Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

"Stone Jizo," Genjiko muttered to herself. This thing must be very important, but judging from the report alone, it clearly involves metaphysics.

The metaphysical version of Tianjin AI is not yet fully developed, but she has already assigned metaphysical experts from the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department to study it, and there should be some news soon.

She looked up at Mingli, who was standing to the side with a slightly embarrassed expression: "Mingli, tomorrow you will take a team to Ping Shenglong to conduct a cross-investigation. Focus on whether they also have Shijizang there. Record everything carefully and investigate openly and honestly."

"Yes, Minister!"

Mingli quickly straightened his back.

On Ping Shenglong's side, he stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the deep night in the forest outside.

A few minutes later, he turned around and looked at the desk that had been taken over.

At this moment, Kurosaki Chimei was lying in front of a makeshift large desk, the surface of which was covered with large sheets of washi paper and notebooks.

He held a calligraphy brush in his hand, sighing and gesturing as he repeatedly traced the crooked, ink-stained characters "口" and "" on the paper, muttering to himself.

"No. The stroke should be a leftward flick. The pressure is also wrong. What was this character originally supposed to look like?"

He seemed completely absorbed in his own world, oblivious to the tense phone call he had just received, and focused entirely on solving the riddle of the incomplete character.

"No way!" Kurosaki Chimei suddenly raised his head, looking at Heisei Ryu with frustration. "I have no calligraphy background, I can't grasp the handwriting at all! We still need to find a professional calligraphy master to deduce it. Team Leader Heisei, quickly use your connections! Find a master who understands calligraphy!"

Ping Shenglong did not answer immediately; his eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if he was still processing the exchange on the phone or thinking about something.

After a while, he slowly walked to Kurosaki Chimei's side.

Under Kurosaki Chimei's slightly surprised and puzzled gaze, Heisei Ryu silently took the ink-stained brush from his hand.

"You know calligraphy?!" Kurosaki Chimei stood there stunned.

Ping Shenglong didn't look at him, but simply replied, "Can't you tell?"

His fingers naturally adjusted his grip on the pen, with his thumb, index finger, and middle finger firmly holding the pen, his ring finger and little finger bracing against it, and his wrist suspended in the air, demonstrating perfect form.

"."

Kurosaki Chimei twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at Heisei Ryu's skillful and natural pen-holding posture, and was speechless for a moment.

Okay, this guy's posture is definitely much stronger than his; at least he can intimidate people.

"Fine, at least your pen-holding posture is better than mine."

Kurosaki Chimei quickly pointed to the two large sheets of paper spread out on the table.

"Look, this is the area of ​​the inscription and its approximate shape that I reconstructed based on the feel of the touch and the size and proportion of the stone statue."

"This is a speculative diagram of the '口' character remnant from Kofu City, and this is the '' character remnant from our side. Try to fill in the most likely complete Chinese character with it."

The table was almost entirely covered with papers, densely covered with ink stains, pencil lines, and annotations.

Ping Shenglong did not start writing immediately. He first carefully examined the two drawings, his gaze lingering for a moment on the direction of the incomplete strokes, then closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if adjusting his breathing and calming his mind.

Kurosaki Chimei watched from the side, muttering to himself.

Is this guy still trying to calm down after being rebuked by Genji?

Their phone call was a bit loud, loud enough to be easily heard in this quiet room, but Kurosaki didn't hear it.

Ping Shenglong is probably pretending to be nonchalant on the surface, but his heart is in turmoil.

Tsk, what was their relationship before? Were they lovers? It feels like there's some dramatic backstory.

It wasn't that Kurosaki didn't care about the lives of the citizens; rather, he believed that none of the so-called metaphysical consultants and experts in the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department were capable of fighting, and they were also full of trolls. Letting them join would only add to the burden.

Even with Heisei Ryu, Kurosaki didn't let him get involved in more in-depth metaphysical knowledge.

Therefore, instead of spending time debating with those people, he should solve this riddle himself as soon as possible.

A moment later, Ping Shenglong opened his eyes, his gaze now clear and sharp.

He dipped his brush in ink and then, with his wrist suspended, began to write.

The pen strokes were steady and powerful, landing on the first sheet of paper:

Wisdom, Substitute, Person, Prosperity

Then, he switched to the second sheet of paper:

Product, Approach, Instrument, Noise

He wrote at a moderate pace, but without appearing rusty; he must have practiced for quite some time.

Kurosaki Chimei stood nearby, his eyes fixed on the ink characters flowing from Heisei Ryu's brush.

"The wise one comes."

After Heisei Ryu finished writing, he moved aside, only to find Kurosaki rooted to the spot, eyes wide open, staring intently at the words on the paper.

The CPU looks like it's about to burn out.

However, this also shows that he already has a plan and is frantically organizing his thoughts.

Just then, the phone on Ping Shenglong's desk suddenly rang.

He put down his pen, walked over, and answered the phone: "Minister Leon."

Leon's slightly troubled voice came from the other end of the phone: "Shenglong, just now, the center of Fujiyoshida was attacked. It was a combined attack by a herd of wild boars and those giant black bears. It was quite large."

Ping Shenglong: "How is the situation?"

"Fortunately, Muramasa and Hirosue were stationed in the city, cooperating with the local troops, and they repelled the monster horde, preventing large-scale destruction and casualties. I will have someone compile and share the details of this attack as soon as possible; please see if there are any helpful clues."

Leon quickly explained the general situation, and Ping Shenglong immediately responded after listening.

"Minister, are there any small stone statues of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the area of ​​the attack? Especially those that have been damaged. I urgently need this information. If so, please take clear photos."

"Stone Earth Treasury?" Leon roughly understood that Ping Shenglong must have a new lead, and immediately agreed, "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to investigate right away."

Ping Shenglong had just hung up the phone and hadn't even turned around when he heard a long, almost roaring howl behind him.

"Aww—I get it!!!"

The sound was filled with ecstatic joy and the excitement of sudden enlightenment; even people outside the villa could hear it and turned to look in this direction.

Ping Shenglong was so startled that his heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously closed his eyes and took a deep breath to suppress the palpitation caused by the fright.

He turned around and saw that Kurosaki Chimei was so excited that his face was flushed, as if he were drunk, and his eyes were shining as he stared intently at the few words that Heisei Ryu had just written, especially "臨" and "者".

He rushed forward suddenly, his hands gripping Ping Shenglong's shoulders like iron clamps, his strength astonishing, his voice trembling and distorted with excitement:

"I know! I know! It's that one! That one, that one!"

Ping Shenglong pressed down on his shoulders, stared at him calmly, and slowly suppressed his emotions.

"Don't speak yet."

"Hoo hoo. Okay, okay." Kurosaki took a deep breath.

"Have you calmed down? Tell me what you found." Heisei Ryu let go of his hand and walked to the table.

Kurosaki quickly followed, throwing the large piece of paper he had just been treasuring onto the ground and pulling out a large-scale map of Yamanashi Prefecture.

"You must have already guessed when you wrote it, after all, those two words are so obvious." Kurosaki grinned at him.

Heisei Ryu hummed in agreement: "Is it a Linhe Zhe?"

“Yes.” Kurosaki nodded vigorously, took out a marker, marked the center of Kofu City on the map, and wrote “臨” on it.

Then write "者" on the location of the resort hotel.

Next, two dots were drawn, one in the center and one in the suburbs of Fujiyoshida City, and the marker was drawn: "Next, one of these two places will be attacked. Once we know which one it is—"

“This is the city center. Just now.” Ping Shenglong nodded.

Kurosaki opened his mouth, then continued writing.

Soon, he officially marked nine points on the map.

"As shown in the picture! This is the answer, the true target of those crazed beasts!"

"Mirroring the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper and the Nine Words of Ksitigarbha Formation—although I made up this name, that's the core idea!"

"The language of the formation is simple: use water to seal fire. Seal something within Mount Fuji!"

"The fact that mountains, rivers, and lakes can be used as part of the seal means that the person who set up this formation must be a powerful Taoist or Yin-Yang master! And the one sealed inside must be a great demon!"

"But even the most exquisite formation cannot withstand the vicissitudes of time. Now, it is obvious that the sealing power has weakened considerably, giving that great demon an opportunity to take advantage."

"If it were me breaking the formation, I would definitely break the Left and Right Assistants first, then start with the Broken Army and Martial Stars, and finally the Greedy Wolf Star, so as to achieve the effect of extinguishing the fire, causing the earth to collapse, the metal to fall, the wood to rot, and the water to decay! In the end, the entire seal will collapse in due course."

"But clearly, the other side has bigger ambitions; they want more than just breaking the formation!"

“Look, apart from the Left and Right Assistants, among the remaining seven stars of the Big Dipper, three are in water and three are on land, while the Giant Gate is in the Fuji River, which is half water and half land, locking the water and connecting the land.”

"I suspect, no, I'm certain, that this sealed great demon intends to trigger a massive flood disaster by breaking the seal! Therefore, its order should be to first break the Left and Right Assistants, then the three land-based stars of Greed Wolf, Literature Star, and Martial Star, followed by the three lake-based stars. Finally..."

Kurosaki spoke at length, took a deep breath, and moved the brush to the character "兵" (soldier), the point where the Fuji River converges, representing the giant gate, and looked solemnly at Heimori Ryu.

"The Jumen Gate has collapsed, flooding the Jiafu Basin!"

Chapter 225: The Node is Broken

Kurosaki Chimei's gaze was fixed on Heisei Ryu.

He quite trusted Ping Shenglong's intuitive judgment, at least it was more reliable than those metaphysical consultants.

So I'd really like to hear what the other person thinks of his speculation.

Ping Shenglong stared at the map, clearly digesting the content of the Nine Stars Nine Words Formation that Kurosaki had just mentioned. With the help of the basic occult knowledge he had learned in recent days, he was able to understand it.

Although he had only heard of the Big Dipper with seven stars, this was the first time he had heard of the Big Dipper with nine stars.

However, he was very clear about one thing: the Big Dipper constellations were culturally associated with exorcising demons and monsters.

A moment later, he finished mentally translating the content, raised his eyes, his gaze returning to its usual calm, and confirmed.

"Therefore, the key verification point is Fujiyoshida City. If the damaged stone Jizo statue can be found at the scene of the attack, and the remaining writing corresponds to a part of the character '陣' that you speculated, it means that your hypothesis of the Mirrored Big Dipper Nine Stars Nine Words Jizo Array is basically valid."

He paused briefly, then pointed to several bodies of water in Yamanashi Prefecture on the map: "And the next targets will be the possible Jizo statues within Lake Motosu, Lake Yamanaka, and Lake Kawaguchi? Is that right?"

“Yes!” Kurosaki nodded vigorously and added, “Both Chen and Zhen are possible. In fact, it may not be the Nine Syllable Mantra. It could also be the Nine Syllable Cut. However, I think the weight and scale of the Nine Syllable Cut should not be able to suppress the nine stars of the Big Dipper.”

"Although they look similar on the surface, they have actually branched out. If it is the Nine Syllable Mantra, it means that the arrangement was mainly carried out by Taoist priests, while if it is the Nine Cuts, it means that the arrangement was mainly carried out by Onmyoji. It is not that I look down on Onmyoji, but the Onmyoji's barrier and formation are completely different things."

"Understood." Ping Shenglong no longer hesitated, decisively picked up the phone, and dialed Leon's number.

Fujiyoshida City, near the scene of the attack.

Leon stood near the wrecked downtown park, listening to his subordinate's report.

The phone rang at that moment.

“Minister Leon,” Ping Shenglong adjusted his tone to be slightly tense, “I have a very important hypothesis that needs to be verified immediately.”

"You said."

Leon stood there, listening to Ping Shenglong concisely summarize and retell Kurosaki Chimei's deductions on the other end of the phone.

After hearing Ping Shenglong's clues, Leon couldn't help but smile.

As expected, Ping Shenglong did not disappoint him. Whether the clue was discovered by himself or provided by his subordinates, his efficiency far surpassed that of others.

“This is indeed timely news, Sheng Long.” Leon said as he walked in a certain direction. “The stone Ksitigarbha you mentioned has just been found. Only half of the base remains, while the upper half is still being searched for.”

He walked to a pile of rubble in a corner of the park, where several people in investigation uniforms were carefully cleaning and recording information.

The place they were surrounding was a half-ruined stone Ksitigarbha temple, its style basically the same as the one they had found earlier.

"So, there are fragments of Chinese characters on this?"

Leon put on gloves and, standing beside the still-connected phone call from Ping Shenglong, bent down and stretched out his fingers, carefully stroking the edge of the broken stubble with his fingertips.

A moment later, he clearly felt an unusual tactile sensation from the lingering marks.

He closed his eyes and filled in the blanks in his mind.

"found it."

Leon opened his eyes.

“You can definitely feel it; it looks like a slanted half of the character ‘陣’, with only the lower right corner remaining.”

The chances of this happening by sheer luck are extremely low; the current information is sufficient for Leon to make a judgment.

“Listen, Sheng Long, your judgment is very likely correct. This means that the next targets of those mutated beasts will be the Miko and Fujikawa. According to your deduction, the most critical point is Fujikawa. Take your team and immediately head discreetly to Fujikawa Town to find Ishijizo. Hirosue Eri and Talos’s team will come to support you. I will make arrangements for the other places.”