Chapter 147: Shimogamo Shrine's Hostage Rescue Techniques

It was very quiet.

Qiao Qiao was positioned in the middle of the team, responsible for watching the front-right.

The whispering carried on the breeze grew clearer. Though the sound was barely perceptible, Qiao Qiao could make out fragments of what was being said.

It was in the language of the Land of Wa.

Eternity. Eternal sleep. Dreams.

Although a single pronunciation in the language of the Land of Wa could carry several different meanings, Qiao Qiao could basically confirm the meanings of those words.

They readily brought death to mind.

Only after entering the village did Qiao Qiao realize that, aside from being dilapidated, many of the buildings had walls and pillars twisted to varying degrees. These distortions had not been caused by external force. Rather, the buildings seemed to have been constructed that way from the very beginning.

“Everyone, stay alert.”

Qiao Qiao had barely finished speaking when a figure suddenly appeared around the corner of a building ahead.

It was a faceless man. His entire face was perfectly smooth, without a single feature. His hair was tied into a topknot, and he wore a dark kimono. In his hand was a battered samurai sword.

“A Faceless Priest?”

Qiao Qiao remembered the man at the Kamogawa Market who had sold statues of evil gods.

But another, more plausible speculation quickly surfaced in his mind.

According to legend, the vengeful spirits of Taira no Masakado and his followers wandered through Hachiman Forest, killing everyone who entered.

If that was the case, then these buildings were hardly safe either. Perhaps the anomalies of the Lost House were simply waiting for people to enter.

The faceless samurai soon noticed the four people on Qiao Qiao’s side.

He raised his sword and charged.

An enormous resentment and sinister aura spread with his movements, provoking an instinctive shudder.

Bang!

Kitagawa Ryoko raised the shotgun in her hands.

As the faceless samurai drew near, she fired, striking him in the body.

The tremendous impact brought his movements to a halt for a moment. White smoke rose from the places where the shot had struck him.

“It’s not enough,” Qiao Qiao warned.

Kitagawa Ryoko had almost reloaded before he finished speaking and fired again.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three shots in succession sent the faceless samurai crashing to the ground.

His body rotted and crumbled, falling completely still.

“There should be more than one anomaly like this here. Let’s get to Target One as quickly as possible.”

Qiao Qiao issued another order.

The gunshots just now would undoubtedly attract the attention of other anomalies. Qiao Qiao did not want them caught between enemies on both sides. Their highest priority was to rescue the hostages and withdraw.

As for why the village had become like this, and what secrets it concealed—

Qiao Qiao was not curious in the slightest.

The four of them began to move faster.

At the next corner, they encountered another faceless samurai. Kitagawa Ryoko used her half-deployed riot shield to knock it back, after which Qiao Qiao and Sasaki Haruka purified it.

“Uruz Four, give us the shortest route to Target One,” Qiao Qiao said over the radio.

“Understood. Continue straight along this road, turn right at the first corner, then proceed to the next intersection. There are two anomalies along the way, one on either side of the road. Uruz One, exercise caution.”

Hayami Nanase relayed the instructions from outside the village through the drone above the team.

“Uruz Three will provide covering fire and eliminate one of the anomalies.”

Hashimoto Kotone carried a precision sniper rifle. Under the circumstances, recklessly using a sniper grenade launcher and attracting even more anomalies would not have been a wise choice.

“Understood. Uruz Three will handle the one on the left.”

Qiao Qiao had just turned right when he saw two faceless samurai standing in front of what appeared to be a vegetable shop, their featureless faces turned toward him.

They were about to charge when the head of the faceless samurai on the left suddenly exploded. Its body lost balance and collapsed to the ground.

The other was struck by controlled bursts from Sasaki Haruka and Araki Maki, and Qiao Qiao finished it off with a final shot.

The village was not large. In less than five minutes, Qiao Qiao and the others had reached Target One.

“According to our observations, there should be five human women inside. However, their condition is somewhat unusual. They appear to be unconscious, and their spiritual energy readings are extremely weak.”

Hayami Nanase observed the interior through the drone.

“There are no other entities inside.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Qiao gave Kitagawa Ryoko a meaningful glance.

Kitagawa Ryoko drew the breaching hammer from her waist and swung it hard against the wooden Japanese-style door.

Crash!

The door was already nearly rotten through and immediately disintegrated into splinters. As it gave way, Qiao Qiao charged into the room first.

His spirit sight swept across the interior. There truly were no other anomalies.

Araki Maki remained on guard outside while Qiao Qiao crouched down and examined the unconscious shrine maidens.

“Hm?”

The body beneath his hand was unnaturally cold, like the corpse of someone who had been dead for a long time.

Something was wrong.

Qiao Qiao immediately raised his gun.

At the same time, the shrine maiden nearest to him suddenly opened her eyes.

There was no white in them, only a deep, bottomless black.

All five shrine maidens sprang up from the floor at once.

That was the only way to describe their movements. They completely defied the laws of physics and the limits of the human body, moving like puppets pulled by strings. It made the sight all the more horrifying.

Screams rang out. Fortunately, the helmets worn by the shrine maidens of Shimogamo Shrine provided good sound insulation. Kitagawa Ryoko raised her weapon and retreated while firing at the shrine maiden rushing toward her.

For a moment, cheerful gunfire filled the room.

Yes, these were not the genuine shrine maidens of Pearwood Shrine who had been possessed. They were merely false forms created by anomalies that had altered their appearance.

Qiao Qiao was the last to leave the house. Although the five anomalies had already been struck by the purification attack and were gradually disintegrating, he still tossed in an exorcism grenade as a parting gift, just to be safe.

Boom!

Flames burst from the windows of the house, shaking loose clouds of dust.

Because it was a wooden building from the Taisho era, the flames quickly swallowed the entire structure, which burned furiously.

“At least we know one thing now,” Qiao Qiao said as they moved toward Target Two. “The anomalies must already have come into contact with the shrine maidens of Pearwood Shrine. Otherwise, they couldn’t have created disguises this convincing.”

In ancient times, the anomalies of the Lost House had lured travelers who lost their way with sumptuous decorations and warm lamplight. In this village, they had evidently evolved, becoming anomalies that deceived people by creating the very illusions Qiao Qiao and the others most wanted to see.

Their memetic manipulation had reached a certain level of sophistication. Even Qiao Qiao had failed to recognize the deception at first glance.

He looked ahead.

Faceless samurai wandered through the village, while above them, a blood-red moon grew ever more crimson.

...

Inside the house, Takeda Yui of Pearwood Shrine stared in terror at the thing before her. In her palm lay a pendant that had already shattered into fragments.

Shadow blanketed the entire room.

One shrine maiden after another fell into a deep sleep, losing consciousness.

Takeda Yui felt a dizzy spell sweep through her mind. Merely looking at that entity seemed enough to shatter her consciousness and plunge her into madness.

Faint, indistinct whispers drifted through the wind.

They were the same sounds that had lingered in Takeda Yui’s ears ever since she arrived in the village.

Only now could she finally make out what the whispering was saying.

“Within the eternal abode, my lord who sleeps awaits thee in dreams.”

The language of the Land of Wa transformed into a strange tongue that Takeda Yui could not understand. Through the sound, it burrowed into her body.

Takeda Yui lost consciousness.