Chapter 1 "Fujimura Masumi's Illusion?"

Wang Congshan fell into thought after hearing Li Ang's description.

"In the secret room of Noh mask craftsman Fujimura Shuhei's house, there should have been six Noh masks hanging, with four positions vacant and only two remaining.

Judging from the number of people in Fujimura Shuhei's family, they were taken away by four family members.

Fujimura Shuhei's wife was taken by a group of people to the Guiquan Well of the Hiratsuka family and killed someone—this group of people is likely to be members of the Hiratsuka family; otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why they could appear openly in the Hiratsuka residence.

The child she killed, because he was wearing the same mask, may have been one of the two Fujimura children."

Wang Congshan roughly sorted out the current clues and slowly said, "Is it possible that the Hiratsuka family has been holding some kind of mysterious ritual for generations to achieve some unknown purpose?

This time, Fujimura Masumi and her child were chosen, but the ritual deviated, causing a disaster.

The entire Hiratsuka family, including the entire En刻 village, was wiped out, and Fujimura Shuhei himself seemed to have turned into a black-haired creature, staying by the well for a long time."

"That's possible, but it doesn't explain the other problems yet."

Li Ang thought for a while and said, "Judging from the clues we have collected, Fujimura Shuhei should not just be an ordinary Noh mask maker. He himself also knew the true secret of En刻 village and had a special status.

That's why there is a secret room on the second floor and a secret passage in the backyard leading to an unknown place.

However, he himself eventually turned into a black-haired monster.

One of the two children of the Fujimura family was probably killed in the ritual, and the other turned into a wandering ghost in the shoe cabinet in the entrance hall of the Fujimura house.

The secret passage was not used.

There are four possibilities:

1. His special status did not spare his family from disaster. His family was chosen by irresistible forces.

2. His special status happened to attract disaster.

3. The disaster came too quickly, so that Fujimura Shuhei, who vaguely sensed it, did not have time to escape with his family."

Wang Congshan frowned and asked, "What is the fourth possibility?"

"Four, is that Fujimura Shuhei knew the consequences of all this, and the current state of En刻 village is also the result of his default or even personal promotion."

Li Ang waved his hand, not getting too entangled in the complicated and chaotic possibilities, "These are just guesses.

The mission objective has been updated, and now it requires us to break the seal of En刻 Shrine, enter the shrine, and explore the shrine.

Let's go."

The Hiratsuka residence is not a good place for a vacation. The two took the human-head lantern and left the residence, heading towards the shrine.

Along the way, Wang Congshan frowned and pondered. After stepping into this script world, she always felt that something was wrong.

The information collected was too fragmented. Now, she finally had a clue to piece all the clues together, but there was always a sense of disharmony.

"What role did Ogasawara Masayuki play in this script mission?"

Wang Congshan said as she walked, "Ogasawara Ayaka and Ogasawara Tetsuya, these twin siblings, were born in October 2002.

Their father, Ogasawara Masayuki, disappeared in 2009.

If he hadn't disappeared, he would be about forty or fifty years old now.

Going back, Ogasawara Masayuki's time of birth should be around the 1970s.

The paper left by that folklorist recorded your so-called Kimoto polishing song, and the song also successfully activated the demonized sake brewery worker in the abandoned room of the Hiratsuka residence.

The folklorist claimed that he had lost his memory, forgot his original identity, and often had headaches—if he was Ogasawara Masayuki, then all of this would make sense.

Ogasawara Masayuki was a resident born in En刻 village. He was only about ten years old when the disaster occurred. For some reason, he survived the disaster that destroyed En刻 village, forgot his original name, and forgot most of his childhood experiences.

Later, he studied folklore. For some reason, he was summoned back to the En刻 village ruins and disappeared ever since.

And Ogasawara Ayaka and Ogasawara Tetsuya also entered the En刻 village area for the same reason and to find their missing father.

Also, if you think about it carefully, although the En刻 village area is large, there are only three specific places to explore: the Fujimura house, the Hiratsuka house, and the En刻 Shrine.

This in itself proves the special nature of the Fujimura house.

In the Fujimura house, the clue that one of the two children is biological and the other is adopted is also implying something..."

Li Ang immediately understood Wang Congshan's meaning and said, "You mean, maybe Ogasawara Masayuki is one of the escaped Yoichi or Ryosuke.

Ogasawara Masayuki's approximate time of birth just corresponds to the two children of the Fujimura family."

"Yes."

Wang Congshan nodded and said, "But there is a problem with this theory.

According to you, Fujimura Masumi did stab the scissors into the body of the child wearing the Noh mask.

The severity of the injury would require a joint consultation by a dozen old Chinese and Western medicine experts to save him.

That child should have died, and died on the spot by the dry well.

Judging from the various ghosts in this world, they are relatively close to earthbound spirits and generally stay where they died and do not run around.

There are two children in the Fujimura family. One died by the well, and the other stayed in the Fujimura house as an earthbound spirit.

It doesn't seem easy to spare a place for Ogasawara Masayuki.

Unless, the one who died by the well was not a child of the Fujimura family.

But this involves another problem—if the ritual must have blood relatives involved, and Fujimura Shuhei specially put a mask on another family's child to protect his own child,

Then what are the Hiratsuka family doing? They wouldn't even take off the mask to check their identity?"

Wang Congshan rubbed her eyebrows and muttered to herself for a while. During the conversation, the two had already walked to the torii gate at the entrance of En刻 Shrine.

Li Ang stood in front of the torii gate, handed the human-head lantern to Wang Congshan, picked up the scissors, and cut the shimenawa rope tied in the middle of the torii gate.

*Click.*

The shimenawa rope, which was previously tough and difficult to destroy, broke in response to the scissors.

Together with the gohei (zigzag paper streamers) on the rope, symbolizing super-doubled holiness, it turned into fly ash and was annihilated in the wind.

*Ohm—*

Almost at the moment the shimenawa rope was destroyed, a long-lasting sound spread and spread along the earth.

The ground beneath the two's feet began to shake slightly, and dozens of long cracks appeared in the road behind them, which ran through the entire En刻 village and covered the hillside.

The tremor that spread throughout the village slowly subsided after a few breaths.

Is this...an earthquake?

Li Ang frowned and looked at the cracks in the road behind him. The Heart Monkey Cudgel he carried with him had the passive effect of quelling natural disasters.

Under the suppression of special effects, geological disasters can still occur in En刻 village...

What exactly happened in this area?

Despite his doubts, the two soon noticed that after the earth tremor, the demonized villagers who had been staying below En刻 village also began to stir.

Some squatted in place and let out bursts of wailing.

Some slammed their heads against the walls and the ground.

Others were restless and attacked each other, fighting each other.

Even more directly broke through the previously existing restrictions and moved up the hillside along the road.

"Let's go."

Li Ang made a decisive decision, picked up the scissors, and crossed the torii gate with Wang Congshan, stepping on the steps and heading straight for the shrine.

En刻 Shrine consists of several buildings, built on the mountainside, covering a vast area, with black tiles and red walls, and lanterns, ema (votive tablets), shimenawa ropes and other common facilities can be seen everywhere.

The most critical main hall has three floors.

Its gate was open, revealing the dark hall on the first floor.

Before stepping into the door, Li Ang smelled a strong musty smell.

In the corner of the spacious hall's floor, there were many piles of bones.

These bones were embracing each other, men and women, old and young.

Although the clothes they wore were covered in dust, they could still be seen as gorgeous or cheap kimonos and ordinary clothes.

Beside some of the bones, there were scattered Noh masks and sake bottles.

The shape of the wine bottle was the same as the Homecoming Sake that Li Ang obtained from the abandoned room.

"These people are of different genders and ages, and there are also mothers holding children."

Wang Congshan slightly covered her mouth and nose, and said in a deep voice: "All the bones are complete, without obvious damage such as sword cuts, and they did not die in war or fighting."

Not dead from fighting, then why were they trapped here?

Did they collectively eat poisonous mushrooms and hallucinate?

Did everyone drink fake wine?

Or...were they abandoned here?

Unlike the Hiratsuka residence or the Fujimura house, the En刻 Shrine was silent, and no trace of ghosts could be found.

The two players carefully searched the entire shrine and pieced together some clues through the ema hanging at the entrance of the shrine.

En刻 Shrine has quite a good reputation. Perhaps because of the promotion of related myths and stories, people from all over the Japanese archipelago come every year to worship the so-called god of destiny, or to pray for blessings, or to ask about marriage and future prospects.

Especially during the En刻 Village Festival, which is held every four years, there will be even more tourists coming to the shrine.

The last ema message was in July 1979, which was exactly the time when the disaster broke out in En刻 Village, and the landmark buildings and villagers collectively disappeared.

"No wonder there are foreigners and even foreigners among the victims in the shrine, in addition to the Hiratsuka family members and En刻 village villagers."

Li Ang groaned and looked at the notice board in front of the shrine gate.

Because it had to receive tourists from all over the world, the notice board was written not only in Japanese, but also in other languages such as English, which listed the precautions for visiting En刻 Shrine.

For example, cameras are not allowed, taking pictures inside the shrine is not allowed, bringing in cigarettes and alcohol without permission is not allowed, keeping quiet is required, and loud noises are not allowed, etc.

In addition, there are some detailed rules.

For example, every four years, the shrine will hold the En刻 Festival, during which free food and drink will be provided, and Noh performances will be held in the main hall of the shrine.

If visitors want to watch the Noh performance, they must follow the rules, wear kimonos, wear Noh masks, drink a sake called Homecoming Sake, and keep quiet throughout the process.

"Homecoming Sake...is it sake brewed with water from the Guiquan Well."

Li Ang groaned. Now it can be determined that the Guiquan Well is the center of all the stories in this script mission.

Everything started because of it.

"The mission objective that the system asked us to explore the shrine and find hidden secrets has not been completed yet."

He glanced at the bones in the corner of the main hall, took a deep breath, took out the bottle of Homecoming Sake from his backpack, and said to Wang Congshan, "If something happens to me later, remember to help me induce vomiting."

"Huh?"

Wang Congshan was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted, "You want to drink this bottle of wine?"

"Yes."

Li Ang nodded indifferently, "These clues have already hinted very clearly: the Noh masks of the Fujimura family, the kimonos worn by the bones scattered in the main hall, and the last bottle of Homecoming Sake obtained from the abandoned room of the Hiratsuka family.

All the factors have been collected.

Since the big face at the entrance of the knot-tying room can become a Buddha and dissipate after drinking Homecoming Sake,

Then if people drink it, there should be some special reaction."

"..."

Wang Congshan lowered her head and thought for a moment, put the human-head lantern on the ground, took the Homecoming Sake from Li Ang's hand, and said calmly, "I'll drink it."

Li Ang frowned, "Now is not the time to be capricious..."

"It's not being capricious,

But rational judgment, logical reasoning, weighing the pros and cons—just like you."

Wang Congshan's eyes flashed with精光 (jing guang, sharp glint), "If Homecoming Sake really has a strong mind-惑 (huo, confuse/delude) effect,

Then after I drink it, you can use Enchantment-type psionic energy to wake me up.

Or use Self-Shaping psionic energy to relieve my injuries.

And if you drink it and fall into an illusion,

I don't have any means to rescue or help you.

Judging from a rational point of view alone, I am more suitable to be the drinker than you.

Secondly,

This script mission restricts personal strength, and the prop I chose is the Rubik's Cube, and the power system is the Planeswalker.

I haven't completely figured out the power of the Planeswalker in the real world, and even if personal strength is not restricted, the power that can be exerted is limited.

In other words, I'm dragging you down."

Wang Congshan turned her palm and took out the Rubik's Cube.

She took a deep breath, manipulated the Rubik's Cube to swallow the pistol on her body,

Then let the Rubik's Cube spit out the assault rifle, grenades, flashbangs, stun grenades, and enchanted bullet magazines stored in the warehouse.

Re-taking these items consumed a lot of Wang Congshan's spiritual energy.

Her face was slightly pale, and she put away the Rubik's Cube and handed the assault rifle and other weapons to Li Ang, and said in a calm voice: "Dragging you down must have the awareness of dragging you down,

Being protected must have the awareness of being protected.

All of these equipment, including this bulletproof vest I'm wearing, are for you—from a probabilistic point of view, this is the best choice to ensure that we all clear the game and survive."

"..."

Li Ang stared into her eyes, and saw the iron-like determination deep in the other person's eyes, and a complex emotion inexplicably rose in his heart.

Sadness, joy, and half a melancholy.

"Okay."

The two have been together for too long, and they don't need to say so much anymore. Li Ang took the weapons and equipment, took the human-head lantern and took half a step back.

Wang Congshan took a slightly nervous deep breath, put her palms together towards the pile of bones in the corner, said "I'm sorry", and then took off the kimono from a female skeleton and put it on herself.

After doing these preparations, she stood in the center of the hall, pried open the stopper of the Homecoming Sake bottle,

Smelling the faint aroma of wine coming from the bottle, she closed her eyes and drank it in one gulp.

*Glug glug glug glug.*

Half a bottle of wine was drunk into her stomach, and Wang Congshan didn't even bother to taste the taste.

She wiped the corners of her mouth and put on the Noh mask from the Fujimura family with the words "Matsuoka" written on it.

One second,

Two seconds.

Nothing happened.

Just as Wang Congshan looked around, wondering why nothing had changed,

She suddenly heard her own dull heartbeats in her ears, and Li Ang in front of her, along with the scene of the main hall, twisted and dissipated.

Her consciousness flowed and stagnated inexplicably for a moment.

Wang Congshan blinked her eyes and shook her head, and found that she was still standing in the main hall, and Li Ang was no longer there.

The shrine gate was open, and the light outside was dim and bright, and fireworks flashed across the sky from time to time, and the sound of fireworks was heard.

Inside the shrine, however, the lights were bright and clean.

The surroundings were full of people wearing Noh masks, wearing kimonos, and even bringing their families,

They were talking to each other, waiting for something.

Wang Congshan looked around. She was wearing dirty kimonos covered in dust, but no one found it strange.

The light of the setting sun outside shone on her body, but did not leave a shadow on the ground.

Wang Congshan thoughtfully realized that she was not in a physical form.

This is still En刻 Shrine,

But it's En刻 Shrine decades ago, on the day of the disaster.

She looked around, and the voices of the visitors around her gradually lowered, replaced by a chaotic drum music.

From the corridors on both sides of the main hall of the shrine, two teams of dancers and musicians wearing Noh masks, wearing kimonos, and with dignified demeanor slowly walked out and entered the center of the main hall.

The En刻 Festival has finally begun.