Start with a core cabin

Chapter 1664: The Gap between the Outer and the Inner

[September 8, Sunday, 20: am]

"We're back!"

What woke Duanmu Huai up was Banaijian's excited scream. She slammed the window hard and pointed outside.

"Look, we're back!"

"Ok?"

Duanmu Huai rubbed his eyes, sat up and looked out the window. He saw that the strange world outside the window was no longer filled with fog. He could clearly see the farmland outside and the houses next to it.

Are you back?

“Hey, everyone…!”

Soon, everyone gathered together and walked to the gate. Looking at the familiar streets outside, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“I thought I’d never come back.”

"What to do now?"

"Are we still going to call the police?"

After finding themselves back in the real world, everyone began to think about other issues, while Inspector Dashan looked at Duanmu Huai, who shrugged his shoulders.

"You are a policeman, you decide."

"Call the police."

Inspector Oyama thought about it and made a decision.

"Our situation is too bizarre. Even if we tell others about it, they will think we are mentally ill. But the police can't identify the culprit so quickly. As long as there is no evidence to prove that we did it, there will be no problem."

This is the same as saying that a person kills himself.

"Anyway, let's check on Miss Sakura's body first... I don't know if her body is still there."

Duanmu Huai didn't say anything, just nodded, and then the group came to the restaurant again. No one else dared to go in. Only Duanmu Huai and Police Captain Dashan came to the restaurant door and pushed it open.

"………………………"

"Are you surprised?"

"No, not at all."

Looking at the empty restaurant, Duanmu Huai and Police Chief Dashan silently exchanged opinions with each other.

The body of Sakura Yoshie, who was supposed to be here, disappeared.

"Actually, I thought of that, maybe he was eaten by that atmospheric monster."

At that time, the atmospheric monster destroyed the entire mansion, and Sakura Jiahui's body would not escape on its own, so it is not impossible that she was eaten.

"so?"

"Report them missing. Just say they are missing and we haven't been able to find them after searching for a long time."

"Okay, at least it's much easier than explaining the body. I'll leave the rest to the police."

After Chief Dashan called the police, the police arrived at the scene quickly. They questioned everyone, such as where the missing people had gone, but the others had already confirmed with Duanmu Huai that they did not know where they had gone - this was normal, after all, these people did not know each other, and their only point of intersection was that they came to attend the opening ceremony.

The police investigation was very detailed. They searched every corner of the mansion, but found no clues. Fat otaku Miyamoto and Professor Sato were not to be mentioned. Sakura Kae and Mr. Ueno were also missing. The car in the parking lot had not been driven away, and there were no traces of their footprints around. It was as if they had evaporated into thin air.

By the time the police finished their investigation, it was already evening.

"When can we leave?"

Sitting on a chair not far away, looking at the police around her, Chitanda asked uneasily. She looked around with an uncertain expression.

"What's wrong? Are you nervous?"

Seeing Chitanda like this, Duanmu Huai also looked at her, and Chitanda nodded.

"I, I'm very uneasy. After all, I've never seen so many policemen, and I've never been questioned by the police. But......"

"but?"

"To be honest, I'm very curious."

Chitanda raised her head and stared at Duanmu Huai, her eyes sparkling.

"Did Mr. Ueno do all this? Why did he do this? I'm really curious about this..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Looking at Chitanda, Duanmu Huai nodded, then he reached out and grabbed Chitanda in front of him.

"So, who are you anyway?"

“………………Hey? What are you talking about? Xiao Ai?”

"You're not going to answer, are you?"

Looking at Chitanda in front of him, Duanmu Huai lowered his eyes, then raised his head again and threw a punch.

“——————!!”

Chitanda's head flew high up, spun several times in the air, and then fell to the ground with a thud. The headless body also lost its strength and collapsed backwards on the chair, blood spurted out from the gap in the neck, covering the entire wall.

"Hey?"

This sudden scene stunned everyone present. But Duanmu Huai's actions did not stop there. She grabbed Yanaijian's head with her backhand, twisted it hard, and knocked her against the wall before she could react to what happened.

"Hey, what are you doing......!"

Inspector Dashan jumped up and stretched out his hands to grab Duanmu Huai, but then Duanmu Huai kicked Inspector Dashan in the chest and kicked him away. The latter's burly body crashed into the stunned composer Maecang next to him, and the two were knocked against the wall like flies hit by a fly swatter, and exploded with a snap and merged into one.

"ah-----!!"

Blood splattered out, and at this moment the hot girl Ueda screamed loudly.

"What's wrong? What happened!?"

Hearing the hot girl Ueda's scream, the door was suddenly pushed open, and then the police rushed in. Seeing this scene, they were also stunned.

"He, they were all killed by that murderer!"

Hot girl Ueda hid behind the policemen, trembling, and stretched out her hand to point at Duanmu Huai in front of her.

“…It’s her! She is the murderer!”

[Sunday, September 22, 15:]

“………………It’s her! She is the murderer!”

Hot girl Ueda's eyes were red, and she angrily stretched out her hand to point at Duanmu Huai who was standing not far away. Hearing the hot girl Ueda's roar, Duanmu Huai sighed helplessly, then opened the guitar case behind him and pulled out the bright red blade.

"It's really troublesome."

Duanmu Huai looked at the people in front of him indifferently, without a trace of emotion in his tone.

"Just kill them all."

Then, Duanmu Huai spoke up. "Put down your weapons..."

The policeman raised his gun and aimed at Duanmu Huai, but his movements were still too slow. He had just raised the gun when Duanmu Huai rushed in front of him and swung his sword, cutting him in half.

What followed was a massacre.

In the narrow space, the police could not use their guns at all, and Duanmu Huai wielded a sharp blade and chopped anyone he saw. Gradually, the screams and roars in the entire mansion gradually subsided, and soon, the entire mansion fell into a dead silence.

“Tick-tock…tick-tock…”

Duanmu Huai held the sword and walked up the stairs to the third floor. Blood dripped down the blade, making a faint sound on the steps. Duanmu Huai did not care about these little things. He stepped on the bodies of the policemen and went up to the third floor. Then Duanmu Huai came to the bedroom door and pushed it open.

There was a person sitting inside.

An old man.

"I thought you were going to continue hiding."

Staring at the old man in front of him, Duanmu Huai spoke lightly, while the old man sat on the chair, staring at Duanmu Huai and laughing.

"Now that you've discovered me, there's no point in me hiding anymore."

The old man——Mr. Ueno stretched out his hand and pointed at the sofa next to him.

"Please take a seat."

Duanmu Huai walked forward, sat on the sofa, and stared at the old man.

"When did you discover this?"

"I had my doubts from the beginning, but of course it was Chitanda who helped me solve the problem."

"Oh? Is there something wrong with that kid?"

"Indeed, you have captured her characteristics."

Duanmu Huai chuckled.

"Chitanda is a curious child. Whenever she encounters something strange, she always hopes to investigate and solve it. As a result, our Classic Literature Club often seems to be like a detective club. But......"

"but?"

"She hates dead people."

Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows.

"So, Chitanda never watches horror movies or detective novels. Therefore, after going through so much, she wouldn't say to me with shining eyes, 'I'm curious.' Therefore, your poor imitation only had the opposite effect. Well, on the contrary, I really didn't notice Yanami over there - after all, she really only knows how to eat."

"…………………"

"Actually, the reason I came to see you this time, besides the gourmet food and the rumors about ghost stories, I also had something else I wanted to ask you."

"Oh?"

"I wanted to ask you about the topic of the other world, but now it seems that there is no need."

"………………Are you talking about the other world in the novels that young people read nowadays?"

Mr. Ueno chuckled.

"No, it's this other world we are in now."

“…………Now that you know it, what are you going to do?”

"It's simple, destroy it."

Duanmu Huai's answer was decisive and without any hesitation.

"why?"

"Because there are some things in this world that would be better if they didn't exist."

"hehe……………"

Old Mr. Ueno chuckled, then he was silent for a moment and suddenly stood up.

"You listened to Ueda's explanation."

"Is that Ueda's explanation?"

"It's hers."

Mr. Ueno nodded.

"Although she dresses like that, she is actually the most serious and studious one among the three. By the way, Sakura is actually the student I despise the most. Think about it, she dresses herself so cute, for whom? Do people who study need to spend time on cooking and makeup? And the direction she chooses is... Urban tales, a group of bored children made up stories, just to open up topics and make themselves more active among the crowd."

Mr. Ueno seemed very angry.

"You should study quietly and calmly. What's the point of showing me some stories to deceive children every day? Don't think I don't know that she asked Miyamoto to help her collect those ghost stories. Miyamoto is the same. He can't see through Sakura's true face and is fooled by her. Well, although I can understand his thoughts, after all, don't those light novels now have similar plots?"

"Plot?"

"Well, an ordinary male protagonist, because of some trivial things, is noticed by a beautiful girl. This kind of thing is impossible to happen in reality, but Miyamoto obviously thinks Sakura is his heroine. So no matter what Sakura asks him to do, he is willing to do it, even at the cost of himself... Never mind, there is no point in saying this now."

Mr. Ueno waved his hand.

"I'm getting off topic, off topic. Well, Ueda's research is very interesting. The connection between ghost stories and the collective subconscious is actually deeper than you think. Fear is an emotion that no living creature can avoid, and humans are particularly interesting. For animals, their fear mostly only exists in the law of survival. Being hunted and killed are the fears that animals feel. But humans are different..."

Old Mr. Ueno turned his head and looked at Duanmu Huai.

"You have acted in many horror films, so you should understand this very well. Human fears are diverse, and it is not just death that can make them afraid. Spiritual fears, being ignored, being forgotten, being hated, being disgusted, human fears are diverse and colorful."

Duanmu Huai could not deny this. He was not sure whether animals had such complex emotions, but in fact, the fear of death was just one of many fears of human beings.

For primary school students, the most dreaded thing is the homework that has not been completed before the end of summer vacation.

For couples who are about to confess their love, the response they are about to face is the most frightening thing.

For Yanami, perhaps having no food to eat is what scares her the most.

For someone who is not good at communication, he might rather die than be forced to go on stage alone and stand in the center of the stage to perform in front of everyone.

Just like the story of Table 3 in the restaurant that Sakura told me, is it scary? It is a little scary. But who is the scary one?

Is it the female ghost who has been sitting there?

Or is he a troublesome guest who comes to cause trouble?

Or maybe it was the waiter who hated to bother customers and deliberately led them to the ghost girl's table?

“Human emotions, thoughts and ideas make up the world, and the most powerful emotion is fear.”

Mr. Ueno spoke as if he was lecturing in class.

"Fear does not come from a single source. It gave birth to a colorful spiritual world! And now, we are in this boundless fantasy world created by humans!"

"Oh."

Duanmu Huai yawned silently.

"Not only that, I also discovered that there are real lives in this world! They are eager to communicate with us, to exchange with us - that's why I chose you to complete this ceremony. Fear, the power of fear can make us deepen our understanding of each other. Do you understand the meaning of this?!"

"Yes, I understand."

Duanmu Huai raised his sword as he spoke.

"Tell me everything you know, and then you can die, heretic."