172: Chapter 172 The First Ghost Encountered in Japan

After a long flight, the plane finally landed in Tokyo.

The pickup staff drove Robert's family to a two-story Japanese-style detached house located in Nerima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis.

This residential area was very quiet, with no high-rise buildings in the vicinity.

Qin Ming pushed open the car door, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, his gaze swept over the courtyard wall and landed directly on the old house across the street.

It was an ordinary-looking two-story Japanese residence.

But in Qin Ming's perception, the house looked completely different.

A black resentment so dense it almost dripped like ink enveloped the entire house like an inverted hemispherical dome.

A continuous stream of negative energy was churning and shrieking inside.

On the nameplate beside the door, two characters were written in black paint: Saeki.

Qin Ming understood instantly.

ju-on. The lair of Kayako and Toshio.

He had just gotten off the plane and hadn't even recovered from jet lag, yet the system was already serving him a massive Point Gift Pack on a silver platter.

"Kids, put the luggage away." Robert laboriously dragged two large suitcases out of the trunk. "I have to rush to the branch office immediately. There's an emergency meeting, and today's branch handover is very important."

Robert pushed the suitcases into the entryway, then turned and crouched down to look at Qin Ming and Emma, his tone sounding like a worried old mother. "I expect to be back by evening, so just stay at home.

I saw a park nearby on our way here; you can go play there, but whatever you do, don't wander too far, understand?"

"Got it, Daddy," Emma said, looking up.

"Go ahead," Qin Ming nodded.

Robert rubbed their hair with satisfaction, hurriedly climbed into the shuttle car, and drove away.

As soon as the taillights disappeared at the end of the street, Qin Ming and Emma exchanged a glance.

"Let's go." Without hesitation, Qin Ming turned and headed straight for the Saeki house across the street.

Emma followed behind, skipping along, as the two of them arrived at the half-open iron gate of the Saeki residence.

A high school girl wearing a deep blue sailor uniform was standing at the entrance.

She was tall, with proportions of roughly ten heads high, and was staring blankly at the second-floor window of the Saeki house as if her soul had been snatched away.

Tina Tamashiro

Qin Ming didn't even spare her a glance, leading Emma past her and pushing open the iron gate to walk into the yard.

The iron gate let out a piercing "creak" of friction.

The high school girl snapped back to her senses. Seeing the two foreign children who had already reached the front door, her face turned deathly pale in an instant.

"Wait!"

She shouted in anxious Japanese, rushing into the yard and spreading her arms to block Qin Ming. "No! It's dangerous inside! You can't go in!"

Qin Ming stopped and sized her up.

"Yesterday evening, four elementary school students went in to explore and never came out!" the girl gestured incoherently. "The police searched but found nothing. This place is not normal, really!"

Four elementary school students missing? Qin Ming ran through the plot in his head.

This didn't seem to be just ju-on; it felt more like the rebooted plotline of the Saeki house from Sadako vs. Kayako.

That was fine. The resentment in a highly ominous place would be purer, and the points would be more bountiful.

"Move aside," Qin Ming said calmly.

"Don't you understand?" The girl was on the verge of tears, but looking at the two stubborn children, her innate sense of responsibility prevented her from simply turning and running away.

She gritted her teeth and added in broken English, "My name is Takagi Suzuka. I live right here. Are you foreigners? If you're lost, I can take you to the police."

"We're here on vacation from America." Qin Ming bypassed Takagi Suzuka and reached out to push open the dusty wooden door.

A musty smell of a place that hadn't seen sunlight for years and a bone-chilling cold instantly hit them.

Seeing she couldn't stop them, Takagi Suzuka gritted her teeth and followed them in, bracing herself.

She thought that as soon as these two children saw the decay inside and got bored, she could immediately drag them out.

The entryway was very dark.

As soon as Emma stepped into the house, she stared straight at the corner of the stairs leading to the second floor.

Crouching there was a deathly pale boy wearing only a pair of underwear: Toshio.

The boy's pitch-black eyes stared intensely at the intruders, and a strange whimper, similar to a cat's meow, escaped his mouth.

"Wow." Emma's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had seen an incredibly novel toy.

Without hesitation, she let go of Qin Ming's hand and ran up the wooden stairs toward the second floor with a series of thuds.

Toshio seemed not to expect the prey to deliver itself to him. He froze for a moment before turning and crawling into the depths of the hallway.

Standing in the entryway, Takagi Suzuka didn't see Toshio on the stairs at all; she only saw the little girl suddenly run upstairs in excitement, which scared her so much she froze completely.

"Quick, call her down!" Takagi Suzuka grabbed Qin Ming's arm.

Qin Ming didn't move; he looked at Takagi Suzuka.

Around the high school girl's shoulders and neck, a layer of black mist, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, was swirling.

This was the sign of being haunted by the Earthbound Spirits of the Saeki house.

As long as one stepped into this house or was targeted by the things inside, this mist would cling to the soul like a maggot on a bone.

"Stretch out your hand," Qin Ming said, his tone brook no argument.

"Eh?" Takagi Suzuka was taken aback.

The air pressure in the house was so low she could hardly breathe, and fear was eroding her sanity.

Her legs gave out, and she slumped onto the dusty floor.

"I said, stretch out your hand," Qin Ming repeated.

Takagi Suzuka tremblingly extended her right hand.

Qin Ming grabbed her wrist.

*Buzz—*

An extremely subtle faint golden light flashed across Qin Ming's palm and surged directly into Takagi Suzuka's body.

The black resentment perched on her shoulders was like snow meeting boiling water; without even a chance to struggle, it let out a sharp "sizzle" and evaporated completely without a trace.

The curse was broken.

Takagi Suzuka felt an indescribable warmth spread from her wrist.

The bone-chilling cold, as if she were soaked in ice water, vanished instantly, replaced by a profound sense of security.

His hand is so warm.

Takagi Suzuka stared blankly at the boy in front of her, her mind filled with nothing but that thought.

No, he's way too young for me. Oh my, what am I thinking?

"There," Qin Ming released her hand and stood up straight.

"This... is it done?" Takagi Suzuka touched her shoulder. Her breathing was smooth, and the surroundings didn't seem as oppressive anymore.

"Yeah," Qin Ming didn't bother to explain.

Just then, the noise coming from the second floor was far more violent than Takagi Suzuka had imagined.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

It definitely wasn't the sound of a normal child playing, but a series of extremely dull, solid thuds against flesh, like someone hitting a wet sandbag with a baseball bat.

*Bang!*

Light footsteps echoed on the stairs.

Emma came jogging down.

"So boring." Emma walked to Qin Ming's side and pouted with dissatisfaction, her face full of disdain.

"What's wrong?" Qin Ming looked at her.

"That flour-covered idiot brat tried to grab my ankle just now." Emma shook her little foot. "I only gave him a dozen slaps and hit him a few times, and then he started acting like a sore loser."

Emma crossed her arms, very indignant. "He actually called for his parents! He couldn't win, so he called for someone big. How shameless."

Sitting on the floor, Takagi Suzuka's brain completely stalled as she listened to these illogical words.

A dozen slaps? Calling for parents? Are these lines a little girl should be saying?

Before Takagi Suzuka could react.

From the shadows deep within the stairs came a sound that made one's scalp tingle.

"Urgh... Urgh... Urgh..."