The two cars arrived at Hetang one after the other. Taozi woke up halfway and thought she had fallen asleep in the car.
Hoshino secretly measured her reaction, but Taozi didn't notice it at all. He just thought it was a dream and even forgot when he got in the car.
She couldn't help but feel chilled in her heart, Qing Keisuke did have a scary side to this man.
And the more she got to know him, the more she doubted the so-called power he had in front of him.
Several people got off the car. Kitazawa Oda walked into the lobby first and said he wanted to chat with Ozawa Sonoko alone.
Momoko yawned and planned to go to the hot springs to catch up on her sleep. Before leaving, she did not forget to hint to Qing Keisuke that they would travel together next time.
Zeshu Dayou lay on the steering wheel, gritted his teeth, and waited until everyone left before slamming the horn. The harsh sound echoed in the forest and startled several black crows.
Aoi Keisuke and Hoshino were walking on the corridor, there was nothing special to talk about, they were just chatting about what they were going to eat in the evening.
After walking into Qing Keisuke's room together, Hoshino realized that he hadn't seen Yuki for a long time.
"Where's your cat?"
"Oh, maybe it's because I was captivated by freedom outside and didn't want to be a pet anymore."
Aoi Keisuke told a joke that was completely different from the truth. When Hoshino's eyes turned cold, he happily corrected his statement.
The room has been cleaned and there is still the smell of freshener in the air.
"Please take a seat, President."
Qing Keisuke took out the earthenware tea set and made some low-quality tea.
"It seems that the matter will be resolved soon." He smiled and pushed a cup of tea in front of Hoshino Fujiko.
"Yeah?"
Hoshino was noncommittal. She felt that there seemed to be a strong mystery about the scene in her dream.
The tea in the hotel was indeed mediocre. It was neither fragrant nor sour. The only impression it gave people was that it was bland, so Aoi Keisuke took two sips and put it down.
On the contrary, Hoshino kept sipping.
The sky gradually darkens, the green mountain forest gradually turns to gloom, and the mystery hidden in it seems to burst out.
Hoshino gripped the tea cup with a little more force, her knuckles turned white, and there seemed to be a vague whisper calling her in her ears, asking her to step into the darkness to find the lake in the mountain.
But when you look carefully, it's just the sound of swaying tree shadows outside the window.
"Did they talk for a long time?" She closed her eyes and tried to find a topic.
"Well..." Qing Keisuke said expectantly: "Will there be a reversal?"
For example, these people suddenly gathered a group of people and wanted to kill them and silence them.
Or maybe Kitazawa Oda and Sawaki Otomo died suddenly due to a curse.
Hoshino sighed, not bothering to correct Aoi Keisuke's vulgar and boring thoughts, and just asked him to quickly go to the employee area and ask.
"Let's go together, President."
After hearing this, Hoshino raised his head and glanced at him, a little surprised by his keen observation at this time, or should I say - Qing Keisuke's understanding of himself was also deepening.
"……good."
This feeling is not pleasant to Hoshino, but it is definitely not annoying either.
It was just the emotions spreading in her chest that made her a little wary and unfamiliar.
She never expected others, nor did she expect others' responses. Ling Ran was like a flower on a cliff, born and waiting for death.
She is like a side of ice that only reflects coldly on those who approach her, but is absolutely not allowed to touch her.
This is probably why Qing Keisuke is so special to her.
The two walked out of the room and decided to go to the front desk to ask about the situation. As a result, they met Otomo Sawaki walking back and forth in the lobby.
He held his cell phone and dialed a number anxiously.
"Mr. Sawaki, what are you doing?"
"Ah! Qinggui... sir, Miss Hoshino." Sawaki Otomo rushed over to ask for help as if seeing a savior: "It's something serious, and neither Sonoko nor Kitazawa Police Department can be contacted!"
Aoi Keisuke and Hoshino looked at each other, but they didn't expect something unexpected to happen.
"Don't be anxious yet, explain the matter clearly to us." Qing Keisuke took Sawaki Otomo to a corner of the lobby to avoid the receptionist's curious eyes.
Otomo Sawaki explained: "After returning, the Kitazawa Police Department first went to find Miss Sonoko, and found out that she had already driven down the mountain.
Uh... I heard from the Beizawa Police Department that she should be preparing to go to town to wait for him."
Otomo Sawaki tried his best to describe the two men's actions of secretly obstructing Aoi Keisuke's investigation as euphemistically as possible, but it was meaningless.
Kitazawa Oda didn't want this incident to affect the "cooperation" between the two parties, so when he couldn't be contacted by mobile phone, he immediately decided to go and find Ozawa Sonoko in person.
Another piece of information is that Ozawa Sonoko did not arrive at the place where they agreed to meet.
"So now, even Kitazawa Oda can't be contacted?"
After listening to Otomo Sawaki's story, Qing Keisuke couldn't help but feel a little bit dumbfounded.
Is this inevitable due to chance?
Or is it another clever arrangement?
"Yes, it is."
Aoi Keisuke was thoughtful, and Hoshino leaned over and told him in a low voice that Sawaki Otomo was most likely not lying.
"It would be inconvenient to alert the police to conduct a search." Qing Keisuke pondered for a few seconds, then used his spirituality to control several returning birds around the hotel.
Since most birds do not have vision at night, he simply transformed them into gray fog spirits and gave them the ability to break through mystical illusions.
"I will confirm whether they have had an accident on the road. During this time, Mr. Zeshu, please tell us everything you know frankly."
"Yes Yes!"
It was dinner time now, so the three of them simply found a private room and sat down separately.
After the food was served, Otomo Sawaki drank the entire bottle of sake in one go.
Recalling the past is opening painful wounds for him, but in order to heal, he can only cut off the rotten flesh.
He began to slowly tell stories from the past.
"Miss Sonoko and I, as well as the Kitazawa Police Department, all lived in Ozawa Mountain, and the name of the village was Ozawa Village.
That happened more than 20 years ago. I was only a teenager at the time and had gone to town early to work as a handyman, so I didn’t care much about things in the village. It wasn’t until after the accident that I heard about relevant things.”
Zeshu Otomo's speech became a little slower and lower, and he continued: "At that time, the Ozawa family was the head of the village. They were highly respected and held the position of village chief.
In addition, there is the Kurosawa family, which is the lineage of the shrine’s priests. The name of the shrine is..."
A look of pain clearly appeared on Zeshu's face, and the spirituality in Daze Mountain began to stir again, emitting a shrill roar like a wild beast in the darkening night.
The mournful rain fell again and quickly turned into a downpour.
Thunder resounded across the sky.
"The name of the shrine is... Toyotsu Shrine! The god it worships is the god of Mount Osawa, Toyotsu God!"
After speaking, Zeshu Otomo curled up and fell to the ground in pain, his head and thinking seemed to be torn apart.
Qing Keisuke stood up and brushed away the sudden resonance between him and Osawayama, reducing the impact of the curse on him.
"Let's take a rest, Mr. Zeshu."
"No... no need."
Qing Keisuke sat back and thought silently about why just mentioning his name would cause so much harm to them.
Is it like this every time they mention it or think about it?
Not necessarily, right?
"President, you are also the chosen one, how do you feel now?"
"Um……"
Hoshino closed her eyes to feel it, but the punishment did not spread to her. She only felt that the heavy rain at this time was so sad that she seemed to cry for it.
But she no longer knows how to cry, and she has no extra mercy to give to others.
"No feeling," she replied.
"Well, let's continue talking, Mr. Zeshu. Would you like a glass of wine?"
"OK, thanks."
The sudden heavy rain caused chaos in the hotel. The lobby was full of travelers taking shelter from the rain, and there were also companions who came out to chat after hearing the sound.
"So the weather in summer is really..."
"It's so annoying, go take a bath quickly!"
"Did you hear any strange noises just now? It seemed like a tiger was barking!"
"You're crazy, where did the tiger come from?"
“Guests who need towels, please go to the front desk to get them~~~”
There were noisy sounds coming from the corridor, but the box where Aoi Keisuke and the others were sitting was very quiet. They were both waiting for Otomo Sawaki to start telling his story.
Otomo Sawaki, who has reached middle age, took a few breaths, escaped from the unspeakable fear, and continued to recall:
“In the past, Ozawa Village would hold a festival for Toyotsu no Moshi every year, praying for his blessings for good weather and good harvests every year.
This sacrificial tradition has been going on in Ozawa Village for hundreds of years. However, in my time, due to the impact of the outside world, many young people began to think that this was just a useless custom, and they had many conflicts with adults at that time.
I should be one of them. I couldn't bear those traditions and ran out of the village very early.
Later I received news from the village, someone told me...
Someone killed the old master of the Kurosawa family."