A comic book, but a librarian

278

Chapter 278 [The Unrivaled Box]

"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen such a patchwork spirit. It's too... random? It doesn't even look like an evil spirit that grew up on its own."

Uesugi Cheng commented that the evil spirit on the opposite side had obviously completely lost its mind and was only attacking based on instinct, waving its limbs randomly.

Perhaps it should not be called limbs. It is not an evil spirit formed entirely by the resentful spirits of babies. After all, Uesugi Cheng does not think that babies have snake-like arms and monkey feet. Its body has limbs of various animals.

"Wow wow wow wow!!!"

The baby let out a sharp roar, and Uesugi Cheng immediately covered his ears. Although this sound did not have a big impact on the body, it was more used to shock the enemy's soul. However, he did not want to suffer from tinnitus for a period of time. In addition, the baby's strength was not particularly strong, so he simply let it howl.

The baby realized that his screams were meaningless and attacked again according to his instinct. His hands made of snakes bit Uesugi Cheng, and then Uesugi Cheng grabbed the snake and chopped off its head.

After this, the newborn vengeful spirit finally seemed to feel fear, and immediately turned around and tried to escape. Uesugi Cheng skillfully pulled out the small knife he carried with him, wrapped the talisman paper around it, and threw it out, piercing the baby's brain steadily.

Before the baby's ghost died, it still looked at Uesugi Cheng unwillingly, as if it was issuing a resentful curse, but soon it turned into a part of the world and returned to nature.

"Hey, Inspector Inudo, we've already dealt with the stuff for you... Can you tell me what this dead guy was doing? Why would such a strange ghost come to our house?"

Uesugi Sumiko took out his phone. The spiritual miasma had not yet dissipated, so Uesugi Sumiko simply called Inspector Inudo to verify the information.

"From what I can see, this guy seems to be just an ordinary office worker...but the company he works for is a little strange. However, the Metropolitan Police Department probably can't spare any manpower to verify the company he works for. Maybe the company is empty."

Inudo Ranko seemed to be thinking, and her voice was a little intermittent.

"What happened? It's not a common situation that made you call and ask about it. Is it the evil spirit released by the gangs that create evil spirits?"

"Not necessarily. This evil spirit only attacked me after I stepped into this place, and it seems to be acting on instinct only. It doesn't feel like an evil spirit that was specially cultivated. I'll look for it first. Such vengeful spirits of chimera babies are indeed rare."

Uesugi Sumiko began to search inside the house. The house was not big and looked like an ordinary apartment where an office worker lived. The refrigerator was filled with ordinary ingredients.

"How is the maintenance of the Killing Stone going?"

"Everything is fine. If something went wrong, I wouldn't be able to call you here... I found some new information. The deceased seemed to be a doctor in an underground clinic. It seems that the source of the baby has been found. It has happened before that a black doctor who performed multiple births was killed by the ghosts of the babies."

Inudo Ranko spoke thoughtfully, but quickly changed the subject.

"But those were all extremely special cases. Ordinary doctors, whether they were obstetricians or gynecologists or black doctors, would not be affected at all even though they performed so many surgeries. So this guy must have done something special, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah...it's a special thing, too special. Tokyo is really full of talented people. Have you ever seen a box filled with all kinds of limbs..."

"Wait, what box?"

"Oh, it's the kind that's buried in the ground, and it's filled with various animal limbs... It's so rotten that I can't tell what it is, but I recognize the head on the top. It's probably a baby's head. It's already starting to turn into bones."

There was only silence on the other end of the phone. Uesugi Cheng closed the lid of the box again, affixed several more layers of talismans to block the resentment, and finally took off his mask. After the source was eliminated, the spiritual barrier quickly dissipated, and even the vision and hearing that had been affected to a certain extent returned to normal.

"The Box of the Last One? But how could such a thing be buried there? And why was it triggered on this day?"

Inudo Ranko's voice became confused. This box was indeed a trick of cursing. The limbs and internal organs of various animals were stuffed into the box. The more types of animals there were, the more terrifying the curse would be. The curse made with eight kinds of animals was the strongest. After the box was sealed, it would be buried in an open space near the home of the person who wanted to curse. The growing resentment would soon begin to invade the cursed person.

Of course, as far as Inudo Ranko knew, no spellcaster would be so crazy as to use a baby's head to curse, because they themselves would also have to bear certain backlashes. If the curse was too severe, they might die before the cursed person.

"It doesn't look like it was targeted. After all, there are no signs, and there doesn't seem to be anything in the box that can identify the cursed person. Is this a purely random killing?"

"No, Uesugi-kun, this is where you lack experience. This may just be a kind of screening. The curse will only be triggered by those who can meet the triggering conditions. It is also a kind of designation."

Inudo Ranko let out a long sigh and continued explaining.

"The curse cannot be triggered except by those who are 'haunted by the ghost of the baby', so this person is the only one who can be targeted. However, this guy has lived in this place for at least three years. Can you tell when the box was buried?"

"Not really. Maybe it has been buried longer than this building. It should be one of Tokyo's 'historical relics'. That's why I said Tokyo has too many talented people."

After hearing what Uesugi Sumire said, Inudo Ranko on the opposite side obviously fell into silence for a long time, and finally could only leave one sentence.

"That's the only way to close the case. Thank you for making this trip. I'll pay you back later."

Uesugi Sumire put away his phone. The contents of the box full of body parts had not completely turned into bones due to the presence of resentment, but he did not intend to deal with it himself, so he simply made a mark and let Inudo Ranko clean it up herself.

"Uesugi, have you finished your work? What exactly is going on this time?"

Yashiki Kazuo came closer and was stunned when he saw the box that had not been buried yet.

279

Chapter 279: Night rest.

"Why, Mr. Yashiki, do you have any impression of this kind of thing?"

Uesugi Sumire watched Yashiki Kazuo's actions and focused his attention on him.

"I haven't seen it, but I heard Saya mentioned this thing. Is this the source of this incident?"

"That's probably right. The evil spirits of the babies triggered the power of the Box of the Last Ones, so the unlucky guy went to hell. But I'm more curious about why the evil spirits took out the internal organs of this person and arranged them in such a way?"

"Organ trade?"

Yashiki Kazuo speculated that he didn't know much about this kind of thing, and perhaps his police friend would know a little more.

"No, according to the storage conditions of the underground clinic, they can only use the organs as soon as they are taken. There is no point in displaying the organs. This is also a suspicious point, but it has nothing to do with us now. So what is Mr. Yashiki doing here?"

Uesugi Sumire took two photos of the box and sent them to Inudo Ranko, then put away his phone and asked Yashiki Kazuo, after all, he didn't look like he came for the deceased this time.

"Someone sent me a letter, saying that they had a commission and needed my help, and the address was here... but when he wrote it, it was clearly... saying that his own home was..."

Yashiki Kazuo was silent. He immediately took out the letter in his hand, but the letter in the envelope had already completely turned into a pile of ashes, and even the envelope itself had aged extremely quickly.

"It looks like the target of the curse has been found. Inspector Inudo guessed wrong this time. The mine aimed at someone was not detonated by the target, but was detonated by an unlucky person now."

Yashiki Kazuo watched the spiritual power on the envelope gradually fade away, finally revealing its original appearance, an envelope that had been rotten beyond recognition, and fell into silence.

"My spiritual power perception ability is also quite good, why can't I detect this kind of thing at all?"

"Perhaps this is not something that can be solved by perception. Maybe Jianzi can tell at a glance that there is something wrong with the envelope... Never mind, this incident should be over now. We can just dispose of the box. As for the sender of this letter, how about you check it yourself, Mr. Yashiki?"

"It's okay, I'll check it myself. If nothing works, I'll just pretend that it never happened. Many things really can't be investigated in depth. I came here because the Kujo family had to verify it after accepting the commission. Let's go first, I'll treat you, go sit down somewhere."

Yashiki Kazuo also seemed to relax a little. After throwing the almost rotten envelope into a sealed transparent bag, he simply took out the car keys and spoke to Uesugi Sumika. He did look a little too tired.

……

"Akino has returned to school now. A client did me a favor and sent her to the girls' school called Tsuki no Mori. The completely new environment should be a good thing for her."

Yashiki Kazuo and Uesugi Sumire talked about the girl rescued by Uesugi Sumire. He and his sister Saya have treated the child as their own daughter, especially his sister Saya, who seems to have begun to overflow with maternal love.

"That's good... By the way, is there any record of a person named Kunihiko Aso in your Kujo family?"

"...I have to go back and look it up, but I do remember the name you mentioned. I remember that he was a very famous predecessor in the folklore community, but that was limited to the folklore community, and his research has never been recognized by the public."

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be unable to find his works and manuscripts. By the way, do you know anything about Tai Sui?"

"Do you mean the herb or the belief?"

"Of course it's the latter... I don't care much about medicinal herbs."

"What I know is basically the same as what is written in the encyclopedia. To be honest, the belief in Tai Sui seems to have been introduced to the local area during the Seimei period, but then it was lost. Has anything been posted about Tai Sui?"

"It's no big deal. I just had a fight with a distraction."

Uesugi Cheng yawned. After dealing with Shuchiin's affairs and the Metropolitan Police Department's tasks, even he couldn't help feeling a little tired and prepared to go home and have a good rest.

"You're fighting against a god's clone... That's really amazing."

Yashiki Kazuo could never imagine such a scene, and could only sigh sincerely in the end. After all, even the Kujo family had always been extremely cautious when dealing with supernatural-related incidents, unlike Uesugi Sumire who could talk about such a thing so casually.

The two of them sat in the family restaurant until dark before going home. Uesugi Sumi yawned. Himegami Sakura had become more and more lazy to go out recently. For this little doll, staying at home and watching TV seemed to be much more comfortable than running around, so Uesugi Sumi did not force her to go out with him.

"Good evening, sir. I have prepared dinner for you...Do you want me to prepare the bath water as well?"

Himegami Sakura jumped down from the sofa. Her complicated and gorgeous twelve-piece kimono had long been replaced with children's clothes that were more convenient for movement. She had chosen the size herself.

"No, I can do it myself... I still need to go to bed early today. I've been getting sleepier and sleepier lately."

Uesugi Cheng opened his schedule. He had a practice with the Bond Band tomorrow, and a visit to the University of Tokyo later. Since the beginning of winter, he found that he seemed to have less and less free time, so he decided to find an opportunity to have a good rest for a day.

"Good night then. I'll just turn off the TV."

Himegami Sakura tilted her head. As a puppet, her posture was actually a little scary, but as a puppet that looked no different from an ordinary person, she only looked cute when she did this.

There was an animation playing on TV, but it was an animation from a long time ago that Uesugi Cheng had rarely watched, so he didn't pay attention to the content and started to eat his dinner.

A small flame lies quietly on the golden candle. If you look closely, you will find that although the flame is burning, the candle is still intact, and there is no sign of being ignited.

"Are you still used to it?"

Uesugi Cheng asked.

The flame shook twice in response. This peaceful life was indeed wonderful for the painting spirit in "Hell Transformation". It had even become accustomed to using fuel instead of spiritual power to replenish its own strength.

"Would you like me to take you for a walk later?"

The flame shook twice again, indicating that it was ready to set off and join the battle at any time.

280

Chapter 280: Even evil spirits have to work like slaves.

For most people, winter is synonymous with cold, the kind of cold that makes you want to curl up in a warm blanket and not even want to take your hands out.

Just like Yotsuya Miko now, she tentatively stretched out her hand from the quilt, and then immediately retracted it. The continuous cold air instantly caused the temperature in Tokyo to plummet. A few days ago, she thought it was wonderful to be able to wear tights out in winter, but now she wished she could put on another layer of pants over her pants.

Her big dog was as energetic as ever. After all, after turning into a ghost, it could no longer feel the changes in temperature. But on the contrary, although its hair was very lush and Yotsuya Miko could indeed touch it, Yotsuya Miko could not feel any warmth from the ghost dog, so in this season, she rarely lay on the ghost dog.

"It's great. Today is actually a day off. I don't have to go out, don't have to think about studying, and don't even have to crawl out of bed. Praise the weekend. Wuhu, it's time to go back to sleep."

Yotsuya Miko narrowed her eyes. The warm and comfortable bed was calling her, just like the... mountains in the distance.

Yotsuya Miko suddenly opened her eyes. She heard the rhythmic beating of something, like a heart, or like something more distant, something that was being conceived.

So she subconsciously looked at her wrist, but saw nothing. The red line had been transferred by Uesugi Cheng with a special method last time. She shouldn't have this feeling again, but she could still feel that deep in the distant mountains, something was gradually waking up from its slumber, as if inviting her.

"You must be kidding... Do you think I can be controlled by you as easily as before?"

Yotsuya Miko turned over in the quilt, and the fear gradually left her heart. The more she learned, the more she knew that when faced with forces and events beyond common sense, giving up one's own thinking and rationality is the most dangerous thing. This means that she has completely handed over the right of choice to the unknown.

The unknown generally represents absolute danger and may even implicate people around her, so when faced with this dangerous situation, she chose to describe her condition to Uesugi Cheng through chat records.

……

"It's just right in the winter, but in the summer I have to wonder if it will be too hot."

Uesugi Cheng sat in the driver's car and arrived at the gate of an abandoned factory that looked very desolate.

The driver took his money and drove away without even saying thank you. It was so weird that a high school boy carried a long box and spent a lot of money to take a taxi and didn't want to wait for the bus, just to come to such a weird place... The driver even suspected that if he drove slower, he might really be on the news and appear on the morning news in the name of the victim.

Uesugi Cheng didn't care about the driver's behavior. He carried the box on his back and easily pushed open the rusty iron gate. It is said that the factory here has been in a slump since the bubble burst, and finally had to go bankrupt. However, the factory building could not find a buyer for a long time. Finally, the factory owner committed suicide and the place became deserted.

The whistling cold wind hit the window glass, making an eerie sound. Although the interior of the factory was a bit messy, the valuables had long been looted, and the only things left were large, worthless garbage that was difficult to take away.

But relatively speaking, the degree of damage inside the factory building is not particularly high. It is more because of the abandonment and lack of maintenance that has led to the peeling of wall paint and broken window glass.

“But the most important part, the workshop, is actually well preserved.”

There were no machines or valuables in the workshop. The only thing worth mentioning was that the floor was relatively clean, not as messy as outside, and there were no homeless people who chose to live in such a place.

"Come out, how does it feel here?"

Uesugi Cheng opened the box, and inside was a scroll and a rolled-up painting.

The seal on the painting fell off, and in an instant the entire scroll unfolded, floating in the air, and was then caught by several hands. They were evil spirits who had turned into guards. They gently caught the painting as if they were catching the most precious treasure. Then, more evil spirits poured out, and in an instant the whole workshop seemed a little crowded.

"...It's a very quiet environment, I like it too, but it turns out that I feel more comfortable staying with you."

The flames burned inexplicably. There was clearly no combustible material, but it still ignited a flame in front of Uesugi Cheng.

"Can you do me a favor? I need a studio, but the workload is too much for me alone."

Uesugi Cheng spoke up. He planned to find something for "Hell Transformation" to do. After all, it had swallowed up several evil spirit soldiers he made. He couldn't just let it stay at home with the local heating or water heater all day.

"A studio? What is it going to look like? I don't even know what that is, but if that's what you want, I'll do my best to make it."

The flames suddenly grew stronger, as if they had been summoned by something. All the evil spirits that appeared no longer maintained their images in the painting. They began to gradually reveal their true forms, and it looked as if they were getting ready to fight.

"That's a great help... Here are the design drawings. Most of the things can be made with mud and stone. As for the metal parts... I think they're on the way."

After all, this piece of land is truly ownerless, and due to the rumors of haunting, not many people would come here, so Uesugi Sumiya confidently handed the metal order to Yashiki Kazuo, hoping to get a batch of metals of decent quality and at a slightly favorable price through the relationship with the Kujo family, including copper, iron and some alloys.

"In this case, we can also... refine special [metals] here."

Uesugi Cheng laughed. It looked like these evil spirits had been trapped in the painting for too long. Even the plastering workers were working very hard.