After seeing Ariko Asano and her father leave, Johashi also got on his own motorcycle.

It's four o'clock in the morning.

Have you ever seen Tokyo at four o'clock in the morning?

Qiao Qiao has seen it.

He didn't go straight home.

Instead, they came to an alley.

A tavern-style dining room with lights on.

It was the owner's late-night cafeteria.

Park the car and push the door open.

The boss is still the only one in the cafeteria.

It seems a little deserted.

"You're here."

The owner was not surprised by Qiao Qiao's sudden visit.

may have guessed that Qiao Qiao would come over.

"Well, I'm here."

Qiao Qiao sat down and ordered a set meal of fried pork cutlets.

There was no way, I thought of the pork cutlet set meal at the police station, and Qiao Qiao never forgot it.

"Okay."

The boss didn't say much, turned around and went back to the back kitchen.

In a few moments, the hot tonkatsu was served.

"I'm moving."

Qiao Qiao actually doesn't have this habit, after all, he is Chinese.

But in the owner's shop, it's better to respect the local customs.

"It's not going to be a peaceful night."

The boss lit a cigarette and said quietly.

"That's right, as the boss hinted before, Iguchi Tetsu's death really has something to do with those missing girls."

“？”

The boss was visibly stunned.

Then, take a deep breath of cigarette.

"Looks like you get it."

"yes, I see."

Qiao Qiao then told his boss what happened tonight.

"Boss, your ashes are going to fall off."

After saying that, don't forget to remind the boss who is frozen in place.

"Oh, hot, hot!"

The boss shook off the cigarette ash on the back of his hand and extinguished the cigarette butt.

"Artists who kill people for the sake of art, in this world, can't tell whether the spirit is more terrible or the human being is more terrible."

He sighed and poured Qiao Qiao a cup of cold oolong tea.

"One more thing, boss."

Qiao Qiao said the purpose of this time.

"When I was channeling, I saw a person who taught Tetsu Iguchi how to transform ordinary spirits into resentful spirits and how to build the enchantment of the villa."

He spoke.

The man's face was erased from Iguchi's memory.

Qiao Qiao felt that the boss was well-informed and might know something.

"Someone taught him?"

The boss asked rhetorically, his expression a little weird.

"Hmm."

Qiao Qiao nodded.

“...... Speaking of which, this can be regarded as a scandal with the National Soul Eradication Association. ”

The boss leaned against the wall and was silent for a long time before speaking.

He told Qiao Qiao a story.

Once, about thirty years ago.

It was a period of economic bubble bursting and economic depression in the country.

A few years before the economic collapse, the country was still thriving, drunk with money, claiming to be able to buy the entire country across the ocean.

Compared to the taxi that looks like a robbery now.

At that time, even if you were waving at the side of the street for 10,000 yen, people would not always be able to stop and let you get a seat.

But after the crash, a large number of businesses closed and unemployment soared.

In order to pay off their mortgages, people have to work for banks all their lives to pay off their debts.

It's good enough to be able to pay off their debts, but many more are bankrupt overnight and have countless foreign debts.

In the end, you can only commit suicide.

As a result, countless resentful spirits were born.

It can be called an era of a hundred ghosts walking at night.

It sounds ironic.

At a time when all industries are in a slump.

Instead, the Soul Killer made a lot of money.

The boss said that in that era, he was just a newcomer who had just stepped into the circle.

At that time, Tokyo was divided into several shrines, temples, and the power of the Onyo-ryo in addition to the spiritual circles.

There is also a genius soul slayer.

His name, the boss didn't say.

The soul slayer is eclectic.

Whether it is Shinto, Buddhism, or Yin-Yang Dao, all factions can master and develop the methods of eliminating spirits in a short period of time.

At the time of the most powerful, even the ghosts and gods of the shrine had to fear him for three points.

Later, a few more years passed.

The soul slayer invented a spirit removal item called the Jade of the Four Souls.

"Wait, hasn't that soul slayer also seen 'Inu O Fork'?"

Qiao Qiao couldn't help but complain.

"It's better to say that "Dog O Fork" was created precisely because of the influence of that soul slayer."

The boss smiled.

"After all, Mr. Takahashi's relationship with some soul killers in private is not bad."

“？”

And this kind of thing?

Qiao Qiao suddenly felt that the boss was really powerful.

Even this kind of gossip is clear.

Immediately, the boss explained to Qiao Qiao the concept of the four souls.

The four souls are a concept in the way of the gods, and any living being has four different types of souls, and the different proportions of souls will lead to different personalities and traits of living beings.

It sounds a bit like Hippocrates' theory of humor.

Wild Imperial Soul, Lucky Imperial Soul, and Imperial Soul, Strange Imperial Soul.

These are the four souls of Shinto.

The Jade of the Four Souls created by that soul slayer was able to absorb the yin energy of resentful spirits and evil spirits and store them.

It's like a battery.

Gradually transform this yin energy into reiki.

It is reused in some ceremonies and in the time of exorcism.

This greatly facilitated the work of some less powerful soul slayers.

After all, if you have the Jade of the Four Souls, even if your spiritual power is insufficient, you can rely on its amplification.

Easy to remove.

Gradually, the method of making the Jade of the Four Souls spread among the soul slayers.

Some even believe that this is a new era for soul exorcists.

"But in the end, after all, someone will go to find resentful spirits in order to store more spiritual power in the jade of the four souls, or even create resentful spirits themselves, right?"

When Qiao Qiao heard this, he already had some guesses.

"That's right."

The boss sighed.

Less than half a year after the production method of the Jade of the Four Souls was revealed.

There was an incident of a soul slayer killing someone.

They tortured and killed ordinary people, created resentful spirits, and then absorbed them with the jade of the four souls.

At first, everyone thought that with the popularity of the Jade of the Four Souls, the average strength of the Spirit Removal Master had risen significantly.

After this incident was discovered, the jade of the four souls was banned by the three schools of Shinto, Buddhism, and Yin-Yang Dao, and all the products that had been made were recycled, and the production method became taboo.

It was at this time.

The soul slayer stepped forward.

He controlled all the Four Soul Jades.

Trying to confront the traditional system of soul exorcists.

According to him, it is to create "a world where there are no evil spirits."

At that time, the entire circle of soul exterminators in the country and that soul exterminator started a tragic battle.

Facing the soul slayer who may be the strongest genius after Abe Eyei, the soul slayer who carries the jade of the four souls equivalent to the power of hundreds of thousands of dead souls.

The circle of soul destroyers in the country suffered heavy losses.

Most of the famous soul killers were killed and wounded, and it would be difficult to recover from surviving for more than ten years.

Even in Tokyo, there are 16 shrines of ghosts.

Removed from World War I.

Overnight.

It's like the collapse of the economy a few years ago.

The circle of soul slayers, which had just flourished, was also close to collapse.

It wasn't until a few years later that the Heguo Soul Destroyer Association was established.

Only slightly relieved.

"Then the last ...... of this soul slayer"

Qiao Qiao imagined the scene for a moment.

I can't help but think wildly.

I didn't expect the soul slayer industry to have such a magnificent past.

A soul slayer who can rival the ghosts and gods.

Unheard.

"He exhausted the spiritual power in the Jade of the Four Souls, ran and fought all the way, and was finally suppressed on a small island in Hyogo Prefecture from Awaji Island to the Akashi Strait."

The boss still couldn't help it and lit a cigarette.

Spit out a smoke ring and said.

"When he died, he made a curse that whoever used the Jade of the Four Souls would bear his grudge, and whoever mentioned his name would be watched by him who had fallen into hell."

"That year, it was exactly 1995."

When Qiao Qiao heard this, he thought for a while.

Then I got an answer.

The Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Yes.

The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 was centered near Hyogo Prefecture.

It is the deadliest earthquake in Wakuni since the Great Tokyo Earthquake nearly 100 years ago.

The earthquake not only caused a lot of economic losses, but even led to a change in the political arena of the country.

It wasn't until that time in 2011 that the record was broken.

Isn't that earthquake a natural disaster?

Is it a man-made disaster?

As for the follow-up impact on the peace country.

How many of them were caused by the Jade of the Four Souls and the Soul Destroyer.

Qiao Qiao didn't dare to think about it.

Qiao Qiao used to think.

The Soul Cleaner is in charge of the dead and does not affect the living.

But now, he found out that the soul slayer actually had such terrifying power.

But no book has written anything like this.

Mysterious indeed.

As for the soul exorcist whose name can't even be said.

This reminded him of a Chinese proverb.

With great power comes great responsibility.

The boss told this story to himself, probably to remind himself.

Qiao Qiao's heart was full of gratitude.

"The method you said artificially created resentful spirits, as well as the matter of that villa, I think, may be related to the Jade of the Four Souls."

The boss finally said.

Although the method of making the Jade of the Four Souls was widely circulated at the time, all written materials have been completely destroyed since then.

Those who know how to make it are also closely monitored.

To this day, in addition to those large shrines, large temples, and yin and yang liao.

Not many people should know.

As for the name of the Jade of the Four Souls.

Later, through Mr. Takahashi's manga works, people's impressions have gradually changed.

It turned out to be something completely different.

This time the incident.

If it is really the Jade of the Four Souls.

So what is involved behind this is very deep.

"You'd better not go too deep into this."

The boss admonished.

"I understand."

Of course Qiao Qiao knew.

The big guy who can cause an earthquake in a casual battle, he still doesn't dare to touch it at will.

Maybe someone will sneeze.

My own people are gone.

If something similar happens in the future.

Report it to the association immediately.

Never be strong.

He made up his mind.

The story is long, and by the time it was finished, it was already dark.

Qiao Qiao stood up, paid the money, and prepared to leave.

The phone suddenly vibrate.

It is the Line of Asano Riko.

She seemed to have arrived home not long ago, and at the same time reported Qiao Qiao that she was safe.

A photo was also sent.

Naturally, it's not a home selfie in pajamas.

It's a picture of the cat that didn't die.

Qiao Qiao didn't have time to raise cats.

So the kitten was brought back to the shrine by Asano Ariko, and there was no shortage of cats in the shrine anyway.

The kitten in the photo is sleeping quietly.

Maybe because the light was too bright, he stretched out his claws to cover his eyes.

Ariko Asano said she named the kitten "Saya".

"Good name."

Qiao Qiao replied.