Chapter 2 prelude

——July 8, 1990 (Sunday) Hokkaido Akan area—— The three stood at the door, and the thick fog filled the vast needle fir forest behind them, as if they had been waiting for that moment for a long time.Jiangnan Xiaoming felt a little cold, he couldn't help rubbing his arms exposed outside his short-sleeved shirt, and turned around. A few meters ahead, a small car with three people was parked, which seemed to block more than half of the narrow forest path.The gray body had long since disappeared into the white mist. "This fog is really thick." Standing a few steps in front of Jiangnan, a tall man in a light green jacket muttered.

"Oh. I think this fog seems to be chasing it from Kushiro." It was the mystery writer Kadomi Kaguya who spoke.He was still skinny, and his body looked extremely slender.While stroking his slightly curly, soft hair, he took off his black sunglasses and observed another man standing beside him. "How is it? Mr. Ayuta. Did you remember anything?" "This..." The man tilted his neck, looked up at the door in front of him, closed his mouth, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke, but his voice sounded unconfident, "I think it looks familiar." His name is Ayuta Touma.The body is thin and thin, and the back is a little hunched, so it looks very old.He is only about 60 years old, but his behavior is completely old-fashioned.He wears a beanie hat on his bald head, and has an eye patch over his left eye.On the left side of the face, from around the eye mask, to the cheek and chin, there is a large burn scar, which is horrible.

Following the old man's gaze, Jiang Nan looked at the gate. The door looks very high.The dark brown stone gateposts stood there like old tree trunks growing out of the weeds on the ground.There was no number plate on the gate, as if there had never been one.The bronze lattice door was dilapidated.Bronze fences on both sides separate the courtyard from the surrounding forest. The thick fog silently passed through the lattice gap of the gate and poured in.When I got off the car just now, I could still vaguely see the buildings opposite the gate, but now, those buildings have long since disappeared under the white curtain.

There is a black iron chain wrapped around the joint of the door, with a lock on it, which looks quite strong.Lu Gu stepped forward, grabbed the iron frame with both hands and shook it, and the gate remained motionless. "Mr. Lugu, look over there." Jiang Nan pointed to the left side of the gate, "Look! There is a convenient door there." "Huh? Hey! Really." At the convenient door on the other side of the gate, a simple bolt lock hangs from the inside.It's easy to open by just putting your hand through the gap in the door lattice.It should be said that they are relatively lucky.If it was just Lugu and Jiangnan, they might be able to climb through the door or use other methods, but the old man Ayuta who was with him couldn't jump up and down like them.

"Go in, Jiangnan-kun." Lu Gu opened the door, looked back at the two of them, "Mr. Ayuta, go in." Carrying a shoulder bag of the same color as the jacket, Lu Gu walked through the narrow wicket first. Ayuta leaned on a brown cane in his right hand, supported his body, and followed behind.Jiangnan was at the end. Under the shroud of white fog, the three tiptoed forward.From all directions came the cry of wild birds in the forest.It was noon in early July, but the temperature still did not rise.Jiang Nan felt chilly and rubbed his arms again. He really regretted putting the sweater in the car and not taking it out.

Although the line of sight was blocked by thick fog, it was impossible to see clearly, but the front yard of the house seemed quite spacious.There are lush green trees everywhere.There are various sizes and heights, ranging from less than one meter to three or four meters. "Look! Jiangnan Jun." Lu Gu approached a tree, looked at the branches and leaves, "This is a euonymus. It seems that it has not been pruned for a long time, but if you look closely, you will find that there are still traces of pruning on the euonymus inside. .” "Pruning?" "It's just regular pruning to give it a shape. That's proof. Look, what shape is this tree?"

"Yes..." Jiangnan stared at the tree, faltering. Jiangnan remembered that there was such a passage in the "Notes": In the past, the trees planted in the front yard of the house were trimmed into various animal shapes.Maybe he was dazzled by the white mist in the wind, but when he took a closer look, he felt that the shape of the black shadow really looked like a big cat. Of course, the name of "Black Cat Pavilion" also had a certain impact on Jiangnan's psychology at that time. Lu Gu solemnly touched his pointed chin, stepped on the weeds without feet, and turned around.

Elder Ayuta stood beside him, twisting his neck back and forth, looking around.At least until September last year, he should still be the administrator of the house.He who has lost his memory is trying his best to find some fragments of the past in his mind... Perhaps it was the interference of the heavy fog that made people lose their proper feeling.A red brick path cuts across the dilapidated front yard to the front of the building.For such a distance, Jiangnan felt that it was hundreds of meters away. "It's finally here." Lu Gu was filled with emotion, "Is this the Black Cat Pavilion?"

Small rectangular windows lined the gray walls.The roof is steep and herringbone.It seems that there is nothing weird about this two-story building, but its location in the untouched forest of Hokkaido is enough to make people feel incredible.Moreover, when he thought that this building was designed by that person named Qingji Nakamura twenty years ago; when he thought that last summer, the events described in the "Notes" happened in this house, Jiang Nan still felt horrified. "Where is that wind direction cat?" Lu Gu stood on tiptoe and looked up at the roof.Jiang Nan followed suit, raising his head to look at the roof, but he couldn't find the wind direction cat.

"Over there." Old man Ayuta raised his arm on the stick, "It's on that side, see?" Looking in the direction he indicated, on the right side—only the roof over there is trapezoidal, and at the highest point there, a gray shadow can be seen, which is both real and illusory.Common houses have chicken-shaped weather vanes, but other animal models are installed on the roof instead.Although it looked hazy due to the thick fog, the weather vane did not look like a chicken. "is that one?……" For a moment, Lu Gu looked at the roof, crossed his hands, and remained motionless.Soon, he tilted his head slightly and muttered something in a low voice.Immediately afterwards, he turned around and said to old man Ayuta, "Then, let's go in."

"The door is locked." Jiang Nan was a little worried.Lu Gu shrugged: "Then find a way. After finally coming here, you can't return empty-handed, right?" "Well, of course." A gust of wind passed by, making the trees in the courtyard rustle.The thick fog surrounding him finally dissipated, and soon, the sun above his head shone on the ground. "Okay, let's go in!" Lu Gu shouted loudly, and walked towards the entrance of the Black Cat House that was just reflected in the sunlight.Jiangnan glanced again at the wind cat on the roof that was making soft noises and constantly changing directions, and followed in with the old man Ayuta.