Free Web NovelChapter 1065: Chapter 64: Ko-men
"It could also be that the melody hummed by the human voice is not continuous and requires some sort of instrument."
Li Ang thought for a moment, took out Ogashira Tetsuya’s harmonica from his pocket, blew into it, and started playing the melody.
As before, once he started playing the melody, the brewery workers who had partly become half-leech turned their heads to look.
This time, Li Ang played without interruption, repeating the melody over and over from the beginning once he finished.
All the brewery workers, including the half-leech children, followed the melody, gathered around the large wooden barrels, picked up wooden sticks, and began stirring inside the barrels filled with pitch-black mold.
A few minutes later, the brewery workers, as if having completed a massive project, put down their wooden sticks, and Li Ang also stopped playing the harmonica.
"Glug glug."
One of the half-leech brewery workers made a murky murmur,
Li Ang couldn’t understand what the other party was saying, so he nodded calmly, with an expression that said, "I think the leech is right."
After letting out a series of gurgles, the brewery worker raised his green, translucent arm and plunged it into his own chest, green liquid splattering everywhere.
My goodness.
Even Li Ang was startled by the sudden change. What was wrong with this guy? Was he going to dig out his heart to show appreciation just because he played music well?
Thankfully, the worry didn’t last long,
because what the brewery worker pulled out from his chest was not a heart, but two bottles covered in green mucus, which he handed to Li Ang.
Once Li Ang accepted them, all the half-leech workers in the dilapidated room let out a "pop" sound, as if their bodies had been drained of bones and muscles, collapsing on the spot into pools of green slime.
Leaving only Li Ang and Wang Congshan standing there with bottles of alcohol.
Wang Congshan looked bewildered, "...What just happened?"
"...Probably like the human head lanterns in the courtyard, they’ve fulfilled their unfinished wishes and ascended spiritually."
Li Ang explained: "Just now, I noticed that the brewing room was fully equipped and all the workers were busy.
Only around these several wooden barrels was there no one working—these barrels should be used for making sake using live yeast.
Sake in the Japan Islands can be divided into ’fast brewed yeast’ and ’live yeast’ based on the brewing process.
The former is a product of modern food technology, using artificially cultivated lactobacillus to make the yeast starter,
while the latter involves placing yeast koji, steamed rice, and water into large barrels and using the natural lactobacillus in the air to stir and ferment.
In contrast, the live yeast brewing process is notably more time-consuming and labor-intensive,
and in the most traditional live yeast making process, there’s an additional step known as ’yamaoroshi,’ which involves manually grinding the steamed rice and yeast koji for several hours."
Li Ang continued: "Because the yamaoroshi process is quite arduous, the brewery workers would sing the so-called ’live yeast grinding song’ to motivate each other, as everyone worked together to grind the yeast.
Well... the ghosts in the brewing room were probably stuck just at the live yeast grinding step when they died,
singing the live yeast grinding song might have resolved their unfinished business.
Though this is just my guess,
perhaps they thought I looked handsome and gave me the last two bottles of sake themselves."
"I believe it."
Wang Congshan exhaled deeply, waving a hand to disperse some of the unpleasant smell in the air.
"We’ve got the sake, let’s head back and report."
Li Ang strode out of the brewing room; he knew a bit about sake brewing in the Japan Islands, partly because when he used to work as a home tutor, some parents, grateful for the significant improvement in their children’s grades (especially the big leaps in final high school and college entrance exam scores), insisted on giving him gifts during holidays or after exams.
Tea leaves, shopping cards, mooncakes, belts, watches, figurines, and even alcoholic gifts (regardless of whether minors can drink or not).
Li Ang was rather professional; he’d reluctantly accept cheaper gifts, but after checking the price of more expensive ones, he’d refuse them, to avoid unnecessary obligations.
After wiping off the remaining green mucous from the surface of the two bottles given by the brewery workers, one can see crystal-clear sake inside the bottles, and upon sniffing the wooden cork, the aroma of sake is distinctly evident.
They retraced their steps back to the courtyard,
Li Ang, being cautious, instructed Wang Congshan to wait outside the Rope Corridor with one bottle while he approached with the other.
The large face on the Knotting Room door smelled the sake and opened its eyes, a rare emotion flashing in its murky eyes, as it muttered, "Sake...sake..."
Li Ang uncorked the bottle, aimed the bottle’s mouth at the large mouth of the face,
the latter greedily gulped down the sake until the bottle was empty, then let out a long, satisfied sigh, and turned to ashes.
"Turns out it was just a drunkard." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Li Ang shook his head speechlessly and gestured for Wang Congshan to come over as the two of them stepped into the Knotting Room, finding a large pair of scissors quietly lying on the table.
Red twine was coiled around the handle of the scissors.
This should be the special scissors mentioned in their mission target,
Li Ang stepped forward, and as his hand touched the scissors’ handle, his vision suddenly blurred, and a flurry of images flashed before him, pulling his consciousness into an illusion.
The scene of the illusion was in the garden of the Hiratsuka residence, likely at dusk.
Compared to reality, the garden of the Hiratsuka residence in the illusion was more glorious and brightly lit.
Li Ang’s perspective was of lying on the ground,
As the view tilted and raised, he realized that his perspective seemed to be that of the scissors.
A woman wearing a Noh mask and dressed in a kimono picked up the scissors from the ground, her throat continuously letting out a murky whimper, as if caught in some sort of madness.
The Noh mask on her face belonged to the [Ko-omote], representing a young and beautiful woman.
Beside the woman was the Guiquan Well, freewebnoveℓ.com
A circle of shadows surrounded her,
These people were dressed in kimonos, wearing Noh masks, and remained silent,
all of them hoisting a hemp rope formed in a circle, encircling the woman and the well, as if waiting for something.
As the evening twilight was covered by clouds, the woman wearing the Noh mask slowly raised the scissors in her hand.
The view turned, and only then did Li Ang see another child also wearing a Noh mask, lying unconscious before the woman.
Swing!
The scissors stabbed down,
The illusion abruptly ended,
Li Ang’s feet wavered slightly as he steadied his form with Wang Congshan’s support, taking a deep breath, and realized that not even half a second had passed in reality.
Wang Congshan only saw Li Ang sway violently as he touched the scissors, immediately expressing concern: "What happened?"
"..."
Li Ang did not answer but retrieved the two Noh masks he had found in the Fujimura Family’s secret room from his backpack.
No mistake, such intricate carving techniques...
The woman in the illusion was wearing the same Noh masks as those from the Fujimura Family, and she was very likely the missing Fujimura Masumi.
