At eight o'clock in the morning, after Ozawa Sonoko fell asleep, Hoshino packed up his belongings and went out.
She was carrying a brown mesh women's leather bag, which originally belonged to Megumi Ozawa.
It contains a "Dezabatsu" for cutting fish and a shorter fruit knife.
In addition, there are things like chili powder. Hoshino originally wanted to find anti-wolf spray, but considering the age and place where Ozawa Village was located, he had to give up.
"call--"
The moment he walked out of the entrance hall, Hoshino realized that even though he was well prepared, he still felt nervous.
She is considered "weak" in the strict sense, especially in Ozawa Village. She may have to consider the hatred Ozawa Takuto attracts.
She also once again doubted whether she had made the wrong choice - whether she should have brought Ozawa Sonoko with her.
"Did you get infected because you had too much contact with this bastard Qing Keisuke?"
She walked out without hesitation.
"Qing Keisuke, if you are still watching secretly, you'd better just shut up and watch!"
…
The rural roads in Ozawa Village are empty, with solidified blood stains on the ground. The doors of some houses are also open, with broken furniture and dolls scattered around, and there is no breath of life.
Hoshino walked cautiously towards the shrine. When she walked along the way she came, she found that the Jizo on the roadside had disappeared. Further forward, a burnt corpse was lying on the roadside.
The cause of death cannot be determined, only the gender can be roughly determined.
Hoshino took a deep breath, avoided the corpse, and came to the torii gate below Toyatsu Shrine.
The torii gate has also been knocked down, and most of the red paint has scorch marks left on it.
A poem with twisted handwriting was daubed in blood on the stone steps:
Hoshino walked around the bloodstains and climbed up the stairs, alert to anyone who might appear.
But until she came to the shrine, she saw no other living person.
Toyatsu Shrine seems to have become a forbidden area, and no one dares to approach it.
Hoshino also noticed something strange - even the sounds of birds and animals in the forest disappeared.
Does this mean that the power of Toyotsu God has begun to revive?
That contaminated power...
Hoshino quickened her pace, and when she reached the end of the staircase, the stone statues on both sides had turned black, and the original deer heads had become hideous and terrifying. One was holding a sharp knife, and the other was holding a human head.
The pool of the hand-water house on one side of the worship hall was broken, and dark red sewage oozed out. On the other side, the wooden frame where the ema was originally hung was pushed down and set on fire, burning the wishes on it.
The worship hall, warehouse and the house of Lord Kurosawa directly in front were all burned down, leaving only the main body still standing stubbornly, while large areas of the walls had been burned and collapsed.
Behind the worship hall, there used to be a sacred tree tied with a rope. The crown of the tree was very lush, but it has now been cut down.
Hoshino first confirmed that there was no one else in the ruins, and then started to explore carefully.
At this time, the sky gradually became gloomy, and soon it started to rain.
The sudden mountain rain in summer was carried by the strong wind and fell, kissing the land hard, trying to wash away the sin and filth on the ground and return everything to order.
The ruined shrine seems to still have the residual heat of the fire, and it makes a "sizzling" sound when it is hit by rain.
Hoshino took out his umbrella from his bag and opened it to block the rain.
But the sadness has spread like rainwater spreading on the ground.
She walked into the worship hall. There were roof tiles on the pillars of the door to protect from the rain, but because most of the interior was made of wood, it was basically burned. The shrine in the dream was also burned to charcoal.
"..."
Hoshino quickly scanned the worship hall to confirm that there was no danger of collapse for the time being.
Then she saw dozens of coins in the remains of the cash box. No one paid attention to them, picked them up, and left them here to be smeared by rain and carbon dust, losing the luster of the metal.
Hoshino picked one up and confirmed that it was the one he had thrown in.
She put the coins into her bag, and then tried to cross the broken beam to see inside the worship hall.
The rain gradually became heavier, and the remaining warmth in the ruins was completely taken away, making Hoshino gradually feel the cold.
The rain hit the roof tiles and exposed walls, making a thin and dense sound, as if someone was hiding outside the wall and whispering.
Hoshino slowly came to the place where the shrine was originally placed, took out the key that Aoi Keisuke gave to him, closed his eyes and started to wait.
"Please answer me, Qianzi."
In the long silence, Hoshino heard the subtle sound coming from the inside of the half-charred beam. This was because the rainwater soaked into it, filled the gaps, and changed the weight.
Maybe in the next second, she will be buried inside and die without doing anything.
Then, she suddenly felt an extremely cold hand snatching the key from her palm.
Before she could open her eyes, another pair of furry hands covered her eyes.
The next moment, the grand music of the festival procession was played again.
The melodious music was mixed with a voice that Hoshino couldn't distinguish, but he could feel the festive atmosphere in it.
The hand covering her eyes loosened, and then she felt something jump out of her body.
When Hoshino opened her eyes, she saw a lifelike wooden carved monkey, wearing a weird red mask, scratching its ears and cheeks excitedly towards her. The expression on the mask would change according to its thoughts.
Next to the monkeys, there are mountain birds, deer, and bears. A series of animals carved on the beams of Toyatsu Shrine have "resurrected" and are singing and dancing with human musical instruments.
Their bodies are still wooden, but most of them are dressed in human sacrificial attire, and their faces are all wearing various strange masks without exception.
The monkey held Hoshino's key in his hand, tossing it around and playing with it. From time to time he turned his head to beckon Hoshino to follow him.
Hoshino looked at this bizarre and strange scene and stopped in his tracks.
In front of her, there was a stone road decorated with lights, which was exactly the direction the animals were going.
Behind her, there was also a stone road, which looked very dark without lights.
Which side should she choose?
Seeing that she did not follow, the monkey roared anxiously.
Gradually, other animals also stopped, turned around, and stared at Hoshino with their masked eyes.
"Ah Jiu Jiu!"
"Ah Jiu Jiu!"
The monkey wanted to rush out of the group, but in the end he stopped. Until finally all the animals turned around, shook their heads again and played the luxurious music of the festival, and decided to leave Hoshino alone.
"Please take me to find Weizi!" Hoshino shouted towards them, "I want to save her!"
The music stopped again, all the animals turned their heads, the expressions on the masks began to become more weird and twisted, and blood-colored liquid continued to drip from them.
"Is... born a sinner?"
Their voices were low and strange, and even the syllables could not be heard clearly, but the words alone seemed to grab Hoshino Fujiko's heart and make her body stiff instantly.
"Is...death destined to happen early?"
"Is it... right or wrong?"
"Is...love and hate worth a price?"
Nowadays, how can human beings be trusted anymore?
They didn't crush Hoshino directly, so it was already a show of mercy, right?
Hoshino didn't know how to answer these questions, but she sensed whether these animals had the ability to lead her to find Weizi.
"Please."
So she took out the coin from her bag without hesitation, then bowed solemnly and placed the coin on the ground.