This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 107 - 106. Heading to the Newspaper Office—

Chapter 107: 106. Heading to the Newspaper Office—

"...What’s going on with this issue number?" Beichuan Si glanced over the issue number following the previous rhythm.

The Shenzhu Village newspaper had started with issue 58, but this edition skipped issue 59 and jumped directly to 60.

Beichuan Si stood up and started looking through the papers.

61, 62, 64...

There were other missing issues as well.

"Of course, issue 59 is missing."

Beichuan Si sighed inwardly, but still managed to keep his expression composed as he turned back to issue 60.

Fortunately, this issue also recorded some folklore and customs from Shenzhu Village, which slightly relieved Beichuan Si.

On the far left of the layout, there was a small black headline that read:

"Shocking! The hidden customs of Shenzhu Village."

"The previous issue introduced the mysterious and terrifying customs of Shenzhu Village, and this time, it introduced some rumors that have spread from the village."

"In the historically profound Shenzhu Village, there seemed to be a dreadful traditional ritual passed down. The only known fact was that no one outside the Magong Main Family or the Shenzhu Family could learn the specifics of the ritual. However, these two families held great prestige in the village, and all Shenzhu villagers followed them, making it impossible to glean any information from the villagers."

"A secluded village, highly xenophobic villagers."

"What else is hidden thereafter... What else has happened... It seems that nobody except for these two families knows now."

"The only phrase that could be heard was: ’When all the Soul Summoning Flowers in the Shenzhu Shrine blossom, the disaster can be prevented.’"

This was where the records about Shenzhu Village ended.

Upon reading this, Beichuan Si glanced at the next issue of the newspaper and felt a tinge of regret shaking his head when he found no news about Shenzhu Village.

Had there not been a missing issue, perhaps he could have uncovered the hidden secrets of Shenzhu Village.

Beichuan Si calmed his mind, pondering and digesting the information he had just acquired.

As he had deduced, Shenzhu Village indeed once had some ancient bloody ritual.

’Xenophobic villagers,’ ’ancient rituals,’ ’the connection between Magong Family and Shenzhu Family.’

The puzzle was gradually unfolding.

But the key was still the final phrase in the newspaper.

"When all the Soul Summoning Flowers in the Shenzhu Shrine blossom, the disaster can be prevented."

What did that mean?

The literal interpretation was that the blossoming of the ’Soul Summoning Flowers’ could suppress or prevent the disaster from happening.

"Current clues are still too few," Beichuan Si shook his head and refrained from making rash conclusions.

He looked carefully at those few hundred words, trying to deduce something but ultimately came up empty-handed. With no choice, he could only extract the specific keywords and phrases to his notebook.

Just as Beichuan Si stood up to put the newspaper back, a hoarse and old voice rang beside him.

"Ah... That’s the Shimadu City Citizens’ Folklore News... I really miss it, back then this newspaper was the only entertainment paper, other newspapers could hardly bring any novelty to students."

Beichuan Si turned around and saw an elderly man hunching his back, his face kind.

Perhaps it was due to his age, the old man coughed and continued to ramble:

"Young people interested in folklore like you are quite rare these days... ah... Nowadays, young people are particularly fond of novel and extravagant things, completely forgetting some precious history. Like my grandson, he doesn’t even know about Shimadu Fireworks Show, sigh."

The old man sighed heavily.

"Old sir, do you know anything about these newspapers in my hand?" Beichuan Si turned back and asked.

If this old man had knowledge of issue 59 from the folklore news, it would be a great help to Beichuan Si.

"I don’t have the habit of collecting newspapers..."

"I see..." Beichuan Si was somewhat disappointed.

The clues were right in front of him, but he had no means to grasp them.

Seeing Beichuan Si’s disappointed face, the old man continued, "The Folklore News hasn’t shut down, I know the current address of the Folklore News office, they definitely still have old printed newspapers kept there."

"Oh?" Beichuan Si’s eyes lit up.

It was quite normal for every news office to keep a complete set of its newspapers for future publication comparisons.

But what Beichuan Si didn’t expect was that this news agency, started in the Meiji Era, had not shut down yet.

The old man gave him a specific address, Beichuan Si noted it down. After thanking him several times, he left the municipal library.

The time was now just past four in the afternoon, and Beichuan Si had spent over two hours gathering information.

"Although it took some time, I’ve gained valuable information."

The address of the Folklore News—

Beichuan Si took a look, then checked Google Maps for a specific transit plan and boarded a bus.

...

He arrived at the Folklore News office right at 4:30 PM.

At that moment, the Folklore News office was still open.

Beichuan Si no longer hesitated and went to the front desk to explain his purpose.

"University ethnographic research... right?" The receptionist wasn’t surprised.

"Um." Beichuan Si nodded impassively.

With his clean-cut features and tall stature, the stern aura on his face added a strong masculine vibe, which even made the receptionist gulp and hurriedly helped Beichuan Si with the registration.

After all, their news office originated from reporting on folklore, and having students like Beichuan Si visit wasn’t rare, not every day, but a few per week were common.

And in Japan, organizations typically wouldn’t impede visitors. Having visitors also indicated that the company was performing well.

After completing Beichuan Si’s registration, an experienced staff member gave him a visitor’s pass and directed him to the old newspaper storage room.

Beichuan Si left his backpack with the reception desk and only took his notebook and carbon pen inside.

The old newspaper storage room was a small, square room, barely twenty square meters, and full of stacked paper materials, making it difficult to move around.

The newspapers kept here were undoubtedly much more complete than those at the municipal library.

Not only could he find the missing issue 59 here, but there were also issues 1 through 13 missing from the library.

Holding the issue 59 paper in his hands, Beichuan Si felt fortunate.

After a series of investigations, he could finally uncover some secrets of Shenzhu Village in the past.

With this inexplicable complex emotion, Beichuan Si raised his hand and opened the hard-earned newspaper.

(Thanks to the book friends 20190222191249754, Masked Ming, Addicted to Novels, and Che Guevara for their rewards!)