A comic book, but a librarian

"But this Onuchi River is not marked in Musashino or Tokyo..."

"Perhaps it's because its name was changed. Even now, there are still many undeveloped areas with lush vegetation in the suburbs of Tokyo. Perhaps the river is just in an undeveloped area and its name was changed by the locals."

Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly spoke, and she looked like she had figured something out.

"Although I don't know what happened, if the police have no intention of finding the missing people... I want to try to find them. If what you said is true, then they may still have a chance of survival, right?"

"In fact, I think the chances of surviving are slimmer than being kidnapped. After all, if this is really the world of the dead, then what would happen to the living if they entered? I don't think anyone in the world knows."

Uesugi Sumire told the truth and intended to let Yukinoshita Yukino understand that their current goal was to prevent the incident from happening again, and only on this basis could they rescue the people.

"There is a place in the Musashino area where there were reports of people disappearing in the Showa period... Maybe it's that river?"

"But what does this river have to do with the integration in Tokyo? I admit that we are not far from Musashino, but there seems to be no rivers in our area at least." Hikigaya spoke. He wanted to immediately determine the cause and effect of the disappearance case, so he immediately refuted. Only by resolving every doubt would they not be misled in the wrong direction and waste precious time.

"No, although there is no river in our district on the surface...but you, Hikigaya-kun, a student with poor grades in history and geography, may have forgotten that the district where the Unified School is located once underwent a large-scale transformation. Perhaps this river became an underground river during the transformation..."

Yukinoshita Yukino's expression also became solemn. She felt that the people in front of her were not conducting the investigation out of curiosity or just for the sake of showing off. Their investigation was not only broad but also deep, and even the internal logic was reasonable.

"Groundwater... Let's continue." Uesugi Cheng thought, maybe the groundwater branch of a river is behind the mountain? Then did the missing people go underground through a cave on the mountain?

"That mountain...is called Mount Katashiro, right?" Saki Kawasaki flipped through a book that looked somewhat old.

"'Hinajo Fengtuzhi'? I don't remember there being such a place here?" Yotsuya Miko carefully identified the Chinese characters on it, and finally took out her mobile phone to obtain the pronunciation of the word by handwriting.

"But isn't Katashiroyama the name of the mountain behind? The book also says that there was a Hinashiro Shrine on the mountain..."

"Wait, katyo...isn't that the kind of paper doll used in purification rituals? And the word 雛..."

"It's an ancient Japanese term for human-shaped dolls or puppets." Yukinoshita Yukino explained almost like a human dictionary. She had unknowingly integrated into this small group. Perhaps even she herself did not realize that she was excited about what she was doing now.

"Does this '代' mean replacement? Such a chilling statement..."

Practice, human-shaped doll, substitute, shrine, putting these words together, Hikigaya almost thought of the plots often used in folklore and horror stories. He rubbed his arms. It was a hot summer, but the temperature in the library was inexplicably cold and uncomfortable.

"Before the war, some areas of Musashino had a special ritual custom of placing chiken on boats made of thatched straw and paper and floating them down the river... This custom was particularly concentrated in the Ouchi River basin..."

When Uesugi Cheng read this paragraph, several people fell silent. Perhaps they finally got some clues about the missing case fifty years ago.

"Ahem, ahem, I finally found it... the map with the Minori River marked on it. It's almost a hundred years old..." Yotsuya Miko took out a map that looked a bit old, unfolded it, and compared it with the current map.

"...Our school is just downstream of this river, which means..."

"Those Hinami dolls used for sacrifices eventually floated to this place. No wonder there is a Hinami Shrine here."

At this point, everything seemed to be clear to Uesugi Cheng, and Feng Haijun finally got the answer to where the puppet monster that attacked him came from.

"Don't go upstream along the Onuchi River because you can't enter a certain "spiritual world where you can never return". The Hinashiro Shrine was built to comfort the dolls that were washed up in this place, but as the custom gradually disappeared, the shrine gradually declined... In other words, the reason why those people disappeared was that they went upstream against the river without realizing it or being lured..."

Uesugi Cheng's summary made everyone's eyes light up. Perhaps they are finally getting closer to the truth.

"But why... why did those phantoms appear again recently? If it is really because of the decline of customs and the neglect of sacrifices, then why has there been no movement in the past fifty years?"

"Hikigaya-kun, please recall again. The meaning of 雛 is a human-shaped doll. In the ritual, its role is to replace real humans as sacrifices... Do you understand what happened now?"

Yukinoshita Yukino was silent for a long time, her face looked a little ugly, perhaps the meaning behind these histories shocked her, or maybe it was simply because...

"Hikigaya, the disappearance case fifty years ago, from another perspective, was a... sacrifice. Five people were sacrificed to complete a sacrifice. We don't know who the sacrifice was. This was originally a ritual for praying for blessings and avoiding disasters. God knows what would happen if people were used as real sacrifices."

"Wait, if that's the case...then those two girls were also?!!"

Hikigaya's surprised words rang along with the bell for the end of get out of class, and a line of words finally appeared in front of Uesugi Cheng.

[Hinayado Festival Disappearance Case]: Fifty years ago, a disappearance case that shocked Tokyo had no follow-up progress. Now you know that the Hinami-shaped sacrifices used as a substitute for praying for blessings and avoiding disasters are boiling with resentment, and the missing people who were sacrificed disappeared in the lower reaches of the Onuchi River, which may be the place you want to find.

[Unlock location: Downstream of the Yuuchi River]

"Well, the initial investigation ends here, everyone...what we are going to face next will not be as simple as boring books." Uesugi Cheng spoke calmly. It was a hot summer day, but everyone suddenly shuddered.

Testimonials

It’s a wonderful feeling. As a novice author, it’s a wonderful feeling to have the book on the shelves. First of all, I want to thank everyone for being willing to read this book, which was originally written for my own pleasure.

After I graduated last year, I have been busy looking for a job, taking the civil service exam, working part-time as a paru, and so on, so that the book I started was almost discontinued (I really didn’t stop writing it, I have been finding time to finish it, and I will definitely finish that book.)

At the beginning of the year, after I had taken the civil service exam but didn't know the results, I heard that the preliminary Chinese version of The Book of the Hours had been released. Then I took out the game that I had bought a long time ago but never downloaded and started playing it. I played for hundreds of hours and began to think about what the book manager could do if he was not in the waking world but in an ordinary world. So this book was born.

Now that my work has stabilized, I have a little free time in the middle of the night to use my tiny inspiration to write something that probably no one will read.

To be honest, the test results were not very good, and I felt a little uneasy about the first order after it was put on the shelves, so I hope to get everyone's support. The new author would like to express my gratitude here.

It will be on the shelves tomorrow. If possible, please give the new author a first order to encourage me to continue writing (bye)

Chapter 59: The disappearance of the first generation priest

"Yukinoshita-san, our little detective game ends here. If you don't have anything else to do with anyone here, please go back. The library is not open to the public today, so don't violate the school rules any more."

Uesugi Sumire started packing up, and his attitude changed so quickly that Yukinoshita Yukino thought she had just arrived here.

"Uesugi-san, now that you have deduced the possible truth, are you planning to do nothing?"

"What are you going to do? Go to the land of the dead and become the next sacrifice? Yukinoshita Yukino, what can we do now? Do you think the police will believe our conclusion?"

Yukinoshita Yukino fell silent. The reasoning and information gathering she had conducted in just one hour made her almost completely believe that the disappearances were caused by Kamikakushi and the sacrifice. But in fact, if their current arguments and proofs were shown to outsiders, they might just think that today's high school students have too comfortable lives and are in the mood to think about such things.

"but......"

Yukinoshita Yukino's heart was screaming, saying that this shouldn't be the case, even if something could be done, if anything could be done to try to save those missing.

"That's it, Yukinoshita. Let's stop here. I'll go practice with you and Ayaka now. Just treat this matter as a boring little thing and forget about it."

Hikigaya Hachiman seemed to be trying to persuade Yukinoshita Yukino in a somewhat uncharacteristic way. There was no expression on his face, and he didn't look like the Hikigaya Hachiman who had just tried his best for his sister.

"......." Yotsuya Miko looked at Hikigaya Hachiman's expression, then looked at Uesugi Sumire who was packing up next to her, and turned her face away silently. For the first time, she realized how good the tacit understanding between boys could be. There was almost no eye contact and Hikigaya Hachiman was able to stand up to help Uesugi Sumire and persuade Yukinoshita Yukino to leave. Or maybe it was because it was about Hikigaya Komachi so Hachiman's brain was working at 200% power. No matter what, she could only try her best to follow them and persuade Yukinoshita Yukino to go back.

Saki Kawasaki said nothing. She saw the intentions of the two boys, so she decided to remain silent. As one of the witnesses of those phantoms, she was deeply aware that this incident could not be resolved by force or intelligence alone. It required the professional skills of professionals to deal with things that ordinary people could not handle, so she said nothing.

Yukinoshita Yukino was still skeptical in the end, but after realizing that she really could not do anything, she could only helplessly decide to let the matter go for the time being. Perhaps she would be able to think of what she could do when she went back, but for now, she had to fulfill her responsibilities as the head of the service club first, and complete Totsuka Ayaka's commission as her first goal.

Hikigaya turned around to pack his things, and when he passed by Uesugi Cheng, he spoke softly.

"I'll leave this matter, as well as my sister's safety, in your hands... If you need anything, feel free to message me."

Uesugi Sumire didn't say anything and was packing up his books as if he didn't hear anything. Seeing this, Hikigaya sighed and immediately changed his expression back to his usual indifferent dead fish eyes.

"Everyone, how about we just disband? Things have reached a point where we are no longer able to resolve them. We can only send out our speculations and wait for the 'adults' to deal with them."

Uesugi Cheng looked motionless, as if he had given up, but what surprised him was that his proposal was not opposed, and everyone seemed to have really decided to give up.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Uesugi Cheng packed up his small apartment and put on his back his bag, which contained many tools that might be useful.

He spread out the old map, compared it with the map on his mobile phone, and finally pointed at a location with his finger.

When he arrived there, everything was quiet around him. Few ordinary people would come to the sewer area on the edge of the city, because most of the people who would come there would be people hiding from their debts or some gangsters racing nearby. But tonight, it seemed particularly quiet, and there was an atmosphere where even the calls of animals could no longer be heard.

"I knew that you would come here, Acheng... Phew, luckily I made it in time. You didn't abandon me last time, so you are not allowed to abandon me this time!" Yotsuya Miko was wearing the same sportswear as him, with a mask on her face and a bag on her back. She knew very well that Uesugi Cheng would never let such a thing go. After experiencing so many things, her unusually clear thinking ability helped her easily find the place where Uesugi Cheng might appear tonight.

"It's very dangerous... The last time we went to that town, we were still in the world of the living, but this time, we might have to step into... Hell? Yellow Springs? I don't know what to call it, anyway, it belongs to the world of the dead, and the living probably won't be very welcome to enter."

Uesugi Sumire put down his backpack, took out his cell phone and called Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm ready to leave. I'll send you an email later. Find a way to anonymously send that email to the email address I'll give you later. That email address belongs to Officer Kazeumi Junye. His department probably specializes in dealing with this kind of thing. If we can't come back, this will be our last insurance."

"Well... I wish you a safe journey and a safe return." Hikigaya Hachiman said in a serious tone. He silently opened his mobile phone and sent all the relevant information about local customs and habits that he had just collected after school. This was the only thing that he, who had no psychic abilities but only a slightly sharper brain, could do.

"Wow, the smell here... Is this really that Onori River? How did it become like this?"

As they walked into the huge sewer entrance, a strong smell hit their noses. Even Uesugi Cheng frowned and put on the prepared mask. But even with the mask, the uncomfortable smell still entered their noses, giving them a physical blow.

"After the city was developed, the lower reaches of the Onori River were divided into underground rivers, so we simply built an underground waterway here..."

Uesugi Sumire read the email sent by Hikigaya Hachiman verbatim.

"If we walk like this... can we really get to 'that place'?" Yotsuya Miko slowed down her breathing. She really couldn't accept the smell. The sewer was too quiet. Apart from the sound of flowing water and dripping water, the only sound was their footsteps.

"It's hard to say according to the ritual, but I guess those missing people didn't go completely upstream, did they?"

Chapter 60: The disappearance of the next generation priest

There is a sentence in "Peach Blossom Spring", "At first it is very narrow, but then it becomes passable. After walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly becomes open."

But the time the two of them spent in this sewer was perhaps too long. Along the way, there were only the monotonous sounds of footsteps and flowing water. Yotsuya Miko subconsciously shrank her shoulders. The overly quiet atmosphere made her feel a little fear that had not been in her for a long time.

【Location: Onari River】

[Problem: Hidden Road] Perhaps it is because the dead do not welcome the living, they hide the road and only open it to specific people. But if we want to find that road, using "guidance" as a compass, or "light" as a force to illuminate the way forward may help us.

"Jianzi, get ready, we are going to start looking for a way..."

"Eh?" Yotsuya Miko was a little confused, but before she could ask, she felt her vision gradually becoming clearer, as if her severe myopia was instantly cured. Yotsuya Miko's golden pupils emitted a faint golden light. After Uesugi Sumiko used the bonus of the soul essence [Consciousness], her sexual aspect had reached the fifth lamp.

"We call on the night watchman, the god who guides the way, the god who illuminates and drives away darkness..." Uesugi Sumiko recited a special prayer. Due to his fast speaking speed and the fact that he was in English, Yotsuya Miko did not understand what he was saying, but she did feel that her heartbeat was gradually calming down, and all her emotions seemed to be gradually withdrawn and calmed down.

"I see... there is light ahead, probably the exit of the sewer, Acheng... be prepared, what we are about to face may be beyond our imagination. Just by looking at it with my eyes, I can feel the solemn atmosphere."

Yotsuya Miko put aside all her emotions, even deleting the unnecessary honorifics for Uesugi Sumire, and spoke in the most concise way.

"I see. Come on, follow the light you see."

Uesugi Cheng spoke, and to their surprise, the closer they got to the beam of light, the weaker the unpleasant sewer smell around them became, as if they were walking towards the sewer exit.

“Is this really the exit of the sewer? Are we walking into... a forest?!”

Even though Yotsuya Miko had suppressed most of her emotions, she was still shocked by the scene in front of her when they walked out of the sewer. Countless twisted and tall trees blocked the sky above their heads, and the overgrown weeds seemed to be almost as high as their knees. There was even an abandoned car next to it. The old car was rusted to the point that only the skeleton was left, as if silently telling them that they could turn back now. Yotsuya Miko looked back, and the road they came from appeared calmly in her field of vision, as if they could leave this place at any time as long as they wanted.

"Did you hear that? Someone talking?"

Uesugi Cheng closed his eyes, and heard a sound that seemed to come from far away. Was it crying? Was it shouting? Uesugi Cheng couldn't hear clearly, and the sound that was so weak that it almost didn't exist soon disappeared. Uesugi Cheng opened his eyes and saw Yotsuya Miko who was a little worried.

"No matter what, we can only move forward now... If we retreat, we who have entered here may be dragged back here one day, just like the incident of Ye Hui."

Yotsuya Miko seemed to be cheering herself up. They simply drank some water and continued to walk forward. What surprised Yotsuya Miko was that although this road seemed to have been abandoned for many years, the mountain road still seemed to be in relatively good condition. If it weren't for the tall and somewhat weird trees around, she would have thought she was just climbing a nearby tourist hill.

"Look over there... that's the city. Judging from this location, we are back to the area behind the school. Isn't it incredible?"

Uesugi Sumiko pointed at the lights in the distance, and Yotsuya Miko looked over there. The lights of the city in the distance seemed full of life. She could even imagine what the commercial street would look like at night, but she soon felt something was wrong.

"Isn't that place... too far away?"

Yotsuya Miko measured the distance with her own eyes, and she soon felt that something was wrong. The lights in the distance seemed too far away. It was definitely not the distance from the back mountain to the commercial street. It was as if she was in a parallel world.

Thinking of this, Yotsuya Miko felt a little creepy. Could it be that they have already stepped into the 'world symbolizing spiritual power and the dead' mentioned in the investigation report?

"Maybe it's because we're in the right place... Let's keep going. I don't know if there's a time limit, but it's not safe to walk in a place like this."

Uesugi Sumiko was very calm. In his perception, the almost abnormal amount of spiritual power in this place already explained what kind of place this was. Many weak spirits were directly driven away by him with the glow power in his clear consciousness. Otherwise, the peeping and whispering of those spirits along the way might have brought some unnecessary pressure to Yotsuya Miko.

They continued walking along this road for a while and after that they successfully got back to the original place.

"This is a dead end. This is the first time we've encountered this situation, right?" Uesugi Sumiko asked Yotsuya Miko who looked a little helpless. She rubbed her nose and seemed a little tired.

"Yeah... So the ghost walls actually exist? I thought that after I started training with you, Acheng, those ghost walls wouldn't affect me anymore."

"Maybe it's not a ghost wall, but this land is reminding us of something..."

"Eh, reminding us?" Yotsuya Miko scratched her hair. She didn't quite understand why Uesugi Sumiko would say that.

"Look, the last time we were here... there wasn't this road, right?"

Uesugi Cheng pointed the flashlight at the path next to him. They didn't know when a fork in the road appeared where there should have been a straight road. There were torii gates standing on the fork in the road. The darkness seemed to silently invite them to go in.

Yotsuya Miko and Uesugi Sumiko knew that the old road would most likely lead back here, so they simply conserved their energy and took this fork in the road.

At the end of one torii gate after another, there is a shrine that was built at an unknown time. The outer wall of the shrine has looked weathered after the passage of time, but when they saw the plaque hanging above the shrine, they couldn't help but feel a tightness in their hearts.

"Hinashiro Shrine? Isn't it so abandoned that even the houses can't be used anymore?" Yotsuya Miko said in surprise.

Chapter 61: Yuneili River

"I remember they said that Hinashiro Shrine had been abandoned a long time ago. Even the rituals stopped more than a hundred years ago..."

Yotsuya Miko looked back at the barely standing shrine in front of her. Although it didn't seem too outrageous to see something that completely went against common sense in such a special place, the psychological pressure it brought to her was no small matter.

"Look at this wooden floor, it's very clean...If you don't know, you would think someone cleaned it yesterday."

What Uesugi Sumiko said at this time made Yotsuya Miko even more creepy. The old sliding door in front of her looked like a barrier that sealed off some monster.

"Let's go in... Since the owner of this place invited us here, why shouldn't we go in and meet him?" Uesugi Cheng took out an item from his bag and hid it inside his clothes. Although the owner of this place had personally invited them to visit, they still had to be on guard.