This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame-Chapter 597 - 374. The Distant Promise (4000 words)_2

"Mm," Beichuan Si took the documents, his gaze swiftly scanning over the printed type on the A4 paper.

Seeing that Beichuan Si had entered the zone, Gangye Yoshiko seated beside him couldn’t help but ask, "By the way, Beichuan, why did you suddenly ask for the data on the residents of that abandoned tenement?"

Beichuan Si was known for not casting his falcon until he saw the rabbit; if he asked for the data himself, it meant there was definitely a problem with the abandoned tenement.

Gangye Yoshiko was not just an onlooker who followed Beichuan Si around and watched him work.

When Beichuan Si asked her for the data, she had already started her own investigation of the tenement.

That building was now referred to as ’Inagaki’s Longhouse’ and seemed to also be categorized as a supernatural spot.

However, since ’Inagaki’s Longhouse’ was not large in size and the ghost stories associated with it were not scary, it wasn’t particularly famous.

But now that Beichuan Si had taken action...

Gangye Yoshiko’s expression shifted, just about to voice the thoughts in her mind—

"It’s different from what you’ve imagined."

Beichuan Si, while looking at the documents, explained to Gangye Yoshiko, "There are no vengeful spirits there."

His voice paused, then he added, "But the situation inside... is even more complex than vengeful spirits."

Beichuan Si’s fingers, flipping through the documents, suddenly stopped.

On the other side, Gangye Yoshiko also sharply caught Beichuan Si’s pause; she leaned over, her gaze resting on the page he was looking at.

It was a small portrait of a person.

A little girl with braided pigtails was looking towards the camera, a gentle smile on her face.

That adorable smiling face carried a warm feeling; even just looking at it could uplift one’s spirits.

But the words recorded beside it were cold and impersonal.

"Shindai Xiangli, born in Heisei 16th year... died in Heisei 25th year... aged nine."

Gangye Yoshiko quietly read the words on the page. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

She had already seen these files and naturally knew the current situation of Shindai Xiangli.

She was a resident of ’Inagaki’s Longhouse’, and had passed away six years ago due to an accident.

And...

Gangye Yoshiko glanced again at the information below, shaking her head involuntarily.

What feelings carried that little girl, to smile so brilliantly in front of the camera?

"If she were still alive, she’d probably be about to enter high school by now, is there something about her that caught your attention, Beichuan?"

Listening to Gangye Yoshiko’s question, Beichuan Si nodded, "Indeed, there are some things that concern me."

He turned his head, looking towards the system task on the other side of his field of vision.

"Discovering new strangeness ’Song Cards’, unlocking the task ’A Distant Promise’."

System prompt: The shadows under the longhouse, wandering spirits everywhere, intimidating voices echoing at night along with children’s choked sobs... What exactly exists inside the longhouse, or is there nothing at all? Will the song from a promise made in the past sound, or will the curtain fall silently? All of this is for you, who happened by chance upon everything... and who obtained the song cards, to answer.

Task Completion Condition (1): Find out the content of the promise Shindai Xiangli made with someone.

Task Completion Condition (2): Fulfill Shindai Xiangli’s lingering wishes.

Task Completion Reward: Mouchi Witch’s Certificate (award can be given to the selected person).

"..." Beichuan Si.

This was the task triggered after he had received the song cards yesterday.

However...

Mouchi Witch’s Certificate... What exactly was that?

Rubbing his chin, Beichuan Si mulled over it.

When it came to the term ’Mouchi,’ the only thing that came to mind was the ’Mouchi Stone’ that Shen Gu Mirai wore on her wrist now.

And the origin of the Mouchi Stone...

"Kagoshima Prefecture..." Beichuan Si murmured to himself.

It was the stone with exorcism effects brought by the father of Nakajima Michika, Nakajima Hiroto... who claimed to have had an exploration team bring it from a massive spiritual realm in Kagoshima Prefecture.

And the exorcism effectiveness of the Mouchi Stone was not to be underestimated; even an exorcism novice like Shen Gu Mirai could easily melt away a vengeful spirit with it.

From this perspective, anything related to ’Mouchi’ should be a noteworthy object indeed.

Of course, it might also just be a coincidence of names.

But such a likelihood was very low.

The most crucial thing was...

"Being able to select a target to give the task reward to."

Beichuan Si muttered softly before shutting down the task panel.

Regardless, the fact that the system task had been triggered was real, and it was always better to have a task reward than nothing at all. As for whom to give this reward to... it would be more prudent to think about that after the task was completed.

Before that, there were some things that needed to be clarified.

With whom exactly Shindai Kanari had made a promise, and what the contents of that promise were.

Although the information Gangye Yoshiko had investigated didn’t specify the person Shindai Kanari had made a promise with, there was a very conspicuous phrase—

Gangye Yoshiko even reminded him, worried that Beichuan Si might not have seen it:

"According to the neighbors, Shindai Kanari had a close relationship with the Inagaki family when she was alive."

Yes.

The Inagaki family.

Inagaki’s Longhouse was originally a rental house open to the public. After all, it was such a large property, and it would be somewhat wasteful for only the Inagaki family to live there, so they rented out rooms to generate some income.

And one of the renters was the Shindai family.

This was also the beginning of the connection between the Inagaki family and Shindai Kanari.

But... where was the Inagaki family, who had already moved away from the longhouse?

And where were the family members of Shindai Kanari?

That was also a question.

"I’ve considered that as well."

Seeing Beichuan Si fall into contemplation, Gangye Yoshiko spoke up, "In fact, the Inagaki family still lives in Tokyo. I’ve left the address on the last page of the information. If you, Beichuan, want to visit them, that’s also possible."

With that, she scratched her head: "As for the other Shindai family... it seems that they have already moved away from Tokyo. At least for now, I haven’t been able to find any usable information within the city limits."

Just as Gangye Yoshiko was about to say more, she realized that Beichuan Si was giving her an inexplicable look.

"Beichuan, what are you looking at?"

Gangye Yoshiko couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m just a bit surprised," Beichuan Si said as he pinched the documents, his tone carrying a trace of astonishment, "Liangzi, that you could actually think things through so thoroughly?"

This rhetorical question stopped Gangye Yoshiko in her tracks.

After a while, Gangye Yoshiko’s face turned visibly red at a visible speed, her clenched fists creaked, and a particularly terrifying smile appeared on her face, "Beichuan, I’ve been thinking about one thing since a long time ago—"

Taking a deep breath, she couldn’t maintain her smile:

"Are you, kid... lacking a bit of the respect due to an adult?"

"I was just joking."

"A joke?!"

Gangye Yoshiko became furious.

The fact that Beichuan Si could speak irritating words with such a blank expression was what truly infuriated people!

She ground her teeth, a brute fury in her expression: "I’m increasingly convinced that I need to teach you a lesson, or if it goes on like this, you’ll turn into a twisted little brat."

"It’s okay," Beichuan Si blinked, still wearing that expression:

"Because you can’t beat me."

"..." Gangye Yoshiko.

Hearing this, Gangye Yoshiko simply leaped up.

She didn’t care how despicable a sneak attack was, at this moment, she felt that she had to show Beichuan Si what ’adult dignity’ meant.

Five minutes later.

"Regardless, I’m very grateful for your information, Liangzi," Beichuan Si said, standing up and nodding his head in thanks to Gangye Yoshiko.

"..." Gangye Yoshiko.

Gangye Yoshiko slumped on the bench, her eyes still glaring fiercely at Beichuan Si.

Even though she was glaring viciously... deep down, Gangye Yoshiko felt speechless.

Beichuan was indeed very skilled.

Even Gangye Yoshiko had to admit that.

All her grappling and joint techniques were evaded by him.

The guy was simply too good to be just a high school student.