Chapter 71: Tokyo’s Rain Is Too Heavy, Enough To Drown Everything
Underworld? Yakuza? Yakuza?
Zhou Zhenyu’s first reaction was that he had run into members of Japan’s legendary Yakuza, but he wasn’t too afraid.
After all, this was a train station, a public place.
No matter how rampant the Yakuza were, after the 1990s Violence Countermeasures Law was issued, they didn’t dare to openly cause trouble in places like this.
“Excuse me, the Shangshan Che you’re talking about is…”
Before Zhou Zhenyu could finish his words, sticky crimson blood splashed onto his cheek from the side.
Abnormally warm.
Niijima Yuta slowly withdrew his five fingers from the skull of the girl in front of him, stuffing the extremely fresh flesh and blood and soul together into his mouth, letting out a satisfied sound.
“High school girl souls are still the most delicious.”
In the next beat, the people around finally reacted to what had happened and screamed as they fled in all directions.
After casually slapping several more people to death like swatting ants, Niijima Yuta, enjoying the soul buffet, ignored the rest of the people.
He chewed and tore at the crying and shouting soul with his jaw while asking again,
“Shangshan Che, where is he?”
After a moment of stunned silence, Zhou Zhenyu didn’t break down emotionally like the others, crying and wanting to escape.
The young man instead let out a heavy sigh of relief and gave Niijima Yuta a bright smile,
“Eldest Brother, if you have such strong strength, you should have said so earlier!”
Niijima Yuta, who was feasting heartily, was stunned.
What was going on?
“Oh man! Eldest Brother, you might not know about this guy Shangshan Che!” Zhou Zhenyu said, showing a resentful expression. “This guy appears to be a high school student on the surface, but in reality, he’s a bloodthirsty Onmyoji who kills without remorse! He’s always doing blood sacrifices or randomly killing people!”
His voice trembled with hatred: “My girlfriend was killed by this murderer! And now, I have to follow his orders to go to Haneda Airport!”
“Oh?”
Niijima Yuta’s interest was piqued: “What did he tell you to do at Haneda Airport?”
“Sacrifice!” Zhou Zhenyu shuddered as if recalling something terrifying, dropping his mobile phone on the ground. “He wants to use me as coordinates to sacrifice everyone at the entire Haneda Airport to the Ghost God.”
Niijima Yuta narrowed his eyes: “So, where is Shangshan Che now?”
“Narita Airport!”
Zhou Zhenyu answered immediately, speaking with conviction: “According to him, there’s some mysterious connection between the two airports that allows the sacrifice ritual to be remotely activated…”
“—You’re lying!”
Niijima Yuta grabbed his neck, grinning coldly: “Kid, the smell of lies on you is too strong; it’s already overpowering the fear.”
The Blue Ghost impatiently bared his fangs: “Last time.”
“Shangshan Che, where is he?”
Zhou Zhenyu felt his lungs slowly suffocating, the fawning smile on his face disappearing, replaced by mocking disdain.
He mustered all his strength to spit saliva at the Blue Ghost’s face, rasping in Chinese,
“Fuck your mother, little devil! You whole family should die, thing! Even if I die ten thousand times, I won’t be a traitorous dog!”
Niijima Yuta’s face twitched. He slammed the skinny Zhou Zhenyu to the ground, his hand surging with spiritual power pressing heavily onto the young man’s face,
“If you won’t say it, I’ll take it myself…”
Feeling his consciousness rapidly fading, Zhou Zhenyu only had time to glance with his peripheral vision at the mobile phone on the floor tiles, then resolutely closed his eyes.
The next moment, violent spiritual power surged into his consciousness, pain spreading like tidal waves through his limbs…
…
Shangshan Che, who had heard everything clearly, gently hung up the phone and stared expressionlessly ahead.
“Ms. Shizuma, how much longer?”
“Ten… no, seven minutes!”
Shizuma Mafuyu inexplicably shivered. She pressed the clutch further down, making the van ignore all red lights and speed wildly.
A few seconds later, Shizuma Mafuyu’s phone rang. She quickly answered, then couldn’t help looking at Shangshan Che beside her, tentatively asking,
“If possible, could we wait for the Special Affairs Office’s support to arrive and handle it together…”
“Sorry, that might be too late.”
Shangshan Che answered flatly with his eyes closed.
Shizuma Mafuyu’s expression froze because at some point, the boy was holding a little girl wearing a white hat in his arms.
“This is my Shikigami, with the ability to speed up wound recovery.” Shangshan Che said, “I hope Ms. Shizuma you can keep this secret from others.”
Shizuma Mafuyu pursed her lips and hummed in acknowledgment.
By the time the van arrived at Nishi Nippori Station, the surrounding crowd had already dispersed completely.
The wide avenue was empty of any human figures, with only torrential rain pouring down round after round, as if endless.
Lightning danced wildly in the dark clouds, the crashing thunder like bells heralding the apocalypse.
“This is far enough, Ms. Shizuma.” After patting Two-Foot Adult’s head and sending her back first, Shangshan Che said softly.
Shizuma Mafuyu slammed on the brakes to stop.
She glanced at the empty station entrance, appearing somewhat at a loss: “Shangshan Jun, actually I’ve also studied Onmyōdō; maybe I can help you.”
Shangshan Che smiled gently: “Thanks for your kind intentions, Shizuma sis, but I think keeping communications with the Special Affairs Office from here is equally important, isn’t it?”
Without waiting for Shizuma Mafuyu to reply, Shangshan Che pushed open the door and jumped alone into the rain curtain.
When Shangshan Che, incarnated as Laughing Hannya, passed through layers of stairs and entered the empty subway station, all he saw was the young man slumped in the waiting area and the large pool of blood diluted beneath him.
It was Zhou Zhenyu.
Cold rainwater, driven by the gale, passed over the station’s canopy, pattering onto Zhou Zhenyu’s pale cheeks.
This young man, who had just rekindled hope for his future life, was abandoned here, silently awaiting death’s arrival.
Shangshan Che looked down—
Fingers brutally torn out and severed, limbs twisted at impossible angles, and a shattered soul all indicated that this ordinary person should have been dead long ago.
But he wasn’t.
As if waiting for something, Zhou Zhenyu struggled to keep his eyes open.
Then, he suddenly felt his numb body being lifted up.
“Ah…”
He struggled to open his eyes wide and saw the majestic yet ferocious Hannya Mask clearly before him.
Even though the appearance was completely different, he could still tell who it was.
“You shouldn’t have come; I clearly said…”
Shangshan Che carefully supported his body and unhesitatingly poured Awakening Spirit Mist into his mouth: “If it were you, would you come?”
“Do I even need to say…”
Shangshan Che looked at him: “So I will too.”
Zhou Zhenyu responded intermittently: “Also, you look cool like this…”
“Have you seen Armored Hero?” The young man murmured indistinctly, “When I was little, I always dreamed of transforming into a hero like this, handsome and able to fight evil…”
Shangshan Che said nothing, just gripped his hand tightly.
Perhaps because the Awakening Spirit Mist was taking effect, the young man’s eyes brightened slightly.
He weakly boasted about himself, like bragging at a barbecue stall: “Also… no matter what methods that little devil used, I didn’t let a single truth slip out.”
“Old Zhou, you’re a hero.” Shangshan Che replied solemnly, “That’s beyond doubt.”
“A hero? Haha, since high school, I can’t even remember the last time I dreamed of such childish things.”
Zhou Zhenyu couldn’t help laughing: “But this way, I didn’t disgrace the Zhou family. When I go down, I can pat my chest and say I let no one down!”
As he spoke, the young man’s breathing gradually weakened.
Zhou Zhenyu quietly gazed at the night sky, trying to find a star to entrust his dreams and thoughts to.
This way, maybe his family could occasionally think of him when looking at the sky.
But he saw nothing; his vision was filled only with oppressive darkness.
Tokyo’s rain was too heavy, enough to drown out everything that shone.
Rainwater kept falling, constantly draining away his remaining body heat.
Until now, Zhou Zhenyu had been struggling to maintain this calm, fearless expression.
He wanted to remain in Shangshan Che’s memory forever as a hero who bled but didn’t cry.
But he ultimately failed.
Shangshan Che saw the young man’s pupils gradually dilate, felt his pulse slowing to a stop, and saw a trace of fear and confusion on that calm face.
Shangshan Che could see tears sliding from the corner of his eye and hear him murmur like sleep-talking,
“Mom…”
Splash—
Tokyo’s rain grew even heavier, swallowing the dead man’s murmurs and tears completely.
In the noisy silence, Shangshan Che gently closed his eyes with his hand. After bowing solemnly once more, he stood up and looked toward the train station entrance.
Clap, clap, clap.
Crisp applause rang out, followed by Niijima Yuta’s burly figure emerging: “Touching, really too touching!”
The Blue Ghost mockingly gestured with his hands: “But one thing I have to point out—that guy wasn’t silent when I was tormenting him; those screams were delightful, hahaha…”
Niijima Yuta slowly descended the stairs, tediously saying,
“Also, his claim of not saying a single truth is actually false, because I can soul-search.”
He wiggled his ten fingers, smiling delightedly: “Soul-search, get it? No matter what he wanted to hide or cover up, it’s meaningless; all secrets will be unraveled by me!”
“—So, including you hearing his entire phone call, that was my deliberate arrangement.”
The Hannya Mask was expressionless, merely nodding: “Done?”
A flash of surprise passed through Niijima Yuta’s pupils; he’d heard that Hannya was one of the most quick-tempered types among demons.
If this kid Shangshan Che was like him, transformed from human to demon, then he too couldn’t escape the corrosion of demonic nature.
But what was this now?
Shangshan Che suddenly asked: “Did you just go up and destroy all the cameras?”
Niijima Yuta froze, not expecting this to be guessed too.
This kid was nowhere near as simple as the intel described.
“In that case, no worries left.”
Shangshan Che slowly drew Kaga Kiyomitsu from his waist. The Daito sensed its master’s fury for the first time and gently vibrated its blade, shattering the falling raindrops.
He stared at the Blue Ghost · Niijima Yuta Two-Star in his vision, assuming the stance of Heian-kyō eyes.
“Then just tell me—”
Qi Barrier erupted, shattering the water droplets around him within dozens of centimeters into vapor that exploded outward. The Hannya’s muffled voice blended with the rain, echoing from all directions,
“—Scum, how do you want to die!”
A pale blade flash erupted, tearing through the vision in Niijima Yuta’s pupils. In an instant, the blade was within inches, slashing heavily toward his face.
The Blue Ghost retreated sharply, feeling the deep sting at his nose tip, grinning: “Shangshan Jun, I really underestimated your strength…”
Before his words finished, Kaga Kiyomitsu’s blade slashed up from his blind spot at extreme speed, severing the tendons in the Blue Ghost’s forearm.
Only then did the Hannya’s eerie voice arrive: “Didn’t anyone tell you that only fools talk during combat?”
The Blue Ghost laughed: “This is my fighting style, kid. You little punk who hasn’t been tempered by blood and fire won’t understand!”
Kaga Kiyomitsu aimed to strike again, but this time Shangshan Che felt an extremely sharp threat throughout his body!
He recoiled in shock, immediately wanting to roll to the side.
Because Niijima Yuta had suddenly pulled a chambered homemade shotgun from his lining!
Boom!
Dozens of buckshot sprayed from the muzzle, half of them hitting Shangshan Che, who only dodged halfway.
The pellets struck deeply into flesh and nerves within several meters.
Intense pain assaulted him.
But Shangshan Che didn’t hesitate at all, immediately channeling Ki-Gong Technique to distance himself from the Blue Ghost.
“Oh my, oh my, scared already?” The Blue Ghost held the shotgun with its slowly smoking muzzle, mocking, “Weren’t you going to avenge that Chinese guy? Why not come at me?”
Shangshan Che exhaled, shaking his head calmly: “Hopeless idiot.”
His face was cold; his increasingly tough body was already slowly expelling the buckshot: “If it were me, I’d only fire the first shot when I could shove the muzzle into the enemy’s mouth.”
“Little punk who only talks big.” Niijima Yuta drew a Trench Knife from his waist, snarling as he charged: “Wait till I rip out your tongue and see if you can still talk!”
But halfway through the charge, Niijima Yuta saw a black-and-yellow thing suddenly appear in the Hannya’s hand.
What was that?
Before Niijima Yuta could figure it out, massive thick fog erupted from the thing, rapidly engulfing the entire train station and even spreading outward.
“Tch! Only playing these petty tricks…”
The Blue Ghost quickly steadied himself, holding the shotgun warily scanning the surroundings.
But instead of Shangshan Che sneaking close for a slash, he heard a crisp bell-ringing sound.
The Blue Ghost narrowed his eyes.
What now?
Before Niijima Yuta could think, he heard the sound of someone rapidly approaching from behind!
He unhesitatingly turned and pulled the trigger.
Muzzle flash erupted, iron rain spraying out!
But what entered his eyes next wasn’t a staggering Shangshan Che, but a clump of charred straw and burlap slowly drifting down in the fog.
Straw?
How could there be straw here!?
Excruciating pain from a blade entering flesh came from his waist and abdomen. Niijima Yuta instinctively countered, but only felt like he grazed a bit of the opponent’s skin.
“Niijima Yuta, time to hit the road.”
In the thick fog, the Hannya’s calm-to-terrifying voice echoed.
Tomorrow Monday PK against Sanjiang, begging brothers to come read and support!
Please!
If we can get on Sanjiang, I’ll do anything!
