Chapter 93: Aftermath

“You said before that these ‘Strange Phenomenon’ were individual cases, but I seem to have encountered them several times.”

Regarding his question, Toriumi Arisu first stayed silent for a moment, then slowly said, “There’s a theory suggesting the appearance of ‘Strange Phenomenon’ has a certain cyclical nature. In human history and written records, there might be periods when they become quite frequent, while most of the time, they are in a dormant phase.”

“So that means our current era is exactly the period of frequent occurrences.”

Fang Jing thought of Yuasa Junichi’s message in the notebook.

“That is beyond my ability to figure out.”

She silently shook her head.

…

Somehow, Toriumi Kotaro and the bespectacled man reached some kind of agreement. Fang Jing was able to return home that same day and did not face any further questioning.

[A group formed purely out of interest] 7978 77617

A few days later, Fang Jing learned some follow-up developments through a phone call with Toriumi Arisu.

Utsumi, it seemed, had sold his own company and emigrated abroad with a large sum of money.

Saeki Wakae was currently taken in by the Toriumi father and daughter. The disappearance case at Kagome Hall was still under further investigation, but it was expected to become an unsolved mystery.

No deceased were found in the case, only several missing persons. These included the Hirakawa family, as well as Fumiko, Old Man Qiao, Shikatori, and butler Saeki, who all went missing one after another.

Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi, Watanabe, and Nagakabe Fuyuko, the three people mentioned by Fang Jing and others, met with disaster three days ago. The car they were in fell from a seaside cliff. Their bodies were only recently recovered and identified through recognition by their families.

The three people from Kagome Hall were really Fujimatsuri and the other two. Regarding this question, it was truly hard to say.

“Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi, before his death, did not even know he wasn’t a real person but a clay doll… So, who exactly was the one who created the Kagome Hall incident?”

The Kagome Hall incident was not truly resolved.

Was Fujimatsuri a human or a clay doll? What exactly was the obsession “he” held onto?

Shikatori, Utsumi, and the deceased butler Saeki seemed to know some inside information, but what exactly was it?

There were too many doubts, unable to reach a correct answer. After leaving Kagome Hall, the direction to find the answers might be lost forever.

Sitting on the chair in his own house, thinking about this problem, he finally shook his head and decided not to torment his brain anymore.

————————

“How disappointing. Even if you wanted to find me…”

In a certain town, an old man leaned on his cane, looking at the desolate scene.

Out of the idea to revitalize the city, this special planning zone started a redevelopment plan to build an elevated bridge leading to the industrial city on the other side. However, construction was halted halfway due to a chain of corruption cases involving relevant people and the impact of an economic downturn.

The bridge, dead in the water, was only half-built. It stood before the old man’s eyes, slanting from the ground across the large river, extending towards the sky. Viewed from the side, where it should have turned from slope to level, it was abruptly cut off.

From the moonlight, the “broken bridge” in the town overlooked the city on the other side of the river. Viewing it from aside, the old man leaning on his cane chuckled, “That’s right, I haven’t congratulated you yet, Tsurutada. This way, you’ve also fulfilled your long-cherished wish.”

“…”

The man glanced at the ugly old man in front of him and frowned.

The original ritual had not succeeded, and he did not retrieve that important “Mirror.” In the end, everything went against his plans.

“The ritual was not successful.”

“The ‘wish’ you made to me, old man, was to restore your normal body, which was deteriorating day by day after heavy metal poisoning, not for the ritual to succeed.”

The extremely ugly old man wore a pair of sunglasses. He grinned and said, “And I said before, I only fulfill your wish. The ritual was not the ‘wish’ I promised you.”

“I remember my wish included that part too!”

“Only included. I agreed to grant you only one wish, the thing you desired most in your heart… Besides, this trip wasn’t easy. I, old man, even sacrificed my own eyes to forge a new body for you, Tsurutada.”

He lifted his finger and adjusted the sunglasses on his nose bridge. Below the sunglasses were empty eye sockets, devoid of eyeballs.

“A ‘monster’ like you doesn’t need eyes at all…”

The man sneered repeatedly, “The problem is you gave me a new body, but didn’t give me a real heart. I don’t even have a heartbeat!”

“Hahaha! A heart made of clay won’t beat.”

The old man gave a weird laugh, “Your current face is composed of my eyes, Mifuko’s tongue, Shikatori’s left ear, the right ear of Madam Esumi whom you killed, and the nose of your brother Hirakawa Shun. You, reborn in flesh, are complete except for the heart.”

“No… without a heart, I can’t be considered alive. Not to mention the face you gave me.”

Hirakawa Tsurutada unwrapped the bandages on his face. His entire face was like a lump of kneaded dough; mouth, nose, ears, and eyeballs were all slanted, twisted, and upside down, like a lump of haphazardly molded modeling clay.

“They ended up like this. I can’t talk about any recovery like this.”

“No, no, no. I think this look is quite good too.”

Old Man Qiao laughed, “Besides, it’s not like there’s no way to recover. Hirakawa Tsurutada, if you think your heart is no good, go change it. If you think your face is no good, find someone to put on a new face. The Hirakawa clan inherited the bloodline of the one called ‘Demon Human.’ You are the only one in this clan who awakened the thin bloodline.”

“Qiao Weng, what exactly are you… Why?”

Hirakawa Tsurutada’s face changed drastically. He did not understand why Old Man Qiao would say this.

“And precisely because of this, you had the chance to receive the wish I granted. But actually, there is another person in the Hirakawa clan who also qualified, and that is your nephew Fujimatsuri Shigeyoshi. He also received a wish from me, but unfortunately, he did not value this opportunity.”

Old Man Qiao sneered coldly, “He was too emotional. If he had performed better, or if he could have learned from your cruelty and heartlessly killed the woman who followed him for many years, and awakened his bloodline, perhaps he would have gotten another new chance.”

Hirakawa Tsurutada remained silent. Only then did he realize that probably every move they made was like puppets on strings controlled by this old man.

“Don’t worry too much, Hirakawa.”

The old man opened his mouth, and a snake-like forked tongue licked his blood-red lips.

“The Vinaya Mirror will return to our hands sooner or later. It originally belonged to that ‘person.’ I once acted as impatiently as you and almost got burned to death in that Kagome Hall. Luckily… after that, I learned to hide and wait. I’ve waited longer than you. Soon, the Witch’s bloodline and the Mirror will both return to our hands.”