Lu Ban was very familiar with the words above.

This was the mumbling that I heard when I was extracting the [Knowledge of a Madman].

The mumblings heard at that time were crazy and chaotic, but now it seems that they might be the words of the missing painter.

There were also words like "Misfortune Witch" on the note. Roughly speaking, this painter named Wan Ye saw the Misfortune Witch and was fascinated by her, so he couldn't help looking for her and finally disappeared.

"So the Miko of Misfortune really exists?"

Lu Ban was not a local, or rather, ordinary locals did not know about the Miko, so he was a little curious.

“It doesn’t exist.”

Hongye answered immediately.

"The shrine maidens who lost the competition for the position of the Son of God will stay at the Wajima Taisha Shrine and continue to work. They are also candidates themselves. If the incumbent Son of God has problems, these shrine maidens are also qualified to inherit the position of the Son of God."

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

Lu Ban took a look at the clothes. There seemed to be blood stains on them, as if they had seeped from the inside to the outside, but the clothes did not have any obvious damage.

"…Because I am one of them."

Hongye hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Are you a witch?"

Lu Ban looked her up and down again. In his impression, shrine maidens were all the kind of cold and otherworldly, wearing red and white shrine maiden costumes, holding a bow in their hands, and at most having a dog by their side.

"You say 'sit down' and try it?"

He couldn't help but speak.

"What?"

Hongye was stunned, raised her eyebrows, and then said uncertainly.

"sit down."

Lu Ban didn't move.

"Great, I'm not a dog."

He clapped his hands gratefully.

"…We suspect that the Hedao Shrine has been contaminated. The report of the official personnel sent previously may have been tampered with. Something terrible is happening on this island, so I came here."

Hongye, who had some doubts about her choice of Lu Ban, came to the picture frame covered with black cloth, put her hand on the cloth, and seemed to be hesitating whether to lift it.

"You mean, the pollution on Uta Island has not been purified, but has directly eroded the Miko. Isn't Uta Island very dangerous now?"

Lu Ban looked at the painting and continued speaking.

"Why are you telling me this? What if I'm one of them and I came here specifically to lure you out?"

"intuition."

Hongye lifted the black cloth.

A surprising painting appeared in front of Lu Ban.

Most of the colors in that painting are full of chaos, without any aesthetic appeal. Instead, they make people think of words like corpse, wreckage, and flesh and blood. If you look closely, you might even mistake the bumps of unevenly applied paint for real flesh and blood.

As for the part in the center of the picture, although the shape can be recognized, most people would probably prefer that they have never seen it.

It was an arrangement and combination of living humans spread out, as if to completely subvert the concept of "human" physiologically. Different bodies were placed in different positions, completely deconstructing every inch of human flesh and blood. Only the most anti-social and anti-human guys could draw such a picture.

Lu Ban raised his eyebrows. He knew very well that if an ordinary person saw this painting, just one glance would probably torment his nerves. For those with a weaker tolerance, vomiting or fainting on the spot would be a minor matter.

Hongye also slightly avoided the sight and looked somewhere else.

"This is the last painting Wan Ye left in the house. I think his mind is no longer normal. After being polluted and eroded, he will have different degrees of mental disorder. Some can be calmed down by the means of the shrine, but some cannot be saved."

Lu Ban only realized what was happening when he saw Hongye covering the room with the black cloth.

"So you want me to help with the investigation?"

"You don't look like you're here specifically to participate in the poetry festival. It seems like you have other intentions. But it doesn't matter. At least now, our goals are the same."

Hongye nodded.

“That’s true.”

Lu Ban doesn't mind having one more friend who can help him at critical moments.

Moreover, Hongye obviously knows more things. For Lu Ban, the more information he has, the higher the exploration level of the mission will be, and the greater the benefits will be.

"So what can I do for you? What do you want? Do you have any more clues?"

Lu Ban asked.

"Although I came here in hiding, the people of Uta Island may have known about my actions and the information I got from my informant. But you are an outsider. They have no reason to suspect that a shrine maiden from the island would cooperate with an outsider. You can contact more people openly."

Hongye answered simply.

"So you want me to contact people on Utajima and collect clues?"

"That's right. According to the information I collected, Wan Ye went to the restaurant, teahouse, and elegant room where guests of Anshin-in dined before he disappeared. You can investigate these places. Tonight at midnight, we can sneak into the Hedao Shrine."

Hongye gave several locations that might have clues.

Lu Ban and her agreed on the time and place to meet in the evening, and then they left the room separately.

"Although it's great to have help from the beginning, I always have a subtle feeling that this Hongye may not be trustworthy."

Lu Ban muttered to himself. It was getting late when he arrived at the restaurant.

There were not many people in Anxinyuan's restaurant. Several tables were empty. Even at the tables where people were present, the poets and painters were whispering to each other and looking at everyone who walked into the restaurant with suspicion.

Lu Ban found a table and sat down, then ordered some food.

Originally, he was supposed to have dinner with Tachibana Masamune and Ginpei in the evening, but they might go to the tavern on the island. In order to investigate, Lu Ban had to reluctantly eat at the official restaurant.

only……

“Cough, cough.” “Cough, cough, cough.” “Cough, cough.”

The coughing sounds in the restaurant were one after another, making people feel like this was a house full of disease, and they couldn't help but cover their mouths and noses.

Lu Ban looked around and found that the people who were eating seemed to be coughing. However, the two men at the next table were eating food out of lunch boxes that they seemed to have brought with them and seemed to be behaving normally.

They watched Lu Ban order food, hesitant and about to speak, until Lu Ban's dish was served and they saw him pick up the chopsticks before they spoke.

"We advise you not to eat the food here."

"What's wrong?"

Lu Ban stopped eating with his chopsticks halfway.

"It's just, not so good, not so good."

The two of them hesitated for a long time and couldn't come to a conclusion.

"You mean the food here might be contaminated?"

Lu Ban asked the two of them directly in a low voice.

"I dare not say. I dare not say."

They avoided answering.

"Did you know that someone ate here before and then disappeared?"

Lu Ban asked again.

"You know him?"

One of them was immediately surprised and quickly covered his mouth.

"It doesn't matter. I won't tell anyone else that you told me, or, um, if you have any enemies, if they are discovered, I will say that he told me."

Lu Ban moved closer to their table and took a few bites of their food with chopsticks.

It tastes good.

“…”

The two looked at each other, feeling that there was something wrong with the man in front of them.

However, now that the matter has been mentioned, they are not going to hide it any longer.

"…The missing person is Wan Ye. In fact, many people know that he is missing, but they won't let us tell you. Some other people are also missing. There is something wrong with this island."

One of them said.

"who are they?"

Lu Ban asked.

"Misfortune witch."

The moment the word was spoken, the expression on the respondent's face turned gloomy.