A comic book, but a librarian

With the unique sound of the old-fashioned sliding doors being opened, they entered the interior of the Hinashiro Shrine. The entire shrine seemed to be separated by doors one after another. Yotsuya Miko had forgotten how many such sliding doors she and Uesugi Sumiko had passed through. Ten? Twenty? She rubbed her nose and closed her eyes to relieve the soreness.

The patterns on the door were intricate and brightly colored. They didn't look like the patterns used in shrines at all. Instead, they looked more like the most gorgeous kimonos worn by the daughters of wealthy families.

Suddenly, Yotsuya Miko was shocked, because what appeared in front of them was no longer a row of doors, but a blank wall.

"Those patterns... do you see the meaning?"

"Eh? I don't know, I haven't learned these things..." Yotsuya Miko looked at Uesugi Sumire in surprise. She felt dizzy just looking at those patterns, let alone the patterns painted on the sliding door.

"It's Ukiyo-e... It's basically telling who built this shrine and why it was built... We walked through the twenty or so doors from the outside to here, and it tells the story of the shrine's establishment and its abandonment."

"Amazing... Is that why there are so many doors?" Yotsuya Miko murmured to herself. She still couldn't imagine that a shrine had so many winding doors just to record the history of this place.

"No, there are so many doors here because of the 'specialness' of this place. The last door we just opened was painted with a man and a woman opening the door of a long-abandoned shrine."

Yotsuya Miko's goosebumps appeared on her arms again. Uesugi Sumiko's casual words made her reluctant to associate the horrible truth hidden behind them. She now felt that she would rather go back and chat with Ye Hui.

The sound of the shamisen came along with a sad and hoarse singing voice, and Yotsuya Miko woke up from her trance. She saw in front of her, in a room not far away, there was a monk in purple clothes sitting with his back to them, playing and singing a piece of music with the shamisen in his hand.

"......Old man, have you seen the two girls?" Yotsuya Miko plucked up her courage. The silence technique she learned was to come in handy at times like this, so she stepped forward and asked her question.

However, the purple-robed monk opposite ignored Yotsuya Miko's questions and continued to play and sing his own music.

"Old man, we want to find the two girls who strayed here. If you happen to know anything about them, can you tell us?"

Only the tone of the music seemed to be gradually becoming sadder. Yotsuya Miko felt a sense of frustration. This was the first time that she was ignored by a spirit. Yes, although she had only learned some basic Silence Technique spells from Uesugi Sumiko, she could still see with her own eyes that it was not a living person.

"What he is playing is funeral music." Uesugi Cheng said after listening to a passage.

"Eh? Funeral music?"

"Old man, the music you played is a funeral song, right? Could you please show us the way? We want to go... to the place where those forms drifted to in the end."

The old monk's hand stopped, and the sound of the music also stopped abruptly. He turned his head and looked at Uesugi Cheng with his empty eyes, as if his eyes were still there.

After a long time, Uesugi Sumiko and Yotsuya Miko watched him pluck the strings again, as if he wanted to express something, but they could not fully understand what the music expressed, and could only vaguely feel the general meaning.

"Let's go, this time we should be able to find where we want to go..." Uesugi Sumiko seemed to be thinking about something. Yotsuya Miko realized that the old monk sitting here playing funeral music was not a living person, but she didn't expect who he was playing the piano for. Of course, he didn't intend to mention this to Miko now. After all, she had been frightened enough today.

"Hmm..." Yotsuya Miko bowed to the old monk again before leaving. When she raised her head again, the monk in purple had already disappeared, leaving only an empty room.

To leave the shrine, one still had to pass through the twenty or so sliding doors. What Yotsuya Miko didn't expect was that Uesugi Sumiko actually had the leisure at this time to talk about the things painted on the doors and took pictures of them one by one with the camera he carried with him.

When they walked out of the shrine, the torii gate on the way here had disappeared without a trace, and the road in front of them was covered with weeds, as if no one had walked on it for years. In the darkness, an owl standing on a tree suddenly flew up and headed towards the end of the road.

Yotsuya Miko realized that it might be some kind of special guidance, but Uesugi Sumire was one step faster than her. He grabbed her hand and ran with her. Although she shouldn't think too much at this time, Yotsuya Miko's heart still accelerated for this matter.

Of course, all these messy thoughts disappeared when they stopped, because they saw a river. Yotsuya Miko was almost certain that this was the Onori River mentioned in the literature.

But the hellish scene in front of her made Yotsuya Miko feel a chill down her spine.

Countless puppets, either ancient Japanese puppets or Western princess dolls, some broken and some still intact, were casually dumped into the river. The golden and black hair intertwined on the river bank. The moment they stepped in here, it was as if the eyes of all the puppets were looking at them at the same time.

Chapter 62: The Doll

It was an extremely horrifying scene. The dolls that fell into the river were clearly broken, but there was no sign of decay at all. It was difficult for Yotsuya Miko to judge with the naked eye how many dolls there were here. The annual sacrificial ceremony, in order to pray for blessings and avoid disasters for their own children, put these "hentai" on straw boats and let them float downstream until they sank to the bottom of the water. This in itself contained countless emotions. The dolls piled up here almost all carried such strong emotions.

Perhaps it is this kind of emotion that prompts them to give birth to the most primitive instinct, that is, the instinct to satisfy desires.

"Click, click, click." The puppets made abnormal sounds under the stimulation of the water flow, but Yotsuya Miko didn't think that it was just the result of the water flow. The flowing golden and black hair were like dark arms trying to reach out to them.

In her sight, there seemed to be countless monsters hidden under the river. She had to look away after just one glance. She was afraid that if she continued to look, her legs would really go weak and she would lose her last bit of courage.

"Don't look at it. Those things...are piled up."

Uesugi Cheng rubbed his shoulders helplessly and put down the backpack on his back. The surrounding undead looked at their reactions and seemed to become even more noisy.

Or rather, they are not undead spirits, but monsters twisted and condensed from longing and resentment. Uesugi Cheng can feel the abnormal accumulation of resentment here, and it seems as if something has destroyed the originally relatively balanced cycle. The accumulated expectations and longings in these dolls should have gradually dissipated under the washing of time.

"Jianzi, have I told you in detail... what is the meaning of brooding?"

Suddenly, Yotsuya Miko heard these words, and she looked at Uesugi Sumiko in confusion. He had clearly talked about this matter during the day, so why was he repeating it at this time?

"The purpose of making the dolls is to completely absorb someone's misfortune. After the ritual is completed, they are thrown into the river and float with the river water. The people who perform the ritual believe that this will allow the children whose misfortune has been absorbed to grow up healthy and happy... In other words, this is sacrificing the dolls in exchange for good luck and happiness."

Yotsuya Miko was stunned. She originally thought that the ceremony held upstream of the Onuchi River was just a simple prayer ceremony, but now that she heard it, wasn't it some kind of sacrificial ceremony?

"But sacrificing a doll shouldn't be allowed..."

"Yes, if it was just an ordinary doll, this wouldn't happen. But in order to make the ceremony more targeted, the people who hold the ceremony will use part of the child to make the doll, usually hair or fallen teeth. You should understand what I mean."

Yotsuya Miko nodded heavily. The river that looked so scary just now was now filled with sadness in her eyes. Countless dolls were made as carriers of misfortune and resentment, then discarded and sunk to this place. No wonder the resentment and spirits here accumulated so abnormally.

"The children's misfortune and resentment were transferred to the dolls, but where could the dolls take such things? So they built the Hinashiro Shrine, hoping that the new dolls that drifted there every year could share the resentment. They were almost successful if the ceremony was not interrupted."

Uesugi Cheng sighed. He just realized the essence of the matter. On the other side of the river, or on a small island that suddenly appeared in the center of the river, two girls were standing there blankly, as if they had lost their souls.

"Stay, stay."

"I'm so lonely, so lonely, so lonely. When will my master come and take me away?"

The sounds of temptation gradually became louder, and Yotsuya Miko had to try to cover her ears to escape the noise. Her perception and intuition were gradually becoming blurred by the noise, and it was obvious that if she could not respond effectively, she would probably become one of those lost people.

"Drink it."

The snow-white preparation was handed to Yotsuya Miko's mouth. She drank the snow-white liquid in the jar in one gulp without hesitation. Soon she was surprised to find that the noise in her ears disappeared.

Uesugi Sumiko was secretly glad that he took the potion out of the cabinet next to the alchemy table in the gallery, otherwise Yotsuya Miko would most likely have stepped into the river by herself to keep the doll company.

Solomon Hershey drank this stuff every night before going to sleep, so that he would no longer hear the sound of the tide. But on January 1838, 1, a heavy snow fell on the Silence House. When the other residents dug themselves out, Hershey was nowhere to be found. He left a letter of resignation and a whole can of this stuff that he had not drunk. (9 Winter January 4 Moth)

The blurry white shadow reappeared just above the river and stretched out its hand towards them.

"Come on, let's play together. It's really lonely here alone. They all don't want to play with me anymore."

The scene described by the innocent child made Jianzi a little scared. Perhaps the so-called "not playing with her" meant that they would never move again.

"You stay here, I'll go over..."

Uesugi Cheng spoke calmly. With his clear mind ignited, he was not disturbed by this temptation. If it really didn't work, he planned to pour a bottle of red essence here and then light a fire, using the most thorough and simple method to burn all the pain and grudges here as fuel.

Uesugi Cheng stepped on the mist above the river, as if he was stepping into solid land, and walked step by step to the island. The two girls were lying there with pale faces, and seemed to be very weak, but the corners of their mouths were outlined with creepy smiles, as if they were immersed in happiness.

Tug's purification technique seemed extremely practical at this moment. In a place where Yotsuya Miko couldn't see, two more of Uesugi Sumiko appeared beside him, and they cast the purification technique that had been prepared long ago on the evil spirit that seduced others.

The tormented evil spirit finally revealed its true appearance. It was a monster made up of the thoughts attached to countless dolls. Countless eyes of various shapes were staring at Uesugi Cheng. The evil spirit roared in pain, as if it was provoked, and madly urged everything around it to try to tear Uesugi Cheng to pieces.

However, Uesugi Sumiya's soul was not as fragile as an ordinary person's body. His wisdom and fortitude as he trembled with the evil spirit bought him enough time.

He flew to the center of the island. The cycle that should have been operating normally was broken, so something must have caused such an impact.

Then Uesugi Sumire saw the shocking scene.

On a sturdy wooden boat, there was an exquisite coffin, and inside it was a beautiful doll that he had difficulty finding words to describe.

The traditional standard of Japanese beauty charm is displayed on such a doll. The lifelike skin and even the slightly moist red lips make her look like a living person, if it weren't for the fact that the eyes were not dotted with eyeballs.

The entire doll was covered in a thick and gorgeous twelve-piece kimono, just like a quilt covering a sleeping girl. Uesugi Cheng found it hard to imagine who could use such ingenious techniques to make a doll the same size as an ordinary person to perform the Hinamizu ritual, but what he was going to do now was already very clear.

Stepping over the corpse that had already turned to bones, Uesugi Cheng came to the side of the coffin and dripped his blood on the doll's eyes. At this time, Uesugi Cheng saw the small amulet hanging around the doll's neck, with "Sakura" written on it.

The beautiful doll's eyes were stained with dark red blood, and her body began to move, just like Sleeping Beauty who had been sleeping for a long time and then woke up.

From afar came the roar of evil spirits that seemed to be angry and frustrated. Uesugi Cheng knew that his bet must have been right. The puppets in front of him were the source of their ability to condense into that appearance. There was no doubt that he was now destroying this ritual site that was set up by coincidence.

"Hello... who am I?" The puppet moved with a clacking sound, and the voice came from a throat where there were no vocal cords.

Chapter 63: The disappearance of the Hentai Doll Ceremony

Yotsuya Miko was shaking with fear. She seemed to have returned to the first time she saw the evil spirit. Countless resentments were wandering in this space. She saw those mutilated people growing limbs that did not belong to them, and then began to move towards the abrupt island in the center of the river.

She took a deep breath, and the air that entered her nose was filled with a certain chill. Death had never been so close to her, and so concrete. Perhaps it was not until here that she truly realized how terrifying the so-called 'world of spiritual power and death' in the investigation report was.

"But...but it's all here." The noisy sounds of the undead in her ears gradually faded away, and it was only at this moment that she realized what Uesugi Cheng mentioned when he gave her the first lesson.

"The so-called [silent art] is three words: silence, spiritualism, and aesthetics." What exactly does spiritualism mean? The emotions, stability, and danger of the spirits are clearly revealed before her eyes. She can feel that these spirits are anxious, as if it is a moment of life and death, and they can't wait to rush up.

“In that case… In that case…” Yotsuya Miko took out a pile of talisman papers from her bag and sprinkled them into the river where countless dolls were buried.

The puppets subconsciously avoided the talismans scattered by Yotsuya Miko. They now had more important things to do, such as suppressing the awakened talismans again.

"I see... My intuition was right, you are the key here... Do you remember them?"

Although the soul outside had clearly begun to show signs of decline, Uesugi Sumiya still slowly asked the doll, who looked like a sleeping beauty who had just awakened. Her eyes were dyed red with Uesugi Sumiya's blood, and her red pupils turned to Uesugi Sumiya, as if trying to identify who he was.

"I don't know... who am I?"

The doll looked a little confused, but she was so calm as if the resentment and the roar of evil spirits outside did not exist at all.

"You are... you may be the biggest Hentai Doll. Maybe they built the Hentai Shrine to purify your existence... 'Himegami Sakura'."

"My name is... Himegami Sakura?" The doll looked at Uesugi Sumika blankly. She knew nothing and was as pure as a newborn baby.

But as if it was an instinct, she subconsciously waved her fingers connected by ball joints, and then the evil spirit outside let out a sharp scream.

"What are you going to do? Now that you have been awakened, you should be able to remember...your identity."

Uesugi Sumiko did not answer her question, but stretched out his hand to support the edge of the coffin. The coffin was placed on a small wooden boat. Uesugi Sumiko did not know which wealthy family in Musashi made such a doll, but it was obvious that she had become the core of this space.

"I...I...am I a puppet?" The puppet seemed to have been thinking for a while, and then it shook violently. She understood her mission, and even understood that she had become the core of this place. She showed Uesugi Sumiya a miserable smile, just like a living person.

"Sir, please destroy me. This place should not exist in the human world. Since the ritual of the second generation has long been extinct, then as the dust of the times, I should also disappear quietly from this world."

Uesugi Sumire looked at the doll in front of him, which looked like Yamato Nadeshiko, but had a sad and sorrowful expression. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind, so he started talking to the doll.

"Asumi... No, Yotsuya Miko, you can't think about this now. If you give up, everything will be over." Yotsuya Miko once again put aside the distracting thoughts that invaded her mind. Even though she could not hear those annoying noises after drinking the Solomon preparation, the psychological pressure brought by the environment was by no means easy to deal with. Yotsuya Miko used talismans to drive away the puppets as much as possible, trying to leave a way for Uesugi Cheng to return.

The white fog was slowly approaching where they were. In the hazy fog, there were shadows that looked like humans, but their movements were totally beyond the capability of humans to make, and they were actually approaching.

"A Cheng!!"

Yotsuya Miko shouted with all her might, and she raised a high-intensity flashlight, hoping that the light could penetrate the misty river and guide Uesugi Sumiko.

"Ahem, let's go first..."

She saw an unimaginable scene: two identical Uesugi Cheng were walking on the water, one of them was carrying a girl on his back and running towards her quickly. She was so scared that she raised the talisman paper to try to scare Uesugi Cheng away.

"Stop messing around. I'll explain it to you when we get back! Run now! These guys are going crazy, and this place is about to collapse."

Just as Uesugi Sumiko said, all the puppets here attacked them like crazy. Yotsuya Miko had nothing to say when she saw this situation, so she could only start running immediately, and she put on her bag before running.

The sound of the shamisen and the hoarse funeral music rang out again, as if an invisible wall had been built. Yotsuya Miko only felt that she vaguely saw the monk in purple, and a smile of relief seemed to appear on his skinny face. The behavior of the puppets was stopped behind them, and they did not catch up until they ran into the sewer again.

Yotsuya Miko couldn't remember how she walked out of the sewer. She seemed to hear vaguely the sound of people talking, and it seemed that someone was calling her. The biting cold was gradually dissipated, and was replaced by the stuffy feeling of summer.

When she woke up again, she was already lying in the hospital. Sitting next to her was an unfamiliar police officer. The reason why she was called a police officer was because she showed her ID.

"Inudo Ranko, the director of the Police History Compilation Office of the Metropolitan Police Department, does this position really exist?" Yotsuya Miko touched her aching forehead and still looked a little confused.

"Yes, not only that, but they also specialize in dealing with some unusual incidents, such as this time..." Inudo Ranko was holding a cigarette and looked nonchalant, but Yotsuya Miko saw it. She saw the rich spiritual power in Ranko and some kind of contract.

"In general, you are really bold... Fortunately, no harm was caused. Due to the special nature of the incident, this matter will not be made public, and your family will not be told. Do you understand what I mean?"

Yotsuya Miko nodded. She hoped that her family didn’t know what had happened, otherwise being scolded would be the least of her worries.

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. Next, I have a few questions to ask. Please cooperate with me." Inudo Ranko blew out a smoke ring with satisfaction and blinked her eyes.

Chapter 64: The disappearance of the second generation doll ritual

It was her first time being questioned by the police and Yotsuya Miko seemed a little nervous. After all, as a good citizen, she had never been exposed to such things. Her only impression of the interrogation was the dim room, the desk lamp, the fierce police and the pork chop rice.

However, Inudo Ranko didn't seem to care about the questions. She just nodded after asking a few simple questions. She didn't even take notes and just waved her hand.

"Okay, I know the general situation. You girls are really... ignorant or brave. Anyway, don't do this kind of thing again next time. Luck won't always be on your side."

"Um, I want to ask about the boy classmate who was with me..."

Yotsuya Miko mustered up the courage to ask this question.

"Hmm? He's your boyfriend? He's in a much better condition than you are. He's the one staying in the ward next to you. So why don't you persuade a guy like him not to seek such excitement next time? If anything happens to him, the Metropolitan Police Department will be in big trouble."

Inudo Ranko looked helpless when she heard Yotsuya Miko mention Uesugi Sumire. Although the youngest son of the Uesugi family is not as important as his older brothers and sisters, if anything happens to him, the Metropolitan Police Department will most likely be held responsible. It's not just the top brass, but every ordinary policeman will be troubled by this pressure.

"what......"

"So you didn't know? Then just pretend I didn't say anything." Inudo Ranko waved her hand. Maybe it was Uesugi Sumire's personal taste. It had nothing to do with her anyway. In her opinion, Uesugi Sumire was a little more ordinary than Yotsuya Miko. After all, when she went to the sewer to find the four people, Uesugi Sumire was as ordinary as the two missing girls.

"Oh." Yotsuya Miko nodded. Her intuition told her that the best option was not to say too much about such things.

"Bye first, that kid Feng Hai is also..." Inudo Ranko left cursing, looking quite helpless. Yotsuya Miko moved her hands, then lifted the quilt. The feeling of her feet touching the floor was unexpectedly stable, without any feeling of weakness.

So she took a step forward and knocked on the door next door.