277: Chapter 273: Coming to the Door 277: Chapter 273: Coming to the Door Five days later, Ono Sari’s corpse was discovered.
In this era, most people who could afford a sedan were the kind not to be trifled with.
Her sedan had been parked on the roadside for several days, untouched and unchecked.
If it weren’t for the stench of decay spreading from the rotting corpse, perhaps no one would have noticed that a woman had died inside the sedan.
Once Ono Sari’s Japanese identity was confirmed, the local police stations took the case very seriously.
That was the state of the country at the time.
Foreigners in Yanhuang Country naturally received treatment beyond that of the nationals.
In some cities, a local person losing a child didn’t get as much attention as a foreigner losing a bicycle.
To investigate the insider details of Ono Sari’s death, the nearby police stations drew their best officers to form a special investigation team and even invited several criminal investigation experts to join.
Regrettably, all the investigation could not turn up any useful clues.
Chen Hai had thought about disposing of Ono Sari’s body after he had absorbed the Shikigami Snow Woman.
Unfortunately, the memory fragments he acquired did not provide any clues about this.
During the wait for Tian Mingjian, Chen Hai, having used the “daytime soul departure”, had searched the area but found absolutely no trace of the real hiding place of Ono Sari’s body.
Thinking that he and Ono Sari had never actually met in person, Chen Hai figured even if she died, it wouldn’t be traced back to him.
After his soul departure, Chen Hai wandered aimlessly a few times but stopped pursuing the matter after failing to find any trace of her.
“It’s impossible, it absolutely can’t be…”
Inside the Japanese embassy, Murakami Taro, upon receiving the news of his Senior Sister Ono’s sudden death, crushed the teacup in his hand in disbelief.
“Ten years ago, Senior Sister Ono’s Shikigami Snow Woman was already capable of ‘daytime soul departure’, silently dispatching anyone to their death.”
“In our sect, her strength was ranked within the top five.”
“I thought she had returned to Japan since I hadn’t heard from her these past few days.”
“According to the investigative documents sent by the police, Senior Sister Ono died in her own sedan.”
“There were no signs of a struggle, and the sedan was clean, with no traces left by others.”
“The police’s autopsy indicated that Senior Sister Ono’s cause of death was due to organ failure from unknown reasons…”
Murakami Taro paced back and forth in his office.
Understanding his Senior Sister’s capabilities, he naturally couldn’t believe that she would just sit in her car and suddenly die of organ failure.
The car that Ono Sari drove was one Murakami Taro had arranged through special channels to facilitate his senior sister’s activities.
Smuggled car, unregistered, fake license…
With that car, the local police could definitely not trace anything.
After confirming that Ono Sari’s death was not a homicide but sudden organ failure,
The local police sent the death report to the Japanese embassy and did not pursue the matter further.
However, Murakami Taro, who had some understanding of mysterious powers, immediately sensed something unusual about the incident.
“The location where the car was parked was near West Mountain.”
“No doubt Senior Sister Ono was there probably to make a move against Chen Hai.”
“Her manner of death, unexpectedly, could be due to a failed encounter where her spiritual consciousness was strangled.”
“Could it be that there is a mysterious power at play from the Yanhuang side?”
Thinking over this in his mind, Murakami Taro furrowed his brow in thought.
He remembered, Jiang Zhendong sought them out to deal with Chen Hai.
It was precisely because a mysterious power had embarrassed him during Chen Hai’s engagement party.
However, Murakami Taro on his end didn’t link this mysterious power with such a youngster like Chen Hai.
He knew that his Senior Sister Ono Sari, who had started her cultivation at eight and practiced for nearly forty years, had only then achieved her current level of strength.
Not just Ono Sari but within their sect, any Onmyoji with some capability had undergone decades of hard cultivation to genuinely possess considerable strength.
Chen Hai, just a young student, stronger than his Senior Sister in Taoist mastery?
Even if he were killed, Murakami Taro would absolutely never believe such an absurdity.
He always believed that at Ye Family’s engagement party, it was because some master was displeased with Jiang Zhendong which caused the embarrassment.
But he kept this belief to himself and definitely wouldn’t share the real situation with Jiang Zhendong.
If Jiang Zhendong knew it wasn’t Chen Hai but wanted to find that unknown master?
Then how would Murakami Taro continue to leverage Jiang Zhendong to his advantage?
“Senior Sister Ono is dead?
It seems that things won’t be so simple!”
“That unknown master from the Mysterious Realm must have killed Senior Sister Ono to protect Chen Hai.”
“If this is the case, then that mysterious person must have a very close relationship with Chen Hai.”
“Senior Sister Ono cannot die in vain; everyone related to her death must not be spared.”
“Not only just Chen Hai, that Jiang Zhendong is no different.”
“He thinks that by studying in the USA, he can avoid us?
If that’s what he really thinks, then it has to be said, he’s being overly naive…”
With a fierce expression, Murakami Taro let out a cold laugh.
The feelings between him and his Senior Sister, Ono Sari, were unimaginable to the average person.
Back then, when their sect had declared war on a Ninjutsu sect in Japan, he had almost lost his life trying to save Ono Sari.
Because his foundation was damaged, he could no longer continue his cultivation and was forced to leave the sect to seek other alternatives.
He had developed a crush on his senior sister when he was just a teenager.
Now, in his forties, his love for Senior Sister Ono had never changed.
In his younger years, because of shyness and a thinner skin, he had dared not confess his feelings to Ono Sari.
After his foundation was damaged, and he could no longer continue his cultivation, he felt inferior and unworthy of his senior sister.
Thus, he had no choice but to keep this love deeply buried in his heart.
After speaking many kind words, Murakami Taro invited her to Yanhuang Country.
His intention was merely to alleviate the agony of longing, just to see her a few more times.
He really never anticipated that things would come to such a pass.
His lifelong love had vanished just like that…
Whenever he thought of Chen Hai and Jiang Zhendong, who were related to the death of his Senior Sister Ono, he gritted his teeth in rage, his face even seeming somewhat distorted.
…
Time flies, in the blink of an eye.
It seemed like it was just after the Spring Festival, and in a flash, it was almost mid-August.
In the suburbs of the Capital City, there was an extremely dilapidated house.
Leaning back with one leg crossed, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Tian Mingjian looked listlessly into the distance.
“What exactly is the boss cultivating?
He says he’s retreating, and once he’s holed up in his room, he’s in there for half a year!”
“I don’t even know how long I have to wait for the boss to truly finish his retreat and come out of the room!”
With a helpless face, Tian Mingjian sighed deeply.
Without experiencing it personally, one could never imagine what it feels like to wait in such a remote suburb, where no birds sing and barely any people can be seen, for half a year!
At first, overwhelmed by the dreariness and boredom, Tian Mingjian would occasionally visit the bustling city life to wander and engage in some activities.
But later, unless absolutely necessary, he dared not venture into the Capital City anymore.
Because wherever he appeared, it would take less than half an hour for someone to come looking for him, asking about the whereabouts of Chen Hai.
These people were all big shots he, Tian Mingjian, could not afford to provoke.
Especially Ye Cheng, who blocked Tian Mingjian, claiming to seek justice for his sister, barely stopped short of physical assault.
As a once renowned Gun God in the military, he was not one who couldn’t fight.
However, facing Ye Cheng, the big uncle of his boss, he dared not retaliate or talk back, and could only play the fool and beg for peace.
This reality made Tian Mingjian extremely frustrated.
And it wasn’t just Ye Cheng; even Bai Xiaohang and Xiang Dong, his own people, whenever they met Tian Mingjian, they would consistently pester him softly and harshly trying to extract information about Chen Hai’s whereabouts.
Up until a month and a half ago, when Bai Xiaohang got into trouble with a dangerous person and had to flee the Capital City.
He was still pleading with Tian Mingjian to ask his boss, Chen Hai, to help resolve the issue.
Facing such a request, Tian Mingjian’s heart really reached the peak of helplessness.
Several times, he even contemplated continuing to hide the fact that his boss was secluded here, cultivating in retreat.
But thinking about the great debt of gratitude he owed Chen Hai…
If it weren’t for him, his own wife would be alternating between starving and eating, still suffering back in his hometown, instead of now living every day with good food and drink, financially stable and able to buy whatever she wants!
This thought extinguished any other ideas Tian Mingjian had, and he honestly stayed behind to help Chen Hai mind the door.
Every two or three days, he would place food and water at the entrance of Chen Hai’s retreat room.
Recently, over the past month, Chen Hai had barely touched the food, but the water would be gone the next day whenever Tian Mingjian left it at the door.
With this fact apparent, at least he could be sure that his boss, Chen Hai, was merely cultivating in seclusion and was still alive!
“Next month this time, my wife should be having the baby!”
“This baby, it has to be a son!”
Because he really missed his family, Tian Mingjian sneaked back last night at midnight to spend some time with his wife.
Although he had hired a nursemaid to take care of his pregnant wife, he was ultimately not very reassured.
Each time he snuck back, his wife would reproach him.
Yet, reminiscing the warm moments with his wife, Tian Mingjian, a tough man, found his face unexpectedly flushing with sweetness.
“Boom, boom, boom…” While Tian Mingjian, lost in thoughts of his wife, stood gaping, the sound of engine roars startled him awake.
In his line of sight, a few hundred meters away, two military off-road vehicles, one after another, were rapidly approaching.
“Damn, it’s Ye Cheng and his crew!”
“How did they know I was hiding here and come directly?”
“Must have been because I slipped up when I sneaked home last night, someone tailed me…”
The military vehicles stopped about ten meters away, and seeing the people disembarking, Tian Mingjian’s face turned pale with a jolt.