Chapter 21 20. Follow Mr. Iwamura

Iwamura-sensei finally showed up just as the clock in the classroom building was pointing to eleven o'clock. "Let's go, Mr. Daoist! Xiao Meixiang!" I nodded silently, and walked out from the Hiiragi tree bushes where I was hiding. As soon as Mr. Iwamura left the school gate, he walked straight into the Tsuki Forest with his head down. He was still wearing the half-sleeve shirt as he had seen in the classroom just now.As he walked, he slowly took off his tie and stuffed it into the pocket of his trousers, then looked up at the sunny sky, seemed to sigh, and then turned into the path on the left.

"Did you go shopping?" Mei Xiang asked.Because the end of this alley is a commercial street. "No, it must be to the station. The station is right across the commercial street." "Mr. Dao, do you have the money to buy a ticket?" I didn't say anything, just patted my pants pocket. Turning two corners on the small road, Mr. Iwamura walked into the commercial street.The three of us followed closely along the bustling crowd. There is a wide avenue at one end of the commercial street.Ochi Flour Mill is there.Turn right at that intersection, which is the direction of my house.Mr. Iwamura, turn left, and the N station is in front of you.

"Ah, isn't this Mr. Dao and Xiao Meixiang!" I was taken aback by the sudden sound.When I looked up, my mother-in-law was looking at the window of the house adjacent to Oike Flour Mill.Mr. Iwamura stopped, looked at Granny Suo, and then glanced this way.I quickly bent down and hid behind a passing fat aunt. "You are here again! Grandma is so happy——" So the mother-in-law seemed to have noticed that I raised my index finger on my lips, so she didn't continue talking. Iwamura-sensei walked forward again.Looks like he didn't notice me.While still staring closely at Teacher Iwamura, I quickly approached the window sill and whispered: "We will come again next time!" The mother-in-law replied disappointedly, and then began to read her scriptures: "Oh, yes, Amilitus, uh, Pata..."

The voice was full of enthusiasm, seemed to know everything and encouraged me. We continued to follow Teacher Iwamura out of the commercial street, then turned left at the corner and walked onto the street.At the intersection of "N Station Entrance", Mr. Iwamura turned left again and entered the station, and after showing the commuter pass to the ticket checking staff, he went straight in.I hurried to the ticket vending machine, put three one-hundred-yuan coins into the coin slot, and pressed the rightmost one of the lit buttons. "Master Taoist, do you have enough money?"

"I don't know. There's always a way." I shuttled through the crowd coming and going, trotting all the way and finally came to the ticket gate.I hugged Meixiang tightly and put the ticket into the ticket gate. When I was about to pass through the ticket gate, I heard the voice of the staff behind me. "Kid, wait a minute!" "I can buy the ticket alone, right? My sister is only three years old, Mr. S...?" I spoke in a panic, but the staff shook their heads. "Of course, you don't need to buy a ticket before going to school. However, you didn't press the 'child ticket' button when you bought the ticket, right? So you bought an adult ticket."

For a moment, I also felt that I was at a disadvantage, but now I don't have the heart to bother with it. "Let me change the ticket for you." The staff member said. I hastily smiled vaguely at him and ran away.Running up the steps leading to the platform, I bumped into a man standing there. "Sorry!" "Ah—what are you doing here, Dolph?" I felt the blood all over my body being sucked dry in one breath.The man with the thick eyebrows and the suspicious look on his face was none other than Iwamura-sensei.My first instinct was to hide the bottle of Mr. S behind my back.But in hindsight, it was a pointless act.

"Where are you going?" I couldn't restrain my jaw trembling, and reluctantly replied, "Go to my cousin's house. My cousin invited me to play." "Oh, yes. Let's take the bus with the teacher. Where do you get off?" "Which station..." I could hardly speak, my legs trembled and my hands shook.At this moment, Meixiang said a round of "M's main entrance". "It's... the main entrance of M University." "It's over there. It's exactly the opposite direction from the teacher's house." Iwamura-sensei said while looking back.Because the tram to the main entrance of M University came from the direction behind Mr. Iwamura.

"Children should be extra careful when they go out by themselves." The tram pulls in. "Then the teacher got in the car first and left." Iwamura-sensei looked at me, then at Mika, and got on the train.I walked slowly along the stopped tram to one end of the platform.The moment the doors were about to close after the departure announcement, I jumped onto the tram from the nearest door, and the doors closed behind me. I got on the bus about two cars away from Iwamura-sensei. "Look, I said it was right to bring Meixiang!" "Well, it was a great help. ——Thank you, Meixiang."

"I just said the name of the station I know." That's right. "However, brother, it was so dangerous just now!" "I said Husband, just now you were going to say 'No, I don't know where to get off!'!" Seeing the two of them giggling and laughing, I looked unhappy.But finally out of the crisis, I still feel relieved. The started tram picked up speed little by little. Every time I stopped at a stop, I stuck my head out of the car window, looking for Mr. Iwamura.When I finally found him, it was the fourth stop after starting from station N. "let's go!"

When I got out of the platform, the figure of Mr. Iwamura was mixed in the sparse crowd. I always kept a certain distance from him and followed closely.The surrounding street scene is a bit more lonely than the N town where we live. After walking along the main road in front of the station for about ten minutes, Iwamura-sensei disappeared at a break in the wall on the left.There is a concrete step there.When Mr. Iwamura went up the stairs, I ran a few steps in a hurry to catch up.This is an unpopular residential area. The front is a two-story apartment. The original white walls are covered with black spots due to mildew.

"Master Daofu, is that Mr. Iwamura's house?" "Well, there is nothing more like it around...?" As we thought, Mr. Iwamura walked to the apartment and took out the key from his pocket.We ducked to the side of the road and peeked behind utility poles.On the right side of the veranda on the first floor is a mailbox.Iwamura-sensei looked at one of them, took out a brown envelope, and kept looking at it.Then he walked to the leftmost one of the parallel rooms, unlocked it, pushed the door and walked in.The moment I opened the door, I saw a dark entrance.The back of Mr. Iwamura disappeared through the door. "Mr. S, what shall we do now?" "The apartment looks small, and it doesn't seem feasible for us to sneak in and hide while Mr. Iwamura is at home. Well, the plan changes! We'll talk about it when Mr. Iwamura comes out." "What if he never comes out?" "Then we can't help it. But our place is too dangerous now. When Iwamura-sensei came out and passed this road, we didn't even have a place to escape." There was a sandy parking lot to the left of the apartment, and we decided to go there. There was a curtained window on the wall near the parking lot.That should be Iwamura-sensei's room.I don't know when Iwamura-sensei will show up, so I cling to the wall of the apartment and maintain that posture all the time. "Iwamura-sensei's car is also parked here, right?" Hearing Mr. S say this, I began to look around. "Ah, there!" The parking lots are separated by chains, and at one end of each space, there is a rectangular white metal plate.One of them was marked "Rock Village," and parked there was a dusty gray sedan. "Did he use this car to transport my corpse here? It's very simple to move the corpse to the room from there." Mr. S's voice was very indifferent. "Mr. Dao, it is estimated that some evidence will be left behind. Go and look in the car!" "But, if Iwamura-sensei opens the curtain and looks out—" At this time, there was a sound of opening the door.We immediately ducked behind the truck next to us.The sound of footsteps approached a little bit.I lay on the ground, ignoring the stench coming from my nostrils, and stared from under the truck.Mr. Iwamura's big leather shoes stepped on the sand and walked towards the parking place step by step.The door opened.The sound of ignition. "Excellent!" Mr. S exclaimed.I raised myself cautiously. In the shadow of the van, we watched Mr. Iwamura's car gradually go away. "Master Taoist, Xiao Meixiang, this is an opportunity!" "Yep." Only Meixiang responded.My feet remained motionless as if they were glued to the ground.At that moment, I felt terror from my nails all the way through my body. "Master Taoist! Hurry up!" "elder brother!" "understood." I finally moved away, but my palms were covered with sweat.Every time I took a breath, my shoulders shook up and down. So far, all I have done is to find Mr. S's body.But now it is another reason that makes me continue to act - I don't want my sister to see me looking like a worthless person. —If I had known what I was about to see then, I think I would have put all vanity aside and ran straight back to the station. I should actually know how dangerous everything I do is. I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, walked slowly along the outer wall of the apartment, stepped over the gap between the verandah and the fence, and came to the door of Mr. Iwamura's house.I grabbed the doorknob and turned it gently.The door didn't lock.Could it be that Mr. Iwamura plans to come back soon? "No, not so soon. Because he was driving." I believed Mr. S's words, opened the door and walked in.It was dark in the room. —Suddenly, I had a strong sense of foreboding. "It's better to keep Meixiang here." "why……" "Be obedient, hide in the wall next to the parking lot." I insisted on keeping Meixiang there. "Mr. S, let's go!" "OK!" I re-entered Iwamura-sensei's room, took off my sneakers and held them in my hands.Holding the bottle of Mr. S in his left hand and the sneakers in his right hand, he walked up.A wooden door with frosted glass fronted the narrow corridor.Continuing down the corridor, there is a small space between the toilet and bathroom on the left.I gently and quickly opened the front door. Inside was a narrow kitchen with used tableware piled up in the sink on the right.The kitchen contained a square dining table, two chairs, and a refrigerator, presumably for single living, and I had never seen one so small. On the other side of the kitchen was a partition that was ajar. "That's the room where Iwamura-sensei usually lives." I nodded silently and walked to the inner room.What exactly is there?Could it be Mr. S's body?A corpse with broken legs and soap in its mouth?I can barely breathe.The air I inhaled was far more than what I exhaled. I felt my lungs expand and I gasped continuously.Standing in the doorway of the room, I peered to the side opposite the partition.At that moment— I noticed something like that. There is a bed in a room the size of six tatami mats.To the left are televisions and VCRs, with unlabeled videotapes piled up next to them.To the right of the room appears to be a closet.In the middle of the room stood a glass table— "Mr. Daofu, what is that? That photo..." On the glass table, there are many photos scattered like playing cards.I walked over to the glass table and bent down.These photos are slightly different from ordinary photos, elongated vertically, and the upper part is slanted. "It's a snapshot." Mr. S said.The photos on the glass table are indeed snapshots.I stretched out my hand, removed the stacked photos, and looked at the photos below. "This……" I was speechless for a moment. Mr. S has also remained silent. All the pictures are boys.Boys my age laughed, cried, and posed in pictures all over the place.They were all naked, no panties, nothing. I picked up one of them.In the photo, a naked boy in the shade of a tree makes a "peace" gesture to the camera.The background is a sea. I picked up another one.In front of the coin-operated safe deposit box, a boy is taking off his underwear with his back to the camera.Apparently, this one was taken secretly. Next to these photos is a brown rectangular envelope.Probably it was Iwamura-sensei who just picked it up from the mailbox.The envelope was sealed tightly with transparent glue. "Open it and have a look..." I said vaguely. Mr. S didn't say anything.I gently lifted the transparent glue, a little bit, a little bit, with extra care.After about thirty seconds, the envelope was opened.Inside appeared to be photographs.I reached in with my fingers and pulled out the contents.It's five photos.Also a snapshot.It's no different than the ones lying around on the table.But there was one that caught my attention.It was in a room where a naked boy sat on a chair, his face unidentifiable—for the boy wore a mask of black feathers around his eyes.And there was a shy smile on the boy's lips.Both hands and feet were tied to the chair with black rope. I put the photo back in the envelope, reattached the clear tape, and still couldn't say anything. "Master Taoist." Mr. S's voice was unusually lonely. "——Iwamura-sensei's reason for killing me, can you guess a little bit?" Just when I was about to open my mouth to answer, the sound of the car engine suddenly came from far to near.Then there was the sound of tires crushing gravel—— "It won't be—" Mr. S said quickly.I immediately ran to the window and looked out through the gap in the curtains. The door of a gray car was being opened, and I could see the upper body of Mr. Iwamura moving slowly inside. "Master Taoist! Oops!" I ran towards the entrance, and the moment I reached the door, Mr. S suddenly yelled. "Go out now and you will be discovered!" I had to turn around and run back into the room. "Master Daoist! Hide in the toilet! Ah, no, no, in the bathroom!" I turned back into the hallway, turned to the left, quickly opened the sliding door to the bathroom and slipped in.He almost slammed the door shut, then held his breath and listened.Mixed with his own breathing, he could hear the footsteps outside the entrance approaching a little bit—— "Stopped—" The footsteps stopped suddenly, and they stopped beside the entrance.Then came a murmur of soliloquy.It was Iwamura-sensei's voice.At that moment, I seemed to have a popsicle stuffed into my mouth, and my whole body stiffened. "Mei Xiang!" I yelled in my heart. "Dorph! Hey! Dolph!" It was Iwamura-sensei's voice, calling my name.My body began to shake non-stop.The bathroom door close to his forehead also made a sound.But Iwamura-sensei doesn't seem to notice that I'm hiding in his house. The entrance door was opened, and he seemed to be taking off his shoes.There were footsteps in the corridor.I gently opened the door in front of me a crack, held my breath, and prepared to escape through the crack at any time. "Don't panic!" Mr. S advised me, but I had no choice.If Iwamura-sensei comes to the bathroom, I'm done.Can escape now. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced across the corridor.In the room inside—that is, the room on the other side of the partition, there is the back of Mr. Iwamura sitting cross-legged, playing with what seems to be a white plastic bag from a supermarket.Iwamura-sensei took out the can of beer from the plastic bag, opened it and took a sip.I held my breath and stared at him intently. Then, as if remembering something, Iwamura-sensei stood up slowly.The huge body disappeared into the shadow of the diaphragm fan on the left side of the room, as if it was fiddling with something. Here's your chance!I think. I came to the corridor, lowered my footsteps as much as possible, and moved towards the entrance.I moved my feet carefully, step by step, as if walking on thin ice, and my armpits were covered with sweat.When I finally reached the entrance, I felt my mind go blank.The door handle was cold to the touch.Can escape!But——I stopped at that moment.Because I heard Mr. S's voice. — from behind. I turn around.Iwamura-sensei returned to the glass table, propped his elbows on the table, turned his face to the left of the room, and seemed to be concentrating on something. Mr. S's voice is still there, and he seems to be laughing. Before I knew it, I had already turned to face that side, as if attracted by something, I walked towards the inner room. "Mr. Daofu! What are you doing!" Mr. S said timidly in the bottle.But I kept going, obsessed.On the opposite side of the kitchen, Mr. Iwamura's back approached a little bit, and got bigger a little bit.Gradually, the distance between us was only one meter. What Iwamura-sensei was looking at also came into my sight. It was a TV.The screen kept shaking, shaking from time to time.There is a person on the screen. Mr. S.Mr. S without underwear. (No……) Mr. S on the screen is smiling coyly, facing the camera, with a smile on his face all the time. (I said no...) The person holding the camera seems to be giving some kind of instruction.Mr. S on the screen showed a trace of boredom, but judging from his expression, he was not really bored.On the contrary, Mr. S seems to be very happy. From the background, I immediately understood where Mr. S was at that time.White, stainless steel safe deposit box.A handwritten sign "Please don't forget your belongings" is taped to the wall. It's the school locker room. Mr. Iwamura pressed the remote control at hand, and Mr. S's voice on the screen suddenly became louder.Iwamura-sensei watched intently for a while.Then suddenly he got up and fell forward, stretched out his arms, grabbed the earphones, and inserted the plug into the TV jack. Mr. S's voice disappeared, and Mr. Iwamura resumed the sitting posture just now. I turned around and walked away slowly.My head throbbed.Some inexplicable thoughts kept stirring in my heart.Walking through the dark corridor, I opened the door of the entrance, and the blinding sunlight pierced my eyes.Iwamura-sensei's worry about whether Iwamura-sensei was aware of my actions has completely disappeared from my mind.Even now that Iwamura-sensei suddenly turns around and rushes towards me, all I have to do is yell loudly.Just shout. The door is closed.Beside the wall on the side of the parking lot, Meixiang said with a tearful voice: "Ms. Iwamura is back—I, I don’t know what to do—Ms. Iwamura saw me, and then called my brother’s name loudly—but , if, if I don't say something to let him enter the house..." Perhaps, Mr. Iwamura just felt that the Mika she saw at the station was a little similar to the Mika she saw here. "sorry that I had you worried." I lowered my head and said to Meixiang. "--Let's go back."