Chapter 295: Complex Afterthoughts

The TOHOK Cinema is located in an alley in Taito Ward, Tokyo. The theater is not large, but the ticket prices are slightly lower, making it a place many local white-collar workers enjoy frequenting.

On the evening of September 20, Tian Mingguang and her boyfriend, Yin Ju Jian, appeared at the entrance of the cinema.

Looking at the series of movie options in the ticket lobby, the two fell into a problem couples often face: which movie should they actually watch?

Tian Mingguang pointed to a movie poster on display and suggested, "How about we watch this 'Sweetheart Girl'?"

As her boyfriend, Yin Ju Jian’s mouth twitched.

Although he and his girlfriend were in the honeymoon phase, he had the least interest in these kinds of lovey-dovey movies.

However, he couldn't say that directly, so he found an excuse: "I heard this is a manga adaptation, and the word-of-mouth doesn't seem very good."

As his girlfriend, Tian Mingguang frowned and thought for a moment, then accepted this explanation.

She pointed to another poster and asked, "How about watching this 'Tokyo Past'?"

Yin Ju Jian did not object this time; although the title also sounded like a romance film, it should have more substance.

Besides that, the actress was also a star he liked.

He smiled and agreed, preparing to go buy tickets with his girlfriend. But just then, a screening in the adjacent hall ended, and a group of people walked out.

In an instant, the lobby became much noisier.

"This movie is so scary!"

"Akiwara Yuto is indeed a mystery writer; to think he could weave such a plot."

"Huh, it wasn't made up, was it? Wasn't it adapted from a real case?"

"A real case? Which one?"

"It was in Kanagawa..."

The rest of the words were unclear, and the crowd dispersed.

But this piqued Yin Ju Jian’s curiosity.

He was no stranger to the name Akiwara Yuto; after all, he could see it in the newspapers every few days.

Because of this, he had specifically bought two of his works and was shocked by the mystery murder methods within them.

A movie script created by such a person should be better than some romance movie, right?

Thinking of this, he took the initiative to ask the ticket seller in front of him: "Hello, which movie just finished screening?"

The ticket seller said with a professional smile, "It was 'Memories of Murder', which just premiered today."

"Why isn't there a poster posted for it?"

"Because there isn't enough space."

Hearing this answer, Yin Ju Jian hesitated again. If the theater didn't even post a poster, it meant they didn't think highly of this movie.

In that case, should he watch this movie?

Just as he was thinking, Tian Mingguang subconsciously glanced at her boyfriend twice.

Yin Ju seems to really like Akiwara Yuto’s works; as his girlfriend, I should be more understanding.

She then stepped forward two paces and said with a smile, "What time is the latest showing of 'Memories of Murder'? Please give me two tickets."

The ticket seller smiled, took the money, and handed over two tickets, while Yin Ju Jian could only smile bitterly and accept his girlfriend’s "good intentions."

The two then bought popcorn, and seeing that the time was about right, they had their tickets checked and walked into the screening hall. However, outside the hall, Yin Ju Jian saw the poster for this movie.

On the poster, two men in plain clothes stood in a dark corner, wearing "exaggerated" smiles. At the very bottom, in addition to the movie and director's names, it also read "Screenplay by Akiwara Yuto."

For some reason, upon seeing this smile, Yin Ju Jian felt a chill in his heart.

Tian Mingguang didn't know what her boyfriend was thinking and pulled him to sit in the middle of the third-to-last row. In her view, it didn't matter what movie they watched, as long as she was accompanying her boyfriend.

As time passed, the screening hall was about half full, and the lights dimmed.

The screen lit up, and a line of text appeared: "Memories of Murder."

This text only shone for a few seconds before fading, and the movie began: a boundless wheat field appeared on the screen, and several boys were running behind a man wearing a patrol officer's uniform.

Soon, the man in the uniform got out of the car, squatted down, and stuck his head into a hidden drainage ditch. Inside the ditch, there was a female corpse already infested with worms, bound...

Seeing this scene, Yin Ju Jian’s expression turned serious, while Tian Mingguang subconsciously covered her mouth. Several people sitting nearby even gasped.

The camera cut back to the local police station, where the officer named Okuma Masahiko was discussing the case with his colleagues. Just then, they received another report.

After this, they began running around to solve the case, but no matter what, they couldn't find a suspect. Just then, a mentally disabled child named Akaishi Tomoo became a target of suspicion and was brought back to the station by Okuma Masahiko for questioning.

At the same time, a police officer from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department named Iwahara Atsushi also came to the local area to assist in the investigation and took Akaishi Tomoo to the crime scene.

At the scene, Akaishi Tomoo stated all the crime details one by one, and was thus deemed the killer by the investigator from Tokyo, Iwahara Atsushi, and designated as the suspect.

Public opinion was stirred, and people believed the case was solved.

But Okuma Masahiko strongly opposed this, because Akaishi Tomoo was mentally disabled and physically weak, lacking the ability to bind the victim with violence.

Through his unremitting efforts, Akaishi Tomoo finally cleared his name, and the police revoked the arrest warrant.

However, the case fell into a stalemate, until another victim appeared...

While watching the movie, Yin Ju Jian, as an audience member, felt his mood remain tense throughout.

In this movie, the police tried every method to solve the case, but from beginning to end, they never found out who the killer was.

One potential suspect after another, one crime scene and victim after another, kept his heart in his throat, and it was hard for him to let go for a long time.

A question kept lingering in his mind: who exactly was the killer!?

Two hours passed in a flash, and the movie reached its ending.

At the end of the movie, Okuma Masahiko, the police officer, gave up his police job and chose to work in the insurance industry.

One day, he returned to the crime scene from years ago and stared at the spot where the body had once been placed.

Just then, a young girl told him that a man had also been staring at this spot a few days ago and had said a bunch of inexplicable things.

"What did he say?" Okuma Masahiko asked urgently.

"He said he would remember what he once did," the girl replied.

"What did he look like?"

The girl tilted her head and thought for a while, "He just looked like a very ordinary person."

Okuma Masahiko lowered his head, as if pondering something. Suddenly, he lifted his head sharply, staring at the screen with a sharp gaze, as if he were looking directly at the audience...

Immediately after, the movie ended, and after the credits, the lights in the screening hall came on.

But at this moment, not a single person moved to leave.

In fact, everyone wore a complex expression on their face.

Yin Ju Jian even muttered to himself, "Hiding a tree in the forest..."