Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 333: The Song Ends, But People Still Remain (I)
The Hummer was circling on the winding mountain road. It is hard to imagine that the road here has not been systematically repaired. Even the Hummer with strong off-road capabilities is bumpy. The driver is Minamoto Chisei, and Minamoto Chime is in the passenger seat. The car just passed the sign of Kadori Shrine. In memory, this road was also suitable for Minamoto Chisei to ride a bicycle many years ago, but now there are gravels everywhere on the road. It can be seen that it has been in disrepair for a long time. If he dares to ride a bicycle, he may break his front teeth.
"It's become dilapidated like this in just a few years." Yuan Zhinv looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar mountain road, and remembered that they had climbed to the top of the mountain along this road many years ago.
"The management of the shrine has been going from bad to worse. Now it no longer practices classical traditional life. Big cities also have annual festivals, which are much larger in scale than this country town. Later, there was another earthquake here, which collapsed more than half of the old houses in the town. The government provided resettlement houses in the south of Kobe, and the remaining people basically moved there with their families. Now there are only a few elderly people who are unwilling to leave and the owners who are responsible for turning this place into mechanized farmland, a total of dozens of people." said Yuan Zhisheng.
"Have you been paying attention to this place?"
"After all, this is where I grew up. There are many things left here. I can't take them with me even if I want to leave. I can only come back to take a look when I miss it."
The car drove across the stream and passed through the torii gate that had begun to change color. They finally returned to the quiet mountain town. Trees and weeds grew wildly. The buildings that collapsed in the earthquake were like the corpses of giants lying flat on the battlefield. The rotten beams and rafters were the giant's spine and ribs. The original farmland had been integrated into flat land to facilitate the operation of machinery. Modern greenhouses had been erected in many places.
The only way to go deeper into the town is on foot. Cars cannot drive in, so we can only park here. Fortunately, the town is not big, so we can walk all the way in three hours.
After not seeing each other for many years, everything was missed. Yuan Zhisheng held the divine banners and imperial coins, and Yuan Zhinu held bunches of white lilies. They walked on the small path in the field that was only wide enough for one person to pass. The house that used to belong to his adoptive father had been completely demolished and moved away, leaving only an eye-catching piece of land with some sundry farm tools placed on it.
Finally they returned to the school they had attended before, which of course has been abandoned now. There are only a few intact windows left in the school, and it is covered with cobwebs and dust. If it were in the city, the surrounding children would regard it as a destination for a haunted house adventure, but it is hard to say whether there are still children here now.
Behind the school was the town's cemetery, where the older the dead were, the deeper they were buried, and the more recent the dead were, the further out they were. Following the inscriptions on the tombstones, Yuan Zhisheng soon found the person he was looking for. The death dates under those names were connected, no more than ten days apart, and even the tombstones after death were next to each other, as if they were still classmates after death and could meet again on the other side of the Styx.
Fuyusaka... Hayami... Kazeon... Ogata... They were all the prettiest girls in their classes back then. Genno Chisei could even remember a few of them giving him love letters confessing their feelings, but he rejected them one by one. He could still remember their faces even after he left the town, but he never had the chance to meet them again because they were all killed one by one by Genno Chisei.
There is actually nothing underneath these tombstones. Yuan Zhisheng's fire burned down the basement of the teaching building, along with their bodies that had been made into wax figures. The tombstones erected here are just symbolic memorials, and buried might be their belongings from their lifetime.
Yuan Zhisheng stuck the divine banner and the imperial coin into the soil next to the tombstone. The flag fluttered gently in the breeze, reminding him of the long hair of those girls. In fact, he had liked one of them at that time... but Yuan Zhisheng knew at that time that he did not deserve love and could only choose to refuse.
Yuan Zhinu remembered every classmate he killed. He placed the white lilies he brought in front of the tombstones one by one, and said sorry sadly for each bouquet. If he had not existed, these girls would have reached the age to get married now. Many of them would have become someone's wife, and some would have been strong and persistent women. In short, they all had a bright future, but they were all cut short by Yuan Zhinu's own hands.
Even though it was the drugs administered by Tachibana Masamune and Herzog that turned him into a murderous demon, it was still these same hands that did the deed, and Minamoto no Chitose would never be able to forgive herself.
Next to the cemetery, there is a big tree that grows very well. It is planted by people to provide shade for the dead. Yuan Zhisheng leaned against the tree and recalled the past, quietly listening to Yuan Zhinu's low confession. He would mention every girl's name, remembering the homework books they copied from each other in class, remembering her shy face when he accidentally touched her hand, and remembering that girl always encouraged him when he was about to give a speech on stage, saying, "Come on, Yuanjun, you are the best!"
Many years after graduation, you will meet many beautiful girls in society. They are all charming and there is always one that makes your heart beat fast. But when it is late at night and everyone is asleep, you will still think of your female deskmate from your youth. At that time, no one knew what love was, but you just liked her wholeheartedly. No one expected that you would be like this and later kill her with your own hands.
Yuan Zhinu suddenly pulled out the cherry-red Lethe and swung it towards her neck. People are always prone to do stupid things when they are too sad. In fact, Yuan Zhinu had thought about this ending on the way here. The sin-eater will eventually pay the price for his crimes. If people can avoid punishment after making mistakes, there will be no justice in the world, and all good people will become clichéd jokes.
Wangchuan's blade was stained with blood, but he failed to cut Kaiyuan Zhisheng's neck, because he held him with his bare hands, and the blade was deeply embedded in his palm. If he did not withdraw his hand in time, all five fingers of Kaiyuan Zhisheng would be cut off. This was an extremely dangerous action, but Kaiyuan Zhisheng had no expression on his face, as if he had just done something ordinary.
"Brother!" Yuan Zhinu exclaimed.
"To die as an apology is like a cowardly coward." Yuan Zhisheng said coldly, took the knife from Yuan Zhinu's hand, and threw the information he brought to Yuan Zhinu. "60% of the parents of the victims chose to have another child, 25% chose to adopt, and only 15% gave up completely. At their age, they can basically be considered elderly couples. It is not easy to take care of children. I don't want the family to intervene in this matter. You made the mistake yourself, and you are responsible for them. I will give you a position in the family, but you can only start from the bottom. A portion of your monthly salary will be automatically drawn and sent anonymously to these poor people until they die."
"You want me to spend my whole life atonement?" Yuan Zhinu smiled bitterly. He really didn't expect that his brother had already made arrangements.
"The mistake they made is a mistake. Even if I kill you, they won't come back to life. The original instigator is dead. There's no need to let more people sacrifice because of this. Besides, you owe me a lot, and I owe you a lot. These debts can't be written off in one go. We have to pay them back slowly." Yuan Zhisheng turned his head and looked. "Now that you've said your condolences, say goodbye. I'll come with you every year in the future. There are people waiting for you."
Following Genji Chisei's gaze, Genji Chinu saw someone waiting next to their Hummer. No one informed Sakurai Kogure. The Genji brothers' trip was absolutely a secret. No one knew how Sakurai Kogure found this place.
"Is she waiting for you?" Yuan Zhisheng said calmly. He could see the color in the girl's eyes at a glance. The young master of the Sheqi Eight Clan was never an emotional idiot. On the contrary, he understood it very well, so he would deliberately avoid it many times. But now there is no need to care about so many things. The ghosts lingering over the land of Japan have been completely eradicated, and everyone can pursue what they want.
A text message notification ring rang, and Yuan Zhisheng took out his phone and took a look: "Dad asked us to go to his place to eat ramen tonight."
In the back street of Tokyo National University, today is the third day of the opening of Uesugi Ramen, and the store is still crowded. The customers who come to eat noodles are of all kinds, some carry baseball bats, some wear windbreakers with gorgeous sashimi lining, and some look like office workers, but they all have similar family emblems on their briefcases.
Students at the University of Tokyo say that Uesugi Ramen is a ramen restaurant that does honest business. The owner of the store is the old man who used to like to set up a trolley on the back street. Now he no longer does the trolley business , but instead bought a three-story shop with a parking lot on that street.
When people first heard the news, many of them didn’t believe it, saying how could an old man who could only make a living by selling cheap and high-quality products on a trolley have so much money?
But on the day Uesugi Ramen opened, all these questioning voices were silenced. All the students witnessed with their own eyes the long street being blocked by the police. Special permits were required to enter and exit. Only the rich or noble could drive in. Some of the car logos and models were even unheard of. They were limited edition models worldwide.
The men in black all wore sunglasses and looked very tough, but they were very friendly and kind. They smiled at every passerby and student, bowed and nodded to greet them, and handed them a special invitation ticket, saying that Uesugi Ramen was opening and invited everyone to come. With this ticket, one could enjoy a free serving of special abalone ramen, which was valid forever.
The gift voucher alone was shocking; it was far from being a simple street advertisement. It was very heavy, and it was impossible to tell what the paint was made of. It even had an anti-counterfeiting mark.
What was even more impressive was the guests who got off the cars. The political and business leaders from all walks of life in Tokyo sent their famous figures to patronize the restaurant. The governor of Tokyo even came in person to cut the ribbon. You have to know that he is a big shot who lives a more comfortable life than the Japanese Prime Minister. Tokyo TV rehearsed the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the day to congratulate the opening of Uesugi Ramen Restaurant. The owner, who usually looks plain, was particularly elegant today. He was dressed in a suit and tie with an elegant red rose on his chest. People who seemed to be in high positions and powerful people were all around him, and he shook hands and greeted everyone carelessly, with a nonchalant look on his face.
It is rare to see such a style in a ramen restaurant, so when the hustle and bustle of that day faded away , people still came to the ramen restaurant in an endless stream every day, and except for the VIP seats reserved specially, the turnover rate of other seats was astonishingly high.
The ramen restaurant has been upgraded, but it has not abandoned its previous positioning. The ramen in the store ranges from the cheapest street-level to the Michelin-level ramen that can be found in top restaurants. From business tycoons to students from the University of Tokyo, everyone can find a positioning and taste that suits them. The ramen restaurant serves both ordinary people and wealthy people. It is open 24 hours a day and there are cool men in black standing guard all day. On rainy days, they will hold an umbrella to guide guests to park their cars.
People were speculating about who the old owner was and how he could have such great power, but the old man was still busy in the kitchen as usual, wearing a white cloth on his head that symbolized his identity, as if he was going to devote his life to the ramen business. He would only take a break when he could not keep up the physical strength and let his new apprentices take over. The man in black clothes and sunglasses came up silently to massage the old man's shoulders and legs.
Beep, beep, the cashier machine beeped and printed out a long string of paper. The cashier tore it off and glanced at it, then immediately ran to the kitchen with it as if it were an imperial decree, shouting all the way: "Takama-hara's order! Takama-hara's takeout order is here!"
The kitchen was immediately on high alert. The top-quality ingredients had been brought in on carts and placed on the chopping board. Fresh salmon was as easy to break open as smooth tofu. The soy sauce was aged and airlifted from China. The noodles had to be made on site by hand and could not be made by machines.
As everyone knows, there are only two things that can make this store nervous. The first is the two young men who come to eat ramen every day. Every time they come, the boss will cook for them himself. The three of them sit at the same table to eat and chat, so everyone speculates that they are actually the boss's sons.
Another thing is the takeaway order from Takamagahara. It is said that it is a host bar in Shinjuku. Normally, this kind of shop will provide its own food, because they need to rely on this to make more profits, so there is no need to use takeaway. An employee once expressed his curiosity, and the boss replied that you don’t know shit, there are very important guests in Takamagahara! The employee had to guess from the takeaway order.
Although the order is long, it is just the toppings requested. There are only two servings of ramen. This amount of money is not enough to fill the gap in the store's turnover. But it is this order that always makes the boss roll up his sleeves and do it himself. His serious attitude and professional expression always make people feel that he is not making ramen, but preparing to go to the battlefield to fight.
