Chapter 58 Nails (Four K)

The fairy tales recorded on the paper are not lengthy, but more like folk tales passed down orally by the elders in narrow and solitary residential areas.

[Legend has it that a long time ago, a samurai and his wife lived in a place called Tanigawa Mountain. The couple was very loving and gave birth to four children, all daughters.

The samurai felt that the family business could not be left without someone to inherit, so he and his wife gave birth to another child, but it was a leech (born with some limbs missing), and his wife also died in childbirth.

The samurai felt very sad and regretful. He lay down at the foot of Mount Tanigawa and cried sadly. The god of Mount Tanigawa took pity on him and told him to go to the god on Mount Yubari. The god in charge of the karma between people might be able to find a way. .

So the samurai came to Yubari Mountain, offered sacrifices and continued to cry and beg. The Karma God on Yubari Mountain took pity on him, took off a hemp rope from his belt and lent it to him, telling him to climb along the hemp rope at night. When you go down the well, you can reach the land of underworld and meet your wife.

The warrior tied one end of the hemp rope to a tree and hung the other end into the well. He grabbed the hemp rope and went down into the well. He did not get soaked by the water, but instead reached the land of underworld.

In front of the main hall of Huangquan Kingdom, I saw my wife and said to my wife: "My dear wife, our children cannot live without their mother to take care of them. Please come back with me."

The wife replied: "It's a pity that you didn't come earlier. I have already eaten the food of Huangquan. But since you came to me specially, I am willing to go back. I went to beg the god of Huangquan to let me return to the world, but You must not come to see me during this period."

After saying this, the wife returned to the main hall of Huangquan Kingdom, and the warrior built a house with wood outside the main hall.

After a long time, the warrior still waited for his wife to come back, so he broke off a branch from the tree, lit it as a torch, and entered the dark hall.

But he saw a horrible-looking corpse lying on the ground, rotting into a human shape and covered with squirming maggots.

The warrior was so frightened that he turned around and ran away.

But the corpse climbed up from the ground and chased after him closely.

The warrior fled all the way to the entrance of the underworld, grabbed the hemp rope hanging in mid-air, and climbed up.

At this time, the terrifying corpse below spoke, "My dear husband, I am your wife. Don't you recognize me?"

The warrior was shocked, let go of the rope,

After careful identification, I realized that the body was wearing my wife's clothes.

The couple hugged each other and cried. The warrior's tears fell on his wife. The maggots fell off, the carrion resurrected, and the wife returned to her human form.

The samurai was extremely surprised, but his wife told him that because the samurai saw his appearance in advance, she could no longer return to the world and could only stay in the land of hell forever.

So the warrior crawled along the hemp rope to the human world to seek help from the God of Karma.

The gods were moved by the friendship between the two and gave him the hemp rope forever.

From then on, the samurai took their children to Yubari Mountain and built houses to live in.

One night in July every year, he would take his children using hemp ropes and go down the well to the land of hell to meet their mothers.

From then on, Yubari Mountain was renamed Yuan Mountain. 】

The above is the entire content of the legend. In addition, there are comments from the writer on the paper.

[My teacher, Mr. Shigesu Iwamoto, a famous folklorist, recorded this legendary story about the reasons for the establishment of Yuanke Village after visiting more than a dozen elderly people in Yuanke Village in the 1960s.

It can be found that this legend is very similar in some aspects to the myth of Izanagi going to the Underworld to find the dead Izanami.

At the same time, it also contains many philosophies that can educate in daily life, such as not favoring boys over girls, husband and wife should trust each other and keep their promises, otherwise they will encounter misfortune, etc.

This story is widely circulated in Enke Village and neighboring villages. Every four years, Enke Village holds a celebration, decorates the village with lights and colors, and performs a Noh play based on this story at the shrine to educate people to value their families. , cherish your partner and love, protect your family, keep your promises, etc.

During the celebration, the Hiratsuka family, the managers of the shrine and the largest landowner in the village, will provide free food and drinks, thus attracting many outsiders.

However, because of this legend, some people who have lost hope in life and are desperate will also come to Yuanshan. They regard Yuanshan as the land adjacent to Huangquan Kingdom.

Because I couldn't find love while I was alive, I thought about dying on Yuan Mountain.

I want to be like the legendary warrior and meet my lover in the Kingdom of Underworld.

As a result, frustrated people commit suicide on Yuanshan Mountain every year, disappear and disappear.

This custom can be traced back to the middle period of the Kamakura shogunate and before the establishment of the Muromachi shogunate.

My teacher, Mr. Shigesu Iwamoto, was fortunate enough to be invited by the Hiratsuka family to live in the Hiratsuka mansion during the Enkei Festival.

In the notes he left behind, he recorded in detail the scenes in which members of the Hiratsuka family prepared props such as noh noodles, shuriken ropes, royal coins, lanterns, and sake for the celebration.

Unfortunately, he has passed away, so I had no choice but to restore the map of Yuanke Village and the Hiratsuka family residence as much as possible based on these text descriptions, hoping to restore this village that disappeared in the earthquake disaster. 】

Below the comments are several simple maps, which depict the topography of Enkei Village and the floor plan of an ancient house - it is the Hiratsuka family mansion.

On the side of the map, there is also a short paragraph of the commentator's soliloquy.

[Uh... My head has been hurting more and more recently, and a melody keeps echoing in my mind. Maybe, maybe this melody is related to my life experience before I lost my memory...]

The above is all the content on the paper.

Li Ang finished reading all the text, frowned and said: "The material of the paper and the ink on it are relatively old, so it should not be forged.

The transcriber claimed that his teacher was folklorist Shigesu Iwamoto. Could it be that this piece of paper is from Ogasawara Masayuki, who is also a folklorist?

Is it the father of Tetsuya Ogasawara and Ayaka Ogasawara who stayed behind? "

"This piece of paper was left at the entrance to the corridor..."

Wang Congshan thought for a while and asked: "When you went upstairs just now, did you see that the paper had fallen to the ground?

Or was he deliberately left behind by the figure with black hair? "

"Um..."

Li Ang recalled it carefully and affirmed: "This piece of paper was originally on the ground and did not fall from the black-haired figure."

"Well, then that's weird."

Wang Congshan squinted her eyes and said: "If he left it behind, it can directly prove that he is leading us to gradually understand the truth behind Yuanke Village.

Maybe he is Masaki Ogasawara who has been missing for ten years.

If he wasn't Masaki Ogasawara...then who would it be. "

This question could not be answered for the time being. The two looked at the floor plan of the Hiratsuka family mansion and found that the corridor covered with hemp rope they were facing was marked on the map as the "Rope Corridor."

It leads to a room called the "Knot Room," which connects to the atrium of the mansion.

"The knotting room is probably where the knotted ropes are made."

Li Ang said: "The text on the paper says that the Hiratsuka family is the manager of the shrine, so the barrier at the entrance of the shrine is inseparable from them. Maybe it was set by them themselves.

The mission goal at this stage requires us to find the scissors that can break the seal of the knotted rope. Maybe the scissors are placed in the rope-knotting room. "

"Are you going to go there then?"

Wang Congshan glanced at the Rope Corridor. The hemp ropes in the corridor hung quietly and motionless. There was no sign that they would strangle the intruders.

"Try it first."

Li Ang folded the paper in half and asked Wang Congshan to keep it safe while he slowly stepped forward and slowly extended his mental ape stick into the corridor.

As soon as the Heart Ape stick was thrust into the corridor, the surrounding hemp ropes were immediately activated and entangled.

Until Li Ang made a decisive decision, he took back the mental ape and exited the corridor.

All the hemp ropes fell asleep again.

"Well, it looks like even dead things can't pass through at will."

Li Ang sighed and said to Wang Congshan: "Since the opposite side of the corridor is in the atrium, we can go to the right side of the hall, go to the atrium, and go to the other end of the corridor to see if we can enter the rope-knotting room from there."

"good."

Wang Congshan nodded, and the two of them walked down from the second floor platform and followed the map instructions to go to the atrium from the corridor on the right side of the hall.

Along the way, the two saw that many rooms in the mansion were relatively tidy, while some rooms were messy inside, with the doors wide open and dried blood remaining on the floor.

But no bodies or bones were seen.

"Some valuables such as jewelry were not taken away, and there were even unfinished meals on the table,"

Li Ang said: "It seems that the people of the Hiratsuka family were completely unprepared when the accident happened, and they were hit by the disaster."

"Um."

Wang Congshan nodded, her eyes lingering on the food on the table, "It seems that time in this space is not fixed.

The blood on the ground had dried for who knows how long, but the vegetables in these bowls showed no signs of serious rot, they were just cold and without warmth. "

Li Ang tilted his head and thought for a while, "Is it possible that the chef of the Hiratsuka family added a super powerful laxative to the meal because of personal grudges?

Everyone in the clan had diarrhea after dinner and rushed to the toilet. "

"These blood stains on the ground are from the fight for the toilet, right?"

Wang Congshan squinted her eyes and complained: "How can there be such an efficient and precise laxative that can cause hundreds of people with different physical constitutions to have diarrhea at the same time?

You said that the Sharingan was inherited from the Hiratsuka family, but was exterminated by the villagers of Yuanke Village due to a power struggle. I can believe it a little more. "

"Why aren't there any high-efficiency laxatives, Mr. Hua?"

Li Ang said matter-of-factly: "When I'm in a bad mood, I eat Chinese food and sit on the toilet thinking about life for a few hours."

Watson Burger has several branches in the city where Li Ang lives. They often hold events and offer large quantities at low prices. Sometimes it is even cheaper than cooking by yourself.

However, because they are a franchise company, the hygienic conditions of different branches vary greatly. The hygienic management of some stores is worrying, and occasionally there will be diarrhea after eating.

"You know that eating Huashi can cause diarrhea, but you still eat it often."

Wang Congshan complained: "And if you squat on the toilet for several hours at a time, you are not afraid of getting hemorrhoids."

"Who said I was squatting?"

Li Ang said inexplicably: "Does one have to squat on the toilet?

Sitting cross-legged on it, or supporting it with your hands like a gymnast, or standing on your hands directly, are all good postures for meditating and thinking while exercising.

There is absolutely no risk of hemorrhoids.

In addition, by the way, Ma Yinglong brand hemorrhoid ointment is very good. It clears away heat and reduces dryness, activates blood circulation and reduces swelling. It has good affinity for human skin.

It can even be used as an eye cream to remove dark circles.

Lip balm to relieve chapped lips,

Ointment for treating rhinitis.

A friend of mine, Lao Zhang, who has suffered from hemorrhoids all year round in bed 4, room 07, building 2, building 2, in the inpatient department of Dongda Anorectal Hospital, also told me that he used this thing to cure his oral ulcers. "

"...No, why do you know so much about hemorrhoid cream? And who is Lao Zhang? Is he a new character in the paid DLC? Why do I feel like you mentioned this person to me a long time ago?"

Wang Congshan rubbed her brows helplessly and complained, but she began to seriously recall in her mind whether Li Ang used strange medicines on her in the name of treating her oral ulcers when she was a child.

“No one knows more about health care than me.”

Li Ang's expression was serious, and he opened and closed his hands as if he were playing an accordion.

The two chatted for a while and soon approached the atrium.

"Huh...why does it feel like it's getting colder and colder?"

Li Ang rubbed his palms and exhaled a breath of air visible to the naked eye.

He felt the spiritual energy recovery efficiency in his ocean of consciousness, hesitated for a while, and decided not to use the secondary creation technique of the Mind Creation Department to create clothes for himself.

"It has indeed gotten colder, and the air temperature has almost dropped to below freezing."

Wang Congshan scratched the hair on the back of her head and hesitated: "The doors to these rooms are all open. Do you want me to find some clothes for you to wear?"

"No, the Hiratsuka family has probably encountered misfortune. Using the things here rashly may cause other consequences."

Li Ang said sternly: "And Ri Dao's clothes are not good.

Yinshi clothes, good!

I won’t wear clothes that are not from Yin City. "

"You decide."

Wang Congshan curled her lips and scratched the hair on the back of her head.

"etc,"

Li Ang seemed to notice something, suddenly stopped, and put his left hand on Wang Congshan's shoulder, "Don't look back."

Wang Congshan was shocked. She stood there, facing forward, with her back to Li Ang, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Li Ang didn't answer. He took a deep breath and stretched out his hand to slowly push away the hair on the back of Wang Congshan's head.

Behind the black hair,

I saw five purple-pink oval flakes that looked like clothing decorations.

Those are not flakes, but belong to women, nails.