Chapter 28 Chapter two

Early the next morning, Orihara Akiko came to Junping's residence, and instead of bringing the shirt she promised yesterday, she took out yesterday's morning paper.Her slender fingers trembled slightly, pointing to the report in the corner of the society page. Newspapers reported that in the forest halfway up Mt. Shirane in Gunma County, the carrion bodies of men and women who had been dead for six months were found.The forensic doctor deduced that the male corpse was about 35 to 40 years old, and the female corpse was about 30 years old. The newspaper speculated that they might have died for love because their wrists were tied together with a tie.

"What I saw this morning...the age and height are similar to my husband and sister. It has been exactly six months since the two of them disappeared from the residence in Kanazawa. It is consistent with the death time of the rotting corpse reported in the newspaper. I am going to leave immediately Go and have a look... If you are free, I hope you can go with me..." Junping agreed, only to realize that he had time but no money at all. "All the expenses will be borne by me..." As if seeing through Junping's mind, Akiko gripped Junping's wrist tightly, her eyes full of pleading.Junping blushed immediately, only then realized that he was only wearing long trousers, and hurriedly put on his jacket.

"Sorry, I forgot about the shirt." Seeing Junping put on the shirt last night, he remembered what he said.He must have read this morning's report, panicked, lost his mind, remembered the young man who saved his life last night and heard his story, so he came to ask to find out what happened. An hour later, Junping and Akiko boarded the upward train from Ueno Railway Station.Sitting in the seat by the window, Akiko was silent, staring blankly at the scenery flowing with the summer sun outside the window.The long-sleeved blouse she was wearing covered her wrists, her hair was a little messy, she must have been combing in a hurry before going out!There are a few thin crow's feet on her plain face without makeup. If Akiko put on an apron at this moment, she would be no different from an ordinary housewife.Only her fair skin was much more striking than usual. When the train entered the tunnel, the darkness outside the window seemed to prefer her snow-white skin. The shadow reflected on the glass window was as beautiful as the flowers seen last night.Every time I enter the tunnel, the face on the window will appear white.Junping noticed that the knees of the two were close together, so he hurriedly stiffened his body and sat upright with his feet tightly together.

The waiter pushed over the dining cart selling bento, "Are you hungry?" Akiko finally said, and bought a portion for two people, presuming that she didn't want to eat, and put both boxes of bento on Junping's lap.Then, she opened the wallet again and took out two 10,000 yuan bills. No, her slender fingers hesitated between one or two bills, but finally took out two bills and stuffed them into the pockets of Jun Jun's plain shirt . "Thank you... very few, not a respect." "No, not for your money..." Junping hastily stretched out his hand holding the chopsticks and gently wrapped the hand five years older than him, preventing her from stuffing money into his pocket.

"Aren't you going to tell me not to despise your own life? Besides, when you asked the manager of the apartment where you live just now about your apartment, he asked me fiercely to tell you to pay the rent as soon as possible." The smile in Akiko's eyes left Junping speechless.Without nodding his head in agreement or thanking him, Junping bowed his head and began to eat his bento.He thought to himself, this woman beside him at the moment is lonely.Her husband, sister, and those who were supposed to be by her side went nowhere, and no one was with her. At the loneliest moment, a man like a wild dog broke into her life.She wants to treat this man considerately, so as to bury her inner abjection.

In reality, Akiko was staring intently at Junping who was wolfing down his bento with a smile on his face.Junheibu just said polite words in a stiff tone: "The bento is so delicious!" while continuing to swallow the bento, the thoughtfulness of the woman beside her, and her loneliness. Transfer from the Joetsu Line to the Agatsuma Line, get off at Naganohara, and arrive at the local police station after one o'clock in the afternoon.The police explained that because the body had decomposed and could not be identified, only the relics were identified for them. The remains of the male body include a dark blue full suit, shoes, socks, wallet and watch.The only relics of the female corpse are clothes, a sweater and a skirt, all of which are red.The relics of the two were very worn and dirty, and it seemed that the smell of corpses could be smelled from them.

"The clothes are all finished products that are usually visible. The only clue to find out the identity of the deceased is the watch. This watch is old and imported, and it looks like it will be repaired many times. It is clearly engraved on the dial. What about the glyphs!" "Which hand is this watch on?" "Hmm... left hand!" "So the deceased is not my husband. My husband is left-handed, and his habits are contrary to ordinary people. The watch is always worn on the right hand... and I have never seen this watch and these clothes. My sister hates red very much. Never wear anything red."

After Jingzi gave a categorical explanation, she suddenly lowered her voice and asked, "These two people were killed, right?" Junping thought she was asking a strange question, but this rustic police officer didn't seem to find it strange. "Some people have guessed so! According to the situation at the scene, it may be that the man stabbed the woman's throat with the knife first, and then stabbed himself in the chest, or it may be the opposite. There are various speculations, and the knife is far from the corpse. A certain distance, maybe it was thrown away by the knife holder before he died!"

With pale eyes, after calmly listening to the police officer's words, Akiko solemnly thanked her, but just as she was about to leave, she suddenly stopped in order. "For the sake of caution, I want to see the body." He said this in a low voice, and before Junping could respond, he walked back to the police officer. "No problem? You are the fourth person who came to identify the corpse. The woman who came yesterday was so stunned." There was concern in the police officer's tone, and Akiko replied in a quiet but firm voice: "No problem!" Junping and the two were taken to a room, and there were two side by side in the gloomy room illuminated only by fluorescent lights. Wooden coffin.The police officer said it was enough to just look at the head, and he only lifted a corner of the white cloth slightly.Akiko covered her mouth with a handkerchief with one hand, and with the other, she held Junping's wrist tightly.After looking at the two coffins, Akiko shook her head.

"Still not like my husband and sister." Sighing, he looked up at Junping and then closed his eyes tightly, as if he wanted to forget what he saw in the darkness just now—— "Great, luckily it's someone else!" The two returned to the train station and sat in the teahouse in front of the station, Junping said.Akiko stared out at the square outside the window. "Maybe it's better for them to die... If they die, then I have no choice but to forget the past!" While speaking, suddenly her eyes were fixed on the bus stopped in front of the train station.

"There is a bus that boards Shirane Volcano here... I really want to see it!" If you go up the hill now, you can return to the train station before sunset.After Junping agreed, he got up immediately.He hoped that the beautiful scenery on the mountain could wash away the unhappiness that appeared in Akiko's eyes when she was in the morgue. After an hour or so of shaking and bumping, Batu dropped off the passengers at the crater, and suddenly felt that the sky filled the field of vision and the field of vision became wider.The bus has climbed to a fairly high elevation. Opposite the rest stop, the natural rock face emerges in the shape of the Colosseum.I heard that there is a crater inside.Along with the crowd, the climb was not brown, but closer to the white rock surface, and suddenly, an unexpected color appeared in front of us-the incredible color of the crater lake.The stark sky color blended with azure hues forms a layered and strong contrast with the surrounding white rock surface.The line of sight is completely occupied by these two colors, and there is no room for other colors.The sky seemed to be transparent, and it looked as if the strong light of summer poured all the blue in the sky into the lake. But this strange beauty only lasted for a while. Just as he was intoxicated by it, the sky suddenly became gray and misty, and the mist had settled on the surface of the lake, instantly covering the color of the lake. Everyone panicked and wanted to turn back, only Akiko was still chasing the lake in the fog, her profile looked extremely peaceful.Junping called her, and Akiko smiled and replied: "Okay!" She kept holding Junping's hand as she went downhill. The woman who had been a stranger twenty-four hours before was now holding hands with him, walking down the ramp as if being chased by fog, and finally returned to the rest stop.Looking back, the crater, which stood like an amphitheater before, seemed to be an instant phantom, but at this moment it was shrouded in fog and completely disappeared in front of my eyes. "Everything is gone!" There was still a hint of loneliness in Akiko's tone, but the color of the lake seemed to have washed away the haze in her heart, and her face, which had been gloomy since she came out of the police station, became clearer.After taking the bus back to the train station, Junping told Akiko that he had something to do elsewhere and asked her to go home alone. "Where are you going?" "Nothing important. Return to Tokyo tomorrow night." "Then, call me tomorrow afternoon." Akiko wanted to write down the phone number, but neither of them happened to bring any paper or pen.Akiko took out the eyebrow pencil from her purse, held Junping's right wrist, and wrote seven small numbers on it. "It looks like a mark branded by a prisoner!" He laughed mischievously, and immediately turned serious again. "When taking a shower, remember not to wash it off, and keep it intact?" Junping nodded silently.While waiting for Akiko's train to arrive, the two entered the teahouse to chat, and Junping asked Akiko's husband and sister the name and address of the apartment rented in Kanazawa without revealing any traces.Thirty minutes later, Junping watched Akiko get on the bus at the ticket gate and bought a ticket to Kanazawa. Junping always felt that she should find out her missing husband for Akiko, and maybe some clues could be found in Kanazawa.I didn't tell Akiko about going to Jinze, because I was afraid that Akiko might say, don't pursue the matter anymore, and might object to him going!And he is not sure whether he will be able to gain something after going to Jinze?