, could you… come a little closer?”
Her lowered fingers twitched slightly. She raised her head, her eyes locked intently on him.
Yuki was unsettled by her grave, serious expression.
In that sudden moment, she stepped forward and embraced Shusu Yuki.
The reporter was shocked. His resistance was weak because, at first, he didn’t wholly grasp what was happening.
Hayasaka Muko brought her face closer, chasing his as he instinctively tried to turn away.
What—?
What on earth was she doing?
Their lips met. Yuki tasted the girl’s lips and lost himself for an instant.
No, saying he was swept away wouldn’t be an overstatement.
Hayasaka Muko began to undo the white robe she wore. The elegant curve of her body, from her slender, white neck down to her smooth skin and curving form, was revealed before his eyes.
This snapped him back to reality. He realized exactly what was unfolding.
He abruptly pushed the girl away from him.
Dammit! What am I doing… this girl was probably only a few years older than his own daughter, Hina. Hina was still in junior high. This girl was likely a high school student.
Thinking of his daughter, remembering he was already a father, finally brought him back to his senses.
“Miss Hayasaka, what are you doing?”
He let out a long breath. “Don’t do unexpected things like this. If you keep behaving strangely, I’ll have to return to my residence.”
Hayasaka Muko sat on the ground, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, beginning to sob. Yuki felt flustered. He cautiously moved closer to comfort her.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shusu… but… I truly didn’t know what else to do… I’ve nothing else to offer… only this way, to ask you… to take me away from this island?”
“Stop crying.”
Yuki sighed.
“If you truly wish to leave this island, I will certainly find a way for you… but before that, you must tell me… what exactly is going on?”
It took a while for Hayasaka Muko to stop crying. She wiped her eyes and said softly, “My mother’s name is Hayasaka Taeko. And my father… is Hayashizaki Ichi. I am that man’s illegitimate daughter.”