Tsuchigomon Village.

Onizuka Kirita followed Sakai Toshiya's psychic traces and entered a low-rise house that didn't look special.

"It seems like it used to be a warehouse."

The little witch took a look at the environment, and the former warehouse was now only piled up with some rotten and stinking straw that had turned gray-black.

Then, she saw Sakai Etoshi also descend step by step towards the ground until he was gone.

Onizuka moves to the location where Sakai Toshiya's psychic traces disappear.

Behind the rotting straw pile, there appears to be an entrance to the ground that is blocked by debris.

The smell of damp decay came from below.

When the warehouse was still intact, the entrance to the passage was probably covered by wooden planks or something, but now it is deserted, and the entrance to the underground is exposed.

After quickly cleaning up the debris piled up at the underground entrance, Onizuka ordered a talisman to throw into the dark passage.

Under the light of the spirit, you can see the slippery steps winding downward.

After perceiving it for a while, and confirming that there was no necromantic aura below that could threaten her, Onizuka walked down with her feet raised.

Walk up the stone steps and into the space underground.

The surrounding stone walls were moist and cold, with a thin layer of slippery moss attached to them.

Occasionally, droplets of water drip from the cracks in the stone and smash on the ground with a small, dull sound.

The air smelled of musty and rust, and the glimmer of light from the talisman crumbled to the surrounding stone walls, and the glow was sticky and heavy in the humid air, barely illuminating the place.

In the distance, several iron fences loom in the shadows.

"This seems to be the dungeon of the village of Tsuchigomon."

A few more steps forward.

The little shrine maiden found the psychic traces of Sakai Toshiya, and a blurred white figure was standing behind a cell.

And on the pile of rotting straw in that cell, a familiar faint light could be seen.

"The fragment of the Tianhu bronze mirror, it seems that another piece has been found."

Onizuka stepped forward.

Probably because the damp environment of the dungeon is so humid, the iron railings here are rusty, and the iron locks hanging on the cell doors are also rusted with the railings, and it is obvious that they can no longer be opened with a key.

But that's all it, there's no need to use the key anymore.

Onizuka Kirita tugged at his scarlet pants and kicked him directly at the iron lock hanging from the cell door.

There was a loud bang.

The white foot bag on the little witch's right foot, which was already covered with mud, added a new red rust on the soles of her feet.

The rotten barbed iron door smashed into the cell and broke in two.

"Hmm."

Onizuka snorted with satisfaction and stepped into the cell.

The fragment of the Tianhu bronze mirror, lying quietly in the corner of the prison, is similar to the one found before, about a fan-shaped shape at a 60-degree angle.

Carefully put away the fragments of the bronze mirror, and Onizuka cut the firefly around the surroundings.

Inside the cell, there were still a lot of books, but they were rotten and could no longer be consulted.

There are no manuscripts of Sakai Toshiya to be seen here, and there may have been manuscript papers left here, but they are as bad as those books and are unrecognizable.

"This dungeon is probably the last place where Sakai Etoshiya stayed for a long time, I don't know if he was made a human pillar by the people of the earth gate......"

Onizuka held the black-and-white photograph in his hand, as well as the manuscript he had collected earlier, and once again channeled Sakai Etoshi.

Here, you can still see some of the experiences of folklore scholars......

……

Inside a gloomy dungeon.

The light of a kerosene lamp illuminated a corner of the cell.

Sakai was sitting cross-legged in his cell, flipping through a book and writing down something with a pen.

Looking at him, it doesn't look like a limit is approaching, even if he is used as a sacrifice for the "human pillar".

Anyway, it's like a scholar who is full of enthusiasm and learning.

No, it shouldn't be said to be "like", Sakai Etoshi is a serious scholar.

He's just doing what a scholar is supposed to do.

However, being able to concentrate on research in such an environment makes Mr. Sakai in a sense not an ordinary person.

After writing for a while, the folklorist slowly put down his pen and sighed: "It's a pity that after I die, no one can bring these manuscripts back to the Tu Yumen Village. ”

After being transferred from the Kawai family, Sakai Etoshi has been imprisoned in a dungeon.

And he was strictly guarded by the people of the Tuyumen family.

I've been here for I don't know how many days.

Just like what Tuyumen Futai said before, the people of the Tuyumen family brought the Tendo bronze mirror to the dungeon, and it had been hanging outside the cell for the past few days.

Sakai was also fascinated by the bronze mirror, which was said to be a god artifact, and used to sit behind the iron fence and stare at it in a daze.

Gradually, he could get some strange feelings from that mirror.

The breath of the gods? The power of the gods? The call of the gods?

I don't know.

I can't tell.

All in all wonderful.

In addition to placing the Tendo bronze mirror in the dungeon, the members of the Tsuchigomon family also responded to Sakai Etoshiya's request and put a large number of ancient books and materials in the cell for the folklore scholar to read at will.

Pen and paper required to record summaries are also provided.

About two days after Sakai was also imprisoned in the dungeon, his original fear was completely replaced by his curiosity, and he fell into the ancient texts.

So much so that he is a little confused now-

It was the people of the Tuyumen family who used a certain method to amplify their desire for knowledge.

Or is he himself a madman who is crazy enough to forget his life for folklore research?

I don't know, I don't know.

"At the very least, Shizuji is gone." Sakai thought the same thing.

His student Shizuji Kanamaru left the village of Tsuchigomon yesterday.

During the period when Sakai was under house arrest at Kawai's house, Shizuji Kanemaru's movements in the village were also restricted.

However, the people of the Tuyumen arranged a meeting for the master and apprentice yesterday morning.

The master and apprentice were alone for a long time.

Then, at noon, Sakai Etoshiya, along with the people of the Tsuchigomon family, watched Shizuji leave the village.

Sakai didn't know what would happen to his students when they left the village.

I can only hope that the people of the Tuyumen family really keep their word, don't hurt Shizuji, and really let him go.

"Dogomon Futai said that if Shizuji can't leave safely, I won't be willing to be willing to become a human pillar."

Sakai Eitoshi didn't know if the words of the head of the Dogomon family were really credible.

But in prison, he can no longer do anything for his students.

He or Shizuji are all ordinary people, and they can't compete with a behemoth like Tuyumen.

I hope that the student is really safe, and I hope that he will not do futile stupid things after he leaves.

With a heavy sigh, Sakai Etoshi also picked up the pen again and wrote on the manuscript paper:

[Human Pillar]

[If the Tendo Witch Festival of the Tsuchigomon fails, there is still a remedy.] At the same time in the following year, the witch sacrifice must be performed again with a substitute shrine maiden, and this time the sacrifice will require an additional sacrifice of the human pillar. ]

[If the witch festival is still not completed in the second year, the night carving will probably indeed come from behind the Tendo Stone Gate.] ]

[Candidates selected for the Human Pillar must not contain the blood of the Tsuchigomon, and must not have previously lived in the Kansai region near the Tendo Stone Gate for a long time.] And when the human pillar sacrifice ceremony is carried out, it is necessary to be willing to die for the ceremony to a certain extent. ]

[Human Pillar Sacrifice]

[The human pillar will be sealed in a wooden coffin in front of the Tianhu Stone Gate, and a large number of maggots raised by the secret method will be poured in. Devouring the flesh and blood of living people with worms in conjunction with rituals to sacrifice human pillars to the gods......]

Sakai Etoshiya's hand holding the pen trembled.

The "human pillar sacrifice" that is now recorded is what will happen to him in the future.

[Tsuchigomon Futai promised me that he would use magic to save me from the pain of maggot infestation as much as possible.] He promised me that during the ritual I would see and feel, the gods. ]

But it's still that question, is the words of Tuyumen Futai credible?

"Perhaps...... Really. ”

There should be no one who wants the Tendo Witch Festival to be completed more than Tsuchigomon Futai.

If his promise to himself is false, then the fact that "the human pillar is willing to die for the ritual to a certain extent" cannot be fulfilled.

It was some time again.

Sakai Toshiya, who was getting more and more carried away in his cell and was holding the manuscript with a somewhat frantic expression, suddenly heard a noise coming from outside.

It seems like the time to think about it.

For ordinary people, the Tuyumen family is difficult to contend with, so their own death is a foregone conclusion.

In addition, the student Shizuji Kanamaru may have really left safely.

Realizing that his end was coming, Sakai Toshiya had some relief and strange excitement in his heart compared to fear.

If the gods here in the Tsuchigomon really exist, then I will definitely be able to see it with my own eyes, although the price is to be sacrificed alive, but I can finally get a glimpse of the existence that old-fashioned folklorists can dream of seeing.

Inside the dungeon, footsteps sounded.

It was the head of the Kawai family who had walked to the edge of the cell, and he was now wearing a gown and a somewhat eerie mask.

But Sakai still recognized each other.

"Mr. Sakai." Kawai said outside the iron fence.

"Wait, kill me later, I'll be done in a moment."

"Okay, you still have some time to prepare."

Kawai was very cooperative, and after saying this, he stood aside without saying a word.

Sakai looked at his manuscripts in silence.

Although this material is not destined to be brought to the village of Tuyumon, they are really precious, and they are my own efforts during this time, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most outstanding research in my life.

Mr. Sakai felt that it was time to write an epilogue for the manuscript materials.

He suddenly thought of what Tuyumen Futai had said to him before-

"Actually, the earth gate has been paying attention to you for a long time, and you are one of the chosen ones. Tsuchigomon knows you better than you think. ”

"Chaowen said, Xi can die."

"Mr. Sakai, you are a sincere and pure scholar, and from that point of view, I admire you."

At the thought of this, the always mild-mannered folklorist smiled dismally: "So, that's how he thinks and sees me." ”

Although he is very unwilling, the people of Tuyumen may have really seen through their own essence a long time ago.

You can see and feel the presence of the gods at the human pillar sacrifice.

What a madly morbid, but seductive condition.

"I hate to admit it, but if I can achieve it. Somewhere in my heart, I guess I'm really going to be a little moved and willing to participate in this bloody ritual. Chaowen said, Xi can die...... Is it? ”

That's why the people of the Earth Gate chose themselves, right?

Sakai Etoshi suddenly felt very pathetic.

"What the hell am I trapped here to my death?"

Is it because of the people of the Tuyumen, because of the Tendo Witch Festival, or something else?

The folklorist in prison finally picked up the pen, and at the end of the manuscript he put down his pen without hesitation, writing—

[The so-called sincere and pure scholar is nothing but a prisoner of knowledge.] ]

This is the conclusion.

Whether it's the manuscript or the folklorist Sakai Etoiya himself.

……

In the damp dungeon of the village of Tuyumen, the light of the talisman was much dimmer than before.

Onizuka Kirita receives the last psychic message from Sakai Etoiya.

Therefore, Mr. Sakai was finally willing to die for the Tendo Witch Festival to a certain extent. He didn't get rid of the arrangement of the Tuyumen clan, and he really met the conditions for becoming a human pillar. ”

In other words, the human pillar sacrifice was probably a success.

"But I always feel that the village of Tuyumen is probably the way it is because of the night, and for some unknown reason."

Onizuka suspects that something very likely happened at the remedial Tendo Witch Festival after Sakai Etoiya's death.

She thought of the special shrine maiden she had seen before.

The shrine maiden was dressed in fine clothes and wore a golden crown on her head.

Toshima Taito, who tried to find the Amado Bronze Mirror, was killed by him in front of the Healing Pond.

"Takehara?"

According to the available information, after Sakai Eitoshi was also used as a human pillar living sacrifice, the substitute shrine maiden who participated in the Tendo Witch Festival was the daughter of the former Takehara family.

Could she be the shrine maiden?

"Anyway, now another piece of debris has been found. It is only a little short of meeting Achuan with the completed Tianhu bronze mirror. ”

Thinking like this, Onizuka tugged at the red rope on his wrist.

But this time, there was no response from the other end of the red rope.

"Ah Chuan, he's in some kind of trouble again?" The little witch was worried.

It seems that after entering the Amaka Rock, there has been a tricky battle on the Kamiya side.

She thought about going back to the cave where the Tianhu Stone Gate was located, and first filling in the groove with the newly obtained fragments of the bronze mirror.

Agawa mentioned that he couldn't summon Shikijin on the side of Amaki Rock.

However, as the Amakdo Bronze Mirror was slowly completed, Miss Mary, the strongest Shikigami under him, was able to influence the space of Amada Rock to a certain extent.

"The newly obtained fragments should be able to help Ah Chuan." (End of chapter)