Since Inuzuka had used the Catastrophe Box, naturally, the box should have come back.

But now... on the faded cloth cushion, there wasn't even a leaf, much less the Catastrophe Box.

Beichuan Si did not pay attention to Nakazato Aya, who was resting beside him. He walked forward and searched high and low.

Nothing.

No matter how he searched, there was nothing.

If the content of the legend was accurate, then someone must have come here earlier and taken the Catastrophe Box.

Who was that person?

And what was their purpose for taking the Catastrophe Box?

Beichuan Si tugged at the hair near his ear.

He silently glanced at Nakazato Aya.

Based on the information available thus far, no one should know the location where the Catastrophe Box was hidden, other than Nakazato Aya, the two friends mentioned by Nakazato Aya, and Fukuda's friend.

In other words, Nakazato Aya before him should also fall within Beichuan Si's suspicion.

But...

The moment she felt Beichuan Si's gaze, Nakazato Aya's entire body curled up, and a trembling voice rang out.

"What do you want to do... What are you trying to do?!"

Nakazato Aya only now came to her senses.

She was with Beichuan Si!

And in such deep, secluded woods.

Even if she were really to be killed and dumped in the wilderness by Beichuan Si, it likely wouldn't be discovered.

Now that she thought about it... had Beichuan Si been letting her lead the way just to exhaust her, making it convenient for him to take action?

The more she thought about it, Nakazato Aya's face contorted with fear; she whimpered as her hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.

"Don't kill me... Don't kill me! Beichuan! I'll do anything!"

She broke down, her voice hoarse as tears streamed down her face.

Her intense reaction made Beichuan Si utterly stunned.

Uh... he only looked at Nakazato Aya, didn't he? How did she become like this?

He hadn't even asked anything yet.

Seeing her panic-stricken and emotionally shattered, Beichuan Si turned to look at Nishijou Kelian, who had unconsciously leaned against his shoulder.

Nishijou Kelian shook her head under Beichuan Si's gaze.

As good spirits, her ability to perceive evil and good intentions could also be used to a certain extent for lie detection.

Her shaking head meant that Nakazato Aya wasn't pretending.

In other words, it was indeed true that Nakazato Aya had become like this just from his look.

But the problem was—

"I shouldn't look that fierce, should I?" Beichuan Si frowned.

Never mind, no use thinking too much about it.

If it wasn't Nakazato Aya... then it had to be that person.

More precisely... it could only be that person.

"I had planned to resolve the Catastrophe Box situation before going after that person..."

Beichuan Si looked at Nakazato Aya with a neutral expression: "Nakazato, don't panic. I just have some questions to ask you. Don't worry, I won't harm you."

"Uh..." Nakazato Aya sniffled and only when she saw Beichuan Si seemed genuinely without malice did she reluctantly relax: "... go ahead, ask."

"How about Inuzuka's family situation... as his girlfriend, have you heard him talk about it?"

"Inuzuka's family situation...?" Nakazato Aya blinked, then responded softly after a moment, "Inuzuka has always been quite popular... because he's good-looking, seems calm and reliable, and... this also reflects in his family situation... I remember he always had a good relationship with his sister."

"And besides Inuzuka being particularly popular?" Beichuan Si did not comment on what kind of person Inuzuka was but asked Nakazato Aya another question.

"That's..." Nakazato Aya opened her mouth and after a long pause, mustered the courage to say, "I don't know anything beyond that."

"You don't know anything beyond that...?"

Hearing this, Beichuan Si couldn't help but look at Nakazato Aya again.

She was quite an adequate girlfriend, it seemed; aside from knowing her boyfriend was handsome, she basically knew nothing else.

Perhaps in the eyes of the small-town girl, Ayane Nakazato, having a handsome boyfriend was sufficient; she didn't care about anything else.

Well, if that was the case... Beichuan Si believed himself to be quite handsome too.

Why then did this small-town girl look at him as if she was seeing a great villain?

He truly couldn't comprehend the thoughts of young girls these days.

Beichuan Si couldn't be bothered with Ayane Nakazato; he pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket, and while walking down the path on the mountain, he dialed Gangye Yoshiko's number.

Since he couldn't get answers from Ayane Nakazato, he should be able to obtain the information he wanted from Gangye Yoshiko.

...

After inquiring some information from Gangye Yoshiko, Beichuan Si also took Ayane Nakazato down the mountain.

After all, the Disaster Box from within the shrine had already been taken by someone; staying any longer in the mountains was a waste of time without a shred of meaning.

"You can go now," Beichuan Si said, pointing to the bus stop on the other side, his tone unchanged.

"...Really?" Ayane Nakazato's face was filled with surprise.

Beichuan Si was actually letting her go just like that, which was completely unexpected for her.

"What? You want to stay?"

"No, no, not at all!" Upon hearing Beichuan Si's retort, Ayane Nakazato immediately shook her head.

What a joke, if she continued to stay by Beichuan Si's side, she felt as if she might be scared to death today.

Watching Ayane Nakazato stumble onto the bus, Beichuan Si shook his head listlessly, too lazy to bother with her any further.

Because, for Beichuan Si, there was something more important to attend to next.

He turned around and saw Shen Gu Mirai standing right behind him.

Before he could even begin to ask, Shen Gu Mirai had already proactively responded to his question: "The investigation is going very smoothly... The residents here are quite friendly, so they haven't concealed much in response to my inquiries."

Indeed, the reason Shen Gu Mirai initially split up with Beichuan Si wasn't to experience the local countryside, but because of this location's name.

Hayakawa Town.

This was exactly the birthplace of the legend of the prayer gods of Yamanashi Prefecture found in Mirai's parents' study.

But Ayane Nakazato had also told them that this place was significantly related to the Disaster Box.

This was somewhat intriguing.

Disaster and prayer blessings.

Two things that should be entirely opposite were intertwined, creating contradictory local legends.

Particularly interested in this, Shen Gu Mirai subtly hinted to Beichuan Si that she wanted to investigate on her own.

This was also why Shen Gu Mirai suddenly told Beichuan Si that she wanted to enjoy the countryside on her own earlier.

In fact, that was also a small concealment for Ayane Nakazato's benefit.

And Beichuan Si had naturally caught on, acting very cooperatively.

From what Shen Gu Mirai had said so far, it seemed she had gotten the information she wanted.

This also made Beichuan Si somewhat impressed.

His fiancée's communication skills were as strong as ever; it seemed that as long as she asked, there was no information she couldn't obtain.

At Beichuan Si's indication, Shen Gu Mirai began to recount some information she had gathered from the townsfolk:

"Actually, the legend of the Disaster Box and the prayer gods aren't contradictory."

"Oh?" Beichuan Si chuckled.

Despite being apparently different legends, Shen Gu Mirai was saying they weren't in conflict? Where then was her argument leading?

Under Beichuan Si's curious gaze, Shen Gu Mirai took a deep breath and explained:

"It's not so much that these two local legends are contradictory, rather... there is a sequence to them."

"Sequence?" Beichuan Si's gaze sharpened, as he roughly grasped what Shen Gu Mirai was hinting at.

"Exactly, a sequence," Shen Gu Mirai said, holding up a finger. "Legend has it that a long time ago in Hayakawa Town, there lived a young woman... She was youthful and beautiful, with a particularly kind heart, and she loved this land dearly."

"But during one prayer ceremony, a huge disaster happened, and the woman unfortunately perished. With her dying breath, the woman said—"

"My soul is willing to reside in my beloved hairpin box, as a spirit of blessings, to drive away misfortune..."

With a sigh, Shen Gu Mirai concluded, "And this… This is the origin of the Disaster Box..."

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