102. Torii Gate, Corridor
It was just after nightfall, and the bamboo forest, shrouded in twilight, was quiet and secluded.
A babbling brook meanders deep into the forest, where something seems to be watching the human world from beneath the dim, swaying shadows. The chirping of insects and the calls of some other creature form the main melody of the forest, but sometimes, silence envelops everything.
Lu Ban looked at the night sky. Under the light mist, it was almost impossible to see any constellations. Only a few stars shone stubbornly.
The Moon was hidden deeper in the clouds, and Lu Ban couldn't even tell if the moon in this world was round.
A festival is being held on the island. The whole street is decorated with lanterns, and there are all kinds of vendors along the street. Some sell candied apples, some sell goldfish, and some sell masks. Eerie music echoes in the street, but no one can be seen playing it.
Lu Ban walked through them, brushing past many men and women dressed in kimonos. Happiness belonged to them; he had nothing.
However, Lu Ban noticed that, apart from the artists who were indulging in pleasure, the children, girls, and elderly people who looked like locals all had a kind of indifference in their eyes, as if they were performing to match the atmosphere, and their clumsy acting skills could not make up for their essential indifference.
He came to the end of the street, where a path stretched into the bamboo forest, clearly leading up the mountain.
It seems that the Harmony Island Shrine is not open to the public at night, and no one is going up or down the mountain.
Lu Ban saw that at the foot of the mountain, under the red Torii Gate, Momiji was standing there.
She was still wearing a kimono with arrow feather patterns, a navy blue long skirt, and long boots, but a fox mask hung next to her head, adding a touch of innocence.
"The bamboo forest is dangerous at night, especially now."
Upon seeing Lu Ban, Momiji did not exchange pleasantries, but turned and headed up the mountain. She carried a lantern in her hand, the dim yellow light illuminating the road, which was unsettling.
The road up the mountain was a bit bumpy, and the bamboo forest beside it was sparse and quiet.
"Strange, why is there no sound in the bamboo forest?"
It's the height of summer on the island, but there's not a sound in the forest. The festival streets have faded into the distance, and the whole world is shrouded in silence.
"Don't get lost in the shadows, walk in the light of the lanterns."
Momiji reminded him to raise the lantern slightly.
Lu Ban noticed that the bamboo seemed to have become denser.
This reminded him of the grasslands outside the Ruined City, the living, wildly growing plants.
I couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.
When the two reached the middle of the mountain, they saw a series of Torii Gate.
These structures, which are said to be gateways connecting two worlds, are ubiquitous along the mountain road, forming tunnels and making the road even darker.
As Lu Ban entered the Torii Gate, he seemed to hear a sound coming from behind him.
He looked back and, in the dark shadows, seemed to see a red skirt and white socks flashing by on wooden clogs.
That is...
Lu Ban couldn't help but stop, and the Momiji leaves in front of him moved a little further away.
Lu Ban down when his trouser leg seemed to be tugged by something.
A Pale hand retreated into the shadows.
He felt the darkness around him grow even deeper.
Music drifted into my ears.
Amidst the mournful music of the shamisen, shakuhachi, Harmony Island style, there are murmurs that sound like chanting.
"I pray to God, for in this life, my flesh is weary, and my dreams have vanished."
It was like a whisper in his ear. Lu Ban felt a chill run down his spine and quickly turned his head the moment the whispering stopped.
But all around was darkness.
In Lu Ban's vision, all that remained was the road beneath his feet and the Torii Gate along it. He could only see what was within arm's reach; beyond that, all was quiet darkness.
"Momiji?"
Lu Ban tried calling out, but even his voice blended into the darkness, and there was no response.
He looked around and could only roughly make out the direction up the mountain.
Beyond the darkness that shrouds the road, nothing is known.
"In any case, he shouldn't be dead yet?"
Lu Ban climbed upwards, Torii Gate came into view and then receded into the distance. These dilapidated buildings seemed to be covered in grime, but Lu Ban didn't know what it was or how the grime had been splashed onto them.
In the endless darkness and silence, Lu Ban's heart beat about three hundred times, only to find himself still between the Torii Gate.
"Is it another case of being trapped in a maze?"
Lu Ban thought for a moment, then squatted down, picked up a Stone and made a five-pointed star mark on the Torii Gate before continuing forward.
With each step, as the darkness brightened as they drew closer, Lu Ban tensed up, worried that something strange might emerge from the shadows.
Just like when I was a child walking at night, it was pitch black outside the lamplight, and I was careful with every step, afraid that something ferocious and terrifying would suddenly appear on the road.
He was originally planning to continue walking for another 300 heartbeats, but when he counted to 233, Lu Ban stopped.
He saw the five-pointed star mark he had just left on the Torii Gate next to him.
Furthermore, there is another mark beneath the five-pointed star.
It was a symbol that seemed to have been drawn casually, yet it was full of eerie meaning.
"There's someone else on this path, and he's already spotted my mark. Is it Momiji? Or is it something else?"
Lu Ban pondered for a moment and decided to continue.
Just as he turned around and started to walk down, his vision cleared ahead, and Lu Ban saw a person standing next to the Torii Gate in front of him.
The person was dressed in a red and white shrine maiden's outfit, which was spotless. Her black hair fell smoothly down her back, and her face Pale, reminding Lu Ban of the Jingliureng Humanoid Doll hanging in the sky that he had seen during the day.
She stared at Lu Ban, her eyes seemingly filled with resentment.
"Did you bring me here?"
Lu Ban stopped and asked a question.
The other party remained silent, only slowly taking two steps back before disappearing into the darkness.
Lu Ban did not rashly leave the road full of Torii Gate. Although it seemed like there would only be Loop here, going out was obviously not a good choice.
He continued walking downwards, his heart beating over a hundred times.
Then I noticed that there seemed to be another mark on the Torii Gate next to me.
That was Lu Ban's own five-pointed star.
However, the pentagram that Lu Ban originally marked should have been facing downhill, but now it's facing uphill.
"Has the Torii Gate changed, or are these all illusions?"
Lu Ban took a step and looked at the back of the Torii Gate.
On the mottled, peeling red paint, there were shocking scratch marks. These scratches were not from sharp claws, but rather from repeated scratches by human hands. Beneath the peeling red paint, there was an even richer blood color!
One can imagine that perhaps a priestess really did get lost on this road, experiencing this repetitive cycle again and again, until she finally lost her mind, went completely insane, scratched at the Torii Gate with her fingers, and finally left the road, never to return.
The surrounding darkness deepened, and the midsummer night's temperature caused Lu Ban to break out in a sweat. The sweat soaked his clothes, sticking them to his skin uncomfortably.
Lu Ban suppressed his wandering thoughts and took a few more steps forward.
Suddenly, I felt something strange under my feet, as if I had stepped on something hard and protruding. It was not Stone, but something curved and brittle.
Lu Ban looked down.
There is a mask there.
*
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