Running Into a Ghost

They arrived safely at Yamaga Shrine. The shrine belonged to a local family that had been running it for two generations. It was not large, and the deity it enshrined was merely some nameless god from local folklore.

Nowadays, it functioned more as a tourist attraction, drawing plenty of people who came to experience nature with its unspoiled surroundings. The shrine also occasionally provided lodging for visitors who had come from afar.

Shen Yuanyi and the seven men and women arrived at the shrine's Torii Gate. Bathed in soft moonlight, the ancient gate stood in the middle of the road. Much of its vermilion paint had peeled away, and cracks ran across its surface. Year after year, it had faithfully reminded every person about to pass beneath it that the land ahead was sacred, and that those entering the path to meet the gods should do so with piety and reverence.

Quite a few of the seven believed in such things, and they offered sincere prayers before the Torii Gate. From their conversations along the way, Shen Yuanyi had gained a basic understanding of the three men and four women. They were coworkers from a small internet-related company, and the man named Shu Jun was their boss.

They had grown tired of team-building dinners in bustling cities and had originally planned to visit this somewhat famous scenic spot for fun. However, an accident on the road had delayed them for a long time, forcing them to arrive at night.

Unexpectedly, they had run into Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro along the way. Fortunately, once they got a good look at the pair, their fear had faded. Two handsome young boys were far more reassuring than encountering some vicious-looking burly men at a time like this, even if the two of them were rather strange.

They assumed the pair were just young people who had come here to explore. Hadn't there been young people who came here on an expedition, disappeared, and ended up in the news? That had even drawn more people to the place.

In their eyes, Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro were probably that sort of person. After passing through the Torii Gate, they had only walked a few steps before spotting lights in the distance.

"Do you think they'll refuse to take us in because it's so late?"

One of the women voiced this concern. Shrines and temples generally had designated visiting hours. Some allowed nighttime visits, but it was already 9:37 p.m. In a city, the nightlife might not even have begun yet, but in a place so far removed from the concrete jungle, it was quite late.

Still, they were almost at their destination. They could hardly pour cold water over themselves now. Her companions reassured her that it would be fine. Their situation was an emergency, and there was nowhere else nearby to stay. The shrine would surely take them in.

Fortunately, they did not encounter the worst-case scenario. When the people of Yamaga Shrine saw their flashlight beams from afar, they came out to receive them.

He was an enthusiastic middle-aged man. According to him, he was the chief priest of Yamaga Shrine, Akashino Hiko. His son had noticed lights on the mountain road in the distance and informed him, so he had come to see whether tourists had arrived late at night. As it turned out, they had.

After warmly leading everyone into the shrine, his wife prepared hot tea and snacks to ward off the winter night's chill. The shivering group gladly sat down and thanked Akashino Hiko and his wife.

"You two, please have a seat as well."

Akashino Hiko smiled as he invited Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro. The two lightly dressed youths showed no sign of being cold, which drew a little more of his attention. He was especially interested in the swords they carried. With his broad experience, he could tell they were genuine blades, though he had no idea whether they had been sharpened.

If not for their appearances, as well as the obvious fact that they were separate from the other seven traveling with them, he might not have been willing to receive them. Once the two youths thanked him, sat down, and began drinking tea, he saw that the large dog was gentle and quiet. His wife also seemed to like the dog very much. Only then did he sit across from them and begin chatting with everyone amiably.

In truth, he was probing for their backgrounds and why they had come here so late at night. After receiving satisfactory answers, Akashino Hiko relaxed considerably. He was naturally warm and sociable, and before long, he was chatting happily with everyone.

He also thanked them for coming. According to him, ever since a nearby forest had vaguely begun gaining a reputation as a suicide spot, the shrine had become less and less popular. After he had once called the police about missing explorers, the incident made the news, and even fewer people came afterward.

"People online say there's a serial killer or ghosts hurting people. They can just blurt out irresponsible nonsense, but I'm the one suffering for it. This place originally attracted visitors because it was peaceful and far from the city. But now that it's been given a horror label, fewer and fewer people come. It's driving me crazy."

Akashino Hiko complained, though the occasional tourist who did not care about such rumors still came by, such as the people before him. After everyone finished their hot tea and thanked him again for the delicious snacks, Akashino Hiko led them to the guest rooms.

He said it was getting late, and that he would show them around the shrine and the surrounding scenery tomorrow. There were plenty of vacant rooms. Shen Yuanyi and Megumi Fushiguro had arrived together, so they were naturally assigned one room, while the other seven were left to arrange themselves.

The room was fairly tidy, clearly cleaned on a regular basis. The toiletries and such were disposable and could be replaced. Megumi Fushiguro looked at Shen Yuanyi, who clearly had no intention of sleeping, and asked, "Do you have something planned next?"

Shen Yuanyi replied casually, "I'm going to take a look at that suicide spot. None of us were attacked by any possible curses on the way here, and neither White Wolf nor I found any trace of a curse before. Your Divine Dogs didn't find anything either, right? So I want to check out the site of the incidents."

Megumi Fushiguro nodded. Earlier, he had sent out the Divine Dogs to scout the area, but they had found no trace of curses either. Hearing Shen Yuanyi's plan, he said, "Then I'll come with you."

But Shen Yuanyi refused instead. "No need. I'll be back soon. Based on the information, that place probably isn't where the curse is anyway. I'm only going to take a look while I'm at it."

Then he took Dojigiri and Kumo-kiri, left the room, and vanished into the night. Megumi Fushiguro looked at White Wolf lying on the floor, said, "Good night," to it, then prepared to say a few words to Sister before going to sleep.

Like a ghost, Shen Yuanyi arrived at a dense forest east of the shrine. The many warning signs and placards outside urging people to cherish life told him that he had found the right place.

The darkness of the woods posed no obstacle to his eyes. As Shen Yuanyi headed deeper into the forest, he carefully sensed for any aura of curses. Most of the trees had withered, their leaves and branches fallen away. Beneath the faint moonlight, their limbs stretched toward the sky like gaunt claws reaching up from the earth.

After going more than halfway in, Shen Yuanyi stopped at a certain spot. He crouched down and examined the traces around him, initially judging that this was where those people had ended their lives. The police had likely already come and dealt with the scene.

But that was not what drew Shen Yuanyi's attention. It was the extremely faint aura of a curse here, as well as traces showing that someone else had been active here quite recently. Shen Yuanyi raised his guard slightly and continued forward.

"Boohoohoo..."

A resentful, indistinct sob suddenly drifted through the dark woods, enough to make anyone's hair stand on end. Yet Shen Yuanyi showed not the slightest panic upon hearing it. Instead, he immediately activated his technique and rushed toward the sound. Once the view opened up, Shen Yuanyi drew Dojigiri and saw a scene that left him with an unreadable expression.

There was no female ghost or cursed spirit. Shen Yuanyi only saw three men in a clearing. One of them knelt on the ground, seemingly muttering something under his breath. Salt, bells, and Talismans were placed before him, but none of that was the important part. The most conspicuous thing was the stand set up on the ground in front of him, with a phone mounted on it.

One of the two men beside him held a camera on his shoulder, filming the scene. Shen Yuanyi's remarkable eyesight even allowed him to see the image on the phone screen. If he was not mistaken... was he livestreaming?

Shen Yuanyi sighed and put away Dojigiri. He had thought he had found a curse, but it was only a paranormal livestreamer riding the hype surrounding this place. They were even a team, and... they were faking it.

That was because Shen Yuanyi found the source of the resentful crying nearby: a recorder buried beneath fallen leaves. Paranormal content like this was strictly controlled online, but it was impossible to openly legislate against it, since ghosts and gods were considered illusory by most people.

If the authorities made it too obvious, it might produce the opposite effect. They could only keep such things under subtle control. Yet sometimes, the more something was banned, the more popular it became. Matsuki Yuya was a streamer who had achieved a certain degree of success in this field.

Thanks to his excellent acting and cleverly constructed scripts, even though his fans likely knew that most of his paranormal investigations were scripted performances, the horror they sometimes delivered still captivated them, bringing Matsuki Yuya considerable traffic.

This place, which had recently appeared in the news, caught his attention at just the right time. After making preparations, he came here with a tragic love story between himself and a female ghost, then began the livestream. They had just reached a minor climax, and his companions had arranged the crying sound to match his performance, directly pushing the livestream's atmosphere to new heights.

"Is there a figure behind him?"

"Streamer, streamer! Turn around! Yoshiko has appeared!"

"Oh my god, is there really a ghost?"

"It's definitely someone or a prop the streamer arranged. You people, where would a ghost come from?"

Matsuki Yuya glanced at the scrolling comments on the screen and frowned. It was not time for "Yoshiko's appearance" yet. Had something gone wrong? I'm definitely docking their pay! He casually raised his eyes, intending to warn his assistants, but saw the frightened expressions on both of their faces. The one responsible for setting up props stared wide-eyed behind him, his mouth hanging open without a sound coming out.

Matsuki Yuya could even see how his trembling legs made his whole body sway. Perhaps that was the only reason he had not turned and fled. The assistant operating the camera was no better off, nearly unable to hold on to it.

When did their acting get so good?

A fine layer of cold sweat had already covered his back. He tried desperately to stop himself from thinking in another direction, but his thoughts inevitably slid toward that abyss. With his neck stiff, he stared straight at the comments on the screen. Behind his kneeling figure in the dark woods shown on-screen, there seemed to be a shadow standing there.