"Tell me, you just saw a stranger woman wearing this red rope being taken into the Mountain Lama's residence not long ago?"
"Abba!"
The little old man nodded vigorously.
"Then when did she leave Grandma's Mountain Residence?"
"Aba whined."
The little old man squatted on the ground and wrote and drew.
"After entering, she left on her own not long after? Are you sure she came out on her own?"
"..."
Kamiyakawa roughly understood the situation of the human beast in front of him when he was still a human.
Then after thinking for a moment, he waved a word to cut off the red rope of blue-gray flesh embedded in its wrist.
"He was taken to the Mountain Lama's residence by the Mountain Lama and left shortly after. Less than a day later, he accurately appeared in the Pig King's Cave, which is quite far away from the Mountain Lama's residence, and turned into a human being. This development does sound like there is something wrong."
Kamiya bent down and picked up the small cut of the red rope, which was neatly cut and stained with blood.
"??A real man, a real man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man, a man..."
At this time, his cell phone ringtone suddenly rang.
The caller ID is [Changyou Zhengnan].
"Hello?"
Kamiyagawa answered the call without thinking much.
"Kamiya-kun, I can finally dial your number!" On the other end of the phone, the crew-cut voice was slightly excited.
"Well... you are trapped in another world now. It is really not that easy to get through to my phone."
"Well, your master, Lord Thunder God..."
"I already know everything. Master has met you and sent you to Lama Shan's territory. It's not that easy to bring you out. Master asked you to wait."
"I will wait patiently. I mean, Kamiya-kun, I have something to tell you and Lord Raijin." Nagatomo lowered his voice a little.
"You tell me, I will tell you."
"It's about Shan Lao... We met a girl who called herself Hasumi. She said..."
Nagatomo Masao truthfully recounted the information he received from Hasumi on the phone.
Kamiyagawa was also impressed by the name "Hasumi".
He recently checked a lot of information related to Kisaragi Station on the Internet, and he can confirm that the famous ghost story "Kisaragi Train to Another World" was originally uploaded by a netizen who called himself "Hasumi" in the form of a live broadcast of his own experience. of.
But, is the "Hasumi" Nagatomo and the others met reliable?
Kamiyagawa remains skeptical.
"But...that Hasumi said that there is some kind of connection between Shan Lao and King Inojisa, and that every once in a while, two strangers will be sent to the Pig King's cave to serve as "sacrifice"..."
Kamiya raised the small piece of red rope he had just picked up in front of his eyes.
The bloody end of the rope swayed gently in the wind.
"It's necessary to talk to Grandma Shan."
…
"Those people are moving, what should we do?"
"Just do what you do, right?"
"Well, where is Nagatomo's little brother?"
"Shhh... He seemed to have been in contact with Lord Thunder God's apprentice in the human world just now."
"Look over there, he's back."
"Okay, be quiet, the sacrifice is about to begin."
There is an open space behind Shan Lao's house.
All living people in the residence who maintain a certain level of sanity gather here.
Today is Shan Lao’s sacrificial day.
Shan Lao has no other requirements for the living people who live in her place. The only instruction is that every week, a sacrifice must be held.
All sane living persons are required to participate.
Naturally, these include the five Nagatomo Masao who were specially asked by "Thunder God" to take special care of them.
The vegetation in this clearing is withered and decadent, and the trees are black.
Colorful volcanic rock soil***.
In the center of the open space, there is a Fuji Tomb.
The so-called Fujizuka can be regarded as a large bonsai that restores the style of Mount Fuji.
A mound was built to imitate half of Mount Fuji, and then lava brought from Mount Fuji was sprinkled on the entire surface to create an authentic look of Mount Fuji.
Then, a "climbing trail" will be set up on the "mountain" and a shrine will be set up at the "top of the mountain", striving to completely simulate the real Mount Fuji.
The Fujizhong behind Shan Lao's house is about five meters high.
The Jingu Palace on the top of the mountain is actually Yamalao's shrine. The nomination is——
[Asama the great god of the imperial palace]
"The mountain gods showed mercy and showed great kindness, so that the plague retreated quickly and the demonic atmosphere was hidden. The people benefited from the kindness and will never forget it..."
Among the people worshiping, several people seemed to be experienced in this and took the lead in reciting the sacrificial inscriptions.
Nagatomo Masao and others looked at each other and chose to follow their example.
And I don’t know why, they learn the worship rituals very quickly.
After simply participating in it for a short while, the process of the sacrifice seemed to have been implanted in their minds, making it seem natural to do it.
A large group of strangers kept chanting sutras, pacing back and forth around Fujizhong, climbing up and down, and worshiping.
The method of worship is simple and unsophisticated, but unexpectedly solemn.
Shan Lao was not at the sacrificial site at this time.
At the top of Fujizuka, in the small shrine, amidst the chanting of scriptures, the rope bells kept shaking, and the red door opened automatically.
There was a blur of darkness behind the door, and you couldn't see clearly what was there, but it seemed to be drawing some kind of power from these worshipers...
Deep in the forest on both sides of the clearing, the bodies of Usagimaru, members of the hearse troupe, and little old men were lurking and watching.
They did not interfere with the ceremony and kept watching the whole process.
…
Wearing the [Oni's Leather Clothes] and holding an unsheathed monji in his hand, Kamiyagawa arrived at Shan Lao's house, and the strangers were still performing sacrifices in the open space behind the house.
Only those whose souls were too damaged were left in the residence.
They were still lying in the aisles like mud, stupid and numb.
Because his subordinates were watching, Kamiya knew about the ongoing sacrifice.
But he didn't really care about Shan Lama's forcible acquisition of faith from the living people staying in Shan Lama's residence.
Kamiyakawa walked straight through the corridor on the first floor and arrived at Shan Lao's kitchen.
The heavy door opens automatically.
Shan Lao's hoarse and unpleasant voice sounded from inside: "Sir, you have kept me waiting for a long time."
Kamiyakawa walked straight into the kitchen with a single letter in his hand, and saw the fat mountain lady sitting in front of the kitchen stove, her small eyes staring at the fire.
The smell of burnt barbecue continued to come from the stove.
"Sir, the barbecue is about to be cooked. Do you want to try it together?" Grandma turned her head and grinned, showing her yellow teeth.
"No."
"That's really a pity."
"King Inojisa has been killed by me."
"I know. Your Majesty's strength and methods are indeed extremely powerful, and I am also fulfilling my promise, old lady, to take the initiative to protect the strangers in the residence."
Shan Lao said this very frankly, and while speaking, she used a bloody stove hook to hook the burnt black barbecue in the stove.
There was an agreement between Kamiyagawa and Shan Lao.
That verbal contract was even reflected in the text of "Kaitan Monogatari" in the form of a side quest——
[The mountain lady in Aokigahara is willing to protect the strangers in her residence as much as possible for you. In contrast, you must kill the Pig King in the Pig King Cave to the north for her. ]
After the Pig King is killed, this mission is also shown as completed.
Kamiyagawa didn't know how "Kaitan Monogatari" was loaded into his mobile phone, but judging from his nearly one year of growth experience.
This is a special system that digitizes the other world and presents it in the form of a game. It is of such high status that even a divine residence like Gao Tianyuan can be used as a reward.
At this point in the side mission, it is impossible for Shan Lao to deceive the system.
In other words, she really intends to protect the strangers in her residence as much as possible.
There is a system to endorse Shan Lao, which is also an important reason why Kamiyagawa did not choose to evacuate Nagatomo Masao and others directly from Shan Lao's residence, and was still willing to come and talk to Shan Lao.
"You said shelter, is this how you protect yourself?" Kamiyakawa took out the small piece of blood-stained red rope and threw it to the old lady. He said in an unhappy tone, "As far as I know, the stranger who carries this piece of red rope is , before I killed the Pig King, you took her into the Mountain Grandma's residence. And now, she has turned into a human monster near the Pig King's cave. Isn't there anything to explain for this?"
"Huhu - it seems that I have underestimated the spies you have placed near my residence. They can notice such a small thing."
"I'm not here to hear you praise my men."
At this point, Shan Lao's attitude was still very calm, and she was still in the mood to take a large amount of the greasy and burnt barbecue with her stubby hands, stuff it into her mouth, and while eating, her mouth was full of oil, and she said:
"Old lady, I am indeed protecting those strangers. To be honest, there is an agreement between me and King Inojisa."
Kamitani didn't answer.
The facial expression covered by the leather jacket was slightly gloomy.
It seems that the information Nagatomo obtained from the girl who calls herself "Hasumi" is correct.
"I made an agreement with the Pig King not to invade each other. He will not set foot in my mountain aunt's home, and I will not go to his cave. Those strangers scattered and lost in the sea of trees, I can take away when I meet him, and he will not go to his cave. You can eat them without disturbing each other."
"The only condition is that every year from among the strangers who stay in my residence, I must choose two strangers who have not lost their minds and sunk too much, and who are enough to feed King Inojisa several times."
"As long as two people a year, we can ensure that everyone else staying in Shan Lao's residence is safe and sound. My lord, don't you think this is a very good deal? You can understand this as my slightly compromised offering to the Pig King, but It’s just symbolic.”
"After all, the Pig King doesn't want to really start a war with me, and I don't want to fight with him. If we fight, we will both lose. It would be great if we can stay on both sides of the sea of trees in peace."
Shanlao didn't seem to object at all to telling the "content of the transaction" between her and King Inojisa.
But Kamiyakawa just remained silent after hearing this.
He didn't expect that the deal between Pig King and Shan Lao would be like this.
"Huhu——" Shan Lao swallowed the greasy barbecue in her mouth and grinned widely again, "My lord, you look surprised. I thought you would say that I have no right to decide who stays in my residence. Things like life and death."
"But actually, I think why not? After all, if I did not make a peace treaty with the Pig King, but chose to go to war with him, there would never be so many living people in the Mountain Lama's Residence. Even if the Pig King broke through the Mountain Lama's Residence , Huhu——Sir, when you come to Aokigahara, there are only a handful of living people you can see.”
"I protected them and spared most of their lives."
Kamiyagawa didn't reply, but unconsciously rubbed the handle of Ichimonji's knife with his fingertips.
"So you sent a living person to the Pig King the day before I attacked him?"
"Because the time agreed between me and the Pig King has come. Old lady, I'm not sure. Sir, you will definitely win against the Pig King, right?"
Sacrificing a small number of people in order for the majority of people to survive sounds like the classic "trolley problem."
The "Trolley Problem" is unsolvable even in today's real world.
No matter what you do, you will be subject to "moral judgment" to a certain extent.
In a world where there is no morality at all, it is even more impossible for Kamiya to use this method to execute justice against Shan Lao.
"But you choose to let most people survive just to gain faith from them."
Kamiya River Final
He still let go of his hand on the handle of Ichimonji's sword.
"That's right!"
Shan Lao nodded, the fat on her body swayed, and a strange light flashed in her small eyes that were almost covered by the fat on her face:
"I have never said that I am noble to those living people. They are profitable to me, so I choose to let most people live. And I don't care much about the life and death of individual living people, So I can reach a peace treaty with the Pig King. I don’t want to fight that wild boar for a few strangers. Old lady, in the final analysis, it’s a weird story. My lord, ordinary weird stories don’t understand it as well as you do. Righteousness means eating people."
In a sense, Shan Lao is indeed a neutral person in this world.
Even chaotic neutrality is neutrality.
Kamiyagawa: "Why do you want to kill King Inosaki?"
"Huhu - because that wild boar is getting more and more greedy. It wants to increase the number of strangers I give it every year. If I give in once, there will be a second and third time in the future. As time goes by, Shan Lao I can’t keep too many people alive in Juju. Now that I have the opportunity to lend you my Lord’s help to get rid of the Pig King, I naturally have to give it a try.”
"That's a good plan. Even if I don't kill the Pig King, but only seriously injure it, you can go to the Pig King's cave to pick peaches later. You can reap the benefits and become the most powerful ghost story in the sea of trees."
"Huhu."
Shan Lao grinned with yellow teeth, neither admitting nor denying.
Kamiyagawa did not delve into this topic, but changed the question and continued: "Why are you so persistent in your faith?"
"Sir, what you said is a bit strange. If I want to consolidate my tiny godhood, I can't do it without faith. Oh, but you said persistence... Aokigahara Sea of Trees is the same place as where you used to stay. The place may be a little different. This place has been corrupted. Once you have a certain level of divinity and no faith as an anchor, it is easy to become an evil god. Since you have got rid of King Inojisa, you must have experienced this."
"Shuhai has fallen? Because of the former mountain god? It seems that you really hid a lot of information from me when we first met."
"Huhu - just like you didn't trust me at that time, my lord, I can't trust you completely as soon as we meet, right? Moreover, even if I didn't say it, don't you already know this now? "
"Ha." Kamiyagawa sneered, "Have we established trust now? Tell me, is there an area like the source of the Fall of the Sea of Trees? If so, where is it?"
"What you are going to do really makes me admire you, even if I can't figure out why you are doing it." Shan Lao's little eyes blinked, "But since you can get rid of the Pig King without any damage, let's explore the corruption. The source may not really be that difficult for you.”
"Just tell me where it is."
"At Fuji Mountain Pass, sir." The mountain lady said with a smile.
Fuji Pass.
The map of Aokigahara is very large, and it does include Mount Fuji in the other world.
The Kamiya River has not yet been attempted to climb.
If the source of the Fall of the Sea of Trees is in the crater, then Fallen Mountain Yanko is likely to be there as well.
Kamiyagawa: "One more thing. You know, one of the reasons why I came to Aokigahara is to take out the strangers trapped here. Since you want their faith, you should try to stop me. ?」
"How could it be, sir? If you can take them out, just do it. There is no conflict of interest between us. Anyway, when we return to their world, those strangers will still worship me. If they If your behavior can infect and inspire more people, the better.”
"oh?"
Shan Lao seems to have an ability.
She can drive sane beings to a certain extent, or she can plant some shallow consciousness in the minds of such objects.
Allow them to do something less resistive.
Just like sending strangers to the Pig King before, it was done in this way.
Shan Lao doesn’t need to follow.
Kamiyagawa also knew a little bit about this.
After all, the little old man reported that the housewife with the red string left the Mountain Grandma's Residence on her own.
After confirming this, Kamiyakawa did not stay any longer in Shan Lao's kitchen.
Just kick the door open and leave.
"Sir, if you don't stay a little longer, do you really not want to eat the barbecue? Huhu——"
"No."
There was nothing to say between him and Shan Lao for the time being.
Next, Kamiyagawa plans to rest his team and try to head towards Mount Fuji in the other world.
Nagatomo Masao and others can only temporarily stay here with Shan Lao.
The [Aokigahara] map has been pushed so far, and the main mission has made some progress.
But there is no good clue yet about the branch line at Kisaragi Station.
The only guess at the moment is that the mysterious girl who calls herself "Hasumi" that Nagatomo and the others met may have some clues.
As for Hasumi, Kamiyagawa told Xiaopingtou when he called her just now that he must pay more attention to her if he meets her again.
And he also communicated with the younger brothers who were watching outside Shan Lao Ju, focusing on this girl, and if she appeared in Shan Lao Ju again, she would report it as soon as possible.
And he himself pushed the main line first.
"I hope that while working on the main plot, I can get some clues about the branch plot."
