Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Cannibal Forest

At around 5 pm on July 1, Takahara Yoko learned from Ando that a purse that seemed to be her husband's relics had been found in the Aokigahara forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. From the appearance of the purse that Ando described on the phone, it looks like the purse that her husband carried when he went out that morning when he disappeared. "It was reported by a female college student who was traveling there. I heard that your husband's business card is in the purse." "If it's the purse, it must belong to my husband. Is the purse in Mr. Chief's place?"

"No, those students thought it was not important, so they threw it on the spot. Because it's just a leather bag, it's not a big deal. But, madam, do you want to take a look?" "Is the location clear?" "I asked that student seriously. If you want to go, I will go with you. But it's just that I found the purse. Don't think in a bad direction." Ando added comfortingly. "You are so busy, I have to trouble you to make a trip on this matter." Yoko had no choice but to ask Ando for help.At the same time she realized that her husband's misfortune was about to be confirmed.And it's impossible for her to face this "fact" by herself, and with Ando going with her, she will be more or less emboldened.

Since her husband disappeared, the people in the company have alienated them a lot, and only this Ando is still responsive to her requests. After returning her husband's "relics" from the company, Ando also came once.He insisted that her husband's "corporate membership" had not been removed, so he had to bring the "relics" sent back to the company. For Yoko who suffered from cold reception, Ando's arrival gave her great warmth.Later he came several times to encourage her and comfort her. Ando's wife died of illness last year.The couple also have no children.For this reason, Ando's kindness somewhat shared Yoko's loneliness.

Gao Yuan's survival is almost hopeless, but because of Ando's coordination, he still pays Yoko a monthly salary. "If you have any embarrassing things, please feel free to tell me." Ando often comforts Yoko.Yoko didn't ask for anything, but because she often received Ando's kind words and comfort, Yaoko accumulated gratitude to Ando in her heart. Because of Yoko's "closeness" to Rie and Saneda, Yoko decided to "break up" with them, and at the same time "closed" Ando psychologically.Although it was said to be a "breakup", it was only her own plan in Yoko's heart; in fact, from the time the two came back from Istanbul to see her together, Yoko realized that she would diverge from their life trajectories.

A "comer" from another way broke up immediately after "approaching" for a moment. Although the time of "crossover" was very short, Yoko realized that she and Sanzhi had feelings.It's just that this feeling could not be further developed and was taken away by Lie.She took away her husband, and took three branches from her hands. This incident may seem like a "robbery", but after all, my husband and Sanzhi are different in essence. So there is no "friendship" between these three people.Lizhi hated Yaozi for taking her husband away, and Sanzhi also left her.In this state, only Ando is her only sustenance.

Yoko had heard about Ando for a long time.Gao Yuan has talked about "thanks to the care of the boss" many times.His words revealed his gratitude to Ando. These alone make Yoko extremely dependent on Ando when faced with great pressure. After Yoko and Ando passed the phone call, they checked the map of the Fuji Five Lakes area. Yaozi found the place to go, and couldn't help saying something in surprise: "I see!" In which book did she read that the forest in Aokigahara is a large virgin forest that is very easy to get lost and cannot get out.Wouldn't it be an excellent place for the perpetrator to hide the dead body of the victim?

Especially this location is right between Tokyo and Nagoya.Yaozi looked at the map and realized that it was a virgin forest with few people and inconvenient transportation. If you take the expressway from Tokyo, you can enter National Highway No. 139 from the expressway entrance and exit at the end of Lake Kawaguchi; you can enter the virgin forest in about two hours by car.After hiding the body, you can enter the East (King) Na (Goya) Expressway from the entrance of Mount Fuji along the same national road.Sumiya can safely drive to Nagoya while looking for a place to dump the corpse. As the psychology of the murderer, the above reasoning should be a relatively reasonable judgment.

On this issue, Sumiya can completely disguise himself as a plateau and flee abroad.He still has this "intelligence".In case Gao Gao's body is found, he will take away all of Gao Yuan's identification to delay the police's investigation of the case.In this way, when the police discovered that the deceased was the real plateau, it was too late. It's a dangerous bet.But he has no choice in this small, narrow country of Japan. Sumiya is charged with fraud and hit-and-run charges, plus he may have concealed the injured, and it is likely to be added to a charge of intentional homicide.

Sumiya was gambling, but he managed to escape Japan in the end.Although it is a mystery who killed him, at least a series of "footprints" of Sumiya have been clearly exposed. When Yoko packed her bags and planned to go to Aokigahara, Saneda called.She didn't ask Sanzhi why she called, but told him to go to Aokigahara because she found her husband's purse. "Ma'am, can I go with you too?" He asked suddenly after listening. (I'd be more at ease if he came too.) Just as Yaozi was about to agree, Lie's figure suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.If Sanzhi is coming, I am sure that Lizhi will also go with him, because Lizhi must love Sanzhi.

Lizhi once loved Gao Yuan so infatuatedly that Gao Yuan thought about breaking up with him and marrying Lizhi again. And today, Lizhi wants to "confirm" the past lover with the new lover. Isn't this too cruel for the deceased?And Sanzhi has become someone who has nothing to do with him! "No, this matter has nothing to do with Mr. Saneda, please think about it for the future of Ms. Rieda." Yoko said as calmly as possible. "Why did you mention Ms. Lizhi?" Sanzhi asked with some embarrassment.Yoko thought she had achieved her goal. "Anyway, I mean it well."

Sanzhi seemed to understand something, and hung up the phone.Yaozi thought that he would not really come, but felt that there was no need to ask him again. The most important thing right now is to call my natal family and "place" Xianyi. On the other hand, Saneda is puzzled by the sudden change in Yoko's attitude.From the tone, it is completely meant for outsiders. "Maybe she saw the relationship between me and Rie." He thinks that can only be the reason.But why would Yaozi be so angry, Sanzhi was still at a loss. "If this is the case, Takahara Yoko doesn't need her own help anymore, it's because she is jealous of my relationship with Lie." Sanzhi speculates from the relationship between men and women. "If this is the reason, then tomorrow we really have to go to this matter. Anyway, I have to confirm it!" He had already found out from the phone call just now that Yoko would leave Shinjuku by the first train tomorrow morning.If I arrived at the platform early, wouldn't I be able to "catch" her? Sanzhi decided to "forcibly" go to Aokigahara with Yoko. The Aokigahara Primeval Forest located in the northwest of Mount Fuji, in terms of administrative jurisdiction, most of the area belongs to Kamikuichishi Village, Nishi Yatsushiro County, Yamanashi Prefecture, and a small part is located in Ashwada Village and Narusawa Village, Nandu County. This primeval forest grows lushly on the volcanic rock oars erupted from Mount Fuji.The area is said to be 60 square kilometers, and there are few people.Therefore, some people predict that if it is developed into a tourist attraction, there will be huge economic benefits. Therefore, many companies tried several times to "introduce" external civilization into this Harajuku forest, and even planned to lead it all the way to the very deep forest, in an attempt to reach the best tourist hotspot. According to the local guide, unless those who want to die can go to the depths of the dense forest, ordinary people cannot appreciate the beauty of the depths of the dense forest. Takahara Yoko, Saneda and Ando, ​​who departed from Tokyo by the first train early in the morning, got off at Fuji Yoshida and took a taxi, and arrived at the entrance of Fuji Wind Cave at around 10 am.It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the national highway to the entrance of Fengxue. "There were several old trails, but they are no longer found because almost no one walks them." The kind driver said to the three of them as he opened the car door. "I heard that the bones of the dead are everywhere in the deep forest, but how many are there?" Ando asked casually. "I heard from the police that there are at least 200 corpses! They, the firefighters, and local youth volunteers swept through the hair like a hair to find out. But no corpse was found, because many bones had already melted into the ground. Now, it’s indistinguishable from lava.” So Takahara Yoko thought: If Takahara really died here, he would be boneless too. "Because the return bus is gone very early, so please pay attention to the time." The driver drove away after telling. Since today is not a day off, there are very few cars.As soon as the car left, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, and only the sounds of various birds were heard. "It would be nice to bring the female students who found the purse. But because they have classes and they can't come, and I asked in detail, I think they will be found." Ando said to the other two people.Although finding a leather bag in the huge virgin forest is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, Ando looks very confident. And indeed, as he said, this purse has nothing to do with those female students, even if they were called to search together, they might not find anything. When Yoko was waiting for Ando in Shinjuku, she introduced Sanedo to him and said, "He is a friend that I and my husband know together."Since she didn't think Saneda had anything to do with Sumiya on this occasion, she didn't say anything more about it. "Those female students took this path. I heard that they entered after seeing the wind cave." This road is quite narrow, and it leads to the depths of the dense forest after passing through the wind hole.The road is uneven, but the path is clear, and it seems that you will not get lost.If you drive, you can also drive in a lot.You can see several shallow tire marks in front of your eyes. People who like to drive seem to not only like to take the smooth road, but also seem to be willing to go where no one has gone. As they went deeper, the density of the forest became more and more dense, and several forks could be seen on the way, which seemed to lead to deeper places, and the tire marks were finally invisible. Due to the roughness of the road caused by the flow of lava, and the exposed roots of the big trees are intertwined, the car must roll over when driving down. "This is the area!" After walking in the dense forest for about 30 minutes, Ando stopped and said.He looked around, and then opened the notebook, as if he had drawn the terrain introduced by the female student in the notebook. Overhead the sun was shaded by the dense foliage of various trees, and the lava and roots on the ground were indistinguishable from the "cover" of moss.In the depths of this damp dense forest, there is a daunting silence, as if there are many bones sleeping underground.After they stopped, they immediately felt a terrifying chill behind them.This is due to the cold air "deposited" in the virgin forest for thousands of years and the cold formed by psychological fear. The only thing that can make people feel that they are not in hell are the bright birdsong.In addition to the rare bird calls, because there are so many birds in the dense forest, many birds are often called together, so that it is difficult to tell what kind of birds these are.Since it was still a little earlier, the chirping of birds in the forest was very lively.They yelled and flew around on the branches.Due to the variety of trees in the forest, there are also many species of birds. "Is there any mark?" Yoko looked around, as if everything was a kind of tree, a kind of green, and couldn't distinguish anything else. "No, there is no special mark left, and there is no obvious special mark. They said that it is about 30 minutes to walk in from the wind hole. Our pace is about the same as that of the students, so we can't make a mistake. Probably around here." "You can't make a mistake in this way, right?" Sanzhi asked again this time. "I've confirmed with them several times. There are no more roads in Aokigahara, and there is only one road from Fengxue to the south, so there is no mistake." Ando said very confidently.If the road is not wrong, then there is still plenty of time, and if you look carefully, you won't find it. "Will it be picked up by other tourists?" Yaozi asked again. "No. Picking up things in this kind of place will make people think that there will be some bad luck." "No, because it is broken and can no longer be used, but will you pick it up and hand it over to the police?" "Of course there is such a possibility. If we can't find it, we can go back and ask the local police. But I don't think ordinary tourists will come to this place, so probably not." As they talked, they continued to search and walked forward. "what!" "Where!" "is that one!" The three of them shouted almost in unison.Next to the exposed rock with a large piece of lava, a leather bag-like thing was thrown there. It's really hard to spot if you don't pay attention.Because a layer of moss grows on it, it is almost the same color as the ground.However, because he had already made mental preparations, Bi Jing could see that its appearance had "artificial" traces. The three hurried over.This is a leather briefcase. "Ma'am, is that it?" Ando picked it up and asked Yoko as if confirming.Yaozi took the purse, and after careful identification, she confirmed that it was the purse used by her husband.The shape, material, workmanship, degree of use, common parts touched by hands, and the experience of wind and rain can be seen that Gao Yuan takes it to and from get off work every day. Yaozi stared at the cold leather bag, as if smelling Gao Yuan's warm body odor. "How about it, is it Mr. Gao Yuan?" Ando asked, Yoko nodded silently.She wanted to say it, but couldn't. "That must belong to Mr. Gao Yuan." Ando said another sentence as if for the sake of caution. "Yes, it does belong to my husband." Yaozi was finally able to make a sound, and unknowingly shed two lines of hot tears from her eyes.After several months, I finally "saw" my husband.She held the leather bag tightly in her arms as if she was embracing her husband's body. The coldness of the purse could be felt on Yaozi's skin through the clothes, and she thought it was the coldness of her husband's body. (You are so lonely here!) Yaozi said silently in her heart.In an instant, she seemed to feel that only she and her husband were together in this world, and everything else ceased to exist.The bird chirping also suddenly disappeared.Even the sound of the wind could not be heard, and a kind of blank extreme silence tightly wrapped her body and mind. "lady!" Yoko suddenly heard Ando's voice. When she woke up suddenly, she found that her hands were tightly grasping Ando's wrist. "Ma'am, are you okay?" Ando asked worriedly. (What's wrong with me?) In an instant, Yoko, who had lost herself, seemed to return to reality. "Let's take a break." Sanzhi hastily added a sentence.Yaozi also felt dizzy at this moment. "No, there's no need." Relying on the support of Ando's body, Yoko gradually regained her physical strength, and only then did she suddenly feel that her actions just now were a bit out of control.She hurriedly left Ando: "Sorry, I feel very tired all of a sudden." Yoko's face turned red all of a sudden.The moment she grabbed Ando's wrist, as if being hugged by her husband, she fell into a feeling of happiness.This is a body as strong as the husband.Maybe Ando realized this too.At that time, she had regarded Ando's face as her husband's appearance. "Then can you do this?" Ando asked again worriedly. "It's okay, it really doesn't matter." Yaozi lowered her head and said in order to hide her embarrassment. "How about we look inside again?" Sanzhi interjected in order to break this embarrassing scene.When Yaozi heard this sentence, she quickly opened her purse as if she had just woken up from a dream.There is nothing in it.The business card that the female student said was gone. "Ma'am, what does your husband usually put in his purse?" Ando asked. "Because I never open it either, so I guess it's just company documents and books I read on the commute or something." "But there's nothing in there!" "Perhaps it was thrown away by the murderer who caused the accident." "This is to prevent the police from finding out the identity of Mr. Gao Yuan. So, Mr. Gao Yuan is nearby..." Ando looked around with complicated eyes. "How about we look here first?" Sanzhi suggested. "Is it dangerous to do that? We are not familiar with the geography here. If we search randomly, we may get lost. It is better to call the police." Ando said to everyone cautiously. They finally walked out of Lin Hai the same way.They inquired and found that the local police station is located on the shore of Lake Motosu.But they decided to report the case to the General Administration of Fuji Yoshida. Since it takes a lot of manpower to conduct a general search, it will have to wait until tomorrow if it is actually carried out.Only one item belonging to a person who disappeared a few months ago was found, and the police were required to use force to search, and it was not known whether they would agree. It was not clear on the phone, so they decided to go to Fujiyoshida in person.Judging from the bus schedule, the nearest bus will arrive soon. The bus has arrived.Most of the people on board are locals.The three of Ando came from the wind hole, and it was obvious at a glance that they came from the city.These people don't care what they did in the primeval forest. Due to the development of transportation and various media, rural people are no longer curious about the arrival of city people.The locals who have gradually become accustomed to the tourists from the city have lost their interest and enthusiasm in the way tourists dress. Tourists here only brought noise and money to the local area, and also brought urban civilization and rare news to the closed countryside.So now these places are no longer the closed mountain villages and countryside in the past.The speed with which televisions and cars have spread has also surprised city dwellers. The bus moved on and the passengers chatted.It seems that we have been talking about flowers just now. "The trees in the forest are not as good as they used to be recently." "It's probably because of more cars, noise and exhaust damage." "It's not just the car." "why?" "I heard that many people who came to travel recently died in the forest because they got lost and couldn't get out." "so what?" "Trees grow on lava. The cracks in the rocks become natural flowerpots. If people die there, the corpses just become nutrients and stored in the pit, won't they nourish the tree?" "Then dead people become fertilizer?" "Yes. People who died next to the roots of the tree will turn into bones very quickly. Because the trunk has a natural ability to absorb corpses." "That's no longer a forest that eats people!" "However, since the cars passed here, even if you get lost, you can find the direction based on the sound of the car. The forest will not 'eat' all the people who go in!" "Is the car good for tourists again?" "It should be like this." The local passengers showed their yellow teeth and laughed "hehe".Although they talked about this topic unintentionally, it was a cruel topic for Yoko and the others. However, Yaozi remembered what the passengers said in the chat just now, "people die under the roots of trees and bones quickly turn into bones".Then there is also the possibility of Gao Yuan, he is very likely to be boned.These passengers complained that the forest was not growing well recently, but Yaozi saw that the forest was black and green and full of vitality.This is because they devour the plateau.They devoured the flesh and blood of their husbands, so they flourished. The branches on the side of the road were like blood-sucking flower-eating insects slapping on the car window from time to time.Yaozi suddenly felt that perhaps the branch that sucked her husband's flesh and blood was complaining to herself about her husband's experience. Local passengers got off at Narusawa Village.