Fog Formula-Warning Book of Fog City Search Chief's Strange Talk

The next day, in the morning, Xuejian Ze-Haojian Shrine.

"Oh hoho~ Is there a guest here?"

Just as they saw Shenxiu stepping into the torii gate of the shrine and walking across the ema stand of the shrine to the backyard, a childish voice suddenly came from the side and fell into the ears of the two.

"Are you two here to visit? Or to make a wish? Or... Hehehe, what trouble did you encounter?"

"what sound?"

The sound came out so suddenly that seeing Shenxiu suddenly became vigilant, he subconsciously took a step back and looked around. But before he could see the surrounding environment clearly, that immature voice sounded again, more annoyed and unhappy than before.

"Hey! Where are you looking? This way, this way!"

Only then did Shenxiu notice the little hand that was darting back and forth in front of him. He looked down in silence and found a little girl in a red and white witch costume standing in front of him, staring angrily. She stared at him, bouncing around and waving her little hands, trying desperately to attract his attention.

"You adults, you don't look at people when you walk!"

"……All right."

Even if he was cold and stern, he couldn't help being dumbfounded when faced with such a little girl's questioning. It seemed that he was a little tired from the overnight investigation for several days, and he didn't notice when this little girl had walked in front of him.

"……Feel sorry."

So, after a moment of hesitation, the search chief expressed his apology to the little witch in front of him. He didn't underestimate the other party because of his age, but after a serious apology, he squatted down and asked her slowly:

"Are you a priestess here? Where's your adult?"

"There are no grown-ups here."

However, after hearing Jian Shenxiu's words, the little girl became even more angry, and stared at Jian Shenxiu's pretty brows furrowed vigorously.

"My name is Hayami Suzune, and I am the current chief priestess of Hayami Shrine, who is in charge."

"You are?" Seeing that Shenxiu's heart sank suddenly after hearing this, even though he knew it was impolite to ask such a question, he couldn't help asking directly, "Where's your lord? He's not here, is he?"

"My parents disappeared during the Eternal Night, and they haven't been back for many years..." The little girl who claimed to have seen Lingyin early said this with a calm expression, blinking her eyes and looking at Shenxiu up and down. Seeing that his anxious expression didn't look like a joke, he frowned and asked suspiciously, "You...know my father and mother?"

"...We are from the Search Bureau."

Jian Shenxiu was a little caught off guard by this answer, he was silent for a while, then took out his ID from his pocket, showed his identity to the little girl, and slowly explained his purpose of coming.

"We are now investigating a case about ten years ago. During the investigation, some details involved the Hayami Shrine. We came here to ask you some information about that incident back then. But judging from the time, at that time It should still be your parents who presided over the shrine, but I didn't expect your parents to have suffered...disappeared during the eternal night."

Seeing that Shenxiu changed his words at the end, facing such a young child, he couldn't help but change to a more gentle word.

"Search Bureau?" Seeing that Lingyin shrank back with a broom in her arms, she had obviously heard about this famous part, and then she shook her head after thinking for a while, and just replied: "I'm sorry, ten Years ago I was too young to be of much help."

"Is that really the case?" Seeing Shenxiu's stiff face also showed a look of disappointment, "If so..."

"However, if you have any questions about Zaojian Shrine, maybe you can tell me." After hesitating for a while, the little girl suddenly said, "I have been helping in the Shrine for a long time, what you want to know I might know the question."

"This..." Seeing Shenxiu was stunned when he heard this, he turned his head and looked at Markesias next to him, as if he was hesitating whether to involve the little girl in front of him.

"Don't underestimate me~ witches have magical powers!" However, the young girl seemed to see their thoughts from their expressions, and suddenly puffed up her cheeks, and said with a straight face, "I'm a helper at the shrine. It's been many years~"

"Okay, Xia Si." Jian Shenxiu nodded, turned to look at Marchesias, motioned for him to hand over his bag, then took out an evidence bag from the bag, and handed it to the girl.

"Look at these things, do you know any of them?"

It was a translucent bag, and inside the bag was a paper figurine that had obviously been burned. Perhaps because it was far away from the fire source, the paper figurine in the bag was only missing a corner, except for being blackened, the whole was not damaged much. Even after a few years, later generations can still see the lines and marks of that year on the paper figurines.

"This is..." Zaojian Lingyin flipped through the bag, and couldn't help being stunned when she saw the familiar lines on it, "Our family's paper figurine?"

"Yes, we found it by relying on these marks." Jian Shenxiu patiently explained to her, and took out some other evidence bags from the bag, which contained some incomplete paper money and note strings. Has the imprint of Hayami Shrine.

"From the information we know and the situation at the scene, this should be a funeral held by your shrine."

"Funeral?" Seeing Lingyin's expression immediately became weird when he heard the words, "Are you sure it's a funeral, not a blessing?"

"I'm sure." Jian Shenxiu was a little surprised by Lingyin's reaction early on. He frowned and looked at her, and asked in puzzlement, "What's the matter, is there any problem with the funeral?"

"Of course there is a problem. Are you from Xuejianze?" The young girl looked at him with a strange expression, "Have you ever seen funerals held in churches, temples, and homes... When Have you ever seen a funeral at a shrine?"

"What?!"

Seeing that Shenxiu was stunned suddenly, he suddenly realized where the place he had neglected was. Just like what Hayami Suzune said, in this era of Yukimizawa, the appearance of this funeral is very unusual!

"Because different beliefs have different meanings of funerals." Zaojian Lingyin explained to him holding a broom, "Some funerals are to send believers to the Paradise of Paradise, and some funerals are to wish believers to go to heaven. But we think death is unclean , are usually very taboo. As far as I know, since hundreds of years ago, shrines have rarely assumed responsibility for funerals. And our funeral concept is also very old, which is not commensurate with modern funeral concepts. Therefore, Even believers would not choose to come to the shrine for a funeral.”

"What is your funeral philosophy...?"

Seeing the cold sweat breaking out on Shenxiu's back, he already knew the answer to this question in his heart when he spoke. The girl's words evoked some raw and out-of-the-ordinary knowledge in his mind. He had read a lot of books and learned about the relevant history, and knew that they had an extraordinary understanding of death.

"It is to keep the soul of the deceased." Zaojian Lingyin seriously replied Jian Shenxiu's inquiry, "Our funeral is very traditional. We want to keep the soul of the deceased and stay at home to become a patron saint."

"But now people's thinking is to send the dead away, right? I hope the soul of the dead can ascend to heaven. Who would want to keep the soul of the dead by their side forever? That's too sad. If such a traditional funeral is still carried out in modern times, it will It might even incur resentment from old friends."

The young girl shook her head and said.

"It's better to say that from the current point of view, holding such a funeral—is it a malicious intention?"