"Be careful Buddha..." The man's voice became a little unclear due to the abnormality and atrophy of his vocal cords, but it was still clear enough for Michelle to hear at such a close distance.
"Are you already being entangled?" Officer Tateda stretched out his hand with difficulty to rub the top of the little king's head, but it made him collapse faster. However, he didn't care at all. He was only worried about the safety of the child behind the boy, who he watched grow up. "If you have no other choice, go to Zhonghua Street, Guandi Temple and Tianhou Temple."
Kaionji Suyou kept Officer Tateda's words in mind, but now he had his own systematic help, so Lady Hachisha's harassment was not a particularly big problem.
The content of the suicide note undoubtedly proved his previous guess that there must be some problem inside Sojiji Temple. He suddenly remembered that his desk mate had been chattering about going to the temple to pray for his brother, and the most famous and effective temple recognized in Yokohama was none other than Sojiji Temple.
Although it is uncertain whether the girl's absence is related to Sojiji Temple, it is closely related to the murder of Sojiji Temple and Officer Tateda and his own attack.
Now, in addition to investigating the affairs of Zongji Temple, Haiyin Temple Travel also has to find a way to expand its influence. One of the ways is to use Michel Ende's vest to make his fabricated organization have some popularity in certain places.
"It's better to start with urban legends or something like that." Haiyin Temple Suyou said to himself.
Soon after he had this idea, an urban legend about the King of Wishes suddenly emerged in some forums of niche enthusiasts.
On the sofa of the Armed Detective Agency, Junichiro Tanizaki buried his head in his arms, saying nothing.
Kunikida stood alone next to the young man with light hair, his expression not looking too good either.
Sitting opposite Tanizaki Junichiro was Yosano Akiko, a female social doctor wearing a golden butterfly hairpin, holding a cup of black tea. She seemed the calmest, but after a long time, the level of the black tea did not drop at all.
"Is Naomi-chan back?"
The one who broke the awkward atmosphere was Kenji Miyazawa, who had just returned from a commission. Before the boy even entered the room, a lively and cheerful voice came from the door. Kunikida Doppo wanted to prevent the atmosphere from going in a worse direction, but
It's too late.
"I can't find it, anywhere..."
Tanizaki Junichiro raised his head from his arms, his eyes were full of bloodshot, and his face no longer had the easy-going and gentle look he used to have. Instead, it was filled with deep anxiety.
Such anxiety almost swallowed up the young brother.
But it's no wonder that everyone would feel uneasy when their sister, who had always been so caring and close to them, disappeared without any warning.
"It's all my fault that I didn't go to the temple with Naomi. That made her unhappy and she ran out alone..." Tanizaki Junichiro lowered his head deeply again, looking extremely self-blaming.
"Which temple are you and Naomi going to?" Ranpo Edogawa, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked.
"Hey, Ranpo-san, um, it's Sojiji Temple. I heard that it's also very effective, so Naomi said a long time ago that she wanted to go and see it."
Although he didn't understand why the detective asked this, the young man with light hair immediately answered Edogawa Ranpo's question.
His trust in the detective's ability gave him some hope: "Mr. Ranpo, do you have any theory?"
"Well..." Edogawa Ranpo held his chin, squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, then turned to Fukuzawa Yukichi, "President, which temple did you get the missing jade pendant from Tateda Yuichi's neck?"
"Soujiji Temple..." Fukuzawa Yukichi answered subconsciously, following the young man's train of thought. He reacted after the words came out of his mouth, "Ranbu, how do you know Officer Tateda's name?"
"This is not important." The famous detective with black hair and green eyes shook his hands to cover up. He would never say that he conspired with Dazai Osamu to peek at Fukuzawa Yukichi's mission files.
"Wait, since we mentioned Sojiji Temple, then what Mr. Ranpo means is..." Dazai Osamu caught the key words in the conversation.
"Hmm." The green-eyed detective snorted complacently, his proud tail almost flying up to the sky.
Edogawa Ranpo's reasoning is eye-opening and almost impeccable.
The jade tablet that was stolen from Yuichi Tateda who was attacked by demons came from Sojiji Temple, and the last place that Junichiro Tanizaki's sister Naomi Tanizaki visited before she disappeared without a warning was also Sojiji Temple. This is too much of a coincidence.
'But that's unlikely.'
After making such a guess, the black-haired former port mafia officer quickly denied his guess in his heart.
Sojiji Temple is one of the three major spiritual organizations in Yokohama, and is as famous as Shinohara Hachiman Shrine and the Guandi Temple Tenhougu located in Yokohama Chinatown. Its influence is not insignificant, and doing such a thing is undoubtedly somewhat illogical.
"But it's not impossible. If it's the port mafia..." Memories of his past work experience flooded into Dazai's mind, but he didn't say this guess out loud.
After confirming that Sojiji Temple was filled with suspicious colors, the investigation location for the disappearance of Tanizaki Naomi was finalized. After the tasks were assigned, the members of the detective agency returned to their rooms with heavy hearts.
However, Dazai Osamu's guess is not groundless. The former cadres of the Port Mafia are very familiar with those secret transactions and have even participated in them personally.
In a secret reception room of the mafia in the port, the tea on the table had already gone cold, but no one tried to taste the high-quality tea. They just let it cool down bit by bit as if it was a waste of resources.
"Is the tea not to your liking?" Sen Ou asked the person opposite him with a concerned look.
They were just discussing matters concerning future cooperation, but after Sen Ouwai made a suggestion, the other party remained silent, as if he was very dissatisfied with the content of the negotiation.
"No, it's just that the time has not come yet." The kind-looking old man answered ambiguously.
The old man's wrinkled face, which looked like a wind-dried orange peel, squeezed out a slightly strange smile. The young and clear voice coming from the mouth of such an old-looking man seemed inexplicably strange.
Sitting opposite Sen Ou was an old man dressed as a monk, with a shaved head and scars full of traces of time. His temples were abnormally swollen and there were deep folds of flesh on the back of his neck, as if the contents of this skin did not fit well with the body.
The old man was intricately draped in an intricately crafted monk's robe and cassock. He looked somewhat meditative and detached, even kind-looking, yet he seemed to be entangled by worldly things, like a vulgar joke wrapped in expensive wrapping paper.
"What does Master Huijue mean?" Sen Ouwai's expression remained unchanged when he heard this, but he subtly changed his sitting position, bringing his upper body closer to the monk.
Unexpectedly, the monk called Master Huijue just stroked his beard and smiled meaningfully.
This was not the first time that the Port Mafia and Sojiji Temple had collaborated, and Mori Ougai easily understood what this greedy old man meant.
"Chu Ye." Mori Ouwai shouted, and a petite young man immediately walked out from the darkness behind him.
A port mafia officer with medium-length orange hair stepped forward. His slightly longer hair blocked the light, leaving a long shadow on Nakahara Chuuya's face, making the young man's expression somewhat ambiguous.
He was carrying a small suitcase in his hand and approached the tea table with steady steps.
When he saw the suitcase being placed on the coffee table, revealing the bundles of banknotes inside, the old man's eyes immediately became greedy, and he could hardly take his eyes away from the pile of banknotes.
"I wonder if Master Huijue can answer my questions now." Although it was a question, the black-haired man forced it into an affirmative sentence, as if he was confident that the monk would tell him everything he knew under his own conditions.
Master Huijue's eyes were almost filled with greed, just like a rooster with its neck grabbed by someone, yet he still maintained an unfathomable look on his face.
But he seemed to be worried about something in his heart, which made this greedy old man look away from the banknote with great difficulty. Instead, he looked at Sen Ou with an uncertain expression.
"Don't say too much...Don't say too much..."
The monk kept muttering to himself, as if he was reciting some mysterious scripture.
Blue veins bulged on his neck and his eyes suddenly widened. He looked alert to something, as if his life was being controlled by some force in the void.
The old man's hand, which was as thin as a bird's claw, reached out involuntarily towards the suitcase, but was stopped nonchalantly by Mori Ogai.
"You don't show sincerity in this, Master Huijue."
The man with long black hair had a smile on his face, but there was no smile in his voice. Instead, it was terribly cold, with an implication that he could not be refused.
"No fate! No fate!" The old monk smiled neurotically, muttered something in a mysterious way, and unexpectedly withdrew his hand.
Sen Ouwai's heart sank, but he didn't show any surprise on his face.
He didn't expect the old man to be so determined this time, and frowned slightly.
"Things seem to be a little unexpected." Mori Oo thought.
The old man opposite seemed to blink his eyes quickly, and when he opened his eyes, his pupils seemed to be surrounded by a circle of gold.
"Just wait." The old man's voice suddenly changed its tone, becoming rich and mournful, which seemed to be in line with his age, but the contrast was even more abrupt.
"What are you saying, sir?" The hoarse tone made it difficult for Sen Ou to hear the old man's words clearly.
“Just… just wait… wait… for the arrival of the music…” As if it was some old magnetic tape that had long been unusable, the old man’s voice suddenly became intermittent and noisy to the point where it was almost indistinguishable to the human ear.
Violent coughing filled the room, and during this process, the old man's vocal organs seemed to have changed.
His vocal cords seemed to be swallowed up and assimilated by some substance, leaving only the function of making some boring noises.
Just like some kind of insect, a certain part of his body suddenly began to vibrate. Floating and muddy sounds came from all over his body, and it was impossible to tell which specific organ was vibrating. The old man seemed to have become a human broadcaster.
It was as if a "qi" was flowing and expanding in the monk's body, and some substance under the old man's skin gradually expanded. The folds on the back of his neck seemed to have found a filler and were abruptly smoothed out, leaving only a light red crack.
All these changes happened so suddenly, but Mori Ougai seemed to have not noticed anything unusual and continued to sit calmly in his original position.
But the little girl with blond hair and blue eyes had appeared next to the monk without anyone noticing, and stood between Sen Ouwai and Monk Huijue with an expressionless face.
Nakahara Chuuya wanted to step forward to provide protection, but his leader stopped him with a look, so he could only stand there uncomfortably and wait for orders.
"Him!" The old man's voice suddenly rose, and his eyes widened to a terrifying degree, like a goldfish that died of gluttony. His upper body was shaking violently, leaning forward toward the outside of the forest gull.
"He is coming." The old monk looked into the eyes of the leader of the port mafia and said, his voice firm and passionate.
"Who?" Sen Ouwai asked in a calm voice.
The black-haired man sitting on the soft sofa looked eerily calm even in the face of such a terrifying scene.
"Him, it's Him, it's Him, He's here!" The old man's eyes widened to a terrifying level, staring at the direction of the port mafia leader.
"You don't know! You don't know? How could you? How dare you? How could you not know?"
The old man's voice became excited, almost dancing.
"Everyone! Everyone must welcome...welcome..."
His dry skin, mottled by age spots, turned red due to the rapid changes in his emotions. The thin, paper-like fragile skin had blood vessels that twisted like green snakes, making people worry whether the flowing blood would crack this overly thin barrier.
The pair of dry, eagle-claw-like hands were about to grab Mori Ou's collar, but before Zhongyuan Chuuya's fist touched the old man, Master Huijue fell face down on the tea table.
There were some water stains on the smooth ceramic floor, which seemed to be caused by the tea leaves that had just been brewed. This caused Master Huijue to slip and stop the old man's crazy actions.
"Blah--" The expensive tea set was swept all over the ground by the old man's action and broke into many pieces on the solid floor.
Master Huijue, who had fallen on the tea table, suddenly stopped moving, like a puppet whose spring had been loosened, and he suddenly lost his life.