Mitsuko observes the man in the izakaya.
Not long after, the man looked pained and hurriedly left the izakaya.
Mitsuko followed the man the whole way.
The man, hunched over with an extremely ferocious expression, hurried home.
After the man walked to another street, he suddenly clutched his stomach in pain and collapsed to the ground, just like the man who had the same attack yesterday. He gushed blood until he died.
Soon the area was filled with people.
Among the crowd, Mitsuko spotted the beautiful woman from the izakaya.
The woman covered her mouth, her eyes showing a mixture of pity and guilt as she looked at the man lying on the ground.
After seeing the man dead, the beautiful woman quickly left the area.
Mitsuko sensed something was off about this woman, so he followed her.
The woman returned to the izakaya once again, acting as if nothing had happened, and continued to move among the group of men.
After questioning her, Mitsuko learned the woman's identity.
This beautiful woman is the owner of this izakaya (Japanese pub), named Yoshiko, and she is a well-known beauty in this small town.
Even people who aren't from this town will make a special trip here to catch a glimpse of its beauty.
Yoshiko seemed completely at ease, every smile and gesture captivating the hearts of the men in the izakaya, yet she knew exactly when to stop.
He looks like a shrewd and worldly person who is adept at handling situations.
The izakaya customers had begun to leave one after another, and Mitsuko also left the izakaya, observing the situation from a short distance away.
Several hours later, the izakaya finally closed.
There was a noise coming from the back door of the izakaya.
Mitsuko crept over quietly.
Yoshiko changed her clothes, covered her face with a headscarf, and cautiously looked around. Finding no one, she lowered her head and walked out.
Mitsuko kept her distance and followed Yoshiko.
Yoshiko walked on and left the town, arriving at a grove of trees on the edge of it.
We walked deeper into the woods for a long time until we came to a very secluded wooden cabin.
Mitsuko's hand had unconsciously rested on the hilt of her Nichirin Blade.
The demonic aura emanating from here was far stronger than that of the demon I had encountered in the village.
Yoshiko entered the wooden house.
Inside the wooden house, huge insect eggs were scattered all over the place.
Yoshiko held one of the insect eggs, which was almost the size of a person, and murmured lovingly, "Hideki, soon you will be resurrected, and soon you will be able to live with your mother again..."
"Your child cannot be brought back to life."
The sudden noise startled Yoshiko. She turned around and saw Mitsuko standing outside the cabin.
"You are... that kid from the izakaya?!"
Yoshiko noticed Mitsuko at the izakaya and assumed he was some man's son, so she didn't pay much attention to him at the time.
But unexpectedly, Mitsuko had followed her here.
Yoshiko warned sternly, "Get out of here right now! This is not a place for you!"
"The insect in this egg is not your child. The entire cabin is filled with the scent of demons, except for your human scent."
Upon hearing Mitsuko's words, Yoshiko suddenly flew into a rage, clutching the insect eggs and angrily retorting, "Impossible! It promised me that as long as I offered it a sacrifice, my child could be resurrected!"
Mitsuko untied the hemp cloth wrapped around the Nichirin Blade and drew it from its sheath, holding it in her hand.
"You've been deceived by a demon. Look carefully at what you're holding in your arms."
Mitsuko took a step forward, gripping his Nichirin Blade tightly with both hands, and charged towards Yoshiko.
Yoshiko closed her eyes in fright.
"Can you see it now? What's inside these insect eggs?"
Yoshiko nervously opened her eyes and found that the insect eggs she was holding had been cut in half by Mitsuko.
What appeared inside was not Yoshiko's child at all, but a giant slug corpse.
Yoshiko, terrified, backed away using both her hands and feet until she hit the wall.
Yoshiko looked terrified, muttering repeatedly, "Where's my Hideki? Where is my Hideki?"
Maternal love made Yoshiko forget her fear as she searched through the sticky mucus of the insect eggs.
Suddenly, Yoshiko trembled as if struck by lightning, and with trembling hands, she pulled a jade pendant from the slime.
Yoshiko stared wide-eyed, her eyes filled with disbelief.
This is the jade pendant his child is wearing.
"Impossible, this can't be..."
Yoshiko clutched the jade pendant to her chest and wept bitterly.
Mitsuko observed the wooden house. Although the demonic scent was strong, it was obvious that the demon was not here.
Mitsuko swung his sword and destroyed all the insect eggs inside the wooden house.
At this moment, Yoshiko also regained some of her composure.
Mitsuko asked, "How did you manage to transfer the insect eggs into a human body so quietly?"
Yoshiko didn't hide anything and told the truth: "I put the insect eggs in the drinks, and I chose to target those drinkers who weren't really interested in the drinks. They wouldn't notice anything unusual in the drinks."
"I see..."
Yoshiko is selective in choosing her targets, and the demonic scent on the insect eggs is negligible. It becomes even more difficult to detect when placed in spicy alcohol, which explains why Mitsuko couldn't find any clues in the izakaya.
Do you know where that demon is now?
Yoshiko's eyes were red, and she shook her head, choking back tears, saying, "I don't know where it is, but every time it appears, many insects crawl out of the ground and then form a human shape to convey a message to me. It calls itself the Ōku mushi."
Mitsuko suddenly understood, and his previous doubts were resolved.
After the insects finished eating the organs, they burrowed directly into the ground, which is why there was no odor left at the scene.
"What kind of insect eggs are in this wooden house?"
Yoshiko said sadly, "Every insect egg here is a relative that it promised to resurrect for us."
Mitsuko was shocked: "We? You mean, you're not the only one working for that demon?!"
Yoshiko nodded with difficulty: "That's right, there are 13 insect eggs here. That means that besides me, there are 12 other people working for it. These people have all lost loved ones and hope that it can resurrect their loved ones."
Mitsuko asked, "The people in town say that the six people who died this week, plus the one who died today, a total of seven people, all went to your izakaya. Since you killed those seven people, what about the others?"
"The others are scattered in other towns, doing things for it."
Mitsuko was utterly horrified.
According to Yoshiko, the thirteen people were distributed across thirteen towns. At Yoshiko's killing rate of seven people a week, wouldn't the thirteen people together kill more than ninety people a week?
Nearly a hundred people died in a week; this death toll is truly staggering.
The killing intent in Mitsuko's eyes gradually intensified.
Mitsuko sheathed his Nichirin Blade and said to Yoshiko, "Miss Yoshiko, the deceased is gone. Please accept our condolences. It's getting late. Please go back."
Mitsuko turned around, intending to head to the town immediately. There was still some time before dawn, and he needed to kill the demon as soon as possible.
After Mitsuko left.
Yoshiko stared blankly at the jade pendant in her hand, lost in thought: "Hideki is dead, and I've killed so many innocent people. I can never go back..."
When the demon's lies are exposed, Yoshiko is filled with despair and regrets the sins she has committed.
Yoshiko slammed the jade pendant in her hand to the ground, and it shattered instantly.
After picking up a shard, Yoshiko gazed at the moon in the sky, tears streaming down her face.
"Hideki, Mom has come to find you. No, Hideki, you must be going to heaven. Mom is too sinful; she should be going to hell. I'm so sorry, Hideki..."
The shards of jade grazed her neck, leaving a crimson stain on the ground.