Niigata.
The sun has already set completely, and night has fallen over the countryside.
At this time, the spirit-killing team sent by the Kamiya family was walking through the mountain trails.
The scout's outer body led the way, followed closely by Kanoya and Tsurumi.
Earlier, because the atmosphere of ghost stories in Sasagami Elementary School became stronger, Xiaolu keenly discerned that there was not only one kind in the school. Combined with Tsurumi's discovery in Sugiyama Shunchi's paintings——
The young disciples have been able to confirm that Kamamitachi is not the only kind of ghost story in Sasagami Elementary School.
There is also an unidentified beast that has also been active there to a certain extent.
Later, the little old man also made further discoveries.
Combined with the increasingly strong smell of ghost stories in Sasagami Elementary School, he sensed the existence of a shrine.
That is where he is taking the eldest ladies in his family to, the Red Maple Valley in Kitagahara County.
In autumn, Red Maple Valley is a good place to enjoy maple trees, but now it is spring, and the maple leaves have just sprouted new leaves.
After officially entering the uninhabited depths of Red Maple Valley, one can clearly feel the familiar aura of Kaidan here, but it is slightly different from the one at Sasagami Elementary School, probably because there is no aura belonging to Kamaitachi here.
After spending some more time, Xiaolu and Tsurumi, led by the little old man, found the source of this smell on a hillside filled with rotten leaves.
It was a wild shrine in the mountains, only the size of a shrine, and it was deserted and dilapidated.
You can vaguely see the wooden plaque directly above the shrine saying——
[Don’t blow the hall]
"Buchuitang, this one seems to be dedicated to the God of Wind, right?"
As Kamiyagawa's eldest disciple, Kanoya also directly and indirectly acquired a lot of strange stories and folklore knowledge under his master's guidance.
She had a vague impression of Wu Chuitang.
"It is the belief of Kazamasaburō God. In some places, it is directly called Kazaburo. It exists in Kumamoto, Fukushima, and Niigata. It should be in Kumamoto at the beginning."
Tsurumi herself is the eldest lady in an orthodox temple, and she has been exposed to more relevant knowledge since she was a child than her senior sister.
She can provide supplementary information on Wu Chuitang's situation.
"Oh, so it's not surprising that this kind of shrine appears here?" Xiaolu said, and she could smell the scent of the beast Kaidan more clearly, "It's really hard to find. This time we are just confirming the identity of Kaidan.
It took a lot of time to do just one thing.”
"Whew."
Hearing what Miss Kanoya said, the little old man pushed the deep bamboo hat on his head, looking a little ashamed.
It really took too much time.
He, as a scout, cannot absolve himself of the blame for this, and should reflect on it.
I was obviously used to seeing strong winds and waves with my master, but I almost capsized in a small ditch here in Niigata.
"Ah! Little grandpa, no, no!" Seeing this, Kanoya waved his hands hurriedly to appease the elders, "Without you, little grandpa, we wouldn't even be able to find Fuuzaburo's shrine now. This is the only one to blame.
This monster... is so cunning. Yes, that's right!"
Of course Xiaolu would not think that the little old man was in trouble.
Both Fuuzaburo and Kamaitachi are monsters related to the wind, and they all seem to be good at using the wind to hide themselves.
Especially Fuuzaburo.
Is there any specialization in the art industry?
If anything, the little old man is not even an Aragami now, but relying on his expertise in danger perception, he is very capable of doing the scouting work required by Kamiya River.
Judging from the current situation, Feng Saburo obviously also has special skills, focusing on breath processing and concealment.
During the conversation, Tsurumi Aoi leaned down in front of the Mofuki Hall and could see a stone statue enshrined in the shrine.
It must be Fuzaburo.
The carving is not very fine, and is even a bit rough. Moreover, the stone statue itself has been eroded by wind and rain for a long time, and its outline has long become blurred.
But it can still be seen that this is a civet cat.
Kanoya: "Is Fuuzaburo's true form a raccoon dog?"
No wonder you smell the scent of beasts and monsters.
"I don't know much about this." Tsurumi shook his head slightly, "In my impression, there are no detailed descriptions of Fuuzaburo's appearance in the records related to Fuuzaburo. It may also be that different places have different understandings of Fuuzaburo's prototype.
It’s different from the beginning. But this time we must have met a civet cat, that’s right, the nursery rhyme ‘Where Are You’ also features a civet cat.”
"Abba, Abba, whine."
The little old man began to participate in the conversation between the two eldest ladies, and reported on the new discoveries he had made at the side of Wu Chui Hall.
After spending some time, Xiaolu roughly understood what he meant: "Little Grandpa told us that Feng Saburo should have the strength of an Aragami and be difficult to deal with. Moreover, it is not a foreign visit, but a state of spiritual descent, and is moving towards the alien.
It seems that the visit to the world will soon come to this world. And the basis for Feng Saburo's spiritual descending is that nursery rhyme."
"There was a tanuki on Mount Senba in Kumamoto. The hunter killed it with a gun. He cooked it, roasted it, ate it, and covered it with leaves." Tsurumi recalled the relevant lyrics of the nursery rhyme, "Fuuzaburo would rely on the previous one.
It’s a children’s song, maybe it’s related to the lyrics of the song itself.”
"Xiao Kui, are you saying that Feng Saburo is the civet cat that was killed and eaten by hunters?"
"Not necessarily. I think the symbolic meaning is greater than the reality, but Fuzaburo should be a monster with hatred and resentment towards humans, just like the tanuki in the lyrics that is constantly being hunted, so he can rely on his incorporeal nature.
Go into the song."
Regarding the nursery rhyme "Where Are You", Xiaolu and Tsurumi have actually already studied it.
This was originally a Temari song.
This is the song that children sing when they shoot a ball.
The child playing the game represents the hunter in the lyrics, and the ball represents the civet cat. The banging sound of the ball probably symbolizes the gunfire during the chase.
Then, the game evolved into jumping in a square grid. Two children jumped opposite each other in the grid, still creating the effect of one party chasing and the other avoiding bullets.
If two children playing the game collide during the game, it means that the civet cat will hit the hunter's gun; otherwise, it means that the civet cat will escape.
This cycle starts over and over again, in short, it is a game that means the hunter is constantly chasing the prey.
And in such an endless pursuit and hunting, the "civet cat" obviously hates the "hunter", right?
Kanoya: "Then, according to what you discovered in the paintings painted by Toshinichi Sugiyama, Aoi. The target of Kamatachi of Sasagami Elementary School is not the children in the school, but Fuuzaburo. They should be trying to stop Fuuzaburo.
Foreign visits enter the present world."
"It's just that Kamitachi was later attacked by the spirit exterminators and escaped injured. Without Kamitachi's presence, Fuuzaburo's activities at Sasagami Elementary School became more comfortable, and he abducted two children this morning.
"
Tsurumi: "Hmm. So, the initial intimidation behavior of Kamamaitachi was actually to protect those children."
According to the latest information obtained by the little old man, Fuuzaburo should have the strength of an Aragami.
As expected, the yokai who own the shrine should not be underestimated.
The Yahiko Shrine said that the Kamaitachi they fought against was assessed to belong to a C-level youkai group.
The C-class monster dared to prevent the arrival of the Aragami. It was really contrary to Tiangang.
However, after spending a day in Niigata today, Xiaolu learned such a piece of folk information from the locals. There used to be such a custom in the local area——
Niigata is a coastal area and is prone to typhoon disasters from time to time.
When a bad wind comes, people will raise their grass-cutting sickle blades high in the direction of the wind, clap their hands, and shout "ho-ho-ho-" loudly.
People in the old days believed that the blade of the sickle could injure the wind god, thus weakening the wind.
In the Kamamaita group, there is usually a second-in-command who holds a scythe.
Therefore, there may be this reason why Kamamaitachi dared to stop Fuuzaburo.
Kanoya: "But where did Fuuzaburo take those two children? There doesn't seem to be any at Mofukido. Maybe Fuuzaburo tried his best to hide the children's aura, so we haven't discovered it yet.
"
Where are the two missing children?
To be continued...