Chapter 35 Wang Ma Xiaoji's smile had already...

Shinmura Kou is very efficient. In addition, he is not the kind of person who goes to bed early and gets up early to maintain a good schedule, which means that when Tsukino and Chiya woke up in the morning, they saw several documents sent by him.

As long as the money is right, he can handle things very well. In any case, digging deep into other people's information online is not a difficult task for Shinmura Kou.

Shinmura Kou, who possesses dazzling talent in computers, is not short of money. There are plenty of people who spend large sums of money to ask for his help for various interests and purposes. And Shinmura Kou sometimes takes the initiative to use some of his "little discoveries" on the Internet to squeeze money out of those who are not so clean behind the scenes.

He has even easily brought down some "giants," something he has done before.

Shinmura Kou is not short of money, but he has an extraordinary pursuit of it. For him, the more money the better, so even though Tsukino and Chiya are just high school students who cannot compare to most of his customers in terms of wealth and influence, he is still willing to take on Chiya's requests. As long as he can get the money, nothing else matters.

As for whether Shinmura Kou would uncover something on his own based on his recent frequent requests... Tsukino and Chiya didn't really care. Even if Shinmura Kou were truly resourceful and discovered something strange and actually believed it, he wasn't the type to willingly jump into trouble.

Tsukino and Chiya ate breakfast while browsing the contents of the document.

"...Is that really how it is?"

The content above is not small, but he will proactively look for the parts that interest him most first.

"call……"

Tsukino and Chiya let out a soft sigh, rubbing their temples with a slight headache, and headed towards the classroom after a quick breakfast.

Aurora, what a troublesome fellow...

Tsukino and Chiya walked and thought.

Generally speaking, to eliminate the strange obsession and help it achieve enlightenment, it is necessary to understand the strange's past—that is, its experiences in its previous life.

Because most strange occurrences stem from the intense resentment left behind by the dead, whose deaths are often shrouded in mystery, and who may have experienced things unimaginable to ordinary people in their lifetimes, uncovering their past experiences might offer a solution and help find ways to alleviate their obsessions.

Similarly, investigating the true identity of a strange person can sometimes be done by checking if a murder has occurred in that area. For example, if a paranormal event occurs in an abandoned elementary school, they can investigate whether anyone has died there.

If we can find some clues, it will greatly help in solving the strange incident later.

Logically, having successfully obtained the names "Morikawa Yoshiko" and "Enoshima Junko" yesterday, their investigation should have been much easier.

...That's right, that's how it should be.

However, Shinmura Kou, who had done some investigation in the early hours of the morning, said that Enoshima Junko was easy to find, after all, she was a very popular model and there was no one with the same name as her. But as for Morikawa Yoshiko... there was no such person.

Ah, sorry, that sentence seems a bit ambiguous? Let's put it another way—Shinmura Kou did not find a dead person named Morikawa Yoshiko who had passed away during her student days.

There are indeed living people. After eliminating some people based on factors such as age and identity, and finally removing the fact that "she is not dead," there is indeed one person who seems to be related to the supernatural, Morikawa Yoshiko.

Like Enoshima Junko, Morikawa Yoshiko is still a middle school student. However, so far, their life trajectories have hardly overlapped, and Tsukino and Chiya believe that the possibility of them knowing each other now is very slim.

No student named or formerly named Morikawa Yoshiko has died, and the only middle school girl who somewhat fits the criteria, Morikawa Yoshiko, has no connection to Enoshima Junko in her life... So, could it be that their investigation approach was flawed from the start?

No, that's not it. Morikawa Yoshiko is undoubtedly that strange name; otherwise, if they had answered with the wrong name back then, Tsukino and Chiya wouldn't be standing here now.

And such a situation had occurred once before... Yes, it was during the Ghost Painter incident. The Ghost Painter is undoubtedly a supernatural being, and through that spiritual vision, Ouma Kokichi confirmed the other party's identity as "Saiyama Eiichiro" and also witnessed Saiyama Eiichiro's death.

However, in reality, besides the ghost painter, there is another manga artist, Eiichiro Saiyama, who is alive and well, living quietly but still creating his manga.

As for Hope's Peak, where paranormal events occurred, it was investigated by Tsukino and Chiya as early as when it was only "suspected of having paranormal events"... However, whether it was because Hope's Peak was too well covered up or because there really were no paranormal events, Chiya did not find out that a murder had ever occurred there.

So why does this situation arise where no bizarre past life experiences can be found, and the bizarre previous incarnation is perfectly fine? The culprit behind all this is undoubtedly…

Tsukino and Chiya shook their heads, temporarily putting aside their thoughts about the doll.

He clearly realized that trying to investigate through external channels was no longer a viable option. This made things much more complicated.

And now, the only way to investigate this strange obsession is—

"It's my turn now."

Having arrived in the classroom and taken their seats, Tsukino and Chiya took an envelope out of their desks.

From the outside, this envelope looks exactly the same as the one that Hyuga Hajime received yesterday, both inside and out, and even the hand-drawn picture on it is identical.

Tsukino and Chiya weren't particularly surprised to find the extra letter in their desk drawer. After all, those who enjoy witnessing the strange and frightening in others are likely to prioritize prey on those who have previously escaped their grasp.

In a time when clues can only be sought within supernatural barriers that appear due to strange occurrences, the fact that Tsukino and Chiya received love letters today is clearly beneficial to their next move.

It has to be said that Tsukino and Chiya secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the letter in their desk drawer instead of someone else's.

After browsing through the contents, he handed the card to Hyuga Hajime, who had already noticed his situation.

"This is... the time written on it is different?"

Hyuga Hajime didn't skimp on the check just because the card was similar to yesterday's. He carefully read through the contents, and because it was only a few lines long, he quickly noticed the differences from yesterday's card.

"The meeting time has changed from 8 PM to midnight? That makes sense, the time when Xia Chuan was waiting for 'people' was also different from yesterday."

But even that early would be the legendary time of encounter with demons in the wild, that is, dusk. In horror stories or rumors, the earliest time the protagonists "encounter ghosts" is around dusk. And in reality... it seems that's indeed the case? At least so far, Tsukino and Chiya haven't seen any strange creatures that can openly roam outside in broad daylight.

Perhaps... someone like Aurora could do it? After all, he didn't seem to have heard any rumors about "dolls dying in the light".

"Oh, right, Hinata."

Even though seeing someone in the classroom the next day meant everything was alright, Tsukino and Chiya still chose to check on their classmate.

Did you encounter anything unusual after returning to your dorm yesterday?

"No." When the matter was brought up, Hyuga Hajime denied it, "Nothing happened."

He hasn't been sleeping well since he learned about the possibility of non-human beings chasing him into his dorm room.

Hyuga Hajime thought to himself with a bitter sigh, but it was better to be unable to sleep than to actually have something happen. He also asked with concern, "What about Tsukino and you? Have you encountered anything unusual? And Ohma... Come to think of it, I don't think I've exchanged contact information with him yet. I'll add him when we meet today."

Tsukino and Chiya: "Ohma? I messaged him this morning. He said his men fought the monster for three hundred rounds, and the battle ended with twenty of his men perishing together with the monster."

Hajime Hinata: "..." This sounds a bit far-fetched, but judging from the content, Ohma seems to be quite energetic, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

Tsukino and Chiya: "Anyway, don't worry, he's fine. But last night... never mind, let's talk about it when we see Ohma later."

The two of them stopped talking at the same time when the teacher, who seemed to have something to say, arrived at the classroom early.

Tsukino and Chiya turned around from their sideways positions, facing Hinata Hajime, while also glancing towards the podium.

That is...?

When they turned around and saw their teacher, Tsukino and Chiya were slightly taken aback, but upon closer inspection, they found that everything was normal.

The surrounding students gradually quieted down, and no one showed any unusual behavior. Even Hyuga Hajime, who was not far from him, remained calm and did not notice anything.

"..."

Tsukino and Chiya blinked slowly. After confirming that everything was correct, they lowered their heads again.

Just now, he saw...

I saw the flesh on the teacher's face suddenly turn into wet, sticky soft flesh that melted and fell away, revealing the white bones beneath the skin.

Although the other students showed no reaction, as if they hadn't seen what happened at all, Tsukino and Chiya didn't believe that the distortion they had just witnessed was an illusion.

"I'm here to make the game more fun."

"I brought a small gift for Qianye this time."

Last night, Aurora's gentle voice seemed to echo in his ears again.

I see.

The incident happened somewhat suddenly. After calming down a bit, Tsukino and Chiya seemed to be deep in thought.

It seems the deadline for this incident is fast approaching.

*******

It's another night.

Judging from yesterday's events, they probably won't see the strange phenomenon again until after midnight. Before then, the three of them have ample time to make thorough preparations.

Inside the preparatory school building, where there was no one else besides the three of them, Hyuga Hajime and Ohma Kokichi exchanged contact information, while Tsukino and Chiya were rummaging through the bag he had placed on his lap.

Exchanging contact information didn't take long. Just as Hinata and Hajime were about to put their phones away, they saw Tsukino and Chiya's arms outstretched in front of them.

Tsukino and Chiya each held a flashlight in their hands: "Take these, we should be able to use them tonight."

While it's not impossible to use other lighting, the fact that my phone's light suddenly went out yesterday while the flashlight stubbornly continued to shine shows that there's a reason why flashlights are sometimes used as lighting tools during investigations.

Neither of them had a reason to refuse, and Hyuga Hajime thanked him and took the flashlight.

Wang Ma Xiaoji casually fiddled with the flashlight in his hand, holding it in front of his eyes as if it were a telescope, opening and closing his eyes as if he were looking into the distance.

"I think it would be a good idea to have members of my organization sell flashlights outside paranormal locations in the future. If someone actually encounters something and comes out alive, that person should thank me!"

Tsukino and Chiya: "But we probably won't make much money this way. There are still a few people who are willing to take risks, so there aren't many visitors to haunted places."

Hajime Hinata: "Is that the point?" Shouldn't the point be to directly prevent people from going to those dangerous places, rather than selling flashlights? After all, there really are strange things in this world!

Hyuga Hajime didn't voice his complaints. Having brought a bag like Tsukino and Chiya did today, he ultimately didn't put the flashlight back in, but instead held it carefully in his hand.

"By the way, Tsukino Kazu. Can you talk about what you said this morning about waiting for everyone to be here before you do it now?"

In truth, Hajime Hinata could more or less guess what it was about. After all, the topic had been brought up when the two of them were discussing whether anything unusual had happened in the dormitory the previous night, and then abruptly ended by the arrival of the teacher.

Tsukino and he must have encountered some strange thing that came knocking on their door last night, right? However, since Tsukino and he acted normally during the day and didn't seem to be injured, Hyuga Hajime was worried, but he didn't lose his composure.

As expected, after hearing this, Tsukino and Chiya nodded and brought up the topic Hinata had been thinking about: "I encountered something strange last night."

“If it were just a simple encounter and chased it away, Kozuki wouldn’t be bringing it up now.” Ohma Kokichi lowered the flashlight he had been holding high. “So, has Kozuki discovered something new?”

"I guess you could say that... some things have been confirmed."

Tsukino and Chiya didn't keep them in suspense; he answered directly.

"That weirdo surrounded by strips of cloth... well, or rather, the strips of cloth person is probably afraid of falling."

"Afraid of falling?" That sounds a bit abstract. But it is indeed a new discovery. Yesterday, the only strange, annoying, or frightening action they knew of was cutting the strips of cloth.

"That's right."

With plenty of time left until midnight, Tsukino and Chiya recounted their experience of encountering the cloth-striped man in their dormitory the previous night.

Actually, the man in the cloth strip didn't linger outside the dormitory window for very long last night.

The first thing to pop out was the head.

It should be the head, right?

Its head was completely covered by layers of floating strips of cloth. Then, a hand reached out.

The hand was also bound by layers of cloth strips, but it looked quite normal in shape. However, given the various strange and bizarre things that Tsukino and Chiya had seen or heard about before, he refused to imagine what the hand hidden under the cloth strips actually looked like.

The cloth-draped figure seemed to have deliberately seized the opportunity, and as soon as it reached out, it precisely grabbed the curtain that was originally swaying in the wind.

Holding daggers, Tsukino and Chiya did not rush to attack, but continued to listen to its words.

However, it kept repeating the same thing: either asking when the shield it spoke of would arrive and why it hadn't arrived yet, or constantly expressing its fears.

And then...

“Like before, I was going to rip the fabric,” Tsukino and Chiya said, “but before I could do that, it just vanished into thin air.”

Perhaps because the strip of cloth had been cut once that night in the teaching building, the person in the cloth strip let out a scream that sounded inhuman after noticing the dagger in Qianye's hand.

"Can't."

"I'm going to fall."

"—I don't want to!!!"

The sound wasn't very loud, but it was still quite piercing. Just like on the top floor of the teaching building, Tsukino and Chiya were stunned by the sound and froze for a moment. However, the cloth-striped figure didn't take advantage of the situation to attack and simply disappeared.

"...That's about it," Tsukino and Chiya concluded. "So I wonder, maybe the reason it doesn't want its fabric to be cut is because it's afraid of falling?"

"Could it be that the monster died while waiting for the 'shield' it was talking about?" Hyuga Hajime speculated. "And that it fell to its death from a height?"

"It's certainly possible that way; I think it's quite reasonable."

Even in the complete darkness of the playground, Wang Ma Xiaoji's eyes still looked bright and sparkling.

"Moreover, Kozuki has provided some really good news! Based on this information, I've already figured out a way to quickly escape from the Binding God Spiral Forbidden Spell Sealing Cloth should things turn bad!"

Wang Ma Xiaoji looked at him with a "ask me, ask me" attitude, and what he said was really intriguing, so Tsukino, Chiya, and Hinata Hajime all looked at him.

Tsukino and Chiya: "Isn't it the Cloth Strip Man?" Why are you using the name "Binding God Spiral Forbidden Spell Sealing Cloth" again?

Hajime Hyuga: "Ohma, what method are you referring to?"

"Hehe, of course, when you're desperate, you just jump off the building!"

Wang Ma Xiaoji's smile was exceptionally bright.

"The weirdo won't jump down because it's afraid of heights. See? I told you so, right? There's just a tiny bit of risk of falling to its death."

Tsukino and Chiya nodded firmly and slowly raised a thumb: "Genius."

Hyuga Hajime sighed, saying helplessly, "Are you sure it's 'just a little bit'? But..."

He suddenly froze.

Hyuga Hajime originally wanted to say that although they couldn't be completely certain of the cause of the cloth-striped man's death, it would always be good to obtain more clues that might come in handy later. Besides, it was good that they had encountered the strange Tsukino who came to their door last night.

but……

Hinata Hajime suddenly remembered the windows he had specifically closed last night to prevent the possibility of "strange things coming to his door," as Tsukino had mentioned, and the curtains that had been taken down.

As the person who gave the warning at the time, Tsukino and he left the window open last night even though they knew they might encounter something strange in the dormitory. Could it be... on purpose?

Just as this thought began to emerge in his mind and grew stronger, a sharp wail suddenly came from the direction of the teaching building.

*******

Preparatory courses, inside the teaching building.

The three people, who had clearly heard the wail that sounded like a final scream before death, continued to climb the stairs.

In reality, based solely on that wail, those of them who were on the playground should not have been able to accurately determine which floor the sound came from.

However, when they subconsciously looked in the direction of the teaching building following the sound, they all noticed the lights on the top floor.

And now, they have finally returned to the top floor.

The top floor of the teaching building was pitch black. In the deep corridor, the slight breathing caused by the continuous and rapid climbing of the stairs slightly broke the silence.

Everything seemed eerie because of the darkness, yet normal because of the silence, as if the wail they had heard earlier was just an illusion.

But how could it be a misperception that all three of them heard it? Hyuga Hajime looked around, confirming that the surrounding environment appeared normal on the surface, but...

"Cough cough cough, what a pungent smell." Wang Ma Xiaoji covered his nose and frowned subconsciously. "Xiaoyue Yehe, quickly use your all-powerful backpack to think of a solution."

The faint smell that had been there when the three of them first arrived at the top floor was now becoming increasingly noticeable. Having experienced the pungent smell of blood the night before, Hyuga Hajime felt that if this continued, he would eventually lose his sense of smell. He couldn't help but cough a few times. Fortunately, the three of them were now in the corridor, so breathing fresh air from the outside was not difficult.

Tsukino and Chiya stood on the outside of the corridor. He tucked the flashlight he was holding under his arm and then rummaged through his bag and pulled out... a mask?

Tsukino and Chiya: "This is all we have. Please make do with this."

Wang Ma Xiaoji decisively took the mask handed to him and put it on: "Oh dear, I barely survived. Kozuki Kazuma is really reliable."

Hyuga Hajime took it: "Ah, thank you. Tsukino and you are so well-prepared." That's amazing, it makes one even more curious about what else is in that bag.

The source of the strong, smoky smell, as if the wood had been burned, was easy to find; it was coming from the classroom that had previously been filled with blood.

only……

"Cough cough cough cough cough! Wait, cough cough cough!!"

"No, this smell... Let's air it out first before going in."

"……agree."

Although masks were on, the strong, pungent smell was still unbearable. Unlike the nauseating stench of blood from last night, the smoky smell permeating the classroom today was a wake-up call, a warning from the body's survival instinct that inhaling too much would cause problems.

What happened here is quite obvious.

The classroom, no longer stained with large pools of blood, now looked as if it had been ravaged by flames. The surrounding walls were blackened by the fire, and the floor was littered with the ashes of various burned items. The charred desks and chairs lay twisted and crooked, almost none of them intact. Smoke stains were everywhere.

The three decided to open all the windows in the classroom before leaving, and not to do anything else. However, this action obviously did not prevent them from taking a few more glances at their surroundings when they entered the classroom.

"……Um?"

Wang Ma Xiaoji, who was passing by the podium intending to close the window, suddenly stopped.

He tilted his head, as if carefully checking the things on the podium, and then reached out without hesitation to grab the thing that was placed on it, all in just a second or two.

"..."

Under the cover of his mask, Wang Ma Xiaoji's smile had long since vanished.

His lips were pressed into a straight line as he coldly looked at the object in his hand. His usually lively eyes now seemed to hold only weariness.

-----------------------

Author's Note: I accidentally posted the unedited version of the last chapter (how could an idiot take half a day off to revise it and still post the original version in the end?! [crying emoji]). Those of you who bought the book right after that chapter was posted, please remember to check the revised version again, otherwise you might encounter some plot inconsistencies later on. Sorry, sob sob sob orz