Horror/Fear Anime: Starting with a Tomie Hairstyle.

The two arrived at the lobby, which was usually empty, but now a man and a woman with panicked expressions were nervously looking around.

Upon seeing the man who had led the group, one of them immediately questioned, "Kawabe, there's something wrong with your crematorium here. Her body isn't burning properly. How do you explain that?"

Kyuichi Che pulled Kayako back, who was still trying to walk forward, and Kayako obediently stopped.

He must have wanted to comfort her.

No need for words anymore; his taking her hand was the best comfort, better than a thousand words.

No matter how sweet Kayako felt inside, Kyuji Che lowered his voice and reminded her, "Kayako, don't go near that man and woman, something's not right with them."

"Mmm." Che's voice was so pleasant; his breath almost touched her face...

Kayako's mind felt as if it were being stirred by an invisible hand, turning into a pot of mush.

Jiuzhiche stopped because he received a notification.

[Gained 1% initial spirituality, current template progress: 76.31%]

This indicates that the man is already considered an oddity.

The ominous aura emanating from that woman had faded considerably.

Jiu Zhiche observed that, despite the sweltering summer heat, the man was still wearing long sleeves and a jacket. He was clearly very excited, with every muscle in his body moving, yet his left hand remained relatively still, appearing somewhat stiff.

Faintly, Jiu Zhiche smelled a foul odor, seemingly coming from a man.

Over there, Kawabe was still talking to the man, "It's still not working? That shouldn't be the case. I've almost turned the temperature up to the highest. What did my aunt say? Where is she?"

Before the words were even finished, a middle-aged woman approached, her face also showing a hint of panic. "Xiao Li, that woman's body, is it still..."

The woman glanced at Jiuzhi Che and Kayako without leaving a trace, not finishing her sentence, clearly having some reservations.

Jiuzhiche vaguely guessed what was going on; it seemed that the crematorium had taken on some shady business.

Kawabe, Riki, Kawabe Riki? Isn't this the child from "The Flesh-Colored Monster" who was skinned by his own mother? He's grown up here now.

Then his aunt is Machida Maya.

Kawabe Riki frowned, then said to Kujiro Tetsuya, "Guests, we have urgent matters to attend to at the crematorium and are unable to entertain you at the moment."

They've given you the boot.

Jiu Zhiche: "It's okay, you go ahead with your work. We're quite curious about the crematorium, we'll just take a look around on our own."

Before Kawabe Riki could say anything more, strange sounds such as "Ah-gu-gu," "Oo-ya," and "Hoo-hoo" came from the inner room.

The expressions of the group changed. Kawabe Riki, disregarding Kyuichi and the others, hurriedly rushed into the inner room.

"Brother, what should we do? I...I'm too scared to go in." The woman beside the man sighed sadly, her fear and guilt intertwined, and she burst into tears.

"Xiao Xiang, pull yourself together. I refuse to believe that fire can't break a stone." The man gritted his teeth, ignored the woman's attempts to stop him, and followed her inside.

After a moment of confusion, Kayako regained her senses and wondered, "Why hasn't Che left yet?"

Jiu Zhiche, who had been observing from the sidelines, had a slight glint in his eyes.

He saw it!

Kyuichi Che: "Kayako, wait for me, I'm going to earn some extra money."

"?" Kayako didn't quite understand, but when she saw Kyuichi Che walk up to the woman and talk to her, her heart clenched tightly.

Could it be... that Che has taken a liking to this woman?

Kayako could barely breathe. Images flashed through her mind: the grand wedding hall where Jiuzhiche and the woman were getting married; Jiuzhiche holding the child and smiling tenderly at the woman; their loving fight on the sheets; the woman slapping her face while laughing and saying, "You loser..."

Without realizing it, her five fingers clenched into a fist, her nails dug into her flesh, and streaks of blood oozed out.

A faint white phantom appeared beside her.

The light bulb in the lobby flickered abruptly...

Chapter 25: Spinosaurus Spikes on a Corpse?

"Sigh~~~"

Jiuzhiche felt a chill run down his spine, and goosebumps appeared on his skin. He turned around and looked.

Kayako stood there stiffly, like a statue, with her head down and her hair hanging down in front of her. If she weren't wearing white clothes, she would look exactly like Kayako from Ju-on!

"Kayako, come here."

Kayako suddenly looked up, and Jiuzhiche, seeing her like this, pulled her over directly.

If we let her overthink things, who knows what might happen?

"Miss, something strange has happened to your brother, hasn't it?" To make sure Kayako could hear what they were talking about, Kyuji Che got straight to the point.

The woman lifted her tear-streaked face and shook her head vigorously: "No! Nothing happened!"

Jiuzhi Che nodded: "I understand your thoughts, but I'm only after money and I'm not interested in your affairs. Your brother has health problems and I'm afraid he won't last much longer."

The woman was wary: "Who are you? I don't know you."

She wiped away her tears and prepared to go inside to find her brother.

This handsome guy looked like a charlatan, and she didn't want to pay him any more attention.

Jiuzhiche was not discouraged. The main reason he took the initiative to make contact this time was that there were so many strange creatures that he could not keep hiding. He needed to learn to take the initiative, broaden his horizons, and accumulate experience in order to become stronger faster.

Crematorium.

Yoshikawa Kaori turned around to look, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the couple leave through the gate.

When they arrived at the crematorium, both Yoshikawa Takeshi and Kawabe Riki looked unwell.

A blackened corpse lay on the incinerator's pusher, the air above it seemingly distorted slightly—an illusion created by the intense heat.

The corpse's surface and mouth were covered with columnar growths of stone, densely distributed all over its body. The stones were connected to each other, interlocking and forming a whole, like the layers of long, upright thorns on a spiny dragon, but the area was larger, the thorns were denser, and the tips of the thorns were flat and not sharp.

At first glance, no, no matter how you look at it, it was beyond the realm of humanity; it was a monster covered in stone thorns.

Everyone present fell silent.

They tried to burn it three times, but all attempts failed, and the corpse even made sounds, which is really hard to explain scientifically.

"She is cursed."

A sound drew everyone's attention.

At the entrance, the figures of a man and a woman came into everyone's view.

Yoshikawa Kaori's expression changed: "You didn't leave!"

"If we don't pretend to leave, how can we see the truth?" Jiu Zhiche walked closer and looked at the corpse a few more times, a strange light flashing in his eyes, but this scene was completely invisible to others.

Just now, in order to see the injured man's condition clearly, Jiu Zhiche kept increasing the activation progress of the Demon Eye in small increments until it reached 10%, and only then did he see the life flames swirling around the man!

Extremely faint, the kind that's about to go out!

[Current remaining allocatable spirituality: 7.85%]

["Magic Eye" activation progress 10%]

Since I'll need to use my spirituality sooner or later anyway, I won't feel bad about spending all the money. I'll be the one who benefits. The power of the magic eye is undeniable; it allows me to see many wondrous things.

Yoshikawa was furious, but beneath his anger lay a guilty conscience he tried to hide. "How dare you barge in like this? Get out!"

Jiuzhiche turned to look at him: "I originally wanted to save your life, but you couldn't seize the opportunity. Now I wouldn't even bother saving you if you were offered money."

Kayako, standing next to him, also raised her head slightly and glared at Yoshikawa. This man's attitude was too rude. He was just looking at the corpse, but why did he act like his parents had been murdered?

Yoshikawa suddenly felt a chilling wind blow across the back of his neck. He froze, then cried out in despair, "Xiaomei, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you! Why? Why are you clinging to me like this!"

Jiuzhi Che already roughly knew which story this was. Yoshikawa took his younger sister Yoshikawa Kaori to Tombstone Town to visit his sister's friend Koizumi. On the way, they had an accident and hit and killed a girl. Later, they learned that the girl was Koizumi's younger sister, Xiaomei.

Although Yoshikawa felt guilty, he was even more afraid of being convicted of murder, so he hid Xiaomei's body in the trunk of his car. This action pushed him into another abyss.

There is a tradition in Tombstone Town that a person cannot be moved from the place where they die. The body must remain in place until a tombstone is erected, and the deceased will then be able to become a Buddha.

And Xiao Mei's current corpse is the consequence of not being able to become a Buddha.

While moving Xiaomei's body, Yoshikawa accidentally cut his hand on a stone spike caused by the mutated corpse. At first, he didn't pay attention to it, but after throwing the body into the ancient well of the abandoned shrine, he saw a soaring resentment twist into Xiaomei's appearance and rush towards him...

Later, Yoshikawa fled home as if his life depended on it. The wound on his hand wouldn't heal no matter what he did. Slowly, it became infected, and then he died.

His body also began to grow stone spikes, a gruesome sight, and he would never become a Buddha.

The meaning of attaining Buddhahood here is that after death, a person's soul is liberated and can go to the Pure Land or the next life.

"Brother!" Yoshikawa Kaori was also devastated, hugging Yoshikawa Tsuyoshi, and had no mind to chase after Kyushi Che anymore.

Jiuzhi Che would not sympathize with murderers. Although Yoshikawa Tsuyoshi did not throw the body into the well, he planned to burn the body to cover up the crime and escape his responsibility!

[Gained 3% initial spirituality, current template progress: 79.31%]

Xiao Mei's body provided new initial spiritual energy, and this trip to the crematorium earned nearly 10% of that initial spiritual energy.

Jiuzhi Che was fairly satisfied. Even if he didn't get Yoshikawa Tsuyoshi's money, it didn't matter. Someone like him, who had no attitude and no sense of responsibility, would be a blessing to society if he died.

"Kayako, let's go."

With his curiosity and spirituality satisfied, Jiu Zhiche had no reason to stay.

Kawabe Riki took a step forward, his eyes serious: "I hope you won't reveal the situation here to anyone."

If word gets out that the crematorium is cremating bodies for people who have difficulty urinating, it will cause him a lot of trouble.

Whatever business you do is none of my business.

"Ouch!!! It hurts!!!"

Yoshikawa let out a piercing scream, frantically waving his hands as if trying to shoo something away, "Don't come any closer!!! No!!!"

Looking over, Jiu Zhiche saw that a phantom ghost had formed on Xiao Mei's corpse, and the ghost's appearance was exactly like the corpse's!

The arm covered in stone thorns grew longer and began to pry at Yoshikawa Takeshi's left hand.

"what."

Kayako suddenly let out a small cry.

"what happened?"

"N-nothing, it's just that the temperature here seems to have dropped."