It had just fallen into the night, and the bamboo forest shrouded in dusk was quiet and remote.
The gurgling stream meanders somewhere deep in the forest. Under the dim and dancing shadows of the trees, something is peering into the human world. The chirping of insects and the cries of certain creatures form the main theme of the forest. But sometimes, there is silence.
And it holds all things together.
Lu Tan looked at the night sky. Under the light mist, there were almost no constellations in the system, only a few stars shining stubbornly.
The moon was hidden deeper in the clouds, and Lu Jian couldn't even tell whether the monthly tickets in this world were round.
A festival is being held on the island. The street is full of lanterns. There are various vendors on the street. Some are selling apple candies, some are fishing for goldfish, and some are selling masks. The sound of mysterious music echoes in the street, but there are no performers.
people.
Lu Kan walked through it and passed by many men and women in kimono. Their happiness was all theirs, and he had nothing.
However, Lu Jian noticed that these people, except for those indulgent and joyful artists, looked like local children, girls, and old people. There was a kind of indifference in their eyes, as if the performance was to suit the atmosphere, and poor acting skills could not make up for the essence.
of indifference.
When he came to the end of the street, a path extended toward the bamboo forest. It could be seen that this was the road up the mountain.
Wajima Shrine seems to be closed to the public at night, and no one goes up or down the mountain.
Lu Jian saw that at the foot of the mountain, under the red torii gate, red leaves were standing there.
She still wore a kimono with arrow feather patterns, a long blue skirt, and long boots, but she had a fox mask hanging next to her head, adding a bit of innocence.
"The bamboo forest at night is very dangerous, especially now."
Seeing Lu Jian, Hongye did not exchange greetings. She just turned around and walked up the mountain. She was holding a lantern in her hand, and the dim yellow light illuminated the road, which was disturbing.
The road up the mountain is a bit bumpy, and the bamboo forest next to it is sparse and quiet.
"Strange, why is there no sound in the bamboo forest?"
It's midsummer on the island now, but there is no sound at all in the woods, the streets of the festival have faded away, and the whole world has fallen into silence.
"Don't be caught in the shadows, walk in the light of the lantern."
Hong Ye reminded me to raise the lantern slightly.
Lu Jian saw that the bamboos seemed to have become denser.
This reminded him of the grasslands outside the abandoned capital, those plants and trees that were alive and growing wildly.
I can't help but feel a little intimate.
When the two of them reached the mountainside, they saw a series of torii gates.
This kind of building, which is said to be the gate connecting the two worlds, is dotted all over the road up the mountain, forming tunnels and making the road darker.
Walking into the torii gate, Lu Jian seemed to hear something coming from behind him.
He looked back, and in the dark shadow, he seemed to see the red skirt and white socks flashing on the clogs.
"That's..."
Lu Tan couldn't help but stop, and the red leaf lights in front of him moved slightly away from him.
Something seemed to pull his trouser leg, and Lu Tiao lowered his head.
A pale hand retracted into the shadows.
He felt the darkness around him grow deeper.
There was music in my ears.
Shamisen, shakuhachi, and Wajima style sad music are mixed with murmurs like chanting sutras.
"...Praying to God, in this life, my body is sad and my dreams are gone..."
It was like a whisper in his ear. Lu Tiao felt his scalp numb. The moment the whisper disappeared, he quickly turned his head.
But there was only darkness around.
In Lu Jian's field of vision, only the road under his feet and the torii gates on the road were left. What he could see was only the distance within reach, and beyond that, there was silence and darkness.
"Red leaves?"
Lu Tiao tried to call out, but even the sound was blended into the darkness and there was no response.
He looked around and could only roughly see the direction up the mountain.
There was nothing beyond the darkness that shrouded the road.
"Anyway, he shouldn't be dead yet?"
Lu Jian climbed up, and the torii came toward and away from the view. These dilapidated buildings seemed to be stained with dirt. Lu Jian didn't know what it was and how it splashed the dirt.
In the endless darkness and silence, Lu Tiao walked for about three hundred heartbeats, only to find that he was still between the torii gates.
"Is it another ghost attacking the wall?"
Lu Tan thought, squatted down, picked up a stone and made a five-pointed star mark on the torii gate, and then continued forward.
Every step he took, when the darkness lit up as he got closer, Lu Jian tensed his nerves, worried that something strange might come out of the shadows.
Just like walking at night when I was a child, it was pitch dark outside the lights, and I was careful every step I took, for fear that something hideous and terrifying would suddenly appear on the road.
He was originally going to continue walking for three hundred heartbeats, but when he counted to two hundred and thirty-three, Lu Tiao stopped.
On the torii gate nearby, he saw the five-pointed star mark he had just left.
And, under the five-pointed star mark, there is another mark.
It was a symbol that seemed to be drawn casually, but was full of strange meaning.
"...There is someone else on this road, and he has discovered my mark. Is it a red leaf? Or is there something else..."
Lu Tan thought, he thought for a moment and decided to go down.
Just as he turned back and stepped forward, as the vision in front of him lit up, Lu Jian saw a person standing next to the torii gate in front of him.
The person was wearing a red and white miko uniform, her clothes were spotless, her black hair fell softly down her head, and her face was pale, which reminded Lu Tiao of the Jorokuli doll he had seen hanging in the sky during the day.
She stared at Lu Jian, as if there was resentment in her eyes.
"Did you get me here?"
Lu Tan stopped and asked.
The other party didn't say a word, but slowly took two steps back and disappeared into the darkness.
Lu Tran did not leave this road full of torii gates rashly. Although it seemed that he could only cycle here, going out was obviously not a good choice.
He continued walking down for more than a hundred heartbeats.
Then I saw that there seemed to be another mark on the torii gate nearby.
That was Lu Jian's own five-pointed star.
However, Lu Jian originally marked the position of the five-pointed star, which should be facing the road down the mountain, but now, the five-pointed star is actually facing the road up the mountain.
"Did the torii gate change, or are these all hallucinations?"
Lu Tiao took a step and looked at the back of the torii gate.
On the mottled and peeling red paint surface, there are shocking scratches. Those scratches are not sharp claws, but are made by human hands scratching over and over again. Under the peeling red paint surface, there is an even richer color of blood!
It is conceivable that there may be a shrine maiden lost on this road. She experienced this repeated reincarnation over and over again, and finally her rationality collapsed and she went completely crazy. She scratched these torii gates with her fingers, and finally left the road and never returned.
Go here.
The darkness around him became thicker, and the midsummer night temperature made Lu Tiao sweat all over his body. The sweat soaked his clothes and stuck them to his skin, which was unpleasant.
Lu Tan suppressed his divergent thoughts and took a few steps forward.
Suddenly, there was a strange feeling under my feet, as if I had stepped on something hard and protruding. It was definitely not a stone, but something with a curved texture and a crunchy texture.
Lu Tiao looked down.
There is a mask there.
*
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