This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 101. August 10th, 1965

Chapter 101: 101. August 10th, 1965

Without a key, the locked box could not be opened and naturally, the contents remained unknown.

Just as Magong Tong was furrowing her brow, the voice of Beichuan Si sounded.

"Magong Tong."

"Ah?" Magong Tong reflexively responded.

"Excuse me." Beichuan Si patted Magong Tong’s shoulder.

Then, under Magong Tong’s gaze, he simply raised his finger and a smooth, water-like silver light flashed by.

But that streak of silver was so fast that Magong Tong only saw Beichuan Si’s fingers brushing over the lock, then the White Chrysanthemum Lock was cleanly sliced into two halves.

"Be-Beichuan?" Magong Tong subconsciously touched her shoulder which Beichuan Si had touched just now, and finding nothing amiss, she finally looked up at Beichuan Si, her face full of shock, "How did you do that?"

"Just a little trick." Beichuan Si, unconcerned by Magong Tong’s shocked expression, opened the black box on his own and reached inside.

Magong Tong quickly moved closer to Beichuan Si’s side.

The items Beichuan Si pulled out were unremarkable.

An ancient, tattered diary yellowed with age, and some child’s toys like a kendama.

Beyond these, there was nothing else.

It seemed that this box was just used by Magong Dongzi as a kind of memory box.

Magong Tong put the kendama and a spinning top to one side, while Beichuan Si focused on picking up the diary.

The cover of the diary was just a simple piece of thick cardboard, which already had bits of paper flaking off, and part of the paper cover had fallen off.

Beichuan Si gently opened it to the title page.

The pencil writing on it was somewhat blurred, but the surname was still discernible.

Magong Dongzi.

"This is Grandma Dongzi’s diary!" Magong Tong exclaimed softly.

"Indeed, perhaps we can find out what exactly happened back then from this," Beichuan Si gently nodded, then flipped another page.

This side was mostly blank except for one line of small, tightly packed writing in the center.

"Please remember the pride of the Magong Main Family, without the sacrifice of the main family’s flesh and spirit, the people of Shenzhu Village will surely suffer the woes of Kujin."

Remember the pride of the Magong Main Family? Kujin?

Kujin, meaning calamity and misfortune, also connotes impurity in Japanese, quite similar to the curse on Magong Tong.

Beichuan Si then turned and asked, "Magong, have you really never heard about any division between the main and branch families in the Magong Family?"

Magong Tong was still nervously trying to read the diary when Beichuan Si suddenly turned toward her, almost bumping into her face. She hastily looked up, replying anxiously, "My father or mother never mentioned anything about a main or branch family; it seems they never knew either."

"Is that so?" Beichuan Si turned his head back to look at the diary.

The narrative could either be concealed by Magong Zhen and Magong Xing or, as Magong Dongzi said, most from the branch family were unaware of the Magong Main Family’s matters.

Beichuan Si turned to the first page, the yellowed paper read:

January 20, 1964.

Today my parents bought me this diary, hoping to foster a love of journaling in me.

Honestly, journaling is a hassle, I’d rather go play with Mazi and the others. The older brothers who returned from the branch family brought many fun toys.

Well, that’s it for today; I still have homework to do.

Showa 39?

Beichuan Si turned back to Magong Tong and asked, "How old was Granny Dongzi when she passed away?"

Magong Tong pondered for a moment before answering, "62 years old."

"Is that so?" Beichuan Si raised his eyebrows, calculated for a moment, then said flatly, "Then at this time, Granny Dongzi was only 17 years old."

The diary spanned the Showa and Heisei eras, ending up in Beichuan Si’s hands, no wonder it was so worn.

Beichuan Si shifted his focus back to the diary.

The diary was filled with trivial matters. For example, today she saw a pretty dress, the tailoring skills of the aunty next door had improved, or how the young man in the village had grown even more handsome...

Such snippets of conversation.

Moreover, Magong Dongzi had a bad habit of writing in her diary. Usually, she wrote a page every couple of days, or every three or four days, and sometimes even once every couple of weeks.

Beichuan Si had no interest in exploring which handsome guys Magong Dongzi fancied when she was young. He skimmed over such information, and the timeline now moved from Showa year 39 to 1965.

That year, a major event happened in the life of Magong Dongzi.

She came of age.

The diary stated:

June 20, 1965.

I’ve grown another year older. According to my mother, a woman who has come of age must participate in a coming of age ceremony at Granny Pinv’s house.

Although Granny Pinv was terrifying, I heard Mazi would be there too, so I wasn’t that scared.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s coming-of-age ceremony...

With a move of his hand, Beichuan Si flipped to the next page.

This time, no date was left, only a hasty, dizzying scribble.

Even Beichuan Si could barely make out the writing.

It read:

Why did Mazi run away?

And how could they do that?

Blood... so much blood... Will Mazi be okay? She really will be, right?

Why do this?

Mazi’s in so much pain...I can feel it, Mazi...

Below that, no words were visible.

"Hmm—" Magong Tong, looking at the lines of text, felt an inexplicable panic rise within her.

The coming-of-age ceremony... Something must have happened at Magong Dongzi’s coming of age ceremony.

Why did Mazi run? Where did she go?

Beichuan Si was silent for a moment, then turned to the next page.

Flipping this page meant he directly skipped two months in time.

August 10th, 1965.

I borrowed a pen from the nurse and brought over my notebook, propping it against the hospital bed.

Today’s weather is so cold... Maybe it’s because I lost too much blood?

What was the point of all that, really?

I finally understand why Mazi had to run away; if it had continued, maybe I would have died too.

Mazi... I might be coming to see you soon.

But there’s no other way... if it’s really as father and mother said...

Beichuan Si could feel that Magong Dongzi had attempted several times to reveal the hidden secrets of Shenzhu Village in her diary, but ultimately she held back, as if fearing something.

At this time, Magong Dongzi was only 18 years old. What had the Shenzhu villagers done to make a young girl of scarcely 18 years so terribly afraid and apprehensive?

Beichuan Si unconsciously flipped to the later parts of the diary.

Aside from a pattern of a white chrysanthemum flower, the diary left nothing else.

It seemed Magong Dongzi had only written in the diary for one year.

"But...what does the white chrysanthemum pattern mean? What does this type of pattern represent? Did something else happen to Magong Dongzi afterward?"

Beichuan Si raised an eyebrow.

The more he delved into it, the more he discovered the unknown, terrifying, and bloody stories hidden in the past of Shenzhu Village.

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