This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 181 - 167. The Sutured Apparition

Chapter 181: Chapter 167. The Sutured Apparition

"You...aren’t...human..." The semi-transparent figure gradually revealed its true form.

It was a middle-aged man, his originally square and straight face caved in from the hammer blows of Beichuan Si, wearing a black leather apron with boots and an upper garment of a white shirt soaked through with dark blood.

Could he actually communicate?

Beichuan Si’s brow furrowed deeply.

By nature, a vengeful spirit was the grudge of the dead against the living, something similar to a longing.

Have you ever seen a longing that could communicate?

Obviously, that was impossible.

Beichuan Si’s eyes flickered with a lifeless glint.

He had now realized that the grudge emanating from Factory Owner Sanmu was only of a beginner high level, yet it possessed abilities that some medium-level vengeful spirits did not.

For example, the ability to communicate.

Another example was that those vengeful spirit dolls outside must have been crafted by him in this space.

"You...aren’t...human..." The middle-aged man let out a howl and lunged forward.

Beichuan Si creased his brow, tossed aside the ragged hammer, flipped his Jian Ding in hand, and with a flash of silver, connected a line that instantly slit the figure’s throat.

As mentioned before, although Factory Owner Sanmu was intelligent, his combat abilities were low.

However...

"Not dead yet?"

Beichuan Si turned around.

Director Sanmu’s figure once again became transparent and illusory, his shadow flitting across the workshop walls, and ultimately, under Beichuan Si’s gaze, entered a small room ahead.

However... what does it mean by you aren’t human? Is it talking about the issue with the dead aura?

Intent on cutting the grass to get rid of the roots, Beichuan Si charged forward and kicked open the door of the small room.

A familiar stench of blood wafted over; there was a desk in the room, and beside it hung a cadaver tied up.

But if one was to call it a cadaver, it would seem a bit strange.

Because the body had no skin, its entire hide had been neatly peeled away by someone with skillful hands.

Beichuan Si, unfazed, reached out to turn the corpse hanging midair upside down and inspected it several times, noting the distinct signs of dissection on the back.

The blood hadn’t darkened, indicating it was a recent unlucky soul who had stumbled in.

"Could this be Nakamura Ken?" Beichuan Si muttered to what looked like a piece of a human.

It certainly could be him.

Peeling off Nakamura Ken’s skin, then taking over his identity, sending out ghastly tales under the ID ’Corpse Puppet,’ luring more people to the Sanmu Doll Abandoned Factory...

It had to be said, the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner was indeed much smarter than the typical vengeful spirit.

There were blood-stained records left on the desk.

’I’ve succeeded! The real... the real puppets... puppets that can house souls! I’ve done it! Just by using the fresh blood and skin of the living, one can create puppets that carry souls! Just a bit more time, give me a little more time and I shall experiment on the living... Excellent! I will surely succeed!’

The records continued.

’Why!? No, it can’t be, my research! My puppets! It can’t end like this! I’ve succeeded! I have already succeeded! Just you wait, you critics! Those who doubted our factory! I will get my revenge!’

Only one line was left in the end.

’Meizi and Rimie, the two people I love most... don’t worry, the fire will make us even more... even more...’

"The fire will make us even more...?"

Beichuan Si fell silent.

He had long guessed that the arsonist was the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner.

But what he hadn’t expected was that before setting the fire, the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner had been researching the hosting of vengeful spirits in puppets.

And it seemed, judging by his demeanor, that he believed he had already succeeded.

The Sanmu Puppet Factory had been in operation since 1988 in the Ogao Mountain Area until it closed due to a big fire in the second half of 1997.

Many people knew this, but they hadn’t analyzed it in the context of the broader economic backdrop of the time.

At that moment in the economic world of Japan... even throughout the global economy, a major event had occurred.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997.

At that time, the financial crisis had also spread to Japan.

Large enterprises collapsed en masse, workers were laid off, and the economy was in recession.

And as for the then famous Sanmu Puppet Factory, it had naturally been swept into this destructive disaster.

The puppet factory’s financial chain simply couldn’t withstand this global financial crisis.

The closure of the Sanmu Puppet Factory was a foregone conclusion.

And at this time, some economic critics also emerged to condemn the Sanmu Puppet Factory for its reckless expansion and malicious competition.

The immense external pressure drove the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner to insanity; he captured living workers and attempted to find a way out of his predicament upon their flesh.

Later, feeling that he had succeeded, the Sanmu Puppet Factory Owner burned the factory down, and his own family perished together in the flames.

At this thought, Beichuan Si couldn’t help but raise his head again to look at the records on the desk.

The fire will make them even more...?

Did that phrase... could it be that the puppet factory owner applied some of the techniques he had mastered to himself and his family?

After all, it wasn’t just the factory owner who perished in the fire but his entire family as well.

Just as Beichuan Si was considering this question, a terrifying tremble suddenly emanated from the ground inside the room.

And then—

A ’person’ emerged from the ground.

A thick smell of char and the stench of a corpse emanated from it, inducing nausea.