When Qianye took the train back to Yokohama, it was already evening. Now he stood at the station door and opened his ledger. He remembered that he summoned (employed) Oda Sakunosuke today and wanted to do something extra to thank him.
Oda Sakunosuke is a good ghost who is easy to talk, efficient and doesn't talk too much. Moreover, his principle of not taking human lives matches Qian Ye's outlook on life very well.
As a person with special abilities who was born to stand on the borderline between black and white and find a place in a narrow and dark area, Qianye's idea of valuing life is actually not in line with the main tone. It is too difficult for a person with special abilities to want to live his whole life without killing anyone. Difficult.
Although the superpowers are a hidden group, their stance has one thing in common among the top leaders of various countries - weapons.
To put it bluntly, superpowers are military weapons that are not openly displayed.
But no matter how difficult it was to operate, Qian Ye didn't want to kill anyone.
After all, he planned to settle in this city. Qianye also learned the basic situation of Yokohama from Kunikida. There is a strange phenomenon in Yokohama. The day is divided into day, dusk and night, which are managed by the Special Agent Division, the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia respectively.
It is also named the Three Moments Concept, which refers to these three time periods.
Qian Ye: It sounds like it is based on the separation of powers from abroad and then modified according to its own environmental conditions.
But no matter how it appeared, there were still about forty-six minutes before the sun completely set, which was a very generous time for him.
Qian Ye booked a car in advance and would not pick it up until tomorrow. He went to a nearby convenience store and bought a few packs of snacks that children like, a few small toys, and a bouquet of white daisies and some incense candles. He sat down The taxi came to a cemetery.
This is a cemetery, and because someone takes care of it regularly, it doesn't look defeated and gloomy. He used his supernatural power to summon Oda Sakunosuke.
Perhaps because the reason for this summons was not work, Oda was wearing home clothes, an apron tied around his waist, and his hands were still stained with flour.
Qian Ye wanted to say something, but after seeing his attire, her eyes stayed on his hands, her expression a little...complex.
Oda: "Only the dead who are stranded in hell and have jobs need to eat."
Qian Ye: "...I remember those children didn't have jobs." They shouldn't need to eat.
Oda: "Well, I'm teaching them how to make soba noodles."
Seeing Oda's serious look, Qianye swallowed his complaints silently. He felt that he was not the kind of person who was good at complaining, but most of the dead he met had some desire to complain.
Not wanting to discuss such household ethics with the deceased, he opened the plastic bag containing snacks and small toys and showed it to Oda.
"As promised last time, I will give the children some gifts. I bought them from a convenience store. I hope they won't dislike it."
Oda looked at the plastic bag with softened eyes and said, "They won't mind it. In hell, these plastic mass-produced toys are the only scarcity."
Small toys that are worthless in this world are hard to come by in a hell without industrialization. Hell is the place where the dead live after all. Even if the world has entered industrialization, the pace of hell is still very slow.
Maybe this is also the concept of the ghost lamp - hell is not a holiday resort. If we follow the example of the current world and create a bunch of humane and convenient equipment, will we have to introduce some ideas such as human rights?
To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than a transit zone for human reincarnation.
When Qian Ye saw what he said, he didn't think much about it. Let Oda lead the way.
The sunset shone on the ground, and Qian Ye's shadow was dragged very long, but the red-haired man walking in front had no shadow, and he couldn't even hear his footsteps.
Oda naturally knew where he was buried. Even though this was his first time visiting this place, there was an invisible pull.
Qian Ye lived in the UK before, and Oda had no chance to return to Yokohama, but maybe he lost interest in many things in this world after death. He did not look around with curiosity or nostalgia, but walked firmly ahead.
He spoke very little, maybe because he didn't know what to talk about.
Qian Ye was holding a plastic bag in one hand and a white daisy in the other. Such gifts given to the deceased should not be tainted with the scent of the deceased.
So he needs to carry it all the way.
Qian Ye said: "Speaking of which, isn't there an uncle? You said that he makes delicious curry rice."
Oda had already found the tombstone on top. He said, "Well, he went to the night market to open a curry rice stall during the festival a while ago, and the children also went to help."
Qian Ye: "Did you make any money?"
Oda: "No, it's not to the taste of the inhabitants of hell."
Although some were sold, they could only be regarded as a loss. The races in hell are complex, not only the dead of humans, but most of the dead who are stranded in hell have no time to participate in such ceremonies.
Oda: "Uncle went to be reincarnated yesterday." After thinking for a while, he added, "It is said that he has already experienced it, and the children and I have adapted to it. It is time for him to welcome the unknown new journey."
Qian Ye nodded: "He is such an open-minded uncle."
Qianye knew that Oda also raised five children, whom he adopted while he was alive. However, after his death, these children still refused to be reincarnated. They wanted to spend some more time with Oda.
Oda was a killer during his lifetime. Although he later quit this profession, he did not do many good deeds that could be offset. However, the sentences in hell are not so rigid. Compared with killers, those judges believe that employers who hire people to kill should bear the main responsibility. .
So Oda stayed in Hell to work, and because although the children did not have to go to school, eat, etc., they still had to wear clothes, buy some toys, and take them to play, etc., the economy was somewhat tight, until he signed an employment contract with Qianye After cooperation, we became more comfortable.
even……
Oda stood in front of his tombstone. The tombstone located on the top of the mountain had a nice view and a large tree with thick branches next to it.
There was no name engraved on the tombstone, it was blank. He pointed to the bottom and said, "It should be Dazai who put my ashes and my children's ashes together."
Dazai was Oda's friend during his lifetime, or so Oda said.
Qian Ye placed the offerings (snacks and toys) on the table, lit three incense sticks, and instead of praying with his hands together, he raised his head and asked Oda: "Can I receive it now?"
"Well, with the offerings of the living and the gaze of the dead, after the incense burns halfway, the sacrifices will appear in hell. Then you just need to go to the relevant department to collect them."
Qian Ye: "I used to think that as long as I made an offering, the deceased would receive it." If it hadn't been for that strange encounter, I really didn't know that it would also require the gaze of the deceased.
But it is very difficult to fulfill these conditions. The dead cannot stay in the living world for a long time, otherwise they will easily become a lonely ghost or even disappear.
So far, I am afraid that only Qian Ye's superpower can allow the dead to avoid this rule.
The incense was very thin and not long. Qianye sat under the tree and took out his mobile phone to watch the local news, while Oda stood in front of the tombstone tirelessly, wondering what he was thinking about.
When the incense was half burned, he said abruptly: "That's it."
Qian Ye looked over and saw that the offerings slowly turned transparent. Finally, the snacks, toys, and flowers disappeared. Only the three incense sticks were still emitting fine smoke.
This scene was still a bit weird. Qian Ye touched his chest: "..." Forget it, I don't worry about this.
Oda scratched his head, as if he had something to say, but didn't know how to say it. Touching Qian Ye's doubtful gaze, he looked away and said, "I asked Master Gui Deng, and he asked me to ask you. Excuse me... are you willing to start a new business?"
The last sentence uses an honorific.
"for example?"
"I wrote a novel." Oda pursed his lips, "I want to give it to my two friends."
Qian Ye: "...let me deliver it to them?"
"No need." Oda shook his head, "It is sent to the publishing house. If it can be published, the proceeds will be except for your employment fee, and the rest... please donate it to a reliable foundation to help children. Orphans, sick people We can also donate heavy children to orphanages. I don’t know much about this kind of thing, so I’d like to trouble you.”
Qian Ye suddenly realized: "You want to accumulate good deeds through this behavior, right?"
Oda hesitated for a moment, as if he felt that this inference was not quite correct, but he still nodded and said: "You can also say that, can you please do it?"
"Of course you can. After all, this is what Mr. Oda proposed, and it is not something difficult to do. As a friend, I will definitely help. My commission will not be needed. Mr. Oda also read the manuscript for me and guided me in writing. , There is no need to be too clear about helping friends."
Qianye's straightforward words made Oda a little uncomfortable. Every time he heard Qianye say similar words, he always seemed to have such an expression.
It's not that it's embarrassing, nor that it's incomprehensible, but...a complex emotion that Qian Ye doesn't quite understand.
At the end, Oda smiled at Qian Ye: "Well, I'm very happy to have a friend like you."
We briefly discussed it again, but in fact, neither Qian Ye nor Oda were very familiar with this area, especially this was a city that was unfamiliar to Qian Ye.
At the end of the conversation, when he realized that the two of them were worse than novices in this area, Qian Ye said sheepishly: "Let's wait until I understand more before we talk."
His face was completely red.
Oda was understanding enough not to reveal this and returned to hell first.
By this time, the sun had completely set. Qianye looked at his watch, it was now 7:05. Although Yokohama stipulates that the night is controlled by the port mafia, in fact, the regulations are not very strict.
Generally, public security is guaranteed before nine o'clock in the evening.
So he left the cemetery with a peaceful mood and took a taxi back to the hotel. The first day back in Japan ended like this.
What Qianye didn't know was that inside the building with yellow warning tapes on the book cafe where the murder occurred in the afternoon, there was a man wearing a business suit sitting where he was standing before.
His right hand was placed on the ground, his head lowered. No one knew how long he had been sitting here. The moonlight shone on him through the window, and his face could not be seen clearly through the reflective lenses.
Only the heavy sadness covering his body made people feel sad for no reason.
