"Get to the point. If you don't tell me the truth, even if you pay, I can't fix this. We need complete honesty from both sides, or this will never be solved."
I spoke very seriously. Itakura still hesitated, clearly unwilling to talk.
But Itakura Masami gritted her teeth and said, "I understand. We will tell you everything."
"Masami…"
Itakura opened his mouth, then hung his head in defeat.
Masami took a small breath. "It's not that we didn't want to speak. But what happened before would badly hurt our minshuku business. We already paid a lot to calm the impact of that incident. Please forgive us, Lu Cheng-san."
I nodded in understanding. Anyone would worry about losing their main source of income, and I could see why they would hide it.
With a light sigh, Masami began to tell me about the strange things that had happened in their home.
The Itakura minshuku had been very popular before the strange occurrences began.
As a traditional Japanese-style house, the family had kept it as authentic as possible. They had even replaced many modern furnishings and bought many classic Showa-period wooden furniture from secondhand markets.
Because of this, their minshuku attracted not only foreign tourists but also many people from big cities, tired of high-rises, who wanted to experience old Japanese culture.
As the hostess, Masami handled not only the minshuku operations but also all the daily housework.
The weird incidents in the house, in fact, had not started recently.
Old wooden houses always had problems with insects, rats, and snakes.
These small creatures seemed weak, easy to step on. But if they lived inside the house for a long time without being dealt with, they would not only disgust people but also create serious safety risks. This was no exaggeration — old houses collapsing from being chewed through by pests were not uncommon.
The Itakuras had run the minshuku for years, and Masami had constantly struggled with these creatures.
Then one day, the careful Masami noticed something extremely odd…
All the insects, rats, and snakes that had been impossible to get rid of suddenly vanished completely, in a single day.
It was bizarre. Masami had no idea how it had happened.
But without the pests, the whole family was overjoyed.
After all, no pests meant better hygiene and safety — something they could even use to attract guests.
Unsurprisingly, after that, the minshuku's business kept improving. Travelers wanted not just comfort but also a clean, safe environment. The Japanese style was just a gimmick; cleanliness and safety were what truly appealed to people.
As business boomed and financial pressure eased, Itakura praised Masami nonstop. But only Masami knew that getting rid of the pests had not been her doing. It was too strange.
For a while, the Itakuras lived a busy but fulfilling life.
But fate seemed determined to test them. Stranger things began to happen.
At first, some guests would place their belongings carefully before sleeping, clearly remembering where they put them — only to wake up the next morning and find their things gone. They hadn't heard a single sound during the night.
This happened many times. But at first, the lost items were cheap little things. Since guests enjoyed staying at the minshuku, they didn't make a fuss.
The turning point came when a wealthy tourist stayed with them.
The guest was extremely pleased with the warm, homely service and even gave a generous tip. Masami was delighted and treated the guest with even more care.
But the next morning, Masami was confronted by the furious guest.
The guest said an expensive new Nikon camera had disappeared.
Masami was shocked. She clearly remembered the guest taking photos everywhere with it and knew how costly it was. Before, when tourists lost small items, they could just pay compensation. But this time, she could not afford it.
The guest was furious and refused to listen to any explanation. They even called the police.
But when the police arrived and searched the house thoroughly, they found no trace of the camera.
The guest was also surprised. They had suspected the Itakuras stole it, but the camera was nowhere inside the house, and no one had left, ruling out hiding it outside. The Itakuras paid some money as consolation, and the matter was dropped.
But one incident after another hit the minshuku hard.
Negative reviews appeared online one after another. The minshuku's reputation plummeted, and business suffered greatly.
Not long after that, one day, Itakura Maoto, who was still playful at the time, was playing inside a room when he noticed a hollow spot under the tatami mats. When he opened it, he found a hidden space filled with many things…
When Itakura and Masami rushed over, they were stunned to see all the lost items from the tourists — including the expensive Nikon camera.
It was extremely strange, as if some kind of thieving squirrel had been hiding everything it liked inside its nest.
But a squirrel was tiny. It might steal small things and hide them elsewhere. How could it steal items, lift the tatami, and hide them in that hollow space? Even if it could, small things were one thing — a camera was heavy. It was impossible for a squirrel.
The couple was troubled for a long time after discovering the secret hollow.
In the end, they decided keeping the items was wrong. Out of honesty, they forced themselves to return everything to their owners.
But some items belonged to foreign tourists, whom they could no longer contact. Those, they had to hand over to the police.
The tourists who received their lost items were happy but also extremely angry. They believed the Itakuras had stolen the things and returned them only out of guilt.
The family could not explain and had to endure the accusations.
But the nightmare did not end there. Even worse for the couple — after Maoto found the hollow space, Maoto himself began to act strangely. The kind of abnormality that broke the couple's hearts.
They had had him late in life, and he had always been lively and healthy. Raising a child at their age was hard, but they had enjoyed every moment.
From that day on, for no reason, Maoto grew quiet and withdrawn, always looking terrified. When asked what he was afraid of, he only stayed silent.
And it didn't stop there. Before long, the couple noticed Maoto had started… sleepwalking. Something he had never done before!
His sleepwalking began and only grew worse. They took him to many hospitals, but nothing helped.
After Maoto started sleepwalking and wandering at night, he scared many guests.
This sent the already struggling minshuku into an even steeper decline. The family's financial situation worsened by the day. Until recently, a tourist terrified in the middle of the night called the police, forcing the Itakuras to suspend operations — up until now…