"The appearance of these trees is so strange, are they pruned like this on purpose?"

Standing under the narrow stone steps, Sousuke Araki looked curiously at the woods shrouded in resentment on both sides.

Because of the custom of "cherry blossom viewing in spring and maple viewing in autumn", cross planting of cherry trees and maples is a normal gardening technique.

But ordinary trees will grow in the same direction because of the characteristics of phototaxis.

But the deformed trees on both sides of the ladder, whether left or right, all leaned toward the central ladder.

The twisted branches twist and close in mid-air, woven into a dense natural vault.

It is conceivable that even in the hottest summer, the sun should not be able to reflect on this stone step, so it must be a good place to cool down.

"Let's go, go to the top of the mountain to see, if there is nothing unusual, you can get off work today and find a ramen shop along the way..."

"Yeah, I'm very familiar with Shinjuku. There are a few good shops where you can take Mr. Araki!"

Worrying about Sosuke Araki being offered a bounty, Kotori Yumayumi has been continuing his "spirit removal journey" with an uneasy mood.

Seeing that the journey was about to reach the "finishing point", her mood rose a little.

Thinking about it carefully, unconsciously, I have collected soul dust equivalent to nearly a hundred spirit bodies tonight...

If it weren't for the matters involving Mr. Araki and the "Bamboo Picture Scroll", which were top secrets, this "100% Buddhahood" removal efficiency would be enough to make the Immortal Mochizuki who had spent hundreds of years overturn the coffin board, Let the chins of the dedicated members of the association drop to the ground.

Thinking of this, Kotori Yumayumi finally understood why things involving Mr. Araki would be the top secret of the association.

The man standing in front of him at this moment is undoubtedly the strongest spirit remover in the world.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

So strong that even the Association had to hide him like a treasure.

"Wait, let me go ahead."

Sousuke Araki stretched out his hand to stop Tori Yumayumi who was about to step up the stairs, and stepped on the first slate before her.

Intuition vaguely told him that there was something not very good ahead.

The old slate stairs, without any abnormality, still lie in front of me in a lifeless manner.

Only the strong resentment around him, like a tired bird returning to the forest, kept flowing into his body.

"Eh? Am I feeling wrong?"

"Pfft... Mr. Araki, it's rare to be cautious once."

Seeing Sousuke Araki's sluggish expression, Tori Yumayumi covered his mouth with a smile, stretched out his hand and gently pulled the corner of his shirt: "Then please, go ahead and lead the way."

For Sosuke Araki, being trusted by a girl to hold the corner of his clothes is a delicate experience that he has never had before.

He nodded silently and continued up the next stone steps.

In the back, looking at the broad and familiar back of the man in front of her, memories of the night of the Obon Festival flooded into Yuma Yutiao's heart, and a pink tinge appeared on her fair cheeks.

At that time, he was also like this in the back seat of the bicycle behind him, strolling in the courtyard, staring at the ghosts as if nothing was there.

At this moment, silence is better than sound, and a strange feeling that is unclear and unclear begins to spread in the hearts of the two of them.

As the two slowly ascended, the trees standing still on both sides of the stairs became more and more hideous, like a beast that could choose someone to devour at any time.

This is a dull and suffocating atmosphere that cannot be felt under the stairs.

"Tick tock..."

In the darkness, it was so quiet that even the sound of water droplets from nowhere could be clearly heard.

"Tick tock..."

It seems that there is an extremely evil power that is constantly accumulating, and it is about to usher in the most violent outbreak.

"Teacher Araki..."

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere in front of him was too strange, and Xiao Niao Yuzhengumi softly broke the silence between the two.

"...Did you feel that something was wrong?"

At this point, the two had reached the middle of the old, narrow staircase.

"I thought I was too nervous, did you feel it too?"

"Tick tock..."

"There seems to be a sound..."

Hearing the sound of some kind of liquid dripping again, Sousuke Araki stopped and turned around.

In the darkness, on the stone steps as wide as one person, the little bird Yumayumi who was walking in the back had no time to react, but he buried his head and slammed into his arms.

"what……"

Exclaimed softly, Xiaoniao Yuzhen bowed like a deer, and his footsteps were chaotic, and he fell straight towards the rear stairs...

"Be careful."

Strong arms gently wrapped around the girl's slender waist and pulled her back steadily.

On the narrow stairs, the two were so close together.

"No, no, no, no... are you alright?"

The gesture just now was just a conditioned reflex.

At this moment, I can feel the delicate waist that I can hold in one hand, the fragrance of the girl coming from my nostrils, and the fiery body in my arms...

"So, is it so thin? 』

Araki Sosuke only felt that his brain was blank, and his body also turned into a rigid stone statue.

"No...it's okay...thank you..."

The bird Yumayumi, who buried his head on his chest, responded with a sound like a mosquito.

She carefully raised her red-hot face, which happened to meet Araki Sosuke's golden and black eyes, which were blurred like gems.

Their eyes met each other, and the two of them were not willing to look away for a while.

I just feel that a certain emotion that I don't know when it started to accumulate in my heart is constantly interweaving and conveying through my sight.

It seems to have returned to the scene where the two stood facing each other under the sky full of fireworks during the Obon Festival.

"Little, Little Bird You..."

"Ok."

Just when Sousuke Araki licked his dry mouth and seemed to want to say something...

"Tick tock..."

The stone steps on the top of the mountain where the two of them were located seemed to be lit by someone, and suddenly filled with bright red light.

The surrounding scene changed.

"Ugh...uuuuuuuu..."

The cry with endless resentment and hatred seemed to be squeezed out of the throat, lingering in the wind and resounding through the top of the mountain.

"Tick...tick..."

The strange sound of water droplets became more urgent and louder.

"This, the lantern... I don't remember before, right?"

Under the sudden light from all around, the two subconsciously took a step apart, and their eyes fell on both sides of the stairs.

Starting from the bottom of the stone steps, a small wooden vertical lantern ~lightnovelpub.net~ that appeared at some unknown time and was painted red like blood was extending up along the outside of the handrail.

As if there was an invisible hand, with a blood-colored flame, the lantern was lit one by one from bottom to top, dyeing the things in the eyes of the two people with a deep red color.

Under the night, surrounded by trees, bright red lanterns surrounded the ancient stone steps and stretched up...

It should be a very beautiful scene, but at this moment, because of the blood light in the lantern, it has become extremely sad and treacherous.

"The trees on both sides are weird! Mr. Araki, look..."

Under the light of the blood-colored light, you can see that from the thick tree trunks on both sides to the branches that extend out and cover the head, there are all shriveled and indistinct corpses that are wriggling in pain.

The cry that resounded through the forest came from those corpses.

As the line of sight draws closer, you can even see thick black iron nails with blood grooves, piercing the surface of the corpses, going deep into the torso of the trees, and nailing them to it.

That "tick, tick" sound was caused by the blood on the corpse flowing into the trunk along the blood trough and sliding down.