Chapter 516
At the foot of the mountain, Mermaid Falls.
Kuroe Naoko has always carefully followed Master Lin's advice of "don't move around" and stayed with other tourists honestly, waiting for Master Lin to return from the mountain survey.
The night is getting darker and darker, and fewer and fewer people are staying here to watch the excitement.
There seemed to be countless demons lurking in the dark night, and the mist in the mountains seemed to be soaked in thick blood.
The tragic deaths of Kadowaki Saori and Ebihara Hisumi kept flashing in her mind, and Kuroe Naoko felt more and more uneasy, so much so that she broke out in a cold sweat.
finally
She brought Master Lin back.
But Master Lin and his party who came down from the mountain were a little strange:
Each one of them looked disgraced, their clothes were torn and torn, and looked as dirty as the war damage in Syria.
Master Lin, and his dark and handsome student, didn't know why they failed.
Judging from the large dried blood stains on their hands, it seemed that the injuries were not serious.
Didn’t the master take people up the mountain to investigate?
How could it be injured?
The mountain is not high, and the mountain road is not difficult to walk.
The road from the bottom of the waterfall to the upper reaches of the waterfall is not far.
It's not like all four of them fell down together and fell like this, right?
The possibility of an accident is too small.
Therefore, Miss Heijiang, who was already suspicious, couldn't help but start to expand her thoughts in the direction of metaphysics.
She first thought of the relocated "Mermaid Tomb" according to the island's legend, which was in the mountains behind the Mermaid Falls, near where Master Lin just went.
Then she thought about the legendary reason why Master Lin visited the American Island this time. It was because he sensed the tragedy that was about to happen on the island from a distance, so he came to fight with the mermaid.
Let’s look at the miserable state of Master’s body now.
Could it be
Could it be that Master Lin has already physically communicated with Lord Mermaid?
Is that why he was so seriously injured in the mountains?
The more Naoko Kuroe thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Looking along this line of thought again, the situation of Lin Xinyi and others becomes even more wrong:
Lin Xinyi was seriously injured.
And the one named Hattori Heiji was not only injured, but his mental state was also somewhat abnormal.
I saw him following Yuanshan and Miss Ye leisurely, mumbling something as if he wanted to say something, but he made no sound at all.
The two of them were very close to each other, but their faces were turned outward at 90 degrees.
It's like being afraid of seeing the other person's eyes.
Their expressions were extremely complicated, sometimes happy, sometimes confused, sometimes scared.
No one spoke, no physical contact, not even eye contact.
But after walking a few steps, the two men would inexplicably curl their lips into a weird smile.
The smile is quite obscene.
"They are."
Kuroe Naoko was very frightened:
"Possessed?"
Master Lin's two disciples were both possessed.
It seems that they really encountered something "dirty" in the mountains.
"Master." Naoko Kuroe stepped forward nervously: "What happened in the mountain just now?"
Lin Xinyi did not answer.
He simply looked around and asked:
"Where's Miss Shimabukuro Kimie? She's not here?"
"If the festival can't be held, June will go back to the shrine first."
"Do you have anything to do with Jun Hui?"
"Well" Lin Xinyi shook his head: "It's nothing."
After saying that, he closed his mouth and looked at Kuroe Naoko in front of him in silence.
The silence made her feel nervous.
And under Master Lin's meaningful gaze, goosebumps suddenly appeared on her body.
"Master, here, what happened."
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
Kuroe Naoko swallowed nervously.
But Lin Xinyi sighed with a complicated expression:
"That's alright. Miss Heijiang, you go home first."
"never mind."
"Is everything okay?" Kuroe Naoko couldn't believe it: "Is everything okay?"
"Yes." The master patted her shoulder pleasantly: "It's really okay."
"Just go home with peace of mind, watch your favorite movies, and read your favorite books."
"If you still have time, let's eat something good."
Naoko Kuroe: "."
"Master, you."
"Are you sure I'm okay?"
Her voice trembled.
Master Lin did not answer her question directly this time. He just asked himself:
"Oh, right."
"Are you living alone now, or?"
"My family members all work outside the island, and I, I live alone." Kuroe Naoko's tone became more and more nervous: "Master, does this, does this have any impact?"
"No, it has no impact."
"It's good to live alone. If you live alone, at least you won't disturb your family."
Naoko Kuroe: "."
She heard it.
The master is giving himself a death notice.
"No, Master, Master, please save me!"
"I still have some savings. I can give you money."
She asked the master incoherently for help.
But it's different from the ordinary master who meets you and tells you that you have a bloody disaster, and then immediately helps you to lose money and eliminate the disaster.
Master Lin only issued death notices and did not accept any business at all.
This kind of master who doesn’t need money is the scariest thing.
"No, don't look for me."
"It's no use looking for me."
Lin Xinyi shook his head solemnly:
"Miss Heijiang, this is your own fault, isn't it?"
"I" Naoko Kuroe was speechless for a moment.
Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her body was shaking like chaff.
But even though she was so scared, after some entanglement and struggle, she still refused to tell the secret hidden in her heart.
She just desperately begged the master for help, hoping that Lin Xinyi would see her pity and help her.
"That's enough." Master Lin shouted softly with a cold face. "I can't save you."
"Don't even think about escaping, that will only make things worse."
"Go home—"
"Whether you can survive this disaster depends on you."
As he said that, he suddenly broke away from Kuroe Naoko's hold on his arm.
Then, just like the master outside the world on TV, he led the few disciples around him who were responsible for creating the atmosphere, coldly and ruthlessly. Just walked away.
Only an elusive silhouette remains.
"Master, save me. Save me!"
Kuroe Naoko's body trembled and she collapsed to the ground.
She finally fell into despair.
At 12 o'clock in the night, Naoko Kuroe's home.
Although it was already midnight, the two-story building was still brightly lit.
As if they were afraid that the electricity bill would be too low this month, the lights in every room in the house were turned on brightly, and the volume of the TV and radio was turned up to the highest level.
Even hair dryers, vacuum cleaners, and even front-loading washing machines are all rumbling at full power.
The atmosphere in the room was very lively.
But this still couldn't dispel the endless silence outside the house.
Kuroe Naoko's home is on the edge of the village, with almost no neighbors nearby.
When you walk out the door, there is only an old street lamp with dim light. If you go further, you will be in darkness.
And right now.
A shadow quietly flashed out of the darkness.
The black shadow quietly walked towards Heijiang's house, carrying a medium-sized tool bag on his body.
Naoko Kuroe who was in the room didn't even notice the dark figure approaching.
The shadow came through the darkness.
It stood quietly outside Heijiang's house, as if peering into the situation inside, or stopping to think about something.
After a long time, it reached out to the tool bag it was carrying.
The shadow seems to be finally taking action.
But
"well."
A soft sigh sounded in the darkness behind it.
"You are indeed here."
"Ms. Shimabukuro Kimie."
Black Shadow, or Shimabukuro Kimie, her figure suddenly trembled, and her expression became complicated.
At this time, she had already changed out of her previous miko uniform.
Instead, he put on a sportswear that is convenient for movement.
This simple and smart sportswear takes away a bit of quiet elegance from this miko lady, but adds a lot of youthful vitality.
But the tool bag she was carrying gave her a sneaky air out of thin air.
Hiding in a dark place with a bag in the middle of the night is even more fascinating.
Now that his whereabouts were suddenly broken, Shimabukuro Kimie instinctively showed panic.
In the deathly silence, she turned back with a complicated expression:
"Mr. Lin, is that you?"
The person who came was none other than Lin Xinyi.
And there is far more than one person coming.
In addition to Lin Shinichi, there are also two of his students, Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha.
And except for the three of them, surprisingly
Several older elders on the island were also there.
They looked at Shimabukuro Kime with complicated expressions.
There were a few strange men following him, like tourists from out of town.
But the pistols and handcuffs on their waists still revealed their identities:
"These are police officers sent by the Fukui Prefectural Police."
"They just arrived on the island by boat, so I called them over."
"As for these local elders, I specially invited them here."
Lin Xinyi explained the situation simply.
"You" Shimabukuro Junhui's expression suddenly changed.
In the end, he quietly became calm and natural: "Mr. Lin, what exactly do you want to say?"
"Did you call the police and these uncles here because they have something to do with Heijiang?"
She pretended to be stupid in a nonchalant tone.
And Lin Xinyi didn't give any clue.
He just sighed slightly and turned to look at the brightly lit Heijiang house in front of him:
"Don't be nervous, Ms. Shimabukuro."
"I asked everyone to come here just to be a witness."
"Witness?" Shimabukuro Kime's eyes moved slightly: "Witness what?"
"Witness the truth."
"the truth."
Shimabukuro Kimie muttered these two words.
But this time there was no question mark.
Because she already knew in her heart what the "truth" Lin Xinyi was going to say.
"It all started with the fire three years ago."
Witnessed by the local elderly and county police officers, Lin Xinyi slowly began to "sing":
"There was a fire in the shrine warehouse three years ago, and a middle-aged woman died in the fire."
"Because the body was found without any lower legs, it sparked the legend of the 'mermaid corpse' that later shocked the country."
"But Ms. Shimabukuro."
"You should know very well that the deceased was not a 'mermaid' at all."
"She's just an ordinary middle-aged woman, and she's your mother."
Lin Xinyi told the truth about that year.
Shimabukuro Kimie was a little surprised.
She was not surprised that Lin Xinyi knew the truth, but she was surprised that when Lin Xinyi told the shocking truth, the local elders present were not shocked at all.
Have they already heard this from Mr. Lin in advance?
Or.
Is the opposite true?
"The information about Mr. Lin came from us."
"We already knew that."
The local elders sighed deeply.
They looked at Shimabukuro Kime with shame on their expressions:
"We knew earlier that the longevity mother-in-law was played by your mother."
"After the shrine fire three years ago, when we heard from the county police that the deceased was a middle-aged woman, we realized that something might have happened to your mother."
"Jun Hui, we originally planned to announce the truth and build a tomb for your mother in a serious manner."
"But seeing you working so hard to play the longevity mother-in-law, we..."
These elders hesitated to speak.
Because no matter what high-sounding reasons they find, others can see at a glance the real reason why these people hide the truth:
They hope that the "longevity mother-in-law" will continue to exist.
The American island also needs this specialty tourism industry.
Shimabukuro Kimie is helping everyone in the village make money.
But Shimabukuro Kimie herself still volunteers.
No salary, no dividends, selfless dedication.
Of course the villagers are happy to see this kind of pie-in-the-sky good thing happen.
Moreover, if an ordinary master or goddess gained a reputation like "longevity mother-in-law", she would probably have made a fortune and made countless fortunes long ago.
The next step is to race horses, enclose land, build houses and mansions in the village, and become a powerful squire in the village that everyone respects.
If the master himself had some business acumen, some basic operations for entrepreneurs would be indispensable:
First, use your own financial advantages to buy land, hills, restaurants and buildings on the American Island, and then expand your business territory step by step, gradually monopolizing the island's catering, accommodation, tourism, and transportation.
In the end, the American island became the private domain of the "Shimabukuro Family", and the Mermaid Legend became the copyrighted IP of the "Shimabukuro Group".
He was promoted from an ordinary person to a Brahmin, and the villagers were transformed from "partners" into stinky wage earners.
At that time, everyone in the village will have to work for her.
After giving up my life, I still have to thank Mr. Shimabukuro for the meal.
Not like now
All the money went to the villagers.
But he didn’t even say thank you.
Over time, some people even got used to Shimabukuro Kimie's dedication and felt that her dedication was taken for granted.
"sorry"
Several elders bowed and apologized to this junior in shame:
"We've put you through so much all these years on your own."
"Miss Junhui, we all owe you a thank you!"
"." Shimabukuro Kimi was silent for a while.
It turns out that everyone knows the truth, but they hide it.
Thank you, but it was three years late.
This was a little hard for her to accept.
But Shimabukuro Kimie quickly adjusted back.
Thinking that she had volunteered to serve her hometown from the beginning, she didn't expect to get anything in return.
Although the reaction of the villagers in the past three years was somewhat disappointing, Shimabukuro finally chose to accept it.
Because good people deserve to be held at gunpoint.
Human nature has always been like this.
It's always been like this.
She understands and
"That's not the focus of today."
Shimabukuro Kime looked at Lin Xinyi with complicated eyes:
"Yes, the person who died three years ago was my mother."
"I also play the role of the longevity mother-in-law."
"Mr. Lin, I lied in front of you before and obstructed your investigation."
"so."
She paused slightly and took the initiative to point out the topic:
"So you're starting to doubt me, right?"
"Yeah." Lin Xinyi nodded calmly.
He continued unhurriedly:
"Since then, I have begun to suspect that there is something hidden behind the old fire case three years ago."
"And the bloody words in Kadowaki Saori's house also mentioned the 'fire of sin'."
"Coupled with the extremely abnormal performances of Hisumi Eirahara and Naoko Kuroe."
"After some testing, I can basically confirm:"
"The three of them are related to your mother's death that year."
As soon as Lin Xin said these words, he looked at Shimabukuro Kime deeply.
But this miko lady was not nervous.
She even continued Lin Xinyi's words calmly:
"So you suspect that the three of them killed my mother."
"And in order to avenge my mother, I killed Kadowaki Saori and Ebihara Hisumi one after another."
"But I didn't expect that Saori would send you a letter of distress to Mr. Lin before she was alive, so much so that she would invite the best police officer in Tokyo, my idol, in front of me."
"So you easily saw through my plan."
"And judging that my revenge will not stop there."
"So Mr. Lin, you called these policemen to squat secretly in front of Heijiang's house, waiting to catch me when I do something -"
"Right?"
Shimabukuro Kimie spoke calmly.
The tone is calm and natural, but does not make people feel provocative.
She just thought about it and asked very puzzledly:
"But are you too impatient, Mr. Lin?"
"I just arrived at the door of Naoko's house, but I haven't done anything yet."
"If you try to stop me now, what can you prove?"
"Or have you found other evidence that is enough to prove that I am the murderer?"
"Or are you sure that what I have in this tool bag is the murder weapon that killed Saori and Shou Mei?"
Shimabukuro Kimie looked over in confusion:
"Mr. Lin, I am your loyal fan."
"If I were really the murderer, I would not make such a stupid mistake of not handling the blood stains on the murder weapon."
"No, you don't have to defend yourself, Ms. Shimabukuro."
Lin Xinyi shook his head surprisingly:
"Because I'm not here to catch you at all."
"I'm here to help you complete your plan."