Chapter 209 Jiang Xia doesn't seem to be suitable to be a tool

Shimabukuro Kimie walked closer in confusion, and after seeing the "thing" in the crevice of the reef, she was shocked - it turned out to be a woman.

The woman was wearing a blue dress and had short brown hair... No matter how you looked at her, she looked like her target of murder today, Saori Kadowaki.

This was a development that Shimabukuro Kimie had never imagined.

She stared at the corpse for a moment. After coming to her senses, she stood up alertly and looked around.

There's no one around.

Shimabukuro Kimie was silent for a moment, gritted her teeth, rolled up her sleeves, secretly dragged the body away, and hid it for later use - this body was originally part of her murder plan.

Now, Kadowaki Saori has died inexplicably...but Shimabukuro Kimie still plans to proceed with the future plans as usual.

…

When Jiang Xia woke up, he heard the ghost he had released tell him about this. He thought about it and didn't care.

Although it was not legal to hide a corpse, the mermaid told him that the dock was equipped with surveillance cameras to prevent boats from being lost. The surveillance camera had captured Saori Kadowaki stealing a boat and going out to sea yesterday.

And no matter how we investigate, Kadowaki Saori did die in an "accident", so it's hard to pin the blame on Shimabukuro Kimie. The body can just be kept at her place for two days.

…

If he wanted to trick the new ghost into his hands, he still needed two more targets. There were three people who burned the mermaid to death.

After getting up, Jiang Xia counted his stock of murderous aura while wandering around the island with a few classmates.

Because they had met Shimabukuro Kimie and Kadowaki Saori on the boat before, the group was quite interested in the legend of mermaids and learned a lot of related information along the way.

Seeing this, the people at the souvenir shop recommended that they visit the shrine.

Several people came to the shrine and met Shimabukuro Kimie, who was dressed as a shrine maiden.

Shimabukuro Kimie was wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume, holding a royal coin in her hand, and her originally drooping black hair was tied into a bun. She was standing in the yard, distracted.

At this moment, a guest suddenly came to visit. She turned around and saw Jiang Xia at a glance. She then remembered the corpse she had just hidden and felt guilty.

Fortunately, she had performed in many dramas before and was very good at controlling her expressions, so she didn't reveal any flaws.

Shimabukuro Kimie welcomed the few people in and introduced the shrine to them in a natural manner, and also answered the three girls' questions about "eternal youth".

Before leaving, Shimabukuro Kimie suddenly remembered something.

She smiled at the girls and said, "If you are so curious about the dugong arrow, why not try it yourself?"

Suzuki Sonoko was startled, and her eyes lit up: "Are you going to sell us the dugong arrows?"

Shimabukuro Kimie laughed and shook her head: "Although I don't believe in its power, the rules are the rules. The dugong arrow cannot be sold directly. I said 'give it a try'..."

She took out three numbered cards. "This is what I mean. This is the number used to draw lots at the festival. After all, the 'Mermaid Festival' is actually a lottery meeting. We will distribute 180 numbered cards in advance. If the number on the numbered card is the same as the number announced at the festival, the person holding it will get the Dugong Arrow."

The price of a number tag is only 5 yen, which is not even enough to cover the cost.

It seems to be just as Shimabukuro Kimie said, selling license plates is not for profit, but just to connect the guests and mermaids.

This made the three skeptical girls' favorability towards the shrine soar, and their trust in mermaids also increased significantly.

When they left the shrine, each of them had an extra number plate in their hands.

Shimabukuro Kimie looked at the backs of the high school students leaving and felt a little conflicted.

In order to carry out her murder plan, she needed a few people who were enthusiastic enough but not very familiar with Saori Kadowaki to accompany her.

These students from other places are undoubtedly very good candidates.

But there are some detectives in it...

Should we involve these people?

…

The night when the Mermaid Festival begins.

An old "Mikoto" appears at the shrine in full dress. This is Shimabukuro Kimie in disguise.

She hunched over to the door, wielding a wooden pole with a burning tip, and set the paper door on fire.

On the specially treated door, three large burning characters gradually emerged: "Three", "One Hundred and Seven", and "Sixteen".

Toyama Kazuha, Suzuki Sonoko and Mao Li Ran arrived at the shrine early.

At this time, the three of them looked at the burning word on the door, then looked at their respective number plates, and sighed in disappointment: "None of them won."

Jiang Xia looked at this scene with a little surprise.

He remembered that in the original world line, Yuanshan Heye drew the dugong arrow.

However, this world does have many details that are different from his "prophecy". I don't know if it's because of the butterfly effect, or if the world has its own ideas...

Several high school students arrived early and stood close to the front.

Shimabukuro Kimie, who was dressed as "Mingxiang", heard their disappointed murmurs, glanced over secretly, and moved a little guiltily.

Yesterday, after handing out her number plates, Shimabukuro Kimie studied Jiang Xia's collection of crime-solving stories for the entire night, but in the end she did not dare to choose these high school students as part of her plan.

So when she was painting on the door, she timidly avoided the signs of the three high school girls and chose a number at random.

There are three Dugong Arrows in total. Except for this one which is random, the other two have been chosen - Shimabukuro Kimie chose her two good friends, Umihara Nami and Kuroe Nao.

These two people, like Kadowaki Saori, are childhood friends of Shimabukuro Kimie, and are also the enemies who set fire to the warehouse and killed her mother three years ago.

Nami Uehara didn't notice the complicated gaze of "Ming Yang". She looked at the winning numbers announced, covered her mouth and smiled, "I won!"

Several people around looked at her enviously.

After announcing the lucky numbers, "Ming Yang" hunched back to the room while everyone else's attention was focused on the burning numbers.

She changed out of her disguise and transformed back into Shimabukuro Kimie.

Shimabukuro Kimie, wearing a shrine maiden costume, returned to the door and stood in front of everyone again.

Her eyes swept through the crowd, not lingering on her two former friends.

After the surroundings quieted down, Shimabukuro Kimie announced solemnly: "The dugong arrows will be awarded in one hour. Please go to the Mermaid Falls."

This is a necessary process for awarding the Dugong Arrow every year. There is open space below the Mermaid Falls where they can light the "Blessing Light".

(End of this chapter)