Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 372 Administrator Ebisu
Night had completely enveloped the Beizuka First Apartment, and the view outside the window was deathly still.

Inside the room, Jiang Jin had posted the "Residential Rules" on the wall.

“We must take the initiative.” Jiang Jin broke the silence, his fingertip pointing to the rules. “Passively waiting for the rules to take effect, or praying that they won’t be triggered, is tantamount to sitting and waiting for death. We need information, more information about this apartment, about the source of the curse. We can’t rely on the original movie.”

Reiko looked at him and asked, "Where do you want to start?"

“Administrator, Ebisu,” Jiang Jin held up two fingers. “There are two reasons.”

"First, he's the apartment manager, and theoretically the person who knows the building best. Based on the current information, after the Izumo family obtained their 'relocation eligibility,' he'll be the one living there the longest. He definitely knows more than those 'neighbors.'"

“Second,” Jiang Jin’s voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling edge, “Ebisu was an old Japanese devil, and an old Japanese devil who had blood on the Chinese battlefield.”

Reiko paused slightly: "How can you be so sure? In the movie, there are indeed his former subordinates coming to claim his life, and the ghosts of those soldiers are indeed wearing Showa-era military uniforms... but they could also be Japanese soldiers who died in the Pacific War, right?"

"No, it was definitely the invading Japanese army." Jiang Jin's tone was resolute. "In the movie, the ghostly soldiers who came to him wore uniforms with stand-up collars, conspicuous red collar tabs, and peaked caps. Those were the Showa 5th type uniforms used by the Japanese army from 1930 to 1938. The Japanese soldiers who committed countless crimes during the September 18 Incident, the July 7 Incident, and even... the Nanjing Massacre, wore this very uniform! After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the main force of the Japanese army switched to the Type 98 or Type 3 uniforms with turn-down collars and no red collar tabs to adapt to the tropical climate. The details in the movie accurately point to Ebisu as a Japanese invader who entered the Chinese battlefield!"

He looked at Lingzi with a sharp gaze: "This old Japanese devil, whose hands may be stained with the blood of Chinese people, deserves to die. If we have to have someone 'verify' the rules, he is a 'suitable' choice."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Lingzi understood the cold-blooded meaning behind it... In the "Midnight Bell" instance, Jiang Jin also showed the cursed videotape to the elderly Japanese soldier.

To Jiang Jin's surprise, Reiko, being Japanese, showed no displeasure or attempt to defend herself after hearing his analysis and decision. Instead, she nodded slightly, her eyes filled with a deep sorrow and unmistakable condemnation: "I understand. That period of history is an unforgivable crime committed by Japan, and no Japanese person with a conscience would defend it. Whether he participated voluntarily or under duress, as long as he was involved and his hands are stained with the blood of innocent people, he should be put on trial."

Her attitude stirred something within Jiang Jin. He had always heard that NHK had left-wing tendencies, and now it seemed that the rumors were indeed true.

Jiang Jin stood up and said, "Okay! Let's not delay, let's go find him now. Remember, we're going to confront him as ordinary residents who 'noticed something amiss in the apartment and are seeking an explanation,' and see how much he can reveal."

After a brief preparation, Jiang Jin carefully put away the rulebook and then opened the door to room 304.

The administrator's office was on the first floor. They went down the stairs, with Deathly Tolls leading the way on guard.

A faint light shone through the crack in the door of the Ebisu family's house on the first floor.

Jiang Jin took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

After a while, footsteps were heard inside, and the door was opened a crack.

When Ebisu's wrinkled face appeared behind the door, he didn't show any surprise when he saw them.

"Mr. Asakawa, Mrs. Asakawa? What's the matter so late?" His voice was still hoarse.

“Mr. Ebisu, excuse me.” Jiang Jin’s face showed just the right amount of anxiety and unease. “We…we would like to talk to you about the apartment. There are some…some situations that are making us very uneasy.”

He deliberately acted as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Ebisu stared at them with his cloudy eyes for a few seconds, as if weighing something, before finally stepping aside to let them in: "Come in."

The air in the room was thick with the smell of medicine and the unpleasant odor typical of an elderly person's dwelling. From the bedroom, faint, labored breathing could be heard. Jiang Jin recalled that in the movie, Ebisu did indeed have a bedridden wife named Shizu.

"I'm sorry, the place is small." Ebisu invited them to sit on the tatami mats, while he went to make tea.

Jiang Jin didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point. He lowered his voice and said seriously, "Mr. Ebisu, after we moved in, we felt that this apartment... was very strange. Combined with the 'rules of conduct' you gave us... it doesn't seem like normal residential regulations at all! Is this apartment... haunted? Or perhaps, cursed?"

He stared intently into Ebisu's eyes.

Upon hearing this, the old man's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. He lowered his head, avoiding Jiang Jin's gaze, and remained silent for a moment before asking in a dry voice, "Was it...the Izumo family who told you something?" "Who told us isn't important," Reiko interjected, her voice gentle yet undeniably firm, reflecting the professionalism of a journalist. "Mr. Ebisu, we are already residents here and have the right to know what kind of place we live in. Every rule is strange, and we don't want to break anything unknowingly and then...get a 'the apartment complex is not responsible' clause."

She emphasized the last eight words.

Ebisu let out a long sigh, a sigh filled with weariness and a resigned despair.

“Since you’ve asked…” He looked up, staring blankly at a stain on the wall, “the curse on this apartment building… has lasted for thirty years.”

"Thirty years?" Jiang Jin frowned. "What is the source? Who was the original owner of the house? Why is there such a curse?"

Ebisu shook his head, his face showing genuine confusion and bewilderment: "I don't know. Nobody knows. The landlord never shows up, only sends rent bills regularly and... that set of rules that must be followed. All we know is that the rules must be followed, and those who break them... are cursed and killed. Without exception. This is a... ghost apartment!"

Jiang Jin leaned forward slightly, staring intently at Ebisu, and said, "Mr. Ebisu, are you saying that ghosts and spirits really exist? How is that possible? You're so old, you must have experienced World War II, right? If ghosts really existed, didn't you see them when you were on the battlefield when you were young?"

Sure enough, Ebisu's body trembled violently, his face instantly lost all color, and his eyes were filled with terror, as if something extremely horrible had choked him.

Jiang Jin pressed on, "Back then on the battlefield... you must have seen blood and killed 'enemies,' right? If there were ghosts, wouldn't you have encountered them? Wouldn't they come looking for you?"

These words struck at the deepest fears and the corners of Ebisu's heart that he least wanted to face.

"No! That's not it!" Ebisu suddenly raised his head, his face contorted with panic and an eagerness to defend himself. He lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing his wife on the sickbed, or as if afraid of being heard by some unseen force.

"How...how did you know?" Old man Ebisu's face was grim. "Yes, I...I was...a second lieutenant in the 106th Division of the Japanese Army...but I was only 24 years old then, just a fisherman from Miyazaki Prefecture, a reserve soldier who was conscripted..."

Jiang Jin didn't expect this old Japanese devil to spill the beans like beans from a bamboo tube. But recalling it, the apartment residents in the original movie did indeed start to have mental breakdowns and go crazy one by one.

His words were somewhat incoherent with excitement and fear: "Our squad only had twelve men, and we were sent...sent to the mountains around De'an in Jiangxi Province, China, to cover the flank of the division..."

He emphasized it urgently, as if this could wash away something: "I...I'm a coward, I don't like fighting at all! I don't understand or agree with any 'Bushido'! I only joined the army because...because everyone else went, and if I didn't go, the villagers would look down on me and laugh at me for being a coward!"

He pointed to himself, and then, as if, to his nonexistent comrades: "Our squad was full of pitiful people! Most were conscripted reservists, small merchants from Osaka, and poor miners from Hokkaido... None of us wanted to fight! We were victims of war too! But... but I abandoned them... He... they won't let me go..."

Ebisu's voice was choked with sobs as he tried to build a fragile psychological defense by using the words "forced," "cowardly," and "fellow victim" to separate himself from the identity of the aggressor and seek a pitiful understanding and forgiveness.

However, upon hearing the words "106th Division" and "De'an, Jiangxi Province," Jiang Jin's eyes instantly turned icy cold.

As someone familiar with that period of history, he knew perfectly well the crimes this division had committed on the Chinese battlefield, especially during the Battle of Wuhan.

No matter how Ebisu tried to justify his personal cowardice, from the moment he stepped onto Chinese soil as a second lieutenant commander in his Showa military uniform, he was no longer an innocent "victim"!
Looking at the old man trembling with fear of his past and the curse before him, Jiang Jin felt no pity, only a more resolute and chilling killing intent. This attempt to use "weakness" to cover up historical guilt was, in his eyes, even more shameful. He felt no remorse whatsoever for using him to test the rules of this instance.

But just then...

“A victim?” Reiko’s expression turned extremely angry. “How could you say such a thing!”

Looking at Lingzi in front of him, Jiang Jin immediately gave her a wink, indicating that there was no need to ask any more questions.

Jiang Jin stood up, looking down at the old man huddled in the chair. His tone returned to its usual calmness, yet carried an undeniable air of authority: "Thank you for telling us this, Mr. Ebisu. We will 'carefully' abide by the rules."

After saying that, he gestured to Lingzi, and the two of them left without lingering.

The corridor was still dimly lit, but Jiang Jin's eyes... were surprisingly bright.

(End of this chapter)