Truth is everywhere within range

"I don't know much about the specific things about the Sakuraba family. I heard it mentioned by the elders in the village when I came to work here before."

The employee saw Qiao Qiao's curious eyes and explained.

"Ah, by the way, it seemed that the matter was quite big at that time. You can search it online."

After hearing his words, Qiao Qiao took out his mobile phone.

Although it is deep in the mountains, it is a substation after all and needs to keep in touch with the outside world, so the communication and network are very complete.

Qiaoqiao is connected to the substation's wifi.

However, beyond the radiation range of the substation, the signal will become very poor.

It is said that the small mountain village can only be reached by landline phone calls, and mobile phones and the Internet do not exist.

Enter keywords such as cherry blossom garden, villa, and mountains.

After searching for five minutes, Qiao Qiao finally found the relevant news.

"?"

"What's the matter, teacher?"

Ariko Asano was stunned when she saw Qiao Qiao, and looked at the screen of his mobile phone.

The incident at the Sakuraba family happened twenty years ago.

The head of the Sakuraba family was originally just a down-and-out small businessman, but somehow, he suddenly gained a large amount of wealth and became a major iron manufacturer around Tokyo. He also built a mansion in the mountains.

The Sakuraba family's bloodline flourished and their population prospered.

But in his later years, the head of the family suddenly became suspicious and thought he was possessed by strange things and fell ill.

At that time, it was just after Japan's bubble economy burst, and the Sakuraba family also suffered a certain blow, but fortunately, it was an industry and had a certain ability to resist risks.

But the fortune of the descendants of the Sakuraba family is not so good.

In short, everyone is short of money.

After the head of the family fell seriously ill, he summoned all the family members back to this mansion, not knowing what their plans were.

Let’s not mention the things in the middle. Finally, on a thunderstorm night, a bolt of lightning struck the mansion, causing a fire.

Except for the seven-year-old granddaughter of the head of the family, all members of the Sakuraba family, including the servants, died in the fire.

The fire was not extinguished in the rain, but continued to burn for several days. Even the bodies were hard to find.

After later investigation, the police confirmed that other members of the Sakuraba family may have killed each other due to inheritance disputes.

But the specific truth can no longer be investigated.

Later, the last descendant of the Sakuraba family was sent to a shelter in the nearby Nerima District due to severe mental trauma. The Sakuraba family's own industry also gradually declined due to that blow, and was eventually acquired by other companies.

"This plot looks a bit familiar."

Since we just talked about this matter in the evening, Asano Ariko quickly came to her senses.

Isn't this what the novel "Thunderstorm" is about?

"So the author accidentally saw this old news and adapted it into a novel?"

This kind of thing is quite common.

"It's possible that this incident was quite famous at the time. Unfortunately, the Internet was not yet developed, so the content of the discussion has been lost. However, if you are interested, you should still be able to get some information from the library's newspapers. .”

Qiao Qiao read a few more posts. During that time, many people liked to analyze the causes and consequences of this incident and make their own inferences.

There are also rumors that the head of the Sakuraba family has hidden ten tons of gold. The family members are killing each other because of the ownership of this treasure. Whoever can solve the mystery will find the treasure.

"The author may have collected these materials and combined them with weird elements to write "Thunderstorm"."

Qiao Qiao said.

"It is also possible that the author herself is the last member of the Sakuraba family. After she grew up, she recorded the situation in the form of a novel, deliberately adding weird elements to make the story look like fiction."

Ariko Asano's imagination is wide open.

"Wait a minute, it says here that the body was mutilated because it had been burned for too long. Could it be that there was someone else who survived besides her? That was the real murderer. This descendant learned about this. After that, I wrote this book to fish out the prisoner.”

"You're over reasoning, Ariko."

Qiao Qiao Brick looked at Baicheng Ryuya and his colleagues.

"Has there been any construction work on the Sakuraba family's villa since then?"

"I'm not sure about this, because the road over there has been in disrepair for a long time, so no one has been there."

"Didn't you say there was gold or something?"

Qiao Qiao asked further.

"Those are all rumors. Even if there is gold, it will definitely be gone after so many years."

Baicheng Long also joined in the fun.

"So, that villa probably hasn't been renovated since then."

"At least not in the past few years."

After hearing their answers, Qiao Qiao fell into thinking.

Because through the channeling, what he saw was obviously a mansion with an elegant and unique atmosphere.

The lights are bright and there is no smell of dilapidation.

"Arizi, get ready, let's go up the mountain."

Qiao Qiao ordered.

He already roughly knew the location of the mansion through channeling. In this case, he could only go and take a look.

Although it was dark at night, these series of events connected together gave Qiao Qiao a very bad premonition.

The problem must be solved immediately.

"Ah, okay, okay."

Ariko Asano suddenly felt a little lucky. She was worried that it would be cold in the mountains at night, so she went home after school and changed into a pair of long pants and a long-sleeved jacket.

The two of them exchanged a few words with the people at the substation and left messages with the Soul Exorcist Association before borrowing a bicycle and heading along the road.

The night wind was rippling, and Ariko Asano was sitting sideways in the back seat. Along the mountain road, she could see a silent mountain forest stretching in the distance.

Soon, they arrived at the small mountain village.

It was already ten o'clock in the evening, and the last bus was gone.

There are still a few lights on in the mountain village.

You can see a road continuing forward.

Qiao Qiao carried Asano Ariko forward.

The roads here are very dilapidated and overgrown.

The two had to push the bike forward.

After about thirty minutes the road disappeared.

To be precise, the road has been completely covered, leaving only the forest, quiet and deep.

"Let's go."

Qiao Qiao took out a flashlight and illuminated the road ahead.

Amidst the chirping of insects and the howling of unknown beasts, the two walked through the forest. They felt that the trees around them were getting sparser, and soon, a bright light appeared in front of them.

"This is."

Ariko Asano was a little uncomfortable with the light and squinted her eyes.

Ahead, at the end of the forest.

There is a four-story mansion.

It is a completely Western-style building with some Gothic style. The gray-white walls show a slightly ferocious tone under the moonlight.

Inside the building, the lights are brightly lit.

Didn't see anyone.

Qiao Qiao and Asano Ariko looked at each other.

Arriving at the gate of the mansion, I knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

From the mansion, a lazy and charming voice came.