Chapter 1 The Interrogation

The chief's face alternated between green and purple as he aimed his pistol at the psychologist, whose expression was equally ghastly.

Li Ang concealed himself snugly behind the psychologist and said indifferently, "If the first to discover the death of the Fukugami Hirahara family were two neighbors who frequently visited Yihime Shrine and were highly likely members of the organization, then their priority wouldn't be to report it to the Kageshima City police.

"Although the Yihime Shrine organization is vast and has infiltrated all sectors of Kageshima City, including the sanatorium, directly involving the police would still risk exposure. After all, the festival is fast approaching, and nothing can go wrong.

"The best approach would be to conceal the Fukugami Hirahara family's death and let the organization's professionals handle it, at least until they find Emon Shion, who was destined to be the miko (shrine maiden).

"To that end, they might send a real police chief and a psychologist to conduct the interrogation..."

The chief took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Kawa, perhaps your reasoning is correct. There may indeed be an organization in this city that worships the heavenly maiden Yihime, and they may be responsible for the Fukugami Hirahara family's tragedy.

"However, this is indeed the interrogation room of the Kageshima Prefectural Police Headquarters..."

"If this were truly an interrogation room, armed officers would have already stormed in to subdue me."

Li Ang smiled and said, "Unless, this is a secret stronghold of the Yihime Shrine organization, and the people lying in wait outside aren't well-trained professional police officers, but two or three weak believers.

"Killing them would allow us to leave without hindrance..."

Before the words left his mouth, the chief's face instantly tightened, and he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The bullet spun out of the barrel, tore through the air, crossed the narrow wooden table, and pierced the psychologist's forehead, leaving a trail of blood that grazed Li Ang's hair.

The gunshot sounded muffled and oppressive in the soundproof room. Li Ang violently shoved the psychologist's corpse aside, crouched slightly, and slammed into the wooden table, pushing it toward the chief.

*Thud!*

The middle-aged chief's waist was struck hard by the wooden table corner, and he fell backward, his arm uncontrollably rising upward.

Taking advantage of this opening, Li Ang supported himself on the table with both hands, and, with his feet still tied to the chair, jumped onto the table. Like a breakdancer, he stuck his back to the tabletop and slid horizontally.

His hand deftly grabbed the psychologist's pen from the table, and as his body was about to fall off the edge, he unhesitatingly plunged the pen tip into the chief's eye socket, burying the entire pen.

The chief convulsed violently, instantly losing all strength, and collapsed to the ground.

Li Ang, also falling to the ground, kicked the wooden table over, so the tabletop faced the door.

He snatched the pistol and reached for the handcuff key hanging on the chief's waist.

All this happened in a flash.

The next moment, the interrogation room door was violently kicked open, and three menacing men in plainclothes rushed into the room, guns in hand.

However, they were met with only three gunshots: *bang, bang, bang*.

The three men fell to the ground, each with a bullet hole in their forehead. Li Ang, having unlocked his leg restraints, crouched down and exhaled a long breath.

In his mind, Wanli Fengdao and Xing Hechou silently watched everything unfold. They couldn't interject at all during the previous reasoning, and only Liu Wudai could follow Li Ang's train of thought, explaining the true meaning of the Fukugami Hirahara poem in his mind.

Xing Hechou watched as Li Ang expertly stripped the bulletproof vest and jacket from the dead men and put them on himself, hesitatingly saying, "Brother Li, are you now going to..."

"Find Emon Shion."

Li Ang glanced at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling and said calmly, "This anomalous event began because of her, and it should end because of her as well."

He stood up, walked out from behind the wooden table, picked up the scattered pistols on the ground, and pushed open the interrogation room door.

He found himself in a spacious, dark warehouse. No lights were on, and only a few rays of light filtered through the cracks in the warehouse ceiling.

The sound of ocean waves, bustling voices, mechanical noises, and vehicles driving could be faintly heard outside the warehouse.

Looking back, the so-called "interrogation room" was actually a soundproofed small room built inside the warehouse.

Behind the one-way glass of the interrogation room, there was nothing.

One could even see the "security camera" wires extending from the inside of the ceiling, hanging down to the outside, and connecting to a laptop placed on a small wooden table inside the warehouse.

"Heh."

Li Ang shook his head, took the computer, pulled open the warehouse door, pressed the car key he had taken from one of the gunmen, followed the sound of the horn, and got into the car.

The time was now 3:25 PM.

————

4:17 PM. The rooftop office of the Kageshima City sanatorium, littered with the corpses of guards.

The white-haired院长 (yuanzhang, director) sat pale as paper and trembled in his chair, watching the middle-aged man in front of him with extreme fear, saying in a trembling voice, "What... what have you done..."

"Me? Just cleaned up some trash."

Li Ang smiled as he reloaded his pistol, took off his bloodstained outer jacket, picked up the director's suit from the coat rack,

put it on, and said, "It's also good luck that the festival is almost here.

"The big shots who believe in Yihime Shrine are all here enjoying the 'special services' of the miko (shrine maiden) attendants.

"It's a good opportunity to take them all out in one fell swoop."

The director's face was ashen. He knew very well the terrifying power of those big shots.

He also knew that the other party, who didn't even care about killing people, would definitely not let him go.

Although he knew it, when the moment came, he was still afraid of death.

His teeth chattered incessantly, and his wrinkled face was almost twisted into a ball. Two lines of clear tears welled up in his eyes, so pious and humble that he reached the extreme, "I beg you, I beg you, I don't want to die..."

"Who does?"

Li Ang shook his head and sent a bullet into his forehead.

The gunshot rang out, shaking the glass.

Li Ang leisurely flicked off the bloodstains on the collar of the suit, turned and left the office, came to the corridor, and pushed the wheelchair.

The man in the wheelchair looked somewhat similar to Fukugami Hirahara. It was Fukugami Hideri, but he always wore a carefree, innocent smile on his face.

This cousin of Fukugami Hirahara had already become a foolish, docile cripple due to a frontal lobotomy—

Some of the candidates who failed to be chosen as miko (shrine maiden) of Yihime Shrine would also undergo this kind of surgery to serve as heavenly maidens, receiving the nobles who worshiped the shrine.

Of course, now those nobles and their bodyguards were all lying obediently in the basement, dying miserably and not leaving peacefully.

And the heavenly maidens had all been transferred by Li Ang to another room.

Li Ang pushed the docile, smiling Fukugami Hideri, walked out of the sanatorium reeking of blood, took out his mobile phone, and made a call,

"Hello, Tokyo Broadcasting System? I have a big news story about the Yihime Shrine in Kageshima City... I'll send the list and information to your email later."