Truth is everywhere within range

"What book is the teacher reading?"

Ariko Asano sat next to Qiao Qiao and glanced curiously at the library book in Qiao Qiao's hand.

"It's a novel."

Qiao Qiao showed the cover to Asano Ariko.

The title of the book is "Thunderstorm" and there is an ukiyo-e style beast on the cover.

"This seems to be a novel written by Ibuki, right?"

Ariko Asano looked at the author's name carefully.

"Yes, because I read the book "Flight 7500" last time and found it unexpectedly interesting, so I went to the library to borrow a few of her works."

Qiao Qiao turned over the library book, revealing a sticker from the library of Fengcheng University Affiliated High School.

"Is this also a horror novel?"

Ariko Asano glanced at the beast on the cover again.

"So be it."

Qiao Qiao nodded slightly.

"From what I've seen so far, it's pretty much the same thing."

The plot of "Thunderstorm" has a retro feel.

The beginning of the story is the protagonist's journey back home. He returned from the city to his ancestral home in the mountains because his great-grandfather passed away.

Legend has it that my great-grandfather was just a down-and-out businessman. On a thunderstorm day, he kindly rescued a beast, only to find that the beast turned out to be strange.

Then there is the story of weird repayment. From then on, my great-grandfather’s business got better and better, and he eventually became the richest man in the world.

However, my great-grandfather did not tell other family members that the strange blessing came at a price. After his death, someone in the family soon died in a thunderstorm, causing panic.

The protagonist returned home this time, originally just to listen to the will and divide the family property, but the way down the mountain was blocked by heavy rains and mudslides, and he could only wait in his ancestral home. However, more and more strange incidents occurred.

"Blizzard Villa? Could it be that all this was done by a member of the family to fight for the family property?"

After listening to Qiao Qiao's story, Asano Ariko guessed.

"This is not clear. I only read half of it. The story has just reached the point where the protagonist recalls the deeds of various relatives and slept with his distant cousin."

"?"

Asano Ariko's cheeks turned slightly red and she looked away.

Don't say this in front of underage girls.

However, this kind of novel always seems to have similar plots.

According to Flag, the distant relative is either the murderer or the next deceased.

She looked around, and fortunately, apart from the two of them and an old woman with gray hair who seemed to have fallen asleep, the only person left on this bus was the driver driving in front.

The scenery outside the window has long since changed from the city to the mountain forest. This path winds through the forest and drives deep into the forest.

At dusk, the entire mountains were dyed golden, and the evening wind blew through, like a golden ocean, sparkling.

"However, according to online reviews, the novels written by Ibuki are not serious mystery novels, so I guess this one must be caused by monsters in the end."

Qiao Qiao didn't pay much attention.

"It would be too tacky if it turned out to be someone who did it."

Yes, now that weirdness has become widely known, it would be better to say that the plot of human beings disguised as weird crimes has long been out of date.

"Judging from the current plot, this big family is really too twisted. Everyone has hidden agendas. Even the maids have secrets. It's really uncomfortable."

Qiao Qiao commented again.

"A big family in reality may be more terrifying than in fiction."

Ariko Asano said that although she didn't have much contact with them, she also knew that some families of spiritual masters did have some very weird and twisted traditions. Of course, she had no way of knowing the specific details and could only hear about them.

"This Ibuki Kanade is only nineteen years old. I didn't expect the things she wrote to be so sophisticated. Many details feel just like seeing them with my own eyes. Is she really a talented beautiful girl writer?"

Qiao Qiao sighed and continued reading.

Ariko Asano took out her mobile phone and flipped through the contents of today's commission.

The problem occurred at a substation located among the mountains outside Suginami Ward.

This carries the power transfer tasks for three areas in Tokyo, including Shinjuku, Nakano, and Suginami.

Something strange happened here yesterday, Monday night.

Although there were no casualties, due to the strange trouble, there was a partial power outage in Shinjuku area, which caused quite a commotion.

As for why it was classified as a weird incident.

It's because the employees on duty here saw something strange.

According to the description, it was strange like a large cat, with four legs, a bifurcated tail, long hair, a dark body, and agile movement.

Originally, just reading this description, one would probably guess that some kind of wild animal had slipped into the substation.

But the employees of the power company on duty saw that the monster had bitten the transformer, and the high-voltage lightning was eaten by it.

Later, when they turned off the power and checked in order to restart the equipment, the power company employees did see some signs of being gnawed by sharp teeth.

Therefore, the electric power company requested support from the Soul Exorcist Association, and the entrustment came to Qiao Qiao.

Although this was obviously not caused by a resentful spirit, Qiao Qiao still accepted the commission.

One of the reasons is that the substation is located deep in the mountains, and a round trip takes a lot of time. The buses to and from the substation stop at ten o'clock. If you want to go down the mountain, you have to wait until early the next morning.

The second reason is that correspondingly, the reward is very high.

According to the average level of the Spiritual Master Association in the past six months, the appearance fee for this kind of weird incident that may be related to monsters is more than 500,000 yen. Based on the remuneration settled afterwards, the average income is about 2 million. Around yen.

But this time, since the client is an electric power company, it is very generous. If it is completed safely, it will probably earn more than 3 million yen in remuneration.

Three million yen!

What a concept.

This is an FN-16 portable air defense missile!

Qiao Qiao naturally accepted this commission.

By the way, I also asked Ariko Asano to accompany me to make up for my previous mistakes.

"Three million yen"

Qiao Qiao said happily.

"Spent the night in the mountains with the teacher"

Ariko Asano felt uneasy.

The two people sitting side by side were thinking about completely different things and came to the substation located deep in the mountains.

After they got off the bus, the bus continued to drive forward. It is said that there is a small mountain village ahead. Although there are less than ten households, there are still people there, so that is the real terminal.

It is also said that there used to be a deeper station, but it no longer exists.

On the bus where Qiao Qiao and Asano Ariko couldn't see, the gray-haired, half-asleep old woman suddenly opened her eyes.

"Isn't what those two young men said just now what happened to the Sakuraba family?"

Her slightly cloudy eyes looked deep into the forest.

Not focused on any one point.