Tokyo Fall Guys beats up the supernatural

Page 98

“I see…” Ejima Izai raised his head slightly, as if recalling something. If he had flesh and blood, his expression would be one of confusion.

“I saw myself walking through the unfinished campus, and I felt so miserable, like… like I knew I was going to die.”

He waved his hands slightly, as if embracing the entire campus in his arms, as if offering his poignant love, or perhaps some emotion that Dou Tang couldn't fathom.

“But I accepted it gladly. I seemed to be looking at where I would be buried after I died, and even... I was even proud.”

"Proud of my death, yet miserable at the thought of dying—a complex and contradictory emotion."

Ejima Izai lowered his head deeply: "Ah, that's about it, but I still don't know what happened to me in the past."

Dou Tang pondered for a moment and said, "So, you might have died willingly, or even willingly been dismembered like this?"

He shook his head in disbelief: "This is outrageous. I... I've seen people who volunteered to die before, but those people..."

Ejima Iya seemed interested and asked eagerly, "Kiryu-kun, have you seen them before? What were they like?"

Dou Tang remained silent for a long time, taking a few deep breaths as if recalling those events was painful for him. He then shook his head and said, "I don't know how to describe it, Professor Jiangdao."

"Sorry, I don't know."

Ejima Izai was stunned for a moment before scratching his head: "Haha... Yeah, you're right. People like that must be really stupid. Kiryu-kun, it's okay to say it out loud. I won't be hurt."

Dou Tang suddenly raised his head: "No, Professor Jiangdao, those people are definitely not stupid."

"I'm not stupid, I'm not stupid."

………………

After bidding farewell to Jiangdao Medical School, Doutang once again immersed himself in campus life.

For the time being, he doesn't plan to tell Ejima Izai about the two vengeful spirits, nor does he want them to meet. After all, Ejima Izai's memory is incomplete now, and he won't recognize the two infatuated lovers. In the end, it will only cause more harm to the two vengeful spirits.

At the same time, Dou Tang also understood one thing.

Ejima Izai's memories may be stored inside those bones.

If memory is related to the brain when a person is alive, then after becoming a soul, memory seems to be linked to the soul itself.

If we think about it that way, does that mean Ejima Izai's soul was divided into countless pieces?

What kind of person could do something so cruel? And... why would Ejima Iya willingly allow himself to be tortured like this?

Even though he was on campus at noon, Dou Tang suddenly felt as if he were shrouded in mist, as if the place where he was studying was filled with a painful past that he still couldn't understand.

He shook his head.

Giving the bones that the family had collected to Ejima Izai might yield more clues.

Chapter 54 Morning Star Group

That night, Dou Tang left Huai Yin alone at home, got on his motorcycle, and headed to the address Xing Yiren had contacted him about before, which was the territory of the Morning Star Group.

Thanks to Lu Zizhen, Dou Tang got a real motorcycle license and no longer had to worry about being stopped by patrolling police officers. In addition, with his mature appearance and tall stature, no one would believe that he was still a minor when he wore civilian clothes.

Tonight is different from that night when they chased the biker gang. That night, Dou Tang was extremely arrogant, like a domineering bully, but tonight he seemed to have vanished with the wind, moving forward in a low-key manner.

From the elevated highway, the streets of Shibuya could be seen in the distance. Upon closer inspection, Tou Tang spotted an inconspicuous office building in South Shibuya. The building had a bright red fire escape staircase completely encased in transparent glass, which added a distinctive feature to it.

Once he identified his target, he immediately drove in that direction.

When he got downstairs, he saw the somewhat envious looks from passersby as they gazed at his motorcycle, and parked it next to a police booth.

It seems that the motorcycle Lu Zizhen gave him is something special? But Dou Tang doesn't know much about cars and forgets about it.

To be honest, the Morning Star Group is really bold, with its office located in a busy downtown area, not to mention there's a police booth right downstairs.

Dou Tang arrived at the entrance. There were two elevators directly opposite the entrance in the lobby of the office building, and in front of the elevators was a reception desk, where two women in work clothes were sitting.

Dou Tang walked over and said, "I made an appointment with Xing Yiren, and my surname is Tong Sheng."

"Good evening, Mr. Kiryu."

Without saying a word, the two women stood up, bowed slightly, and one of them presented the elevator card with both hands.

Clearly, Xingyi had given special instructions, and these people treated Dou Tang with unusual respect, staring at him with a somewhat mocking yet still polite gaze.

There might even be some longing?

Dou Tang scratched his face, took the elevator card, and said thank you. His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, but calm and composed.

This attitude surprised the two receptionists. They had thought that Dou Tang was just a delinquent who was good at fighting and therefore was favored by Xingyi, but now it seemed that Dou Tang was used to being treated so respectfully by others.

Dou Tang ignored their little schemes and went straight to the elevator to swipe his card and go to the top floor.

Upon reaching the thirteenth floor, you are greeted by a dazzling golden corridor.

Slightly narrowing his eyes, Dou Tang slowly stepped out of the elevator. The corridor was extremely luxuriously decorated, with many glass display cases on both sides, containing some exquisite collectibles. These were not antiques, but modern products, yet the materials used were extremely luxurious.

"Are you crazy? A pure gold Guan Gong statue?" Dou Tang looked around strangely, then strode forward to the double doors with gold thread and red background at the end.

To everyone's surprise, this door, which looked to weigh at least several hundred kilograms, was actually an automatic door. However, it opened extremely slowly. Dou Tang stood at the door for a few seconds, and it only opened a crack inward.

Through the crack, one could see a luxurious desk inside, and a suited man named Yoshito with a sword at his waist, his back to the door. He faced the bustling Tokyo night scene, his hands behind his back, exuding a boss-like aura.

His clothes fluttered, his back looked weathered and heavy, and wisps of white smoke from his cigar rose from between his fingers.

Dou Tang thought for a moment, then pursed his lips helplessly and stretched out his hand.

"Squeak—quack quack—"

Xingyi turned around in horror, his previous boss-like demeanor vanishing instantly.

Dou Tang's legs were firmly planted on the ground like a tree, and he pushed forward with both hands, forcibly opening the door in front of him, but there was no sign of effort on his face.

Pushing open a space just wide enough for one person, the door seemed to have been damaged by Dou Tang's violent breach; it remained motionless, only creaking and groaning from the inside.

Before Xing Yiren could speak, Dou Tang said, "Mr. Xing Yiren, haven't you thought about what would happen if there was a fire in the office? If such a heavy door breaks, how will you get out?"

Xingyi blinked blankly, then realized what was happening and pointed to one side of the room: "...Take the fire escape."

Dou Tang looked around and sure enough, there was a door at the other end of the office with a sign that said "fire exit."

At that moment, the fire door was open, letting in a gust of cold air—the same wind that had previously blown Xingyi's clothes up.

Then why are you closing the door?!

This puzzled Dou Tang even more: "Then what's the point of having this gate? To keep out enemies? Can't enemies just use the fire escape?"

Xingyi took a drag of his cigarette and whispered, "This is...this is a matter of face, kid. You wouldn't understand face."

"I've never seen anyone renovate a vault door and then use it as an office door. What kind of face is that? Is that the dignity of a security door manufacturer? Isn't the Morning Star Group's main business pimping?"

Xingyi sighed, his hand holding a cigarette pressed against his forehead: "I prefer to call it customs... Kid, can't you speak more politely?"

Dou Tang walked into the office and said, "It doesn't matter. I came here just to tell you one thing."

“I know you have a bounty on your head in the underworld, 200 million yen. I’ll help you take care of the thing that killed your team member.”

"Things?" Xingyi asked in confusion. "Kid, although I have high hopes for you, but... where do you get your confidence? Just based on your inexplicably strong fighting power?"

He placed the cigar on the gold ashtray and said seriously, "I understand your arrogance and pride, but this is something you can't control."

Dou Tang, without any hesitation, walked to the desk, plopped down in the guest chair, and said, "Of course I understand. You feel like you're facing a vengeful spirit, right?"

He leaned forward: "You felt that you were facing an unknown being, a ghost, an insurmountable and bizarre being. You even asked me if I believed it."

"Now I can tell you part of the truth about me. Aren't you curious about my identity?"

He raised his hand slightly.

"Gluck cluck-"

Suddenly, the curtains behind Hoshino moved on their own, the heavy fabric curtains completely shutting out the dazzling lights of Tokyo.

Dou Tang pointed to the open emergency exit door again, and the door slowly closed, finally making a muffled bang.

At the same time, a bright blue light ignited in his eyes, a light that made Xingyi feel a long-lost sense of oppression and fear, and he even dared not look him in the eye.

After doing all this, Dou Tang spread his hands and said, "You see, I think these abnormal things are enough to prove that I... am qualified to get involved in this matter. What do you think?"

Dou Tang didn't want him to know just how strong he was; a little demonstration should be enough.

Xingyi's eyes were filled with doubt and uncertainty. He kept his hand on the hilt of the knife for a while before slowly letting go.

"You...so what exactly are you? An Onmyoji? A sorcerer? A Taoist priest? Or some kind of...mystical being related to mysterious phenomena?"

"Interpret it however you like, but from now on, you won't see me as an ordinary delinquent."

High school student.

"Now let's talk about how to deal with that evil spirit, and why you were targeted by it in the first place."

Dou Tang sat there with his fingers interlaced, looking at Xing Yiren in front of him as if he were the master of the office.

Hoshino gripped the scabbard tightly with one hand, his face somewhat grim, but he still nodded.

Chapter 55 Intelligence and Trade

Being a yakuza member these days isn't easy.

Although there are still no explicit legal provisions in Japan prohibiting joining the yakuza, and no measures to ban yakuza organizations themselves, the implementation of policies against violent gangs has made life increasingly difficult for yakuza members, making it hard for them to continue their seriously illegal livelihoods.

To put it jokingly, the biggest source of income for many yakuza organizations is not their various illegal businesses, but rather their self-operated online celebrity shops.

Hire a few people, do a simple modern-style renovation of the shop, and then spend money to promote it on social media. Creating a trendy shop is quick and easy. In a city like Tokyo where consumerism is deeply ingrained, making money is a piece of cake.

Fighting and killing are no longer suitable for this era. For today's yakuza organizations, using brains is the right way. As for the violent methods of the past, they were just ways to prevent others from using their brains.

Besides those trendy online stores, there is another business that is very suitable for yakuza members that has not been eliminated by the times, or rather, it will never be eliminated.

The sex industry.

Lust is desire, and desire is the primary driving force of humankind!

Ah, maybe laziness counts too.

In short, no matter what, Tokyo's sex industry has become a huge cake that all the yakuza groups are scrambling to get a piece of.

The Morning Star Group also started out in the sex industry.

Hoshigito has a mistress, the so-called "young mistress" of the Morning Star Group. This woman is deeply rooted in the heart of Minami-Shibuya, where she co-founded the Morning Star Group with Hoshigito and has been involved with them ever since.

About three years ago, the Morning Star Group made a big move. The female leader was disfigured in the process, and Hoshigi was also left with scars all over his body. But the result was that the Morning Star Group completely established itself in Minami-Shibuya.

A year ago, Hoshigito swallowed up another yakuza organization in Minamishibuya called the Momoan Group, completely taking over most of the sex industry in Minamishibuya.

All those who died in the previous paranormal attacks were former members of the Peach Hermitage who had defected from the group.

Dou Tang flipped through the documents in front of him, while Xing Yiren sat opposite him, his fingers tracing the scars on his face, as if recalling the events of the past.

Dou Tang looked up at him and said, "So... I have something I'm not sure if I should say."

Xingyi nodded: "Please ask."

"After she was disfigured, you wouldn't just abandon her after starting something, would you?"

Xingyi burst out laughing: "So you weren't asking for information after all!"

But then he snorted and said, "How could that be... I'm not that kind of person."

Dou Tang nodded, then asked, "So, you suspect that the supernatural event is related to what the Tao'an Group did in the past?"

"That's right. At the same time, I also used some connections within the system to find out the patterns and routes that guy had taken before, and put them on the last page of the document."

Dou Tang flipped through the documents in his hand, turning to the last page, where there were some photos of the deceased and a map.

The map shows Tokyo, with several dots marked in red and the numbers one, two, three, and four written on it, indicating that these are the locations where the damp evil spirits have appeared.

Dou Tang memorized the locations according to the street names. Since the evil spirit appeared, it had attacked six times, killing a different number of people each time, but without exception, all of them were members of the Tao'an Group.

Without a doubt, this is revenge.

Dou Tang noticed that only one person was killed on two separate occasions, and seemed to realize that something was wrong.

"I have a question. During those two times when only one person was killed, were there any other members of the Tao'an Clan gathered in other places?"

“I understand what you mean. You want to ask why that guy only killed one person in those two attacks instead of attacking more people, right? Because those two days were when we were having a meeting. The two people who died were killed while they were on duty in other places.”

"Targeting areas with fewer people?" Dou Tang pondered. "It seems there's some wisdom in that, hmm..."

He threw the documents back on the table: "Then let's start by questioning your subordinates. What heinous things did they do back then? In particular, did they commit any murders or water-related crimes? I think it would be better to question them from your perspective."

Hoshino nodded, but then asked, "Why bring anything related to water? Although the places where the crimes were committed were always damp, that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the methods used to kill them. What about those extremely fine, needle-like wounds?"

“That’s probably hair,” Dou Tang sighed. “Evil spirits usually harm people through very superstitious means. That is to say, if they believe that a certain method of theirs can hurt people, then they will have some similar abilities. But if we want to investigate the cause of death or past of these guys, we have to start with the abnormal phenomena they bring.”

"For example, like Sadako... You should know the story of Sadako, right?"