Tokyo Trickster

Chiliu.

Oshino Yoru was munching on plain soba noodles with a thin layer of back fat floating in the soup, and no side dishes.

The shop owner was a plump woman with some freckles on her face. She warmly entertained Amamiya Ren and Shiomi Kotone.

"Why are you here?" After ordering two bowls of beef noodles, Amamiya Ren asked him in a low voice.

"Of course I'm doing my job," Shinobu Yoru brought a plate of barbecued pork to Amamiya Ren, "Here you go."

"Did you poison it? The back fat barbecued pork noodles don't have barbecued pork. You really have ill intentions!" Amamiya Ren calmly pushed the plate of barbecued pork to Shiomi Kotone beside her.

"Hey!" Xijian Qinyin kicked his heel.

She was wearing black cotton stockings and round-toed leather shoes today that covered her delicate feet. She had been riding in the car all day and had not walked much. If she bent down, she could smell the residual scent of shower gel and laundry detergent mixed with the scent being clearly enhanced by her body temperature.

The kick was on the heel instead of the calf? Amamiya Ren pondered for two seconds and brought the barbecued pork back, "It seems to be non-toxic."

Shinobu Yaku drank the hot soup and said, "This is really interesting."

Shiojimi Kotone smiled brightly, "Yeah. That's really interesting."

"Please spare my life," Amamiya Lian was afraid that this guy would attack her late at night. She had been feeling a little weak recently. It was said that the school had signed a contract with a hot spring resort in a nearby town and directly contracted the entire resort as a training ground. This was something that had never happened in previous years.

He guessed that it was probably because both the second and first graders were participating in this study tour, and there happened to be someone with great money ability among the second grade seniors.

I'm talking about you, the eldest daughter of the Okumura Group.

As he thought about it, he turned around suddenly, and fortunately, he did not see the senior student with a stalker habit.

Just Tomori Nao alone was already a headache for Amamiya Ren, and with Okumura Haru added to the mix... He thought of the coquettish president of the Kozhong Cultural Club. After a round of public opinion bombardment, he was afraid that the next day he would see a big scene of "heroes gathering at the Amamiya family, fighting against the rapist from all over the world"... No surprises, someone in the school had received benefits from the Kozhong Cultural Club and was following him from time to time. [Orion] had often given warnings when he was still there.

Shinobu Yoko finished his noodle soup, slammed his bowl and chopsticks on the table with satisfaction, and handed over some banknotes, "Ms. Otani, thank you for your hospitality."

The woman named Otani Hanako took the money with a smile, but her eyes were all on Amamiya Ren. She was busy managing this newly opened ramen restaurant recently and didn't even recognize the famous writer Kurusu Akatsuki who was so close to her. "You are the 100th customer since our store opened, so I'll give you a free bowl..."

"Huh?!" Shinobu Yao took out a cheap cigarette, "Amamiya, you are really popular."

"Smoking is not allowed in this store," Otani Hanako reminded indifferently.

Shinobu Yao gave up in disappointment, put away his cigarette, lifted the curtain and went to the street.

It is noon now. Most of the students of Xiujin High School did not bring lunch boxes with them. It is also the slightly chilly early winter of the twelfth lunar month. Being able to eat a bowl of hot noodles is a kind of happiness.

Amamiya Ren opened her phone and looked at the message in the group chat. Teacher Kawakami said that they would gather at the gas station in the evening and take a bus to the resort.

But I couldn't find the name of the resort on Wikipedia, so it must have been newly built.

It's called... "Hoori Resort".

Oshino Yao did not wait outside the ramen restaurant, as he was aware that his outfit was somewhat inappropriate.

Amamiya Ren thought that this guy probably needed their help with something.

The second-grade teachers were capturing a large number of boys to arrive at the resort early to help set up the venue for the bonfire party at night. It seemed that Ryuji Sakamoto was captured.

Well, it looks like it's just me and Xijian left.

Walking out of the ramen restaurant and turning left into the alley between the convenience store and the public bathing area, Oshino Yao was pressing the faintly glowing cigarette butt against the wall to extinguish it.

"Hey, you're here." His mood was not as happy as his face showed, and there was some fatigue in his eyes.

Shinobu Yao is not a smoker, but there are a lot of cigarette ashes at his feet.

Amamiya Ren frowned, "What happened?"

"Haha," the ghost story expert chuckled, "In the dozen or so villages and towns surrounding this city, there have been hundreds of serious ghost story incidents in the past three months."

"Where's Miss Woyan?"

"She has more important things to do, well, more important things than dealing with hundreds of weird stories."

"Okay, then what do you need me to do?" Amamiya Ren got straight to the point. "You should now ask us to help you deal with the ghost story in the form of a commission."

"Ah," Shinobu scratched the back of his head irritably, "I know, I know, that's the kind of person you are... I'll pick out some ghost stories that will be very helpful to you as a reward."

"Let's give my friends some self-defense ones," Amamiya Ren can deploy his personality mask at any time in reality, but he is the only one in the Phantom Thieves who can do so. Shiomi Kotone needs a summoner, and the other members do not have this ability at all.

"If it is misused..."

"I will take care of them." Amamiya Ren interrupted him.

"Hey, this is no small matter. I still trust your character, but as for the others... forget it," Shinobu Yao covered his forehead in distress, "I'll give it to you. If they cause terrible damage, be careful that they will be killed by Wo Yan."

Woyan Izuko, who was squatting on the Kyoto coastline and waiting for his target, raised his eyebrows and clenched his fists, "Oshino!"

No one knows what kind of strange power they use to communicate over such long distances.

"I think I was heard...hahaha." Shinobu Yao finally squeezed out a genuine smile from his tiredness. "Anyway, I will trust you. I'll take care of the rest."

As he spoke, he lit up another cigarette and puffed out smoke:

"Five days ago, a resort appeared on the outskirts of Yasuowa City. Or rather, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a village."

"Its name is 'Hoori', a Kyoto-style town."

"The residents here are all oblivious to it, as if it has always existed within the city limits... I sneaked in, but nearly died."

"Even you almost died?" Amamiya Lian finally showed a look of surprise.

"Ah, if no one hadn't rescued him, he would have been really dead." Oshino Yao felt a little nervous.

He continued, "In the shrine of the resort, there is a 'demon sword' called Cong Yu. It is inserted into the stone of the shrine. Anything that approaches will be killed instantly."

Oshino Yao is lying.

This was the first judgment Amamiya Ren made in an instant.

17-year-old Ace: 142. Cong Yu Chapter

"In the shrine of that resort, there is a 'demon sword' called Cong Yu. It is inserted into the stone of the shrine. Anything that approaches will be killed instantly." said the ghost story expert.

Shinobu Yoshi was lying. This was the first thing Amamiya Ren concluded.

But he did not expose the other party, but just asked questions according to his words, "Since someone rescued you, he should have entered Suizhi with you."

"Well...indeed," Shinobu said without hesitation, "I'll take you to meet him. I think you two will have a lot in common."

"What do you mean?"

"That guy and I actually knew each other a few years ago. He should be in the same system as you are now."

"......" Amemiya Ren looked at Shiomi Kotone, who gave her an innocent look in return.

"His name is Narukami Yu, have you heard of him?" Oshino Yao flicked the inverted cross pendant on his chest and waved to stop a taxi on the side of the road.

I have actually heard this name. Amamiya Ren sat in the back seat and asked, "How did you two meet?"

"Oh, a few years ago, there was a 'TV murder story' incident in this place. Because the reactions were quite strange, Woyan and I came here together. But after a field investigation, we found that it had nothing to do with the story. Instead, it was some... spooky stuff. Well, it was quite dangerous and only selected people could participate. Woyan and I did not randomly influence them. We just helped protect a few poor guys at the critical moment."

The taxi started off. The driver was a man with neat orange-red short hair and trendy headphones. He opened the rearview mirror and said, "Mr. Oshino, it's been a long time."

"Oh, what a coincidence. Hanamura, I haven't seen you for a few years. How come you switched to driving a taxi?" Shinobuo Yao patted the back of the chair. "I've been here for a few months and haven't seen you."

"I've been opening a branch for a shopping mall in the next town this year. A while ago, a work colleague's father was a taxi driver and was hospitalized due to gastric ulcer, so he asked me to help take care of his car. I had nothing to do these few days, so I drove the car back and made some money."

"Ah!" Shiomi Kotone grabbed Amamiya Ren's sleeve, her expression excited, "This is a joint product between Sony and Spider-Man..."

"You know what you're talking about!" Hanamura became interested when he heard someone talking about his headphones. "This is the most low-key model in the joint series. Few people can recognize it."

"This model doesn't actually have any of the characteristics of Spider-Man at first glance, but it was still included in the series because it has a genuine 'disguise' function. It's a pity that it was out of print two years ago." Shiomi Kotone talked freely.

"Bingo~" The driver held the steering wheel with one hand and fumbled around the earphone frame with the other hand, "Watch carefully."

He pressed a switch as if to show off, and the entire headset burst into cool red and blue light, interweaving into Spider-Man's battle suit on the black LCD panel.

"Handsome!" Xijian Qinyin did not hide her envy at all.

"It's a pity that this thing is out of print, otherwise I could give you one," Hanamura said with emotion, "I didn't expect that in this era, there are still people who can recognize it. The appearance of this headset is quite popular at first glance. How did you do it?"

Shiomi Kotone took her headphones off her neck and said, "I wanted to buy it a while ago, but unfortunately I couldn't find a source of supply. In the end, I only bought the one that was in continuous supply because it was so popular. It's so expensive."

Her wireless headphones do have a distinct spiderweb appearance, but they are clearly made from the same mold as Hanamura's headphones.

"Just knowing about this series that has been out of print for several years is already amazing." Hanamura gave her a thumbs up, "Speaking of which, you guys are going to look for Narukami, right?"

Shinobu realized through some unknown means that Shiomi Kotone was also an extraordinary person, so he moved away from her and said, "Of course, do you want to go and meet him together?"

"Ha, that's not necessary. There are many opportunities to meet each other," Hanamura sighed. "My elders at home still need me to do things. I heard that a high school in Tokyo organized a study tour here, staying at a resort on the edge of the city. Various cooperation matters of the mall are also being put there. I'm very busy recently."

Amamiya Ren followed Shiomi Kotone and exchanged glances with Oshino Shinobu, "Then we won't bother Mr. Hanamura."

"I forgot to ask, you are..."

It is rare to see people wearing school uniforms on study tours, so Hanamura could hardly associate Amamiya Ren and Shiomi Kotone as students from Tokyo.

"You can be considered as my friend's disciple." Oshino Yao casually gave Amamiya Ren an identity.

"So he is Miss Woyan's disciple," Huacun said while driving, suddenly feeling nostalgic.

At this point, Amamiya Ren and Oshino Yao were both silent.

Only Shiomi Kotone did not know Woyan Izuko, and asked Amamiya Ren with curiosity, "Who is Woyan?"

The taxi stopped in front of a small tofu shop and Hanamura quickly drove away.

The shop is designed as a single-family house with three floors. The first floor is used as a store, with a simple kitchen for food processing, a cash register and a refrigerator for displaying food.

The second floor may be used for storage.

Oshino Yao took out a bunch of spare keys, opened the rolling door, and went upstairs with Amamiya Ren and Shiomi Kotone.

The third floor is obviously the living area, probably designed for couples to live in for a long time. It has only one bedroom, but two living rooms.

As soon as you walk in up the stairs, you can smell a strong smell of coal smoke.

A man with his upper body wrapped in bandages was tinkering with an old gas stove.

"Narukami, is the stove broken?"

"I haven't used it for a few months. It must be broken." Narukami Yu sighed, then took off the coat hanging on the chair beside him, lifted the sleeves, zipped it all the way down, and picked up a samurai sword from the wall, "Okay, next we still have to discuss Hoori..."

He saw Amamiya Ren.

Amamiya Ren also saw Narukami Yuu.

This was a sense of déjà vu and familiarity that was even stronger than when she first met Shiomi Kotone.

Narukami Yuu's eyes fell on Shiomi Kotone, and then his pupils shrank, "This is really strange, who are you guys..."

"Objectively speaking, I have to call you Senior, and you have to call her Senior," Amamiya Ren looked at the ceiling, "Although it's hard to believe, she is indeed ranked before us."

Narukami Yuu's tone became difficult, and his face was filled with shock. He looked at Shiomi Kotone, "Aren't you supposed to be on the moon?"

"Then..." He looked at Amamiya Ren and for the first time felt that his brain was not enough.

It was really weird, Ming Shangyou thought, seeing two dead people on the same day.

17-year-old Ace: 143. Cong Yu Chapter

Two red squirrels were chasing a fallen hazelnut. The cold wind of early winter blew, and the dry branches and fallen leaves all over the mountain were whimpering. The plaque with "Kenshi Shrine" was staring at them silently.

World-weary

This is located in the heart of the "Hoori Resort", between the mountains and forests.

There are no shrine maidens or priests in the shrine, only a gray-white statue kneeling in front of the worship hall, holding a slender sacred sword in its arms.

The statue's expression is probably desperate and sad, with the corners of its mouth raised, it seems to be smiling, but the smile depicts completely opposite emotions.

Looking more closely, it was a delicate boy, about thirteen years old, wearing a school uniform, with empty eye sockets, as if his eyeballs had been taken away. The five fingers of his right hand were broken at the root, and there was no palm on his left hand. His knees were strangely bent. It didn't look like he was kneeling, but rather that his ankles and knees were pierced by sharp objects.

Last night, Oshino Yao came here and stood in front of the sculpture in silence for a long time.

Until a dazzling white light whistled over, it was the divine sword in the boy's arms, which was about to kill the uninvited guest. All the ghost stories were silent at this moment, they were afraid and timid.

If it weren't for Yu Narukami arriving in time and using the power called "Personality Mask", he would have rescued Oshino Yao before the blade fell.

But the knife was still too fast, and it slashed dozens of times in an instant.

To summon a personality mask directly in the real world would consume a lot of mental and physical energy. Narukami Yuu couldn't avoid it completely. Even though he hurriedly left the shrine, he still suffered serious injuries. Fortunately, the injuries were only to the skin. This also led to the two of them being tied up in the forest where the evil spirit walked.

If a girl who called herself "Mary" hadn't "happened" to pass by, I'm afraid both Oshino Yao and Narukami Yuu would have to die here...

Ming Shangyou looked at Amamiya Ren in front of him. The scars on her body that had been treated by Mary began to ache again. This was a special request from Shinobu Yao, who said that he wanted to leave some scars, as they would be of great use tomorrow.

Originally, Ming Shangyou didn't understand why, but now he knows.

Used to gain misery.