I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Lu Ban countered with a question.

"...Who told you that?"

Cold sweat broke out on Hongye's forehead. She carefully chose her words and looked at the void beside Lu Ban. With the power of the priestess, she concentrated her mind and was able to see the illusory thing.

It was the silhouette of a person standing next to Lu Ban, seemingly uninterested in the presence of the shrine maiden, simply standing there.

"Air friends... in He Island, they are a kind of filth existing in ghost stories. They usually come from one of twins who died young, or the lingering obsession of a close friend after their death. Their very existence is a form of pollution!!!"

Hongye noticed that the silhouette next to Lu Ban suddenly changed.

It seemed to turn its head to look at the red leaves, and then it grinned.

The mouth split open from the shoulder, across the chest and abdomen, ending at the other shoulder.

It noticed the red leaves!

Chapter 105 Your Friend is Amazing

For a moment, Hongye felt a strange sense of being watched by a predator. She saw that the air creature with its chest open like a gluttonous maw seemed to have caught her scent and moved closer.

It wasn't moving on two feet, but rather like teleportation, arriving within arm's reach in the blink of an eye.

For a moment, the red leaves were unable to move.

All he could see was the gaping maw slowly approaching him.

Then, it extended its invisible tongue and licked the back of Hongye's hand.

The air friend immediately became excited, jumping left and right, and then licked the back of the red leaf's hand.

"..."

Hongye suddenly had a strange feeling. She raised her hand and touched the spot where her air friend's head was.

Because the air friend's form was very blurry, Hongye didn't know where his head was actually, and only hoped that it hadn't been inserted into anything strange.

Then, Hongye saw that the air friend obediently bent down and rubbed its head against her hand, just like... a dog?

"……sit down?"

Hongye couldn't help but recall what Lu Ban had said to her before.

The air friend immediately sat down obediently, its huge and ferocious mouth opening and closing as if sticking out its tongue.

"What are you doing?"

Lu Ban glanced at Hongye with a strange look.

"Your air friend... seems a little different from others."

The red leaves were somewhat disheveled.

Although she had not dealt with any cases related to "air friends," according to the description in the case file, such ghost stories would attach themselves to the host and then continuously drain the host's life force. Although they were initially invisible and silent, they would gradually affect the host's consciousness. Eventually, the host would fall into madness and be devoured by the air friend, which would then become a real, tangible filth and even replace the host.

But now?

What exactly is this dog-like air friend?

Moreover, Lu Ban couldn't see it yet, so it was probably an air friend in its early stages. But the oppressive feeling it exuded was even more terrifying than some powerful filth.

"Hmm? You can see him? So only the shrine maiden of the island has such power?"

Lu Ban immediately became curious.

"...Your air friend, hmm, that's impressive."

Hongye carefully considered her words, and upon hearing them, the air in front of her jumped up excitedly again.

"Right? He sometimes talks to me, and he can even give me first aid when I'm in danger. Speaking of which, if you could see him, what does he look like? I wonder if he was injured when he was exposed to that fog earlier?"

Lu Ban asked with concern.

"...He's fine."

Hongye thought this air friend could beat three of her; it was incredibly good.

"That's good. Hey, let's not talk about the air friend for now. Do you have any clues about that fog just now? Is it some kind of ghost story or something unclean?"

Lu Ban asked.

"It's like an uncertain fog, but I'm not sure."

With lingering fear, Hongye glanced back at the shrine atop the mountain.

Then she saw a person dressed as a shrine maiden standing on the roof of the shrine, seemingly looking in her direction.

Hongye blinked, and the person disappeared again.

Did you see that?

She asked a question.

"This person looks a lot like the one I saw on this road. Is she the Witch of Calamity?"

Lu Ban naturally saw the same thing.

"It shouldn't be... Utajima is relatively remote and far from the Kazushima Taisha Shrine. Candidates for the position of God's son like us usually don't serve here. Going back further, there was probably only one three or four hundred years ago."

Hongye pondered.

"Now we need to figure out a few things. First, all the priests and shrine attendants of the island shrine are dead. So who are the shrine attendants at Anshin-in now? Second, what exactly caused the deaths of these shrine maidens? If it was the Uncertain Mist, then where is the Uncertain Mist now? Finally, who is in charge of this island now?"

Lu Ban gave a brief summary and then took out the bottle that he had casually filled with mist earlier.

The bottle was empty; it looked like it was empty.

"This fog doesn't seem to be an unpredictable fog."

The system text did not appear in Lu Ban's field of vision, which meant that he had not obtained the [Sigh of the Uncertain Mist]. What was in the bottle in front of him was naturally not the Uncertain Mist.

He opened the bottle.

I waved my hand above the bottle, and the air that was summoned had no smell, no strange granular mist, and naturally did not cause a burning sensation in my respiratory tract and lungs.

"Can you identify it?"

Hongye looked slightly surprised.

"I can only distinguish the uncertain fog. I suspect that the fog is some kind of living thing, just in the form of fog."

Lu Ban said something simple.

In the silent place, the concept of "life" is greatly expanded; plants can grow wildly, and even mist can exist as a form of life.

"Anyway, let's go back first, and tomorrow we can visit the teahouse and the headquarters of the island magistrate?"

He thought about it and realized that when he encountered a problem, he should just find the person in charge.

Since, according to Hongye, there is already a big problem on this island, the island's law enforcement agency, which is supposed to maintain order, is either too stupid to notice or too corrupt to have become homogenized. In any case, we have to visit it.

Hongye nodded, and the two began their descent down the mountain.

They didn't encounter any trouble on the way down the mountain. Perhaps what happened earlier was just a warning to Lu Ban and Hongye not to meddle in other people's business.

The festival had ended, and surprisingly, the streets were spotless, without a trace of their former bustling state. Lu Ban bent down and touched the ground.

"The dust is gray, as if no one has walked on it."

He stood up and realized that several hours had passed since he and Hongye went up and down the mountain, even though it only felt like thirty minutes.

Anxinyuan was guarded by island officials. From a distance, Lu Ban could see two men holding weapons standing at the gate.

only……

"!"

Hongye's eyes widened slightly. She and Lu Ban exchanged a glance, confirming that what they saw was real.

She turned her gaze to the island magistrate.

The two "people" were no longer human-shaped, but monsters made of countless piles of flesh and blood stitched together. Even their clothes were fake fur. Lu Ban could see a bloodshot eye looking at him from among the flesh and blood.

Lu Ban found it hard not to meet those eyes.

Is there something on me?

The monster asked curiously, and even its voice was not human language, but some kind of troubling muttering.

More importantly, it seems unaware that it is a monster.

Just like how humans who have been transformed into monsters still retain human cognition, live like humans, and form human society with other monsters.

For a moment, Lu Ban was somewhat dazed.

Because he had thought of a problem.

If even the monsters themselves don't know they are monsters, how can Lu Ban and Hong Ye be sure that they haven't mutated and are still the original humans?

With these questions in mind, Lu Ban returned to the courtyard where he lived with Tachibana Masamune, Ginpei, and others.

He saw that Ginpei and Tachibana Masamune were sitting at the table, drinking and chatting happily.

"I never expected that Young Master Lu Ban would be so charming, able to successfully invite Miss Hongye."

Yinping at least looked like a human being, which reassured Lu Ban somewhat.

However, when he walked directly in front of Yinping, he saw that Yinping's chest was festering, and in the deep wound that exposed the bone, flesh was writhing and giving birth to new life.

What are you doing?

Lu Ban sat down opposite Yin Ping.

"We're playing a game."

Beside him, Tachibana Masamune, who had also become half-monsterized, spoke.

"It's called 'Hyakunin Isshu' (One Hundred Poets)".

Chapter 106 Ghost Stories Game

"【Hyakunin Isshu】? What kind of game is that?"

Lu Ban glanced at Tachibana Masamune.