“So you guys locked him up.”

 “That’s right.”

 Takashi Kobayashi said calmly, “I cannot let that jerk take advantage of our family over his whole life, so I imprisoned him.”

 What happened to him after he was locked up? Takashi Kobayashi did not mention it, but Kimura Kazuki knew that it was impossible for Takashi Kobayashi to support Daisuke Kojima forever. It would probably be Daisuke Kojima’s funeral when the public stopped caring about his disappearance.

 This was a warning directed to me as well. Kimura Kazuki chuckled quietly at that realization.

 If he was able to imprison Daisuke Kojima, naturally he would be able to lock him up too. Yet, it was probably not Takashi Kobayashi’s intention to do so. From his tone, he was forced into a dead end by Daisuke Kojima.

 In the end, it was Daisuke Kojima’s own actions that had endangered himself and others. Even if Daisuke Kojima were to promise Takashi Kobayashi that he would never extort anyone anymore, it was very unlikely for Takashi Kobayashi to set Daisuke Kojima free.

 “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” Kimura Kazuki spoke composedly.

 When Takashi Kobayashi heard this, his impression of Kimura Kazuki improved. It was due to the fact that he did not detect agitation, uneasiness and fear from Kimura Kazuki’s face. Isn’t this guy scared at all?

 They were in the mountains, and the villagers had surrounded the place. Furthermore, Taisei and the others were eyeing Kimura Kazuki with resentment. It was clear that if he were to give the green light, they would immediately pin Kimura Kazuki down.

 However, not even a hint of nervousness was detected on Kimura Kazuki’s face.

 “I’ve heard that there are ghosts on Kanayama. I came up the mountain to investigate the ghosts.” All of a sudden, Takashi Kobayashi recalled the first thing that Kimura Kazuki had said on their first encounter.

 In a blink of an eye, Takashi Kobayashi’s body stiffened. He glanced at Kimura Kazuki suspiciously. His gaze then fell on the wooden sword that Kimura Kazuki was carrying on his waist. It was unmistakably made by an expert craftsman. He could tell because his son ran a craft shop, and the shop mostly carried wooden crafts.

 Therefore, when he met Kimura Kazuki for the first time, he had paid little attention to this wooden sword on Kimura Kazuki’s waist.

 Now that he thought about it… Kimura Kazuki might be someone extraordinary.

 Yet, Kimura Kazuki was different from the other elderly people. Normally, most individuals would rather believe that ghosts exist than not. Furthermore, the older they get, the more superstitious they became. However, Takashi Kobayashi did not believe in superstitions, he only believed in what his eyes told him.

 He had never ran into any specters or wraiths all his life, nor bumped into any unexplainable events.

 Thus, after thinking it through, he discarded the idea. Maybe this young man called Kimura was just a daring young man. It was not unusual to see this type of people, after all, many junior high school students and high school students were accurate representations of “courage derived from ignorance”.

 The younger they were, the less they value life. In spite of that, the previous doubt in Takashi Kobayashi’s mind haunted him. He did not say it, but it gave him goosebumps.

 Both of them soon came into a room on the mountainside. The rooms around the mountainside were built in an orderly fashion. If one were to look at it from the front, the rooms on the left and right were lined up symmetrically. Even though the rooms were simple in design, there were elaborate carvings on every entrance. The carvings were covered in dust, but they were still pleasing to look at.

 It was apparent that the aristocrats from the olden days had put in effort to make sure that their recreation buildings were as comfortable as possible. One may also argue that since it was a place for them to have fun, they naturally had to make it as comfortable as possible.

 The lean and tall villager called Taisei went inside the first room. With a gentle smile, he addressed the young man that was eating while seated tenderly. “Don’t worry, after the rescue team leaves, we will let you out. You don’t have to worry about what we will do to you. If we don’t care about you, would we still bring food for you? When all the commotion fades away after a few days, we will let you go.

 Kimura Kazuki had always pictured Daisuke Kojima as someone with an unpleasant look. He was surprised when he saw that Daisuke Kojima, the man who was eating while seated, would look so fair and civilized. Even though his clothes were slightly stained, he had the aura of a scholar. Thinking back on what this person had done, it was evident that it was impossible to judge a book by its cover.

 Even though according to the law, the crime that Tomohito Kobayashi had committed could be categorized as manslaughter, he still needed to be legally responsible for his actions. Even if the victim’s parents had agreed to resolve it privately, it was not in line with the rules. However, Daisuke Kojima had taken advantage of this situation to carry out extortion, which was even more vile in nature. Thus, even if Daisuke Kojima did give off a pleasant air, Kimura Kazuki could not bring himself to like this person.

 Daisuke Kojima was undeniably very hungry. Due to the presence of the rescue team, Takashi Kobayashi had only sent one meal per day for the past two days. Therefore, Daisuke Kojima would devour his food quickly and urgently. After gobbling down half of his meal, a thought occurred to him and he swallowed the food in his mouth. His pale face and tired eyes were filled with anger, with a hint of pleading that was buried deep down. “How long are you going to keep me confined? When are you letting me out?”

 To which the tall and skinny villager beamingly replied, “We’ll talk about it after the police leave.” He had gotten used to Daisuke Kojima’s questions. The first day, Daisuke Kojima was still tenacious, so he had argued vigorously even in confinement. Yet, as time went by, Daisuke Kojima had clearly tasted fear, and he was frightened.

 As a matter of fact, from the first day of his confinement, Daisuke Kojima had known that it was over for him, and deep down, he was clouded with regret.

 Yet, it was too late to say anything now, but he had not given up hope. This was because he knew that the villagers of Kobayashi Village dared not commit murder, otherwise why would they still send him food every day, if they were keen on killing him? They could have left him to his own devices and let him dig his own grave.

 Therefore, every time Takashi Kobayashi came over, Daisuke Kojima would beg them to let him go. However, this guy called Taisei Kobayashi would always brush him off, making him furious, but he dared not express it blatantly.

 Yet this time, Daisuke Kojima was clearly shrouded in fear. He did not pester Taisei Kobayashi to let him go, instead he asked quietly, “Could you put me somewhere else?”

 Taisei Kobayashi thought that Daisuke Kojima was up to something, so he shook his head with a smile. “Sorry, this is the safest hideout.”

 “Seriously, put me elsewhere.” Daisuke Kojima took a deep breath before continuing, “There are monsters here.”

 “I know.” Taisei Kobayashi nodded. “The monster is deep in the mountains. But don’t you worry, it is trapped by us, it can’t escape.”

 Noticing that Taisei Kobayashi was making fun of him, Daisuke Kojima knew that he obviously did not believe him. He balled his hands into fists and whispered, “It’s true, I hear a chewing sound every single day. It’s really creepy.”

 Taisei Kobayashi sneered, “Oh? You hear it every day? When?”

 “How do I even know when?!” Daisuke Kojima retorted furiously. “My phone was confiscated by you! I don’t even know the time! Besides, it’s so dark here, I can’t tell how much time has passed!”

 Scrunch, scrunch…

 When Taisei Kobayashi was about to reply, a soft but crisp chewing sound came from the depth of the cave. It was like a sound that someone would make when chewing bones. At that moment, Taisei Kobayashi’s hair stood on end.