*
Hara Kenji did not press for answers, nor did he ask what it was; he thought Kisaragi Chiyo would eventually explain it clearly to him, so he just needed to wait.
The traveling AE86 Toyota suddenly came to a halt on the road.
Kisaragi Chiyo raised her head, looking at the two people who had suddenly become alert, patted their shoulders soothingly.
When Kisaragi Chiyo cast her gaze further ahead, she finally saw a gray sedan parked not far from where they had stopped, the license plate of that car was the exact same one from the vehicle Hezi was riding in on the day she went missing.
"Do you want to go take a look?" Hara Kenji gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the car ahead. With his sharp sight, he noticed a bloodstain left behind by something striking the passenger side window, with a few tufts of something resembling down clinging to it. Judging by the size of the mark and the residue left behind, it seemed as though a small bird had crashed into the window.
But in a place where you can't even hear the sound of an insect, would there really be birds?
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Author's Note: Thanks to all the little angels for your support, mwah 030
Chapter 93
It was a gray five-seater SUV. After Kisaragi Chiyo got out of the car and walked over, she first walked around the vehicle once. Then, she reached out to try and pull the door handle, as expected, it was locked.
“Look, look at this.”
Matsuda Jinpei discovered that the glass of the driver's side window was not completely closed; although only a gap two fingers wide was left, given the flexibility of Hara Kenji's tentacles, he could easily squeeze through the gap and open the car door from the inside.
"The bloodstains on this window.." Hara Kenji glanced up at Matsuda while multitasking, using his tentacles to squeeze through the gap to force the door open, all while frowning and staring intently at the smear of blood on the passenger-side window, observing it closely.
"It's too fresh." Kisaragi Chiyo had walked up to Hara Kenji's side at some unknown time. He looked down, staring at the droplets of blood splattered on the window from the impact; although they had already dried, they had not yet turned completely dark red.
It looked as if it had been left there only a short while ago.
“Then where is the body?” Hara Kenji's gaze slowly scanned the surroundings; he had checked everything in the vicinity, including under the car, but he found no trace of the corpse left by Kotori.
It's not possible that the missing Hezi and the others buried Tsubasa's corpse, is it?
It has been nearly a week since Hezi and the others went missing. If Hezi's group had really been here recently, then Hara Kenji would not have missed the scent left behind in the air by humans.
“Kisaragi.” Matsuda Jinpei poked his head out from the other side of the car, his expression somewhat serious, as if he had encountered something troublesome.
Maybe you should come and take a look at this.
After Kisaragi Chiyo arrived, Matsuda Jinpei handed over the things he had just found in the car.
It was a navy blue storage pouch, containing various small items.
It included a convenience store receipt, several pens, a small video camera, a notebook.
Kisaragi Chiyo first checked the convenience store receipt, which totaled over two thousand seven hundred yen. It was for items like chocolate and rice balls, the date shown at the bottom was seven days ago.
To be more precise, it should be the day Hezi and her group set out for Route 51, which was also the day the forum post was published.
After finishing reading the shopping receipt, Kisaragi Chiyo put it back into the storage bag and immediately opened the notebook.
The first few pages contained some simple animal doodles, conveying no real information. As the pages turned, they became more like personal reflections; from the content and the owner's self-references in the notebook, it wasn't hard to determine that the owner of this organizer was Hezi.
[I exerted a bit of effort to get through my former classmates and finally learned the truth about my mother's disappearance back then.. This truth was far harder to accept than what the adults told me when I was a child—that my mother had been taken by Kamikakushi.. My mother was once a gentle and intelligent person; rather than believing she followed a cult, I would much rather believe she was brainwashed and manipulated by that so-called cult leader.]
Although I can no longer clearly remember the specific scene of my mother taking me to worship at the church, that deep sense of unease and fear has persisted alongside me, following me through twelve years..
[I received a message; I am going to find her.]
At first, I intended to go to Route 51 alone, but after a insistently and b insisted, they decided to go with me.
[A-kun is my high school friend, B-kun is a paranormal exploration blogger.. This might not be a good decision; I tried to talk them out of it.. but in the end, we set off together.]
[I hope this trip goes smoothly]
Kisaragi Chiyo skimmed through the contents of the notebook at high speed. Just as he was about to put the notebook back and pick up the camera, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the side of the notebook.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the edges of several pages were stained with brownish marks, as if they had been applied accidentally.
Kisaragi Chiyo reopened the notebook and continued flipping through the pages. After turning past a dozen blank pages, a small brown dot on the blank paper grew larger and larger as he flipped further.
On the other side, Hara Kenji approached with a frown, his expression looking quite grim. The moment he saw that brown stain, he already knew; the substance smeared on it was blood.
As the pages were turned further, the bloodstains on the paper grew more numerous, until the fourth page from the end was reached.
The crooked words, smeared in blood, read on the blank page: [Hezi, stay behind]
The wheat fields rustled in the wind. The surroundings were vast and empty, even though the sun hung high in the sky, Kisaragi Chiyo still felt a chill quietly sweep down her back.
"Stop looking." Hara Kenji snatched the notebook from Kisaragi Chiyo's hands and snapped it shut with a loud thud. Just now, he had sensed a trace of a curse's aura from the notebook, which had otherwise seemed perfectly normal.
Hara Kenji felt irritated, but he wasn't angry with Kisaragi Chiyo; rather, it was an alert reaction from sensing an aura similar to his own.
So he could only gloomily slap the ground with his tentacles.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Kisaragi Chiyo felt somewhat frustrated with himself. He truly hadn't noticed just now that he had been struck without realizing it; although it wasn't serious, it had still caused Hara to have a stress response.
As for the rest of the footage, Kisaragi Chiyo lost the right to view it; for the young man's safety, Hara handed the camera over to Matsuda Jinpei.
As expected, the three of them discovered something strange within the photos stored in the camera.
The first photo was a group shot of Hezi and the two companions before they set off, followed by various photos taken along the way, including a sign for Route 51 and the endlessly repeating wheat fields.
But after Matsuda Jinpei finished looking through all the photos in order, when he put the first photo back, the group photo of Hezi and her companions had changed; the three faces began to become blurred.
As the photos were viewed repeatedly in order, the faces of the three, including Hezi, became increasingly distorted and blurred.
By the time the sixth repetition was complete, only Hezi's face still retained any human traces.
By the seventh time, the two people other than Hezi had already completely turned into blurry shadows, at the same time, a fourth presence appeared in this photograph.
"It seems someone in the post has guessed the truth after all." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes, her expression solemn.
That so-called account, written from a bystander's perspective regarding what happened when Hezi and the others came to Route 51, does indeed contain conflicting viewpoints.
And then Hezi and the others found another car on foot," Hara Kenji mentioned another possibility. "The food inside the car had already expired by three years, at the same time, someone mentioned that the rumors about Route 51 have existed for five or six years.
"Are you trying to say that this road has been eating people for several years now?" Matsuda Jinpei lowered his eyes, looking down at the dark gray asphalt beneath his feet; whether in terms of its feel or its appearance, this road looked no different from any ordinary road.
But who could have guessed? This so-called highway is actually a path leading straight into the long tongue of the monster.
The truth behind Hezi's mother's disappearance was a cult sacrifice, after the sacrifice was successful, the cult created ■■.
"So this so-called ■■ refers to Route 51, right?" Kisaragi Chiyo's expression was not optimistic; he thought of certain methods that only sorcerers would use.
To create more powerful Paper Shikigami, one would deliberately cause mass death, using the resulting resentment and despair to force the birth of evil spirits.
Such incidents were not unheard of in the past; traces of them can still be found even through the records of ancient historical texts.
However, such occurrences were usually covered up with a rationalized excuse at the time.
Exorcising demons, bandits, diseases.. in short, there were countless examples.
Just as Kisaragi Chiyo was frowning in thought, a cool hand gently rested on his shoulder.
"Kenji?" Kisaragi Chiyo looked up, only to see Hara Kenji looking down at him; for the first time since regaining his memories, the Evil Spirit had proactively nudged its head against him.
The sensation of a familiar force affectionately nuzzling his cheek left Kisaragi Chiyo momentarily dazed.
"Don't worry." Hara Kenji sighed, his expression still looking somewhat awkward. He seemed a bit embarrassed to make such an intimate gesture toward Kisaragi Chiyo, yet he was trying his best to mimic the intimate attitude and behavior from his memories of the past.
"I say," Matsuda Jinpei spoke up, his tone still carrying that characteristic air of nonchalance, but his teal eyes beneath the sunglasses held a sharp edge.
What were you originally planning to do after seeing all this?" Matsuda Jinpei looked at Kisaragi Chiyo, a faint smile playing on his lips, said in a rather relaxed tone, "How about setting those ideas aside for a moment and hearing my proposal instead?
"What do you intend to do?" Kisaragi Chiyo looked at Matsuda Jinpei, confused, but he was in no hurry to answer. Instead, he slowly pulled a lighter from his pocket.
"I've already observed it," Matsuda Jinpei said with a hint of pride, reaching out to point into the distance.
“This wheat field is quite dry, the wind and temperature are also very good.”
Given the circumstances, Kisaragi Chiyo would have guessed what Matsuda Jinpei was planning to do.
It was truly a bold and completely unconventional approach.
"It might just provoke them." Although Kisaragi Chiyo said this, her expression carried a hint of eagerness to try.
"That's perfect then." Matsuda Jinpei lifted his chin, looking as if he were ready to take on the whole world.
If Hezi is still alive, then transferring the hatred onto us wouldn't be bad.. perhaps this could provide her with a greater chance of survival.
"I hope so." Although Hezi still barely retained a human appearance in the photograph, with those subtle, suggestive changes, even if Hezi were alive, her situation would not be very good.
Kisaragi Chiyo looked up, gazing at the endless wheat fields before her, wondered: Would Hezi regret coming here? Was it worth such a price, simply for the purpose of searching for her mother's body?
And as for Hezi, how did she find out about Route 51?
Aside from the people directly involved, Kisaragi Chiyo had no way of knowing about these matters.
He watched Matsuda Jinpei use a lighter to ignite the wheat field by the roadside, which, aided by the wind, quickly turned into a sea of fire.
It's a blessing, really." Kisaragi Chiyo watched the billowing black smoke rise from the burning wheat field and let out a soft laugh. "This place isn't protected by fire safety laws.
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Author's Note: Thank you for the support, my little angels! Mwah 030
Chapter 94
The sun was setting, the burning flames flared with brilliant colors as thick plumes of smoke rose upward, filling the air with a slightly acrid scent.
The golden flames devoured everything in their path, aided by the wind, leaving behind patches of blackened, scorched earth wherever they passed, while sparks burst in mid-air, making constant crackling sounds.
Kisaragi Chiyo stood silently at the edge of the road, watching the burning wheat field, the flames dancing in her misty-gray eyes, her cold expression tinged with a soft, warm hue.
Matsuda Jinpei stood to the side, fiddling with a lighter in his right hand. His eyes behind his sunglasses appeared bright because of the flames; his gaze shifted slowly from the wheat field up into the billowing thick smoke, a meaningful smile curled upon his lips.
"I'm leaving it to you," Matsuda Jinpei said, drawing out the last syllable, as he tossed the camera he was holding in his other hand toward Hara Kenji.
"I'm leaving it to you." After getting rid of the burden, Matsuda Jinpei tucked the lighter back into his pocket. He stood with his hands in his pockets in a casual stance, his shadow gradually lengthening behind him.
Seriously.." Hara Kenji complained with feigned annoyance, "Little Jinpei really knows how to slack off.
Despite his words, Hara Kenji still took the camera, turned on the recording function, pointed the lens toward the burning wheat field.
Human eyes can sometimes be deceived by the surface of things, but the cold, emotionless machines of industrial manufacturing faithfully and clearly present everything that is truly happening.
In just a few dozen seconds, the footage recorded by the camera was completely different from what was seen with the naked eye.