"Of course, don't worry. Let's go now. You can tell me all about it on the way." Fang Zuo patted the JK girl's head gently. "What's your name?"
"Ha!" The girl sprang up energetically. "Ojisan, I'm Oda Yui."
Oda Yui seemed to trust Fang Zuo completely, grabbing his arm as she dashed outside.
A Lexus LS stood parked at the entrance. Oda Yui pulled Fang Zuo into the back seat. In the driver's seat sat a middle-aged chauffeur wearing a mask and uniform.
The car's interior was immaculately clean, without a single speck of disorder.
"You can speak now," Fang Zuo said, seated beside Oda Yui as he caught the faint milky scent drifting from her.
"Ha!" Oda Yui sat bolt upright, her posture rigid.
"No need for such formality. Just sit comfortably," Fang Zuo waved dismissively. "If you're calling me Ojisan, then treat me as an older brother."
"Ha!" Oda Yui nodded vigorously, flashing an awkward smile. But then her delicate face clouded with worry.
Her rapid chatter quickly brought Fang Zuo up to speed.
After Lady Shiraishi Nagi returned home, she'd suddenly experienced severe chest tightness. Strange sounds echoed in her ears, accompanied by terrifying hallucinations where bizarre images kept flashing before her eyes.
Unable to remain in her Shibuya villa, she'd fled to another property in Chiyoda. Yet the symptoms only intensified. Her sense of insecurity grew daily after these relentless events.
Her legs began moving as if possessed. The hallucinations grew increasingly severe.
At the last moment she could maintain control, she'd ordered Oda Yui to find Fang Zuo immediately.
Looks like Oda isn't finished with the dead just yet, Fang Zuo mused, stroking his chin. This tale grows more intriguing. His cultivation level, even though not fully restored, should have allowed him to perceive the escape of Oda's spirit. This little island nation indeed holds its share of peculiar mysteries.
"Yui-chan."
"Ha!" Oda Yui automatically straightened up, then giggled sheepishly. "Sorry!"
"What are your thoughts on your father?" Fang Zuo asked. "Apologies if I'm intrusive, but it's pertinent to the situation."
"Ojisan," Oda Yui shook her head. "I didn't know him well."
"Hm?" This surprised Fang Zuo, though recalling her immediate embrace of her mother in the basement provided some clarity.
"I grew up mostly with Grandpa in Kyoto. Father was rarely home. Even after I started girls' school, most of my interactions were with Mother." Her expression dimmed. "Father was constantly occupied with various matters. He rarely returned, even Mother saw him only a few times a year. They…" she flushed, speaking in barely a whisper, "They'd been separated for many years. Mother lived in Chiyoda, Father in Shibuya. According to Mother, they'd been living apart since I was born."
Fang Zuo rubbed his chin. Lady Shiraishi Nagi became a widow rather prematurely.
"Your grandmother?" Fang Zuo inquired curiously.
"She passed away very early. Grandpa lived alone in Kyoto."
"Any other family members?"
"No. Just Grandpa, Father, Mother, and me."
"The mighty Oda clan is reduced to just you few?"
Oda Yui nodded.
"And the Shiraishi family?" Fang Zuo pressed.
"Mother never had contact with her side." Confusion flickered in Oda Yui's eyes. "I asked once. She said… they're all gone."
"All gone?" Fang Zuo pondered this silently.
Chiyoda was less than ten kilometers from the Tokyo Tower.
The car soon pulled up outside a small villa. A grotesquely large stuffed doll sat by the entrance, flanked by two parking spaces.
The villa wasn't enormous, but in Tokyo's exorbitantly priced real estate market, especially Chiyoda where luxury apartments dominated, a standalone house was exceptionally rare – a clear testament to the Oda family's significant wealth.
Fang Zuo followed Oda Yui inside.
The courtyard was a compact L-shape, roughly ten square meters paved entirely with stone tiles. Tucked in a corner stood a meticulously trimmed pine tree. Scattered below it were smooth pebbles, upon which rested a small altar shrine housing a peculiar, four-armed deity holding various ritual objects, a necklace of skulls adorning its chest.
Fang Zuo's eyes narrowed. Fascinating. Japan, where most temples adhered to Pure Land Buddhism, typically enshrined Buddha statues, ancestral tablets, or sacred Shinto artifacts. Yet here sat an unknown deity he didn't recognize. The style didn't seem Western; it carried hints of Theravada Buddhism.
Oda, a man clutching a black Bible, worshipping a Theravada deity, yet summoning his own ancestor's spirit? This grows ever more interesting.
"Tadaima!" Oda Yui announced her arrival and reached for the door.
Suddenly, it swung open from within.
Shiraishi Nagi stood there, rigid as a statue. Clad in a black lace nightgown, her full, pale thighs exposed. Her movements were stiff, her eyes vacant and utterly lifeless.
"You're back," came a flat, emotionless voice.
"Okaasan! Are you alright?" Oda Yui rushed forward, only to be abruptly yanked back by Fang Zuo.
"Mr. Oda. So much hatred for your wife?" Fang Zuo chuckled.
Shiraishi Nagi's face contorted with inner struggle as it roared, "You again, Fujino! Who are you?!"
"Who I am is beyond your inquiry," Fang Zuo dismissed coolly. He pointed towards the idol in the shrine. "Can you contact it? If you can, tell it I seek a conversation. If not… you can return to the void permanently."
With an inhuman scream, the possessed figure scrambled back into the villa.
"Stay outside," Fang Zuo commanded Oda Yui before casually strolling in.
A katana whistled through the air.
Fang Zuo snapped his fingers.
Shiraishi Nagi froze mid-swing, the blade hovering.
"You… aren't from here…" The blank eyes flickered, blackness rapidly swallowing the white until they became dark, empty sockets. "What are you?"
"Hoh?" Fang Zuo arched an eyebrow in surprise, then shook his head. "No. You're not it. Just a sliver of consciousness it left within Oda's remnant spirit. A feeble wisp like this holds no useful information." He settled onto a sofa, chin resting thoughtfully on his hand. "Vanish."
Golden light erupted at his command, slamming into Shiraishi Nagi's body. A desperate wisp of black smoke surged out, lunging towards Oda Yui, who was peering fearfully from the doorway.
"Ojisan!" Oda Yui screamed.
"You won't even spare your own daughter?!" Fang Zuo's voice dripped ice. "Such specters forfeit the cycle of rebirth. Earthly Forge! By the sacred decree! Burn!"
He opened his mouth, swallowing the dark essence.
Mmm?
The power of this entity's consciousness far exceeded that of Oda, the so-called Sixth Demon King. This was profoundly different.
"Fujino-kun!" A voluptuous, trembling figure crashed into Fang Zuo's embrace, clutching him desperately. "I thought… I was going to die…"
The overwhelming softness pressed against his arm. Fang Zuo froze.
Shiraishi Nagi buried her face against his chest, trembling violently, small sobs escaping. "Hold me… please… I'm so scared…"
You asked for it. Fang Zuo wrapped his arms around her. Her voluptuous form, slick against the silk nightgown, felt like embracing impossibly soft cotton. Is there truly no bone beneath that flesh? A dangerous urge to crush her tightness surged within him.
A unique gem, indeed.
"Hold me tighter," Shiraishi Nagi breathed out a long sigh, the violent trembling subsiding.
"Ojisan…" Suddenly another pair of arms encircled his right bicep. Oda Yui pressed close, her face pale. "I'm scared too."
In an instant, Fang Zuo's senses were flooded – the intense, musky allure of an older woman mingling with the faint, comforting scent of milk. Women in this island nation are profoundly attracted to power, and certainly not shy about expressing it.
He briefly contemplated the Taoist art of manifesting multiple arms. Perhaps he should study it sometime.
Before he could savor the moment any longer…
Ring-ring. Ring-ring.
His phone buzzed insistently.
With considerable effort, he freed one arm to answer. The troublesome one again.
Sakura Kuri.
"Hey! Fujino! Where the hell are you?! Emergencies! Get back here NOW!" Sakura Kuri's voice crackled with urgent panic. "This is a direct order from your commanding officer!"