Chapter 1071: Chapter 70: Love
Wang Congshan took a step forward and said softly, "Calling it a scheme isn’t quite accurate. It’s more like... a precaution.
You just said the Fujimura Family has, for generations in Fate Carving Village, been the ones who make Noh Masks, using wood nourished by Guiquan Water to craft them.
And in the Fujimura Family’s backyard, there’s also a tunnel that leads straight out of the village.
However you look at it, the Fujimura Family occupies a special position in the village, and would know more of the truth than others.
That key in your hand—where did you get it from?"
Ogashira Masashi fell silent for a moment, then answered, "I found it later, when I returned to Fate Carving Village, inside the Fujimura house."
Wang Congshan pressed, "Specifically where?"
"..."
Ogashira Masashi said, "On the table in the living room."
"Impossible."
Wang Congshan shook her head. "Whether it’s the Destiny Rite secretly conducted by the Hiratsuka Family, or the hallucination-inducing Noh Mask made by Fujimura Xiuping,
those are things that absolutely must not be revealed to outsiders.
The Fujimura Family even has a dedicated secret room.
That tunnel in the backyard—whether Fujimura Xiuping dug it himself, or it was dug by his ancestors, or with the help of the Hiratsuka Family—it all has to be kept strictly secret.
How could they, on the very day of the Fate Carving Festival, when the house was empty and flooded with outside tourists, with eyes everywhere,
leave the key out on the living room table?
If I’m not mistaken, that key has been on you ever since the day of the disaster, hasn’t it?
Precisely because you escaped the village through the tunnel, you were covered in mud when you got out."
As if she didn’t sense the emotional turmoil in Ogashira Masashi, Wang Congshan said calmly, "If you let me speculate,
your mother, Fujimura Masumi, learned part of the truth about Fate Carving Village through some means.
Maybe it was from the tragedy that befell her younger brother and sister‑in‑law, that is, the Matsuga Family,
maybe from something your husband, Fujimura Xiuping, let slip.
One way or another, she learned the secret of the Fate Carving Festival.
As a wife and mother, she absolutely would not want her family to be in danger.
But the villagers of Fate Carving Village are born carrying a certain curse.
Just as you, after narrowly escaping as a survivor, still returned to the Yankoku Village Ruins,
and your own children will one day walk the same path.
The villagers of Fate Carving Village cannot freely flee from here, can they?
Since they cannot break away, they can only go on living here.
Every four years, two people are chosen and killed, and the ones chosen are highly likely to be members of the Hiratsuka Family and tourists from outside the village.
For the other villagers of Fate Carving Village, the probability of dying isn’t actually that high.
But who can say such things for certain?
Under that intense anxiety, Fujimura Masumi made a decision—that is... to have you two switch identities."
Wang Congshan tilted her head slightly and said calmly, "On the day of the Fate Carving Festival, all villagers, tourists, and Hiratsuka Family members wear Noh Masks.
If no one speaks, they can’t recognize one another.
As a precaution,
Fujimura Masumi used the key to open the tunnel and had you stay inside it—maybe she made you drink Guiquan Liquor or a sleeping pill, maybe she tricked you into taking the tunnel to leave the village.
In any case, she put you somewhere safe, then took Fujimura Ryosuke with her to attend the Fate Carving Festival.
What happened next is that so‑called ’truth’ we were told.
The Hiratsuka Family’s Hidden Eye appeared and chose Fujimura Masumi and Fujimura Ryosuke as the participants in the Destiny Rite.
Fujimura Masumi killed her own nephew, who was also her adopted son, Fujimura Ryosuke.
When she woke inside that metal coffin filled with Guiquan Water, what rose up in her heart was not only regret, but also relief—she had protected her biological son, which is you.
The feeling of relief outweighed the regret and resentment, and instead caused the entire Destiny Rite to collapse.
The requirements for the Seal of the Netherworld were not met, so the malice from the Gate of the Netherworld surged out and wiped out the entire Fate Carving Village,
leaving only you to wake up in the tunnel and follow it to escape the village."
"..."
Ogashira Masashi’s body trembled, his voice hoarse. "You... guessed wrong."
Wang Congshan’s brows knitted together,
but beside her, Li Ang let out a sigh and said, "Everything up to that point is correct, but you’ve overlooked a crucial issue."
"Oh?"
Hearing that, Wang Congshan froze for a moment. "What is it?"
"It’s not necessarily true that Fujimura Masumi had no feelings for Fujimura Ryosuke."
Li Ang said evenly, "The Hidden Eye’s criterion for choosing Destiny Rite participants is that there must be a powerful emotional bond between the two.
If Fujimura Masumi really hated or disliked Fujimura Ryosuke,
if she was truly willing to use her nephew Fujimura Ryosuke’s life to protect her own biological son,
then the Hidden Eye wouldn’t have chosen her in the first place.
But in reality, the Hidden Eye chose Fujimura Masumi and Fujimura Ryosuke, and even after the Destiny Rite began, that choice was never changed.
We already said back at the Hiratsuka estate,
the Hiratsuka Family aren’t idiots; there’s every chance they would remove the masks to confirm the participants’ identities before the Destiny Rite began.
And yet they still went ahead and conducted the ritual on the premise that it was Fujimura Masumi and Fujimura Ryosuke.
There are two possibilities.
One: Fujimura Masumi did indeed switch the identities of her two sons, but even she couldn’t tell them apart—or rather, she refused to distinguish which one was her biological son. So even if the Hiratsuka Family noticed, they still deemed the emotional bond sufficient and saw no need to cancel.
Two: the Hiratsuka Family discovered the identity swap, but the Destiny Rite was far too urgent, and they couldn’t locate Fujimura Yangyi in time, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and proceed, comforting themselves with the idea that Fujimura Masumi cherished Fujimura Ryosuke just as much."
Li Ang paused, swept a glance at the silent Ogashira Masashi, and said calmly, "The final outcome is obvious—Fate Carving Village was annihilated.
That proves something went wrong with the Destiny Rite.
And between these two possibilities,
the first is basically the same as your guess: Fujimura Masumi did not know the answer to the identity swap, and once her memories awakened, she recognized that the one she killed was Fujimura Ryosuke, so her relief outweighed her remorse.
The second possibility is that Fujimura Masumi did know the answer to the identity swap—which proves she truly did cherish Fujimura Ryosuke, only her love for him was not as strong as her love for her own flesh and blood."
Li Ang said coolly, "If it’s the second possibility, then combined with the fact that the Destiny Rite ultimately failed,
the answer becomes self‑evident.
Fujimura Masumi’s precaution did take effect—she knew she had successfully protected her biological son.
But at the same time, after the Destiny Rite concluded, a surge of intense hatred and fury overwhelmed all her other emotions.
That hatred was directed at Fate Carving Village, twisted and never meant to exist in this world; at the Hiratsuka Family, who had deceived others for generations; and even at her husband, Fujimura Xiuping, who, despite knowing the whole truth, still did nothing.
In the Guiquan Water she unleashed a powerful curse, calling up the malice of the Netherworld to surge forth.
Li Ang glanced at Ogashira Masashi and said, "And yet amidst the curse, she still kept that last shred of sanity, just as you said,
and even in that state of neither life nor death, she instinctively protected her family.
The Fujimura house became the safest island in the entire village.
Fujimura Ryosuke’s soul was able to remain safely inside the Fujimura home.
Fujimura Xiuping, though he lost his reason, could still remain safely by the Guiquan Well.
And you, even after wandering for years in this eerie liminal zone between the Netherworld and the Mortal Realm, are still able to retain your sanity.
All of this may well stem from the instincts of your mother, who was torn apart by contradictions."
