Chapter 30: A Gentleman's Word is His Bond
Half an hour later.
"Excuse me for the intrusion."
Yotsuya Miko stepped cautiously into the living room, her face showing a hint of reserve.
Seeing her like this, Yoru shrugged and smiled nonchalantly.
"Who are you greeting? I'm the only one in my household registry."
"Eh? Yoru-kun, could it be that you are..."
"Stop."
Without needing to hear Miko finish, Yoru knew exactly what word she was about to say.
"Anyway, make yourself at home."
"Okay."
That's right, this was Yoru's home.
Due to the sudden downpour, both of them were completely soaked after leaving the unfinished building.
Yoru's place was very close, less than a kilometer away, so he brought Miko back first. It was also a good opportunity to discuss and analyze the intelligence gathered after the battle in the unfinished building.
"Is this... Yoru-kun's home?"
Miko looked around at the furnishings in the living room, a hint of surprise in her eyes. She thought to herself:
Her surprise wasn't because there was anything abnormal here.
Quite the opposite.
As "Yoru's" home, wasn't this two-story house a bit too... ordinary?
The living room was cleaned impeccably. Although there wasn't much furniture, everything was arranged very neatly, not looking messy at all.
The entryway was spotless, with a wind chime hanging there.
This overly tidy and orderly house made Miko feel it was completely contradictory to the often "crazy" impression Yoru gave.
In her imagination, his home?
It should probably have black curtains, a black sofa—basically everything black.
There should also be a secret room with ancient seals pasted on the door, emitting an ominous and eerie aura.
It seemed she had overthought things.
Miko tidied her long hair and looked down to see her school uniform completely soaked.
Even to the point where... it was a bit see-through.
"Go take a shower."
Yoru took a set of clothes from the adjacent room and placed them on the table.
"After you shower, take off your clothes to dry them. Wear mine for now."
"Okay."
Miko looked like a drowned chicken; she indeed needed a shower. She couldn't very well walk around the room in these soaked clothes.
She picked up the clothes from the table and was about to head toward the bathroom when she suddenly stopped. She looked at Yoru, who was sitting there, with a hint of wariness.
"You... won't peek, right?"
"Hey, look at what you're saying. I am a gentleman (Junzi)."
Seeing Yoru looking righteous, before Miko could sigh in relief, she heard him change his tune immediately.
"A gentleman's word is his bond (cannot be chased even by four horses). If I say I'll peek, then I will definitely peek. You can rest assured."
"You..."
Miko gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Then I won't wash."
"Oh my, threatening me? Wash if you want, don't if you don't. It's just..."
Yoru's gaze lingered on Miko for a moment before he waved his hand casually.
"Anyway, with the way you look right now, it doesn't make much difference, does it?"
Hearing this, Miko's pretty face instantly flushed red.
The quality of Sobu High's uniforms was just that good.
After getting wet, even the color of her underwear underneath could be vaguely seen.
Not to mention, she was wearing a skirt.
"You win."
Miko gritted out a sentence and walked resolutely into the bathroom.
She took off her wet clothes, placed them on the sink, walked over, and turned on the showerhead.
The perfectly warm water poured over her body. After being scared out of her wits by evil spirits, experiencing a high-altitude bungee jump without a rope, and finally ending up as a drowned rat in the rainstorm, Miko finally felt a bit of comfort.
"Phew..."
Miko let out a long sigh of relief. Much of the chill in her body was dispelled.
"What exactly... happened today?"
She recalled the events in the unfinished building, her eyes filled with deep worry.
Every single evil spirit that appeared in that building was a powerful existence capable of dominating a territory if placed outside.
Plus, there was that python-like monster with the vertical eye.
Was all of this the influence brought by the "Door"?
Miko turned off the shower, picked up her phone from the sink, and searched online using the street name of the unfinished building and the keyword "construction team casualties."
The first news article that popped up shocked her so much she covered her mouth.
"This is!?"
[Major Accident at Construction Site: Death Toll Reaches 285, 37 Currently Being Rescued in Hospital.]
The date of this news was exactly half a month ago, corresponding to what Yoru said about accidents occurring frequently at the site.
Below it, there was a detailed introduction.
The cause of the incident was that several construction workers, for unknown reasons—as if suffering from sudden mental illness—deliberately destroyed the scaffolding.
At the same time, the excavator operator also lost his sanity.
Even though the photos were pixelated, Miko could tell the scene was a bloody mess.
"These guys..."
Looking at the horrific photos of the scene and the interviews with the families of the dead and injured, Miko gritted her teeth, clenching both hands into fists.
Yoru had written in his notebook that evil spirits influenced by a "Door" could influence, or even directly control, the actions of possessed people to a certain extent.
One or two people might just be a coincidence.
But seven or eight construction workers losing their minds simultaneously and doing things that defied common sense?
It was obvious that evil spirits were behind it.
Miko finally understood why hundreds of such powerful evil spirits were entrenched in that unfinished building.
Through the influence of evil spirits, they caused a large number of human deaths in the nearby area.
Then, through the evil spirits formed from the wrongful deaths of humans, they enhanced their influence over the surroundings.
A ghost domain was formed just like that.
Could it be that the "Door" was an existence with the ability to think and possessed independent intelligence?
Miko shook her head, putting aside the thoughts in her mind for now, and reached for the shampoo bottle on the shelf.
But when she wanted to apply the shampoo to her hair, her hand froze in mid-air.
Washing my hair...
Means I have to close my eyes.
Miko knew in her heart that Yoru was sitting right outside in the living room, and there was a high probability that no evil spirits would appear in this house.
But knowing was one thing; fear was another.
Miko hesitated for a long time. Finally, suppressing her shyness, she spoke up.
"Um... Yoru-kun?"
Unexpectedly, Yoru's response came immediately from outside the door.
"I'm here. What's up?"