Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Ancient Tree Elaphe

Due to the damned war, the country is no longer very particular about the rules of staying up all night, and even the wake ceremony for a big family like the Onitomoto family only ends after ten o'clock.But since Hanako hadn't been seen all night, everyone felt a little uneasy. "Asheng, you helped them put on kimonos, right? Was Hanako at home at that time?" Araki Village Chief asked a little uneasy. "She's here! I'll help Hanako put on the kimono first, and then Tsukiyo and Yukie. Right?" Asheng looked at Yuedai and Xuezhi with a tone of asking for help.

The two nodded, then giggled. From the vigil to the present, they have not been honest for a minute, either pulling their cuffs, touching their hairpins at every turn, or bumping elbows with each other, giggling with their heads down. "Tsukiyo, Yukie, do you know where Hanako has gone?" The monk frowned in disgust and asked. "I don't know! She's always running around, and I hate her the most." "Yes! She is so noisy!" The two sisters unanimously accused Hanako. "Asheng, when did Hanako disappear?" The monk turned around impatiently and asked Ah Sheng.

"Probably in the evening!" Ah Sheng showed an expression of trying to remember, and said timidly: "While I was helping her put on her kimono, Sanae was listening to Rodong Sinmun on the radio..." "That should be around six-fifteen." Kosuke Kindaichi interrupted from the side. "Is Hanako still there after that?" Village head Araki asked again. "It should still be there!" Ah Sheng seemed unsure, and seemed to be unable to remember clearly, with a confused look on his face. "Sanae, do you know?" "I?" Sanae blinked her big round eyes, her long eyelashes looked like two black butterflies, twinkling very cutely.

"I don't really remember! I seem to see my aunt helping them put on kimonos in the opposite room. Hanako was indeed with everyone at that time. Since I wanted to hear the news of the demobilization ship's departure, I went to the tea ceremony room and turned on the radio until I turned off the radio when Rodong Sinmun was broadcasting. Since then, I haven’t seen Hanako.” Said in an orderly manner. According to Sanae, Hanako disappeared around 6:15, and now it's already 10:30, no wonder everyone is so worried. "It's useless to talk too much. In my opinion, everyone should go to the place where she might go first and look for it!"

Watch the hipster Zhu Zang sitting in the corner, expressing his opinion. Kosuke Kindaichi noticed early on that when everyone asked where Hanako was going, Takekura was already a little restless and out of his mind. "Takekura, where do you think she will go?" Kindaichi Kosuke glanced at Takezo, and asked with concern. "I don't know, maybe she went to separate." Upon hearing this, the people present couldn't help but looked at each other angrily. The doctor, who had been dozing off just now, suddenly said in a loud and frightening voice: "The little boy from the branch family went to the monastery in the evening."

"Xingan, is it true? Hey, Xingan, Xingan, don't sleep! Has that little boy really been to the temple?" Takezo asked eagerly, shaking his knees. Murase Koan, who was half drunk, opened his eyes with difficulty. "Of course it's true. When I came here, I saw him on the way to the monastery from the winding mountain road. However, it was a bit dark at that time, so I couldn't see clearly." He reached out to wipe off the drool on the goatee, spewed out the stench of wine like a whale spout, then shook his body, regardless of whether his clothes would be wrinkled, and lay down again with a bang. down.

"If I had known that I would be this drunk, I wouldn't have allowed him to drink." The village head was angry and anxious, and looked at the doctor helplessly. "Forget it, this is his old problem, and it can't be changed. Village chief, you can't ignore Hanako's affairs!" The topic of the monk turned to Hanako again. "Asheng, does Hanako have a date with Ukai today?" The village chief frowned in disgust and asked. "I don't know about that, Tsukiyo, Xuezhi, do you know?" Asheng looked at the two girls in bewilderment. "I don't know. Ukai and Hanako? This is too ridiculous! God, how is this possible? Right? Yukie!"

Yue Dai exaggeratedly said to Xue Zhi with a look of "impossible". "Yeah! Hanako is always lying. Maybe she's sleeping in some room!" Xuezhi pouted angrily, and said with a disdainful expression. "Asheng, go to each room and search again!" The village head looked at A Sheng helplessly, and said in an orderly tone. "I've already looked for it just now... well, then I'll look for it again." A Sheng's original name was Katsuno, and everyone on this island called her A Sheng.Although the current Ah Sheng's appearance is not very good, but if you look closely, you can still see that she was once a beauty.It's just that during the ten years of living together with the energetic Kaemon, both physically and psychologically have been ruined, which made her eyes always teary, like a mouse hiding in a cellar, unable to see the sun.

Asheng struggled to stand up, and Sanae also stood up, saying: "Ah Sheng and I will go find it together!" Then she followed Ah Sheng to the back. "If she's not at home, then we have to split up to find her. Zhuzang, can you go to the branch house to see?" After looking around at everyone, the monk said decisively. "I can go, it's just..." Takezo hesitated a bit. "Is there any inconvenience?" The monk frowned displeasedly and asked. "I'm afraid I can't handle the mistress there." "Liu Ze, then you go with him. Zhuzang, it's okay for you to go with you, right?"

The monk spoke half-commandingly, half-forcedly. "If Kyozawa goes with you, it should be fine." Takezo replied somewhat reluctantly. "Then I'll look around the village." The village chief immediately volunteered. "It would be great if Koian wasn't drunk. Oh, what a waste of drinking!" The village head complained naggingly. When everyone was about to stand up from the tatami, Sanae's screams came from inside, followed by the sound of someone stomping heavily on the floor, mixed with a roar like a wild animal, so everyone sat still up. "He was sick again tonight."

The monk said to himself. "Yes. The madman is in a bad mood this morning." Tsukiyo echoed the monk's words with a gloating tone. "As soon as we got to him, he was like a tiger, showing his teeth to bite. I hate that madman." Xueji followed suit politely. Kosuke Kindaichi heard from the boss at the barber shop that Manta's father has been insane for many years and has been locked in a confinement room.Now, hearing the howling like a wolf, and the rattling of the latticed door, he could not help but feel a heavy weight hanging over the home. Soon, Asheng came in, and Sanae followed him later.Kosuke Kindaichi saw Sanae's originally bright eyes full of horror. "Sanae, is the patient alright?" The monk's tone was gentle and he asked with concern. "Yes, I don't know what happened. He has been ill recently." Sanae replied absent-mindedly, and at the same time, looked back at Asheng. "Auntie, have you found Hanako?" Asheng shook his head silently, and the people present became more and more uneasy. "Then ask the village chief to look for it in the village. Takezura followed Ze to the branch to look for Ukai, and asked him if he saw Hanako. I'll go back to the temple to see, isn't she going to the temple at this time?" After the monk assigned the task, he touched his bare head and talked to himself. "Master, what can I do for you?" Kindaichi Kosuke asked enthusiastically. "Mr. Kindaichi, you and I..." The monk looked at the doctor, then at Kosuke Kindaichi, hesitant. "Let me see it this way! Could you please take the doctor back, please?" "OK." After everyone's tasks were assigned, it was already eleven o'clock at night. It was a dark and windy night, and as soon as they left the gate, the village head walked down the slope, while the other five walked up the slope. After passing the slope, Kanedaichi Kosuke and the doctor turned left to go to the doctor's house. "sorry to bother you." Takezo moved the doctor from his shoulder to Kosuke Kindaichi's chest and said to him. "Mr. Kindaichi, it's dark and the road is steep, so be careful not to fall." The monk also gave an exhortation beside him. "Do not worry!" Although the doctor's house was not far away, it was two streets away. Kosuke Kindaichi was very worried. It would be a disaster if the lanterns were blown out on this dark mountain road! Along the way, he held the lantern in his right hand and supported the doctor in his left hand, trembling with one foot high and the other low, and finally reached the doctor's house. "Oh man...really..." The doctor's wife exclaimed exaggeratedly when she saw her drunken husband being helped back by Kosuke Kindaichi. After Kosuke Kindaichi handed him over to her, he immediately walked to Senko Temple without waiting for her to thank him. At this moment, the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore seemed to be chasing him in the dark night sky. Kosuke Kindaichi unconsciously quickened his pace. For a little girl like Hanako who hasn't come home so late, something must have happened.But what can happen on such a small island?Kindaichi Kosuke was thinking as he walked. At the three-way intersection, he saw someone walking towards here with a lantern. Judging from the hazy figures, they looked like Zhuzang and Liozawa. So Kindaichi Kosuke waited in the middle of the path, and when the two approached, it was indeed Takekura who followed Sawa. "Is Hanako there?" Kindaichi Kosuke asked enthusiastically. "They said they didn't see it." Takezo replied coldly. "Is the pelican there?" Kindaichi Kosuke asked another question. "Yes, I heard that he just fell asleep. I originally wanted to wake him up for questioning, but they seemed very unfriendly, so I had no choice but to give up." Takezo said angrily in his heart. "Did the mistress say it?" Kindaichi Kosuke continued to question. "No, it was the maid who told us that my uncle came to their house." Takezo probably felt that he shouldn't be too presumptuous in front of the guests, so he said with a wry smile. Kosuke Kindaichi once heard from the owner of the barber shop that Shiho desperately wanted to dig Takekura for a while, but Takekura was reluctant to part with his affectionate and loyal family, which made Gihei and Shiho very unhappy. "Bamboo, what do we do now?" Kindaichi Kosuke was a little worried about Hanako's safety. "You can't ignore it! Our family is all women... Oh, poor Sanae." When Takekura thought of Sanae's support for the huge ghost family, his body trembled with sadness. "Ah... Master is over there." Liao Ze, who had been holding the lantern in silence, suddenly pointed to the flickering lantern not far away and said. "I want to talk to Master. I really don't know what to do when I encounter this kind of thing." "Alright, let's go together!" So the three of them walked up the mountain side by side. The figure in front raised the lantern high when they heard their footsteps. Kosuke Kanedaichi also shook the lantern lightly in response, and stepped up to catch up. As we went up the mountain, the wind became stronger. When the three of us walked west around a bend, the wind was so strong that we couldn't lift our heads. On the winding mountain road, the lanterns in front appeared and disappeared.When the three of them walked through the Temple of Earth, they saw from a distance that the lantern in front had climbed the stone steps.It feels as if the monk is struggling to climb up, and the shadow is flickering and flickering under the dark night sky, swimming slowly. When the three of them reached the stone steps in front of the temple, the monk finally climbed up, and the light from the lantern disappeared. After a while, the disappearing lantern light appeared on the stone steps again. "Ze, Ze!" The monk cried out in a panic. "coming!" Liozawa answered loudly below. The monk didn't say anything, and then entered the mountain gate again. "What happened? Master seems a little flustered." For some reason, Kindaichi Kosuke suddenly had a strong sense of foreboding, so he rushed up the stone steps before the two of them. Perhaps infected by Kosuke Kindaichi's emotions, Ryozawa and Takekura also tried their best to climb up behind him. At this time, the monk shook the lantern again and shouted: "Ze! Ze!" This time his voice trembled even more than before. "What happened to Master?" "Is Mr. Kindaichi there?" "Kindaichi and Takezo are both here." "Zhuzang is here too? Alas! This is terrible, Zhuzang, come here!" The monk returned to the mountain gate, and the three of them froze for a second or two, looked at each other, and ran towards the mountain gate together as if in tacit understanding. Kosuke Kindaichi was the first to rush into the mountain gate and saw the monk's lantern swinging in front of the meditation room. "Master, what's going on?" "Oh! Mr. Kindaichi, look at that, look at that!" The monk held the lantern high and said in a trembling voice. After looking at it, Liozawa and Zhuzang immediately let out a scream, and stood stiffly in front of the meditation room.Although Kosuke Kindaichi didn't scream, he was shocked and couldn't move. As I said before, there is an ancient plum tree in front of the corridor between the main hall and the meditation room. In autumn, there are neither leaves nor flowers on the tree, but now, a terrible thing is hanging from the branches extending to the south. That's Hanako! A kimono belt bound her knees, and the other end was wrapped around a branch of a plum tree. At first glance, it looked like a snake hanging upside down on a branch of a plum tree.Her face was upside down, her eyes were wide open, and the light of the lantern shone on her eyes, shining brightly, as if laughing at people's fuss. In the cold night, Qianguang Temple looked particularly gloomy. A night owl screamed like a tear, piercing the silence and darkness. Hanako was hanging upside down, shaking her body in the night wind, her loose hair was like a black snake. Like dragging on the ground, the monk hurriedly took out the rosary from his arms and said: "Namo Sakyamuni Buddha, Namo Sakyamuni Buddha... oh..." The monk's long sigh was mixed with some vague words. But Kosuke Kindaichi did hear the monk say: "No matter who it is, there is nothing you can do about the madman!" This sentence left an indelible impression on Kindaichi Kosuke's heart.