Chapter 1070: Chapter 69: Bonds
"..."
Ogashira Masashi was silent for a moment, then nodded very slowly, saying, "Indeed.
In the middle of July of Showa 54, Fate Carving Village held the Fate Carving Festival according to its usual customs.
Everything was executed according to the Hiratsuka Family’s plan,
but when the Hidden Eye selected the candidates for the Fate Sacrifice, a deviation occurred.
My elder brother Fujimura Ryosuke took my place."
Li Ang nodded, "I know,
we investigated the Fujimura family’s house,
and found out that Fujimura Ryosuke’s original surname was Matsuoka, which is your mother’s surname.
He is your uncle’s son."
"...That’s right."
Ogashira Masashi took a deep breath and said, "When we were young, our heights and weights were similar, and we looked very much alike.
That day, all villagers and foreign tourists needed to wear Noh Masks,
I had no prior memories, and it was my first time participating in the Fate Carving Festival,
because I was playful and mischievous, Ryosuke and I swapped kimonos to see if others could tell the difference.
In the end, no one, including my mother, noticed anything unusual; they continued to watch the shrine performance as usual.
Feeling a kind of disappointment, I quietly left the shrine midway through the performance, before the effect of Guiquan Liquor took hold.
Coincidentally, I missed the time when the Hidden Eye from the Hiratsuka Family entered the shrine,
and my mother, along with Ryosuke, whom she believed to be me, was taken to Guiquan Well for the Fate Sacrifice.
Ultimately, this led to the failure of the ritual track, the resentment from the Netherworld was not appeased but instead erupted violently, slaughtering everyone in Fate Carving Village,
and the village itself was drawn into a mysterious zone at the intersection of the Everworld and the Netherworld.
All of this was my responsibility, and now, it’s time to correct it."
He raised one of the hemp ropes and slowly said, "I need to, and I am destined to die here.
Only by descending beneath The Abyss might there be a chance to realign the Fate Sacrifice."
He gave a deep, complex look to the two of them, "When you were eight, I went to investigate Fate Carving Village and ended up being trapped in it, missing your growth.
I am a selfish, unqualified father.
Take this key, you should leave quickly, while there’s still time."
Ogashira Masashi took out a strangely-shaped key from the black fur on his body, "This key can open the trapdoor in the Fujimura family’s backyard, which directly connects to the outside through the trapdoor.
The other side of the trapdoor has been sealed by the weird force lingering over Fate Carving Village,
but after I complete the Fate Sacrifice, I should be able to reseal the Netherworld, allowing the other side of the trapdoor to open."
As Ogashira Masashi spoke, the entire underground space began to shake and tremble again, a large amount of yellow sand and dust fell, making it seem as though the whole space might collapse at any second.
In such a situation, Li Ang wasn’t panicked at all; he took the key, waved his hand, and said, "No rush.
What I want to know is, didn’t you escape from Fate Carving Village while in a state of amnesia? Did you recall these things yourself?"
"Yes."
Ogashira Masashi said, "I indeed lost all my childhood memories, only remembering myself, covered in dirt, walking through the woods of Gumma County,
later adopted by the Ogasawara Family,
and due to some inexplicable sense and the fragments of memories that often troubled me, I eventually became a folklorist as an adult and came into contact with news about Fate Carving Village.
I...like you, entered the woods of Gumma County and came into the ruins of Engrave Village,
here I encountered things familiar from before, slowly regained past memories, gathered a lot of clues, and pieced together the truth of all events,
but at the same time, was tightly bound by the Fate Carving Village, unable to escape, becoming the way I am now, sometimes lucid and sometimes in a stupor, losing sanity.
After discovering you entered Fate Carving Village, afraid I might harm you, I went down into the Guiquan Well, preparing to take this final step and end it all."
"I see."
Li Ang nodded calmly, "I want to know what role Fujimura Xiuping played in this event.
Watching the Fate Carving Festival is something most villagers and tourists had to participate in, so why wasn’t he with you and your mother?"
"...Because he was the Moh Mask Master."
Ogashira Masashi explained, "The Fujimura family has always been the family in the village responsible for making Noh Masks.
We were responsible for using special wood, which is nourished by the water from the Guiquan Well, to carve the masks.
These masks themselves would be stained by the anomaly of the Guiquan water,
and when worn by Noh Drama Performers, they could, through the performers’ dance and song, further amplify the hallucinogenic effect of Guiquan Liquor, immersing everyone.
On that day, one performer’s Noh Mask had a slight damage, so he went backstage for temporary maintenance."
"I believe you on this point,"
Li Ang nodded, "but I think this isn’t the whole truth."
"Hmm?"
Ogashira Masashi was momentarily stunned and said, "What are you saying..."
"As you mentioned earlier, only two people with a strong, inseparable emotional bond can correctly trigger the Fate Sacrifice and complete the seal of the Netherworld."
Li Ang said, "How can you be sure that you descending into The Abyss would complete the seal?"
"...Because she is still alive."
Ogashira Masashi was silent for a moment and pointed to the metal box hanging on the edge of the cliff, "Due to the deviation of the ritual track, my mother has been in a state of neither living nor dead, with no perception of the outside world.
In the past few years, I wanted to end it all, yet was reluctant to part with her, as well as my father by the Guiquan Well.
I’ve been procrastinating until now.
If I use myself as the sacrifice, then the Fate Sacrifice can be reactivated..."
"Wait."
Wang Congshan raised her hand and said, "The Fate Sacrifice requires two people with a strong, inseparable emotional bond, right?
This, in some sense cruel and evil ritual track, kills two people every four years,
which, for a remote and closed village, is a huge drain on manpower, and it’s hard to ensure they can gather enough people every four years.
That’s why the Hiratsuka Family had to make a big show of holding the Fate Carving Festival, make it public, invite tourists, and even invite your teacher, who is also a renowned folklorist, to your house.
Those outside tourists were also candidates for the Fate Sacrifice, right?
Due to the peculiar mythology of Yuan Shan, every year a number of people who have lost the will to live and harbor suicidal thoughts climb Yuan Shan and disappear,
so even if some of them occasionally disappeared, it wouldn’t raise much suspicion."
Seeing Ogashira Masashi nod in agreement, Wang Congshan continued, "Then the Fate Sacrifice between Fujimura Masumi and Fujimura Ryosuke should not have failed.
According to your explanation, conducting a Fate Sacrifice doesn’t strictly require a blood relationship; it can work between siblings, lovers, or even friends,
so Fujimura Masumi and Fujimura Ryosuke, as mother and son, and with Fujimura Masumi thinking Ryosuke was you,
how could it have failed?"
"..."
Ogashira’s words suddenly stuck, and he silently stood still.
"If I’m not mistaken, most of what you told us is true, but on the crucial question, you lied.
And this lie wasn’t to protect yourself, but to protect someone else."
Wang Congshan said lightly, "The real reason for the failure of the Fate Sacrifice lies in Fujimura Masumi, doesn’t it?
She clearly knew the one taken away was the adopted Ryosuke, not you.
Even after the effect of Guiquan Liquor faded and memories surged, she didn’t feel strong pain or regret.
In fact, even speculating in a darker and narrower direction, it’s not impossible that all this was planned by her."
