This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 180 - 166. Vengeful Spirit: Run! Beichuan Si is coming! (Request for monthly votes!)_2

Chapter 180: Chapter 166. Vengeful Spirit: Run! Beichuan Si is coming! (Request for monthly votes!)_2

The puppet-making workshop appeared not to be responsible for producing puppet parts, but rather for sorting and categorizing them.

Globular joints attached to impeccably smooth legs of varying sizes, doll heads each encased in a plastic bag...

Yet this side of brutality, akin to a slaughterhouse, failed to provoke even the slightest thought in Beichuan Si.

With a sledgehammer in hand, he mercilessly smashed a doll that suddenly leaped at him from behind into pieces.

The motion was violently savage.

Without another word, he set fire and scattered a handful of deathly flame at the dolls hanging from the ceiling.

In an instant, a chorus of wails and howls filled the air.

Some of the vengeful spirits, hiding in corners trying to escape the workshop, were also caught by him, their heads all shattered.

Beichuan Si didn’t care about the spirits that ran to the next room but coldly muttered,

"Right, run, I want to see where you can go."

You’re all going down here today.

With a raise of his hand, the hammer, like a dagger, smashed away half of a resentful expression on another doll vengeful spirit’s face.

Only when there were no more anomalies around and the Shinra Bell fell silent did Beichuan Si glance at the sledgehammer.

Corroded by deathly energy, part of the iron sledgehammer had dissolved into molten metal, and the rest already sported patches of rust.

However...

"There’s another one here, which makes things convenient for me."

Beichuan Si noticed in the corner another sledgehammer identical to the one in his hand; he discarded the damaged one and gripped the new hammer.

It wasn’t that he wouldn’t use Jian Ding.

It was just that using Jian Ding required much more deathly energy than the sledgehammer; Beichuan Si couldn’t cope with both setting fire and wielding Jian Ding.

After all, he didn’t know what other tricks the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner’s spirit had up its sleeve; keeping some deathly energy in reserve was always wise.

Dragging the hammer, he crossed the workshop and arrived at a wall.

This was an independent wall, not constructed to support the workshop.

On it, names of people could still be seen written.

Perhaps this was the so-called "Wall of Names."

Some names had already turned black and twisted, the whole wall bearing a faint malice.

This was no ordinary Wall of Names but clearly something far more sinister.

"Quite harmful."

Beichuan Si murmured to himself and without hesitation, swung his hammer at the Wall of Names!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Clang——

Beichuan Si directly smashed and knocked down the entire wall.

From then on, there were no more haunted tales about the Wall of Names in the Sanmu Puppet Factory.

"Next place."

Beichuan Si, like a sweep-clean machine of haunted tales, kicked open the iron door to the next workshop and shone his flashlight inside.

Still, a pitch-black scene.

Dozens of dolls clung to the ceiling, and upon seeing Beichuan Si, they scrambled towards the next room as if seeing a ghost, moving like living things.

These ghosts were afraid of him?

Beichuan Si shook his head.

This time, it was bound to become a new tale of horror even if it hadn’t been one before.

Watching them scatter, Beichuan Si wasn’t in a hurry, merely dragging his hammer behind them, occasionally relying on the Shinra Bell and Nishijou Kurenai’s hints to drag out any sneaky vengeful puppet spirits attempting to slip by and smash them.

From their inherently resentful expressions towards the living, Beichuan Si clearly detected a hint of panic.

"What’s going on?"

Beichuan Si frowned slightly.

These puppet vengeful spirits seemed to possess a fragment of spirit and could show such humanized expressions.

If all this was the doing of the Puppet Master of the factory, then it must be said, he indeed succeeded in creating dolls that housed souls.

Though what they hosted were malicious spirits.

But he succeeded, nonetheless.

Beichuan Si shook his head, tossing these distracting thoughts aside and slowly made his way to the next puppet factory workshop.

Monotonous scenery crammed together, the puppet vengeful spirits with faces full of terror.

"Hmm?"

These puppet vengeful spirits seemed a bit strange this time.

Although they saw Beichuan Si, they did not flee, all squeezing at the exit as if there was something in the next workshop that frightened them as much.

These spirits would rather die than run into the next workshop... Could it be that there is something odd in the next room?

Beichuan Si paused, his gaze passing over these ’pitiable’ puppets, shining the vertical beam of his flashlight toward the next workshop.

The beam of light was swallowed by the darkness, unable to penetrate to the bottom.

Beichuan Si took a deep breath, the deathly aura and Stagnant Fire fully erupted, enveloping and searing all the puppets.

Shrill screams rang out as the puppets writhed and twisted on the ground in agony.

The Stagnant Fire, capable of burning their very souls, was undoubtedly the thing that restrained them the most.

Without the Stagnant Fire, it would have taken an unknown amount of time for Beichuan Si to smash through them one by one.

Beichuan Si’s gaze was as cold as a butcher’s; he didn’t spare a glance at the wailing puppets on the ground, lifting his foot to step into this final workshop.

Perhaps the answer he sought was in here.

As soon as he entered the workshop, a pungent stench assaulted his nostrils.

The rotting smell of corpses mingled with the piercing odor of blood.

This workshop was different from the others.

There were lights in this workshop.

The dim, crimson light spilled everywhere, as if a layer of fresh blood coated everything.

But Beichuan Si was somewhat puzzled.

When he had shone his flashlight earlier, there should have been no light inside—

Beichuan Si turned off his flashlight, looking around.

Not far from him, three male bodies hung suspended.

Beichuan Si instinctively walked over.

The bodies were bound by chains at the limbs, suspended, each face marked by an expression of pain and fear.

No wonder.

The abdomen of the first body was opened, its organs all removed, replaced by exquisitely made puppet organs.

Beneath the feet of the first corpse was an iron bucket covered in rust, emitting waves of foul odor.

Beside the body hung a sheet similar to a medical chart.

The densely packed words made Beichuan Si frown.

The record was simple, just some details about the operation of puppet organs.

But...

Could puppet organs actually operate?

Beichuan Si silently looked at the corpse.

He continued to look down.

The spine of the second body had been removed, replaced with a handmade, exquisitely crafted backbone.

The skull of the third body had been hollowed out, its brain replaced by a shining white puppet brain.

Similarly, hanging beside these two bodies were records akin to medical charts.

But undoubtedly, a person would die if their organs were removed, would die if their spine was extracted, and would also die if their brain was scooped out; these blood-stained records could not fill even a few pages.

Moreover, the handwriting was dense and sloppy, suggesting the author was not far from a mental breakdown.

"But no wonder the other party was breaking down," Beichuan Si narrowed his eyes.

The identity of the person who wrote these words was self-evident.

Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner.

Let’s go over it again.

In 1997, three people vanished all at once from the Sanmu Puppet Factory, all disappearing within the factory. Suspects would certainly start within the factory staff.

As the owner of the Sanmu Puppet Factory, the factory owner should certainly be at the forefront of the investigation.

Now it seemed, the one who could produce such exquisitely made puppet products, the Puppet Master with such superb crafting skills, the criminal must be none other than the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner.

It was just a pity that the police had not yet organized an investigation at that time—

"A single fire had reduced everything to ashes... Everything was then buried in the dust of history, and the Sanmu Puppet Factory was closed down... No, it should have been closed down long ago." Beichuan Si looked back at the twisted transparent figures, his voice faint:

"Don’t you think so? Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner? No, I should say—Corpse Puppet."