Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 168 Waiting for the rabbit
Yukiko Oda took a few more steps forward and looked up at the boy's corpse.

The boy's neck was deformed by the steel cable, his face turned an unnatural bluish-purple, and his lips were slightly parted, as if he still had something to say.

His eyes were half-open, pupils dilated, yet strangely directed towards the Oda clan's direction.

Yukiko always knew that Yuko liked him.

She remembered the movie ticket stub of "Love Letter" that her daughter had hidden behind the photo frame, the whispered calls of the boy outside her window several times at night, and her repeated stern warnings.

"Study hard first, then you can all get into universities in big cities."

Now it has become empty talk that can never be fulfilled.

"There's no time for your condolences. We need to patrol to the next area immediately. The remains will be collected and handled by designated personnel, not by us." The captain's voice brought her back to reality.

Yukiko mechanically followed the group, forcing herself not to look up again. But Fukasaku Toshihiko's face lingered in her mind.

How heartbroken Yuko would be if she knew.

When she left, she locked all the doors and windows to make sure Yuko wouldn't come out. She also took the blue pills. Although the medication was slow to take effect and didn't last long, it could save Yuko's life.

It's okay... these balloons will all disappear in a few weeks...

Yukiko thought to herself.

This thought has become her only solace now.

At the street corner, the sound of high heels suddenly rang out.

The men on patrol turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed on a single point as if drawn by a magnet. Yukiko followed their gaze—

A woman wearing a black dress and carrying a bag is strolling past the street corner.

Her skin was as pale as a vampire's in a movie, and the beauty mark under her left eye was a striking red. When the sunlight shone on her, it seemed to coat her with a hazy halo.

"So beautiful," several young patrol members murmured unconsciously.

The woman seemed to notice the gaze and turned around with a sweet smile.

In that instant, Yukiko saw at least three patrol members' pupils dilate suddenly, and their breathing become rapid. One of them even took half a step forward, as if to catch up.

But the woman had already turned into the alley. She took out her phone and quickly dialed a number.

"We still haven't found the Shadowblade team's balloons." She put one hand on her hip and said with a flirtatious smile, "Those cowards are probably hiding in some remote area, trembling with fear."

On the other end of the phone came Yu Tianlun's calm warning: "Don't be too flashy. You're a fairly well-known cartoon character in the real world, too easily recognizable."

"What does it matter?" Tomie toyed with a strand of black hair. "Anyway, nobody in this instance knows me—"

"Tomie." Liu Yan's voice suddenly came, as cold as a viper's hiss. "I've already indulged you, prepared a dress and high heels for you, don't push your luck! Do I need to remind you of the consequences of disobeying in the past? You still have gray worms inside you, and with one more command, they can devour you!"

Tomie's smile froze. She subconsciously touched a bulge on her neck, where a Gu worm was reminding her to obey.

Meanwhile, Deathstroke was also by her side, always ready to bare his menacing fangs at her.

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed, then kicked a pebble hard after hanging up the phone, looking at Deathstroke. "Okay, you damn dog, I'll keep a low profile, alright?"

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the Yamamoto family home plummeted to freezing point.

"We have to get out!" Qin Mei's voice was firm and resolute. "The patrol team is going door-to-door checking and questioning people. If we stay here, we'll be discovered sooner or later! If a big commotion breaks out, we'll be in the open while the Nirvana team is in the shadows!"

Li Zhen, a professional reincarnator specializing in cursing, slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly: "Get out? And then be hanged in mid-air like Chen Yao?"

His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "At least this place is protected by my protective artifact!"

“Your broken copper coin can’t stop Jiang Jin’s bullet from piercing your balloon,” Hunter Sun Jing said coldly, his pistol already cocked. “I agree with the commander’s opinion.”

Zhu Youlin huddled in a corner and said, "Theoretically, if we can find the Nirvana team's balloon, we can strike first."

"Shut up, you bookworm!" Li Zhen roared. "You're just lucky. Your balloon will appear soon too!"

"So what if we kill those who have reached Nirvana now?" Sun Jing shook his head. "The Reincarnation System won't send us out because of this."

Qin Mei's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on the shrine maiden Shirakawa Rin, who remained silent throughout.

The petite girl was mechanically folding paper figures; as her pale fingers flew across the paper, three exquisite paper dolls had already taken shape.

"Bai Chuan," Qin Mei said, "Use your paper dolls to replace us and expose yourself to the balloons. Would you like to join us in the West Lake District?"

"I don't care." Shirakawa Rin seemed completely unconcerned. "Let's listen to you, Captain."

Sun Jing stood up, gun in hand, and said, "I'll go too."

Most of those who choose the hunter class are reincarnators with a strong sense of adventure, which is not surprising to Qin Mei at all.

Shirakawa Rin looked up at Qin Mei, then slowly nodded and placed the three paper figures flat on the ground.

"Your birth date and time," she said, taking out a vermilion pen. "Give me your details."

Every reincarnator will consult their birth date and time beforehand, as many professions require this information.

After learning Qin Mei and Sun Jing's birth dates, as Shirakawa Rin activated her priestess's skills, the paper doll gradually swelled and changed color, eventually becoming the size of a human.

"Alright. Li Zhen, Lin Ping, in that case, you two stay behind. The three of us will go out and scout ahead."

"Commander, are you really leaving like this?" Li Zhen wanted to object, but Sun Jing pressed the muzzle of his gun against his back.

"Obey orders." The hunter's voice was terrifyingly soft. "Otherwise, I'll take you down before your balloon does."

After the three pushed open the door, they first sent the paper figure flying out. Then, Qin Mei and the others followed, their eyes almost entirely fixed on the ground. The balloon was no longer visible; they wondered if the blue pill had taken effect.

"Thank goodness, the balloon didn't come out." Sun Jing, who had been protecting his neck with his hands the whole time and was wearing a silver thermal blanket, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That damned Yu Tianlun!" Sun Jing gritted his teeth. "I'll pop his balloon as soon as I see it!"

In Sun Jing's view, this plan must have been devised by Yu Tianlun, but as soon as they entered, Duan Pei and Chen Yao died.

One was a soul-stealer, and the other was a priest; their deaths dealt a significant blow to the morale of the team.

You know, I thought that working with Scarlet this time to deal with the Nirvana team of only four people would be a sure thing. Who could have imagined that such a big problem would arise!
Once outside, Qin Mei overheard people talking about how people were mysteriously disappearing everywhere. Some were trying to leave Black Crow Town via the national highway, only to find that the Self-Defense Forces had blocked all roads leading out of the town the previous night.

Given this, it would be highly suspicious if the remaining five members of their team chose to stay in a hotel at this point.

After walking for a while, Qin Mei arrived at the door of a house.

The house number reads "Oda Family House," and only two people live there: Oda Yukiko and Oda Yuko.

"They all seem to be mothers and daughters or sisters, making them easier to control." Qin Mei nodded and said, "Let's choose this one."

At this moment, Yuko was kneeling in the living room, her fingers unconsciously stroking the blue pill bottle.

Since taking the medication, the terrifying balloon seemed to have truly disappeared from her sight.

In fact, Yuko discovered that she seemed to be a little different.

She could see Junyan's balloon, but everyone else seemed to only be able to see their own.

Could it be that my hallucination symptoms are more severe?
Ding dong.

The doorbell startled her so much she almost jumped.

Is Mom back?

"coming!"

Yuko jogged to the entrance hall and suddenly felt something was wrong.

Mom always locks the door when she goes out! And she has the key with her!

She looked through the peephole—

Two strange women and a strange man were standing outside the door.

The long-haired woman at the front has extremely delicate features, to her right is a man dressed in leather clothes, and to her left is a petite girl who looks like a doll.

Yuko sensed something was wrong and quietly backed away, only to kick the umbrella stand by the door—

The long-haired woman outside the door—who was Qin Mei—suddenly spoke up: "We are from the town government, here to check the effects of the medicine."

Yuko's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"Why don't you come later? My mother isn't here right now."

"Please open the door, it will be over soon." "My mother locked the door from the inside, I can't open it."

Suddenly, she heard a soft "click"—the sound of the pistol's safety being released.

"I'll count to three," Sun Jing said coldly. "If you don't open the door, shoot the lock through. One."

Yuko's body trembled.

"two"

"three!"

The silenced pistol fired, breaking the door lock.

The door was pulled open, and Sun Jing immediately pressed the muzzle of his gun against Yuko's temple; the icy touch made her tremble all over.

"Child, don't be afraid, I won't kill you." Qin Mei smiled and stepped across the threshold. "Now, shall you show us around your home?"

Shirakawa Rin was the last to enter the house. The moment she closed the door behind her, three paper dolls slid out from her sleeves and quietly stood outside the door, perfectly replicating the three people's postures.

Yuko was forced back with a gun pointed at her, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the kitchen knife rack—where her mother's usual kitchen knife was located.

But Sun Jing seemed to read her mind, and pressed the gun heavily against her: "Don't do anything foolish, little sister."

"Please... my family doesn't have much money..."

Qin Mei shook her head and said, "We're not here to rob you."

When her mother returns, they can be kidnapped together. If patrol officers arrive, one of them can go out to deal with them.

Moreover, you can get two more silver thermal blankets and medicine bottles here.

Seeing Yuko's frightened expression, she comforted her, "We only need to stay here for special reasons, don't worry."

Yuko's age seemed to be about the same as her daughter Mingyan's, and judging from the house number outside, she also seemed to be from a single-parent family with only her mother by her side, which made Qin Mei feel a little empathy for her.

Given the choice, she hoped to avoid killing the child if possible.

Then, the group entered Yuko's room.

Qin Mei had already begun her own inspection. When she saw the movie poster for "Love Letter" on Yuko's wall, she suddenly chuckled, "Oh my, what a romantic little girl. I first saw this movie about twenty years ago..."

"Huh?" Yuko was stunned. "This movie premiered three years ago."

Qin Mei then remembered that the timeline of this horror instance was 1998.

Below the poster, a photo of Toshihiko Fukasaku and Yuko at the cultural festival was carefully pasted in a frame.

Qin Mei's fingers traced the edge of the photo frame, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, at the Black Crow Hotel.

Tomie called again.

"What? You've spotted the Shadow Blade team's balloons?" Yu Tianlun asked hurriedly, "Where?"

"I took a look, and it's a house called Yamamoto. There are two balloons floating above the house, just like in the photos you've seen. One is called Lin... Ping, and the other should be called Li Zhen."

"Only two? I didn't see Qin Mei, Chen Yao, Duan Pei, Bai Chuanlin, and Sun Jing?"

No. There were only the two of them.

"Get away from that house first, and don't do anything to the balloon for now," Yu Tianlun said. "What I want is to annihilate them in one fell swoop, not just kill a few small fry. If we act now, we might alert them. You find a toilet, create a clone to monitor that place, and then you and Deathstroke come back first."

The bag in Tomie's hand contained the clothes for her clone to wear.

By this time, she had heeded the warning and put on a hat to avoid being recognized.

Yu Tianlun put down his phone and said, "Let's not go out for now. Let's monitor the Shadow Blade team through Tomie. They seem to be in a house somewhere right now. Tomie's clones can share memories, which is very advantageous for us."

“It seems that the original work doesn’t have the setting of sharing memories,” Liu Yan said, “but that’s actually advantageous to us.”

Jiang Jin knew: "Hmm, if Qin Mei and the others come back, we'll kill everyone except Qin Mei?"

“Yes, keeping Qin Mei alive is more beneficial than harmful,” Yu Tianlun replied. “After all, the Crimson people will be coming in soon, so we'd better keep a hostage. We need to control her as soon as possible and seal all her professional skills with special anti-magic shackles. If we kill her, she might become completely demonized, which would be very disadvantageous for us.”

The medium profession is so troublesome; a dead medium is more terrifying than a living one. That's why Qin Mei was able to be parachuted into becoming the leader of Shadow Blade after joining the Bloodthirsty Team.

"But will threatening Scarlet really work?" Jiang Jin asked. "It's said that different divisions are also in competition with each other."

Yu Tianlun confidently said, "Zhou Chen attends Yinye High School and is in the same class as Qin Mei's daughter, Li Mingyan. According to the information I have, Zhou Chen is suspected of pursuing Qin Mei's daughter, but the latter does not like him."

"So he's a simp!" Jiang Jin realized. "Then in his eyes, Qin Mei isn't just a colleague in the Bloody Team, but also his future mother-in-law? He definitely won't let such an opportunity slip by!"

"Moreover, sparing Qin Mei's life will allow us to obtain the most crucial intelligence: why is Blood Lord hunting us down? Just because Jiang Jin killed Wu Qin, I don't think the reason is sufficient. We cannot wage a full-scale war against Bloodlust; we must find a way to make peace with the Bloodlust team."

The Bloodthirsty Team is far beyond what Nirvana can currently contend with. This battle is primarily about using war to achieve peace and secure terms for peace negotiations with Blood Lord. Peace is won through fighting, not by begging and groveling.

Jiang Jin said, "Let's wait and see! When the time comes, I'll make my move and wipe out the Shadow Blade team, except for Qin Mei!"

Five p.m.

it's getting dark.

The sound of a key being inserted into the lock made Yuko jerk up her head, but Sun Jing immediately pressed the gun barrel even tighter, his index finger silently touching the trigger.

Qin Mei made a shushing gesture and slowly moved to a blind spot next to the entrance. Bai Chuanlin remained silently standing by the window, the paper figure floating on her shoulder, ready to act at any moment.

The door opened.

As Yukiko's weary figure stepped into the entrance hall, Sun Jing's gun barrel was already pressed against her lower back.

"Don't move." The hunter's voice was as cold as a blade.

Yukiko froze on the spot. Her gaze went past Sun Jing's shoulder and landed on Yuko, who had a gun pointed at her temple—her daughter's face was deathly pale, and her lips were bitten until they bled.

"Yuko."

"Mom!" Yuko tried to rush over, but Sun Jing grabbed her hair, causing tears to well up instantly in her eyes from the pain.

Qin Mei stepped forward and said in the gentlest of voices, "Mrs. Oda, please don't be afraid. We just want to stay for a few days."

Yukiko's eyes changed. The hanged people she had seen on patrol, the balloons burst by crossbow bolts, the corpses that had melted into human skin—all the fear now transformed into the ferocity of a mother beast protecting her cubs.

She subtly surveyed the room: the man with the gun, the eerie girl by the window, and the kind-smiling woman before her.

"Release my daughter." Yukiko's voice was terrifyingly low. "Don't make things difficult for a child!"

Sun Jing poked Yuko's cheek with the barrel of his gun: "Madam, don't try to bargain with us. Don't you understand the situation?"

Yuko trembled violently. Yukiko could only stand still, not daring to move forward, after all, Sun Jing's gun was now pointed at her daughter's forehead.

"Don't worry, if you cooperate, I won't kill her." Qin Mei sat down on the sofa, her posture as elegant as if she were having afternoon tea. "We need food, hiding place, and... more information about the balloon."

Yukiko's fingernails dug into her palm.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth. "As long as you don't hurt my daughter, I'll do whatever you say."

"Okay, put these on first."

She took out two metal bracelets from her bosom, and tied one of them to Yuko's wrist first.

Yuko suddenly felt a chill running down her arm.

"There's a terrifying insect in here," Qin Mei explained gently. It was a Gu worm that the Blood Lord had extracted from Sima Jin's body. "If you call the police or say anything inappropriate..."

She took out a remote control, and Yuko immediately screamed – the bracelet suddenly turned transparent, revealing the Gu worm inside!

She could have used that on the elderly couple before, but at the time she felt it was too cruel to treat them like that. Now it seems that sometimes you have to be ruthless; a reincarnator can't have a saintly heart.

"Stop!" Yukiko rushed over and hugged her daughter. When she looked up, her eyes were bloodshot. "We'll cooperate."

Qin Mei nodded in satisfaction, put away the remote control, and said, "No matter how far away you are, I can press a button to make the bugs on the bracelet crawl out and end your lives instantly."

After putting the bracelet on Yukiko as well, Qin Mei signaled to Sun Jing to release the hostage.

"Alright, I hope we can have a pleasant conversation now, Lady Oda."

(End of this chapter)