In the candle-lit room, several teenagers sat silently.

A young police officer dressed as a man knelt on the only cushion in the entire room, seriously admiring the knife holder in front of him, where a rib more than half a meter long was lying quietly, and the faintly glowing black scabbard exuded a sharp and cold aura.

She stretched out her hand, her bony fingers clenched the cold sheath and the hilt of the knife respectively, and with a "bang", a touch of reflective silver appeared in front of her eyes.

"The black lacquer is bad, the blade is invisible, and this length is ......"

Nao's eyes narrowed, and he said softly, "This is the 'Golden Healing Pill', which means that the sword enshrined in the shrine is a fake." ”

"Hey, you can see that it's really worthy of ......"

Sueyoshigawa Kuma didn't say the rest of the unfinished words, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"Even in such a remote place, you can't just leave a national treasure outside! ”

"You're so bold to casually let a stranger into the collection room. ”

"Oh, big sister, you're not a stranger!"

Kawakumi scratched his head and laughed.

Nao snorted, tucked the blade into its sheath, and carefully placed it in place.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's get started. ”

She propped herself on the ground with her hands, allowing herself to turn around with the cushion to face several people, her eyes darkened by contact lenses narrowed slightly, and her awe-inspiring gaze was like an unsheathed blade, giving people a heavy and sharp pressure.

"What did you find, and why did you attack Higa Soji even if you committed a crime?"

“......”

The sharp straight ball made Kawakuma's smirk instantly freeze on his face.

This question seemed to mute the entire room. The three people on the other side lowered their heads, and none of them made a sound, even Akisei Aragaki, who had always been nervous, didn't say a word, and the whole room was filled with a gloomy dead air.

Nao frowned, her fingers scratching impatiently on the tatami mats, and the sound of "creaking" made the silence even more upsetting.

"Wasn't it quite good just now, what are you doing with this dead appearance until now?"

"Big, big sister, it's not that we don't want to say it, it's just that ......" Mingcheng shrunk his neck and glanced at Nao, "It's just that although we told the police what we saw at that time, after they investigated, they said that there were no clues to confirm that we were telling the truth, and we were just a few little ghosts at the time, so no one believed it." I'm afraid you'll ...... too."

"Can I convince me that the key lies in the content of the clues you provide, not in your subjective thoughts. ”

Nao sneered, "Attempted murder, even minors need to be held legally responsible, if you don't make meritorious contributions now, I'm afraid that the next time you and I meet will be in some not very good places." ”

When Ming Cheng heard this, he was frightened by the imagination in his head.

"That's not good! You can't see death without saving it, big sister!!"

"Shut up. Nao pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I'll ask, you can't say anything superfluous." ”

"Oh, oh!" the tall boy sat on his legs and nodded obediently.

"First of all, what is the true identity of Higa Soji who was attacked by you?"

"Yes......" Ming Cheng said, his eyes drifted to the side of Youjiyouren.

"It's better for me to answer this question. ”

With the gaze that fell on his body, Yuto, who had been silent, raised his head.

"From the point of view of blood relationship, he is the younger brother of my biological father, Kenichi Higa, my uncle. ”

And so it was. Nao nodded and continued to ask, "So, what was the reason for you attacking him?"

"Why......" A mocking smile appeared in Yuto's peach blossom eyes, which were similar to his mother's, "Does 'the father-killing enemy who hasn't been seen for many years finally get a chance by the family of the adult victim'?"

Nao pursed her lips.

"Be clear. ”

"Just-yes-say, that guy is me...... No, it's our father-killer. ”

A gorgeous smile suddenly appeared on Yuto's handsome face, but his eyes were so cold that it was terrifying, "The tragedy ten years ago, the so-called 'Black God Island Five Dead, Six Injured and One Missing', the real murderer is not Higa Kenichi who finally committed suicide by neck as mentioned in the newspaper, but his own brother, Higa Soji. It's really strange to say, we obviously saw Higa Soji killing people on the island, but why did the murderer become my father after the police investigation?"

"You see, you mean......" Nao's eyes froze, "You witnessed his murder?"

"That's right!

Aragaki leaned in front of Yuto and shouted, "I remember it clearly! At that time, that brute was holding a firewood knife in one hand, and stepped on his father's chest with one foot, and slashed him in the neck! We hid in the bushes, pulled Shiranui, and covered his mouth to prevent him from rushing out—in these few seconds, Shiranui's father didn't know how many more hits, and even his body twitched...... We looked scared, didn't hold it all at once, and rushed out without knowing the fire......"

He wiped his face, his lips trembling slightly.

"We were too timid to stand on our feet, so we had to run to my stalactite cave and hide...... As a result, when the police came, somehow he became a superior person, and his father was a murderer......! Damn, I don't know that Huo must have been killed by that guy, and I haven't found the body until now! That brute of Higa Soji, even my dad ......"

Mingcheng trembled with excitement, and the words he said involuntarily turned into a low roar, which seemed deafening in the silent night.

Before he could finish speaking, Nao decisively jumped up and smashed it with a punch, knocking Mingcheng to the ground before the other two could react.

"Shut up, you idiot! You forgot what I just said, huh?"

She stomped on Mingcheng's chest, crouched □ tugged at his collar fiercely, and the muffled voice hissed in his ears like some cold-blooded animal.

"Do you want everyone to hear? Don't make a noise when you don't ask you! If you make any more noise, I'll keep you silent for the rest of your life." ”

Mingcheng's head was buzzing. He stared blankly at a pair of reflective lenses close at hand, and nodded blankly.

"Answer?"

"Know, know, know ......"

Nao snorted and let go of his collar, his slender eyes turning to look at Yuto Matayoshi, who still had a mocking smile on his face.

"So after you reported the case, how did Higa Soji clear his suspicions?"

"In the simplest way. ”

Yuto raised his right hand and gestured to Nao.

"The wound on the forearm of the right hand was fifteen centimeters long, and the entire texture was cross-sectional, even the bones were exposed, and even if the operation was performed, it could not be restored...... Because it was a dominant hand, it was ruled out as a murderer almost immediately. ”

"Turning yourself into a victim who can't commit murder is really the easiest way. Nao pondered, "When you witnessed the murder, how many people were present on the other side, can you remember?"

The three teenagers present looked at each other, and a rather complicated expression appeared on their faces. Yuto spoke again, "Actually, we also think it's weird. Because we were so young at the time, some people's impressions were a little blurred, but one thing is certain - all the dead were present in that tragedy. ”

Nao was stunned when she heard this, and in an instant, an indescribable feeling flowed through her spinal cord, and the sudden chill made the hairs on her neck stand on end one by one.

"If you say that...... "If you can kill five people on the spot, there must be more than one murderer!"

She swallowed the words that almost burst out of her mouth, her dark eyes lit up.

"I also read the information on this case before coming here. The five people who were killed were the Aragaki clan, the Shiranui clan, the Sueyoshi clan, the Kuroshio clan, and the Miyagi clan, and if the real murderer was not Kenichi Higa, but his own brother Soji Higa...... What was his motive for committing the crime, and why did he have to kill five people?"

"I'm also puzzled by this. From my impression, my father had nothing in common with the other victims, and there was no conflict of interest between him and Higa Soji. Of course, the results of the police investigation are also the same, there is no gap between the deceased, the injured and the murderer, and even several deceased people are still friends with each other. ”

"In other words, neither your father nor Higa Soji had a motive to commit the crime - of course, I don't believe in curses and being possessed. Nao frowned, "But there are no absolutes in everything, there must be some 'cause' between them that caused that bloody case." If you think about it, if there is anything you care about, or something that is different from what you usually do, no matter how small it is. ”

"It's a different thing......"

Kawakumi scratched his head, "In the days before the incident, my dad was particularly happy, does it count?"

"My dad is very happy, too! What can it be? We people from Black God Island are happy all year round!" Ming Cheng pursed his lips disdainfully.

"Indeed. Yuto chuckled and shook his head.

"But when it comes to what you care about...... Not long ago, when my stepfather was seriously ill, he said something that I was very concerned about, and I always felt like I had heard it somewhere. ”

"Did you hear it during the murder ten years ago?"

"I don't remember exactly. It seems that I heard it at that time, but when I think about it carefully, I can't remember the specific situation at that time, but I just have a little trace imprinted in my mind. ”

"So, what about the content?"

"The flower of gold is like a bubble in the water, and the soul of gold should always remain in the heart. Yuto pondered for a moment, "Probably so that I should not be obsessed with unwarranted money like him, and that I should always keep the true golden soul in my heart...... meaning. If it weren't for the strong sense of déjà vu, I wouldn't have cared that much. ”

Nao took out the notepad that never left him, and wrote down the words that Yuto said...... Before I even thought about it, a sense of clarity that would burst into my mind like an arrow whenever I found an important clue came to mind. As if the finger had been manipulated, it marked a few of the words.

"Golden Soul...... ? ”

If this is the phrase that Matakito heard during the tragedy ten years ago - judging from the content of the black letter she received earlier, the "golden soul" mentioned by Yuto must have a certain connection with the last line of the enigmatic poem, "The only one who can break free from hell is the golden soul of the black god". Because they are not only similar in content, but the owner who shows them in front of the world is also the same one - Yuto's stepfather, Matsumeika.

"And the identities of the six people who were injured in the tragedy ten years ago ......"

Nao quickly flipped through the notepad and found a page with the information on the case, which was exactly what she had guessed.

The six injured were all residents of the island, including Kaneshiro Lightenu (31), Matayoshi Akika (33), and Higa Soji (27......

In this way, the massacre with unknown motives ten years ago seems to have lifted a veil of mystery, and after excluding motives such as love killings and vendetta killings, the "financial killings" that are closest to the clues currently available have have been revealed. If the poems written in the black letter do point to some "treasure", whether it is the uneven distribution of the spoils or the murder, it is enough to explain the murderer's motive for killing.

This is especially true in the case of Matsuyoshi Mingjia as an accomplice.

However, based on the current situation, the return of Higa Soji and the puzzle that was sent to Nao indicate that the treasure was not discovered at that time, or that it was not fully discovered...... Whether it is to continue to investigate the case of ten years ago or to prevent the recurrence of cases in the future, the first task now is to find the source of this qiē as soon as possible according to the puzzle - the golden soul of the black god, a treasure that is more expensive than the gold-plated gold beads.

"Tomorrow...... The second generation of Akane Hama Pavilion, there are some things I want to ask you for help. ”

Nao looked up, the reflective lenses glowing with a piercing white light.