Tokyo, the shady intelligence of private detectives

Chapter 163 Ancient Spirit Field of Shugendo

Masahiro Hanyu listened intently, but then there was silence. He wondered, "What happened to Naoko Yonemura?"

Officer Yamamoto shook his head. "It's still unclear. The person in charge of the wiretapping was hiding near that manor when they suddenly sensed someone approaching and searching, so they had to move away. Because they were too far away, they couldn't listen in anymore. That's the current situation; there's no progress."

Masahiro Hanyu frowned. "Could it be that Masaharu Shirakawa has noticed that Nako Yonemura has a listening device on her?"

Officer Yamamoto said, "Judging from the listening receiver, the listening device is still intact and not damaged. The locator is also moving, indicating that Naoko Yonemura is not imprisoned or unable to move. Since Shirakawa Manharu arranged for you to meet with Ms. Yonemura, you should be able to find out the truth then."

Satsuki Yui's expression was serious. "Although I don't know what happened to Yonemura Nako, I can tell from Shirakawa Manharu's questioning that Instructor Yonemura already knows my detective identity."

"What he wanted to discuss with me might threaten the Fusheng Association. Perhaps that's why they killed Lecturer Yonemura. But how did Lecturer Yonemura know my identity? This matter needs further investigation."

"Although this trip to the hot spring resort was somewhat dangerous, I obtained many clues. The pill I brought back can be used to study the ingredients of the Fusheng Society's aphrodisiac drugs. The 110 million yen transfer record will help in tracking the Fusheng Society's accounts."

Masahiro Hanyu didn't care about any of that; he was only interested in clues related to intelligence: male escorts, female hostesses, and the human-faced stone statue.

Female volunteer selection competition.

"Toyotomi Kazusuke is a woman. I think the investigation department should investigate this matter thoroughly. Why was she able to conceal her gender?"

"Miss Mio, if she asks you to complete the body sculpture, I think you should refuse her first and wait until you have found out more about her before meeting her, to avoid any danger, because this person is a ninja of the Mountain Dive Clan, and she is very skilled. It is not easy for one person to defeat her."

Satsuki Yui said softly, "Yamamoto-kun, you should also be careful. If she wants to make an appointment with you, you can contact the investigation department first."

Masahiro Hanyu nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Ms. Mio. I will be careful. Also, Natsumi Seto mentioned to me that a police officer has joined the Fusei Association. It seems like she revealed it unintentionally, but I also feel like she told me on purpose. I'm not sure of her purpose yet."

Officer Yamamoto said, "I am still nominally working at the Nishi-Arai Police Station, but very few people know that I have returned to the Investigation Division."

"The Fusheng Society secretly sent people into the Xinyi Detective Agency in the NS Building and photographed the commission agreement that we deliberately left behind. That's why Shirakawa Manchun concluded that I was the one who commissioned the detective agency to investigate the Fusheng Society, and he didn't know that the investigation department was involved."

"If a policeman joins the Fusheng Society, he certainly isn't the one who knows my secret."

"Whether Natsumi Seto's disclosure of this information was intentional or unintentional, the investigation department will take it very seriously. Please rest assured that your safety will not be endangered because of any internal matters within the Metropolitan Police Department."

Yui Satsuki said, "I suggest that the investigation department investigate Maki Shiramomo, Kazusuke Toyotomi, Manharu Shirakawa, and Natsuri Seto. In addition, we also need to investigate the situation of the Yama-no-Shu ninja organization."

Officer Yamamoto nodded in agreement, adding that he would inform Masahiro Hanyu as soon as he received any news from Naoko Yonemura.

Now that his identity as a detective has been exposed, Masahiro Hanyu no longer needs to pretend.

When there was nothing to discuss, he no longer went to the Showa Building, but instead spent all his time in the library, continuing to search for clues about the temples that Aburi had visited, with his focus on the Cliff Temple.

For three consecutive days, Masahiro Hanyu searched through all the records of temples and cliff temples, but still found no clues.

The National Diet Library was almost deathly quiet in the afternoon. He rested on the old wooden reading table, while the sycamore leaves outside the window rustled in the autumn wind.

There is still no news from Naoko Yonemura, and the investigation department has not responded to the investigations into Maki Shiramomo, Kazusuke Toyotomi, and others.

Masahiro Hanyu was feeling a bit irritable, and he was considering whether he needed to find a woman to relieve his frustration!

Hashimoto Reia's foot injury had long since healed. She called him several times to ask if he wanted to meet, the implication of which was quite clear.

Masahiro Hanyu's fingertips brushed over a yellowed illustrated guide to ancient temples in the Kanto region. The paper had a worn, aged feel, and the ink on the printed text had faded.

His gaze suddenly fell on a few words: Shugendo.

Shugendo is a unique Japanese mountain ascetic belief system. It is based on Japan's ancient mountain and nature worship and integrates Shintoism, Esoteric Buddhism, and Eastern Taoist thought to form a mysterious training system. The practitioners are called Yamabushi, which means people who live in seclusion in the deep mountains and practice asceticism.

Most of the places where mountain monks practiced asceticism were cliff temples in mountain caves. Their places of practice were called Shugendo Reishoku, rather than cliff temples.

When Yuzuru Masahiro thought of this, his eyes lit up, and he immediately began to search for records of sacred sites related to Shugendo.

When he turned to the sixth volume, the black-and-white old photos of real scenes on the last page of the illustrated guide suddenly caught his eye.

The photo is quite clear. The exposed mountain wall is concave inward, and the rocks at the cave entrance are scattered.

Inside the cave, on the right side of the low rocks, several half-broken, rocky calamus plants grew. Ripples spread slowly along the stone bank on the water's surface, and a thin stream of water flowed down from the crack in the rocks above and into a pond below.

The scene in this photo is exactly the same as the background image on the female volunteer badge.

Yuzuru Masahiro was overwhelmed with excitement. He had finally found it, and there was a very high chance that this was the place.

The caption below the image reads: "Okutama Saisan Cliff Temple, an ancient Shugendo (traditional Japanese religious site) in the Kanto region. It was first built during the Heian period, relying on a natural cliff cave, and is hidden deep in the mountains, little known to the public."

Turn the page, and you'll find a map showing the route to this ancient Shugendo sacred site.

After memorizing the route map, Masahiro Hanyu did not delay and immediately got up and left the library. He first called Abu Mizurei, and then took a taxi to Shugendo Koreijo, which was hidden deep in the mountains on the western outskirts of Tokyo.

The taxi left the bustling city center and traveled along winding mountain roads deep into the Okutama Mountains.

The forests in the deep mountains are sparse, with layers upon layers of fir trees blocking out the sun. The deeper you go, the fewer people there are. Eventually, there are no more travelers. The mountain road is rugged and steep, and taxis can no longer go any further.

Yuzuru Hanyu got out of the car and followed the route map up the mountain road. After walking for about an hour, the temple's walls appeared on the cliff ahead.

The book records that outside the ancient temple grounds of the cliff cave temple, there was a well-organized and elegant temple, which should be this place.

As Yuzuru approached the temple, he felt that the entire temple was unusually quiet. Ancient temples deep in the mountains are rarely visited. At this moment, as the sun was setting, there was no human voice to be heard, only the soft tinkling of the wind blowing through the eaves bells.

As Masahiro Hanyu ascended the steps to the temple, a figure slowly emerged from the corridor to greet him as he stepped through the temple gate.

This was an old monk, who looked to be over seventy years old. He was dressed in a clean, dark gray robe and had gentle features.

Yuzuru Masahiro looked behind the old monk and saw a stone statue with a human face!