Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

"That's enough." Ping Shenglong's eyes narrowed slightly as he raised his hand to interrupt him. "I agree to your conditions. As long as the information you provide is valid, you will receive 150,000. But you know what to do regarding the case."

"I understand, I won't say anything unless someone points a gun at me." Kurosaki quickly gave an OK sign.

Ping Shenglong took out his tablet and opened a photo sent to him by forensic pathologist Otani.

Those were black handprints left on the shoulders of the three corpses, along with analysis.

"A serious case has occurred at Komagome Academy. What you see now are the common features of the victims: black handprints remain on their shoulders. Upon examination, no skin tissue characteristics were found. Moreover, the survivors all mentioned this in their testimonies." Taira no Ryu paused, glancing at Kurosaki Chimei, whose lazy demeanor had been completely transformed into one of intense seriousness and focus. Surprisingly, his disheveled appearance exuded a certain handsomeness.

Kurosaki Chimei bit the pen cap and nodded repeatedly: "You mentioned Mr. Charcoal, right? No wonder. Then the place where they died must be that school building that I heard has been abandoned."

"Yes, between 8 pm and 9 pm."

"First of all, the fact that you came to me means that you couldn't find any traces of human intervention at the scene, making it difficult to reconstruct the scene using scientific methods."

Kurosaki Chimei stood up and paced back and forth in the cramped space, muttering incantations.

“The school building is abandoned, there are no surveillance cameras, and it was after school, so there were no external witnesses. Therefore, the only evidence we can rely on is the eyewitness testimony of the survivors. Among the survivors, there is a high probability that there are people who could have killed him but did not.”

"If the killer is a single person who is committing indiscriminate killing, it doesn't make sense unless the survivors all share common characteristics. If he is not killing indiscriminately but is doing so out of revenge, then the victims will have common traits."

"You have the Tianjin system, so you must have investigated this. You can't say you didn't find anything, but you certainly didn't find much either."

"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the killer is just that confident, or perhaps simply a psychopath who acts on impulse, but that possibility is secondary. If I'm not mistaken, if you can't get any progress from me, you'll investigate in that direction, so in your mind, the possibility of a ghost story-based murder is higher than that of a psychopath, right?"

Kurosaki, excited, bit off the cap of his pen, spat it out, and stared at Heisei Ryu.

“I don’t believe a psychopath could be so meticulous and leave no trace.” Taira no Ryu swiped the image on the tablet to the left, revealing a picture of Inoue Yuka strangling herself. “This is one of the victims; he strangled himself to death.”

Kurosaki quickly leaned over to take a closer look, gesturing with his hands as he tried to recreate Inoue's movements.

"Crack!"

Kurosaki suddenly tightened his grip on his neck with his right hand, the veins on his hand bulging as he exerted great force. Kurosaki's eyes widened, and he made a struggling sound. His left hand struggled desperately, trying to pull his right hand away, and like Inoue, his fingernails tore several bloody marks on his arm.

Ping Shenglong didn't stop him, and just watched quietly.

Until Kurosaki's face turned from red to purple, he lay motionless on the ground with a thud.

The room fell into an eerie silence.

Half a minute later, Kurosaki suddenly sprang up from the tatami mat as if he had risen from the dead. With blood still lingering, he touched the purplish-red crescent mark on his throat and stared blankly at Taira no Ryu with a silly grin.

"He won't die! As long as he doesn't strangle himself in an instant, strangling him like that will only cause him to slowly lose strength, suffocate, and fall into a coma. Besides, how could a high school student have such willpower! Judging from his appearance, he's a delinquent. If he had this kind of willpower, why would he be a delinquent? He could have gotten into the University of Tokyo."

"So it can only be due to external force, but the forensic doctor must have conducted a thorough examination to conclude that the deceased could only have died by his own hand."

"The Real Ghost Stories"

The cold sweat from earlier had left his greasy bangs sticking to his forehead. Kurosaki grinned with a bright, terrifying smile, his hoarse voice like the grinding of rusty gears.

"I finally found it."

Chapter 23: Tracing the Trail

Ping Shenglong's intuition was correct.

Compared to ghost stories, Kurosaki Chimei himself is more like a ghost story in itself.

A pure, eccentric freak who is almost oblivious to the bizarre.

After determining that the cause of death was most likely not homicide, Kurosaki unleashed his powerful execution and energy, leaving Taira no Tatsumi aside, and began excitedly picking out seemingly unrelated items from the pile of clutter, based on his notebook.

Yellowed newspapers from the Showa era.

The records and reports were so old that they looked like they would crumble at the slightest touch.

Blurry old photos

If all of this information is about Professor Jiaotan, then Kurosaki's statement that he "knows her best" is indeed true.

Ping Shenglong had already asked the school principal and the elderly, but they didn't care much about these strange tales, only had a general impression, let alone any relevant information.

"I know you're short on time right now, so I'll focus on the key points."

Kurosaki held a pile of documents beside him and first took out a photo. The photo showed male students lined up in several rows, taking a group photo in front of a building.

"During the war, the academy's school buildings were targeted and destroyed. In 22, with the reform of the education system, the school buildings began to be rebuilt. This is the new school building after the reconstruction. The photo shows the first batch of freshmen."

"In 30, a fire engulfed this wooden school building. Because it happened at night and no bodies were found inside, the impact was not significant. Perhaps to avoid bad luck, a new school building was built elsewhere, and this place was temporarily abandoned."

Kurosaki handed over several old newspapers with circled headlines.

"The fire at Komagome Academy was not considered and all the victims of Yuki were killed"

"The wooden schoolhouse rebuilt after the war has a fire-proof fire protection system. The project remains"

""Boom sound and public fire..." Komagome Academy fire night guard Nomeza"

"The earliest eyewitness accounts of Teacher Jiao Tan came from the student population during this period."

"In 37, the academy finally decided to rebuild on the original site, and a new four-story teaching building was completed." Kurosaki pulled out another photo. The building in the photo was very familiar to Heisei Ryu; it was the abandoned teaching building where the accident had occurred last night.

"From this point on, the rumors about the charred teacher spread even more wildly. Isn't it strange that when no one was injured or killed, such rumors about a teacher being burned alive appeared?"

Kurosaki unfolded the last newspaper and pointed to the headline: "Because in fact, a teacher and a student did go missing from the school after that day."

"Everyone is fine...all the students and teachers in Komagome school are unknown."

(Everyone should have been safe. The Komagome school building was completely destroyed, and students and teachers are missing and their whereabouts unknown.)

Hei Shōryū nodded slowly. He had heard these things, but they were all rumors of unknown veracity, and none of them had the substantial newspaper evidence that Kurosaki Chimei had provided.

Back then, print media were quite cautious; anything that got published was usually well-intentioned.

The article also included interviews with the parents of the missing students, who expressed dissatisfaction with the college's firm denial that the students' disappearances were related to the fire.

The reporter insisted that the school had covered up the truth. He had originally wanted to interview the missing teacher's relatives, but in the end he was unable to find any of them. Even his adopted son was nowhere to be found, so he had to give up in disappointment.

The first thing that came to mind when the missing teacher and student, Ping Shenglong, was the two skeletons in the underground chamber.

Unexpectedly, we found some leads here.

However, according to the forensic pathologist Otani, a third set of remains was originally found at the scene. Taira no Ryu stared at the small words "adopted son" in the report.

Kurosaki carefully observed Taira no Ryu's expression and smiled, "Section Chief Taira, can you trust me now? Tell me quickly if you have any other information."

Ping Shenglong shook his head: "Go on, I now know the origin of Teacher Jiaotan, but why did the murder only happen yesterday?"

“There aren’t that many reasons for ghost stories to kill people. The lack of yin energy and resentment before can all be explained. But the more likely reason is that something happened yesterday that caused the ghost story to revive, become angry, and be released,” Kurosaki replied thoughtfully, biting on a pen cap again.

Ping Shenglong had a flash of inspiration.

The delinquent named Matsuo was unable to participate in the subsequent test of courage because he cut his arm in the library of the old school building. Judging from his wound, he must have lost a lot of blood at the time, but after blood testing, there were no traces of human blood left in the library, only some prop fake blood.

Furthermore, a long-sealed secret room was opened that day.

"There is a flaw!"

Kurosaki suddenly slammed his hand on the coffee table and shouted.

"What did you think of?" Heisei Ryu pressed.

Kurosaki took out an old notebook he had just found and started flipping through it: "There are many versions of 'Teacher Jiao Tan,' and in the photos you showed me, the black handprints on their shoulders all came from behind. The one that best matches this version is... Found it, Teacher Jiao Tan - Don't Look Back Version!"

"But actually this version is the most fake, because the time of the ghost story is clear, in Showa 39, and it also involves a library manager, a senior student. Although the academy established a girls' department in Showa 27, it did not start implementing co-education until Showa 41. Before that, there were no girls' dormitories on campus, so there was no female library manager. It is obviously a story made up by Mr. Jiao Tan."

Heisei Ryu took the notebook from Kurosaki and quickly read through it, going through each version at a glance.

There are illusionists, trap setters, and even fire-breathing creatures—enough to create a parallel universe for a character named "Charcoal Teacher."

Indeed, as Kurosaki said, the version of "Don't Look Back" featuring the charcoal teacher can be perfectly matched with yesterday's murder case, almost without any discrepancy.

A red smile, charred handprints—don't look back.

There are too many that match.

It's like a ghost story that was generated in a very orderly manner based on this version.

It feels a bit too neat and orderly.

Could it be that someone actually came into contact with Teacher Jiao Tan before this, survived, and even spread the information? The possibility of that is far too low.

Moreover, the time interval is too long.

Kurosaki frowned, placed the notebook and a newspaper together, and quickly compared them.

"The fire in the library started in the library and spread, and this strange tale also takes place in the library, which is a good setup."

“You haven’t told me about the missing teacher and student yet.” Heisei Ryu pointed to some notebooks that hadn’t been opened yet.

“We need to digest the information little by little,” Kurosaki said, pulling out a notebook. “Actually, the reason these rumors have arisen is related to the missing teacher’s usual character. Rumor has it that he was an extremely eccentric teacher who would dress formally and wear gloves even in the sweltering summer.”

"His name is Tetsuro Muto, a very reclusive person. His only family member is an adopted son from Mie Prefecture."

"The missing student was said to be an excellent student named Nobi Tomoaki."

Chapter 24: Sixty Plus One

Inside the classroom.

The teacher went off-topic during the lecture, but the students listened even more attentively.

"At that time, the Hoei eruption also occurred. When you look at Mount Fuji, you can see that there is a parasitic volcano on the southeast slope called Mount Hoei."

Ding-dong—clang-clang.

"Uh, that's all for today. get out of class dismissed." The teacher glanced at his watch.

"stand up."

"Thank you for your guidance."

"Thank you all for your hard work."

The balding Japanese teacher, with his receding hairline, finished class on time, picked up his lesson plan, and left the classroom.

The day's classes have come to an end.

The classroom became lively.

"The cherry blossoms must be in bloom by now. Did you go cherry blossom viewing during spring break?"

"No, look, my electronic bonsai is not as pretty as the cherry blossoms that are everywhere."

"Hey, is this a potted plant? It looks like an octopus."

"Just look at the photos. Besides, there are cherry blossoms inside the school. Why go out of your way to see them? We're not cherry blossom chasers."

Some people relaxed in the classroom, while others chatted.

The students on duty started their work, and those with club activities waved goodbye to their friends.

"Are you going to the literature club to read?" Higashiyama Shin asked, packing his things and looking at Chiba Shion, who was still sitting in her seat.

In the past, Chiba would usually read books in the literary club, and after he finished practicing his archery, the two of them would go back to the apartment together.

“I went there yesterday, and there was a musty smell that wouldn’t go away. I’d like to go check out the archery club.”

Chiba Shion picked up her bag and stood up. The afternoon sun bathed her features in golden light. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and met Higashiyama Shin's gaze.

"That's good. If you go, they'll practice more diligently," Higashiyama Shin said with a smile.

Chiba lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds before asking, "How many arrows do you usually shoot in the archery club?"

"Me? Usually fifteen rounds, sixty shots."

Because in archery competitions, four arrows are released from the quiver each round, corresponding to the four sufferings and eight sufferings in Buddhism, this setting is generally followed during training, unless it is an archery contest, such as a competition to see how many arrows hit the target out of a hundred, or as he and his senior Imagawa determined the number of arrows to win yesterday.

However, most people don't need as many arrows as Dongshan Shen, firstly because they don't have that many quotas, and secondly because they don't have that much money.

Ultimately, it all boils down to money.

After all, the attrition rate of arrows is not low.

Chiba nodded and followed Higashiyama out of the classroom.

Higashiyama picked up the umbrella and headed towards the archery club.

"Higashiyama-kun—Eh!! Chiba-kun!"

Haruko Minamikawa's hand, which habitually reached out to grab Shin Higashiyama's arm, was frozen halfway by Shion Chiba's seemingly absolute zero gaze!

Oh no! Freeze Ray!