Chapter 280 One Person Picks a Group

When Lu Mingfei left, Watanabe was still drinking.

"I will put the commission fee on your card."

"No, no, no."

Watanabe said.

"I'll just treat this painting as a gift to you."

Lu Mingfei looked at the decadent Watanabe.

"That's it, I understand."

While changing his shoes in the entrance hall, he heard a vague song coming from the studio. It seemed to be a song for Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country, also called Snow Country.

The drunk man's voice is very special. It makes people sad when listening to it, and you don't know what he is thinking.

Speaking of which, although the psychic medium has a family inheritance, Watanabe's information states that he awakened independently and has nothing to do with the family.

A person may become a psychic only after experiencing a major mental shock.

Lu Mingfei remembered that it was eight years ago that Mr. Watanabe became a spiritual medium.

"Being Uesugi-san's friend is impossible for a mediocre guy like me."

So, didn’t you even say a word?

You are probably very sorry too.

The main residence of the Lu family, the young master's study.

Lu Mingfei wrote down the message about Uesugi Eri on the paper.

Name, school, age, date of death.

This information is sufficient to launch an investigation.

If there is a breakthrough...

Lu Mingfei circled the "Date of Death" column.

Start here.

When a person lives in modern society, his birth and death are recorded. If he is investigating the cause of death, the fastest way is of course to retrieve the records of the Metropolitan Police Department.

The Exorcist Association is a semi-official and semi-private organization. As warriors who protect humans from facing monsters, they enjoy a lot of energy. When necessary, they can also take over the command of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Self-Defense Forces, let alone Said it was just a trivial matter like retrieving files.

Lu Mingfei made a phone call and told him what he wanted. The person there asked him to wait respectfully, and the result would come soon.

About ten minutes later.

"Have you found it..."

"Um?"

"No! How is that possible!"

Lu Mingfei frowned.

After he gave the information about Eriki Uesugi, the Metropolitan Police actually said that no death file that met the requirements was found.

"Is there something wrong? Let's check again!"

"I'm really sorry. We have checked three times and the result is still the same."

Lu Mingfei pinched his eyebrows.

What a twist.

"By the way, if there is no death record, please check her birth record for me. Her name is Uesugi Eri, and her date of birth is..."

The people from the Metropolitan Police Department went to do some business, and Lu Mingfei sat at his desk, frowning in thought.

If we can have birth records, we can also get her family information. Obviously, the girl's family members are more likely to know the cause of death than her classmates.

But can it really be found?

Lu Mingfei had a bad feeling.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."

However, as Onmyojis are born with spiritual power, their intuition often has a certain prophetic quality, and sometimes it cannot be explained away by simple overthinking or coincidence.

Not to mention that Lu Mingfei possesses such powerful spiritual power.

Sure enough, the result from the Metropolitan Police Department was still the same.

"No?"

"I see."

Lu Mingfei hung up the phone. The clues from the Metropolitan Police Department were broken. Either there was something wrong with the girl's information. Her name was not Uesugi Eri at all, and her birth and school were wrong. Watanabe was lying, or... Someone deleted the information file of the girl in the coffin.

Lu Mingfei prefers the latter.

It's not that he trusts Watanabe so much. He has known someone for less than a day, so there is no trust at all. Lu Mingfei's judgment is based on ability. If he doesn't know enough, Watanabe can't do it in just two hours. Complete transformation.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Watanabe has been hiding his abilities all along, but compared to this, the possibility of someone deleting the information is obviously higher.

After all, deleting a person's file from the Metropolitan Police Department may seem exaggerated, but in the eyes of the people in the association, it is not that difficult.

"Sure enough, the Mountain God's commission cannot be completed so easily."

Lu Mingfei said something, but the corners of his mouth turned up.

"But it can't be said that there is no gain."

At least the fact that someone deleted the file shows that the cause of death of the girl in the coffin was not simple, and it was definitely not just a terminal illness. If you want to find out, you can probably find out by following the line of the person who deleted the file.

After writing and drawing on the paper for a long time, Lu Mingfei nodded and relaxed his brows.

"Yes!"

He planned to divide his subsequent action plan into two parts.

One is to investigate the person who deleted the files. In this aspect, you need to deal with the official and have a huge network of people. The Lu family is not lacking in size, but Lu Mingfei has always been good at removing spirits, and he is not very concerned about interpersonal relationships. .

It doesn't matter, he's not good at it, there are many people who are good at it.

"Moxi moxi."

"Ah, is it Abe-kun?"

"Hahaha, long time no see..."

"Wait, don't hang up the phone, I'm not borrowing money!"

"Of course I'm not looking for a fight!"

"No, no, no, I have no intention of running away from home!"

"Damn it, who do you think I, Lu Mingfei, am!"

"Seriously, be serious, I have something to ask you."

"Just think I owe you a favor."

In a certain antique mansion, a young man in a white kimono smiled softly. He was stroking the fox in his arms and talking on the phone.

"Oh, it's Lu Jun's favor. That's really incredible."

"In that case, please feel free to speak. As long as it's not about blowing up the Inari Shrine, I'm fine with it."

He squinted his eyes gently, and the smile on his face made people involuntarily put down their guard at the sight of him.

"It doesn't matter even if I strip my roommate and stuff her into Lu Jun's bed."

The fox in his arms rolled his eyelids and glanced at his master.

What a nasty guy.

Lu Mingfei hung up the phone and sighed.

More tiring than fighting.

If he didn't have to, Lu Mingfei really didn't want to deal with this person.

The Abe family are all crazy.

As the largest onmyoji family in the local area, the Abe family and the outsider Lu family have always fought against each other, and occasionally cooperated. It is the existence of the two that completely suppressed the power of monks and witches, making all the onmyojis in the Soul Exorcist Association The family was single and prosperous.

However, although Abe Hide is a shady guy, he is still very reliable in what he does. Since he has agreed, I believe that the identity of the person who deleted the girl's file will be resolved soon.

This line is handed over to Abe. Otherwise, the information at hand also has other directions for investigation.

Early morning, National No. 1 Middle School, archives room.

"That's Teacher Inoue, why are you free to come here today?"

The man in the top hat nodded to the security guard.

"research."

"Oh, please."

When Mr. Inoue entered the archives room, the security guard muttered.

"You're so cold, this guy."

An alley at the school gate.

Teacher Inoue walked in slowly with his briefcase under his arm.

"Did you get the stuff?"

Lu Mingfei, who had been waiting here for a long time, was leaning against the wall.

"Um."

Teacher Inoue nodded stiffly.

He took off his hat, and a cloud of smoke exploded with a bang. His clothes fell loosely, and a fat civet cat ran out from inside. The original hat turned into leaves and was placed on his head.

"It was successfully completed, sir!"

The civet cat showed a humane and flattering smile, stood up on its two hind legs, raised the briefcase high above its head with its hand-like forelimbs, and ran over to present it to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei took out a stack of photos, which were all student files from previous years. He flipped through them and nodded when he saw what he wanted.

"Well done."

"hey-hey."

The civet cat rubbed its hands nervously, a little eager but didn't dare, so it could only smile.

"Spread your hands."

"oh!"

The civet cat's fur was about to stand up, and he immediately spread his hands and raised them above his head respectfully.

Lu Mingfei squatted down and placed a few pieces of Qingming fruit in his palm.

"Your reward."

The civet cat counted excitedly, blinked, and raised its head.

"Sir, there is an extra piece."

Lu Mingfei waved his hands and made a serious face.

"If you don't leave, do you want to get beaten?"

When the civet cat heard this, he immediately panicked and ran away without a trace, holding the Qingming Fruit.

Lu Mingfei smiled.

He doesn't have a shikigami, nor is he proficient in onmyoji, but it doesn't matter, as long as he can fight well enough, and with the Qingming Fruit, there are plenty of little monsters willing to help him.

Lu Mingfei patted his briefcase.

Information is available.

As expected, there is no Eri in the school's files.

That person not only deleted the girl’s file at the Metropolitan Police Department, but also didn’t let go of the girl’s file at the school.

It doesn't matter.

Lu Mingfei didn't come here for the girl's information.

Watanabe was in Class C back then, which means Eri was also here. Let me take a look and find Class C.

Lu Mingfei pulled out a photo with a list of students on it.

Twenty-six people in total.

Find them.

"Uesugi Eri?"

"Oh, you mean Uesugi-san."

A man dressed as an insurance salesman said with emotion.

"I remember her, she was more beautiful than the stars on TV."

"What a pity." "As for the cause of death, I remember it was a terminal illness."

"Oh, are you leaving? Well, do you have any plans to buy insurance recently?"

…………

"Uesugi-san..."

An elite-dressed white-collar worker thought for a while.

"Who is it? I don't know him."

"I said you, if you suddenly come over and ask such strange things, you should stop it at least. Please go out and don't disturb my work!"

…………

"I know what Uesugi said."

Said a man wearing a suit with the words "such and such a stevedoring company" written on the chest.

He said hello to his companions, walked to the shade of the tree, took the mineral water from Lu Mingfei, and his eyes lit up.

"Ha, it's still iced, that's a big help!"

"Thanks so much man!"

He drank all the mineral water in one gulp, then exhaled loudly and said, "I'm really alive."

He knelt down and lit a cigarette.

"Uesugi-san is a very good person."

"I remember it was a rainy day. It was fine in the morning, but it started to rain heavily in the afternoon. I thought it was really doomed now. I didn't bring an umbrella, and I would be soaked in the rain."

"Maybe she noticed my embarrassment. Uesugi-san actually wanted to lend me her umbrella. It's really strange. Tell me, if she lends her umbrella to me, how can she get home by herself?"

"As a man, of course I refused, but later, Uesugi-san ran out of school in the rain. Fortunately, there was a car waiting for her, otherwise Uesugi-san would have to ask for leave again."

The man laughed hahaha.

"I don't know who she lent the umbrella to, but as expected, Uesugi-san is a very good person."

"Tell me, what happened next?"

The man scratched his head and smoked until it almost burned his hands, then threw it away.

Take a long breath.

"I think it must have been done by that guy Saito!"

"Saito?"

Lu Mingfei was surprised, he didn't expect to hear this person.

"Yeah! That's him!"

The man had a terrible expression.

"Everyone was deceived by that guy Saito!"

"He."

"He's just a bad guy!"

"Do you have any basis for saying that?"

"Basis! What basis do you want!"

The man yelled rudely.

"It must be intuition! Manly intuition or something!"

"Try to think about it."

"A person who laughs all day long, is kind to everyone, never loses his temper, and has a ridiculously perfect personality."

"It would be strange if there is no problem!"

Lu Mingfei was a little helpless.

Listen, what kind of excuse is this? It doesn’t hold water at all.

"Besides, Uesugi-san just passed away, and within a few days, that guy Saito also died."

"Is it really such a coincidence?"

"I don't believe it."

The man pouted.

"Let me tell you, maybe that guy Saito committed suicide out of fear of crime."

"Or maybe he's not dead at all."

"I heard that Saito guy has a very impressive background."

"It should be easy to forge a death certificate or something."

"Then make a new identity. Also, isn't technology very advanced? With plastic surgery and other technologies, it would be very simple for Saito to live with a new identity."

"I've finally seen it through."

The man said bitterly.

"In this society, as long as you have money, there is nothing you can't do!"

Lu Mingfei didn't say anything, he was just lost in thought.

Forging a death certificate?

Saito, Saito, Saito.

No wonder this last name sounds familiar, as if I’ve heard it somewhere.

He remembered that there was a samurai family in the association, probably named Saito.

Samurai?

Although most people think of onmyoji, monks, and mikos when they think of exorcists.

But in fact, there are many categories of spirit removers.

Such as psychics, swordsmen, and samurai.

In fact, samurai and swordsmen belong to the same category of people. Swordsmen can belong to the category of samurai, but not all samurai are swordsmen. In short, it can be understood that swordsmen are samurai who specialize in a certain field.

…………

There was one last person on the list, who made an appointment with Lu Mingfei to meet at a couple's coffee shop.

The layout of the coffee house is very special, with small cubicles providing great privacy.

Yoshida arrived five minutes before the appointed time.

Lu Mingfei recognized him at a glance. Although Yoshida had changed a lot eight years later, he was still the same height. He was small, like some kind of small animal.

Yoshida was wearing a mask and a brown knitted hat. After entering the coffee shop, she seemed to be looking around troubledly. She probably found Lu Mingfei. She walked over and stood two meters away from Lu Mingfei and bowed.

"Hello, is this Lu Sang who made the appointment on the phone?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I still want to confirm."

Kira said and bowed again.

"Everything you said on the phone is true."

"Really?"

"You saw the ghost of Uesugi-san."

…………

The cappuccino was placed on the table in front of Kira, and the latte art was very beautiful, consisting of two hearts strung together, which was quite in line with the theme of this coffee house.

"Speaking of it, it's really surprising."

Lu Mingfei was the first to break the silence and stir up the topic.

"You actually asked directly on the phone if you saw a ghost."

"Do you know us well?"

Miss Kira shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know whether I should call you superpowers or something else."

"However, after so many years, someone suddenly called and said they wanted to investigate Uesugi-san. This is the only thing I could think of."

"To explain why, it's because Uesugi-san has done something similar before."

"Something like that?"

"You mean, you saw a ghost?"

"Um."

Miss Kira nodded slightly.

She began to tell her story.

Kira's family background is not good. Except for the nutritious lunch provided by the school, she can't eat enough when she gets home. Due to malnutrition, her hair is withered and yellow, and she is also very short. She is obviously a junior high school student, and her body shape looks like the same. Just like a primary school student, she is often given nicknames like "little one" and "little cucumber".

Also because of her poor family background, she could not afford club activities, and she had no common topics with her classmates. The girls in the class gathered together to chat about popular celebrities or anime, and she could only huddle in a corner and read a book.

Days like this are very lonely, especially when you go home alone and watch many of your peers talking and laughing together. Many nights, Kira hides herself in the quilt and cries secretly, but she tells herself that she must work hard, little Kira. If you study, you will definitely become a powerful adult in the future.

Other people's youth, other people's fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years old, is colorful, full of sunshine, and perhaps beautiful love.

But Ji Liang's youth was black and white. Apart from working and studying, he was hungry and poor.

If it weren't for Uesugi-san, without her, Kira doesn't know what he would be like.

It was raining heavily that day, and someone in the class was complaining loudly because he forgot to bring an umbrella. Kira silently held her little broken umbrella. It was really broken, off-line, and rusty. When it was opened, it would make a terrible sound, as if it would fall immediately. Like dying.

There was a rain curtain in front of her. She was holding a small broken umbrella. The students around her quickly looked over and saw a little girl holding a broken umbrella. She looked very funny. Someone burst out laughing. The laughter seemed to be contagious. The more people laugh.

Kira lowered his head.

She heard the whispers of her classmates without lowering her voice, as if they were being spoken to her intentionally.

"Look at that umbrella, it's so funny."

"It's strange why people still use this kind of umbrella."

"I know, that guy is probably little Yoshida. I heard that she secretly keeps nutritious lunches and takes them home to eat."

"Your information is out of date. I heard that that guy secretly collects other people's leftover nutritious lunches."

"Hey! Isn't that a beggar?"

"It's so dirty!"

"Really, why do we have to go to school with a guy like this."

"Maybe she will steal money."

"No way!"

"Who knows, some people won't be surprised at anything they do."

Yoshida wants to leave here quickly.

She walked into the rain.

In just a moment, the umbrella broke with a crash.

Yoshida stood there blankly.

Suddenly someone pulled her hard, and Yoshida staggered back under the eaves.

No one was laughing or whispering.

What is this?

Yoshida lowered his head and saw a beautiful hand.

And red sleeves. Not a school uniform.

Is it a teacher?

No, no, this dress.

It’s Uesugi-san.

[It was so dangerous, Yoshida-san almost got wet. 】

She saw the words written by Uesugi-san.

The handwriting is as beautiful as her smile.

【If you don't mind, please use my umbrella. 】

She forced the umbrella into Yoshida's hand. .

【So, goodbye. 】

By the time Yoshida reacted and chased after him, Uesugi-san had already rushed into the rain.

Yoshida didn't care about getting wet and didn't have time to open his umbrella. He ran after the figure in the red miko uniform in the heavy rain.

But when she left the school, all she saw was Uesugi-san getting into a car.

The car started quickly.

As Yoshida stood there, passers-by looked at her one after another. They were probably wondering what was wrong with this girl. She obviously had an umbrella in her hand, so why didn't she open it and instead she was soaked in the rain?

Kira looked at the direction the car was leaving, opened his mouth, raindrops poured into his mouth crazily, it was cold and a little salty.

I haven't had time yet... to say thank you.

For Kira's black and white youth, the existence of Uesugi-san was the only light.

After the rainy day, their interactions became more frequent.

But as for friends, Kira never felt that she and Uesugi-san were friends. She knew that she was not worthy of them.

At first, it was because of returning the umbrella, but Uesugi-san said "next time, next time" and agreed to wait until it rains.

But it finally rained, and Uesugi-san asked for leave again.

So the matter of returning the umbrella was dropped.

Occasionally, Uesugi-san would bring an extra lunchbox and share it with Kira.

Probably she also heard about Kira, so she used this method to protect the poor girl's precious self-esteem.

It was also with the help of Uesugi classmates that Kira joined the literary club and read many valuable books. Otherwise, she would not have been able to successfully enter college just by relying on the knowledge in the classroom.

However, few people know about their relationship.

Because Uesugi-san always says.

【If you get too close to me, you will become unfortunate. 】

Of course Kira wouldn't care, but Uesugi-san was surprisingly serious. She deliberately controlled the distance between herself and others, even with Kira.

Will luck really be affected?

Kira thought.

Until one day, something strange happened.

Kira woke up early in the morning, listless. When he was brushing his teeth, he was shocked by his haggard look in the mirror.

But she only thought that she was like this because she didn't sleep well at night.

But when she saw Uesugi-san, she asked Kira seriously if she had been to any bad places in the past few days.

"Bad place?"

[For example, a cemetery, a funeral, or a death scene. 】

Kira thought for a moment and shook his head.

She had no memory of ever visiting these places.

[So, did you get any special items? 】

[If you get something new, tell me everything. 】

Because Uesugi-san looked very serious, Kira was also very concerned about it. She tried to remember it, and suddenly she let out an oh.

"Teaching aids."

It turned out that Kira was on his way home the day before yesterday and found an old woman selling used books. The price was very cheap and there were some tutoring books that could be used for homework, so Kira bought them.

【This is it! 】

Uesugi-san said seriously.

[I will go to your house after school. Those things must be solved as soon as possible. 】

Kira was stunned, as if he had just reacted, and was a little scared.

"Could that thing you're talking about be..."

Uesugi-san didn't explain, he just said.

"You'll know then."

Kira was absent-minded that day. He finally made it to the end of school. He met up with Uesugi's classmate on the way and the two of them went home together. She asked Kira to point out where she bought the used book the day before yesterday. Kira pointed to it. It was under a big locust tree. , Uesugi-san walked over and looked around, his expression very solemn.

Kira asked her worriedly.

"Did you find anything?"

Uesugi-san nodded but didn't say much.

After arriving home, Kira carefully took out the teaching aids and handed them to Uesugi-san.

She could never imagine what happened next.

This scene was forever imprinted in her mind, and she would never forget it until her death.

It was obviously just an ordinary teaching aid, and she was still taking notes in it these days. But once it was handed over to Uesugi-san and fell into her hands, those books made a sound like a baby crying, so sharp that Kira couldn't help but cry. He covered his ears, feeling upset, and his eyes went black.

She vaguely saw a burst of black smoke rising from the teaching aids, and the smoke formed a distorted human face. It was a resentful girl, with her mouth wide open as she rushed towards Uesugi.

Just when Kira was about to remind Uesugi-san to be careful, she suddenly fell unconscious.

Kira only remembered seeing Uesugi-san's eyes turning pure white before he finally lost consciousness.

Then nothing is known.

When I woke up, I was at home. My mother said that the good-looking female classmate had left and left a letter for Kira.

Uesugi-san briefly explained the situation in the letter.

There are spirit removers and monsters. Kira didn't discover this real world hidden under daily life until today.

That's why she asked Lu Mingfei if he had seen the ghost of Uesugi classmate as soon as he came to her door.

"I see."

Lu Mingfei said.

"I probably know about you and Uesugi-san."

"So, about her death."

"Do you have any special information?"

Miss Kira sighed.

"Actually, I have advised her many times."

"Don't trust others too easily."

"But Uesugi never took it to heart."

She muttered a few words to herself, and then asked Lu Mingfei.

"Uesugi, are you okay now?"

Lu Mingfei thought of the sleeping girl in the coffin.

"Not very good."

"Because of some things, she couldn't die."

"This way, there is no way to be reborn."

Lu Mingfei noticed that Ji Liang was pinching her thigh hard, as if she was making a struggling decision.

In an instant, her whole body relaxed.

"Actually, I saw it."

Kira raised his head, his eyes filled with fear.

"It's Fujiwara."

"That day, he was the one who found Uesugi-san in the club activity room."

"I still remember that day, Uesugi-san said she felt a little uncomfortable, as if something bad was about to happen, and reminded me to be careful."

"Probably, she thought I was the one in danger."

Kira shook his head silently.

"No, it's not."

"The really dangerous person is herself."

What happened next was the same as what Lu Mingfei knew.

There was a fire in the club classroom, news of the girl's death, and later Saito's death.

Only from Ji Liang, Lu Mingfei got new clues, and now, the truth has almost been revealed.

After walking out of the coffee shop, Lu Mingfei and Miss Kira said goodbye, and she bowed deeply to Lu Mingfei.

"Uesugi-kun, I leave her affairs to you."

Kira turned around and left alone.

Although there was no explanation, Lu Mingfei could tell that Ji Liang was under considerable pressure by telling him this information.

Perhaps after discovering that Uesugi-san was dead, this little girl also worked hard and tried to use her power to investigate the truth.

It was during this process that she encountered some painful things.

Lu Mingfei discovered a curse on Ji Liang.

It makes people have nightmares all the time, and has some other effects. He couldn't tell it for a while. However, he knew that Kira was probably hiding because of this curse. When he finally told the truth, he had to endure a huge inner torment.

Lu Mingfei's onmyoji was very crude and he couldn't break the curse.

But it doesn't matter, he can't do it, there are many monsters who can.

The shadow of the street lamp stretched and merged into his shadow.

Lu Mingfei heard someone say in his ear.

"Young Master, please give me your orders."

There was a trace of breath lingering between Lu Mingfei's fingers.

"Find this person and lift the curse on her."

"yes."

The shadow disappeared in the direction of Kira.

Lu Mingfei's phone rang, it was Abe Xiu.

"Lu Jun, you have lived up to your mission."

"Has it been found out?"

"Yes, he is from the Saito family."

"Saito, I understand."

"Haha, it sounds like Mr. Lu had expected this."

"I have something else to do, so I'll hang up now."

Listening to the repeated busy tone, Abexiu's narrowed eyes flashed with a thoughtful look, which soon disappeared.

The fox in his arms trembled.

It suddenly felt so cold just now.

Abexiu gently stroked the fox's fur.

"It looks like someone is going to die."

"Interesting."

…………

Since it was someone from the Saito family who deleted Eriki's file, that means the girl's death was not solely the result of Saito-sensei.

very good.

Then, one person chooses a group.

Lu Mingfei submitted a submission to the Soul Exterminator Association.

Suddenly, a stone stirred up a thousand waves.

As long as they were in the circle of spirit removers, when they received the news, they were all shocked and speechless.

How long?

One person picks a group. In today's peaceful era, such an exaggerated thing has not happened for a long time.

This is the largest death match in the association. One person initiates it. There is no limit to the number of challengers, but they cannot refuse. In the death match under the fairness of the association, the winner can put forward conditions, and the other party must implement them.

The young master of the Lu family challenges the entire Saito family.

The ancient battlefield three days later.

Till death.