Chapter 1 The Legend of Mount Yuzhang

The myth recorded on the paper wasn't lengthy, its style more akin to a folk tale passed down by elders in a narrow, isolated settlement.

[Legend says that long, long ago, a samurai and his wife lived in a place called Mount Tanigawa. The couple was deeply in love and had four daughters.

The samurai felt that his family lineage couldn't go without a male heir, so he and his wife had another child, but it was a Hiruko (a child born with deformities). The wife also died in childbirth.

The samurai felt immense sorrow and regret. He prostrated himself at the foot of Mount Tanigawa, weeping in grief. The mountain god of Tanigawa took pity on him and told him to seek the deity of Mount Habari, who presided over human relationships and might have a solution.

So the samurai came to Mount Habari, offered sacrifices, and continued to lament and plead. The god of relationships on Mount Habari took pity on him and lent him a hemp rope from his belt, telling him to follow the rope down a well at night to reach the Land of Yomi and reunite with his wife.

The samurai tied one end of the rope to a tree and lowered the other end into the well. He grasped the rope and descended into the well, not getting wet but instead arriving in the Land of Yomi.

In front of the Land of Yomi's main hall, he saw his wife and said to her, "My beloved wife, our children cannot be without a mother. Please come back with me."

The wife replied, "Alas, you didn't come sooner. I've already eaten the food of Yomi. But since you came especially to find me, I'm willing to return. I'll beg the god of Yomi to let me return to the human world, but during this time, you must not look at me."

After saying this, the wife returned to the main hall of the Land of Yomi, while the samurai built a wooden house outside the hall.

A long time passed, and the samurai didn't see his wife return. He broke off a branch from a tree, lit it as a torch, and entered the dark hall.

He saw a terrifying corpse lying on the ground, decayed beyond recognition, writhing with maggots.

The samurai felt terrified and ran away.

But the corpse rose from the ground and chased after him.

The samurai fled all the way to the entrance of Yomi, grabbed the rope hanging in the air, and climbed upwards.

At this moment, the terrifying corpse below spoke, "My dear husband, I am your wife. Can't you recognize me?"

The samurai was shocked and loosened his grip on the rope, carefully examining the corpse, and realized that it was wearing his wife's clothes.

The couple embraced and wept. The samurai's tears fell on his wife, and maggots fell away, and rotten flesh regenerated. The wife returned to her human form.

The samurai was overjoyed, but his wife told him that because he had seen her true form, she could no longer return to the human world and had to remain in the Land of Yomi forever.

So the samurai climbed back up the rope to the human world and sought the god of relationships.

The god was moved by their love and gave him the rope permanently.

From then on, the samurai brought his children to Mount Habari, built a house, and settled down.

On a certain night in July every year, he would take his children, use the rope, and descend into the Land of Yomi through the well to meet their mother.

And Mount Habari was renamed Mount Enishi (Mount of Relationships) from then on.]

The above is the complete content of the legend. In addition to this, there are comments from the writer on the paper.

[My teacher, the renowned folklorist Iwamoto Shigesu, after visiting over a dozen elderly people in Enikari Village in the 1960s, recorded this legendary tale about the origin of Enikari Village.

It can be seen that this legend is very similar in some aspects to the myth of Izanagi going to the Land of Yomi to find his deceased wife, Izanami.

At the same time, it contains many philosophical principles that can play an educational role in daily life, such as not favoring sons over daughters, couples should trust each other, and promises should be kept, otherwise, they will encounter misfortune, and so on.

This story is widely circulated in Enikari Village and neighboring villages. Enikari Village holds a festival every four years, decorating the village with lanterns and performing Noh plays based on this story at the shrine, educating people to value family, cherish their partners and love, protect their families, and keep their promises, etc.

During the festival, the managers of the shrine, who are also the Hiratsuka family, the largest landowners in the village, provide free food and drink, attracting many outsiders.

However, because of this legend, some people who have lost hope in life and are at their wit's end also come to Mount Enishi, viewing it as land adjacent to the Land of Yomi.

Because they cannot find love in life, they think of dying on Mount Enishi,

wanting to meet their loved ones in the Land of Yomi like the samurai in the legend.

This leads to disheartened people committing suicide, disappearing, or experiencing *kamikakushi* (spiritual abduction) on Mount Enishi every year.

This custom can be traced back to the mid-Kamakura Shogunate, before the establishment of the Muromachi Shogunate.

My teacher, Iwamoto Shigesu, was fortunate enough to be invited by the Hiratsuka family to reside in the Hiratsuka residence during the Enikari Festival.

His notes record in detail the scenes of the Hiratsuka family members preparing props such as Noh masks, *shimenawa* (sacred ropes), *gohei* (paper streamers), lanterns, and sake for the festival.

Unfortunately, he has passed away, so I can only restore the map of Enikari Village and the Hiratsuka family's residence as much as possible based on these written descriptions, hoping to restore this village that disappeared in the earthquake disaster.]

Below the comments were several simple maps depicting the terrain of Enikari Village and the floor plan of an old mansion—the Hiratsuka family residence.

On the side of the map, there was also a short monologue from the commentator.

[Uh... lately, my head has been hurting more and more, and a melody keeps echoing in my mind. Perhaps, perhaps this melody is related to my identity before I lost my memory...]

The above is all the content on the paper.

Li Ang finished reading all the words and frowned, saying, "The material of the paper and the ink on it are relatively old, so it shouldn't be a forgery.

The writer claims that his teacher was the folklorist Iwamoto Shigesu. Could this paper be left behind by Ogasawara Masayuki, also a folklorist,

that is, Ogasawara Tetsuya and Ogasawara Ayaka's father?"

"This paper fell at the entrance of the corridor..."

Wang Congshan thought for a moment and asked, "When you came upstairs just now, did you see the paper already on the ground,

or was it deliberately dropped by that black-haired figure?"

"Um..."

Li Ang carefully recalled and affirmed, "This paper was already on the ground. It didn't fall from the black-haired figure."

"Hmm, that's strange."

Wang Congshan squinted her eyes and said, "If he dropped it, then it would directly prove that he is guiding us to gradually understand the truth behind Enikari Village.

Maybe he is Ogasawara Masayuki, who has been missing for ten years.

If he isn't Ogasawara Masayuki... then who could he be?"

This question couldn't be answered for the time being. The two looked at the floor plan of the Hiratsuka family's residence and found that the corridor full of hemp ropes they were facing was marked as "Rope Corridor" on the map,

leading to a room called "Rope-Tying Room" and connecting to the mansion's courtyard.

"The Rope-Tying Room should be the place where *shimenawa* are made."

Li Ang said, "The text on the paper says that the Hiratsuka family are the managers of the shrine, so the barrier at the shrine entrance is inseparable from them. They might have set it up themselves.

The current task goal requires us to find scissors that can break the *shimenawa* seal. Maybe those scissors are in the Rope-Tying Room."

"So, should we go?"

Wang Congshan glanced at the Rope Corridor. The hemp ropes in the corridor hung quietly, motionless, with no sign that they would strangle or hang intruders.

"Let's try first."

Li Ang folded the paper in half, had Wang Congshan keep it safe, and then slowly stepped forward, carefully extending the Mind Monkey Staff into the corridor.

As soon as the Mind Monkey Staff entered the corridor, the surrounding hemp ropes immediately activated, entangling it,

until Li Ang decisively retracted the Mind Monkey and exited the corridor,

all the hemp ropes fell back to sleep.

"Okay, it seems that even inanimate objects can't pass through easily."

Li Ang sighed and said to Wang Congshan, "Since the other side of the corridor is in the courtyard, we can first go from the right side of the hall to the courtyard, go to the other end of the corridor, and see if we can enter the Rope-Tying Room from there."

"Alright."

Wang Congshan nodded. The two walked down from the second-floor platform and followed the map to the courtyard from the corridor on the right side of the hall.

Along the way, the two saw that many rooms in the mansion were relatively clean, while some rooms were messy inside, with doors wide open and dried bloodstains on the ground.

But there were no corpses or skeletons.

"Some valuables, such as jewelry, haven't been taken away. There's even unfinished food on the table."

Li Ang said, "It seems that the Hiratsuka family was completely unprepared when the disaster struck."

"Yeah."

Wang Congshan nodded, her gaze lingering on the food on the table. "The time in this space doesn't seem to be fixed.

The bloodstains on the ground have been dry for who knows how long, but the food in these bowls doesn't show signs of serious decay. It's just cold and without warmth."

Li Ang tilted his head and thought for a moment, "Is it possible that the Hiratsuka family's cook, due to personal grudges, put super-powerful laxatives in the food,

causing everyone in the family to have diarrhea after dinner and rush to the toilet?"

"And these bloodstains on the ground were left during the rush to the toilet?"

Wang Congshan squinted her eyes and retorted, "How can there be such an efficient and precise laxative that can cause hundreds of people with different constitutions to have diarrhea at the same time?

I'd be more inclined to believe that the Hiratsuka family had Sharingan eyes due to bloodline inheritance, but they were exterminated by the villagers of Enikari Village because of power struggles."

"How could there be no efficient laxatives? Hua○shi!"

Li Ang said matter-of-factly, "When I'm in a bad mood, I eat Hua○shi and then contemplate life on the toilet for a few hours."

Hua○shi Burger had several branches in the district where Li Ang lived. They often had promotions, were cheap and plentiful. Sometimes, it was even cheaper than cooking himself.

However, because they were franchised, the hygiene conditions of different branches varied greatly. Some stores had questionable hygiene management, and occasionally, people would have diarrhea after eating there.

"You know that eating Hua○shi can easily cause diarrhea, but you still eat it often."

Wang Congshan complained, "And you squat on the toilet for several hours at a time. Aren't you afraid of getting hemorrhoids?"

"Who said I was squatting?"

Li Ang said inexplicably, "Does sitting on the toilet necessarily mean squatting?

Sitting cross-legged on it, or supporting yourself with your hands like a gymnast, or even doing a handstand, are all good postures for exercising and meditating at the same time.

There's absolutely no risk of getting hemorrhoids.

Also, by the way, Mayinglong brand hemorrhoid cream is very good. It clears heat, reduces dryness, promotes blood circulation, and reduces swelling. It has good affinity for human skin.

This small chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading the wonderful content!

It can even be used as an eye cream to remove dark circles,

as a lip balm to relieve chapped lips,

as a cream to treat rhinitis.

A friend of mine, Old Zhang, a long-term hemorrhoid patient on bed number four in room zero-seven on the third floor of building number two in the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Tokyo Hospital, also told me that he used this stuff to cure his canker sores."

"...Wait, why do you know so much about hemorrhoid cream? And who is Old Zhang? Is he a new character from a paid DLC? I feel like you mentioned this person to me a long time ago?"

Wang Congshan rubbed her temples helplessly, but she started to seriously recall whether Li Ang had ever used strange medicines on her under the guise of treating her canker sores when she was a child.

"No one, knows more about healthcare knowledge than me."

Li Ang's expression was serious and solemn. He moved his hands back and forth, gesticulating as if playing an accordion.

The two chatted casually and soon approached the courtyard.

"Phew...why does it feel colder and colder?"

Li Ang rubbed his palms together and exhaled a visible stream of air.

He felt the recovery efficiency of the spiritual energy in his sea of consciousness, hesitated, and still didn't use the Minor Creation Art of the Mind Creation system to create clothes for himself.

"It's definitely getting colder. The air temperature has dropped to almost below zero."

Wang Congshan scratched the back of her head and hesitated, "The doors of these rooms are all open. Should I find you some clothes to put on?"

"No need. The Hiratsuka family has probably already met with misfortune. Recklessly using things here may cause other consequences."

Li Ang said sternly, "And the clothes of Nihon are no good.

The clothes of Yin City are good!

If they're not the clothes of Yin City, I won't wear them."

"Your decision."

Wang Congshan curled her lips and scratched the back of her head again.

"Wait,"

Li Ang suddenly stopped, as if noticing something, and placed his left hand on Wang Congshan's shoulder, "Don't turn around."

Wang Congshan was startled and stood still, facing forward, with her back to Li Ang, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Li Ang didn't answer. He took a deep breath and reached out to slowly push aside the hair on the back of Wang Congshan's head.

Behind the black hair,

he saw five oval-shaped thin slices of purple-pink color, like clothing decorations.

Those weren't thin slices, but fingernails—belonging to a woman.