Chapter 46: Kamikawa Mitsu

Due to escorting the Prime Minister, the guards were fortunate enough to see the condition of the parliamentary hall.

They looked up, drew a sharp breath, couldn’t calm their spirits, and their palms sweated from tension.

The hall was filled with people—all familiar faces, all seen on television, every one of them a figure whose every step could shake Tokyo to its core.

All cabinet members, imperial family members, governors of all forty-seven prefectures, the highest officials of the Police Agency and their deputies.

Plus the Prime Minister.

Japan’s highest-ranking officials were all gathered here.

The guard’s forehead dripped sweat—if a photo of this scene were published, it would shake the entire nation.

For no reason, he swallowed his saliva, his mind on high alert, gripped by panic: all of Japan’s highest authorities were present—what if a missile were dropped now…

He dared not dwell on it.

The Prime Minister, his expression grave, took his seat.

Until last night, he had been in the White House chatting with Kamikawa Mitsu, discussing major matters; less than a night had passed, and they hadn’t even finished their conversation, hadn’t had time for dinner—he’d boarded a plane overnight and rushed back to Japan.

Compared to chatting with Kamikawa Mitsu, the major incident in Arakawa Ward forced him to return immediately—urgent beyond measure.

Unlike ordinary Japanese citizens, everyone present were Japan’s most powerful figures, who had learned of the Yunhu incident in Arakawa Ward before the public—and knew far more.

Scanning the room, all personnel were present; Director Takahashi rose to the stage and cleared his throat:

“Regarding the incident in Arakawa Ward last night, everyone here is already aware. Today, we’ve gathered not only to discuss it, but also to disclose certain current investigation findings—information not yet released to the public.

I demand that none of you disclose this to outsiders; otherwise, you will be charged with high treason.”

A deep, solemn voice echoed.

The entire room fell silent.

It was clear: after Director Takahashi spoke, everyone sat upright, eyes fixed, expressions grave.

They knew well: the Yunhu incident had created an extremely serious situation; today’s meeting on Yunhu might alter Japan’s future direction, its domestic and foreign policies, its economy, politics, military, and even society.

As they expected, Director Takahashi’s next sentence delivered a major revelation.

“After interrogating the three surviving individuals from the Yunhu incident and investigating the scene, we have confirmed: yōkai are real!”

Though everyone had anticipated this since yesterday, and suspected yōkai were real, the moment the truth was confirmed and announced, the room erupted in shock.

The thought that yōkai were real, with earth-shattering power, possibly lurking nearby—just imagining it sent chills down their spines. Who could bear it?

It must be handled immediately.

The emergence of yōkai now threatened them.

As the highest-ranking bureaucrats, none of them lived ordinary lives—they were accustomed to being bowed to, treated like emperors above all. Now, with yōkai emerging beyond their control, their positions could be endangered.

Because if the Yunhu incident occurred in their own region—or if yōkai launched a large-scale invasion—it would harm them directly.

Not only would the people in their region lose faith in them, but if their region was destroyed, these bureaucrats could no longer enjoy their comfortable lives; they wouldn’t just lose their posts, they might even lose their lives.

Every time they thought of this, everyone in the room felt uneasy.

What kind of madness is this!

Just yesterday morning and noon, everything was normal—enjoying life, eating well, occasionally receiving flattery—and now, within a single day, phone calls came one after another, and the world had changed.

It changed suddenly, leaving them stunned.

Truly, when Cimu slashed with his blade, his technique was so swift—it carved out an entirely new era.

“Regarding the report on yōkai matters, Minister Saitō will address you.”

Taking in the expressions of all present, Minister Saitō stepped onto the stage, straightened his collar, and spoke gravely:

“We confirmed the reality of yōkai because, after Yunhu vanished, we discovered massive remains of corpses on Harada Street in Arakawa Ward, alongside the three individuals seen in the Yunhu footage.

We compared the DNA of Sakura Tian Group members collected from Sakura Tian Building with the newly appeared corpse remains, and confirmed they belonged to Sakura Tian Group’s senior members.

In addition to confirming the remains were flesh from Sakura Tian Group members,

we also discovered on the remains a liquid resembling saliva, and bite marks.

DNA analysis showed this saliva did not belong to the victims themselves; after consulting several biologists and comparing with known biological DNA, we determined this DNA belonged to no known creature—it was from an unknown species.

Coupled with the bite marks on the remains,

all forensic teams unanimously concluded: Sakura Tian Group members were torn and gnawed to death by an unknown creature. After comparing the bite marks with the teeth of the yōkai in the Yunhu footage,

the size of the bite marks matched the yōkai’s teeth exactly.

We have sufficient reason and evidence to prove: the Yunhu footage is authentic, and Sakura Tian Group was indeed killed by an unknown creature resembling a yōkai.

Additionally, after interrogating the three survivors, according to their accounts, they were…”

After describing how Sakura Tian Wenzhi and others accidentally entered the yōkai world, Minister Saitō continued:

“Combining all this information, our investigation team deduces that Sakura Tian Wenzhi and others truly entered an unknown world.

Why do we conclude this unknown world is a yōkai world, rather than merely a world of unknown creatures?

First, as seen in the Yunhu footage, these unknown creatures resemble the yōkai described in folklore; second, these creatures speak Japanese.

Furthermore, after Professor Nakata identified the types of yōkai, lip-reading confirmed that other yōkai referred to one of them by a name matching Nakata’s description.

Of course, if this were merely one-sided evidence from the Yunhu footage,

there is another piece of evidence.

We interrogated the three survivors, based on their firsthand experiences and what they directly heard.

They clearly heard the unknown creature refer to the human-like scholar as Cimu—a detail that again matched Nakata’s speculation.

Moreover, just before being returned, the three survivors clearly heard and saw the yōkai known as the Lord of Chimè and Wánglǎng leading a horde of a hundred demons toward an ancient city, and heard a child yōkai say: ‘Let’s go, to the banquet hosted by Tamamo-no-Mae.’

According to the three survivors’ accounts, the plaque above that ancient city bore the four ancient characters: ‘Heian Kyoto.’

As Professor Koda explained, ancient Japanese records explicitly mention Tamamo-no-Mae, a great yōkai of the Heian period and one of Japan’s Three Great Yōkai.

With the appearance of Tamamo-no-Mae, the ancient city inscribed ‘Heian Kyoto,’ and other yōkai-like creatures in this unknown world, we have sufficient grounds to conclude: yōkai are real.”

……