Chapter 232: 228: The Suspect from Back Then

228: The Suspect from Back Then

For some unknown reason, Mano Daichi used the Strange Array for the Sacrificial Ritual, but he likely did not foresee the consequences of completing the array; by the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late to erase the pattern.

As for the "ghostly shadow" that appeared in the Inner World principal's office and was suspected to be Mano Daichi, He Jia'an can now confirm that it must have been Mano Daichi himself.

"A foul stench..." While rummaging through Mano Daichi's desk drawers, He Jia'an suddenly caught a whiff of a pungent burning smell and an inexplicable, irritating sour odor. Following the source of the scent, he eventually found a pile of neatly arranged reagents and chemical laboratory equipment inside Mano Daichi's mobile storage cabinet.

"Not here." He Jia'an twitched his nose. Since not everyone had the opportunity for such a meticulous search as he did, after a thorough sniff, he finally discovered the clue to the scent: "The smell should be coming from somewhere lower down."

Pushing aside the storage cabinet and pulling back the carpet under the desk, He Jia'an immediately frowned; there was actually a hidden compartment here.

He tapped lightly on the floorboards of the hidden compartment and tried to shift them; the floor tiles could move within the gaps, but the gaps were not wide enough to insert a finger and pry out the segmented floor tile.

He Jia'an suddenly remembered that he had found two somewhat peculiar iron rods in the storage cabinet earlier. One end of each rod was flattened and curved upward. As long as he inserted the narrow, curved end of the rod into the gap and twisted it, the curve would successfully hook into the underside of the floorboard. Once he found the right fulcrum for the two rods and lifted them vertically, the specially cut floor tile would be pried up.

Once the floor tile was successfully moved, the things hidden in the compartment had nowhere left to hide. A strong, irritating odor and a horrific stench erupted the moment a crack opened in the floor, so potent it made one dizzy and nearly faint.

Covering his mouth and nose and holding his breath, He Jia'an looked closely, his brow furrowing even deeper.

Inside the space of the hidden compartment were various jars and bottles, all filled with rotting plants and animal remains. They were soaked in different jars, and the corpses all showed varying degrees of chemical damage; most of the animal corpses were corroded and burned by chemical agents, while the plants had become deformed and withered from the chemical soaking.

Some animals were no longer recognizable, while others could barely be identified: there were cats, dogs, brightly colored reptiles, and even some birds that looked illegal to possess at a glance.

"Does he specifically target creatures that look beautiful?" After some observation, He Jia'an noticed the characteristics of these plants and animals—almost all were stunning in appearance and generally well-liked. He narrowed his eyes: "So that's it. An antisocial personality who likes to destroy beautiful things?"

Although He Jia'an had no evidence, he now had a bold idea: the mastermind behind the most beautiful high school girl disfigurement case of the Heisei era must have been Mano Daichi himself.

Mano Daichi had sufficient intent to cause harm and even had enough opportunity to commit the crime; at the time, he was a member of the same experimental group as Mimiko, also known as Kawakami Rumi.

Furthermore, when Misaki Naomi pressed for the truth about what happened back then, Mano Daichi intentionally downplayed the role he played in the incident. He described himself as an innocent bystander and deliberately concealed his true level of chemical expertise at the time.

However, things being as they were, there was nothing more to say.

The victim was dead, and the suspect was dead; a perfect case of "dead men tell no tales."

He Jia'an searched Mano Daichi's office, but other than the hidden compartment under the floor, he found no other clues. It was evident that Mano Daichi was a cautious person in life, leaving behind very few handles or traces.

"Speaking of which, I have seen Mimiko's Curse with my own eyes, but I have never seen Hanako's Curse." He Jia'an gave up on searching the office and began to wander the school corridors, his target being every restroom in the entire school.

According to rumors, Hanako would randomly appear in every restroom at Kisaragi High School and then randomly take away some unlucky soul.

Now that the entire school was empty, He Jia'an had plenty of time to explore every restroom in the school as he pleased, which meant he had a high chance of running into Hanako.

He did this not because he was daring, but because He Jia'an was confident that he was protected by the New Year Red Envelope and feared no evil spirits getting close to him.

Thus, the surveillance footage of Kisaragi High School soon featured the figure of a "lunatic," who burst into every restroom in the school in various bizarre poses, occasionally letting out perverted, strange laughter, and occasionally reciting movie lines of unclear meaning.

"Here's Johnny!"

"Hey! I'm coming in! Hey! I'm going out! Hit me, you idiot!"

"..."

In the surveillance room outside the school, a group of people wearing uniforms with the Chosen Alliance emblem looked at each other, then shook their heads in speechlessness. One person turned to Matsumoto Gin helplessly and said: "Senior Matsumoto, why is this guy suddenly acting like this?"

"... Probably relaxing," Matsumoto Gin said, his fox-like smile frozen on his face, sounding somewhat uncertain.

No one expected that a dignified former S-Class Investigator from the Xuanmi Group would play so wildly in private. It was said he had even played a host at a bar to hook up with a wealthy socialite, and was involved in something unclear with that high school girl in the hospital. This person's true nature was quite... explicit.

Personally, Matsumoto Gin didn't actually care about He Jia'an's character; he was more concerned with He Jia'an's performance as an investigator, his capability in every step he took, and the clues he had analyzed so far.

And clearly, even after not being active for several years, He Jia'an's ability as an S-Class Investigator had not diminished in the slightest.

"Can you find the source of the 'Blessing' in Kisaragi High School?" Matsumoto Gin asked inwardly, filled with both doubt and expectation.

Sakura Island had recently seen a large number of Urban Legends becoming reality. The Chosen Alliance had already noticed the Abnormalities here. They had indeed discovered some clues: someone was using the power of the Blessing to turn curses that should have only existed in stories into reality. Although the situation was not yet critical, if left to develop, the power of the Blessing would sooner or later consume the entire Sakura Island.

As one of the main investigators sent by the Chosen Alliance to be responsible for the Urban Legends on Sakura Island, Matsumoto Gin had already launched a full investigation using his own abilities. He eventually found that all clues focused on Taomu City, and Kisaragi High School in Taomu City was the focus of the focus, because there were a large number of Space Channels to the Inner World, and a massive amount of the power of the Blessing permeating the campus in both reality and the Inner World.