The account Tezuka Renichi gave differed slightly from that of the teenager, but it wasn’t far off.
At the ti, the group had sent people to collect a debt from soone living in "Hell’s First District." Since loan sharking is legal in Japan, debt collection is naturally legal, too. The unfortunate debtor kept dodging them over and over, but ultimately, a subordinate from the group caught him, gave him a good beating, and took the money.
However, as luck would have it, this scene was discovered by patrolling police, and the subordinate had to flee in a hurry.
The next day, news ca that the subordinate had killed soone, and the police launched a manhunt for him.
The Japanese Yakuza isn’t as arrogant as the Mafia in Sicily, nor as formidable as the Godfather of the Brook District. They are more like "cooperating with the police." Simply put, it ans I don’t cause you trouble, and you don’t cause trouble; that way, everyone gets along. But if you do cause trouble, don’t bla for being impolite.
Take debt collection, for instance. The Yakuza can collect debts, even by force. They can even capture soone and toss them onto a fishing boat to catch tuna in the open sea, or force them into making adult films with contract stipulations. As long as the films are pixelated, the police won’t interfere.
But you can’t avoid pixelation; that’s illegal.
But you cannot cause a death.
If a death occurs, the police must get involved, whether they want to or not.
Likewise, the gangs must give the police an "explanation."
So when an incident like this happens, the leadership’s first reaction is usually to let the person turn themselves in. After all, Japan doesn’t have the death penalty. It was just an accidental death during a debt collection process—how many years would one get for that? Besides, it’s just a subordinate; losing one doesn’t hurt the organization much.
The subordinate firmly denied the accusations, saying he only gave the debtor a beating and didn’t kill him. However, no one really paid attention to his words, as people like him would say anything to avoid conviction. So they locked the subordinate up, intending to hand him over to the police the next day.
But that night, an unexpected event occurred—the subordinate died!
What’s more surprising was that he didn’t commit suicide; he was murdered! And the one who killed him turned out to be the dead debtor!?
Are you a bit confused?
Tezuka Renichi initially thought so too, but the situation was completely captured on surveillance footage. In the video, the subordinate was initially asleep in a closed room. Suddenly, he began to show signs of extre pain, as if trapped in a nightmare. Then, a shadow slowly erged from his body, taking on the form of a man.
The man then reached out and strangled the subordinate. By the ti the group’s guards realized sothing was wrong and rushed in, the man had already killed the subordinate and disappeared completely.
Panic-stricken, the group’s guards hurriedly called their boss, but by the ti the boss arrived, the subordinate’s body had vanished!
At that point, everyone found this incident incredibly strange, unable to figure out what was going on. It was around this ti that Tezuka Renichi learned about the incident and wanted to use it to build a connection with Duanmu Huai. So he called Duanmu Huai for the first ti, hoping to commission him for an investigation, but Duanmu Huai refused.
If it had just ended there, the impact of the incident wouldn’t have been too significant—after all, it was just a subordinate who died. However, things took a turn for the worse not long after.
This ti, the Second-in-Command Assistant of the group died!
And the one who killed him was that dead subordinate!
The Second-in-Command Assistant held a considerable position; within the gang hierarchy, the highest position is the group leader, aka the boss. Next is the Second-in-Command—second only to the boss, and if the boss dies or is jailed, the Second-in-Command would take over the leadership.
The position of Second-in-Command Assistant is technically third in command. Although in na they are assistants, their relationship with the Second-in-Command is akin to that between a Crown Prince and other princes. Although the Second-in-Command is the first in line for group headship, should anything happen to him, the assistants are also eligible to inherit the leadership position.
Therefore, the Second-in-Command Assistant holds a considerable standing within the gang.
And his murder was dramatically theatrical—at that ti, he was leaving a nightclub, having enjoyed himself, and was about to go ho. As he stepped out to get into a car, the subordinate suddenly erged from the darkness at the street’s end and launched an attack on the assistant. Although the assistant had bodyguards with him, the subordinate seed invincible, impervious to knives or gunfire. He even disemboweled the assistant with a knife right in front of the others!
The subordinate then disappeared, and following that, the assistant’s body was nowhere to be found.
The situation escalated to a point where everyone was panicking; the Yakuza are daring but not fearless of everything. Such eerie occurrences were unsettling the mood within the group. Thus, the group leader sought help from the well-connected Hawk Moon Group’s leader.
The Hawk Moon Group’s leader didn’t know what to do either, but he owed the other leader a favor, so he agreed to help and passed the matter to Tezuka Renichi.
Tezuka Renichi had so ans and found out through police investigations that similar cases had occurred, which led him to follow the clues to find the teenager and inquire about what had happened.
However......
"A haunting...... Honestly, I just can’t imagine it."
Looking at the supernatural magazine in Duanmu Huai’s hand, Tezuka Renichi looked speechless.
"But, since Mr. Duanmu, you’ve decided to investigate this matter, then...... I can let it go now. After all, technically speaking, this isn’t sothing I should be dealing with."
Indeed, having a Yakuza mber play detective to investigate a supernatural case is a bit much.
Upon finding out that Duanmu Huai was taking over the investigation, Tezuka Renichi decisively chose to back off. On one hand, he had so anxiety about such eerie matters, and on the other, he knew Duanmu Huai’s capabilities. Even though it was the leader’s order, he figured reporting back about Duanmu Huai’s involvent should put the issue to rest.
"Let be clear, I can’t guarantee any results."
"No problem, I believe in your capabilities, Mr. Duanmu. Our leader also speaks very highly of you, especially since, thanks to Mr. Duanmu’s efforts, the leader was able to hear his daughter’s final words."
"It was just a matter of convenience. With nothing more, I’ll be going."
"Of course. By the way, if you need any assistance, feel free to call . Our Hawk Moon Group does have so influence around here."
"I’ll see how it goes."
Duanmu Huai was not willing to call in a bunch of Yakuza to help. Wasn’t he already trying to clean up his act? So he just casually brushed it off with a few words and then returned to the office.
As for that young boy, he left with Tezuka Renichi, after all... the person who killed him had already been killed by Mianmu Zuoniao, and he probably wouldn’t co back out again, right?
Hopefully not.
Of course, to be safe, Duanmu Huai gave him an amulet for protection, but it was different from the one Yotsuya Miko had, this one was disposable.
After all, a man should have so backbone. He’s not like Yotsuya Miko, who is a girl; one chance to save your life should be enough.
No more than that.
After returning to the office, everyone gathered around curiously, looking at the supernatural magazine in Duanmu Huai’s hands.
"Ghosts..."
Staring at the magazine, Shajuye’s expression was sowhat complicated.
"Do ghosts really exist in this world?"
"You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?"
Ever since Duanmu Huai ca to this world, Shajuye had been through the most incidents with him.
"But those were monsters, not ghosts, right?"
To be fair, Shajuye’s answer was quite reasonable. Indeed, most of what existed in the Cthulhu Mythos could be classified as creatures.
The only difference is whether they belong to "alien creatures" or "different space creatures."
Things like evil spirits haunting people—Duanmu Huai hadn’t seen any, not even in Mary’s world.
"Speaking of which, everyone at school seems to really enjoy these gas, like with the dog foxes and such..."
Mianmu Zuoniao was also curious as he spoke.
"People actually play those? I’ve only seen that in movies. Isn’t playing that kind of ga usually just a prelude to asking for trouble?"
Duanmu Huai casually remarked, then opened the supernatural magazine titled "Seven Wonders of XX City Special Edition."
Generally speaking, these Seven Wonders were mostly found in schools, and of course, the thes were very consistent.
Things like Hanako-san in the toilet, mannequins that run away at night, and the sound of piano playing in an empty music room are considered staple projects of the school Seven Wonders.
For example, the legend of Hanako-san is that you go to the third-floor bathroom at school, knock on each stall starting from the first one, knock three tis on each, and at the sa ti ask, "Is Hanako-san there?" When you knock on the third stall, a voice from inside responds, "I’m here," then the stall door opens, and Hanako-san appears to drag you into the stall and then disappears.
Of course, any logical person would know this legend doesn’t make sense. If everyone who knocked was taken by Hanako-san, then who left the story behind?
Actually, a lot of ghost stories are like that. You say in the end the person died, so how did the ghost story co about? Did the person turn into a ghost and tell you?
Isn’t that nonsense?
"Brother, are we going to investigate these Seven Wonders next?"
"I don’t have ti for that."
However, Duanmu Huai’s answer was beyond Shajuye’s expectations.
"I’m looking for an address."
"Address?"
"That’s right, there’s definitely sothing off about this magazine. It should have the editorial office’s and printing company’s address and phone number. I’m going to go there directly to see what kind of place is publishing such a disgusting magazine!"
Indeed, Duanmu Huai wasn’t foolish enough to obediently play so mystery-solving ga with them. Just go directly to the editorial office, find the person responsible for this magazine, and question them, then you’d know everything, wouldn’t you?
Oh, Duanmu Huai has a Shadow, no need to question them, just scan them, and that’s it!
"But maybe there isn’t a problem with this magazine."
Alice Phil curiously examined the magazine in front of her, and from the printing to the texture, it didn’t seem at all different from those third-rate tabloids.
"Whether there’s a problem or not, we’ll know once we check it out."
Just as Duanmu Huai finished speaking, the doorbell rang with a "ding-dong."
And upon hearing the doorbell, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, our person of interest has arrived."
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