Chapter 80: Kagome Hall (8)
Chapter 80: Kagome Hall (8)
The time on his own phone clearly showed it was already past nine in the morning.
But when he opened the window, the moon hung in the sky outside, and leaden clouds could also be seen.
… The night was also very deep. After drawing the curtains, the unique cool breeze of the night blew in, making the indoor air turn cold.
This cool breeze did not dispel the anxiety in his heart; instead, it made him even more upset.
“Could it be that the time on my phone is wrong?”
He first suspected his own phone.
Feeling puzzled, Fang Jing pushed open the door and stepped out of his room. His first thought was to find the clock at the stairway to check the time.
But when he arrived at the stairway, he found that the clock was not making any ticking sounds and had completely stopped.
It was as if time had paused—the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand were all stuck. The time on the standing clock had stopped at 3:03 a.m.
“Three-oh-three a.m.”
Fang Jing touched his chin. He took out his phone and checked the time again.
This time, he discovered another problem: his phone seemed to have no signal either.
Were all these mishaps happening at once?
He sighed and walked downstairs to the first floor. The large chandelier on the first floor was still on, but Fang Jing noticed that the main door was slightly ajar. Several muddy footprints led from the red carpet at the entrance all the way to the center.
“Someone… came back in the middle of the night?”
Fang Jing turned around, and his movement startled someone behind him.
“It’s you, Nishizuka.”
Fujimatsuri looked pale. He patted his chest and let out a breath.
“You really scared me.”
“Sorry!”
Fang Jing let out a helpless laugh.
“I came out to check the time. The time on my phone seems a bit off.”
“…”
Instantly, Fang Jing noticed that Fujimatsuri’s expression was also a bit stiff. Fujimatsuri swallowed and stared seriously into Fang Jing’s eyes.
“Nishizuka, what’s the time on your phone?”
“About past nine!”
Hearing this, Fujimatsuri took out his own phone and showed him the time displayed on the screen.
The time on it was almost the same as the time on Fang Jing’s phone.
“This… how is this possible?”
Fang Jing muttered to himself. He glanced back at Fujimatsuri, and both of their expressions turned unusually grave.
They were not foolish people and could naturally deduce the problem from these points.
“Is your phone also without a signal?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any way to contact the outside world from Kagome Hall?”
“There’s a telephone in the Activity Room, and a radio. Nishizuka, you go try them. I’ll look for the others and ask about the situation.”
Hearing Fujimatsuri’s words, the two of them quickly took action.
Fang Jing ran to the Activity Room and found the old landline telephone. He dialed his own number but found that it couldn’t connect.
He then dialed emergency numbers like the fire department and ambulance, but still couldn’t get through.
The radio was also in the spacious Activity Room. He turned it on and adjusted the channels, but only static came through.
“Completely cut off from the outside world?”
Were all means of communication with the outside world gone? However, the power was fine. What about the water supply, then… He ran to the bathroom to check and found that the water was still running.
“Power and water are both fine, but communications are cut off… This is really.”
Wasn’t this the typical “stormy mountain villa” scenario?
Thump, thump! A noise came from the stairway. Fujimatsuri and his friend Watanabe both ran down.
“Nishizuka, did you find anything?”
“No… Water and electricity are fine, but the phone doesn’t work, and the radio doesn’t pick up any sound.”
“Then, is there any way to get in touch with Mr. Saeki?”
Watanabe crossed his arms, his expression also troubled. He had been woken up by Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi, who then asked him to check his own phone.
He hadn’t paid much attention at first, but after realizing the time seemed off, he quickly got up.
“Mr. Saeki doesn’t live in the hall.”
Fujimatsuri couldn’t help but sigh.
“He lives in Aishū Village. Do you remember the house where I parked the car?”
“Mr. Saeki is a local.”
“Yes, he’s a local from Aishū Village.”
“Then the situation is a bit troublesome.”
The person they most wanted to contact wasn’t here.
Creak!
The solid wood door was pushed open, and a figure walked in.
“Mr. Saeki?”
Both Fujimatsuri and Watanabe looked surprised.
“You three… what are you doing here at this hour?”
The butler Saeki looked at the three of them with surprise, probably puzzled by their simultaneous presence. He likely hadn’t noticed the change in time, or he wouldn’t have shown such a confused expression.
“Mr. Saeki… didn’t you go back to sleep today?”
“No, around one o’clock, I received a notice from young master Shun and brought him back to the hall.”
The butler Saeki smiled and said, “Since it was quite late, I took a short nap in the Back Room. I’m really sorry.”
… The Back Room?!
“That’s the room at the back, which also connects directly to the Collection Room. That’s Mr. Shun’s room,”
Watanabe explained to Fang Jing, who looked confused.
Hirakawa Shun also had his own living quarters in Kagome Hall—the Back Room on the first floor, which was the hexagonal corner room opposite the main entrance.
That room was very comfortably arranged and was also connected to the Basement. Unlike the other rooms, Hirakawa Shun’s living quarters had to be accessed by going around to the back of the house to open it.
“Mr. Shun is back.”
Fujimatsuri looked somewhat surprised.
“Yes… but he seemed a bit tired. Also, he said he brought something back. After entering the room, he asked me to wake up Madam Esumi and have her bring the key to open the Basement door.”
The butler Saeki didn’t realize how serious the problem was.
“Mr. Saeki, have… you checked the time?”
“Time.”
The butler Saeki shook his head.
“You took a nap earlier. After waking up, did you check the time again?”
Watanabe’s words made the butler Saeki frown. He raised his wrist and looked at the watch on his hand.
“Strange, has my watch broken?”
The time on the watch clearly showed it was daytime.
“No, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Mr. Saeki’s watch, because our phones are also off. Also, the clock upstairs stopped at 3:30 a.m.”
Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi held his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Three-thirty a.m.”
The butler Saeki looked at the three of them, trying to judge from their expressions whether these young people were playing a prank.
“I’m not sure either. I must have been asleep at that time.”
Fujimatsuri, Watanabe, and Fang Jing all exchanged glances. They all believed that things had already gone beyond the ordinary.