Chapter 227: Neon Country: Evil God

Mitani is too depressed.

The town was not big to begin with, and the news of Mitani Yuta's death in a car accident quickly spread throughout the town, and the neighbors were all talking about the poor child of the Mitani family.

"I heard it was crushed so badly that you can't even recognize its original appearance."

"It's so pitiful. Mrs. Mitani almost fainted from crying."

"The person who hit him was the delivery man from the east side of town. I wonder how much compensation he will have to pay."

"I heard that it was a child who ran a red light. He won't have to pay much."

Kenichi Sato was carrying his schoolbag and passed by the women who were chatting. He lowered his head and walked to the intersection where the accident happened.

Yesterday's blood still left traces on the road. The traffic police here put up a warning sign on the roadside, telling pedestrians and vehicles to be careful. Sato Kenichi trotted across the intersection and came to the school.

On Yuta Mitani's desk, there was a vase with flowers as a token of mourning.

In addition, there were two empty tables, which were the seats of Somura Shin and Nitta Hayao. They did not come to school today because they were very frightened yesterday and asked for leave.

The teacher stood on the podium and recounted the story of Yuta Mitani with a stern face, warning the students to be careful when crossing the road. Then he asked everyone to open their textbooks and continued the class as usual.

After class, a group of elementary school students gathered around Kenichi Sato and asked about Yuta Mitani.

"You were there yesterday, right? I heard that Mitani's head fell off. Is that true?"

"Don't say that, it's scary."

"Tell us more about it."

This was the first time that Kenichi Sato was so popular with his classmates since he transferred to that school. He didn't feel happy at all. After saying a few perfunctory words, he quickly picked up his schoolbag and went home after school.

The next day and the day after that, everything went on the same way.

During this period, he heard that the Mitani family held a funeral and many people went there wearing black clothes. Although they were classmates, Sato Kenichi was not familiar with the Mitani family, and his parents had no friendship with the Mitani family, so naturally he did not go.

On the fourth day, which happened to be Sunday morning, Kenichi Sato was sitting on the sofa watching TV, thinking about going to the mountain torii in the afternoon. Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Mrs. Sato's cell phone. She answered the phone and said a few words, her face changed slightly: "Hey? Don't have to go to the izakaya this afternoon? Why? It's because of me...ah, he passed away? So...the izakaya is open on an uncertain day...Is that so? I see. Please convey my condolences."

Mrs. Sato hung up the phone and sighed slightly.

Turning her head, she saw Kenichi Sato turning sideways, looking at her curiously. Mrs. Sato thought for a moment and asked, "Kenichi, is that child named Somura Makoto your classmate?"

Sato Kenichi's heart skipped a beat. He had a bad feeling and nodded.

"Are you on good terms with him?" Mrs. Sato asked softly.

Sato Kenichi lowered his head: "...Anyone, just an ordinary classmate."

"Really?" Mrs. Sato touched Kenichi's head. "That child is the son of the manager of the izakaya where Mom worked. He died of illness. Mom is going to attend the funeral. Do you want Kenichi to come with you?"

"Huh?" Jianyi's eyes widened. "Died of illness?"

Makoto Somura? The one who loves playing football, whose dream is to join the national football team, whose body is so strong that he can run three laps around the playground without getting out of breath?

He was fine three days ago. What kind of disease could cause a person who was full of energy and vitality three days ago to suddenly pass away?

Kenichi Sato didn't understand. He looked at his mother and nodded.

The funeral was held the next day. The atmosphere was very heavy. Sato Kenichi, wearing black clothes, followed his mother, watched her register at the door, and then was led into the lobby.

In the middle of a pile of white flowers above the main hall, there is a photo of Zongcun Zhen, in which the little boy is grinning mischievously.

The middle-aged couple crying beside the black coffin are Somura's parents, and there is a high school student next to them, who is Somura's brother.

"My condolences." A lady came forward to comfort.

Mrs. Zongcun held the lady's hand and cried, "I don't know what happened. I got a fever after returning home that day. I have been feeling dizzy the whole time. The doctor couldn't tell me what was wrong..."

Kenichi Sato held his mother's hand tightly, stood behind her, and said nothing.

"It's a curse."

Sato Kenichi heard someone muttering at the door: "The day before yesterday, the child from the Nitta family also died. Weren't they playing well with Mitani who was in a car accident? When Mitani got into trouble, these two children followed closely..."

"What nonsense! It's already so late."

"It's not a curse, it's a weirdness. The child became a weirdness and took his companions away."

Kenichi Sato turned his head and looked at the people who were talking. They were people he had seen nearby.

There is only one family with the surname Nida in this town, so is Nida Hayao also dead?

Kenichi Sato suddenly felt a wave of fear. He held his mother's hands with both hands and trembled slightly with fear.

"It's okay, they're talking nonsense." Mrs. Sato, who also heard it, whispered to comfort her son.

After the funeral, Sato Kenichi sat on the bed in his room for a long time.

He knew about weirdness. His classmates had talked about it. His father's work problems were also related to weirdness. He hated weirdness. If it weren't for weirdness, his family wouldn't be in debt, wouldn't have moved here from the bustling metropolis, wouldn't have separated from the kids in Tokyo and come to this exclusive town.

I don't even have any friends.

No, he has friends.

Kenichi Sato suddenly thought of the god in the torii on the mountain. Although it was already night and dark, he inexplicably wanted to have a good talk with his friend at this time, tell his friend about Mitani and the others, and then express his own thoughts.

It just so happens that I haven’t gone to the mountain today.

Sato Kenichi entered the kitchen in the dark, took out a piece of raw meat as a gift for his friend, quietly went out, and ran up the mountain in his pajamas.

He is very anxious.

It was dim at night, but fortunately he was familiar with the road and came to the torii along the dark mountain road. This was the first time that Kenichi Sato came to the abandoned torii on the mountain late at night. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but the torii building was slightly red in the night, as if it was smeared with blood.

The shrine was still the same. Sato Kenichi hurried to the shrine and put the raw meat on it: "I'm here."

Normally, when raw meat is placed on the table, the little hands would rush to take the meat away, but this time, they were silent for a long time.

Sato Kenichi stuck his head in and looked inside. It was pitch black and there was nothing there.

"Are you still there?"

No one responded.

"God?" Sato Kenichi put his hands on the stone steps and was about to ask again when a voice finally came from inside.

"…Yes." The voice was as childish as ever, "I'm not hungry."

"Aren't you hungry?" Sato Kenichi was a little confused. "The meat I brought this time is bigger than before. Every time I brought you meat before, you were never full. I haven't been here for the past two days. Have you eaten?"

"have eaten."

"Oh, then do I still need to bring it from now on?"

The voice inside hesitated for a moment, then said, "I need... a pen."

"Pens? Have you used up all the three pencils?"

"No more..."

"Then I'll buy it for you."

"I want...used ones..." The voice paused and added, "I don't want...yours...I want someone else's used ones, pens and paper, either will do..."

Sato Kenichi was a little worried: "But stealing is not good." After saying that, he thought of the dead Mitani Yuta and others, and whispered: "I stole their things. I thought I would be discovered, but from now on, I will never be discovered again."

Stationery used by a deceased child is likely to be discarded by the parents or buried with the child.

In short, no one would notice that he had stolen three used pencil tips from it.

"Does it have to be something that has been used by someone else?" Sato Kenichi didn't understand, but he liked his friend and was willing to meet his friend's strange little request. "Then... I'll bring you something that someone has discarded? They always throw away the unused notebooks and half-used crayons."

This town makes a lot of money from tourism, at least the children don't know how to save money in this area. Even the Sato family, who are in debt, don't go to the door for paper and pens.

"It would be better to buy a new one." Sato Kenichi muttered softly.

"Okay~~" There was a cheery voice coming from the shrine, and a small hand reached out and took away the raw meat on the stone steps.

Sato Kenichi was just about to say "Aren't you hungry?" when he noticed that the little hand was a little bigger than the last time he saw it, and a small fleshy bud had grown on the edge of the finger, which seemed to be the fourth finger.

"You've grown up?" Jianyi was very surprised.

"Eat and grow up," the voice replied.

Sato Kenichi: "That's amazing, is it because I offered sacrifices to you? I heard that eight million gods need to eat sacrifices to become powerful!"

"Offering... yes."

"That's great." Sato Kenichi was really happy for it. "When you become stronger, can you leave here?"

"Hmm~"

"Then I'll take you to the beach." Sato Kenichi held the other's hand. "The sea is very cold in winter and you can't go in the water. In the summer it's great, there are many tourists and people everywhere."

"People..." The voice echoed Sato Kenichi, very excited.

It likes people.

Because it’s delicious.

*

Zongcunzhen was buried.

This town is quite traditional. When cremation was already practiced in big cities, the burial custom was still maintained here. The deceased was dressed neatly and placed in a coffin, and then buried directly in the back mountain.

There is a large cemetery there, which is a good place for the deceased to rest in peace.

Originally...it should have been like this.

Mrs. Zongcun cried for a long time in front of the grave, and finally when it was getting dark, she was dragged away by her relatives.

Under the starry sky, the cemetery was silent until a rustling sound was heard.

Something was crawling among the dead trees. It was very thin, long, and white, like a nematode.

It accurately found Zongcunzhen's grave and nimbly drilled into the soil of the grave. After a few seconds, a very slight creaking sound was heard.

About half a minute later, the white worm crawled out of the soil of the grave, a little thicker than before. It returned to the shrine behind the torii along the traces it had crawled out, and merged with a white meat ball-like thing hidden in the shrine.

The fourth finger on the meatball's only arm grew a little bigger.

"I'm full..." A tender voice came out from a cracked mouth on the meat ball, and it laughed, "Next one, Jianyi, quick, next one."