An infinite journey starting from paradise

He pushed open the door, but the students had not arrived yet and only Takagi Hiroko was in the room.

"Teacher Lin? What are you doing here?" Gao Chengkuo asked in confusion.

"I'm here to talk to a few students about what's going on. Um...why is Mr. Takashiro here? I remember the art department's instructor wasn't Director Saeki?"

"Mr. Saeki seemed to have something urgent to do, so he asked me to take charge of the class."

"That's it."

As the two exchanged greetings, students from the Art Department also entered the room one after another.

"Mr. Lin?"

Hayashi Naoto turned around and found that it was Tokisaka Yukari, and beside her were Kuchiki Fuyuko and Mizuhara Toruko.

"Oh, hello. So you're all members of the art club."

"Well, Mr. Lin came here to..."

"Find a few people." Lin Shangren smiled. "Imari Kurumi, Amezuki Jun, and Ito Mika are also from the art club, right? I have something I want to confirm with them."

Just at this moment, Imari Kurumi walked in.

"Looking for... me? Ah, it's the teacher from back then!"

She obviously recognized Lin Shangren.

"Hello, Imari-san, I'd like to discuss something with you," Lin Shangren said gently. "Could I spare a moment of your time?"

"Um...Teacher...what do you want to ask?"

Imari Kurumi looked a little nervous. That was understandable. Having been under the heavy-handed control of school rules for so long, and then having been caught that afternoon by the same teacher engaging in a private gathering forbidden by school rules, she, as a good student, was bound to be nervous.

"Nothing. Just what you and the other girls were discussing this afternoon. Can you tell me about the Black Egg and its effects on the brain? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg itself? And what about the Black Egg? And what about the Black Egg?

After hearing this, Imari Walnut breathed a sigh of relief, and she said frankly: "I really hope you can come to me and help me! I hope you can come to me and help me! I hope you can come to me and help me! "

"friend?"

"Well, her name is Imazu Haruka, and she's my classmate. She and Nishizono Yui were carrying a black egg. I was curious about what it was, and then she told me the legend of the black egg," Imari Kurumi explained. "She said that only by joining a certain... sect can you obtain the black egg."

"Leaving the religion? What is that?"

"I don't know. I asked her at the time, but Xiaoyao refused to tell me. Speaking of which, Xiaoyao hasn't been to school for a long time..."

"Is that so?" Lin Shangren rubbed his neck. "Jin Yiyao and Xiyuan Wei, these two students are missing. Could it be that this so-called exile is also a kind of exile? Is it possible that the exile is also a kind of exile? Is it possible that the exile is a kind of exile? Is it possible that the exile is a kind of exile? Is it possible that the exile is a kind of exile? Is it possible that the exile is a kind of exile! "

"teacher…?"

"Nothing. Thank you, Imari-san."

Lin Shangren "produced" a candy from his palm and gave it to Imari Walnut.

"ah…?"

Imari Kurumi took the candy from Hayashi Naoto in a daze, and then heard Hayashi Naoto continue to ask, "Imari, do you know Koizumi Hotaru? Is she also close to Imazumi Haruka?"

"Um...yeah. They do seem to be together often. And...I've even seen them with girls from other schools. Um..." Imari Kurumi clutched her wrist tightly.

"Girls from other schools..."

"Teacher, has something happened to Xiaoyao and the others?" Imari asked worriedly.

"I hope not..." Lin Shangren muttered softly.

"What did you say…?"

"Nothing, just continue with your club activities. I won't bother you."

With that, Lin Shangren left the art room.

The author says:

Author's words: Just one chapter today...ah...so annoying...I'm going to beat up this crappy company with one punch.

Chapter 76: The third generation of survivors makes their grand appearance

After leaving the art room, Lin Shangren went to the judo club.

He originally wanted to learn about the deceased Koizumi Hotaru's daily life from the students of the Kendo Club, and at the same time, inquire about the "leaving the religion" and "leaving the religion" and the related information of the deceased Koizumi Hotaru. He also wanted to learn about the "leaving the religion" and the related information of the deceased Koizumi Hotaru.

"So, what about the two of them? Who of you is closer to them?" Lin Shangren asked.

"teacher."

A girl with short hair raised her hand. She asked, "Did something happen to Awei and the others? They haven't been to school for a long time."

"They've disappeared. I'm sort of a consultant to the police. I'm here to gather information to investigate what happened to them. Classmate, are you familiar with them? Could you tell me about them?"

As he spoke, Lin Shangren looked at the character panel of the short-haired girl.

【Name: Ayumu Sato】

[Race: Human female]

[Identity: Student of Yingyu Girls' College]

【Status: Worried】

[Note: A beautiful girl who looks like a tomboy but has an extremely delicate mind.]

"A tomboy? She does look quite like a tomboy."

Lin Shangren looked at the girl before him: short hair, flat chest, handsome features, androgynous. Although she looked gentle, her eyes still had a sharpness that other female students did not have.

"Okay. Wei and I are very good friends," Sato Ayumu said. "She's a very cheerful girl with an approachable personality, which makes her very likable. That's why she has a lot of friends."

"Then, did anything noteworthy happen to her before she disappeared?" Lin Shangren asked.

Satobu lowered her head and tried to recall. She said, "Looking back now, at the beginning of the year, Awei seemed a bit listless."

"You don't look very energetic? Did something happen?"

Sato Ayumu replied, "I don't know. When Awei and I are together, she rarely mentions unhappy things. When I asked her, she just smiled and said it was okay. When the semester started, she didn't come to school. I secretly went to her house to look for her, but... her house looked very dilapidated, as if no one had lived there for a long time."

"Going to her house secretly?" Lin Shangren was a little confused. "From what you said, it seems that you rarely go to her house. Aren't you two very good friends?"

"Ah this... uh... um..." Ayumu Sato suddenly became hesitant.

"Because of the school rules," the Kendo Club instructor said. "The school rules state that even at home, students are not allowed to go out without a guardian."

She then said to Satobu, "Don't worry, Teacher Lin won't punish you for violating the school rules. You should have received the questionnaire about revising the school rules this morning, right? It was Teacher Lin who initiated the revision of the school rules."

"Is that so?" Zuo Dongbu said with some surprise.

Lin Shangren nodded: "So feel free to speak."

"Okay then," Satobu continued, "Just like the teacher said, it's because of the school rules. And my parents are very strict, so I can only sneak out when my parents are not around.

After sneaking out, we'd naturally go somewhere fun like Ginza or Ueno's shopping streets. We definitely wouldn't go to each other's houses, after all, that would be like walking into a trap.

I found the address of Awei's home in her student handbook. That was my first time visiting her home.

"Her house looks very shabby?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Hmm... the lock on the door is covered with cobwebs. It looks like no one has lived here in a long time. But, I saw Wei two days ago. I don't know what happened... Maybe something happened at her house..."

"No one lives there?"

Hayashi Naoto recalled the information in the student file provided by Saeki Tokio, which said that Nishizono Yui came from a single-parent family and had been living alone since her mother passed away last summer.

So, Lin Shangren asked, "The student file says she's been living alone since her mother passed away. Could it be that she moved out of her original residence to live with some relatives and didn't change the address in her student handbook?"

"Awei's mother passed away?!"

Upon hearing the news, Zuo Dongbu was very surprised.

Lin Shangren was a little confused. He asked, "Aren't you good friends? Didn't she tell you about this?"

Satobu shook his head: "No...Awei...seldom tells me sad things. I have the impression that she is always cheerful..."

"Ah this..."

Lin Shangren asked again: "What religious beliefs does Xiyuan Wei have? Does she always carry a black egg with her? Has she ever told you about leaving her religion or changing her mind?"

"Religious beliefs? Hmm... Ah Wei should be quite a devout Christian, right? She often shares books with me about religious stories. I don't know what she means by religion, but I do know that she is a very religious person ...

"Is that so..." Lin Shangren rubbed his neck and asked the others, "Have you heard of it?"

One student said, "Um... I heard from sophomore Imari that the first time I saw her was a very important time for me to learn English!"

The other students looked confused, as if they had never heard of these words before.

"It seems that we can't get any more information. Should we go to the missing student's home?" Lin Shangren pondered.

"Teacher, Awei would never do something like disappearing. Could she be in some trouble?"

Sato Ayumu always kept a calm tone, but Lin Shangren could feel that there was some uncontrollable emotion hidden in her heart.

In order not to cause panic among the students, Hayashi Naoto did not intend to tell them about Koizumi Hotaru's death or his various speculations. So he did not answer Satou Ayumu's question, but continued to ask: "Do you know anything about Imazu Haruka?"

"I'm not very familiar with Ima, but when she noticed that Awei didn't come to school on the first day of school, she seemed very worried..." said Ayumu Sato.

"Oh, I know." Another female student raised her hand. "Xiaoyao is very familiar with second-year student Imari Kurumi. Although she is very kind, she is a little mysterious. She is very interested in tarot cards, divination, magic and other things.

Before she disappeared, I heard her mention that she was investigating something... military magic."

"Huh...? Military? Magic?" Lin Shangren asked in confusion, "How are these two things related?"

The female student continued, "I heard her say something about how Germany sent some kind of gun to Japan during the war. She hoped to use some kind of magic to turn the tide of the war. It sounded like something from a fantasy novel, so I didn't really listen...

"Teacher, she's so obsessed with supernatural things, could she have been deceived by some evil cult and that's why she disappeared?"

"Gun? The Spear of Longinus? Well, I have heard of the legends and conspiracy theories about the Nazis' various occult experiments. Considering that there really are demons in this world... well... it's worth investigating..." Lin Shangren fell into thought.

"Teacher...? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just keep talking. Is there anything else strange about Jin Yiyao?"

"Anything else? Um... I'm not sure."

……

After asking around, Lin Shangren only got a few useful clues.

"It can be confirmed that the deceased, Hotaru Koizumi, and the other two missing girls were all members of a cult. What exactly is this cult?

From the scene seen when Laplace was activated, it can be confirmed that Hotaru Koizumi experienced a pain transformation phenomenon before his death. So... leaving the religion is likely to be a kind of...

The murderer had once again used the same method used in "The Divine Comedy" to set up the scene. Could it be that these were fanatical Christians deliberately hunting down cult members?

No... If that were the case, he wouldn't have had to cut off Hotaru Koizumi's left arm and stuff her stomach with eggshells. And judging by the scene where he killed her, it didn't seem like a religious sacrifice... more like revenge for a personal grudge. There's still too little information.

In short, the focus of the next investigation should be on that 'defection'. This kind of large-scale investigation should be left to Officer Uozumi."

Having made plans, Hayashi Shangren went back to the art club: he had to take Tokisaka Yuzan to the hospital to visit Tokisaka Reito after school. It just so happened that Yuzumi Kazo would also be there, so he could use this opportunity to discuss the investigation into leaving the church with Yuzumi Kazo.

"Teacher Gaocheng, do you want to go with me?" Lin Shangren asked Gaocheng Hiroko. "If you want to go directly home, I can give you a ride. It just so happens that Zi and I are going to Gaocheng Hospital as well."

"Mr. Lin, are you going to my sister's place today too? Is it about the case?" Takashiro Hiroko asked in confusion.

"Mainly, we're going to visit Murasaki's brother, Reito. He was injured a few days ago and has been in a coma ever since. Because he's familiar with Miss Natsume, Uozumi sent him there today to be taken care of."

"Is that so... Well then... Okay, thank you very much, Teacher Lin."

Lin Shangren smiled and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Gao Cheng."

"Teacher Lin, please call me Hiroko. After all, my sister is also Takagi sensei (teacher, doctor, writer), and we have a younger sister named Qiqi. It's too easy to get confused if you call her by her last name." said Hiroko Takagi.

"Okay, Hiroko. Then you can call me Naoto. After all, my last name is quite difficult to pronounce in Japanese. Being called 'Rin-sensei' all the time, I feel a little weird myself."

"Okay… Shangren-kun."

Taking Zi and Kuanzi, Lin Shangren drove to Gaocheng Hospital. After getting off the car, he happened to meet Yuzumi Jiasan who had just arrived.

"Ah, Mr. Lin, you're here."

Yuzumi Jiasan's tone was anxious and his expression was a little tired.

"What's going on? Another case? I heard Okawa Shumei was also murdered, and his death was very similar to Abe's. Are you in charge of this case?" Lin Shangren said in a joking tone, "Just to be clear, I won't help these damn bastards investigate a case. If that's the case, then you should find someone else."

"No. It's not because of that. Cases of that level are not yet my turn to handle. However, there is indeed a new case that needs Mr. Lin's help."

"Oh? What case? Another female student's body was found?"

Uozumi Kazuzo said: "I'm not sure if it was a female student, but it was definitely a young woman. The body was also found in Inokashira Park.

More importantly... the body was in the same condition as the remains we recovered two days ago. It was also wrapped in black cloth, with only the head and limbs remaining; the torso was missing.