Chapter 584 Falling off a cliff and hanging outside belongs to the Shōnen manga series
"Hey, Heiji, hello!" He shouted several times but failed to stop the figure in front of him. Toyama and Ye wiped the rain from their faces. , complained, "Where did I see people? Really..."
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the muddy ground was about to be washed away into a swamp. On the ground, fortunately before going out, Shimabukuro Kimie kindly provided them with rubber shoes for walking in the rain, otherwise they would have been covered in mud and water below the knees.
In the pouring rain, the umbrella no longer provided any protection. She had no choice but to put on the jacket she had brought with her just in case to act as a raincoat, and continued to trek behind Hattori Heiji with difficulty.
"I feel that the figure is, Naoko Kuroe." Heiji Hattori, who wiped away the rain that blocked his vision and could not find the figure in the heavy rain that affected his vision, stopped and explained. One sentence, "Her hairstyle is very unique. I have never seen anyone like it on the island."
He turned his head, glanced at Toyama Kazuye, who was wrapped in a black coat and was also wet, and said in a serious tone: "I suspect that the prisoner is deliberately connecting the victim with the dugong arrow."
"...What do you mean?" Yuan Shan and Ye patted their chests subconsciously.
Her dugong arrow has been kept by her side ever since she got it. After visiting the goddess at the shrine and being threatened by the old lady that she would be punished by heaven if she missed the arrow, She felt as if she was facing a formidable enemy and put the arrow directly inside her coat, not daring to show any signs of neglect.
This is like seeing a curse or something that will happen if you don’t repost it. You all know the truth. People can’t be superstitious. When encountering such unlucky things, they will still want to repost it. It’s not worth the trouble. One less thing.
It has to be said that the design of Dugong Arrow really captures human nature and is not evil.
"Just after extracting the arrow, but before getting it, Hisumi Ebihara died. Don't you think it's too coincidental?" Hattori Heiji straightened his mouth. After arriving on the island, he came into contact with several people related to Kadori Saori. People flashed before his eyes, "The same is true for the missing client. Not long after she lost the arrow, she disappeared after leaving the island... She was so scared that she sent me a letter of trust, I don't I think she would really dare to leave the island alone.”
If she is afraid of the curse brought by the arrow, shouldn’t Saori Kadari stay on the island, participate in the Dugong Festival, and try her best to get another one. New arrows?
Although her disappearance can be understood as the result of an emotional breakdown, when taken into consideration, there are still too many unreasonable things.
Thinking of the news he got earlier at the shrine, about the fact that the drawing of arrows was not really a random draw, but Shimabukuro Yakoto alone decided what to write, this once again deepened his suspicions. .
Whether it is the disappearance of Karasawa or the death of Hisumi Ebihara, they are all related to this woodland with complex terrain and it seems to be particularly easy to get lost. Many residents on the island said that they do not dare to enter and exit casually. , will only move in some locations where good roads have been opened up.
Shimabukuro Kimie is an exception who is easy to get in and out, and can easily identify the direction in the forest...
"So, follow me." Seeing Toyama and Ye's faces turn pale after being told , Hattori Heiji stretched out his hand, "Don't leave my sight."
No matter why they added Kazuha to the list, if the murderer really tried to use the reason of losing the damaged arrow , to cover up the truth of the death, then Heye might also become the target of the murderer.
Unexpectedly, after analyzing the case for a while, Toyama Kazuye heard such a turning point. He looked blankly at the palm stretched out in front of him, and large drops of rain hit the opponent's palm, and followed the palm. The lines snaked down, giving this hand that she was very familiar with an indescribable sense of strangeness.
"Okay..." She lowered her head and grabbed his hand, not daring to look at his face a second time.
Even the wet and cold rain could not extinguish the heat rising on her face. Yuanshan and Ye were afraid that if they didn't lower their heads quickly, their excessively flushed complexion would be exposed.
Because of this, she suddenly discovered that there was a red mark on the root of the tree at her feet.
"Heiji, look at this." She pointed at the mark that was washed away by the rain but became increasingly red. "What does this symbol mean? It looks like..."
"...Mermaid's Tomb?" Hattori Heiji crouched down and squinted for a while to distinguish the crooked handwriting, and soon found a deeply imprinted arrow underneath.
Is this a beacon left by someone?
————
“Boom——”
Rolling thunder surged in the dark clouds. Shimabukuro Kimie was awakened from his meditation, blinked his eyes, and retracted his gaze. View of the mountains behind.
With the suggestions from the Phantom Thieves and her own inspection, there should be nothing wrong with the mechanism she has set up. She should be more confident.
Telling herself this, she took a deep breath, arranged her black suit, and walked out of the room.
She doesn't need to do anything more, her revenge is about to come to an end.
And the end of her preparations for these will come soon.
After Shimabukuro Kimeya "dies", she will play the role of Shimabukuro Yakoto wholeheartedly, and faithfully carry out the Shimabukuro family's mission, which is also a sad mission.
When she really grows old, the miserable shackles of the Shimabukuro family will also come to an end.
The goddess who lived to be 200 years old must have done enough for this island, right?
But why did the confusion and depression in her heart not diminish at all?
The dejected Shimabukuro Kimie looked at the waterfall under the eaves, dazed for a while, then suddenly remembered something and took out a small bag from his pocket.
This is what Asai Narumi left behind after communicating with her on how to arrange the death of Naoko Kuroe.
“What is this, a life-saving method in an emergency?” Shimabukuro Kime, who took the small bag and found a note inside, was dumbfounded. She didn’t understand this collaborator. The meaning of this is handed over at this time.
This is an attempt to conceal her true identity. It is not a written test. What can a small piece of paper influence?
"If you feel confused, confused, and undecided, just open it and take a look." Knocking the fox mask on his face, Asai Shigeyuki looked at her with crooked eyes, smiling, with an inexplicable feeling of nostalgia and nostalgia in his expression. Understanding, "Just think of it as a little reward."
"Reward. For you, or for me?" Shimabukuro Kimie, who didn't quite understand what he meant, tilted his head.
She didn’t understand what these Phantom Thieves guys wanted from her, and what benefits they could get from this deal - after all, no matter how you looked at it, it was just her getting assistance unilaterally, and they Can't seem to get anything.
But Asai Chengmi insisted that this was not a well-intentioned charity act, but -
"Everyone gets what he needs." Before turning around and swaying his flaming Haori, he disappeared. Asai replied, "So it is both what you need and what we need. Open it when it's time to open it, don't hesitate."
Lowering his head again and looking at the small cloth bag, Shimabukuro Kimie bit his lips and hesitantly untied the tight opening.
After killing Shou Mei, she took out this bag and put it away again, repeated many times, and it became a little fluffy when touched. It was almost time.
Taking out the thin note, she unfolded it. After seeing the powerful handwriting on it, her heart suddenly shrank and her pupils dilated slightly.
What does this mean...
————
"It seems, it's over there." Toyama Kazuha wiped the rain off his face again, looked at the direction pointed by the last mark, grabbed the branch beside him, and climbed to the top of the hillside with Hattori Heiji.
At the end of the first mark, they found the second mark indicating the direction, and just followed the mark all the way to find this hillside.
The forest in the heavy rain was more dangerous than imagined. No matter how careful they were, they fell twice in the humus layer where they could not see the situation below, and their progress was slower than expected.
Hattori Heiji panted as he climbed onto a high branch and climbed over the slope using his hands and feet, still thinking about the marks he had just seen.
As an island with a river system connected to the ocean, the people on the island should have more experience in preparing for disasters such as typhoons than just heavy rain.
What considerations did the person who made the mark have in choosing paint that is so strong and will not be eroded by rain?
Thinking about these thoughts, when he stood up straight again and looked at the road below, he saw a stumbling figure running down the slippery muddy ground, rolling and crawling. go.
"Miss Kuroe!" After seeing the distinctive ear-length short hair, Hattori Heiji started calling her name loudly without even thinking about it, "Don't go there, it's dangerous!"
In the flash of lightning, he saw the wooden sign "There is a cliff ahead" broken on one side, and saw the rainwater that had formed a stream flowing on the slope in front, and he only had time to shout out.
Is this what the person who wrote the mark wanted to achieve? Let Naoko Kuroe roll down the hillside without noticing and fall straight down...
Kuroe Naoko, who had already arrived at the bottom of the ramp, seemed to have heard his shout. She tried to turn her head in the direction of the sound, trying to control the speed of her feet while looking for the person who spoke. However, unexpectedly, It came suddenly at this time.
As Naoko Kuroe stepped on something, there was a "pop" and a faint sound of a mechanism being activated. A stone in a net bag fell from the treetops on the side.
As it pulled, the rope group above quickly tightened, and a rope was pulled up from the dead branches and leaves on the ground. The grass rope circled at high speed, like Like a dancing whip, it strangled Naoko Kuroe's neck from the front.
The next second, Kuroe Naoko's whole body was lifted up by the rope. The branches of the tree were used as the rope buckle of the pulley, and her throat was directly locked, and she was hung in the air.
This sudden acceleration, coupled with the gravity brought by the weight itself, almost instantly, Kuroe Naoko, whose spine was broken, stopped struggling, and her hands and feet fell down weakly, swinging up and down with the bounce of the branches.
The rainwater accumulated in the sporadic leaves on the tree crown bent with the force of the bending, and poured down on the hanging corpse below. Combined with the already heavy rainstorm, it formed a waterfall-like waterfall. water curtain.
Kuroe Naoko, dressed in a raincoat, is just like Karasawa hanging in the waterfall yesterday, like a mermaid stranded in the water.
Right in front of her toes, a dark and rough tombstone stood there.
The guy who wrote the mark was not lying. This is the unnamed tomb that is considered the Tomb of the Mermaid.
Naoko Kuroe was strangled to death just one step ahead of the destination she wanted to reach. She hung there with her eyes open, her head hanging low and tilted at an unnatural angle, as if she was repenting toward the grave.
“Ah——” In just a few seconds, Yuan Shan and Ye screamed uncontrollably when they saw a living person die in front of them.
Hattori Heiji, who witnessed the process of the trap taking effect, was also gasping for air. Looking at the shaking body in front of him, his body, which was already cold and numb in the rain, felt an unprecedented chill.
This is obviously not an indiscriminate attack. Without a very good understanding of Kuroe Naoko's height, it would be impossible to accurately design a knot that can accurately lock the pharynx.
No matter who set up this mechanism, this was an assassination with a very clear purpose.
The two people stared at this scene blankly. Before they could recover, after a dull but shocking thunder, the number of raindrops hitting them suddenly increased again. The rain pouring down from the sky was not so much raining. , it would be better to say that there is a hole in the water source above, and it is pouring down crazily.
"Heiji, be careful!" Toyama Kazuha turned his head, his face changed drastically, but he only had time to squeeze the hand holding Hattori Heiji.
The rolling torrent, mixed with branches, leaves and soil, surged down from behind, and suddenly swept the two people who were standing there holding on to the tree trunk down the hillside.
Wrapped in the huge power, Hattori Heiji reflexively grasped the palms of Toyama and Ye Xibai, and at the same time stretched out his hand, trying hard to grasp the fulcrum that could support the two people.
Ahead, there is a cliff ahead...!
The two people rolled awkwardly in the muddy water. Even though Hattori Heiji tried hard to stop them from sliding down, they were still pushed by the ruthless flood and passed over Naoko Kuroe's shaking body. They were alone and looked particularly special. The fragile grave head was pushed and fell from the top of the rock wall.
“Ah——”
“Wahaha!”
At the moment of falling, Hattori Heiji narrowly and dangerously caught the growth that grew on the slope of the cliff. A piece of dead wood, one hand holding on to the distant mountains and leaves, and the other hand holding on to the branch of the dead wood with all its strength, regardless of the pain of scratched fingertips.
The dark brown flash flood poured down from their heads towards the trees below, and the two of them happened to hang under the end of the cliff, narrowly avoiding the direct erosion of the flood. , hanging behind a mud-colored waterfall.
Even so, the rain that was still getting heavier and heavier did not make the situation any better.
The branches grasped by the hands are rough and rugged. Fortunately, they can provide enough friction in such slippery conditions.
The other hand holding Toyama Kazuha, because of the wet rain, even though Hattori Heiji tried his best to grasp it, he could feel that the other hand was sliding down a little bit, and sooner or later he would slip from it. out of his hand.
On the top of the cliff above, flash floods may trigger landslides at any time, making it impossible to use as an exit.
And below, the nearest tree to them was more than twenty meters away by visual inspection. If they fell down like this, it would be impossible to survive.
Hattori Heiji gritted his teeth and tried his best to support himself, feeling an unspeakable despair.
There is no way from heaven to the earth. No matter how you look at it, it seems that you can't find a way out this time.
If you want, try to adjust the position and posture of the fall, and try to find a landing point that can improve the chance of survival...
But before that, it seems that we should try to let He Ye Climb up a little, and at least hug her, so that you can have a chance to cushion the opponent's landing, and improve Kazuha's chances of survival...
Hattori Heiji is thinking hard about the plan, while Toyama Kazuha below, He raised his head blankly and looked at Hattori Heiji's dirty face covered in mud and water, but it seemed as if he could see traces of tears in the rain on his face.
How sad, and how determined...
"Let go, if you do this, the branches will soon be unable to hold up..." Feeling the weightless feeling under their feet, Yuan Shan and Ye worked hard to overcome their fear, said tremblingly.
"I'm thinking of a way, don't let go, don't think wildly!"
"Even if I don't let go, if the rain is so heavy, you won't be able to catch it in a few minutes..."< br>
“Shut up! I can do it, don’t underestimate others!”
"But if the branch breaks..."
"Then let's fall down together!"
Facing the rain and the falling muddy water above, Yuanshan and Ye tried their best to open their eyes. , looking at Hattori Heiji's face, he quickly thought of the arrow that he treasured so much and hidden in his arms. For the first time in his life, he was grateful for the sharpness of the dugong arrow, which had brought so much to her storage. Big trouble.
If its meaning is to prolong a person's life in a certain sense... then this moment is the time for it to play its role.
Making up his mind, Yuan Shan and Ye raised his hand with difficulty, groped for the arrow from his collar, and pulled it out in his hand.
"What are you doing!" Despite the influence of the rain, he wanted to observe Hattori Heiji below clearly. He noticed the movements of Toyama Kazuha, and the strength of his hand became stronger, "Don't move!"
But when I think of this kind of thing when I should least give up, this fool...!
To reduce one person's burden, if Heiji's physical strength is enough, he may try to lower the height of the fall along the rock wall, or find a way to find other fulcrums and climb back up.
In short, no matter what, there will always be more ways for one person to survive than for two people.
Take my share and live well, Heiji...
Toyama and Ye raised the sharp arrows in their hands.
Hattori Heiji watched her movements helplessly. He could no longer feel whether tears were pouring out of his eyes or whether rain was flowing into his eyes. He could only feel that his vision was blurry.
He Ye, this idiot... Even if he dies, he won't...!
"I'm sorry to disturb the separation between you two." A deep voice suddenly sounded above their heads, "I would like to ask, do you need a helping hand?"
How could there be anyone else in this place at this time?
Before the stunned Hattori Heiji could react, a red string, like a snake, deftly reached down from above, wrapped twice around his waist, and then extended downwards, wrapping around Toyama Kazuha's waist. waist.
By the way, he climbed out a little further and trapped the arrows in Yuanshan and Ye's hands.
Hattori Heiji opened his mouth slightly and raised his head blankly.
A white head poked out from above, its red eyes flashing with brightness.
“Forget it, because you scared the victim and caused him to lose his grip and fall or something, it wouldn’t look good.” Tang Ze, who was finally able to open his third eye, said with a smile. The voice of Yi continued, "No kidding. Hurry up, you two!"
He knew that jumping off a cliff and hanging outside, playing like you let go without beating me to death, and I won't let go until we die together, etc., was a shounen manga series, and no matter how the plot changed, you had to taste it.
Happy New Year everyone!
(End of this chapter)