Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 258 - 179

Chapter 258: Chapter 179

Fushimi Roku dealt with the fool, left the reception room, and walked into the grand hall to meet with Minamoto Tamako and the others.

Perhaps it was influenced by the Edo Period, the interior of Wulin Temple’s grand hall had undergone renovations, embodying a strong Western style. The most classic pieces of furniture were the leather sofas and crystal chandeliers. Oil paintings hung on the walls, and silver candlesticks were placed on the long rosewood table.

Someone knocked at the door outside the wall, and the bell hanging in the grand hall rang, likely signifying the arrival of the Oogami Spirit Medium. Ono Ken opened an umbrella to greet the guests, while Minamoto Tamako looked curious. She stood under the bell studying it, unable to resist asking, "How does this bell ring?"

"It’s remote-controlled, of course," Yazaki Momo said nonchalantly. She was wrestling with a honeydew melon on the coffee table, hesitating whether to try a piece but afraid of losing face.

"But isn’t it a wooden door outside the wall? And the wall itself is made of cedar planks, so where would the wires be?"

Minamoto Tamako’s curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to reach out and fiddle with the bell to uncover its mysteries, but she wasn’t tall enough. Standing on tiptoes for a moment, she noticed the bell didn’t have any wires, just some greenish copper patina, and its copper tongue was of a purely mechanical structure.

Strange.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door; they seemed heavy even amid the thunderstorm. Minamoto Tamako retreated a few steps and sat well-behaved on the sofa.

Everyone turned to look as Ono Ken opened the main door, and their shadows were cast into the hall by the lightning.

A man and a woman stood at the entrance. The man appeared somewhat young, strong, and robust, dressed in a green vest and brown trousers, carrying a heavy wooden box behind him, almost half his height.

The woman looked elderly, dressed in a black robe, holding a paper parasol not for shielding herself from the rain but to cover the wooden box... If not mistaken, she was Madam Oogami.

Ono Ken brought the two inside and lit a fire in the fireplace so the guests could dry their clothes. Madam Oogami put away the paper parasol, took off her wide-brimmed black hat, looked around the hall, and took a deep breath.

"Ah... there’s so much sorrow in the air here," she said in a hoarse voice.

Fushimi Roku immediately noted this phrase, planning to learn it and use it himself in the future.

Ono Ken felt slightly uneasy and signaled Madam Oogami to wait while he went to inform the mistress.

During the wait, Madam Oogami did not sit down or look at them directly but instead strolled along the grand hall’s walls, like a touring visitor, admiring the paintings on the walls and examining the crystal chandelier and the entryway.

The man who accompanied her was exhausted. He placed the wooden box down with a dull thud on the wooden floor. Minamoto Tamako was very curious about what was inside but felt too embarrassed to ask, so she could only stare eagerly.

A moment later, Nakako descended the stairs, exchanged a few commercial pleasantries with Madam Oogami, clearly maintaining a distance from the so-called Spirit Medium. The latter was indifferent, her gaze still wandering as she casually asked, "Turandot, did you sleep well last night?"

Nakako’s complexion changed dramatically.

Others were at a loss, even Ono Ken looked puzzled. Madam Oogami slowly turned her head, her wrinkled face bearing a trace of sympathy: "That’s what your daughter calls you, right?"

"How do you know that?" Nakako tried to maintain composure, but her voice quivered slightly.

"She told me."

Madam Oogami inserted her hands into her sleeves, the firelight flickering, deepening the shadows of the wrinkles on her face.

Before Nakako could ask, she softly said, "I can hear them... I can vaguely hear them. Those ghosts, wandering, whispering, narrating the loneliness of hundreds of years..."

Nakako’s face grew even paler.

Minamoto Tamako silently shrank back her head, leaving only her eyes peeking over the sofa’s back. She felt a bit panicky, vaguely sensing malice emanating from the corners where the light could not reach, as if countless eyes were peering at them.

Even Yazaki Momo forgot to lift her camera, her legs drawn together, and her body unconsciously leaned toward Fushimi Roku, not daring to chew the honeydew melon too hard.

— Clang!

The Western-style clock chimed heavily, marking eleven o’clock.

Madam Oogami indicated that they could start preparing for the Spirit Summoning Ceremony. Nakako snapped back to reality, murmured an "ah," turned her head aside, and sat on the main seat sofa, gesturing for them to proceed at will.

Upon hearing this, the man opened the wooden box and took out the ritual instruments. He was Madam Oogami’s assistant, responsible for setting up the Spirit Communication site.

"Flames can interfere with spiritual power," Madam Oogami said. "Please extinguish the fireplace."

Ono Ken used a poker to stir the fire, covering the flue, and minutes later, the flames died out, and the grand hall grew dimmer; Ono Ken then turned up the crystal chandelier, casting a ghastly pale light that made everyone’s skin look bloodless.

The assistant took out Guardian salt, a copper gong, a doll, a shakuhachi, and other instruments, arranging them neatly on the floor, and then took a jar of unknown dark brown liquid. Upon opening the lid, Minamoto Tamako smelled a fishy and foul odor.

He rolled up the carpet, clearing an area, and slowly tilted the glass bottle to draw a circle on the ground with the viscous liquid.

The uneasy atmosphere gradually spread.

Everyone watched the assistant move back and forth without saying a word, the grand hall becoming eerily silent.

Mainly because Madam Oogami’s presence was so powerful that just sitting quietly on the sofa, the entire old house seemed to pulsate with her breathing.

The assistant was busy for over three hours, also chanting spells for one hour, not finishing the Spirit Communication site’s setup until past two in the morning.

Outside, the rain intensified, and the thunder showed no sign of stopping. Madam Oogami stood up and motioned for everyone to sit cross-legged within the circle. Minamoto Tamako, puzzled, couldn’t help asking, "Do we have to participate in the Spirit Summoning Ceremony too?"

"Once the Spirit Communication begins, this place will connect with the yin world; no observer can escape unscathed," Madam Oogami said in a chilling voice. "Anyone fearless of death can stand outside the barrier."

Minamoto Tamako swallowed. She was about to turn and ask Yazaki Momo’s opinion, but unexpectedly, Yazaki Momo had already wholeheartedly crossed into the circle. Fushimi Roku and Nakako didn’t hesitate either, following closely.

Everyone sat around Oogami Nui, a small table covered with a white cloth placed in the center. Only Fushimi Roku sat cross-legged; the others were sitting formally in a kneeling position.

Seeing the assistant still standing outside the circle, Minamoto Tamako hurriedly waved to him. The assistant smiled, lifted the talisman in his hand, and said, "I have a talisman on me; no evil spirit can harm me."

"He needs to stand outside to protect."

After Oogami Nui spoke, she signaled the assistant to go upstairs for a check. Minamoto Tamako felt a bit worried and slightly turned to ask Fushimi Roku, "What about Fujiwara Section Chief?"

"He also has a barrier with him, perfectly safe," Fushimi Roku mimicked Madam Oogami’s tone with about seventy to eighty percent accuracy.

Upon hearing this, Oogami Nui raised an eyebrow, sizing up Fushimi Roku, yet she didn’t say much. Others saw this and breathed a sigh of relief, inexplicably feeling that perhaps Fushimi Roku indeed had some skills.

— Clang!

All preparations completed, the Western-style clock chimed again, the hour hand striking three o’clock in the morning.

The witching hour, the Spirit Summoning begins.

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