Disqualification

/ is written at the beginning.

The book "The Tale of Yoshihara" is the legacy of a friend who is indifferent to relatives and has no heirs. The affairs after death are only handled by a group of friends. I don't know who to give the relics to, so they can only be sealed in the house before his death.

When the servant was cleaning the old house in Kyoto, he found this manuscript by accident, and after editing and publishing it, I will only say a few words here as a representative of his friend.

Undoubtedly, this book only depicts the fragmentary memories of Dazai-kun's long life, and readers can read it as an autobiography.

What is gratifying is that we can clearly realize from between the lines that the author himself did feel a little bit of happiness from this experience.

That's the only good news.

Showa first year June 6

——"The Story of Yoshihara. New Preface"/

Turning the page, one side of the new preface was left blank, and then six paintings were picked up, the third of which was only black and white, with tough brushstrokes, and those with painting skills could see that it was drawn with a pen, and the beauty was wearing a In the Shieha kimono, the fabric from the left front sleeve to the shoulder has not been unfolded, but it can be seen that the whole dress constitutes a lifelike painting. From the perspective of the painter, it seems to be a scene of small red flowers blooming.

She leans on the railing with both hands, as if she is leaning on the railing to look into the distance, but her face is half turned around, her expression is vivid and natural, her willow eyebrows are raised to say something to the painter, and her anger and laughter are frozen in an instant.

The last streets of Yoshiwara in the Taisho period are displayed in order from near to far, with tea houses row upon row, and on the top of one of the tea houses there is a person lying on his back, as if looking at a beautiful woman or a painter.

It was later proved that this was a sketch of a certain day in Yoshihara in 1916. The woman was the oiran of Kyogoku House at that time. Like most oirans, she bloomed briefly and then disappeared into the river of history.

The only thing left is a few paintings and a story based on her.

……

Four past sixteen in the afternoon.

Three pine trees, white stone rockery, Tomioka Yoshiyuki scanned the courtyard, he asked the servant for a hemp rope, measured the distance between the two midpoints, and then took a shovel to dig.

The servants were very puzzled to see Tomioka Yoshiyuki doing such a cheap job, and they gathered in a corner of the courtyard and pointed at him: "Let the servants do this kind of work."

"What is he digging?"

"I don't know, I heard Mr. Dazai ordered it."

Dazai's ability to grasp space is good. After half an hour, the tip of the shovel touched the sharp shell of the box, making a muffled sound. He quickened his hand movements, and after a while, he planed out a rectangular box.

The outside of the box is smooth and round, probably made of lacquered wood. It is more than half a meter long and no more than two fingers wide.

He couldn't help but judge: [There is only one ordinary item in the box, which is in the shape of a long strip. ] As for more he can not guess.

[Why Dazai-sensei wants me to take the box? ]

[What's in the box? ]

[What is he going to do? ]

Questions lingered in his mind, Yoshiyuki Tomioka was not a good expressive person, he would only keep the questions in his heart, but he was sure that during this trip to Yoshiwara, some changes did appear in Dazai.

He thought of the appearance Dazai taught them a few years ago, elegant, quiet, and always smiling, but when you touched his deep, dark eyes, you would suddenly shudder.

"Don't go exploring." He asked Saitu and Rinaki-sensei, and Saitu said, "As a man, as long as you see his present, his personality is enough, and you don't need to care about the past!"

Teacher Rinaki warned: "His past must be full of darkness."

Tomioka Yoshiyuki wondered: Will he be more miserable than himself?He shook his head immediately after this thought came up, it was inevitable, Mr. Dazai was like a spectator, a helpless spectator who could only smile.

This thought came to a head when he came to worship Sabito.

[He can see the trajectory of fate, but he is powerless to prevent the tragedy from happening. Even if he participates in it and tries to change it, he will only be bruised and bruised by the fate of doomed death. ]

[Smiling is a mockery of self, a mockery of fate, and a mask to isolate tragedy. ]

but……

Tomioka Yoshiyuki ran towards Yoshihara with the heavy wooden box in his arms, faster than the rickshaw driver.

[Why did his change come about? ]

……

57:[-] p.m.

Butterfly Ninja went to the area where street children gather again, and she also learned Dazai's way of thinking, assuming that the oni's attacks on people are purposeful, specifically looking for scum to attack, he must know what people including Tokugawa are doing. what.

[It is possible for her to appear next to the victim. ]

[Currently there are two types of victims, one is street children and the other is wandering women. ]

Besides that, she has other problems.

"When did the male guest die?" The ghosts and elves running around in the streets and alleys have obtained a lot of information, and there are even more wandering girls trapped in the grid.

"The chronological order of the abnormal deaths, and the way they died." Butterfly Ninja asked, "Is there anything else besides the burning and mutilated bodies?"

"Other?" The boy rolled his eyes. He is the most cunning kid on the street. When he saw Butterfly Ren coming alone, he gathered a group of little ghosts to rob her. Put on her special knife.

The thin blade brushed past the neck in the form of stabs, knee strikes, elbow strikes, the kid born in Yeluzi was no match for the skillful one, especially the skillful one was a doctor who knew where to hit the most pain.

In coercing humans, Tomioka Yoshiyong is far less skilled than Butterfly Ninja, and he is not even as ruthless as her.

"Can you tell me now?" Different from the toughness and childishness in front of Kanae, Butterfly couldn't help smiling, and deliberately put on a soft voice. What she learned from Dazai, the smiling mask all the time will bring people Sense of fear.

Sure enough, the child shrank his neck and said: "I said, I said, what reward will you give me..." After finishing speaking, the blade moved closer, and he could even feel the chill from the metal blade.

"The order of death is dismemberment, dismemberment, fire, fire, dismemberment, dismemberment." He said, "I don't remember the time, anyway, it started fifty days ago. The identity of the male guest."

"Some people are the first to find out after they die, so they bury them and treat them as missing. When family members come to ask, they say they haven't seen them."

[It's because I'm afraid of getting into trouble. ]

"Is there much left?" She continued to ask.

"It's the residue after being eaten, the dismembered corpse in your mouth."

"To be eaten?" He showed a ghostly look, "Do you want to say kill their evil spirits?"

Butterfly couldn't comment, she just smiled and said: "I suggest you hide it at night."

"I can only inquire for you." Guijiling said vigilantly, "How did they die, or where did they go before they died? You want to know these things, right?"

Butterfly nodded.

"And," she said, "I want to know about the victims of the street."

"Huh?" said the child, "Just ask Ishijiro directly." He said again, "Wait, Xiaozhi is serving you now, right?" He smiled maliciously, "Go ask her!"

"The lucky ones who are still alive after everything they've been through."

……

21:[-] p.m.

Dazai Osamu bought a total of two sets of painting tools, the two sides of the painting book, a set of watercolors, and various types of writing brushes. In addition, he carried a fountain pen with him.

When he went out, he carried a new unused picture book under his arm, and Luo Ji asked, "Why did you take it out?"

Dazai said, "Sketch from life."

"Huh?" Luo Ji said, "What is that?"

The red lanterns were lit up again, some big and some small. A tea house connected small red lanterns in a string and hung them on the top of the second floor. There are traditional Kyoto buildings everywhere in Yoshiwara.

Kyogoku House is the grandest and tallest building on this street.

Dazai led Yuhime, and they didn't go to the street after they came out from the main gate. Instead, they walked up the stairs on the side of the tea house one by one, and walked up to the third-floor platform, the apex of Yoshihara.

Luo Ji is stupid, noisy, and very good at acting. She restrained her temper and ran with Dazai for two days to the limit. Yesterday's experience told her that reasoning is not fun at all.

"Why did you bring me here?" She grabbed her sleeves with both hands and stomped her feet, even if she lost her temper, she looked pretty, "If you didn't tell me to take me to see something interesting, I wouldn't have changed into such an ugly dress Come out with you!" she said, "I've had enough, you hear me?"

"Of course I know." Dazai said, "Look, I just want to write down this scene and paint it when I get back. As long as you lean on the railing and look at Yoshiwara, I really want to draw this picture." He coaxed the child, "Go down immediately."

"Okay." Luo Ji reluctantly accepted.

"Do you like this place?" Dazai suddenly asked, "Do you like to see Yoshiwara from here?"

"What?" Fallen Girl asked.

"Superior, see everything in sight."

"Hey." She said, "I thought you wanted to say something, of course I don't like it! What's the big deal?"

[I don't like places that humans can easily go to. ]

She can look down on this land, from a higher and farther place, this is the quality bestowed on her by ghost blood, she is much more noble than human beings.

[So, let’s just turn you into ghosts together. ]

[After becoming a ghost, we can see the same scenery. ]

"Really." Dazai chuckled, "Okay, let's go down."

"I want to take you to see Hongfeng in Kiyomizu Temple."

……

"Out of Yoshihara?" Fallen Ji was stunned for a moment and then said, "No."

She refused decisively for two reasons. The first rule was that wandering girls should not leave Yoshiwara, especially the oiran. This rule did not bind her strongly, as she was not human at all.

The second item is the key.

[Master Wu Mi arranged me here. ]

She and the prostitute Taro are the last ones in Shangxian, and they have the shortest time to transform into ghosts. Unlike the first class Shangxian who can go out freely, they need to guard Hualiu Street. go out.

not to mention……

"What's there to see in Kyoto at night." She said in a disdainful tone, "Except for the night, it's the night. Is the Qingshui Temple open at night you said? Can you see the red maple when there is no light at all?"

She thought that these two questions alone could shatter Dazai's whims, but she didn't know that he shook his head and grabbed her left hand.

"Don't worry." He said softly, "Since I promised to take you there, everything is ready."

"An Xin." The familiar voice stepped on the drumbeat in her heart. For some reason, even the firm heart of rejection became loose. She really wanted to believe his words and go out with him.

"No one will know." Dazai lowered his voice, "Come with me, no one will know."

[Nonsense. ] She was vaguely picky in her heart, [Master Wu Mi must know, he knows what the ghost sees and thinks. ]

[However, if you sneak out to play occasionally, Mr. Wu Mi will not say anything...]

She said vaguely, "You begged me to go out."

"Then I'll take a hard look at it."

……

/ "Besides becoming an oiran, is there anything else you want to do?"

"what?"

"Xiaomei, she has never gone out, right? So does the prostitute Taro." Dazai asked, "Do you know what Kyoto looks like?"

"I don't know." The ten-year-old girl was sitting on the trunk of the tree. This was the tallest tree on the street, near the gate of Yoshiwara. Dazai once asked her what she could see on the tree.

Xiaomei said, "There seems to be a... temple? I heard people say that there is a very famous temple outside."

"In autumn, you can see red trees."

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's Hong Feng."

I said, "It's Hongfeng from Kiyomizu Temple."

She stared into the distance.

"If you have a chance, let's go out together." Dazai said, "Go out secretly."

"Cherry blossoms in spring at Kiyomizu Temple, red maples in autumn, and snow in winter."

"Let's go and see together." /

/At that moment, I just thought, at least let me do a good deed before separation. /

/ It is so sad to live in a narrow world all my life. /

/Even she can't remember what I promised her. /

—— "The Tale of Yoshiwara"

A bird in a cage during life is the same after death.