Chapter 46 But the evil mastermind sat in the preparatory school…

Hey, have you heard of the story about the ghost of Sarayashiki?

The story reportedly took place a month ago. It all started when a group of bored students decided to go to a haunted house together in the middle of the night on a weekend night to test their courage.

Rumors about the haunted house first surfaced about a year ago.

The owner of the house seemed to live abroad year-round, which is why the house had been vacant for so long. The neighbors knew this too. But one day a year ago, someone living nearby heard a chilling sobbing sound while passing by the empty house.

Gradually, rumors began to circulate that the house was haunted.

The group of students' destination was that house.

Trespassing is obviously wrong. So after arriving in the vicinity, one of them stayed outside to warn the others if patrolling police officers passed by, while the others secretly slipped into the yard.

Before they even entered the house, they suddenly heard intermittent sounds.

"one two three……"

The voice didn't belong to any of them. They followed the sound and eventually came to a well from which the voice was coming from.

They looked down, but could only see water in the well; there was no sign of anyone in it.

But the voices continued to come intermittently from the bottom of the well: "...four...five...six..."

This situation made the students hesitate, and they left in time and returned home safely.

But the matter was far from over.

A few days later, all the students except the one who remained in the car committed suicide. Some were rescued by chance, but they fell into a state of madness and began to behave strangely.

This is the legend of the ghost of Sarayashiki.

*******

So that's how it is. Judging from the counting sounds coming from the well, this ghost story does indeed have similarities to the "Sarayashiki" story.

However, the haunted house rumors that circulated a year ago... a year ago, huh?

Tsukino and Chiya couldn't help but have some thoughts because of the time point "one year ago".

A year ago, it was also the time when I found Wang Ma Xiao Ji and the mark appeared on his body.

Is this just a coincidence, or is there really some connection? Although the evidence is not yet sufficient, Qianye is more inclined to believe the latter.

Perhaps the strange phenomena that have suddenly emerged recently are the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons caused by Aurora.

But... Ohma, who was also found a year ago...

Some thoughts flashed through their minds, but these considerations were insufficient to influence Tsukino and Chiya's actions in reality. The black-haired boy typed on his phone, thanking the person who had provided useful information in the post.

Although the number of people in this niche paranormal forum is not large, their enthusiasm for strange events is enough to make the number of replies grow rapidly.

Tsukino and Chiya paid a little attention to the trend of the post. After seeing the topic gradually shift from "Sarayashiki" to "Have you heard that the other one of the three great ghost stories is supposed to be adapted into a movie?" and "Is it true or not? I have a feeling it will be a terrible movie", they closed the paranormal forum interface.

Ouma Kokichi, who mentioned Sarayashiki last weekend, should have already investigated the location of the house where the rumors were circulating.

By the time Yukizome Chisa arrived, it was already quite late. It seemed that gathering all the undergraduates scattered throughout Hope's Peak Academy was indeed no easy task.

Well, Hope's Peak is the size of an average high school, even if you exclude the West Campus where preparatory courses are studied and students live, and the North Campus, which is the site of the old school buildings and is currently temporarily abandoned. It's quite impressive that Yukizome Chisa was able to find everyone in the Central Plaza, South Campus, and East Campus in one day.

Tsukino and Chiya guessed when Ohma Kokichi might reply, and then sent him a message asking if they should go and investigate the Sarayashiki that night.

He then received an instant reply: Okay XD

Tsukino and Chiya: "..." Wait a minute, if he remembers correctly, it's not time for school to end yet, right?

However, he wasn't particularly surprised. He was just replying to messages during class time, which was indeed a trivial matter for the leader of the Ultimate High School.

So it's decided then.

The black-haired boy leaned against the bed, ignoring that it was class time, and started discussing with Wang Ma Xiaoji about finalizing the arrangements for tonight.

It's like students whose minds have already wandered away from the classroom before school ends, secretly discussing where they're going to play after school.

*******

Whether it's the original Sarayashiki legend or this recent new ghost story that closely resembles Sarayashiki, both are stories that take place at night.

Wangma Xiaoji did indeed find the location where the Sarayashiki story took place. With no reason or need to hide it, he directly told Chiya the location.

Good news! The haunted house where the strange events supposedly occurred is not exactly close to Hope's Peak Academy, but it's not too far either. At least they don't need to take a bus like they did when they went to H City before.

Furthermore, although they took a taxi when they first met the ghost painter, and Kenji Hagiwara drove them; and when they encountered the cloth-covered man, it just so happened that the location was at school; and on the way to the middle school in H City, Gosho Shinji drove them...

Their subsequent actions would inevitably involve going to various places. In fact, Tsukino and Chiya, who did not believe that resolving the Sarayashiki issue would end the mark on their backs, had already been considering preparing some new means of transportation.

After all, it's not good to always spend money on taxis, and it might also implicate the driver.

So tonight...

"Huh? You just bought it? Wow, that's fast. I didn't even buy it when I went to deal with the Ghost Painter."

Wang Ma Xiaoji circled the brand-new motorcycle parked to the side, examining it closely.

"I didn't know that Kozuki could ride a motorcycle."

"Well... my father has a motorcycle, so I've been interested in it since I was little. It's just that I never bought one after I learned how to ride it." In addition, I didn't have enough money when I ran away from home, so I worked part-time to save up some money. "Considering all these things lately... it's definitely more convenient to have a handy means of transportation, so I bought one."

"Looks good~ Hey, let me drive, Kozuki."

"It is possible."

Tsukino and Chiya didn't have any particular idea about not being able to lend their car to Ohma Kokichi, it's just that...

Do you have a driver's license?

The age limit for motorcycle licenses is more lenient than for car licenses, so Tsukino and Chiya have licenses, but as for Ohma Kokichi...

The purple-haired boy remained enthusiastic: "I could have it, but I just happen to not have any on me today."

“Let’s talk about it next time,” Tsukino and Chiya said. “Recently, because of the strange incidents, there seem to be patrolling police officers paying special attention to the area around that haunted house, just to prevent anyone from breaking in just to test their courage.”

If Wang Ma Xiaoji were to drive the motorcycle, it would be bad if they encountered patrolling police officers on the road who wanted to check their documents.

Wang Ma Xiaoji: "But it's so lame for the evil leader to sit at the back of the preparatory course bus~"

Tsukino and Qianye: "..."

Tsukino and Chiya: "Since that's the case..."

Upon hearing this, Tsukino and Chiya seemed thoughtful at first, but a few seconds later they stared at each other as if they suddenly understood.

Wang Ma Xiao Ji: ?

after a while.

The patrol officers on the roadside stopped Tsukino and Chiya, who were riding a motorcycle, and Ohma Kokichi, who was sitting in front of them with his legs tucked in, looking as if he were being held in someone's arms because of his posture.

*******

To successfully fool a policeman, the two students didn't need to do anything strange or unusual when they went out late at night. For both Wang Ma Xiaoji and Yueye and Qianye, it was a pretty simple matter.

Although it took some time, they eventually continued cycling to the haunted house.

While Ouma Kokichi sitting in the front wouldn't block his view, the space in the front of the car was limited, and in order to make it easier for Chiya to drive, Kokichi had to hunch his legs, so it wasn't a very comfortable sitting position.

Perhaps for that reason, when they rode away again, Wang Ma Xiao Ji had already moved to the back.

"By the way, were you trying to give that policeman who reached out his hand a high-five back then?"

"Hehe, his hand was just out there, it really made me want to do it too. It's all thanks to Tsukino and the car that they were able to stop in time, otherwise I would have succeeded!"

"Um, I'll be more careful next time."

"Speaking of which, such supernatural situations could also be the work of monsters, right?"

“That’s certainly possible. But if that’s the case, either the fox in Tokyo will interfere, or Mr. Hikami will take action.”

"Wow, this is truly a magical yet dangerous world!"

"That sentiment sounds like you're not from this world."

"Hehe, you found out! I'm actually from another world!"

After a while, Tsukino and Chiya stopped the car.

There were only the two of them this time, which meant there was no one to keep watch outside. If they were caught by the police for trespassing... but there was no time to worry about that now.

The black-haired boy looked up at the house where the Sarayashiki was said to have appeared.

From the outside, it was just an ordinary two-story house that you could see anywhere in Japan.

“I feel…” Tsukino and Chiya said, “From the surface, there’s nothing strange about it, except that it looks a bit like the house in Ju-on.”

However, the houses in "Ju-on" are the kind you see everywhere, so they do look quite ordinary.

"Eh...we're going to fight Kayako? Really? Shall we go?" Upon hearing this, Ohma Kokichi's face showed fear, and cold sweat slowly dripped down his face.

"If it's really at the level of what you see in the movies, it's probably not a question of whether we should fight or not... Let's go in first, there's definitely something wrong here."

Although it is still unclear what kind of strange things exist in this house, it is generally certain that there are indeed strange things inside.

And... it really is related to Aurora.

Just now, in Tsukino and Chiya's vision, the normally normal house suddenly became distorted. As if sensing an unnatural presence, the mark on their backs also emitted waves of pain.

Perhaps Aurora's intention was to increase fear. However, Tsukino and Chiya accepted this anomaly well, and even used the distortions they saw in their field of vision and the reaction of the marks behind them as anomaly detectors.

It works quite well.

The two approached the house. In the pitch-black night, perhaps because of the eerie rumors, the otherwise ordinary house seemed to have gained a sense of danger.

"Once we're inside, let's find the well in the yard first."

That was their original plan. But now it seems there's no need to look anymore.

After the two successfully infiltrated the courtyard, a voice that did not belong to either of them could be faintly heard in the previously quiet environment.

"one two three……"

The sound was exceptionally faint, but in the quiet environment, it wasn't easily overlooked. Moreover, upon closer listening, unlike the maid Okiku from the most widely circulated Sarayashiki story, this counting sounded more like…

A child's voice?

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

Author's Note: I happened to be watching Ju-on while designing this dungeon, so I paid homage to some elements (like houses and children [covering face and peeking]).