Chapter 68 Shrine 3 Epilogue
The night at the shrine was even deeper, with only a few sparse lanterns emitting a dim, intermittent light.
The buzz-cut man's footsteps echoed down the long corridor, each step seeming exceptionally lonely.
He separated from the group and walked alone towards the legendary area of worship.
This is the most mysterious place in the shrine. It is said that a powerful god was once enshrined here, and it is likely that countless taboos are buried here.
Ordinary people come to atone for their sins, but he is not like that; how could he possibly think he is guilty?
It's just that someone was killed by exploiting the rules. What's the big deal? Aren't all outsiders like this, resorting to any means to complete their missions?
The man with the buzz cut, mindful of the camera, barely managed to suppress the urge to spit on the ground.
He clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "I will definitely find the note. As long as I find it, I will make those people never dare to act recklessly towards me again." Of course, there were some even more wicked thoughts that he could only keep to himself.
He walked and walked, his shadow merging with the shadow of the eaves. At the end of the corridor ahead was an altar, with old ema (votive plaques) hanging on both sides.
These ema (votive plaques) swayed gently in the breeze, their bells ringing crisply.
It was the ringing of a bell again, but this time the sound was clear, crisp, and sweet, like a child giggling.
On the offering table in the very center sat a stone lantern, with a slip of paper pressed beneath it. The man with the buzz cut's eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward, taking the slip of paper into his hand.
The note was written in an old neon language:
"The one who hears the sound is the one who closes the ears. The one who hears the sound is the same as the prisoner."
("Do not listen, close your ears. Those who listen will be imprisoned.")
"Don't listen..." The man with the buzz cut read the words on the note aloud, then frowned. "What kind of riddle is this? But if it's just left here like this, there shouldn't be any hidden mechanism, right?"
He sneered and put the note in his pocket. Just then, the ringtone in his earpiece blared again, even more piercing than before, drilling straight into his brain.
The man with the buzz cut's flashlight flickered, and the shadow beside the altar seemed to grow thicker, as if it were coming alive and approaching him.
"It's okay, I have a note, you can't scare me." Xiao Chen muttered to himself, trying his best to bolster his courage. "I haven't touched anything, don't cause me any trouble."
Suddenly, the ringing stopped abruptly, replaced by a burst of playful laughter.
The children's voices converged and compressed into a thick, mountain-like roar, the sound surging in from all directions, filled with malice and oppression:
"Wen こえますか...(did you hear it)..."
"You deserve to be punished as well..."
The man with the buzz cut instinctively covered his ears, but the ringing in his earpiece ended at that very moment, and the thin skin and bones on his palms were simply no match for it.
The sound grew louder and clearer, eventually becoming a familiar voice.
"I'm saying... why me? Why not you?"
This is the voice of a lewd man.
The man with the buzz cut whirled around, only to find no one behind him, but the voice still echoed in his ears: "You're the one who made me open the box, you're the one who got me into this mess..."
"Aren't we the same kind? Shouldn't we help each other? Even if we're going to die, it should be those two women who die..." The gloomy man's cries mixed with roars echoed around the crew-cut man.
"Shut up! Shut up!" the buzz-cut man shouted hysterically, but to no avail.
Just then, a sharp pain shot through his ear. The man with the buzz cut reached up and touched it, finding his fingertips covered in a sticky liquid—blood.
He stared in horror at his hands, then heard a rustling, drum-like noise deep inside his cochlea.
He then felt a strange wriggling sensation in his ear; something was crawling inside.
"No...don't do this..." He knelt on the ground in despair, clutching his ears tightly.
The next second, a reptile covered in tiny tentacles crawled out of his ear, down his cheek, and finally fell to the ground.
He spotted the reptile quickly, jumped up with a scream, and raised his foot to stomp it to death.
But more insects began to crawl out of the ear.
These insects were soaking wet and glowed with an eerie green light, emitting faint whispers with each step they took. The man with the buzz cut began to convulse; it was as if some kind of passage had been opened in his ears, from which these strange creatures poured out incessantly.
These reptiles eventually gathered together, forming a blurry humanoid shape. Its face was extremely distorted, and its entire body exuded a strong resentment. If the crew-cut man had been with you just now, he would have recognized it as the well ghost that had emerged from the ancient well.
Jing Gui's voice was deep and hoarse, pointing directly at the man with the buzz cut:
“Pay back your sins…”
"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!" The man with the buzz cut shook his head frantically, but Jing Gui's mind was only focused on the desire to fill his stomach.
The well spirit slowly stretched out its hand and pointed at the man with the buzz cut. The latter's body was pulled towards the offering table by an invisible force. His mouth opened wide, as if he was screaming silently, and his ears began to expand at a visible speed, eventually covering his entire face like flower buds.
"Help me! Help me!" The man with the buzz cut struggled to call for help, but his voice gradually grew weaker and eventually disappeared completely.
Only a pool of slowly flowing black liquid remained on the ground, gradually seeping into the earth, leaving only the note behind.
---
When you arrived at the scene after hearing the man with the buzz cut scream, all you saw was a strange black mark on the ground and a piece of paper scattered to the side.
"Where is he?" you muttered.
You stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the note. You couldn't help but frown, and with a hint of disgust, waved the note in the air to dispel the faint fishy smell.
Looking at the words on the note again, and listening to the translation, a chill ran down your spine: "Don't listen," you repeated.
You're a little curious about what the last note will be.
"Sis, sis, help! Help!" The fat otaku who had slipped away in the chaos by the well reappeared, half-rolling and half-crawling towards you like a stray dog.
"Did you get the new note?" The chubby guy shrewdly guessed what was going on based on your demeanor. Receiving your dangerous glare, he suddenly remembered his real business. "Sis, come quick! It's by the torii gate, Zhou..."
The fat guy seemed to recall something terrifying, panting heavily, his pupils dilating in shock.
Your heart tightened, and you immediately followed him towards the direction of the torii gate.
The closer you get to the torii gate, the colder the night wind becomes. The surrounding forest seems to have died, and even the chirping of insects has disappeared without a trace.
The red building stood out so prominently in the night, but what was even more eye-catching was—
A giant teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a sunny day) was swaying slightly back and forth under the eaves.
That's Xiao Zhou.
She was being suspended from the torii gate by a thick red rope.
"What is this?!" You cover your mouth, suppressing the scream that is about to escape your lips.
You look up at Xiao Zhou and notice her hands hanging stiffly at her sides, her fingertips pointing towards the depths of the torii gate, as if guiding you inside.
Her body seemed to notice your gaze, swinging left and right like a giant pendulum clock, swaying even without wind.
"Xiao Zhou, can you still hear me?" You try to call out to her, but there is no response.
"She should be gone by now," the chubby guy muttered, his voice trembling with sobs. "What do we do? I could treat her disappearance as a TV show moment, but this—we can't stay here! This is really wrong!"
"Go? Where to?" you huffed, clenching your fist. "We're right here at the torii gate. Have you seen the crew?"
The fat guy was speechless, and swallowed back his words several times he tried to speak.
“If you want to come with me, then follow me. It seems that the only way out is right now.” You pointed deep into the torii gate.
"This..." The fat guy hesitated for a moment, then had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow behind you.
The moment you step through the torii gate, the scene changes instantly.
The red pillars stretched endlessly to both sides, seemingly forming a tunnel without end.
The sky turned a strange color, like a grayish-green smeared with thick ink, and the moon emitted a deathly dim light behind the thick clouds.
Every time you take a step, your earpiece rings, and the nearby torii gate lights up.
Countless teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu dolls) hung under the eaves, initially about the size of half a hand, swirling "whoosh" above your head.
Later, as you went deeper into the area, the teru teru bozu (sunny doll) grew larger and larger until it became as big as a real person, with an unknown black liquid dripping from its eyes.
It falls like rain on your head, shoulders, and the road ahead and behind—on you, the translator, and the otaku.
"Are these things... watching us?" the fat man asked, trembling.
You nodded and lowered your voice: "Now that we're here, stay calm and don't make too much noise."
This isn't a solution; these dolls must be a hint.
But you haven't found the solution yet... There's no difference between the torii gates, so can we just wait?
Finally, the teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a sunny day) in front of you moved. Its huge head slowly lowered, and its eyes, which were painted with ink from a brush, focused intently on you.
The corners of the doll's smiling mouth began to crack, splitting so wide that they almost covered the entire face. The stitches were torn open by paint, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
"It's moving!" The fat guy screamed like a chicken, letting out another earth-shattering scream, and turned to run away.
"Don't run!" You tried to stop him, but it was too late. The path the fat guy had taken to rush back quickly disappeared into the endless red tunnel.
Over here, the teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a sunny day) had completely lowered its head, and its enormous body slowly slid down from the pillar. Its head creaked and groaned as it shook, like countless bones rubbing against each other.
At the same time, more ink began to flow from its hollow eye sockets. The dark liquid dripped onto the ground and instantly transformed into twisted hand shadows, reaching out towards you.
You suppress your fear and try to find something nearby that you can use for self-defense.
"てるてる主, てる楼主,天気にしておくれ. (Sunny doll, sunny doll, please let the weather clear up)" The translator spoke out, humming a folk song.
You don't know what this means, but you see the teru teru bozu's movements slow down.
It tilted its head in confusion.
And the translator continued singing:
"The clear sky is the golden bell, and the clear sky is the first clear sky. (If it clears up, I will give you a golden bell. If it doesn't clear up, I will chop off your head.)"
Her voice was soft and slow, the melody of the nursery rhyme seemed to ripple in the air, gradually blending into the tranquility of the night.
As the nursery rhyme was recited, each word seemed to possess a magical power. The giant teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu doll) began to tremble slightly.
Its fabric slowly bulged outwards from the center, like a living breath. The originally smirking face gradually twisted, the smile vanished, and was replaced by an expression full of pain.
The translator hummed the song repeatedly, and the fabric of the teru teru bozu (Sunny Doll) began to slowly peel away, falling piece by piece like fallen leaves.
The fabric gradually changes color from black to grayish-white, and finally becomes transparent, revealing its internal structure.
The scene before your eyes makes your chest feel tight: the inside of the doll is covered with countless embroidery threads.
The embroidery threads intertwined like a spider web, with a small golden bell hanging at the center. As the embroidery threads unraveled, the bell swayed slowly, producing a clear, melodious sound.
The ringing resonated in your headset, so loud you couldn't even open your eyes, barely managing to stay upright.
Until the last piece of fabric fell apart, the enormous shape of the Teru Teru Bozu completely collapsed, turning into a pile of scattered embroidery threads and fabric fragments on the ground.
All the bell sounds were taken away with the disappearance of that little golden bell.
Right in the center, a yellowed piece of paper gently floated down and landed at your feet.
You bend down to pick up the note, and the translator interprets its words as: "Don't go, once you take a step, you can never return."
As you murmur these words, you realize that the rule of this space is not to move forward, but to move backward.
“Step back…” You take a deep breath, grab the translator’s hand, and together you begin to walk backwards.
As you look ahead, all the teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu dolls) turn around, row upon row, densely packed, staring at you. A sense of panic rises within you for no apparent reason, but you simply steady your steps and count how many torii gates you pass.
When you arrived, you were already counting; now, you need to calm down and avoid making any mistakes.
As if evaluating your actions, with each torii gate you cross in the opposite direction, the corresponding Teru Teru Bozu (a Japanese doll) droops its head as if dead, its little black eyes no longer following your figure.
You continue backwards, one hundred and one, one hundred and two... until you reach the starting point.
"Cough cough..." It was the fat otaku coughing violently.
You immediately turned around and saw him slumped on the ground, his face deathly pale.
"Get up, we should be able to leave here now!" After all, you've been traveling together, so go over and help him up.
"I...I saw the Teru Teru Bozu doll open its mouth..." The fat guy seemed to have completely broken down. "It's full of...full of Xiao Zhou's face!"
You didn't have time to comfort him, and instead, he just shook you off, yelling, "What are you going to do! I can't leave! I can't leave!"
"Then you can stay here." You nodded and walked towards the faint patch of light under the torii gate without looking back.
The moment your feet touch solid ground, you finally feel that "this is real" rather than the soft, limp sensation of some kind of illusion.
The night was still dark and gloomy, but the air suddenly became fresh, and the oppressive and gloomy feelings vanished.
You turn around and look at the other side of the torii gate. The fat otaku is slumped on the ground, his face pale, his mouth agape in disbelief.
"Why? Why can you? Oh, I see, we have to go together. Now that you're out, I can too!" The fat man, panting heavily, scrambled to his feet and staggered towards the torii gate. His steps were erratic, his body seemingly beyond its limits, but fear and desire drove him recklessly. He reached out, desperately trying to grab you:
"Sister, dear sister, come help me! Don't leave me alone! Take me with you!"
You felt that his expression was more like he was trying to pull you back, so you took a few steps back without hesitation. Then you saw him suddenly crash into the torii gate, his body bouncing back as if hit by an invisible wall, and he fell to the ground.
The fat otaku let out a painful howl, clutching his chest. His slit-like eyes widened as he tried to open them, but they only changed from "-" to ".". Combined with his trembling lips, the howl was still somewhat convincing.
"What's going on? Why..." The fat otaku reached out and approached the torii gate again. His palm slowly approached, but stopped a few inches away from the torii gate, unable to move forward another inch.
"Stop joking! Let me out!" he cried in terror, pounding on the invisible barrier.
The overweight man turned to look at you, his eyes filled with undisguised extreme fear and anger: "Why? Why can you go out, but I can't?! What's going on?! This isn't fair!"
"You wretched woman, help me! Give me a hand!"
"No, I mean, sister, please, save me, take me with you..."
The overweight man kept trying to rush through the torii gate, but each time he was bounced back by the barrier. His movements became increasingly frantic, his fists pounding the air with dull thuds. Tears began to stream down his face, and his voice trembled with desperate sobs: "Why...why is this happening? I just wanted to live! I didn't do anything wrong!"
His shouts echoed between the torii gates, with a piercing echo, as if even the space itself was mocking his powerlessness.
"I've already said it, this is the abode of the gods, no loud noises allowed." You uttered these words softly, gave him one last look, lowered your eyelashes, and resolutely walked down the path.
...
"Card!"
The director shouted excitedly.
"That's the expression, it's perfect!" The director ran over and gave you a big hug despite your resistance. "Are you really an amateur student? How can you make such a story-telling look in your eyes?"
"A kind, brave person who doesn't abandon his companions, but also doesn't let his pointless soft-heartedness towards them drag him down—you've brought the character to life!" The director laughed heartily and then ran to watch the playback.
On the other side, Xiao Zhou, dressed in a hanged ghost makeup style, walks towards you, saying in a relaxed tone, "It's a pleasure working with you."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you," you said.
Yes, it's all just a script.
This is a horror-themed live-action RPG variety show.
Since the three boys are of Korean nationality, they naturally have to play some comedic roles; as for the two girls, "after all, they are just girls," so they can play some very nice characters, which is fine.
You've been assigned a highlight role, but if all the spotlight is on a woman, that's "too feminist."
"Although the audience's tastes have changed, the absence of female characters who drag the team down will be criticized as unrealistic." The director said this while instructing the screenwriter to change the plot and settings on the spot, turning Xiao Zhou's character into someone who only shouts and snatches notes.
But is it just a script?
You see three boys limping towards you. They all look the same, but with the special effects makeup, their micro-expressions and demeanor have been completely changed.
They should no longer be considered "outsiders".
Even in variety shows, writers and directors can provide the general direction of the characters, and post-production and editing can embellish the desired shots. However, the "actors" involved inevitably reveal their true selves, and are then captured by the rules, completely extinguished within them.
"Thank you," you say to the translator. If she hadn't hummed those nursery rhymes about teru teru bozu (sunny dolls), you would have had to use your own props, but whether those props would disrupt the recording of the variety show or even violate deeper taboos is another matter.
The translator just smiled at you, then fell silent.
The filming location at the shrine gradually quieted down, and the scene, which was originally filled with a terrifying atmosphere, returned to an ordinary shrine as the staff cleaned up.
"Thank you for your hard work!" The host, Mio, called from behind, her voice clear and gentle. Her figure was bathed in the dim light, and she wore a polite smile, as if she had just participated in a relaxed late-night interview rather than a horror variety show.
"How does it feel?" Mio leaned closer to you, her tone friendly and natural. "You came here to study abroad, but were dragged into this kind of nighttime adventure program. It must be pretty exciting, right?"
"It's alright," you smiled. You were a little unsure what Mio meant. She was so aloof online, but so approachable offline.
"I knew you could play this role well, so I could finish my job." Mio implied in a few words that she had chosen such a good role for you.
"Ah, thank you," you said. So Mio actually had that kind of influence within the production team?
Mio looked at your expression, nodded gently, and took out a small envelope from her pocket, handing it to you: "This is a thank-you gift, and also a souvenir from the production team for each of you. We hope you like it."
You take the envelope, but notice that she is holding several slips of paper in her other hand; these are the "forbidden cards" you found during the filming.
“These notes…” You blinked, staring at the notes in her hand.
Mio glanced at you for a moment, a vague smile playing on her lips. Instead of answering directly, she put the note into a delicate little wooden box, then closed the lid, as if completing some solemn ritual.
“These notes are important to the show,” she said slowly. “They are not just props, but also key to conveying emotions and stories.”
"Emotions and stories?" you asked, puzzled.
Mio took a step closer and whispered, "The notes themselves aren't important; what's important is who's using them."
Her voice was as deep as if it came from a deep well, and you couldn't tell whether she was joking or revealing some unknown secret.
In the distance, the director stood beside the monitor, waving at Mio. Although his face was full of smiles, there was an unsettling aggressiveness in his narrow eyes.
"You've worked so hard, Mio," the director said as he walked towards her. When the director wasn't throwing a tantrum, his tone was surprisingly affectionate when he called Mio's name. He even looked at her.
Mio subtly shielded you from view, pulled the director's hand to the side, and immediately resumed her smile: "Thank you for your care, director. This program was a great success."
"It's all because of a host like you!" The director's laughter was so loud it was almost jarring. "You're our star host, hahaha."
Mio and the director walked to the other side. You rubbed your eyes and saw that the black mist was about to slice off the director's head.
Behind the two of them, a figure dressed meticulously in a pure white shrine maiden's robe flashed past in the corridor. You didn't know if you were seeing things or if it was just a white light.
The recording had ended, but you shivered three times in a row.
"Thank you too. With your help, I was able to get through so smoothly." You stopped thinking about the entanglements between these locals. You had already ended this scene and event, and it had nothing to do with you anymore. You simply took the translator's hand and sincerely thanked her, "I still don't know your name?"
The translator's eyes looked at your clasped hands, then slowly moved upwards to meet your gaze.
Her eyes were even darker than those of the average person in the country, and when they didn't reflect light, they looked like a stagnant pool.
You felt a little flustered under her gaze, and unconsciously trembled.
Her lips moved, uttering a few syllables.
"What did you say..." you said.
"Hurry up, what are you still standing here for?" Xiao Zhou, who had just removed her makeup, ran over and patted you. She has a very lively and cheerful personality, is not scheming, and easily gets close to people.
"Ah, I..." You were stunned as Xiao Zhou put his arm around your shoulder and led you into the car down the mountain.
As you walk, she chats with you: "By the way, your Japanese is really good. Are you a Japanese major or a Japanese language major in real life?"
"What? What Japanese?" You're confused.
"We just finished recording a Japanese-language variety show for several hours. Are you exhausted?" Xiao Zhou exaggeratedly touched your forehead.
And only then do you realize what the translator just said.
She said, "I am you."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Please, hurry up and write!! Regarding Mio, this is a point summarized by Tiger's friend in Japan: Japanese people generally have a strong sense of boundaries. They don't call each other by name unless they're very close. If a superior or teacher calls a subordinate or student by name, it carries a strong sense of "intrusion" and is considered a form of sexual harassment. This inspired my explanation of cultural differences.
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