Chapter 122: Turning Up Empty
Chapter 122: Turning Up Empty
“I don’t understand what the stone pressing on top is meant for either. Actually, I’ll search elsewhere. Let’s split up. I’ll head to Building Two. You find Building One.”
“Focus on searching the top floor’s ‘stone’.”
“Can’t guarantee it’ll be on the top floor, check other areas too. No harm looking. And… if you find it, just leave it alone. Don’t touch it.”
“Got it.”
Compared to Karasawa, who was at least something of a Spirit Channeler, he himself knew nothing about these matters. Best not to act recklessly.
After parting ways with Karasawa Meisuke, he headed towards Building One, eventually reaching its top floor.
Not long after, he found something incredibly similar to the stone earlier. Under the stone lay a slip of paper with a line of writing.
His phone rang right at that moment.
“Any luck in Building One?”
“Found an exact copy.”
“Got it. I’ll handle Building Four myself. You head back now.”
The call from Karasawa Meisuke told him to return; Building Four would be checked by Karasawa.
Snap!
The lock on Building One’s rooftop door clicked open behind him. He faintly heard a noise and quickly turned around. At that exact moment, a Ghost-like girl appeared behind him.
Her footsteps were unexpectedly light, as if she hadn’t noticed anyone else on the rooftop.
Long, flowing hair paired with skin as flawless as white porcelain gave her a semi-transparent quality.
She moved slowly toward the edge of the roof then began climbing the safety railing, using both hands and feet.
Snap!
Just as she prepared to jump, someone grabbed her hand.
Puzzled, the girl turned her head and saw Fang Jing’s expressionless face.
“Go somewhere else if you want to kill yourself. If you jump, this hospital will have major trouble…”
Looking at her face, Fang Jing’s eyes widened. He frowned, unable to hold back, “Honestly didn’t expect to run into you here, ‘Top of the Grade’!”
“Huh? Um… Do we know each other?”
The Ghost girl looked at him with eyes that seemed perpetually sleepy. For some reason, her slender frame and innocent expression gave off a feeling both frail and dreamlike.
Truly, just like a Ghost – you felt she might vanish if you let go.
“Of course we do. The top student who’s dominated first place since freshman year. Most at Wu Long Middle School have surely heard of you, Sakuya-san.”
This “Ghost girl” wasn’t truly a Ghost. At least, “Nishizuka Tsukasa” knew her, and harbored deep animosity towards her.
Because the girl named “Sakuya Sakuya” had consistently stayed one step ahead of him since he started school, dominating the number one spot in their grade with overwhelming scores.
Sakuya always scored significantly higher on every test, leaving Nishizuka Tsukasa, the perpetual runner-up, far behind on the rankings.
“Huh…?”
Her finger touched her pink lips. Her slightly wavy long hair drifted down. Sakuya seemed to be thinking hard but still drew a blank after a moment.
“Nishizuka Tsukasa. That’s my name.”
Doesn’t even remember classmates from the same grade? Looks like being the eternal second place really made him invisible.
“Anyway, just get down from there first!”
From this angle, the view under her skirt was unmistakably clear.
Hearing him, the Ghost girl gave a small nod.
_________
Saying the name “Sakuya Sakuya,” Fang Jing could feel the stubborn emotions the original owner left deep within his consciousness.
It was a pitch-black will, lingering like stubborn residue inside him. This resulted in Fang Jing having a very strange attitude towards Sakuya.
For most boys at his school, Sakuya Sakuya was “the flower of the Alpine peak.” She possessed a dreamlike appearance and the speech and manners of a high-society lady.
She was the top academic student, rumored to be the granddaughter of a major industrialist. A foreign luxury car even picked her up from school. There were even whispers of a blonde foreign maid attending her.
Truthfully, most students only ever heard stories about her. Very few had actually interacted with her because the young lady had poor health – in her two years at the school so far, she’d mostly been away on sick leave.
She was in bad health, a typical sickly girl. Looking at this poised, beautiful, frail young lady was like gazing at a fragile piece of glass art.
Now, this young lady, dressed in a patient gown with a jacket draped over her shoulders, had inexplicably invited him into her private hospital room.
…This hospital actually had luxury private rooms like this?
Fang Jing was surprised as he glanced around. Calling it a hospital room felt insufficient. It was larger than shared wards.
Red carpet covered the floor. The furniture was neatly arranged: leather sofa, refrigerator, microwave, plasma TV – everything was present. Beyond that, a beautiful Japanese screen partition led to an ensuite bathroom complete with a sauna.
Another noticeable detail: the entire room was packed with Japanese dolls, piled densely on every piece of furniture.
Right now, it felt like the two of them were watched by a crowd of dolls. Entering this room felt strangely like being stared at by many pairs of eyes.
So, his gaze kept shifting towards the dolls.
“What’s wrong, Nishizuka-kun? Not having tea?”
Sakuya tilted her head, blinking. Her voice was as clear as a ringing bell.
“Thanks!”
He accepted the tea she offered. A blonde woman had brought it in moments ago. This golden-haired beauty with wavy hair wore a traditional Japanese maid’s outfit with an apron, giving off a unique vibe.
Strangely, this blonde maid shared a similar air to Sakuya Sakuya. She was equally beautiful and doll-like. Her golden hair was dazzling, even her eyelashes were pale gold.
“Miss Diana makes excellent tea. Please try to savor it.”
“Is Miss Diana your maid, Sakuya-san?”
“Hehe, maids are rare these days. Miss Diana is actually my grandfather’s assistant. That outfit is just… her personal interest!”
They chatted briefly before Fang Jing asked about the rooftop scene.
From Sakuya’s own words, he learned she’d been staying at this hospital for quite some time.
“First, let me ask, Sakuya-san. You weren’t actually planning to kill yourself back then, were you?”
He got straight to the point without preamble.
Sakuya Sakuya was indeed beautiful. Though some youthful innocence remained, in a few years, when fully mature, every expression or smile would likely be enough to drive most men crazy.
Somehow, being near her, Fang Jing found his own feelings becoming strangely intense. Dark, cloudy emotions churned deep inside him.
A sudden impulse hit him: to just lunge at her, this figure caught between girlhood and womanhood, and pin her to the floor. Even if she fought with all her strength, her struggles would be useless against his strength. Just like an unmovable doll.
(That’s right. She couldn’t possibly resist. If I wanted, overpowering a girl with my strength would be ridiculously easy.)
Whispering voices filled his mind, like someone murmuring beside him. A violent feeling bloomed within him.
“Ah… that was a misunderstanding. I just really like being high places, or sitting on building rooftops to see the view. It makes me feel calmer.”
She looked a bit embarrassed, lowering her head shyly. “Sorry about earlier. Made you worry.”
“It’s fine. But I’ve stayed too long already. I should get going.”
Fang Jing pulled back his thoughts. He didn’t plan to linger. He offered a polite farewell.
This room gave him the creeps. Hard to believe Sakuya actually lived here.
Only after leaving Sakuya’s room did he relax internally.
Inside that room, Fang Jing felt terrible. His mind felt wrong, flooded with dark intentions – pure killing intent.
He’d actually experienced the urge to rush at Sakuya, to snap her fragile limbs, punch her, slash her beautiful face bloody with something sharp, tear open her stomach, pull out her organs… terrifying thoughts. No. This way of thinking wasn’t normal. Even if the original Nishizuka held a grudge against Sakuya, he wouldn’t think about killing her. Where was this dull, dark feeling really coming from?
“…Are the dolls in that room not normal? Or did something affect me?”
Perhaps Sakuya Sakuya herself was the problem.
Fang Jing shook his head. He decided it was best to avoid any future dealings with this girl called Sakuya.
_________
“So, how did it go?”
As soon as he returned and met up again with Karasawa, Fang Jing asked directly.
“Hard to say… At least, the hospital itself doesn’t seem to have any serious issues.”
Karasawa’s expression was calm, his tone serious. “The hospital gives a very relaxed feeling too. Even the uncomfortable ‘deathly aura’ is faint.”
“Then how do you explain those stones and the note?”
“I still don’t understand their purpose either. But the hospital’s environmental change probably links to those stones.”
What confused Karasawa most was that those stones seemed to perform some function. They tweaked the environmental energy flow, altering the area’s atmosphere.
He couldn’t grasp their true purpose though. He could only roughly conclude these stones weren’t malicious.
“So, you and Toriumi-san managed to meet that little girl named Chieko?”
“We did meet her, but that little girl didn’t seem very unusual.”
Karasawa continued, “She isn’t like me, someone with Spirit-sensing abilities. That child has autism. As for what Nurse Kotono-san said earlier… I think we shouldn’t accept it completely. She might have just linked unrelated events through her own imagination.”
Questioning little Chieko would be pointless too. An autistic child, she didn’t speak a word to Toriumi or Karasawa.
“Did you find Chieko-chan’s ‘drawings’?”
“Thrown away days ago. Only Nurse Kotono ever saw them.”
And so, everything circled back to square one.