Chapter 49 The young master hasn't laughed like this in a long time...

"Is it hidden well?"

A child's voice, slow yet strangely clear to the point of being bizarre, echoed in my mind.

In that instant, Tsukino and Chiya suddenly understood something.

So that's the truth behind the ghost of Sarayashiki?

Unlike the ghost of Kiku in traditional stories who, after counting to nine and having an emotional breakdown due to a plate or finger, starts over again, this ghost who keeps counting is probably originally a child's strange occurrence, but is actually...

Want to play hide-and-seek?

Such thoughts flashed through their minds, but the current situation did not allow Tsukino and Chiya to continue to think along these lines.

Because the moment the child asked, "Are you hidden well?", all the windows in the living room were suddenly shattered.

Suddenly, a fierce wind arose outside, bringing with it a chilling wind—or rather, a strange and eerie coldness even more biting than a cold wind—that pierced through the broken windows. Tsukino and Chiya instinctively shuddered, as if something unseen had pierced their bodies, sending a bone-chilling and ominous coldness through their very souls.

"Bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang bang!!"

A sound like being struck came from the tightly closed door.

The first attempt to break down the door failed, but then there was a second, a third...

Tsukino and Chiya didn't foolishly stay in the living room waiting for the door to be kicked open.

As soon as the first impact sound rang out, Qianye planned to grab Wangma Xiaoji who was standing next to her and take him away from the living room.

However, Wang Ma Xiaoji's reaction was not slow either.

Not one to stand still and watch the door be kicked open, the purple-haired boy, who had just recovered from the same dizziness, staggered a few steps and ran in a certain direction as Qianye subconsciously reached out his hand: "Come this way."

That's really concise and to the point.

Tsukino and Chiya followed without hesitation, and the place that Ohma Kokichi ran towards was exactly the place he had originally intended to go.

The storage room I visited not long ago was located at the very back of the first floor of the house. If the strange creature that was playing hide-and-seek did indeed break in through the front door, it should have started searching from the living room, which is closest to the front door, before finally arriving at the storage room.

Of course, they ran to the storage room not because they wanted to stay in this sanyafu and seriously play hide-and-seek with the weirdos.

They had only been in the room for a short time and had only done a brief search on the first floor. With so few clues, unless they encountered an unavoidable situation, it would be unwise to confront the strange creature directly now.

There's no other way; it's time to leave.

Judging from the shattered windows in the living room, the windows in the storage room might have suffered the same fate. This would make it easier for them to escape.

They hadn't closed the door behind them when they left the storage room. Looking back, that actually made things easier for them now.

Wang Ma Xiaoji, along with Yueye and Qianye, arrived at the storage room one after the other. The storage room was so small that as soon as they reached the door, they could see the window directly opposite them, which, as expected, had also had its glass shattered.

Next, all you have to do is climb over and you can escape to the yard outside.

Wang Ma Xiaoji was quick and agile; he climbed onto the window in a few moments and then jumped down.

Tsukino and Chiya followed closely behind.

A breeze carrying fresh air from outside the window brushed against their cheeks. Tsukino and Chiya, ignoring the stray hairs that were being blown by the wind and obscuring their vision, jumped down as well.

Before he jumped, he heard a louder "bang" than before, indicating that the gate of the Sarayashiki was probably completely destroyed.

The next second, Tsukino and Chiya stood steadily on the ground.

He didn't look back at the house behind him again, but exchanged a glance with Wang Ma Xiaoji, who was waiting for him. Then the two of them ran away from the courtyard and left the house completely.

When they returned to where the motorcycles were parked, they didn't exchange any further words than "Come over here."

Of course, there was no need or room for further communication.

Although the dizziness in their minds lessened after the child's laughter stopped, the discomfort still lingered in their bodies. Being able to escape nimbly was already the limit of their endurance of the dizziness; unless absolutely necessary, none of them wanted to speak.

The night was deep.

Under the moonlight, the two of them ran together into the distance.

From a distance, it really does look like a warm and beautiful scene that inspires imagination... what a joke.

They had barely run a short distance out of the residential area, and before they had even reached the place where Tsukino and Chiya's beloved little motorcycle was, they ran right into a policeman who was patrolling nearby on a motorcycle.

Tsukino and Qianye: "..."

Wang Ma Xiaoji: "..."

police:"……"

The three looked at each other in stunned silence.

The next second, the policeman, who had gradually come to understand everything, spoke in a booming voice:

"Hey! You two over there! What are you doing?! Stop right there!"

Tsukino and Chiya: "..." This is bad.

Wangma Xiaoji: "Ah, of all times... This is the live version of the legendary saying that humans are more terrifying than monsters. This is really not fun! Seriously~! I can't run anymore, Kozuki, carry me away!"

Tsukino and Chiya: "In your mind, could I actually outrun a motorcycle while carrying someone on my back?"

Police officer: "What are you whispering about? Are you students? What are you doing wandering around outside at this hour?"

*******

In the end, the two of them still went to the police station for tea together.

For Tsukino and Chiya, this was truly... a very novel experience.

Strange experiences increased.

This wasn't the city center, and there weren't many convenient places to run away and hide. If they quickly ran to where the motorcycles were parked and tried to escape on them... no, the police were on motorcycles too. Tsukino and Chiya had calculated that if they did that, they would definitely be stopped by the police before they even reached their motorcycles.

He had encountered situations before where he was caught by the police while out at night. But back then, he either managed to escape when the police weren't looking, or, like today when he and Ouma Kokichi were heading towards Sarayashiki, he managed to trick the police into leaving.

But... it's inevitable that... there will be situations like today where no matter what you say, the police's attitude is always "I won't listen, no matter what you say, you have to go to the nearest police station first."

You can't run away, and you can't convince them by reason.

That would be incredibly frustrating.

While it's not impossible to knock out a police officer and run away... Tsukino and Chiya felt that although they sometimes tested the limits of the law in order to investigate strange events, they were not lawless madmen to that extent.

Besides... going to the police station isn't a big deal.

Generally, students who get caught feel troubled or embarrassed because they are asked to contact their guardians. However, Tsukino, Chiya, and Ouma Kokichi do not have this problem.

Sitting in the chairs inside the police station, Tsukino and Chiya felt unexpectedly relaxed. The dizziness from their laughter hadn't completely subsided, but at least it no longer made them feel nauseous all the time.

He hesitated for a moment among the few adults he could contact in his address book before finally making his choice.

So, at this very moment—

"I never thought you'd end up like this."

After picking up the two, Yin Shen Gu Yaqian, who had come out of the police station with them, opened the car door, sat back in the front seat, and made gloating noises while driving.

"It's a wonder you managed to contact me... I really don't want to experience that suspicious look from the policeman again."

"How could this be!"

Wang Ma Xiaoji seemed to have rested enough at the police station. Having experienced that dizziness he never wanted to go through again, he was now full of energy once more.

The purple-haired boy exclaimed in disbelief, "I look so much like Kozuki and Uncle Yinshin! We all have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. No matter how you look at it, we're clearly father, son, or brothers with no blood relation whatsoever!"

Tsukino and Qianye: "Well..."

Tsukino and Chiya made soft, breathy sounds, it was unclear whether they were agreeing or disagreeing.

Just moments ago, as Wang Ma Xiaoji was complaining about the police's poor eyesight, the purple-haired boy, as if trying to find similarities between the two, reached out and cupped Qianye's face with Qianye's tacit approval, examining him closely.

The temperature of the other person's palm is slightly lower than the temperature of your own body.

Tsukino and Chiya's gazes unconsciously shifted downwards, glancing out of the corner of their eyes at one of the hands that was touching their cheeks, but quickly turned back to Ohma Kokichi's face, which was extremely close to them in order to see his features clearly.

The car was dimly lit at night, but not so dimly lit that one couldn't see a face so close to him. Of course, even if he couldn't see clearly, he should be able to recall what that face looked like and what its expression was like based on his memory and impressions.

Tsukino and Chiya looked back seemingly calmly, letting Ouma Kokichi's gaze sweep over their faces.

Should I say something at this moment?

Tsukino and Chiya thought this to themselves, but actually said nothing.

After those few seconds had passed, the purple-haired boy, who had been carefully observing and scrutinizing her, withdrew his hand, and the two returned to a safe distance. Only then did Tsukino and Chiyo ask, "Did you figure anything out?"

"Hmm, let me think... I've come up with something."

Wang Ma Xiaoji looked serious, as if they were discussing something that could lead to the end of the world.

“Even though we were at that distance just now, Kozuki's expression didn't change at all... So I completely understand! Because the difference in expression is too great, it's easy to give people the feeling that 'they don't look alike at all.' No wonder that policeman didn't believe we were brothers!”

"Kozuki and you... could it be that your facial nerves have died?! But you've been pretending to be nonchalant so I won't worry and won't tell me the truth. Waaaaaahh ...

Tsukino and Chiya: "I don't have facial nerve necrosis, my face is perfectly normal."

Wangma Xiaoji: "Huh? Then why have I never seen Kozukino and Emi?"

Tsukino and Chiya: "Um, I don't laugh because I'm just not naturally inclined to laugh."

The Hidden God Drum, with its eight thousand dead eyes, said: "You two really are..."

In just a few words, there were so many things to complain about that he didn't know what to say first—should he start by saying, "But you guys aren't even blood brothers," or should he complain, "You two are really little liars," or perhaps, "Give me a break, my ears can't take it anymore"...?

They're such a headache, but you can't bring yourself to hate them.

Yin Shen Gu Ba Qian sighed silently, but his expression was unusually relaxed, as if he were saying, "My child is naughty but still very cute, which is really hard to resist."

Then, the man whose true identity was a tanuki naturally joined in the conversation between the two high school students in the back seat.

"Really? Well... it seems that I've gradually become like this as I've grown older. But in my memory, Chiyo used to love to laugh when she was little."