Chapter 28
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The voice in the bedroom continued, the voice of a lively woman who seemed to be flirting with a certain man.
“What can’t be done, how can that old woman compare to you? She’s unkempt at home all day, and she doesn’t know how to dress up. She only knows how to do laundry and cook, asking me for money like a blood-sucking worm…” The familiar voice belonging to a man complained about his wife.
Ye Zun froze for a moment, then reacted.
——This, isn’t this the voice of Shen Yuan’s father?!
According to the timeline when going by the length of his hair, it currently was last weekend, when they were all still alive. So this was before his death, when Shen Yuan’s father and the neighbouring hostess had an improper extramarital relationship?
He stood at the door of the bedroom and looked in carefully. There was no one in the room. There was still only the empty body of the woman who was hanging there, gently swaying from the wind.
But the voices of the two people remained.
The voices flirted for a while, and suddenly, there was the sound of something being hit at the door.
Then there was the sound of the bedroom door opening, the sound of the man eagerly putting on his shoes, and the sound of whispered scolding.
“Yo, your wife found us out ah. Honestly, do you really not lock the door when you come in? Her voice was so loud.” The woman’s voice was not panicked and coquettish.
“If she found out then she found out. The whole family lives on my money. What can she do? Divorce me?” After the man felt annoyed, he quickly became fearless and smug.
“Ze ze ze*, that’s why they say we housewives are miserable. As a woman, even I feel sorry for her.”
[T/N: clicking tongue]
The man’s smooth voice said, “How are you the same as her? You are in bed with so many people, but doesn’t your husband not dare to say a word?”
“I also don’t care about him messing around outside ah. If you don’t care about Missus Nogawa…who knows, maybe she might also be happy to dress up pretty and get a little boyfriend.”
“Pft, someone like her?”
The woman thinly smiled. “Who knows oh. This morning, I also saw that she and that en, you know, that rich looking man who just moved in, were standing very close to each other and talking for a long time. The other man also praised Missus Nogawa for being gentle and considerate, saying that he envied you, and how he wanted to have such a virtuous and gentle wife like her.”
The man let out a sound of extreme jealousy and annoyance, huffing and puffing, like an angry bull that lost its mind. “Shameless! Humiliating people outside, Laozi will kill her!”
“Ze, calm down a little ah, maybe I saw wrong and it was just a normal chat on the road… Heh, that’s why they say men have double standards.”
There was a loud noise from the door, as if someone was extremely angry and rushed out of the door.
——I get it now, the house host who cheated with the female neighbour for a long time was discovered by the hostess last weekend, and then with the brief joke from the female neighbour, the man believed that the hostess had an affair with others and was unfaithful to him, so he returned home in a rage.
Ye Zun remembered what happened on Monday night, when the woman knocked and came into the bedroom, whispering to him that the dead father had come back. At that time, there were bruises on her face from being beaten.
He immediately walked towards the door and left. In his ears, he could already hear the voice of the man shouting in anger and sounds of violence not far away. On the other hand, the woman’s voice was indistinct.
He fastened his speed and ran towards Nogawa Kaoru’s house, yanking open the door that he deliberately left unlocked when he came out.
The sound of one-sided arguing and beating came to an abrupt end. The house was an empty slate, with nothing inside.
The main door behind him had closed shut at some point.
Ye Zun turned his head back and saw neither the door nor the wall, only an endless darkness.
He raised his head and saw the drooping dry branches and leaves, and higher and farther away, he saw the dense canopy of dark flowers.
It’s a cherry blossom tree!
It was the cherry blossom tree that covered the sky in the nightmare he experienced after his first contact with Nogawa Kaoru’s diary.
There were many, many corpses hidden inside the flower petals!
Remembering this, Ye Zun stumbled many steps back.
But it was useless. The sky as far as the eye could see was covered by the canopy of flowers, airtight with no way out.
——This is an illusion. I just entered Nogawa Kaoru’s house. What I’m seeing now is just an illusion conjured by the ghost to create fear.
——Don’t be afraid, I can’t be afraid, calm down.
He pressed his hand on his heart, counting his heartbeat one by one, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, using this method to quickly calm down.
【 Today they are telling ghost stories because they are not afraid of being beaten. 】
A girl’s voice.
Ye Zun immediately looked around. His eyes came to a stop, and he saw a thin figure in a white skirt underneath the cherry blossom tree.
The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl was sitting on the ground with her back to Ye Zun. She appeared to be lying on a rock, reading something.
——It appeared, it’s the ghost girl who was eating her own arm on Tuesday night!
The girl read slowly and emotionlessly.
【 Pulling at my hair and spitting on my face, because I am the only one who is not afraid, so they suddenly pointed at me and said, doesn’t she look like the ghost in the story? Let’s beat her ba, that way, we won’t be scared of the ghost. 】
【 Everyone agreed. 】
He should have been vigilant, but as he approached, Ye Zun couldn’t help feeling pity when he heard what she was reading.
——Is she writing a diary? Was she bullied?
【 “Sorry ah,” they said. All the violence was against the ghost, not against me. Everyone was just too scared, that’s why they acted out of control. They said this in a friendly manner. 】
【 Because I didn’t speak, didn’t immediately say it was okay. Everyone acted very hurt. 】
【 “It’s all your fault!” They said this to me. 】
【 En, I really am not scared. Everyone says that the scariest place is hell, but I think, school and home are the scariest places. I want to escape to hell. 】
【 But everyone says that there is no hell in this world. 】
【 After a person dies, they have no soul, but just become a part of the ghost. Thinking of this, I feel like I have no hope. 】
【 Until I find hope, I swear to never die. I will never be eaten by the ghost like this. 】
Ye Zun had already walked until he was four or five metres behind her. He stopped.
He hesitated for a moment, watching at her cautiously, then took the initiative to say, “Do, do you remember me? We’ve met.”
The girl paused there, turned slightly sideways, facing Ye Zun and nodding.
“Is this your diary? Is it something that happened to you?”
The girl shook her head, then nodded again.
Ye Zun stood there, feet moving slowly, going around to a spot where he could see her from the front but still keeping a safe distance.
The girl knelt on the ground, her body curled up slightly, as if she was introverted and wanted to cover herself with her hair, but she didn’t really escape Ye Zun’s eyes.
Ye Zun’s pupils trembled and dilated. He looked at her empty right arm socket, then at the face that was half-concealed by her hair. Where her eyes were, there were bandages wrapped around them, with blood oozing out.
“I’m sorry, my appearance scared you.” The girl said calmly and rationally, trying to shrink her body as much as she could, wanting to cover up the broken parts. “Long time no see. Thank you for saving me and letting me out last time.”
Ye Zun looked at her in surprise. “You are, you are the little girl from last time?”
The girl nodded. As if knowing her appearance would scare people, she tried her best to reduce her sense of presence.
Ye Zun had countless questions. “Who are you? Are you a human or a ghost? Are you Nogawa Kaoru’s little sister?”
With the same voice as when she was a child, she said, “I am a human. Although I look like this, at least I haven’t turned into that horrifying ghost that eats people.”
“Are you Kaoru’s little sister?” Ye Zun asked again.
The girl hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”
Ye Zun breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed slightly. He finally found her.
“Are you able to tell me what happened?”
“Sorry. I can’t tell you things that you didn’t discover, all I can say is what’s in the diary. You can ask me something specific and I’ll see if I can answer.”
Suddenly remembering something, Ye Zun frowned at her, but did not give up his vigilance. “The girl with the cherry blossom hair clip, how did she die? Was it you who killed her?”
“Although I really was at the scene at the time, it wasn’t me. Because she didn’t want to be a part of the ghost, she decided to escape that way.”
How could death be an escape?
Ye Zun couldn’t understand. “Sure enough, the other girl I saw at the scene was really you! You are attached to the diary and have been following me, right? This way of existing, are you really not a ghost?”
The girl lowered her head slightly, calmly saying, “I do live in Kaoru’s diary, and because of the diary, it can be considered that I do follow you. But I didn’t do anything bad, and I’m also not a ghost.”
With the girl’s attitude and appearance, Ye Zun was completely unable to be cold and forceful at all. He could only frown at her helplessly.
“What is the situation with the diary you were just reading? Isn’t it yours?”
The girl nodded. “Although it is indeed the things that happened to me, this is Kaoru’s diary.”
Ye Zun became more and more confused. The diary she was reading out just then, it was obviously written in the first person. Did Nogawa Kaoru write about what happened to his little sister from his sister’s view?
Did he write a diary for his little sister?
“Could it be, that you and Nogawa Kaoru can communicate with each other? In order to keep you alive, he made you stay in the diary, so he wrote the diary from your view?”
The girl paused slightly, then nodded. “You can put it that way. My right arm was eaten, so were my eyes, and my tongue as well. The reason why I can exist like this, why I can communicate with you now, is because of Kaoru’s diary.”
——So pitiful.
The vigilance in his heart had not been completely eliminated, but Ye Zun began to slowly walk over. He saw that the stone table under the cherry blossom tree was piled with various diary notebooks.
The cherry blossom tree trunks were like gravestones, the stone tables and chairs like offering altar, and these diaries were the offerings.
——No matter what the girl is, so far, she really has no intention of attacking me, and is also trying to avoid scaring me. Maybe I can get some clues.
“Do you know, Kaoru will die?”
The girl was silent for a while, then spoke with a feeble and calm voice, “I can probably guess. Can you tell me how Kaoru will die? Is it being eaten by the ghost in the end? After refusing that girl’s invitation to escape together, I think this won’t be the way to die.”
Ye Zun squatted beside her. “I’m also not certain yet, I’m constantly investigating. But, at the beginning, when Kaoru left you and ran away with Mama, leaving you to be slowly eaten by the ghost, do you really not resent him?”
“En, I’m resentful.” Spoken calmly and rationally, an answer without the slightest emotion.
Ye Zun: “……”
“I resent Kaoru. Only in this way can Kaoru live a good life, so I will always be resentful.”
Ye Zun let out a soft noise. “I don’t quite understand. Why do you resent your Gege, so your Gege can live a good life? Can it be that hatred and resentment are a special blessing?”
The girl slowly raised her head, quietly ‘watching’ him with eyes covered by bloody bandages: “……”
Even looking at close range, Ye Zun didn’t feel scared at all. He just couldn’t help feeling a slight pity.
He softened his voice without being aware he was doing so. “Can you tell me where the other girl in this family is? Your Mama should have another daughter, I don’t know if she’s your Jiejie or Meimei. Or, maybe there is no such person at all, and it’s always been you?”
The girl just ‘looked’ at him quietly like this: “……”
Ye Zun sighed lightly. “If no such a girl exists at all, it is probably you ba. The little girl I saw cooking in the kitchen on Monday morning, was that you?”
——If the little girl has been living in this home from beginning to end, no matter what kind of twisted and special method she is using to keep existing, then the time and extent of this home being invaded by ghosts may be earlier than I thought.
The girl still didn’t answer, just quietly ‘watching’ Ye Zun.
“Did you know that Mama died? It was about last weekend night, probably by the uncle who lives with her. But, that man should also be dead. I’m not sure which one of the two died first, and who that man-eating ghost is attached to.”
When Ye Zun mentioned these two people, the girl was visibly frightened, hugging her knees and burying her head, trying her best to reduce her sense of existence, as if to avoid being found by something scary.
Ye Zun looked at her with pity, and his tone became even more friendly. “I also read Nogawa Kaoru’s diary, and your Gege was also very scared, thinking that he would be eaten this time. But he didn’t want to run away this time. He wanted to kill that ghost. Because of this, he didn’t run away with the girl with the cherry blossom hair clip. However, he probably still failed in the end and didn’t get to escape his fate.”
The girl shivered slightly and slowly raised her buried head.
Ye Zun said softly, “Right now, I’m doing the same thing as your Gege, trying to catch the ghost, find the source, and find a way to kill it for good. By doing so, I can live, and all the other little girls will no longer be ambushed by that kind of ghost in their own home and be eaten bit by bit. Can you help me? Even just by giving a little hint.”
The girl ‘looked directly’ at Ye Zun through the bleeding bandage. Her voice spoke with reasoning, “I understand. Now, you are the equivalent of Kaoru.”
Ye Zun looked back at her and nodded. “You can put it that way.”
“So, you didn’t actually find out?” the girl said.
Ye Zun couldn’t keep up with her thoughts. “Find out what?”
“There is indeed a girl in this family, that ghost’s prey. But she has been thoroughly hidden.”
Ye Zun opened his eyes wide. He had already made preparations for the admission that the girl doesn’t even exist, but was there really such a person?
“Where is she hiding?”
The girl hesitated, lifting her only intact left arm, and slowly pointed at Ye Zun; pointing behind Ye Zun.
“She is hidden, behind you.”
Ye Zun’s pupils dilated despondently. His whole body froze, and a chill crawled up from his back.
Even if he knew that the girl was a human, having something hidden behind you, even if the other person is a human, hearing it was still too terrifying.
He held his breath, his eyes following the direction the girl’s finger was pointing at, and his pupils were further filled with horror——
He saw the house’s living room, and he saw himself.
Standing in front of the coffee table in the living room, there was a young man with a remote control in his hand, restraining his anxiety. It was Ye Zun, who had just entered the instance on the weekend night.
“The TV seems to be broken, so I turned it off.”
The woman who was chopping the meat stood at the door of the kitchen with a bloody kitchen knife. “I’m making ribs, dinner will be ready soon. Go and do your homework ba.”
The woman who was driven to distraction wasn’t looking directly at Ye Zun who was standing in front of the coffee table, but at a half-transparent figure appearing diagonally behind Ye Zun.
The figure nodded, and then, like a second shadow from Ye Zun’s body, followed him to the bedroom step by step.
Ye Zun’s body disappeared within the bedroom, but the translucent figure stopped at the door and did not disappear.
Then a new scene appeared in another corner. It was the woman standing at the door, asking Ye Zun to eat.
When Ye Zun was walking out, another figure began to appear faintly visible, looming behind him. Using Ye Zun to hide itself, they walked out the door together and stopped in front of the coffee table.
A new scene came up again in another place. It was the three of them eating around the coffee table in the living room.
The rude and completely unfamiliar Shen Yuan occupied the sofa domineeringly.
While the woman devoured the food, she took time to put meat in the empty bowl next to her, and pushed towards the vacant spot beside her.
“Leave some for your Meimei.”
Looking closely, there was a misty figure under the dim light.
When Ye Zun stood up and returned to the bedroom, the figure was still sitting there, motionless.
Monday night’s scene appeared in a new corner.
The woman timidly knocked on the door and entered the bedroom.
With fear in her bewildered eyes, she shrank her shoulders and said in a low voice, “Mum will tell you a secret. I found out that, your dead dad, he was resurrected on your big brother.”
However, her out-of-focus eyes were not facing Ye Zun in front of her, but the space between Ye Zun and her.
There stood a vague shadow, and the shadow stepped forward and held the woman’s hand and shoulders, as if to comfort her not to be scared.
The woman’s haggard and old face was numb and dazed, and her eyes were timid. She did not stare at Ye Zun, but looked at something between Ye Zun and herself. “You will protect Mama, right?”
That vague shadow stepped forward and hugged her.
After the woman walked out, the vague shadow did not fade away. It just stayed with Ye Zun, staying in that small bedroom.
One scene after another appeared and disappeared, but the figures hidden behind Ye Zun did not fade. Instead, they stood there like puppets. Looking carefully, as time went by, the figures that appeared grew more solid little by little.
……
Ye Zun couldn’t help but take a half step back, looking at the scene from another perspective in surprise, as well as the increasingly clear figures that gradually filled his field of vision.
“What’s going on? She’s been with me all the time? But…how is this possible? If she’s a living person, how could I not have noticed her hiding behind me?”
The conversation with Shen Yuan flashed through his mind.
……”How many girls are there in the family?”
……”Just one.”
……”Are you sure?”
……”Going by Mum’s word, there is only one daughter…”
Ye Zun’s eyes slowly widened. He was more than surprised, and suddenly came to realise the truth.
Nogawa Kaoru’s name… Ye Zun who felt that the size of the uniform was too small, even as a part-time model that had to be excessively skinny… The girls’ underwear in the bedroom…
——Why didn’t I think of this?
The girl ‘looked’ at Ye Zun and said calmly, “My Mama has only one child, only one daughter.”
“It’s starting.” Suddenly, the girl stretched out her only intact left hand and pulled Ye Zun, retreating to hide under the cherry blossom tree trunk.
Ye Zun: “What is?”
He followed the girl’s ‘line of sight’ and looked forward.
Countless afterimages of Nogawa Kaoru, from translucent to a vaguely solid figure, began to walk, and a new Nogawa Kaoru would appear at the spot where they were before every step.
A child, a teenager, an adult, an elderly, Nogawa Kaoru of all ages.
They were ‘discarded’ at every moment, coming into being everywhere, standing in place, unmoving.
Ropes hung down from the cherry blossom trees, and then, each Nogawa Kaoru voluntarily stuffed their heads and necks into the ropes. They were hung up one by one, instinctively but weakly struggling in the air, then silently slaughtered, being strangled inch by inch, an excruciatingly painful process of suffocation. And then they became dead bodies, hanging densely on the endless cherry blossom tree.
Just like Ye Zun’s nightmare back then.
“Don’t be scared, it will be over soon.” The girl’s quiet and calm voice was devoid of emotion.
Ye Zun looked at her. “Does this kind of thing happen often here?”
“En, on average, it happens at every moment; every day in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening. This is the last one for today before it turns dark.”
“Why is this happening?”
The girl’s calm voice revealed no obvious mercy. “Because it’s too painful. Every time, when the pain becomes too extreme, Kaoru would kill one of herself like this. With how many ‘Kaoru’s killed, you can know how much pain she is in at this moment.”
“What kind of pain is it, to kill yourself so many countless times in this way?”
“I don’t know. It should be very, very painful ba.”
Ye Zun looked at her. “How about you? Will you also be killed like this?”
She paused, and denied seriously. “No, I am different. I am the executioner for the perpetrator.”
……
“That man is very fierce, and is very impatient with little kids and Mama, his wife. But occasionally, he is suddenly very nice to Kaoru. Kaoru is very scared of him, and is very obedient in front of him, not even daring to move…”
“The first time Kaoru was attacked by the ghost, Kaoru didn’t even know what it meant, she was just instinctively scared and wanted to hide. But, the ghost turned into Baba, and her house became a scary place, and she had nowhere to hide.”
“The ghost even wanted to eat Mama, but fortunately, Mama decisively took Kaoru and ran away.”
“But there is not only one ghost of this kind in the world. Not knowing when, the ghost entered the new home. By this time, Kaoru is already thirteen years old. She has grown up, and even though she doesn’t know what it is when she sees the ghost, she still remembers all the memories of being attacked in the past. Because she understands what it means to be attacked by the ghost, her fear began to create sleepless nights. But at that time, Mama unknowingly had her feet eaten by a ghost, losing the ability to take her away again.”
“In order not to be found and eaten by the ghost, she needs to hide herself, just as she did when she was a child.”
“But no matter where she hides, the ghost will not let her go, and the festering wound she received from being bitten will also gradually turn her into a ghost.”
“To be able to hide completely, so, I came into being.”
“I died before her seventh birthday, and was reborn on the day she grew up.”
“My name, is also called Kaoru.”
“I have all her wounds on my body.”
“I exist in her diary. Because she can’t see the ghost, my eyes are eaten; because she can’t write the ghost’s name, the right arm I use to write is eaten; because she can’t speak of the ghost’s existence, I don’t have a tongue. She still has legs, but her feet are wrapped chains, and the other end is around Mama’s neck.”
“In order for her to keep her legs, Mama’s legs were eaten.”
“In order to hide and not be found by the ghost, Nogawa Kaoru became a boy.”
“In order for Kaoru to live, in order to thoroughly hide Kaoru, ‘he’ will always remember when Mama escaped with Kaoru. That little girl who was attacked by the ghost, iz me, his Meimei who is trapped in the grave with the ghost forever.”
“‘He’ will always feel guilty towards me, and will always remember that it was his Meimei who was eaten by ghosts, that ‘he’ was a silent accomplice. Through the guilt towards me, ‘he’ will come and endure every dark night where ghosts linger by ‘his’ side.”
“And I will always resent ‘him’, resent the Gege who ran away and left me alone. Only ‘his’ guilt and my persistent resentment can hide ‘him’ for longer, and a little longer after that. It’s better never to open your eyes, to never to find out.”
“Every time the wound that was bitten by the ghosts festers and breaks out in pain, ‘he’ has to regard it as punishment for ‘him’ abandoning and betraying me, from the hatred towards ‘himself’ as an accomplice and from my resentment towards ‘him’. In this way, I can completely hide her.”
“I will always exist in the diary like a shadow, resenting ‘him’. Only Nogawa Kaoru, who is being slaughtered at every moment, and my persistent resentment towards ‘him’ can keep her alive.”
The cherry blossom tree that slaughtered everything is Nogawa Kaoru.
The dying wind trying to escape from here in vain is Nogawa Kaoru.
The numb ghost hanging from the tree is Nogawa Kaoru.
The disintegrated statue of the deity is Nogawa Kaoru.
The countless bodies buried in the branches and leaves of the cherry blossoms, are also Nogawa Kaoru.
This is Nogawa Kaoru’s graveyard. The murderer’s name is also Nogawa Kaoru.
She can only steadily kill herself, resent herself, to sustain herself until she opens her eyes at dawn and live after the calamity.
……
【 My dear, if you can’t save me, just kill me, or, let me kill you. 】
The author has something to say:
Nogawa Kaoru’s name, the girls’ undergarment in the bedroom, the Meimei who never shows up.
Someone guessed it from the beginning. Correct, Nogawa Kaoru is that girl.
In the original plan, this part should be written before V, but, let’s put it after V, so that those who can see Nogawa Kaoru’s pain are probably those who can empathise with her.
[T/N: V as in the VIP (paid) chapters]
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
The voice in the bedroom continued, the voice of a lively woman who seemed to be flirting with a certain man.
“What can’t be done, how can that old woman compare to you? She’s unkempt at home all day, and she doesn’t know how to dress up. She only knows how to do laundry and cook, asking me for money like a blood-sucking worm…” The familiar voice belonging to a man complained about his wife.
Ye Zun froze for a moment, then reacted.
——This, isn’t this the voice of Shen Yuan’s father?!
According to the timeline when going by the length of his hair, it currently was last weekend, when they were all still alive. So this was before his death, when Shen Yuan’s father and the neighbouring hostess had an improper extramarital relationship?
He stood at the door of the bedroom and looked in carefully. There was no one in the room. There was still only the empty body of the woman who was hanging there, gently swaying from the wind.
But the voices of the two people remained.
The voices flirted for a while, and suddenly, there was the sound of something being hit at the door.
Then there was the sound of the bedroom door opening, the sound of the man eagerly putting on his shoes, and the sound of whispered scolding.
“Yo, your wife found us out ah. Honestly, do you really not lock the door when you come in? Her voice was so loud.” The woman’s voice was not panicked and coquettish.
“If she found out then she found out. The whole family lives on my money. What can she do? Divorce me?” After the man felt annoyed, he quickly became fearless and smug.
“Ze ze ze*, that’s why they say we housewives are miserable. As a woman, even I feel sorry for her.”
[T/N: clicking tongue]
The man’s smooth voice said, “How are you the same as her? You are in bed with so many people, but doesn’t your husband not dare to say a word?”
“I also don’t care about him messing around outside ah. If you don’t care about Missus Nogawa…who knows, maybe she might also be happy to dress up pretty and get a little boyfriend.”
“Pft, someone like her?”
The woman thinly smiled. “Who knows oh. This morning, I also saw that she and that en, you know, that rich looking man who just moved in, were standing very close to each other and talking for a long time. The other man also praised Missus Nogawa for being gentle and considerate, saying that he envied you, and how he wanted to have such a virtuous and gentle wife like her.”
The man let out a sound of extreme jealousy and annoyance, huffing and puffing, like an angry bull that lost its mind. “Shameless! Humiliating people outside, Laozi will kill her!”
“Ze, calm down a little ah, maybe I saw wrong and it was just a normal chat on the road… Heh, that’s why they say men have double standards.”
There was a loud noise from the door, as if someone was extremely angry and rushed out of the door.
——I get it now, the house host who cheated with the female neighbour for a long time was discovered by the hostess last weekend, and then with the brief joke from the female neighbour, the man believed that the hostess had an affair with others and was unfaithful to him, so he returned home in a rage.
Ye Zun remembered what happened on Monday night, when the woman knocked and came into the bedroom, whispering to him that the dead father had come back. At that time, there were bruises on her face from being beaten.
He immediately walked towards the door and left. In his ears, he could already hear the voice of the man shouting in anger and sounds of violence not far away. On the other hand, the woman’s voice was indistinct.
He fastened his speed and ran towards Nogawa Kaoru’s house, yanking open the door that he deliberately left unlocked when he came out.
The sound of one-sided arguing and beating came to an abrupt end. The house was an empty slate, with nothing inside.
The main door behind him had closed shut at some point.
Ye Zun turned his head back and saw neither the door nor the wall, only an endless darkness.
He raised his head and saw the drooping dry branches and leaves, and higher and farther away, he saw the dense canopy of dark flowers.
It’s a cherry blossom tree!
It was the cherry blossom tree that covered the sky in the nightmare he experienced after his first contact with Nogawa Kaoru’s diary.
There were many, many corpses hidden inside the flower petals!
Remembering this, Ye Zun stumbled many steps back.
But it was useless. The sky as far as the eye could see was covered by the canopy of flowers, airtight with no way out.
——This is an illusion. I just entered Nogawa Kaoru’s house. What I’m seeing now is just an illusion conjured by the ghost to create fear.
——Don’t be afraid, I can’t be afraid, calm down.
He pressed his hand on his heart, counting his heartbeat one by one, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, using this method to quickly calm down.
【 Today they are telling ghost stories because they are not afraid of being beaten. 】
A girl’s voice.
Ye Zun immediately looked around. His eyes came to a stop, and he saw a thin figure in a white skirt underneath the cherry blossom tree.
The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl was sitting on the ground with her back to Ye Zun. She appeared to be lying on a rock, reading something.
——It appeared, it’s the ghost girl who was eating her own arm on Tuesday night!
The girl read slowly and emotionlessly.
【 Pulling at my hair and spitting on my face, because I am the only one who is not afraid, so they suddenly pointed at me and said, doesn’t she look like the ghost in the story? Let’s beat her ba, that way, we won’t be scared of the ghost. 】
【 Everyone agreed. 】
He should have been vigilant, but as he approached, Ye Zun couldn’t help feeling pity when he heard what she was reading.
——Is she writing a diary? Was she bullied?
【 “Sorry ah,” they said. All the violence was against the ghost, not against me. Everyone was just too scared, that’s why they acted out of control. They said this in a friendly manner. 】
【 Because I didn’t speak, didn’t immediately say it was okay. Everyone acted very hurt. 】
【 “It’s all your fault!” They said this to me. 】
【 En, I really am not scared. Everyone says that the scariest place is hell, but I think, school and home are the scariest places. I want to escape to hell. 】
【 But everyone says that there is no hell in this world. 】
【 After a person dies, they have no soul, but just become a part of the ghost. Thinking of this, I feel like I have no hope. 】
【 Until I find hope, I swear to never die. I will never be eaten by the ghost like this. 】
Ye Zun had already walked until he was four or five metres behind her. He stopped.
He hesitated for a moment, watching at her cautiously, then took the initiative to say, “Do, do you remember me? We’ve met.”
The girl paused there, turned slightly sideways, facing Ye Zun and nodding.
“Is this your diary? Is it something that happened to you?”
The girl shook her head, then nodded again.
Ye Zun stood there, feet moving slowly, going around to a spot where he could see her from the front but still keeping a safe distance.
The girl knelt on the ground, her body curled up slightly, as if she was introverted and wanted to cover herself with her hair, but she didn’t really escape Ye Zun’s eyes.
Ye Zun’s pupils trembled and dilated. He looked at her empty right arm socket, then at the face that was half-concealed by her hair. Where her eyes were, there were bandages wrapped around them, with blood oozing out.
“I’m sorry, my appearance scared you.” The girl said calmly and rationally, trying to shrink her body as much as she could, wanting to cover up the broken parts. “Long time no see. Thank you for saving me and letting me out last time.”
Ye Zun looked at her in surprise. “You are, you are the little girl from last time?”
The girl nodded. As if knowing her appearance would scare people, she tried her best to reduce her sense of presence.
Ye Zun had countless questions. “Who are you? Are you a human or a ghost? Are you Nogawa Kaoru’s little sister?”
With the same voice as when she was a child, she said, “I am a human. Although I look like this, at least I haven’t turned into that horrifying ghost that eats people.”
“Are you Kaoru’s little sister?” Ye Zun asked again.
The girl hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”
Ye Zun breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed slightly. He finally found her.
“Are you able to tell me what happened?”
“Sorry. I can’t tell you things that you didn’t discover, all I can say is what’s in the diary. You can ask me something specific and I’ll see if I can answer.”
Suddenly remembering something, Ye Zun frowned at her, but did not give up his vigilance. “The girl with the cherry blossom hair clip, how did she die? Was it you who killed her?”
“Although I really was at the scene at the time, it wasn’t me. Because she didn’t want to be a part of the ghost, she decided to escape that way.”
How could death be an escape?
Ye Zun couldn’t understand. “Sure enough, the other girl I saw at the scene was really you! You are attached to the diary and have been following me, right? This way of existing, are you really not a ghost?”
The girl lowered her head slightly, calmly saying, “I do live in Kaoru’s diary, and because of the diary, it can be considered that I do follow you. But I didn’t do anything bad, and I’m also not a ghost.”
With the girl’s attitude and appearance, Ye Zun was completely unable to be cold and forceful at all. He could only frown at her helplessly.
“What is the situation with the diary you were just reading? Isn’t it yours?”
The girl nodded. “Although it is indeed the things that happened to me, this is Kaoru’s diary.”
Ye Zun became more and more confused. The diary she was reading out just then, it was obviously written in the first person. Did Nogawa Kaoru write about what happened to his little sister from his sister’s view?
Did he write a diary for his little sister?
“Could it be, that you and Nogawa Kaoru can communicate with each other? In order to keep you alive, he made you stay in the diary, so he wrote the diary from your view?”
The girl paused slightly, then nodded. “You can put it that way. My right arm was eaten, so were my eyes, and my tongue as well. The reason why I can exist like this, why I can communicate with you now, is because of Kaoru’s diary.”
——So pitiful.
The vigilance in his heart had not been completely eliminated, but Ye Zun began to slowly walk over. He saw that the stone table under the cherry blossom tree was piled with various diary notebooks.
The cherry blossom tree trunks were like gravestones, the stone tables and chairs like offering altar, and these diaries were the offerings.
——No matter what the girl is, so far, she really has no intention of attacking me, and is also trying to avoid scaring me. Maybe I can get some clues.
“Do you know, Kaoru will die?”
The girl was silent for a while, then spoke with a feeble and calm voice, “I can probably guess. Can you tell me how Kaoru will die? Is it being eaten by the ghost in the end? After refusing that girl’s invitation to escape together, I think this won’t be the way to die.”
Ye Zun squatted beside her. “I’m also not certain yet, I’m constantly investigating. But, at the beginning, when Kaoru left you and ran away with Mama, leaving you to be slowly eaten by the ghost, do you really not resent him?”
“En, I’m resentful.” Spoken calmly and rationally, an answer without the slightest emotion.
Ye Zun: “……”
“I resent Kaoru. Only in this way can Kaoru live a good life, so I will always be resentful.”
Ye Zun let out a soft noise. “I don’t quite understand. Why do you resent your Gege, so your Gege can live a good life? Can it be that hatred and resentment are a special blessing?”
The girl slowly raised her head, quietly ‘watching’ him with eyes covered by bloody bandages: “……”
Even looking at close range, Ye Zun didn’t feel scared at all. He just couldn’t help feeling a slight pity.
He softened his voice without being aware he was doing so. “Can you tell me where the other girl in this family is? Your Mama should have another daughter, I don’t know if she’s your Jiejie or Meimei. Or, maybe there is no such person at all, and it’s always been you?”
The girl just ‘looked’ at him quietly like this: “……”
Ye Zun sighed lightly. “If no such a girl exists at all, it is probably you ba. The little girl I saw cooking in the kitchen on Monday morning, was that you?”
——If the little girl has been living in this home from beginning to end, no matter what kind of twisted and special method she is using to keep existing, then the time and extent of this home being invaded by ghosts may be earlier than I thought.
The girl still didn’t answer, just quietly ‘watching’ Ye Zun.
“Did you know that Mama died? It was about last weekend night, probably by the uncle who lives with her. But, that man should also be dead. I’m not sure which one of the two died first, and who that man-eating ghost is attached to.”
When Ye Zun mentioned these two people, the girl was visibly frightened, hugging her knees and burying her head, trying her best to reduce her sense of existence, as if to avoid being found by something scary.
Ye Zun looked at her with pity, and his tone became even more friendly. “I also read Nogawa Kaoru’s diary, and your Gege was also very scared, thinking that he would be eaten this time. But he didn’t want to run away this time. He wanted to kill that ghost. Because of this, he didn’t run away with the girl with the cherry blossom hair clip. However, he probably still failed in the end and didn’t get to escape his fate.”
The girl shivered slightly and slowly raised her buried head.
Ye Zun said softly, “Right now, I’m doing the same thing as your Gege, trying to catch the ghost, find the source, and find a way to kill it for good. By doing so, I can live, and all the other little girls will no longer be ambushed by that kind of ghost in their own home and be eaten bit by bit. Can you help me? Even just by giving a little hint.”
The girl ‘looked directly’ at Ye Zun through the bleeding bandage. Her voice spoke with reasoning, “I understand. Now, you are the equivalent of Kaoru.”
Ye Zun looked back at her and nodded. “You can put it that way.”
“So, you didn’t actually find out?” the girl said.
Ye Zun couldn’t keep up with her thoughts. “Find out what?”
“There is indeed a girl in this family, that ghost’s prey. But she has been thoroughly hidden.”
Ye Zun opened his eyes wide. He had already made preparations for the admission that the girl doesn’t even exist, but was there really such a person?
“Where is she hiding?”
The girl hesitated, lifting her only intact left arm, and slowly pointed at Ye Zun; pointing behind Ye Zun.
“She is hidden, behind you.”
Ye Zun’s pupils dilated despondently. His whole body froze, and a chill crawled up from his back.
Even if he knew that the girl was a human, having something hidden behind you, even if the other person is a human, hearing it was still too terrifying.
He held his breath, his eyes following the direction the girl’s finger was pointing at, and his pupils were further filled with horror——
He saw the house’s living room, and he saw himself.
Standing in front of the coffee table in the living room, there was a young man with a remote control in his hand, restraining his anxiety. It was Ye Zun, who had just entered the instance on the weekend night.
“The TV seems to be broken, so I turned it off.”
The woman who was chopping the meat stood at the door of the kitchen with a bloody kitchen knife. “I’m making ribs, dinner will be ready soon. Go and do your homework ba.”
The woman who was driven to distraction wasn’t looking directly at Ye Zun who was standing in front of the coffee table, but at a half-transparent figure appearing diagonally behind Ye Zun.
The figure nodded, and then, like a second shadow from Ye Zun’s body, followed him to the bedroom step by step.
Ye Zun’s body disappeared within the bedroom, but the translucent figure stopped at the door and did not disappear.
Then a new scene appeared in another corner. It was the woman standing at the door, asking Ye Zun to eat.
When Ye Zun was walking out, another figure began to appear faintly visible, looming behind him. Using Ye Zun to hide itself, they walked out the door together and stopped in front of the coffee table.
A new scene came up again in another place. It was the three of them eating around the coffee table in the living room.
The rude and completely unfamiliar Shen Yuan occupied the sofa domineeringly.
While the woman devoured the food, she took time to put meat in the empty bowl next to her, and pushed towards the vacant spot beside her.
“Leave some for your Meimei.”
Looking closely, there was a misty figure under the dim light.
When Ye Zun stood up and returned to the bedroom, the figure was still sitting there, motionless.
Monday night’s scene appeared in a new corner.
The woman timidly knocked on the door and entered the bedroom.
With fear in her bewildered eyes, she shrank her shoulders and said in a low voice, “Mum will tell you a secret. I found out that, your dead dad, he was resurrected on your big brother.”
However, her out-of-focus eyes were not facing Ye Zun in front of her, but the space between Ye Zun and her.
There stood a vague shadow, and the shadow stepped forward and held the woman’s hand and shoulders, as if to comfort her not to be scared.
The woman’s haggard and old face was numb and dazed, and her eyes were timid. She did not stare at Ye Zun, but looked at something between Ye Zun and herself. “You will protect Mama, right?”
That vague shadow stepped forward and hugged her.
After the woman walked out, the vague shadow did not fade away. It just stayed with Ye Zun, staying in that small bedroom.
One scene after another appeared and disappeared, but the figures hidden behind Ye Zun did not fade. Instead, they stood there like puppets. Looking carefully, as time went by, the figures that appeared grew more solid little by little.
……
Ye Zun couldn’t help but take a half step back, looking at the scene from another perspective in surprise, as well as the increasingly clear figures that gradually filled his field of vision.
“What’s going on? She’s been with me all the time? But…how is this possible? If she’s a living person, how could I not have noticed her hiding behind me?”
The conversation with Shen Yuan flashed through his mind.
……”How many girls are there in the family?”
……”Just one.”
……”Are you sure?”
……”Going by Mum’s word, there is only one daughter…”
Ye Zun’s eyes slowly widened. He was more than surprised, and suddenly came to realise the truth.
Nogawa Kaoru’s name… Ye Zun who felt that the size of the uniform was too small, even as a part-time model that had to be excessively skinny… The girls’ underwear in the bedroom…
——Why didn’t I think of this?
The girl ‘looked’ at Ye Zun and said calmly, “My Mama has only one child, only one daughter.”
“It’s starting.” Suddenly, the girl stretched out her only intact left hand and pulled Ye Zun, retreating to hide under the cherry blossom tree trunk.
Ye Zun: “What is?”
He followed the girl’s ‘line of sight’ and looked forward.
Countless afterimages of Nogawa Kaoru, from translucent to a vaguely solid figure, began to walk, and a new Nogawa Kaoru would appear at the spot where they were before every step.
A child, a teenager, an adult, an elderly, Nogawa Kaoru of all ages.
They were ‘discarded’ at every moment, coming into being everywhere, standing in place, unmoving.
Ropes hung down from the cherry blossom trees, and then, each Nogawa Kaoru voluntarily stuffed their heads and necks into the ropes. They were hung up one by one, instinctively but weakly struggling in the air, then silently slaughtered, being strangled inch by inch, an excruciatingly painful process of suffocation. And then they became dead bodies, hanging densely on the endless cherry blossom tree.
Just like Ye Zun’s nightmare back then.
“Don’t be scared, it will be over soon.” The girl’s quiet and calm voice was devoid of emotion.
Ye Zun looked at her. “Does this kind of thing happen often here?”
“En, on average, it happens at every moment; every day in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening. This is the last one for today before it turns dark.”
“Why is this happening?”
The girl’s calm voice revealed no obvious mercy. “Because it’s too painful. Every time, when the pain becomes too extreme, Kaoru would kill one of herself like this. With how many ‘Kaoru’s killed, you can know how much pain she is in at this moment.”
“What kind of pain is it, to kill yourself so many countless times in this way?”
“I don’t know. It should be very, very painful ba.”
Ye Zun looked at her. “How about you? Will you also be killed like this?”
She paused, and denied seriously. “No, I am different. I am the executioner for the perpetrator.”
……
“That man is very fierce, and is very impatient with little kids and Mama, his wife. But occasionally, he is suddenly very nice to Kaoru. Kaoru is very scared of him, and is very obedient in front of him, not even daring to move…”
“The first time Kaoru was attacked by the ghost, Kaoru didn’t even know what it meant, she was just instinctively scared and wanted to hide. But, the ghost turned into Baba, and her house became a scary place, and she had nowhere to hide.”
“The ghost even wanted to eat Mama, but fortunately, Mama decisively took Kaoru and ran away.”
“But there is not only one ghost of this kind in the world. Not knowing when, the ghost entered the new home. By this time, Kaoru is already thirteen years old. She has grown up, and even though she doesn’t know what it is when she sees the ghost, she still remembers all the memories of being attacked in the past. Because she understands what it means to be attacked by the ghost, her fear began to create sleepless nights. But at that time, Mama unknowingly had her feet eaten by a ghost, losing the ability to take her away again.”
“In order not to be found and eaten by the ghost, she needs to hide herself, just as she did when she was a child.”
“But no matter where she hides, the ghost will not let her go, and the festering wound she received from being bitten will also gradually turn her into a ghost.”
“To be able to hide completely, so, I came into being.”
“I died before her seventh birthday, and was reborn on the day she grew up.”
“My name, is also called Kaoru.”
“I have all her wounds on my body.”
“I exist in her diary. Because she can’t see the ghost, my eyes are eaten; because she can’t write the ghost’s name, the right arm I use to write is eaten; because she can’t speak of the ghost’s existence, I don’t have a tongue. She still has legs, but her feet are wrapped chains, and the other end is around Mama’s neck.”
“In order for her to keep her legs, Mama’s legs were eaten.”
“In order to hide and not be found by the ghost, Nogawa Kaoru became a boy.”
“In order for Kaoru to live, in order to thoroughly hide Kaoru, ‘he’ will always remember when Mama escaped with Kaoru. That little girl who was attacked by the ghost, iz me, his Meimei who is trapped in the grave with the ghost forever.”
“‘He’ will always feel guilty towards me, and will always remember that it was his Meimei who was eaten by ghosts, that ‘he’ was a silent accomplice. Through the guilt towards me, ‘he’ will come and endure every dark night where ghosts linger by ‘his’ side.”
“And I will always resent ‘him’, resent the Gege who ran away and left me alone. Only ‘his’ guilt and my persistent resentment can hide ‘him’ for longer, and a little longer after that. It’s better never to open your eyes, to never to find out.”
“Every time the wound that was bitten by the ghosts festers and breaks out in pain, ‘he’ has to regard it as punishment for ‘him’ abandoning and betraying me, from the hatred towards ‘himself’ as an accomplice and from my resentment towards ‘him’. In this way, I can completely hide her.”
“I will always exist in the diary like a shadow, resenting ‘him’. Only Nogawa Kaoru, who is being slaughtered at every moment, and my persistent resentment towards ‘him’ can keep her alive.”
The cherry blossom tree that slaughtered everything is Nogawa Kaoru.
The dying wind trying to escape from here in vain is Nogawa Kaoru.
The numb ghost hanging from the tree is Nogawa Kaoru.
The disintegrated statue of the deity is Nogawa Kaoru.
The countless bodies buried in the branches and leaves of the cherry blossoms, are also Nogawa Kaoru.
This is Nogawa Kaoru’s graveyard. The murderer’s name is also Nogawa Kaoru.
She can only steadily kill herself, resent herself, to sustain herself until she opens her eyes at dawn and live after the calamity.
……
【 My dear, if you can’t save me, just kill me, or, let me kill you. 】
The author has something to say:
Nogawa Kaoru’s name, the girls’ undergarment in the bedroom, the Meimei who never shows up.
Someone guessed it from the beginning. Correct, Nogawa Kaoru is that girl.
In the original plan, this part should be written before V, but, let’s put it after V, so that those who can see Nogawa Kaoru’s pain are probably those who can empathise with her.
[T/N: V as in the VIP (paid) chapters]
The voice in the bedroom continued, the voice of a lively woman who seemed to be flirting with a certain man.What can't be done, how can that old woman compare to you? She's unkempt at home all day, and she doesn't know how to dress up. She only knows how to do laundry and cook, asking me for money like a blood-sucking worm The familiar voice belonging to a man complained about his wife.Ye Zun froze for a moment, then reacted.This, isn't this the voice of Shen Yuan's father?!According to the timeline when going by the length of his hair, it currently was last weekend, when they were all still alive. So this was before his death, when Shen Yuan's father and the neighbouring hostess had an improper extramarital relationship?He stood at the door of the bedroom and looked in carefully. There was no one in the room. There was still only the empty body of the woman who was hanging there, gently swaying from the wind.But the voices of the two people remained.The voices flirted for a while, and suddenly, there was the sound of something being hit at the door.Then there was the sound of the bedroom door opening, the sound of the man eagerly putting on his shoes, and the sound of whispered scolding.Yo, your wife found us outah. Honestly, do you really not lock the door when you come in? Her voice was so loud. The woman's voice was not panicked and coquettish.If she found out then she found out. The whole family lives on my money. What can she do? Divorce me? After the man felt annoyed, he quickly became fearless and smug.Ze ze ze*, that's why they say we housewives are miserable. As a woman, even I feel sorry for her.T/N: clicking tongueThe man's smooth voice said, How are you the same as her? You are in bed with so many people, but doesn't your husband not dare to say a word?I also don't care about him messing around outsideah. If you don't care about Missus Nogawawho knows, maybe she might also be happy to dress up pretty and get a little boyfriend.Pft, someone like her?The woman thinly smiled. Who knowsoh.This morning, I also saw that she and thaten, you know, that rich looking man who just moved in, were standing very close to each other and talking for a long time. The other man also praised Missus Nogawa for being gentle and considerate, saying that he envied you, and how he wanted to have such a virtuous and gentle wife like her.The man let out a sound of extreme jealousy and annoyance, huffing and puffing, like an angry bull that lost its mind. Shameless! Humiliating people outside, Laoziwill kill her!Ze, calm down a littleah, maybe I saw wrong and it was just a normal chat on the roadHeh, that's why they say men have double standards.There was a loud noise from the door, as if someone was extremely angry and rushed out of the door.I get it now, the house host who cheated with the female neighbour for a long time was discovered by the hostess last weekend, and then with the brief joke from the female neighbour, the man believed that the hostess had an affair with others and was unfaithful to him, so he returned home in a rage.Ye Zun remembered what happened on Monday night, when the woman knocked and came into the bedroom, whispering to him that the dead father had come back. At that time, there were bruises on her face from being beaten.He immediately walked towards the door and left. In his ears, he could already hear the voice of the man shouting in anger and sounds of violence not far away. On the other hand, the woman's voice was indistinct.He fastened his speed and ran towards Nogawa Kaoru's house, yanking open the door that he deliberately left unlocked when he came out.The sound of one-sided arguing and beating came to an abrupt end. The house was an empty slate, with nothing inside.The main door behind him had closed shut at some point.Ye Zun turned his head back and saw neither the door nor the wall, only an endless darkness.He raised his head and saw the drooping dry branches and leaves, and higher and farther away, he saw the dense canopy of dark flowers.It's a cherry blossom tree!It was the cherry blossom tree that covered the sky in the nightmare he experienced after his first contact with Nogawa Kaoru's diary.There were many, many corpses hidden inside the flower petals!Remembering this, Ye Zun stumbled many steps back.But it was useless. The sky as far as the eye could see was covered by the canopy of flowers, airtight with no way out.This is an illusion. I just entered Nogawa Kaoru's house. What I'm seeing now is just an illusion conjured by the ghost to create fear.Don't be afraid, I can't be afraid, calm down.He pressed his hand on his heart, counting his heartbeat one by one, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, using this method to quickly calm down. Today they are telling ghost stories because they are not afraid of being beaten. A girl's voice.Ye Zun immediately looked around. His eyes came to a stop, and he saw a thin figure in a white skirt underneath the cherry blossom tree.The thirteen-or-fourteen year old girl was sitting on the ground with her back to Ye Zun. She appeared to be lying on a rock, reading something.It appeared, it's the ghost girl who was eating her own arm on Tuesday night!The girl read slowly and emotionlessly. Pulling at my hair and spitting on my face, because I am the only one who is not afraid, so they suddenly pointed at me and said, doesn't she look like the ghost in the story? Let's beat herba, that way, we won't be scared of the ghost. Everyone agreed. He should have been vigilant, but as he approached, Ye Zun couldn't help feeling pity when he heard what she was reading.Is she writing a diary? Was she bullied? Sorryah, they said. All the violence was against the ghost, not against me. Everyone was just too scared, that's why they acted out of control. They said this in a friendly manner. Because I didn't speak, didn't immediately say it was okay. Everyone acted very hurt. It's all your fault! They said this to me. En, I really am not scared. Everyone says that the scariest place is hell, but I think, school and home are the scariest places. I want to escape to hell. But everyone says that there is no hell in this world. After a person dies, they have no soul, but just become a part of the ghost. Thinking of this, I feel like I have no hope. Until I find hope, I swear to never die. I will never be eaten by the ghost like this. Ye Zun had already walked until he was four or five metres behind her. He stopped.He hesitated for a moment, watching at her cautiously, then took the initiative to say, Do, do you remember me? We've met.The girl paused there, turned slightly sideways, facing Ye Zun and nodding.Is this your diary? Is it something that happened to you?The girl shook her head, then nodded again.Ye Zun stood there, feet moving slowly, going around to a spot where he could see her from the front but still keeping a safe distance.The girl knelt on the ground, her body curled up slightly, as if she was introverted and wanted to cover herself with her hair, but she didn't really escape Ye Zun's eyes.Ye Zun's pupils trembled and dilated. He looked at her empty right arm socket, then at the face that was half-concealed by her hair. Where her eyes were, there were bandages wrapped around them, with blood oozing out.I'm sorry, my appearance scared you. The girl said calmly and rationally, trying to shrink her body as much as she could, wanting to cover up the broken parts. Long time no see. Thank you for saving me and letting me out last time.Ye Zun looked at her in surprise. You are, you are the little girl from last time?The girl nodded. As if knowing her appearance would scare people, she tried her best to reduce her sense of presence.Ye Zun had countless questions. Who are you? Are you a human or a ghost? Are you Nogawa Kaoru's little sister?With the same voice as when she was a child, she said, I am a human. Although I look like this, at least I haven't turned into that horrifying ghost that eats people.Are you Kaoru's little sister? Ye Zun asked again.The girl hesitated for a moment. Yes.Ye Zun breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed slightly. He finally found her.Are you able to tell me what happened?Sorry. I can't tell you things that you didn't discover, all I can say is what's in the diary. You can ask me something specific and I'll see if I can answer.Suddenly remembering something, Ye Zun frowned at her, but did not give up his vigilance. The girl with the cherry blossom hair clip, how did she die? Was it you who killed her?Although I really was at the scene at the time, it wasn't me. Because she didn't want to be a part of the ghost, she decided to escape that way.How could death be an escape?Ye Zun couldn't understand. Sure enough, the other girl I saw at the scene was really you! You are attached to the diary and have been following me, right? This way of existing, are you really not a ghost?The girl lowered her head slightly, calmly saying, I do live in Kaoru's diary, and because of the diary, it can be considered that I do follow you. But I didn't do anything bad, and I'm also not a ghost.With the girl's attitude and appearance, Ye Zun was completely unable to be cold and forceful at all. He could only frown at her helplessly.What is the situation with the diary you were just reading? Isn't it yours?The girl nodded. Although it is indeed the things that happened to me, this is Kaoru's diary.Ye Zun became more and more confused. The diary she was reading out just then, it was obviously written in the first person. Did Nogawa Kaoru write about what happened to his little sister from his sister's view?Did he write a diary for his little sister?Could it be, that you and Nogawa Kaoru can communicate with each other? In order to keep you alive, he made you stay in the diary, so he wrote the diary from your view?The girl paused slightly, then nodded. You can put it that way. My right arm was eaten, so were my eyes, and my tongue as well. The reason why I can exist like this, why I can communicate with you now, is because of Kaoru's diary.So pitiful.The vigilance in his heart had not been completely eliminated, but Ye Zun began to slowly walk over. He saw that the stone table under the cherry blossom tree was piled with various diary notebooks.The cherry blossom tree trunks were like gravestones, the stone tables and chairs like offering altar, and these diaries were the offerings.No matter what the girl is, so far, she really has no intention of attacking me, and is also trying to avoid scaring me. Maybe I can get some clues.Do you know, Kaoru will die?The girl was silent for a while, then spoke with a feeble and calm voice, I can probably guess. Can you tell me how Kaoru will die? Is it being eaten by the ghost in the end? After refusing that girl's invitation to escape together, I think this won't be the way to die.Ye Zun squatted beside her. I'm also not certain yet, I'm constantly investigating. But, at the beginning, when Kaoru left you and ran away with Mama, leaving you to be slowly eaten by the ghost, do you really not resent him?En, I'm resentful. Spoken calmly and rationally, an answer without the slightest emotion.Ye Zun: I resent Kaoru. Only in this way can Kaoru live a good life, so I will always be resentful.Ye Zun let out a soft noise. I don't quite understand. Why do you resent your Gege, so your Gege can live a good life? Can it be that hatred and resentment are a special blessing?The girl slowly raised her head, quietly watching' him with eyes covered by bloody bandages: Even looking at close range, Ye Zun didn't feel scared at all. He just couldn't help feeling a slight pity.He softened his voice without being aware he was doing so. Can you tell me where the other girl in this family is? Your Mama should have another daughter, I don't know if she's your Jiejie or Meimei. Or, maybe there is no such person at all, and it's always been you?The girl just looked' at him quietly like this: Ye Zun sighed lightly. If no such a girl exists at all, it is probably youba. The little girl I saw cooking in the kitchen on Monday morning, was that you?If the little girl has been living in this home from beginning to end, no matter what kind of twisted and special method she is using to keep existing, then the time and extent of this home being invaded by ghosts may be earlier than I thought.The girl still didn't answer, just quietly watching' Ye Zun.Did you know that Mama died? It was about last weekend night, probably by the uncle who lives with her. But, that man should also be dead. I'm not sure which one of the two died first, and who that man-eating ghost is attached to.When Ye Zun mentioned these two people, the girl was visibly frightened, hugging her knees and burying her head, trying her best to reduce her sense of existence, as if to avoid being found by something scary.Ye Zun looked at her with pity, and his tone became even more friendly. I also read Nogawa Kaoru's diary, and your Gege was also very scared, thinking that he would be eaten this time. But he didn't want to run away this time. He wanted to kill that ghost. Because of this, he didn't run away with the girl with the cherry blossom hair clip. However, he probably still failed in the end and didn't get to escape his fate.The girl shivered slightly and slowly raised her buried head.Ye Zun said softly, Right now, I'm doing the same thing as your Gege, trying to catch the ghost, find the source, and find a way to kill it for good. By doing so, I can live, and all the other little girls will no longer be ambushed by that kind of ghost in their own home and be eaten bit by bit. Can you help me? Even just by giving a little hint.The girl looked directly' at Ye Zun through the bleeding bandage. Her voice spoke with reasoning, I understand. Now, you are the equivalent of Kaoru.Ye Zun looked back at her and nodded. You can put it that way.So, you didn't actually find out? the girl said.Ye Zun couldn't keep up with her thoughts. Find out what?There is indeed a girl in this family, that ghost's prey. But she has been thoroughly hidden.Ye Zun opened his eyes wide. He had already made preparations for the admission that the girl doesn't even exist, but was there really such a person?Where is she hiding?The girl hesitated, lifting her only intact left arm, and slowly pointed at Ye Zun; pointing behind Ye Zun.She is hidden, behind you.Ye Zun's pupils dilated despondently. His whole body froze, and a chill crawled up from his back.Even if he knew that the girl was a human, having something hidden behind you, even if the other person is a human, hearing it was still too terrifying.He held his breath, his eyes following the direction the girl's finger was pointing at, and his pupils were further filled with horrorHe saw the house's living room, and he saw himself.Standing in front of the coffee table in the living room, there was a young man with a remote control in his hand, restraining his anxiety. It was Ye Zun, who had just entered the instance on the weekend night.The TV seems to be broken, so I turned it off.The woman who was chopping the meat stood at the door of the kitchen with a bloody kitchen knife. I'm making ribs, dinner will be ready soon. Go and do your homeworkba.The woman who was driven to distraction wasn't looking directly at Ye Zun who was standing in front of the coffee table, but at a half-transparent figure appearing diagonally behind Ye Zun.The figure nodded, and then, like a second shadow from Ye Zun's body, followed him to the bedroom step by step.Ye Zun's body disappeared within the bedroom, but the translucent figure stopped at the door and did not disappear.Then a new scene appeared in another corner. It was the woman standing at the door, asking Ye Zun to eat.When Ye Zun was walking out, another figure began to appear faintly visible, looming behind him. Using Ye Zun to hide itself, they walked out the door together and stopped in front of the coffee table.A new scene came up again in another place. It was the three of them eating around the coffee table in the living room.The rude and completely unfamiliar Shen Yuan occupied the sofa domineeringly.While the woman devoured the food, she took time to put meat in the empty bowl next to her, and pushed towards the vacant spot beside her.Leave some for your Meimei.Looking closely, there was a misty figure under the dim light.When Ye Zun stood up and returned to the bedroom, the figure was still sitting there, motionless.Monday night's scene appeared in a new corner.The woman timidly knocked on the door and entered the bedroom.With fear in her bewildered eyes, she shrank her shoulders and said in a low voice, Mum will tell you a secret. I found out that, your dead dad, he was resurrected on your big brother.However, her out-of-focus eyes were not facing Ye Zun in front of her, but the space between Ye Zun and her.There stood a vague shadow, and the shadow stepped forward and held the woman's hand and shoulders, as if to comfort her not to be scared.The woman's haggard and old face was numb and dazed, and her eyes were timid. She did not stare at Ye Zun, but looked at something between Ye Zun and herself. You will protect Mama, right?That vague shadow stepped forward and hugged her.After the woman walked out, the vague shadow did not fade away. It just stayed with Ye Zun, staying in that small bedroom.One scene after another appeared and disappeared, but the figures hidden behind Ye Zun did not fade. Instead, they stood there like puppets. Looking carefully, as time went by, the figures that appeared grew more solid little by little.Ye Zun couldn't help but take a half step back, looking at the scene from another perspective in surprise, as well as the increasingly clear figures that gradually filled his field of vision.What's going on? She's been with me all the time? Buthow is this possible? If she's a living person, how could I not have noticed her hiding behind me?The conversation with Shen Yuan flashed through his mind.How many girls are there in the family?Just one.Are you sure?Going by Mum's word, there is only one daughterYe Zun's eyes slowly widened. He was more than surprised, and suddenly came to realise the truth.Nogawa Kaoru's name Ye Zun who felt that the size of the uniform was too small, even as a part-time model that had to be excessively skinny The girls' underwear in the bedroomWhy didn't I think of this?The girl looked' at Ye Zun and said calmly, My Mama has only one child, only one daughter.It's starting. Suddenly, the girl stretched out her only intact left hand and pulled Ye Zun, retreating to hide under the cherry blossom tree trunk.Ye Zun: What is?He followed the girl's line of sight' and looked forward.Countless afterimages of Nogawa Kaoru, from translucent to a vaguely solid figure, began to walk, and a new Nogawa Kaoru would appear at the spot where they were before every step.A child, a teenager, an adult, an elderly, Nogawa Kaoru of all ages.They were discarded' at every moment, coming into being everywhere, standing in place, unmoving.Ropes hung down from the cherry blossom trees, and then, each Nogawa Kaoru voluntarily stuffed their heads and necks into the ropes. They were hung up one by one, instinctively but weakly struggling in the air, then silently slaughtered, being strangled inch by inch, an excruciatingly painful process of suffocation. And then they became dead bodies, hanging densely on the endless cherry blossom tree.Just like Ye Zun's nightmare back then.Don't be scared, it will be over soon. The girl's quiet and calm voice was devoid of emotion.Ye Zun looked at her. Does this kind of thing happen often here?En, on average, it happens at every moment; every day in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening. This is the last one for today before it turns dark.Why is this happening?The girl's calm voice revealed no obvious mercy. Because it's too painful. Every time, when the pain becomes too extreme, Kaoru would kill one of herself like this. With how many Kaoru's killed, you can know how much pain she is in at this moment.What kind of pain is it, to kill yourself so many countless times in this way?I don't know. It should be very, very painfulba.Ye Zun looked at her. How about you? Will you also be killed like this?She paused, and denied seriously. No, I am different. I am the executioner for the perpetrator.That man is very fierce, and is very impatient with little kids and Mama, his wife. But occasionally, he is suddenly very nice to Kaoru. Kaoru is very scared of him, and is very obedient in front of him, not even daring to moveThe first time Kaoru was attacked by the ghost, Kaoru didn't even know what it meant, she was just instinctively scared and wanted to hide. But, the ghost turned into Baba, and her house became a scary place, and she had nowhere to hide.The ghost even wanted to eat Mama, but fortunately, Mama decisively took Kaoru and ran away.But there is not only one ghost of this kind in the world. Not knowing when, the ghost entered the new home. By this time, Kaoru is already thirteen years old. She has grown up, and even though she doesn't know what it is when she sees the ghost, she still remembers all the memories of being attacked in the past. Because she understands what it means to be attacked by the ghost, her fear began to create sleepless nights. But at that time, Mama unknowingly had her feet eaten by a ghost, losing the ability to take her away again.In order not to be found and eaten by the ghost, she needs to hide herself, just as she did when she was a child.But no matter where she hides, the ghost will not let her go, and the festering wound she received from being bitten will also gradually turn her into a ghost.To be able to hide completely, so, I came into being.I died before her seventh birthday, and was reborn on the day she grew up.My name, is also called Kaoru.I have all her wounds on my body.I exist in her diary. Because she can't see the ghost, my eyes are eaten; because she can't write the ghost's name, the right arm I use to write is eaten; because she can't speak of the ghost's existence, I don't have a tongue. She still has legs, but her feet are wrapped chains, and the other end is around Mama's neck.In order for her to keep her legs, Mama's legs were eaten.In order to hide and not be found by the ghost, Nogawa Kaoru became a boy.In order for Kaoru to live, in order to thoroughly hide Kaoru, he' will always remember when Mama escaped with Kaoru. That little girl who was attacked by the ghost, iz me, his Meimei who is trapped in the grave with the ghost forever.He' will always feel guilty towards me, and will always remember that it was his Meimei who was eaten by ghosts, that he' was a silent accomplice. Through the guilt towards me, he' will come and endure every dark night where ghosts linger by his' side.And I will always resent him', resent the Gege who ran away and left me alone. Only his' guilt and my persistent resentment can hide him' for longer, and a little longer after that. It's better never to open your eyes, to never to find out.Every time the wound that was bitten by the ghosts festers and breaks out in pain, he' has to regard it as punishment for him' abandoning and betraying me, from the hatred towards himself' as an accomplice and from my resentment towards him'. In this way, I can completely hide her.I will always exist in the diary like a shadow, resenting him'. Only Nogawa Kaoru, who is being slaughtered at every moment, and my persistent resentment towards him' can keep her alive.The cherry blossom tree that slaughtered everything is Nogawa Kaoru.The dying wind trying to escape from here in vain is Nogawa Kaoru.The numb ghost hanging from the tree is Nogawa Kaoru.The disintegrated statue of the deity is Nogawa Kaoru.The countless bodies buried in the branches and leaves of the cherry blossoms, are also Nogawa Kaoru.This is Nogawa Kaoru's graveyard. The murderer's name is also Nogawa Kaoru.She can only steadily kill herself, resent herself, to sustain herself until she opens her eyes at dawn and live after the calamity. My dear, if you can't save me, just kill me, or, let me kill you. The author has something to say:Nogawa Kaoru's name, the girls' undergarment in the bedroom, the Meimei who never shows up.Someone guessed it from the beginning. Correct, Nogawa Kaoru is that girl.In the original plan, this part should be written before V, but, let's put it after V, so that those who can see Nogawa Kaoru's pain are probably those who can empathise with her.T/N: V as in the VIP paid chapters
