CHAPTER 598: THE FORGOTTEN NEMESIS

Liu Xing sighed and said to Zhang Jingxu and others, "You’ve all heard what OkoHayato just said, so shall we just run away and go play in China for 10-15 days? We can come back after the dust settles from the Fukushima nuclear power plant radiation leak."

After all, there’s no time limit for this module’s main quest, so even if we go to China and play for a year or two, it won’t be a problem. Who knows, maybe the Deep Diving Society’s branch at Tokyo Comprehensive University will be completely wiped out by the Freemasons or the Thousand Face during this time?

Of course, the possibility of this happening is there, but the probability is not too high, because this main quest has been assigned to our group by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, so logically only we can resolve the issue with the Deep Diving Society’s branch at Tokyo Comprehensive University.

"Forget it, I think we can’t buy plane or ship tickets to leave the Island Nation right now. There are too many people with the same idea as Ryuusei, and the US troops stationed here don’t have enough transport capacity to take everyone back to the US mainland. They’ll probably negotiate the permanent withdrawal of troops from the Island Nation in exchange for the nation’s support. So we can’t expect to leave the Island Nation in a day. Besides, we’ve already prepared for radiation protection, and radiation isn’t as terrible as you imagine. Just like those two nuclear bombs back then, aside from the devastation at the explosion sites, the surrounding areas affected by radiation fallout didn’t have large-scale radiation aftereffects."

Zhang Jingxu nodded and said, "Ling Ishikawa is right. Nuclear radiation is terrifying, but as long as we don’t get too close to the radiation source and take proper precautions, the impact on the human body is very small, especially the radiation fallout. As long as we don’t directly contact large amounts of it, we shouldn’t be affected by radiation. So we just need to stay home and rest these days."

Before Zhang Jingxu could finish, his phone suddenly rang. He frowned, took out his phone and said, "This is the ringtone I set specifically for Hashi Motojun, to ensure I can answer his call promptly. So it’s likely that Hashi Motojun and his group have already met with the Soul-Eater Demon."

Zhang Jingxu answered the call and put it on speaker. Hashi Motojun’s voice came through, "Mr. Zhang Jingxu, it’s Hashi Motojun. We’ve made an appointment with the Soul-Eater Demon, and we’ll go to that house tonight to hold a party to celebrate its safe release. Do you have anything else to arrange?"

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Everything has been arranged, so you can proceed with the original plan. And now you can legitimately close the doors and windows of the room, since the Fukushima nuclear power plant has become an ignited powder keg that could have a radiation leak at any time. As for us, we’ll wait as your neighbors across the street, and if anything unexpected happens, we’ll come to help immediately."

"That’s great, with your help, we feel more at ease. But I have one more question for you, Mr. Zhang Jingxu. I mentioned a friend named Roshomon earlier, who wants to meet me this afternoon. I’m not very familiar with him, so what do you think? Should I meet him? What if he’s not a good person?"

Zhang Jingxu understood Hashi Motojun’s concern. Roshomon could be a Yin Yang Master from a prestigious family, but he could also be a member of a secret cult, which is common in the Cthulhu mythos world that Island Nation Cthulhu RPG modules like to incorporate.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Jingxu said, "Okay, send me the location of your meeting with Roshomon. Set up a one-touch call on your phone. If you feel something is off during the meeting, just call me directly, and I’ll come up with an excuse to intervene and help you out."

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Zhang Jingxu. By the way, what do you think about the murder case that happened at the Old Teaching Building a few days ago? The school and the police have sealed off the information, but I feel the killer might be a mythical creature, not the same as the Soul-Eater Demon that’s still in Tokyo Comprehensive University, right?"

Zhang Jingxu chuckled and said seriously, "Don’t worry about that. The killer in that murder case is indeed a mythical creature, but it’s an old acquaintance of yours - the one you brought to Tokyo, Thousand Face."

"Thousand Face?! The one in the big suitcase?!" Hashi Motojun exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Jingxu explained, "That’s right. Thousand Face is the real culprit behind the murder case at the Old Teaching Building. The victims were all from a certain secret cult, and Thousand Face killed them out of personal grudges. So you don’t need to worry about Thousand Face coming after you, as it’s now being targeted by many forces and probably won’t dare to show up carelessly."

"I see, thank you for the advice, Mr. Zhang Jingxu. I’ll go prepare for this afternoon and evening’s events. We’ll talk again later."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jingxu sighed and said, "It seems we have to resolve Hashi Motojun’s issue before we can start our vacation. I hope the Fukushima nuclear power plant really won’t have a radiation leak before today, or else we’ll have to race against the radiation fallout."

Liu Xing shrugged and said with a smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, OkoHayato’s words should prove to be prophetic, as he got the official information firsthand. But anyway, Zhang Jingxu, do you need us to go with you this afternoon?"

Zhang Jingxu shook his head and said, "No need, I’ll go by myself this afternoon. I’m just helping Hashi Motojun out. And Roshomon may not necessarily be from a secret cult, he could be from a prominent Yin Yang Master family, as many famous Yin Yang Master families have members working in the Onmyouryou. They interact with various prominent families, so these Yin Yang Master families have also become influential. This time, Roshomon is probably trying to recruit Hashi Motojun, so there shouldn’t be any issues this afternoon. It’s better if fewer people go."

Liu Xing and the others nodded. Roshomon was likely trying to recruit Hashi Motojun and the others, as the "Public-Military Conflict" was about to begin, and the Island Nation players would be involved for various reasons, including newcomers like Hashi Motojun.

However, this could be problematic, as the Yin Yang Master families in the Island Nation were mostly part of the Public Faction, while Liu Xing’s group had already decided to join the Warrior Faction. If the "Public-Military Conflict" started, they would become enemies with Hashi Motojun’s group.

This was a bit awkward. Although in Liu Xing’s eyes, Hashi Motojun’s group was not yet a match for them, as Liu Xing could easily have Rundell take care of them. But before that, Liu Xing’s group had planned to take Hashi Motojun’s group as their subordinates, as they saw potential in them. Now, the situation on the Island Nation had suddenly changed, and Hashi Motojun’s group had quickly become their opponents.

This was a bit frustrating. But at least, Liu Xing could console himself that they could still swindle a Soul-Eater Demon crystal from Hashi Motojun’s group before that.

After lunch, Zhang Jingxu went to the meeting place where Hashi Motojun and Roshomon had agreed to meet, while Liu Xing and the others continued to rest at home.

Around 5 PM, Liu Xing noticed a significant change in the Believer interface of his character card - he had gained quite a few fanatical believers. It seemed that HonekawaSuneo’s propaganda work was going well.

At this time, Zhang Jingxu also returned.

"I was right, Roshomon is indeed from a Yin Yang Master family, and he’s trying to take Hashi Motojun as his disciple. Apparently, Roshomon, whose real name is Kamo Nobunaga, made a bet with another Yin Yang Master friend to each take a non-Yin Yang Master adult as a disciple, and the loser would have to teach their family’s most powerful Onmyodo to the other. So Roshomon wants to recruit Hashi Motojun, as Hashi Motojun’s foundation in the knowledge is quite good," Zhang Jingxu explained with a smile.

Ling Ishikawa nodded and asked curiously, "Didn’t I remember that Hashi Motojun also comes from a Yin Yang Master family? Did he not tell Roshomon the truth?"

Zhang Jingxu shrugged and said, "Although Hashi Motojun’s family can be considered a Yin Yang Master family, they have fallen on hard times, so Hashi Motojun is essentially a commoner now. That’s why Roshomon can take him as a disciple."

Zhang Wenbing said with some surprise, "Kamo Nobunaga? So Roshomon is from the Kamo family? It seems Hashi Motojun has found a good teacher, and the other Yin Yang Master Roshomon is betting against is likely a descendant of Abe no Seimei."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and quickly checked Watanabe Ryuusei’s memories, finding that this Kamo Nobunaga was indeed from a prominent family.

In the Island Nation, when people mentioned Yin Yang Masters, most would think of Abe no Seimei, as he was the iconic Yin Yang Master figure. Abe no Seimei’s teacher, Kamo Tadayuki, was once more renowned than Abe no Seimei himself and had more comprehensive abilities. However, due to later literary works focusing on Abe no Seimei as the protagonist, his fame eventually surpassed his teacher’s.

The top Yin Yang Master families in the Island Nation now were the Abe and Kamo families.

As for why Watanabe Ryuusei knew these details, it was because Ryuusei’s father had been captured by members of the Kamo family, so Ryuusei had investigated the Kamo family before Liu Xing took over his body.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing couldn’t help but stroke his chin. It seemed the Kamo family was also his enemy, even though he had forgotten about it.

"Alright, is everyone ready? Let’s go prepare to deal with the Soul-Eater Demon. Hashi Motojun and the others will bring the Soul-Eater Demon to the rental house around 5:30 PM, and they’ll start their operation around 6 PM. To be on the safe side, let’s go wait across the street from the rental house now," Zhang Jingxu said, checking his phone.

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