Qi lässt sich leicht weitergeben

Kapitel 55

"Let me be clear: Mikoto is a fraud, a scam group. Haven't you noticed you've become more unhappy than before you started believing in them?"

"That's not true. Thanks to the cult leader, I was able to distinguish between right and wrong. Compared to my previous ignorant life, I am much happier."

"How is that possible—"

"Moreover, the cult leader is not a liar; he sees everything clearly."

"No, that's because..."

I originally wanted to say it was because he used fraudulent methods. But even if I said it, Kimie wouldn't accept it. I don't have Kyogoku-do's silver tongue, which allows me to refute and persuade him.

"But—to be honest, your life is still very painful, isn't it?"

"—Yes, that's right. If you're going to call this unfortunate, then it's my own misfortune. But it's wrong to think it's unfortunate. If you see me as unfortunate, then it's because my behavior and thoughts are somewhat lacking."

"There's something lacking—what more do you want to give on top of that? Didn't you even borrow money to give alms?"

"No, we borrow money to make a living."

"What's wrong with that? I think both statements are the same."

“We should not earn more unclean wealth than necessary, nor should we hoard property. I am stupid and cannot measure what the so-called necessary limit is, so I give away all the money I earn. Therefore, I have no money to live on, so I borrow money—and now I am not working—so I don’t need to give away money anymore.”

There's no more joy in giving? That's even more dangerous.

"So you've already followed the teachings and are living a clean life? There's nothing lacking."

“No, I still have this family. This family is not good; it was obtained through improper means and it is property that will bring bad karma—so as long as I do not abandon this family, I cannot truly live in accordance with the teachings.”

"But you—can't—do you—?"

The result is that we're back to the same old problem, and the thought process is looping again.

She is definitely not happy now, and conversely, it is impossible for her to become happy.

Her words were clearly contradictory, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. Even the listener was confused.

It seems impossible for me to persuade her not to pursue her faith. (Her eyes...)

Something's off about his eyes.

Mikoto no longer cared; for her, the true object of faith had long existed in her heart.

Because she believed in herself, no one else could save her.

I feel that continuing to discuss matters of faith would cause me great distress.

"Has your daughter, Lai Zi, been behaving strangely lately?"

"I don't know, I hardly ever see Lai Zi anymore."

"Not meeting in person?"

I only go home occasionally.

Does she always stay out overnight?

Junzhi didn't answer immediately, keeping her head down.

"Indeed—now that you mention it, I've noticed that her behavior does seem to have suddenly become very strange. Is there a problem?"

Being asked a counter-question didn't clarify the point; I couldn't exactly say, "Your daughter might be dismembered," could I? I had no answer. Junzhi continued, seemingly oblivious to her own thoughts:

"—I don't know when it started, but she started going out at night more often, and she wouldn't listen to me when I scolded her. I thought it was just me, a single mother, who couldn't stop her, so I asked Sasakawa to talk to her for me, but she completely ignored me. Not long after, the incident happened."

The so-called incident should refer to Kanako Yuzuki's attempted suicide.

"It's about the incident in mid-last month when Lai Zi's friend jumped off the platform and committed suicide in front of her. I was terrified, so I haven't let her go out for a while—but less than half a month later she's back to her old ways. I think it might be the work of evil spirits, so I'm asking the Master to come and take a look—"

According to Junzhi, the leader of the Mikoto cult had come to this house to seal away the impurities and also to check their feng shui. The instructions at the time were to nail the door shut and hang a rope around the back door. However, the leader said this was only an emergency measure, and that the bad karma in this house could not be eradicated with such measures alone.

Then this month, her attitude suddenly changed—she used to be a very well-behaved girl, but suddenly she became incredibly lively—no, not just cheerful. She's become more distant from me than before, and has even been violent towards me several times. She's rarely come home lately, and I don't know if she's been going to school—though her friends have come to visit a few times, but I'm afraid to see them—

Junzhi said dejectedly.

It sounded like a life that had hit rock bottom, and as far as I could understand, the prayers of the Mikoto deity had absolutely no effect on this mother and daughter.

Only when Raiko is mentioned does Kimie's almost extinguished humanity begin to react, and her almost expressionless face reveals traces of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Leaving those matters aside for now, we can infer from Kimie's words that Raiko's change in attitude occurred at the beginning of this month, after Kanako was kidnapped. It's hard to believe there's no connection.

"Oh, madam, come to think of it, you really dare to say so much nonsense to two strangers like us! It would be better to be a little more cautious."

Natsumi suddenly concluded with this silly remark.

After handing over the lead in asking questions to me, he went to fiddle with the doll's head on the rice bag, then played with the things on the cabinet, looking quite bored. However, he didn't seem to be completely oblivious to what we were talking about; he sensed that I had run out of things to ask.

Kimie seemed unmoved by Natsume's words. She remained as before, her head bowed as if counting the number of tatami mats.

Natsuki continued cheerfully:

“Madam, we are actually more effective and noble than that bastard box. Let me give you some advice. First, suicide is bad. Why not? Because it will only cause your daughter a lot of trouble afterward. Hanging yourself will make a mess, and the beams will bend. Your family doesn't have the money for a funeral, so it's best not to do something so foolish. Another piece of advice is that once your daughter comes back, don't let her go out, and don't let her go to school!”

"Why?"

"Your daughter is being targeted by a bad guy. There's a mentally unstable serial killer lurking around here. Madam, you can pray to the box or the pig if you want, but your daughter's life is another matter, isn't it? Whether you desperately beg her or simply tie her up with rope, it's all up to you. The best thing to do is to find her right now and tie her up."

"Tie him up?"

"Didn't you say your daughter doesn't listen to you? So tying her up is faster, at least it's better than being killed."

"Killed?"

"You'll die."

"Is...is this real?"

"Of course it's true."

"Who are you?!"

"Hahaha, so you finally thought to ask about our identities! An ordinary person would have asked right away. To be honest, we weren't hiding anything anyway. In short, we are the foremost spiritual mediums in Japan, and our name is Mikoto. This is the real one!"

How reckless! Putting everything else aside, he even mentioned the Turtle God. Shouldn't there be some restraint in spouting nonsense?

Xia Mujin pointed at me respectfully, and I was so surprised that I couldn't close my mouth.

"We foresaw the impending disaster for your daughter and rushed here to help. However, you've already become a believer in the box cult, which is why we've been asking so many questions to confirm if this box deity possesses any supernatural powers to protect your daughter. But the box is useless, completely useless. Therefore, now you must rely on your own strength to protect your daughter!"

At this moment, Junzhi's expression clearly changed. Confusion, Junzhi was feeling quite—confused.

"I'm sorry, it's no use even if you beg us, because we don't save followers of other religions, so if you want to be saved, you'll have to go and be saved yourself. But remember to save your daughter while you're at it. Alright, Lord Turtle God, let's go back."

Xia Mujin urged me to get up and leave. Junzhi stood up before me and said:

"Stop spouting this nonsense! Don't try to fool me."

"We're not taking any money, what good would it do us to lie to you? We're saints, just here to tell you the truth. If you don't believe us,"

Natsume gazed behind Kimie.

"Your first husband—he had a half-shaved head, with about five centimeters of baldness on the left side, prominent cheekbones, and a large black mole on the right side of his nose. Your second husband had burn scars on the right cheek, slightly protruding teeth, and was missing one upper and one lower incisor. And that seemingly gentle man—was he your father's senior in school? He had sparse hair combed back, white eyebrows, a slight squint, and wore tortoiseshell-framed glasses."

"Ahh!"

Junzhi's face suddenly turned pale.

Is Natsukizu talking about his memories of Kimie that he saw?

"Lai, Lai Zi—is she in danger? Then why didn't you stop her just now!"

Junzhi was flustered, but her accusations were quite reasonable.

"Pretending to be away from home and then turning around and blaming us, isn't that a bit too shameless? At that time, we couldn't be sure if anything had happened to her. If you know where she might have gone, go find her quickly. In any case, remember to be careful. Let's go, Master Turtle God."

I was still bewildered by this sudden turn of events and forgot to get up.

Is Lai Zi really dangerous?

"Better safe than sorry."

Kusumoto Kimie became somewhat delirious, repeatedly calling out her daughter's name.

"Lai Zi - Lai Zi - Lai Zi".

※

“Lai Zi. Yes, Nanben, Nanben Lai Zi, little sister.”

"Kusumoto-kun?"

The slightly neurotic, fair-skinned girl frowned and made a disgusted expression.

"Did Kusumoto-kun do something bad?"

Another well-developed, tall girl stood to the side, smiling.

I always feel like I'm not very good at dealing with girls my age.

Fukumoto spent over an hour asking around at the school gate until he finally got to these two girls. After missing fifty people and getting nowhere with twenty others, he finally encountered a girl who knew Raiko.

This morning, Muchang came to the police station.

Fukumoto was taken aback.

After Kanako was kidnapped, before anyone knew what had happened, Kiba was taken away by the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. That was the last time Fukumoto saw Kiba.

Fukumoto thought he would never see Kiba again and presumptuously concluded that this was the end of his life.

Fukumoto thought Kiba was a remarkable man, undeterred by such a terrible ordeal. Fukumoto didn't know what punishment Kiba had received, but it must have been extremely cruel—perhaps torture. Fukumoto's thoughts were as stale as a scene from an old period drama.

Fukumoto himself seemed to have been reprimanded or scolded, beaten twice, and had his pay cut. Fukumoto felt he'd had enough of that, and was grateful he could still keep his job. He told himself not to be a hero in the future and to just obediently perform his duties.

Kiba, who arrived unexpectedly, briefly explained that he was being punished by being confined to his room to reflect on his actions. However, the situation was developing in a complex and unpredictable manner, a fact that the investigation headquarters had failed to notice. With a calm and collected demeanor, he requested Fukumoto's assistance.

To be honest, Fukumoto was not willing at all.

Fukumoto has indeed learned how troublesome and tiring things are to have a sense of justice, ambition, and the pursuit of truth; and Fukumoto does not now have the source of vitality to overcome these troubles—motivation.

The lumberyard's request is as follows:

He wanted Fukumoto to inquire with Kusumoto Yoriko's classmates. First, their evaluation of Yoriko, then Kanako's. Next, whether they had learned the following words at school.

The slip of paper Kiba gave him contained these terms: the five signs of decay in a celestial being, the corpse-dissolving immortality, and ascension to immortality. Fukumoto didn't recognize these words. Kiba said he'd never heard of them either. Fukumoto felt that asking the female student if she knew these terms was pointless.

Kiba looked very serious. Seeing his earnest expression, Fukumoto simply couldn't refuse these strange requests.

It's simple enough, but for the intimidating-looking Kiba, it might be quite difficult. If he had a police handbook, that would be a different story, but he's currently under house arrest, so that's out of the questioning. On the other hand, Fukumoto is obviously a policeman, so questioning him would be much easier. Luckily, Fukumoto is the only one in the police station at the moment. If things are handled cleverly, helping this corrupt detective—shouldn't be discovered, right?