บท 39: Chapter 39 : Ghost
The group arrived safely at the Yamaga Shrine. This shrine was passed down by a local family for two generations. It was not very large, and the gods enshrined were just the kind of nameless gods that were mentioned in local legends.
Nowadays, it is more of a tourist attraction. Its pristine environment has attracted many people who come here to experience nature. This shrine sometimes also provides accommodation for guests from afar.
Genichi and the seven men and women walked to the shrine's torii gate.
Under the moonlight, the old torii gate stood in the middle of the road. The vermilion paint had peeled off a lot, and there were some cracked lines.
It must have been like this year after year, reminding everyone who was about to pass through it that the front was the religious domain. One should be pious and reverent when setting foot on the road to meet the gods.
Many of the seven people believed in it and worshipped devoutly in front of the Torii. During some conversations on the way, Genichi had a preliminary understanding of the three men and four women. They were all colleagues in the same company, which seemed to be a small company engaged in the internet field. The man named Shunpei was their boss.
This time, they were tired of team-building dinners in the bustling city and planned to visit this little-known tourist attraction. However, an accident happened on the way, and they were delayed for a long time, so they were forced to arrive at night.
Unexpectedly, they met Genichi and Megumi on the road. Fortunately, their fears were dispelled after they saw the two men clearly. It was more reassuring to see two handsome young men than to meet some fierce and strong men at this time, although the two men were also very odd.
They just thought they were young people coming here to explore. There had been young people like this who came here to explore before and ended up disappearing and making the news. As a result, they attracted some people who came here for this purpose.
In their opinion, Genichi and Megumi were like this. After passing through the torii gate, they saw lights not far away after walking a few steps.
"It's so late, they won't refuse to entertain us, right?"
A female among the seven people raised this concern. Generally, shrines or temples have set visiting hours. Although nighttime visits are allowed, it is already 9:37 in the evening. In the city, it may not be time for the nightlife to start, but it is already a bit late in this place, which is far away from the city.
But they were almost at their destination and couldn't just throw a bucket of cold water on themselves. Her companions also comforted them, saying that it was an unexpected situation and there were no places to stay around, so the shrine would definitely take them in.
Fortunately, they did not encounter the worst situation. After seeing the light of flashlights from afar, people from Yamaga Shrine came to pick them up.
He was an enthusiastic middle-aged man. He said he was the chief priest of Yamaga Shrine, named Akashi Nohiko. His son saw a light on the mountain road from afar and reminded him. Then he came to see if any tourists were visiting late at night, and it turned out there were.
After enthusiastically leading everyone to the shrine, his wife also prepared hot tea and some snacks to help everyone get rid of the cold of the winter night. Everyone, who was already shivering, happily took their seats and expressed their gratitude to Akashi Nohiko and his wife.
"Please take a seat, both of you."
Akashi Nohiko greeted Genichi and Megumi with a smile. These two young men, who were dressed thinly but did not look cold at all, attracted his attention, especially the sword they carried. As an experienced man, he could tell they were genuine swords, but he did not know whether they were sharpened.
Consider it for the appearance of the two men and the other seven people, who were obviously from two different groups. In that matter, he is glad to entertain Genichi and Megumi.
After talking to the two young men, he thanked them and sat down to drink tea. The big dog was very docile and not noisy. His wife also liked the appearance of the big dog. He sat opposite them and started chatting with them in a friendly manner.
In fact, he was just indirectly asking people about their origins and the reasons why they came here so late at night. After getting satisfactory answers, Akashi Nohiko felt relieved. He was enthusiastic and friendly, and he had a great chat with everyone in a short while.
He also expressed his gratitude for everyone's coming. According to him, ever since a nearby forest seemed to be about to become a suicide sanctuary, his place has become less and less popular. After he called the police on a missing explorer, even fewer people came here when the incident made the news.
"Those people on the Internet said that there were serial killers or ghosts harming people. Their irresponsible words have caused me to suffer an unexpected disaster. Originally, the quiet environment and the distance from the city attracted tourists here, but now it is shrouded in horror and fewer and fewer people come here. I am really worried."
Akashi Nohiko complained, but there were still some tourists who didn't care about this statement and occasionally came, such as right now. After everyone drank the hot tea and thanked him again for the delicious snacks, Akashi Nohiko took them to the guest room.
He also said that it was getting late, and he would take them to visit the shrine and the surrounding scenery tomorrow. There were many empty rooms.
Genichi and Megumi came together, so they were naturally grouped together. The seven people over there were left to make their own arrangements.
After entering the room, it was quite tidy. It was obvious that it was cleaned regularly. The toiletries inside were also disposable and could be replaced. Megumi looked at Genichi, who had no intention of sleeping, and asked, "Do you have any plans for the future? How are we going to track the cursed spirit?"
Genichi said casually, "I'm going to go to the suicide sanctuary to take a look. We weren't attacked by any possible curses on the road just now. White Wolf and I didn't find any traces of curses before. Your Divine Dog didn't find anything either, right? So I want to go to the place where the incident happened and take a look."
Megumi nodded. He had previously released the Divine Dog to scout the surroundings on the road, but he found no traces of the curse. After hearing what Genichi was planning, he asked, "Then I'll go with you. With the two of us, the search area will be wider, and the chance of finding a cursed spirit will be higher, right?"
But Genichi refused: "No, I'll be back soon. According to the intelligence, I'm afraid this place is not the place where the cursed spirit is. I'm just going to take a look. Your task now is to look after the people in this shrine. You can use your divine dog to patrol around the area. I will leave White Wolf here to support you."
Then he took the Dojigiri and the Hizamaru, walked out of the room, and disappeared into the night. Megumi looked at the White Wolf lying on the ground, said "good night" to it, and prepared to say a few words to his sister before going to rest.
Like a ghost, he arrived at a dense forest on the east side of the shrine. The many warning slogans and signs urging people to cherish life inserted and hung outside made Genichi know he had found the right place.
The dim forest did not pose any obstacle to him. As he moved forward into the forest, Genichi carefully sensed whether there was any breath of curse. Most of the trees had withered and lost their branches and leaves. Under the faint moonlight, they stretched their limbs toward the sky like a pair of skinny claws sticking out from the ground.
After going deeper into the cave, Genichi stopped at a place, squatted down, and looked at the traces around him. He initially judged that this should be the place where those who committed suicide ended their lives. The police should have been here and dealt with it.
But what attracted Genichi were not these but the extremely faint aura of a curse here and the traces of other people's activities here recently. Then Genichi slightly became alert and continued to move forward.
"Woo woo woo..."
Suddenly, a faint sound of resentful sobbing drifted out from the dim forest, which made people's hair stand on end. However, Genichi, who heard the sound, did not panic at all.
Instead, he immediately activated the technique and rushed in that direction. Genichi, who had pulled out the Doujigiri, saw a scene that made him look puzzled after his vision widened.
There were no female ghosts or cursed spirits. Genichi only saw three men in an open space. One of them was kneeling on the ground and seemed to be muttering something.
There were salt, bells and talismans in front of him, but these were not the key points. The most eye-catching thing was the stand on the ground in front of the man and the mobile phone on it.
One of the two people beside him was filming the scene with a camera. Genichi, with his amazing eyesight, even saw the screen on the phone. If he was not mistaken, was he broadcasting live?
It's the ghost-hunting anchor. Genichi sighed and put away his Dojigiri. He originally thought that he had caught the curse. Still, he didn't expect that it was just a ghost-hunting anchor who was riding on the popularity here, and it was a team. They even faked it.
Genichi discovered the sad cry not far away; it was a recorder buried in the fallen leaves. Things like ghost hunting are actually strictly controlled on the Internet. Still, it is impossible to directly legislate to ban these things because, in most people's eyes, ghosts and gods are illusory.
If one tries to cover up something, it might have a negative effect. The authorities can only control this kind of thing implicitly. Still, sometimes, the more it is banned, the more popular it becomes. Matsuki Yuya is one of the anchors who has achieved certain success in this field.
Because of his superb acting skills and the ingenious conception of the script, even though his fans may know that those ghost-hunting shows are mostly scripts and performances, the thrills they sometimes bring make them addicted to them, bringing a lot of traffic to Matsuki Yuya.
It just so happened that this place, which had recently been on the news, came into his sight.
After some preparation, he came here with a poignant story about his relationship with a female ghost and started the live broadcast.
It had just reached a small climax, and his companions arranged crying sounds to match his performance, which directly brought the atmosphere of the live broadcast room to a new height.
"Is there a figure behind you?"
"Anchor, anchor! Look back quickly, The ghost has appeared!"
"Oh my god, are there really ghosts?"
"It must be the host looking for people or props. Where did you guys come from?"
Matsuki Yuya glanced at the comments on the screen and frowned. It was not the time for "The ghost to show up" yet. Did something go wrong?
They must be deducted from their wages! He raised his eyes and prepared to warn his assistants, but he saw the two assistants opposite him with some fear. The one in charge of the props arrangement looked behind him with wide eyes and opened his mouth but could not make any sound.
Matsuki Yuya could even see that his trembling legs caused his body to shake a little, which might have prevented him from running away. The assistant who was taking the photo was not much better and almost couldn't hold the camera in his hands.
"When did they both become so good at acting?"
With a layer of cold sweat on his back, he tried to restrain himself from thinking in another direction. Still, his thoughts inevitably slid into the abyss.
He stared at the barrage on the screen with his neck stiff. In the scene above, behind him, who was kneeling, there seemed to be a figure standing in the dark forest.
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