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Taking the Shinkansen to Iwate Prefecture would be quick; it was only two or three hours from Tokyo to Iwate Prefecture, and then another hour at most by bus to reach Yashan City.
Once arriving in Iwate Prefecture, there were still many things to do, such as booking a hotel room and exploring Xucha High School...
Among them, the exploration of Xucha High School was the most important part of this trip.
Perhaps the police couldn't learn anything from the ruins of the past, but it was different for Beichuan Si.
He could see "spirits," and "spirits" were constructs of human thoughts. Perhaps some irrational Low-level Vengeful Spirits couldn't communicate with Beichuan Si, but if he went to investigate, he might glean precious information from the unconscious howls of those "spirits."
Thinking of this, Beichuan Si didn't dawdle. He went to his teacher to ask for a few days off right after class in the afternoon, then went straight home.
Once home, Beichuan Si called Shen Gu Mirai and asked her to take care of Beichuan Huili over the next few days.
Shen Gu Mirai's voice sounded not particularly surprised, after all, these were arrangements that had been agreed upon.
After instructing her, Beichuan Si called Beichuan Huili, briefly explained that he would be going to Iwate Prefecture for a few days, and hung up the phone without caring about Beichuan Huili's confused tone.
These things were already discussed yesterday, but Beichuan Huili hadn't listened carefully, so Beichuan Si was not to blame for his attitude.
He had to let his sister remember a bit.
Beichuan Si softly exhaled, his gaze slanting to the contents of his travel shoulder bag.
Two sets of clothes to change into, a charger, three flashlights, a forest-white sphere.
With everything ready, Beichuan Si nodded satisfactorily, adjusted his watch to the correct time, and zipped up the travel shoulder bag.
After checking his wallet and student ID, everything was in order.
He nodded with satisfaction, briskly picked up his bag, and headed downstairs, saying,
"Let's go."
Beichuan Si didn't look back, his half-shadowed face sinking into his scarf, leaving the Beichuan Family far behind him.
...
From the Shinkansen to Shenggang in Iwate Prefecture, and then from Shenggang to Yashan City, this took Beichuan Si nearly four hours.
It was already eight-thirty in the evening from the four o'clock departure.
The streetlights had been lit since half past six, and it had been dark for quite a while.
Beichuan Si was eager to find the hotel room he had booked but encountered a troublesome issue.
"You came to Yashan City to look for relatives, but the address your relative gave is wrong? And your phone is dead, so you can't find the nearest small police station?"
Beichuan Si frowned tightly, looking at the large and small shadows before him.
They were a middle-aged rural woman with a thick, rustic look and a fair, seven or eight-year-old girl with pinkish cheeks.
The girl seemed to have been walking outside for a long time with her mother, faint red marks appearing on her fair cheeks.
It was true that straightforward farmers from the Japanese countryside could easily lose their way in a big city, but getting lost at night with a daughter was quite careless.
Beichuan Si glanced at his watch.
It was now 8:46. Seeing off the mother and daughter pair would likely take until around nine o'clock.
He furrowed his brow again before seeing the little girl shivering with a runny nose, and he simply shook his head,
"Let's go, but I can't guarantee to lead you to the right place. After all, I'm also just a tourist here in Yashan City."
"Thank you so much! Thank you very much!" The woman who looked like a farmer kept bowing to Beichuan Si, expressing her gratitude for his help.
Beichuan Si simply waved his hand.
He looked once more at the little girl.
But this little girl was not shy and instead showed Beichuan Si an innocent and adorable smile.
Under such a smile, Beichuan Si's expression softened considerably.
In the winter night, such a smile was indeed warming.
"Follow me," Beichuan Si took out his phone, opened Google Maps, and checked their approximate location.
From there to the nearest police station, it still took some time, and he waved his hand, signaling for the two behind him to follow.
The night of Yashan City was different from Tokyo, lacking the city's pulsating feel but offering more tranquility.
In that uneasy winter night, the chilling wind brushed Beichuan Si's scalp as it roared past.
With the night pressing down, the stillness turned into deathly silence. Beichuan Si could even hear his own breathing.
As he walked forward, he occasionally answered the middle-aged woman's questions from behind.
Most of the middle-aged woman's questions were trivial, like how Beichuan Si came alone to Iwate Prefecture, or nagging remarks about the little girl beside her.
From their conversation, Beichuan Si also learned their names and their purpose for coming to Iwate Prefecture.
"So, Aunt Nishijou brought Nishijou Kelian to see her biological father?" Beichuan Si asked with slight surprise.
The middle-aged woman was named Nishijou Misaki. She had divorced Nishijou Kelian's father a few years ago, living in the countryside with her young daughter alone.
Although the two parties had agreed in court that Nishijou Kelian's father should provide some of her child support, recently, the man hadn't sent any money for three months. Nishijou Misaki, being a rural resident, couldn't afford Nishijou Kelian's tuition and had no choice but to come to Yashan City with her daughter.
But the address given by that man from the start was wrong, which led Nishijou Misaki to get lost and eventually meet Beichuan Si, asking for his help.
So that was the way it was.
Beichuan Si couldn't help but shake his head.
The night wind grew colder.
The weather seemed to worsen, causing the light of the street lamps on both sides of the street to flicker uncertainly.
Beichuan Si wrapped his scarf tighter, hearing Nishijou Misaki from behind asking,
"And why did Mr. Beichuan come to Yashan City alone?"
"The thing I'm doing is somewhat like yours; it's also looking for someone." Beichuan Si blinked, turning his head back to see Nishijou Kelian with red-streaked cheeks. His heart softened slightly, and he placed the warm scarf around her neck.
After doing all this, Beichuan Si stood still, holding Nishijou Kelian's small hand.
Turning to Nishijou Misaki in front of him, he said,
"We're here."
Before Nishijou Misaki was not a police station, but a row of well-organized rental apartment buildings, with flickering lights under the night sky.
Facing Beichuan Si was Nishijou Misaki.
Before he realized it, this mother had changed from a kind figure to a Vengeful Spirit with crimson eyes and a body emitting a malice-filled black aura.
Her black nails glistened like paper-cutters, and her forehead was bloodstained. Upon close inspection, there was a large hole there, oozing dark fluid.
Yes, Nishijou Misaki... including Nishijou Kelian by Beichuan Si's side—
They were long no longer among the living.
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